Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter in the least bit, though if you look closely you'll see I borrowed bits of Order of the Phoenix and Deathly Hallows. I'm sorry if that offends you in some way.
And how does it feel to be out on your own?
Now it's too late to go home.
Lily had always found it odd that there was no night staff at the Ministry of Magic. Sure, it wasn't as though they needed a custodial staff or something of that sort in the middle of the night, and there must have been a plethora of enchantments guarding the facility, but it still felt wrong in an unpleasantly foreboding sort of way. One would think that, considering the nature of some of the information housed in the Ministry and the current state of affairs, the government would want to employ some type of human guard system. It just made sense. She'd have to remember to ask Edgar or Benjy about it at the next meeting.
Perhaps if there had been guards Lily wouldn't have felt so out of sorts as she walked through the wide atrium, tub of shepherd's pie in hand. If there had been other wizards about, she might not have felt as though something was terribly off. Oh, well. In those uncertain times, one could make a case for everything being off in some way or another.
Normally she wouldn't be doing this, but it had been a while since Sirius had stayed so late for work and she wanted to make sure he had something to eat. She'd even brought some for James. It was odd; for all the weight she gained Sirius seemingly lost the same amount. By the time she gave birth she'd be able to use him to sweep the floor. He wouldn't say it, but Lily knew he was terribly worried. Things hadn't been going so well for their side of late, and the expansion of their family was doing nothing to ease the weight of the world he insisted on shouldering. Dumbledore said time and again that things would have to get worse before they got better; they prayed that this was the worse he had been talking about. She didn't know if Sirius could take much more.
James had become a striking anomaly in her admittedly ridiculous life. He and Sirius were working their way back to the placed they'd been before Vanessa had come between them, though Lily suspected that was because they simply didn't discuss their significant others. Sirius still couldn't stand to be around Vanessa, and James still behaved strangely whenever he and Lily were in the same room, but overall they seemed happier, so who was Lily to complain?
It could have been worse; they could have expected Lily and Vanessa to suddenly become good friends to mirror their relationship, but, thankful, that was not the case. In truth, Lily really knew nothing about James' fiancée, having only seen her once recently when it had been James' turn to offer his house as a meeting place, and that had been awkward for just about every member of the Order present. She didn't know what was going to be expected of them after the wedding in six weeks, but she would cross that bridge when she came to it.
She had another reason to visit Sirius, though, besides the food. Once she told him what it was she needed to say all his inevitable concerns about her being out so late would be erased. She had the most wonderful news in the world for him.
They were going to have a son. A little Castor.
Lily smiled to herself as she walked past that rather demeaning fountain, her spare hand resting on her moderately protruding belly. She wasn't waddling yet, but walking had still become somewhat trying. Upon reaching the lifts, she stepped inside nearest compartment and slid closed the golden grilles with an echoic clang.
"Atrium," cooed that annoyingly smooth female voice Lily detested, No human woman sounded like that. She could just picture the man that had enchanted the lifts. The floor jerked and the lift began to ascend; Lily began to remember morning sickness with vivid clarity.
After a moment, the lift jolted to a halt and the grilles rattled open.
"Level Seven; Department of Magical Games and Sports, incorporating the British and Irish Quidditch League Headquarters, Official Gobstones Club, and Ludicrous Patents Office," trilled the woman's voice.
Curse whoever had decided it was a good idea to stop the lifts on every bloody floor; they ought to have been smacked. It was probably the same git that had charmed the voice for the announcer. Oh yes, the nausea was definitely returning. After a pause, the grilles slid closed again and the lift resumed it journey upward.
Up and up it went, stopping haltingly at each floor as it did, increasing Lily's irritation. Poor Sirius was in for a rather disgruntled wife. The annoying thumping noises in her head that increased in volume with each bump of a stop weren't improving her mood, funnily enough. Up-stop, up-stop, up-stop, until…
"Level Two: Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including the Improper Use of Magic Office, Auror Headquarters, and Wizengamot Administration Services."
With a dearly meant, "Thank Merlin," Lily stepped through the entrance of the lift and onto her husband's floor.
It struck her at first that the department was seemingly empty. Yes, there was no official night staff, but usually there was someone working late into the night in the Auror offices. It was kind of an all-hours department. The men had probably just fallen asleep at their desks.
Lily made her way into the Headquarters, still without encountering a soul. She would have felt more ill at ease had the thumping in her head not become a pounding, demanding the attention of all of her nerves. She wound her way through the rows of cubicles until she came to the little space Sirius shared with James and a third trainee she had yet to meet. He wasn't a member of the Order, which, according to Sirius, had a tendency to complicate matters greatly for James and him.
The three cramped desks and partially unfolded cot were empty. Great. Lily slumped down in the nearest chair and huffed a sigh. Sirius couldn't have gone home; someone else would surely be holding down the fort if that were the case. No, the complete desertion of the Auror Headquarters could only mean one thing: an attack.
Guilt swept through Lily. She had probably missed the alert in her effort to bring her husband dinner. Damn it. It was her responsibility to receive information such as this and pass it along, and she had failed spectacularly. Dumbledore was going to be so disappointed in her. Not to mention Sirius. However, it appeared that the news had found its way to the Auror office in spite of her absence, so perhaps things would work out yet. Now if only that bloody thumping would stop.
Lily sat the tub of shepherd's pie on the desk (James', judging by the photographs) and reclined into the chair. There was no way she could go home now; she'd spend the rest on the night paralyzed in fear for her husband if she spent the rest of the night alone in their empty house. No, she needed to be here when the all got back, if for no other reason than to make sure Sirius ate. And besides, she really didn't want to haul her pregnant self all the way home, not when she could almost taste the bile at the back of her throat.
A muffled scream pierced through the silence.
Lily stiffened and leaned forward. No, it couldn't have been. Who on Earth would be screaming in the high level administrative offices, especially at this hour of the night? She was probably just tired and hearing things. Yes, that was it; she was worried about her Auror husband, and her imagination was taking her exhausted state as an opportunity to run wild. Nothing to get excited over.
Then the ceiling shook. There was another scream and several loud bangs.
Shit. It most definitely was not nothing. Lily stood hurriedly and turned to leave the cubicle, but then thought the better of it. What exactly was she to do about it, whatever it was? She was nineteen weeks pregnant, for heaven's sakes. The ceiling shook again. Another series of screams.
Dammit, she was a member of the Order of the Phoenix. She had sworn to do everything in her power to fight back against the other side. She had an obligation to at least look in on whatever was going on upstairs.
Lily rushed through the cubicles to the lift. Once inside, she paused before closing the grilles to listen up the shaft. Sure enough, shouts and banging were sounding down from the floor above. Her head hadn't been pounding after all. She drew her wand and pulled the grilles into place.
The lift rattled upward, in Lily's mind at a snail's pace. She could hear the blood drumming in her ears; the adrenaline kept the nausea at bay. A brilliant thought suddenly popped into her head; she hurriedly cast a Patronous and kept it ready at her side. At long last, the lift came to a stop.
"Level One: Minister of Magic and Support Staff."
A jet of blue light whizzed past Lily's head and collided with the wall of the lift before the grilles had even begun to open. Lily quickly sent her Patronous down the shaft and began to fire Stunners into the hall.
The administrative hall was in utter chaos. Dark, hooded figures were intermixed with more benevolent-looking ones; many appeared paired off into twos and fours, dueling. Spells were flying indiscriminately. Lily ducked as best she could as another curse jetted by. The lighting was so dim that she couldn't see to the offices at the other end of the hall, but Lily could make out several bodies lying on the marble floor, twisted into sickeningly odd angles. She couldn't see Sirius anywhere in the melee. Lily was so frazzled she couldn't decide whether that was good or bad.
She slid out of the lift and edged along the wall to her left, still firing rapidly at the hooded intruders. It was so hard to see; she didn't want to hit any of her comrades. They appeared to be having enough difficulties as it was. She suddenly wished she had thought to tie back her hair.
One of the hooded assailants nearest to Lily turned and began to advance toward her. Lily continued shooting Stunners at him, but he dodged them expertly. A horrible green curse flew from his wand directly at her, but she turned to the side, barely avoiding it.
"Tarantallegra!" she yelled as she turned back. The Death Eater blocked it but was forced back several steps. A hideous skull mask obscured his face. His Reducto missed Lily but crushed through the wall above her head. She had to sidestep the crumbling debris.
Without even really considering her actions, Lily slashed through the air with her wand, a wave of fire coursing from its tip in the direction of her opponent. Evidently, he hadn't been expecting that, as most of the flames made contact with him, immediately igniting his robes. The Death Eater screamed and thrashed like a horribly dismembered octopus. Lily took advantage of his incapacitation to hit him in the chest with a Stunning spell. He stilled instantly and crumbled to the ground.
Lily quickly doused the Death Eater with water from her wand and magically shoved his body to the side. Down the hall, the battle was still raging as fiercely as before. Sirius was still nowhere to be seen. Lily resumed easing herself down the wall until she was pressed into the safety of a darkened corner and continued firing spells at the belligerents.
A thick curse bolted over her head, demolishing a large chunk of the wall. Lily screamed in shock and ran as fast as the baby would allow to avoid the falling debris. Another curse flew past as she found herself in the middle of the fighting. She whirled around and began shooting every spell that came to mind. For the third time in as many years, Lily began to wonder if she would live to see the next day.
There was a clear path to the lifts. Would she be a coward if she left now? No, she would be a responsible mother. She should have trusted her gut and fled the Ministry to begin with. Ducking another green jet, Lily began moving toward the exit.
With fifteen feet to go, a Death Eater ran into her path, effectively blocking the exit. His unmasked visage bore a hideous grin of enjoyment and bloodlust. Lily recognized his face: Antonin Dolohov, one of the Ministry's ten most wanted and purportedly one of Voldemort's favorites, the combination of which could only spell calamity. His grin widened sickeningly as his eyes travelled down to her rounded stomach.
"Leaving so soon?" he yelled as he hurled a curse at her, which she barely dodged. "But we've only just begun."
Coursing panic flooded Lily's veins, so she slashed another line of fire through the air. However, Dolohov was much more skilled than her previous opponent and easily put it out.
"So you like playing with fire," he called over the din of the fighting.
The twisted gleam in his eyes would haunt her for the rest of her life. Dolohov raised his wand and made a series of slashing movements as a lengthy incantation Lily had no recollection of poured from his lips. She stepped backward and hastily threw up a shield, but the purple flames he slammed toward her were immune to it.
Pain seared through every centimeter of Lily's body. The flames ripped through her, pulling her apart. She felt her feet leave the ground as she wreathed in agony. Then the fire became ice, biting at her muscles and bones, leaving her paralyzed in anguish. Her stomach erupted in blinding pain.
Faintly, Lily heard someone call her name as the sensation of falling overcame her. Then everything numbed. She was vaguely aware of her back colliding with something hard before the blackness overcame her.
Ah, actions sequences. They've always made me feel unsure of myself. Oh, well. This chapter is the big one I've been telling you all about for ages. Years, in fact. Or part of that chapter, at least. See, I had originally intended to leave it as it ends here, but then I realized that that would be an utterly stupid move on my part, so the events of the chapter will carry on into the next. The next chapter is going to have to be much longer, I think.
The chapter title is What a Scene by The Goo Goo Dolls. Yes, they're back.
Thank you all for the lovely reviews for the last chapter, even though it was just a filler, really. They warmed by heart, which is good as we've been having an unusually chilly summer. I suspect I'll be getting several distressing ones after this chapter concerning the future of Lily and her son. I'll warn you now, though, it gets worse.
On that happy note, I'm sorry to say that I do not have the next chapter ready to go. A pox on me, I know, I know. I've been slowly chipping away at it for the last two weeks, but it may take a while, so I doubt it will be up next weekend. I'll have it up as soon as humanly possible, I promise, and I'll apologies now for any extended delays. I don't do them to be mean, I swear.
One last thing, scout's honor. Even though I quit scouts after half a year, but I digress. If you're like me and obsess over the statistical aspects of fanfics, you'll have noticed that this one hit sixty-thousand words a few chapters ago. Forgetful girl that I am, I keep forgetting to bring it up. I consider this to be a landmark for this story, so I'd like to take this time to thank everyone for reading. I couldn't have imagined having a kinder, more gracious, more intuitive group read something I've written, so once more, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Til Next Time!