I usually only reply to non-anonymous reviews through FF PM system, but I received two curious reviews in last chapter and I had to reply.
Drobbles: sorry, but no. If you read the story carefully you'll see that what you say makes no sense at all here. Besides, that would be simply plagiarism, because there is one story more or less based on what you say, it's from Billybob – csagun36 and it's called 'Second time around'. You'll have to guess again.
Dancechick11: Thank you. Your suggestion sounds too much 'Disney' for me, but you made me laugh, it was a beautiful idea. But yes, I have everything written, so ...
Ah, many, many thanks to Kienificent for her corrections!
The Ministry
To Harry and Hermione's surprise, Ron didn't head for the oak doors and the grounds once they were in the Entrance Hall, but for the marble staircase.
"Where are we going to?" asked Harry, confused, as he began to climb up the stairs behind Ron. "Don't we need to get out of Hogwarts?"
"No, we don't," Ron replied. "I can Apparate out of here."
"Apparate out of Hogwarts?" said Hermione, between incredulity and bewilderment.
"Yes. It takes a bit more effort, but that's not a problem," he explained as he led them towards an empty classroom.
"And we'll Apparate inside the Ministry?" Harry wanted to know, getting inside the classroom after Hermione.
"Exactly."
"But the Ministry has put up wards to prevent anyone from —"
"That's not a problem for me."
Hermione didn't insist. If Ron said he could do it, then surely it was true. If he was able to stop the Killing Curse ...
"Well, pay attention to me," Ron said, facing she and Harry. "We'll Apparate directly into the Atrium. Have your wands ready. There shouldn't be any problem, but better safe than sorry. They'll send everything they've got against us. That's not a serious issue, I can handle it, but I have to warn you that it is likely that I'll be forced to unleash my power. It won't be nice. They don't mean anything to me and I don't care about them, but I don't want to make a massacre. If I get too carried away, you must restrain me. With words, never with wands," he warned them. "Do you understand?" he asked. Harry furrowed his brow, confused, but Hermione nodded fervently, remembering their early talk that morning.
"We'll be there for you, Ron," she assured.
"Yes, we will," Harry confirmed, nodding.
"Okay. Now, take out your wands and grab my shoulders. I'll have to break the protections here and there as we Apparate, so it'll be more uncomfortable than last time."
Hermione and Harry did as Ron had told them. Hermione clutched her wand hard, an uneasy feeling blooming insider her. She trusted Ron, she had accepted that this new Ron could do anything, but, nevertheless, she couldn't help it, she was afraid.
"Ready?" Ron asked, and Harry and Hermione nodded. "Let's go, then."
Ron closed his eyes and seemed to glow for a moment. Then, Hermione felt a constricting and suffocating sensation in her body and darkness surrounded her. The horrible feeling of being crushed grew for a moment, and then, with a loud and powerful 'CRACK', she felt that she was able to move again, and fresh, much needed air filled her lungs.
Breathing heavily, she opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. They had Apparated near the visitors' entrance. In front of them, the Atrium was crowded with Ministry employees, nearly all of them now looking towards where they stood, having heard the loud noise caused by the breaking of the anti-Apparition charms. Hermione clutched her wand even tighter, and felt terribly exposed and, for a few seconds, even more terrified than when she and Harry had broken into the Ministry back in September.
For a moment, no one spoke, no sound was made. And then, at once, four Ministry guards moved towards them, raising their wands.
"POTTER!" one of them shouted. "It's Harry Potter!"
Hermione raised her wand too, ready to fight, but Ron, calm as ever, was already moving. He gave a step forwards and waved his wand. Its tip flashed red, and the four guards were blasted backwards, their wands flying off them, and crumpled to the floor, scathed, their noses bleeding and their robes partially burnt and smoking. The rest of the wizards and witches in the Atrium retreated at once, moving away from the four unconscious guards, surprised and scared, while Ron, confident, was moving towards them, his face revealing perfect concentration, absolute determination. Harry and Hermione followed him.
"It's time for a change," Ron said, loudly, to the astounded crowd. "This Ministry is corrupted, ruled by Death Eaters and other despicable people. That will not be permitted anymore. So decide now what do you want: this new regime or an improved version of the old one. And if you choose to support what is happening," he added, a trace of spite and venom in his voice, "then get ready to fight me."
No one moved, no one dared to say a simple word as Ron's eyes roamed over the entire Atrium.
"And, for starters, that sculpture is awful, nasty, untruthful and unforgivable," he added, and aimed his wand at the monument of the wizard and the witch sitting over naked Muggles. A quick and short lightning burst from the wand's tip and impacted against the monument, which exploded in millions of pieces with a deafening noise.
Everyone in the Atrium covered their heads with their arms, screaming, some of them tripping and falling to the floor while trying to get away from the smoking place where the monument had been.
Then, amidst the confusion, two Aurors ran towards Ron, quickly throwing Stunning Spells at him. But Ron, without the slightest concern, blocked the spells and with another flick of his wand transformed them into two statues.
While he was doing this, Hermione noticed more wizards aiming at Ron from behind him, and with a surge of hatred, saw Dolores Umbridge ahead of them, her expression confused and furious.
"Ron!" she shouted, throwing a Stunning Spell towards the wizards aiming at him. Harry was doing the same, but there were six of them, and, while two crumpled to the floor, Ron's wand was already flying across the place, finally falling into the extended hand of a smirking Umbridge.
Ron turned to his enemies slowly, as the Ministry employees retreated farther from him, sensing that Ron, powerful as he might be, had now nothing to do, wandless as he was.
Hermione felt fear filling her. It seemed impossible, but Ron had failed. He was Disarmed now, in the heart of the Ministry of Magic! They had to do something. She aimed again, ready to attack and threw a new Stunning Spell. But the Auror she was targeting blocked it, and she and Harry were suddenly facing four wands directed at them. Umbridge smiled repulsively and used her own wand to revive the unconscious Aurors.
"Well, well, well. What have we here?" she said in her unpleasant high-pitched voice. "Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, again, with Ronald Weasley no less this time!" She emitted a little laugh that made Hermione flinch with distaste. "Did you think you could break into the Ministry twice?" she asked Harry. "Nothing can save you this time, Potter!"
Hermione could sense Harry's anger flooding off him. She looked at Ron, and saw that he seemed absolutely untroubled, even when two Aurors had their wands pointed towards him. He was gazing at Umbridge, as if analyzing her.
"We thought you had done a bunk, Weasley," Umbridge said, almost laughing. "Too bad you decided to come back. Do you know what the punishment for attacking Ministry officials is?"
Ron didn't answer, but addressed the crowd watching the scene. "You see what is happening here. Are you going to stand there, without doing anything? Are you going to let this bitch impose her twisted laws and her Death Eater masters rule the Ministry? Are you letting her send Harry Potter to death?"
Some of the employees seemed a bit ashamed, but almost everyone avoided Ron's gaze and stared at the floor or at the walls. Hermione's hope faded. No one was brave enough to help them —
She heard someone shouting and the sound of people running. Someone was trying to reach them through the crowd.
"Son!" the person yelled, and Hermione saw Mr Weasley running towards Ron, Kingsley Shacklebolt right behind him. "You're alive! You're all right! But what —?"
"Well, well, well," sneered Umbridge, smiling devilishly. "A family gathering! How touching! Get away from him, Arthur. Your son is a criminal and he'll be put under arrest to be punished adequately."
Mr Weasley turned to Umbridge, his hand on his wand. "You bitch! I will not let anyone harm my —"
But Mr Weasley could not complete his sentence. One of the Aurors had shot a spell at him, binding and Silencing him. Kingsley tried to draw his wand, too, but the Aurors aimed at him warningly.
"You too, Shacklebolt? You're a traitor?" Umbridge asked, scowling. "You'll be put under arrest too, then!" she bellowed, laughing excitedly. She looked at Ron's wand. "I see you've got a new wand, Weasley. A nice one," she added, caressing it. "Let's see how it works," she said, and pointed it at Ron.
"NO!" yelled Harry, and gave a step forwards. "It's me the one you want! I am Undesirable Number One, aren't I? Take me, do with me what you want, but leave them alone!"
Ron looked at him. "What are you doing?" he asked, while Umbridge and another Auror, who, Hermione realised, was in fact a Death Eater called Jugson, started laughing.
"We have special orders regarding you," Umbridge said, delighted. "We can't punish you." Her evil smile widened and she looked at Ron again, aiming at him once more. "This one, on the other hand —"
"RON, NOO!" yelled Harry suddenly, and Hermione saw him sprint off without thinking, trying to get between Ron and Umbridge, trying to save him. But Jugson shot a spell at him, the streak of light hit him on the face and he felt backwards, landing hard on his back, with a nasty gash on his right cheek. Hermione pointed her wand at them, ready to fight, ready to die — if it was necessary — to protect her friends, but before she could do anything, two Aurors had shot spells at her, and she found herself on the floor, clutching her middle body in pain while her wand landed ten yards away from her. She heard Umbridge's horrible laugh, and that hurt even more than the curse she had received.
She looked at Ron, and saw him looking at them, his face expressionless, before turning his head to face a delighted Umbridge. Hermione was beyond fear, terrified, for she could not see a way out of this mess ...
"Where were we before Potter's heroic intervention?" she said. "Ah, yes! We were about to teach Weasley proper respect. This will do, I reckon," she added, the pleasure evident in her repulsive face, and, aiming at Ron with his own wand, she shouted, "Crucio!"
Hermione closed her eyes. She didn't want to see. But the screams she was expecting never came. She opened her eyes and saw Ron, standing in the same place as a moment before, and Umbridge, looking alternatively at him and at the wand, utterly confused. "What the —? Crucio!" She repeated, and again, nothing happened. "What's wrong with this wand?"
Hermione saw Ron smile. That new smile that didn't show amusement, but deadly danger, and suddenly knew that nothing was lost yet.
"You stupid cow," Ron hissed in a cold tone. "Do you think I'd let you take my wand like this, so easily? Do you think you can beat me with a simple Disarming Spell? My wand cannot be taken! My wand cannot be won! Now I'll show you how it works ..."
Umbridge looked at Ron, confused, and then Hermione saw Ron's wand glow. Umbridge saw it, too, and her eyes widened in astonishment. And one second later, she let out a terrible scream of pain and dropped onto the floor, shaking uncontrollably. Her screams of pain filled the entire Atrium, and Hermione noticed that she was still clutching Ron's wand as if she wasn't unable to release it.
"NOOOOOOOO! STOP! STOP! MAKE IT STOP!" she begged between cries of pain. The Aurors seemed suddenly lost and confused. One of them tried to take Ron's wand off her hand, but the instant he touched it, he was thrown through the air, hitting a wall rather violently. Then, the wand flew towards Ron, who took it swiftly. It was yet glowing, and after touching it, Ron seemed to glow too, with magic and power, and the Aurors retreated instinctively. In the floor, Umbridge was still writhing and moaning a little, barely conscious.
Four of the Aurors attacked Ron at the same time, throwing four beams of red light towards him, but he blocked the spells lazily and advanced slowly towards them. "I gave you all a chance," he said, his tone dark and menacingly. "You took the wrong choice." He flicked his wand again, and the five Aurors that were still standing were suddenly surrounded by a bluish substance flowing around them. They looked around them, confused, for a moment, and then the strange essence attacked them, covering their bodies. There was an instant of intense blue light, and when it faded, Hermione could see that all the Aurors were locked in transparent, glittering blue spheres which rose slowly up in the air. Inside them, the Aurors seemed immobile, frozen, an expression of sheer terror etched upon their motionless faces.
"This is what happens to anyone supporting the new Ministry," said Ron, moving towards Umbridge, who was now regaining consciousness, and was looking at the enchanted spheres floating above her, utterly frightened.
"No, no!" she yelled, trying to get away from Ron. "Leave me alone! I —"
"It's time for punishment, Dolores," Ron said, softly. "You like punishment, don't you? When someone breaks the law? You said it yourself." Umbridge was shaking her head, trembling. "Yes, you do. And now, I make the laws. Now, I decide punishment."
Hermione felt that she needed to do something, to stop Ron before he did something terrible, but a part of her didn't want to. A part of her wanted Umbridge to suffer for her cruelty.
Ron pointed his wand at her, and Umbridge closed her eyes, her body shaking like mad, terror painted in her toadlike face.
"Ron —" said then Hermione, trying to get up, still in pain. "Ron, don't."
Ron acted as he hadn't heard anything. He got closer to the terrified woman and said, "Azkaban will be a pleasant place for scum like you. And you'll have plenty of your Death Eater mates there to accompany you." He flicked his wand and Umbridge was soon locked in another of the floating bluish spheres. Then, he faced the crowd of Ministry employees, who retreated at once. "You cowards ..." he hissed. "You let this happen. You don't deserve the magic you've got. I should do the same to you all."
"Ron. Son."
Hermione looked at Mr Weasley, who was staring at Ron in amazement. Kingsley had released him and he, too, was gazing at Ron in awe.
"You're back," Mr Weasley said, without blinking, as if Ron could disappear if he lost sight of him for a moment, and then ran towards him and embraced him tightly. "You're back and you're safe!" he sobbed against his son's chest. Ron didn't return the hug, though, but merely stood there, looking emotionless at the top of his father's balding head.
"I'm back," he said plainly.
"Where have you been, Ron? And what are you doing here? And how —?"
"Stop," Ron said, pushing Mr Weasley softly off him. "No more questions. There are a bunch of Death Eaters here. I have to deal with them."
"You alone?" asked Kingsley, and then Hermione saw him, his face full of fear, looking at Harry, who was now standing up, brushing the blood on his cheek. "And you! What're you doing here, Harry! If they capture you —"
"We've come with Ron," Harry explained, a look of determination etched upon his face. "And, as you see, he can manage perfectly."
Hermione, walking with some difficulty, retrieved his wand, and noticed that Mr Weasley was looking at them, too, frowning and bewildered. "You three should not be here," he said simply, without greeting Hermione or Harry. Hermione didn't expect him to.
"Why is that no more Death Eaters have come yet?" Harry commented, approaching the three men. "They must know we're here."
"There was a calling early in the morning," Kingsley explained. "Something happened at Hogwarts. Two Aurors didn't report themselves last night and —"
"We know," said Harry. "We were at Hogwarts. The Carrows and Snape are in custody, and Ron put up some powerful wards so no one can get in."
Mr Weasley looked at Ron again, his expression a mixture between awe and confusion. "How? Ron, since when can you —?"
"THERE!" a voice sounded, startling them all. About thirty Death Eaters and Aurors were running towards them from the other side of the Atrium, and, just a moment later, a dozen spells were soaring against them. Kingsley, Mr Weasley, Hermione and Harry got ready to fight back, but they didn't have the chance, because Ron, facing them quickly, waved his wand and a translucent, yellowish magical barrier appeared before him, shielding him and those behind it. The spells hit the protective barrier and, one after other, vanished with a slight reverberation. Upon seeing this, the attackers hesitated for a moment, surprised and confused, but then attacked with renewed force, throwing powerful curses against Ron, many of them the Avada Kedavra. But nothing seemed strong enough to overcome Ron's magic. Bewildered, astounded and a bit scared, the Ministry forces stopped to plan any different.
And then Ron made the protective barrier vanish and advanced towards the attacking wizards, again glowing, blocking every curse or jinx thrown at him. His wand began to emit pulses of light as he waved, flicked and slashed it, and soon the entire Atrium was filled with smoke, and Hermione could only see flashes of light and hear yells and screams and the sounds of things being broken or smashed and that of bodies falling onto the floor.
After just two minutes, every sound was extinguished, and, when the smoke cleared, Hermione saw Ron, tall and strong and determined, standing still, whole and unscathed, among dozens of bodies of unconscious, jinxed and wounded Death Eaters and Ministry officials. Only one of them was still conscious, kneeling before Ron, who was pointing at him with his wand. The man seemed hexed and unable to move. Hermione recognised him immediately, as she has seen his photograph in the Prophet last summer: he was Pius Thicknesse, Minister for Magic.
As she watched the results of the battle — if this could be called a battle, for the defeated army had not had a chance — Hermione realised, for the very first time, the true extent of the incredible power now Ron had.
Thirty wizards, she thought, surprised and afraid. He beat thirty wizards in two minutes. In two minutes! And he is totally unharmed.
She looked at Harry, who seemed as impressed as she was. Before them, Mr Weasley and Kingsley were also speechless, unable to understand what had just happened.
Then, Ron moved back towards them, Thicknesse being dragged alongside him by an invisible force. When they reached the place Kingsley and Mr Weasley were, Ron raised his wand and forced the Minister to get to his feet.
"An Imperiused wizard is not a good choice for Minister, don't you think?" Ron asked Thicknesse.
"Leave me alone!" Thicknesse shouted between gritted teeth.
Ron moved his wand slowly until its tip touched Thicknesse's temple. When it did, the Minister shook his head violently and looked at Ron and around him, blinking rapidly, looking confused, as though he had just woken up in an unexpected place.
"What — what has happened? Why am I —?"
"He's free of the Imperius Curse now," Ron told Kingsley, lowering his wand. Thickness fell to the floor, released from the spell holding him, and tried to get to her feet again. Then, raising his voice so everyone could hear him, Ron added: "Take care of the Death Eaters. Take their wands and put them into custody. Kingsley Shacklebolt will be Minister for Magic while we sort out this mess. You'll obey him, do you understand?" No one dared to reply. Satisfied, Ron turned to his father. "Dad, you can help him."
Kingsley and Mr Weasley were too shocked to do more than nodding. Then, as no one was moving, Ron shouted to the Ministry employees: "One last thing: if anyone in this building thinks for a moment about helping Lord Voldemort to regain power, let me tell you that I'll deal with him or her personally. Do you understand me?" he asked. No one answered. "Now get on with it! Put them into custody!"
Some of them began to move hurriedly.
"They're not all of them!" someone yelled. "They'll come again, and him!"
"I'll deal with them," shouted Ron. "Now, get back to your jobs. The real ones, not what you were doing these past months. And I want the innocents in Azkaban released, do you understand?"
"Ron," Mr Weasley said, almost pleading. "Have you seen your mother?"
"No, I haven't," Ron answered. "I'll see her later. Now go to work, dad. I'm sure more Death Eaters will come."
But Mr Weasley didn't move. He looked at Harry and Hermione. Hermione felt herself blush.
"Were you with them? All this time?"
"No. I found them yesterday," Ron answered, a bit impatient. "Come on, Dad; do as I've told you."
"But they — you —"
"There'll be time to talk later. Now, let's move. I'm going to search the Ministry for any resistance I can find, there are Dementors and I'm sure not every Death Eater has been put in custody," Ron said, and moved across the Atrium. Mr Weasley stared for a bit at Harry and Hermione and, without a word, he left.
Now the Atrium was swarming with Ministry employees taking Death Eaters and Aurors and putting them into custody. Kingsley was giving orders, quickly taking control of the situation. Hermione was thinking that he would be a good Minister, perhaps one of the best in the history of the Ministry, when Harry turned to her.
"What should we do?"
"I don't know ... Watch if more Death Eaters come, I suppose. And we could help here." She looked at the gash on his cheek. "Does it hurt?" she asked.
"A bit, but I'm fine. Let's help."
Hermione nodded, and both of them began to help moving the prisoners to another room. Kingsley was ordering some officials to go to Azkaban. A lot of the workers had now exited the Atrium to head for their offices; others were repairing the damages caused by the battle.
When they had finished removing the bodies of the fallen, Hermione looked around her, a bit anxious. "Perhaps it would be a good idea to block the fireplaces ..."
"Yeah, I think you —" Harry began to say, but he stopped suddenly, his face contorted in pain, and his right hand went to his scar, pressing it with force, and he screamed.
"Harry?" Hermione asked, scared and worried. "What is it? What has happened? Is — is Ron all right?"
Harry nodded, trying to regain control. "He — he knows, Hermione. Voldemort knows that the Ministry is under our control again."
"How? How does he know?" Hermione demanded, nearly hysterical. It was too soon, too soon —
"Someone told him. A Death Eater escaped from here and told him. He is punishing him. He's — he's very, very angry."
"We have to tell Ron and Kingsley!" shouted Hermione, looking around her for the tall figure of the new Minister.
Harry nodded, his face covered in sweat. Hermione realised that he was trying to block Voldemort's rage so he could focus.
"I don't see him," Hermione told Harry, more nervous each second. "He was here two minutes ago ..."
"Then let's find Ron," Harry suggested.
Hermione nodded fervently. "And we must inform everyone. If the Death Eaters try to break into here —"
Hermione couldn't finish what she was saying, because, suddenly, some people let out a scream of terror: several black-robed wizards had burst out of the fireplaces, wands aloft, and ahead of them was Yaxley, the new Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
"What is happening here!" he bellowed. "What are —?" he fell silent the moment he saw the enchanted glittering spheres, still floating in the air with Dolores Umbridge and the Aurors in them. "WHAT'S THIS?" he shouted. "SOMEONE EXPLAINS IT TO ME OR YOU ALL WILL BE ROTTING IN AZKABAN BY THE END OF THE DAY!"
"Potter is there, Yaxley!" yelled another Death Eater, pointing towards Harry. "And that Mudblood's with him!"
"FIGHT THEM!" Harry ordered and shot a Stunning Spell at Yaxley. Hermione pushed her fear off his mind and, taking her wand, began to cast spells against the Death Eaters.
Soon, the Atrium was again a battlefield. Some of the Ministry workers began fighting the Death Eaters, but they were the least of them. Some had fled, and others seemed petrified. Hermione managed to knock out a Death Eater and began duelling Dolohov, while Harry was trying to bring Yaxley down.
More Ministry workers appeared then, and started to fight against the Death Eaters, but Hermione noticed that at last half the fighters in their side where already on the floor. The Death Eaters outnumbered them now, and seemed ready to kill anyone challenging them.
Harry managed to hit Yaxley with a curse, and dodged a spell thrown at him by another enemy. Hermione moved alongside him, the two of them fighting at their best. However, she noticed that more Death Eaters were coming to aid their mates. The situation was getting desperate —
And then, she felt it. Her body shivered and she looked towards her left, where Ron, his face full of fury, his body glowing with power and magic, had Apparated. Two Death Eaters sent Killing Curses at him, but Ron blocked them and, with a flick of his wand, blasted them both away.
Hermione was so utterly amazed by Ron's display of power, so relieved by his sudden appearance that, for an instant, she forgot that she was surrounded by enemies, until a mad, full of rage and hatred shriek drew her attention.
"Take this, you filthy Mudblood!"
Hermione wheeled her head and saw the crazy expression of Bellatrix Lestrange fifteen feet away from her, and saw her slash her wand —
"SECTUMSEMPRA!"
Hermione saw the light bursting from the wand, and everything around her vanished, because in the world there was nothing more than absolute, terrible pain: in her abdomen, her chest, her right leg, her right arm; and the only sound she could hear was a loud, awful scream that filled everything. And in a sudden, brief moment of comprehension, she realised that it was her own scream what she was hearing. She felt weary and heavy, and everything seemed to fade out ...
With a loud thud, she dropped onto the floor and knew nothing more.
And this is it! I hope you liked Ron's confrontation with Umbridge, because it's my favourite part. How much I hate her! Sorry to leave you like this, not knowing about Hermione's fate, but —
Now, some bad news (well, for you, not for me!). After tomorrow, I'll be on holiday (at last!) until the 28th of August, so I won't be able to update so frequently. Don't worry, I won't abandon you! I'll post next chapter on Wednesday. But after that, I don't know. I think I'll be able to post four or five more chapters until the 28th. After then, I'll resume posting every two or three days. 'Til Wednesday!
