A/N Wow. This chapter really had difficulty flowing out. Like, it was harder to write.
The room fell silent.
"Mademoiselle, I hope you're joking."
Gabrielle shook her head. "The International Ministry was attacked after the first meeting. We all Portkeyed out, but the Chinese minister who prepared the Portkey was a traitor."
"Damn," said one of the older men at the table. "Chang looked suspicious at all the meetings."
One of the men at the far end of the table, a man bearing a myriad of scars on his face, commented, "But our informant network hadn't revealed anything."
Harry answered, "I don't think even the Death Eaters knew about the attack. They seemed unsure."
"So you're saying," continued the man, "that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has the forces to overwhelm one of the most secure locations on the planet without even a plan?"
"Yes, Jean," said the man closer to Harry. "I'm not sure if, as intelligence minister, you're familiar at all with war. You see, it wouldn't take much to overwhelm that island. Remote, sure. Relatively unknown? Sure. But tactically secure? Never."
He turned to Gabrielle, saying, "This is most unfortunate. The Death Eaters are attacking Paris. However, our protection charms preventing them from disabling Apparating and Disapparating are still in full effect, I believe."
A wash of cold passed over Harry, and through the mental bond Gabrielle shivered. All the men in the table seemed to do the same.
As if on cue, a guard rushed from the elevator, and said, "Les mangemorts son ici."
The men at the table got up, and stood. Before Harry could ask what was happening, the ministers cursed and drew their wands.
Gabrielle backed up behind him, and one of the men shouted, "They've blocked apparition. Guard, unblock that fireplace."
One of the men at the table stepped forward, chanting the Protego Maxima: "Protego Maxima, Fianto Duri, Repello Inimcum."
The guards were sealed outside of the glowing shield. Bursts of light flew from the wands in the room, Harry adding his own light to the shield forming over the hallway leading to the elevator.
The shield itself pulsated with a bright energy, made from the interweaving spells of the people in the room. As the spells tailed off, the elevator burst open. A guard ushered the cabinet members into the fireplace, then Harry, and Gabrielle.
As Harry stepped into the fireplace, he turned and saw the guards falling to bursts of green, the Protego shielding the fireplace as the guards fell.
Beauxbatons
The fireplace in the headmistress' office was dull, and crackling with the heat of logs long past embers. It burst alive, startling Maxime, who had been absentmindedly staring through the broad windows and into the alpine valley that lay in the view of the foggy panes. It turned a sharp green, and she drew her wand, backing away from the hearth.
The older man from the cabinet meeting, the man they called Jean, was the first through the fireplace. He strode confidently, without faltering, through the hearth and onto the carpet, his fellow cabinet members closely in tow, with Harry and Gabrielle tailing. The room erupted in a blast of French, with Harry and Gabrielle standing at a distance.
Some amount of time passed, the Madame having conjured chairs for everyone, as well as called elves to ready quarters for the cabinet members, Harry, and Gabrielle. After some talk, the conversation shifted to Harry and Gabrielle. Many of the older men assembled began glancing at them, as if expecting them to hear. The two had been drifting to sleep, doubtlessly drained by the events of the day.
"How are you two holding up?" The headmistress asked.
Gabby replied in French, translating for Harry as she went, "We are fine, but tired. We must tell the cabinet about something, however. It's very important."
The headmistress nodded. "Gentlemen," she turned, Gabrielle translating the French for Harry, "The Boy who Lived has some urgent news to share."
Harry stood in front of the cabinet, and related his adventure during his death, Gabrielle occasionally translating into French for the people assembled. Harry covered his resurrection at the hands of the veil, and he covered his meeting of the great Merlin himself. English wasn't some of their strong suits, it seemed, as Gabrielle's translations became more frequent as his story progressed.
As he continued, their faces became confused, some doubtful, some blank.
One man, in the back, who was dressed in simple clothing, woven from sackcloth, it appeared, stood up.
"This veil," he asked, "this veil that you say you helped create, did it have any markings?"
"A single rune, on the keystone."
"Which rune?" He cast a spell. "Any of these?"
A variety of runes was shown to Harry in a light blue outline.
"No."
The light shifted to one last symbol. The very same rune he had cast his spell into floated before him, the
"Yes."
The hologram dissipated, leaving a faint glow in the air behind.
"You surely must recognize this to be the very same veil as the one your own government holds?"
Harry did remember very clearly the veil Sirius fell through, and he nodded.
"The truth is," continued the sackcloth man in perfect English, "that isn't a one-way door."
He stepped towards Harry, the blue light of the hologram flickering out of existence, to be replaced by a dull hum in the air around the two of them.
"It's a bridge between life and death."
The room grew quiet.
One of the older men at the table exclaimed in French - translated by Gabrielle, "You don't mean to tell us that the Dark Lord has opened the gateway - the last time it was opened, you know what happened."
"Listen," Harry said, as the veela translated, "I had a vision while Apparating from Hogsmeade."
"Merlin said he must be brought back."
The sackcloth man nodded. "So we have feared. The darkness lives again," he said.
The older men bowed their heads. Some were afraid. Some were stoic.
The man continued, "We must prepare. The gates cannot fall."
He made his way through the exhausted cabinet members, to the fireplace in the office. The fireplace flashed green, then he was gone. The house-elves came in shortly after, to inform the headmistress that the rooms had been prepared for the guests, and that they could lead them to their quarters whenever they were ready. Many of the members of the cabinet had dozed off already, but many trudged out of the room.
Harry and Gabrielle made their way to the room Harry had taken residence in previously, which was prepared for him. Strangely enough, the elves had known to supply him with a larger bed, for both him and Gabby.
The soft mattress welcomed their tired weight, and the snowy slopes from his window were blown by the night wind.
Morning came too quickly, with their passage to the dining hall slowed by Gabby's friends, who nervously chattered in French. The cabinet had their own table in the hall, and Harry followed Gabby to sit with her friends. Soon enough, the Headmistress came over with an elf.
"You must leave soon. The most haste must be taken on your journey to resurrect Merlin."
"We can Apparate later today," said Harry.
"No," replied the giantess, "the Death Eaters have cut off Apparition to and from the entire country. France is under a magical siege - but physically the charms are not yet in place. You must hurry, Potter. You and Gabrielle should travel together. It seems fitting that the bond-mates should. The cabinet members, I'm afraid, are too weak to make the physical journey - the downfalls of a sedentary lifestyle, it seems."
She produced a map of the Pyrenees, on which she indicated their location. "You must journey to the southeast," she said, pointing at a marked trail from the edge of the school grounds, "to cross the border into Spain. You will need a French passport, should you be stopped by Muggle police, and you will need travel supplies. I trust you both know the Warming charms?
They nodded. Warming had been taught early in both their school careers.
"You will leave at once. The girls here are preparing for evacuation - their families are leaving and it is only a matter of time before the Death Eaters arrive here. We must all flee the darkness, until the light is returned."
Harry thought to himself briefly. He was tasked with bringing the light back to the magical world, by finding a thousand-year-old wizard's body and resurrecting him. He looked up at the headmistress and nodded. Gabby squeezed his hand tight.
After lunch, they set out in full snow gear, the sun gleaming on the packed snow.
A/N whoops