Chapter Thirteen: Hell

Faith stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom looking from side to side at her face. Where had all these wrinkles come from? Hadn't it been just yesterday that she was a sixteen-year-old teenage girl whose biggest problem was wondering what to wear the next day, or what she would get on her exams. Something had gone terribly amiss throughout the years. Things hadn't turned out the way she had expected them to. She doubted anyone's lives turned out as they planned, or expected, but she still had had hope that they would.

She looked at the wrinkles in the corners of her eyes and her forehead when she frowned. She guessed she had done a lot of frowning over the years. Sirius would joke and say that the wrinkles were laugh lines because of how funny he was, and she had to admit some of that was true. She knew that at her age there was no use in trying to feel young again because it would never come. Thinking back to the summer previous and again at Christmas watching Harry and his friends, she had had more than one nostalgic moment where she wished to turn back the clock.

But as the days got darker with each passing moment she couldn't help but feel the foreboding doom that seemed to be closing the walls in on her and Sirius.

Leaving the bathroom now she descended a flight of stairs and found Sirius in what used to be the sitting room. He was sitting in a moth-eaten chair with his hand resting under his chin staring off into the distance. She doubted very much that he was looking that intently at the weathered wallpaper or the crown molding around the ceiling. He often sat like this for hours on end. Faith had been compelled to ask him upon many occasions what was troubling him so, but she never had.

She turned quietly from the room now and descended the rest of the stairs and down the hall towards the kitchen to leave Sirius in peace. He would come to her when he was ready. She had known that for a long time and now over the past few months he had grown increasingly quiet, but he always came back to her.

She halted at the kitchen door hearing voices inside. No one else was supposed to be here except for Sirius and herself. Still she heard whispered voices from two people in the kitchen. One was frantic and almost ethereal while the other's was coarse and halting, the sentences badly constructed. She pushed the door open silently, her suspicions and wits about her in case there was trouble. She entered in time to see a flash of green flame burn and then flicker out in the fireplace as Kreacher turned away from it.

Kreacher was not her favorite of house-elves. He had a firm loyalty towards the Blacks except Sirius, whom he believed was a blood traitor. He often muttered it under his breath that his "Mistress" would be shocked and outraged at the riff-raff that Sirius had let into the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black. It was safe to say then that Faith did not like Kreacher in the slightest, and was highly suspicious of his actions, especially just now.

"Kreacher!" she said firmly, using the voice that she had often heard Sirius use with him. Though the house elf paid her no ill-will, he did not entirely respect her either, despite her connection with Sirus.

"Yes, Mistress," he said in his small and coarse voice. The tone held no respect whatsoever, and the word 'mistress' seemed almost forced through his grey lips.

"Kreacher, what were you doing in here? I heard another voice."

"Another voice, Mistress? Nay, it was only poor Kreacher talking to himself."

"Don't lie to me Kreacher! I know you are sneaking about with your own agenda. You will tell me immediately what you were doing in here and who you were talking to."

Instead of answering her directly, or even answering her demands at all, Kreacher shifted to the side to walk out of the kitchen and began muttering under his breath again. "Nasty half-blood thinks she is in charge of Kreacher. She is no better than the blood-traitor Sirius Black. If only Kreacher's mistress was alive, she would set this house right."

Faith watched closely as Kreacher walked right out of the kitchen door, making no attempt to stop him. She didn't trust him to any amount and she knew he was up to something. Her heart beat frantically at what was transpiring without her knowledge of what that was. And when she heard the loud CRACK! of Kreacher disapparating she knew something was wrong.

She fled the kitchen and as suspected, Kreacher was nowhere in sight, and she continued up the hall and then the first flight of stairs. She was at the first landing and about to ascend the second set of stairs there was a knock at the door. It was faint enough that it didn't send Walburga Black's portrait into a fit of screams and yells, but loud enough to know someone of the Order was at the door.

She knew that this wasn't a surprise leisurely visit, those kinds of things were not reserved for Number 12 Grimmauld Place, so she called up the stairs to Sirius, alerting him that someone was at the door.

She descended once again and peeked through the hole. Stiffening immediately she noted briefly that it was not one of her favorite people in the Order but because Dumbledore trusted him, she had no choice but to trust him as well.

She opened the door for Severus Snape and then demanded what he was doing here, her disgust at his presence far more transparent in her voice than she would have liked.

Snape noted the tone of voice but ignored it with the crook of one of his eyebrows. "I'm afraid I bring distressing news," he said smoothly before turning to look over Faith's shoulder. Sirius was coming down the stairs with much the same look of disgust on his face as had been on Faith's. "And before you make a comment as to my presence, hear what I have to say. Potter barely got the message out before disappearing."

"Harry?" Sirius said confused.

"That is the only Potter still living, is it not!" Snape snapped before continuing. "Potter's vision before Christmas is only the first. He has apparently had another because he simply repeated 'He's got Padfoot at the place where it's hidden.' I can only assume that he means you and believes you have been captured and taken deep into the heart of the Department of Mysteries."

Sirius cursed and Faith's hand came up to her mouth in shock. This news could only mean one thing. She looked at Sirius and he had come to the same conclusion. Voldemort had managed to manipulate the things Harry was seeing to support his own cause. Harry was walking into a trap.

Sirius was still pacing and cursing when Faith came to her senses and turned back to Snape. "Severus, raise the alarm. Have every available Auror make haste to the Ministry of Magic within the hour. Give them the details as you have given us. We will leave at once."

It was at this moment that Sirius made his first coherent move towards Snape. He lunged forward in attempt to get his hands around Snape's neck. Faith caught him just in time. "This is your fault," Sirius was saying, still struggling with Faith. "You were supposed to be helping him. You were supposed to be protecting him from Voldemort's mind. I thought Occlumency was supposed to help him, instead it's weakened his mind."

Snape backed up towards the door. He held his chin high, "Harry stopped those lessons months ago. He refused. I was trying to help him, despite both your beliefs." He nodded to Faith and then left the house.

Faith managed to push Sirius back far enough to slap him across the face, bringing him back to the situation at present. He blinked in shock at the slap and she stood before him with her finger pointed at his chest. "You listen to me Sirius Black, attacking an old classmate is not going to solve this. You should be ashamed. You're first reaction should have been exactly as mine was. I fear for Harry's life. So get up off your high horse and start acting like you're supposed to be acting. Harry is in danger and you can think of nothing better to do than attack Severus Snape?!"

This seemed to recover Sirius's sensibilities and he grabbed Faith's hand and rushed up the stairs towards his bedroom. Once in the room he threw on a jacket and grabbed his wand. Faith did the same, as well as tying her hair back from her face.

She turned to Sirius again who was waiting for her. She had concerns about his coming that she needed to voice. She didn't want him to come for a two primary reasons. Firstly, they were headed to the Ministry of Magic, where there would be wizards and witches who had been assigned to finding him for the past two years. Secondly, if he was caught then she would never see him again and this would be the worst of all her fears. But then Faith knew Sirius and she also knew how much he loved Harry, and he would not let her talk him out of going to rescue his godson. And if she did say something, then he would likely say something about the dangers of her going and she didn't want to risk that when there were more important things at hand. So Faith stayed silent as Sirius grabbed her hand again and spurned her down the stairs and into the kitchen.

They stood a foot length apart from each other and Apparated directly to the bottom most level of the Ministry; the Department of Mysteries. Both Sirius and Faith had been there, once a long time ago, when Sirius was being sentenced to life imprisonment and Faith to see him for what she believed to be the last time. It was dark and cold and it took a few moments for their eyes to adjust.

A moment after her eyes could make out the shapes in the corridor where they had apparated, Faith saw the outline of a form ahead of them. Her wand at the ready, she had just enough time to Shield the charm that came whizzing towards them. "Halt your charms or I'll reduce you to dust," she cried out.

The form walked towards her and a small light appeared at the end of their wand. "I'd like to see you just try that, Duncan."

In a sigh of relief she and Sirius rushed forward at the familiar voice. "Moody," Sirius said. "What are you doing out here?"

"I'm the sentinel waiting for the rest of you to get here. There's no sense in going in wand blazing with no back up." No sooner had he spoken than several loud CRACKS! rent the air and there were several others standing behind them, wands also raised with small glowing lights on the ends. "Right then," Moody continued, "now that we're all here, let's go over the game plan. We are to extract the teenagers, no more than six I was told. If we engage, it is simply to save them, not to pick a fight with the Death Eaters. Be on you're guards, everyone. And good luck to you."

The group entered a small circular room with several doors surrounding the edges. There was only one room that showed the flashing lights of spells being shot around a room, apparent by the crack at the bottom of the door. Moody opened the door and Faith saw the drop off that told her the floor was at least twenty feet below. Around the edges of the room the Death Eaters had grabbed the five of Harry's friends who had accompanied him while Harry was standing in the center of the room near the giant veiled archway with Lucius Malfoy. Sirius shoved past Faith and Moody, growling his plans as he passed before apparating. He then appeared again, down in the room a few feet away from Harry.

Faith watched as he walked up, spoke a few words before walloping Lucius in the jaw. Moody then grumbled, "That's our cue!" and he, Faith and the other's Apparated to several different surfaces around the room.

Faith stood closest to Hermione and the Death Eater with his wand to her throat. With a few quick and calculated flicks of her wand, the Death Eater was on the ground and Hermione was scrambling to reclaim her wand from him. "Stay close to me," Faith prompted Hermione, once again raising her wand and shooting a spell across the room towards a man who was preparing to curse Remus. He nodded his thanks to her.

A few more spells shot around the room at the straggling Death Eaters and Faith felt the end was near. She searched and saw all the Aurors on their feet with a teenager close to their sides. The teens did not sit by idly however, for they knew how to fight and they fought well, with spells and disarms flying every which way.

Faith's eyes searched for Sirius and Harry and found them by the archway in the middle of the room in a heated duel with Lucius. Harry was doing well, despite his age. It was in those few seconds that Faith was distracted that another Death Eater threw a spell towards her and instead it hit the rocks beside her. The rocks smashed and her ears were ringing as she and Hermione hit the ground from the blast.

Through the high-pitched ringing in her ears then she heard a cry, a curse, her worst nightmare, and as she looked back up towards the archway she saw Lucius on the ground, Harry screaming towards the veil with Remus holding him back, and Sirius's body floating upwards into the distance.

She frowned and when Sirius had finally faded from sight she felt her breath catch in her throat and a sob circulated from somewhere deep inside her. On her knees on the dark rock floor her wand dropped, clattering but Faith heard nothing. It all faded away from her, sound and sight and feeling.

"NO!!!" she screamed as her world fell to pieces.

*~*~*

Vaguely aware of the things happening around her she was lifted and carried by someone with her feet dragging on the floor beneath her. Her shoulders hunched and her strength that had been there before was snatched up from her and she very nearly fainted. She looked back to the archway and there was a hollow emptiness inside her that consumed her very soul.

It must have taken her forever to be moved because she wasn't doing any of it of her own accord. She didn't think she had any will left inside her. In the Ministry of Magic main hall Faith recalled seeing what used to be the great fountain with ornate golden sculptures standing there, but now it was empty. She smiled hazily thinking at least she wasn't the only one that was empty.

She looked around the flurry of wizards in search of her godson. He was with Dumbledore, tucked into the old man's silvery robes. Dumbledore caught her eyes once and she felt the wisdom and truth shining out from them, but at the moment couldn't care less what advice he could lend. She had lost her other half and it would be a long time to come when she wouldn't give a hoot what others said. She had no friends to cheer her, the Aurors would just buck up and push through it, and Harry had bigger things to worry about than crying with her over the loved on they'd lost.

Faith looked at Harry now, his eyes dazed, and she had to blink back the tears she felt welling in her eyes when she realized that he had just lost the only father-figure he would ever likely have. Sirius had been a link to his parents, to his father, and now that link was gone. Though Lily had been Faith's best friend it wasn't for a teenage boy to wish guidance from his mother, or even godmother. It was father and godfather that mattered to a teenage boy and Harry had now lost both.

Harry looked up towards Faith and she couldn't even give him a reassuring smile. The tears she'd been holding back came spilling out and whoever was holding her swept her in their arms and cradled her from falling over. Still looking at Harry through the salty tears she held onto the fraction of life that still might be hers. Harry was still hers, despite the fact that he might not wish it. She had never married Sirius, therefore legally, though she was Harry's godmother, she was still a stranger.

This seemed to make Faith cry even harder and even though she hugged the person comforting her with all her might, she somehow slipped to the floor. The last thing she remembered from that night, from the Ministry of Magic, from the worst night of her life, was the thought that seemed to shatter her heart and soul. Sirius was gone. Forever.