Disclaimer: This story is based on characters created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
AN: Thanks for all your reviews! I love them, I love you guys!
I promise to answer them in the next chapter, I'm too tired to do it now, can't even blink without supreme effort –laughs-. But I will answer, I promise!
And many questions that will jump in your minds during this chapter, will be cleared in the next one. The whole ordeal didn't end in this chapter, not by far!
Enjoy this chappie and tell me what you think!
Chapter 36
Orion jumped from Lezander's arms, and tightly grasped Calypso by her shoulders. "What do you mean? How do you know?"
"I went to my father's office, to visit him. When I got in, he was talking to someone through the floo network," rushed out Calypso. "I only heard snippets of their conversation, but what I heard was enough to alarm me. So I kept listening, without my father knowing. When they were done, my father grabbed his Death Eater robes and mask, and flooed away. Oh, Orion, they are going there right now!"
"But what did you hear?" said Orion impatiently. "Tell me everything you heard. Leave nothing out!"
"Something about the Dark Lord sending Harry Potter a vision which would make him go to the Department of Mysteries, to help someone, I think," replied Calypso hastily.
Orion gasped and took a step back. "He did send me a vision! I forgot! It was while I was transforming into Firebreath. And there was someone there, who seemed wounded…"
"Yes, yes," said Calypso frantically. "The Dark Lord was going to make Harry Potter see a friend being tortured in the Department of Mysteries."
Orion shook his head. "Voldemort doesn't know who Harry Potter's friends are!"
Suddenly, his eyes widened. "Remus! That's why Voldemort has insistently told me about my mum's and James' friends, because he was planning on sending me this vision; to make me go to the Department of Mysteries to save Remus, the last of my parents' old friends - without counting my real father who supposedly is very ill-." He frowned, and added, "But I didn't see who it was. It could be Remus or someone else. Or Voldemort could have fabricated the whole vision!"
"Who's Remus?" said Calypso with a frown.
"I don't think Voldemort has Remus, he can't!" said Orion frantically. "Remus is the alpha werewolf, Calypso, and my friend. I have no way of communicating with him, but it's very unlikely that they have him. His pack would protect him!"
Calypso's eyes widened. "It's a trap, then!"
"Yes, I think it is," said Orion, shakily carding his fingers through his hair. "But if the vision is real…"
"You didn't see who it was?" said Lezander quietly.
"No, I pushed the vision away, because I wanted to concentrate on the transformation," replied Orion, as he nervously started pacing the room.
Lezander frowned, and said pensively, "Could Voldemort have perceived that you didn't see the whole vision, and thus, that you didn't see who he was torturing?"
Orion snapped his eyes to Lezander's. "Possibly. Why do you ask?"
"Because if Harry Potter didn't see the face of the friend who was being tortured, then Voldemort knows that Harry Potter won't go."
"Then the Dark Lord could go himself!" interjected Calypso frantically. "It makes sense. Think about it. He sends the Death Eaters to capture Harry Potter and the prophecy, in the off chance that Harry Potter did see the whole vision and shows up. If Harry Potter doesn't show up, then the Dark Lord goes himself to retrieve the prophecy. The Death Eaters would already be there, to help him counter any opposition; if there's any, which I doubt, since it's very late. So it's quite safe for the Dark Lord to break into the Ministry, and he would have even more reason to go if there's a chance that he gets Harry Potter."
"So in the end, it doesn't matter if the vision is real or not," said Orion despondently. "I still have to go and get the prophecy before Voldemort does."
"But it's a trap!" said Calypso nervously.
"It is," Orion said quietly, "but I have no choice." He looked at them with determination, and said, "Right. You two stay here, I'll go and-"
"No way, I'm coming with you!" said Calypso sternly.
Lezander pierced Orion with his eyes, and said resolutely, "You're not going without me, meu dragoste."
Orion sighed and rubbed his forehead. "You're going to insist on this, are you?"
"Yes, we are," said Calypso sharply. "You'll only waste more time trying to convince us not to go, and we won't listen to you anyway. We're best friends; in good and bad times, we help each other."
Orion squared his shoulders, and said with determination, "Alright, let's get moving."
"What about the DA?" interjected Calypso. "They could help."
"No," replied Orion curtly, "they can't get involved. It will be strange enough for Harry Potter to go with two friends, let alone with fifty other people, who have connections with the Dark side. Besides, it would take me too long to explain what's going on, and I would have to tell them that I'm Harry Potter. And if we're going, we'll be using disguises, glamours. Not everyone in the DA can sustain a glamour."
"You're thinking of the facies glamourie," said Lezander.
"Yes. You two assume common faces, easy to forget," replied Orion. "I'll use a young version of James Potter's face. Put on some hooded robes and always have your head covered, just in case."
"The glamour will only last for an hour," said Calypso worriedly.
"I know," said Orion, "it's all the time we will have. The facies glamourie can't be casted twice successively; it's too draining on our magic. But the hoods will also help." He quickly went to his trunk, got his portkey to Black Manor, and tossed it to Calypso. "Keep this at all times with you, in case we have to make a hasty retreat. It'll take us to my Manor."
Calypso nodded, and quickly left to change her robes, while Lezander and Orion did the same thing, and started to change their faces.
She returned already with her face changed, which looked like a common brown-eyed, dark haired witch. Lezander's face was slightly ugly, with black eyes and short, curly, black hair.
Orion quickly conjured a mirror and saw, with satisfaction, that he was a replica of a young James Potter, but without glasses, those would only get in the way. He had darkened his green eyes considerably, so no one would make a connection with him. Voldemort had seen Harry Potter as a baby, but eyes sometimes darkened with age, even if his hadn't.
"Are you going to cancel the blood glamour on your scar?" asked Calypso, inspecting Orion's face.
Orion frowned. "No, just in case we take longer and the facies glamourie fades. I don't want anyone to see my real face with the scar. And Harry Potter could have used something to dim his scar, it's not so far-fetched, and after all, no one knows how hard it is to conceal it."
He hastily went to his trunk, retrieved his Phoenix wand, and pocketed the Death and Life wand, which could be recognized by some Death Eaters. His eyes caught a glimpse of Tom's locket. Orion wrinkled his forehead in thought. Maybe Tom could help, especially if there were unknown spells or wards protecting the prophecy. He quickly dismantled the wards around the locket and placed it around his neck, with his other two necklaces, safely tucking it under his robes.
Orion turned around, and said, "Listen up, we will only address each other by our animagus names, no one except us knows them."
Calypso nodded, and then said worriedly, "How will we get there?"
"Where did your father floo to?" asked Orion.
"Malfoy Manor."
Orion sighed wearily. "Figures. Lucius must be leading the mission, considering that he knows the Ministry like the back of his hand."
He did some fast thinking, and said quickly, "Alright, we'll floo from your father's office to the Leaky Cauldron. From there, we'll take the Knight Bus to the Ministry. I know how to use the visitors' entrance; Lucius explained it to me, some time ago."
"What's the Knight Bus?" asked Calypso, in wonder.
"Never mind that," said Lezander exasperatedly. "Time is ticking!"
As soon as they had rushed out the door, a nondescript brown owl flew in through the opened window, with a letter tied around his leg, addressed to Orion.
In hasty, scrunched letters, Snape had written: 'Whatever you do, don't go.'
"Oh, for Mer-lin's sa-ke!" cried Calypso, in between pants, as she ran. "What is it with you two? Wait for me!"
Orion halted in the middle of the corridor, which led to Romulus Rosier's office, and blinked in surprise when he saw that Calypso was very far behind them.
Lezander stopped by his side, and said with a smirk, "Vampire stamina, meu dragoste."
Orion looked at him in wonder as Calypso reached them.
"I'll carry her," said Lezander quickly.
"What-?" shrieked Calypso, startled, as Lezander swiftly picked her up.
Orion shot them a grin, and they started making a mad rush along the corridor.
"Oh, put me down!" cried Calypso, clutching Lezander's neck frenetically. "I don't like being carrieeed!"
They came to a sudden halt, in front of Rosier's office, and Orion quickly said, "Scaly, do your thing."
She dizzily got off Lezander's arms, shook her head, and started muttering spells under her breath, as she brought down her father's wards.
Calypso hastily opened the door, and they rushed inside the dark room.
"Lumos!" said Orion at once.
His eyes zeroed in on the fireplace, and he seized Calypso's hand, quickly running towards it.
"You first, Scaly, hurry!"
She grabbed some floo powder, went inside the fireplace, and said, as she threw the powder, "The Leaky Cauldron!"
Lezander was next, followed by Orion.
Stepping out from the vanishing green flames, Orion looked around and saw that the Leaky Cauldron was almost empty; just a few wizards, here and there, nursing a pint of beer or a glass of firewhiskey.
"Hello there," said the bartender. "What would you like?"
"Just passing," said Orion hastily, grabbing Lezander and Calypso's hands, and pulling them with him, outside the place.
As soon as they were in the alley, Orion frantically waved his wand in the air.
There was a deafening BANG, and Orion threw up his hands to shield his eyes against a sudden blinding light.
With a surprised yell, Calypso stumbled backwards, as gigantic pair of wheels and headlights screeched to a halt in front of them.
Orion raised his head to see a triple-decker, violently purple bus, which had appeared out of thin air. Gold lettering over the windshield spelled 'The Knight Bus'.
A conductor in a purple uniform leapt out of the bus and began to speak loudly to the night.
"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. Just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan Shunpike, and I will be your conductor this eve -"
"Yeah, yeah, save it," interrupted Orion impatiently, as he pulled Lezander and Calypso inside.
Close up, he saw that Stan Shunpike was only a few years older than he was, eighteen or nineteen at most, with large, protruding ears and quite a few pimples.
"No need to be nasty," said Stan, dropping his professional manner.
"Alright," said Orion dismissively. "Now, how much to get to the Ministry of Magic?"
Stan raised an eyebrow. "The Ministry? At this time of night?"
"Will you simply answer?" snapped Calypso at him. "Or is it required of you to interrogate your passengers until you bore them to death?"
Stan huffed at the rebuke, and said curtly, "Eleven sickles each."
Orion quickly grabbed some money from his pocket and handed the sickles to Stan.
They looked around. There were no seats; instead, half a dozen brass bedsteads stood beside the curtained windows. Candles were burning in brackets beside each bed, illuminating the wood-paneled walls. A tiny wizard in a nightcap at the rear of the bus muttered, "Not now, thanks, I'm pickling some slugs", and rolled over in his sleep.
"You have these ones," said Stan, indicating a bed right behind the driver, who was sitting in an armchair in front of the steering wheel, and another two beds on the other side.
"This is our driver, Ernie Prang."
Ernie Prang, an elderly wizard wearing very thick glasses, nodded to them.
Stan looked at them, and asked with curiosity, "What are your names?"
"What does it matter, man?" growled Lezander, as he pulled Orion and Calypso to the bed behind the driver. "Just get this thing going!"
Stan scowled at them, before sitting down in the armchair next to Ernie's, and saying, "Take 'er away, Ern."
There was another tremendous BANG, and the next moment Orion found himself flat on top of Lezander, while Calypso scrambled on the bed, besides them, desperately clutching a brass rod.
"I'm liking this," said Lezander with a smirk, as he wriggled under Orion.
Orion started to chuckle, but soon grasped Lezander tightly, as the bus gave a violent jolt while it sped along the street.
Finally, pulling himself up, Orion stared out of the dark window and saw that they were now bowling along a completely different street.
Lezander pulled Orion to his lap, resting his back on the window, and making Orion straddle him on the bed. He nuzzled Orion's neck, and said with a wicked grin, "More comfortable like this, don't you think?"
Orion gave him a lustful smirk, while he crossed his arms around Lezander's neck, and wriggled on top of him.
"Don't tempt me, love," growled Lezander, gripping Orion's hips.
Orion sunk his eyes into Lezander's, and whispered, "Soon."
"Soon," said Lezander softly, his pale blue eyes sparkling with unbridled need and desire, as his fingertips tenderly caressed Orion's cheek.
"For Merlin's sake, how can you two be thinking about sex while being in this life-threatening piece of junk?" said Calypso with exasperation, as she crawled on the bed towards them, tightly clutching the bed covers as she went.
Lezander shot her a roguish grin. "We're hormonal teenagers, what did you expect?"
Calypso rolled her eyes. She looked outside the window, and said scathingly, "Ernie doesn't seem to have mastered the use of a steering wheel, wouldn't you say?"
Orion looked outside and snorted. The Knight Bus kept mounting the pavement, but it didn't hit anything; lines of lampposts, mailboxes, and trash cans jumped out of its way as it approached and back into position once it had passed.
Suddenly, Ernie slammed on the brakes and the Knight Bus skidded to a halt. The three of them were thrown flat against the bed, in a jumble of arms and legs.
"Here we are," said Stan happily to them.
Calypso darkly muttered, as she jumped from the bed and straightened her robes.
"Thanks," Orion said to Ernie and Stan, before they jumped down the steps of the bus, which soon disappeared with a loud bang and a swirl of air.
"Best ride of my life," said Lezander, shooting Calypso a smirk.
"Never again," mumbled Calypso under her breath. "Bloody menace…"
Orion patted her on the back as he looked around; the lightheartedness he had felt during the brief bus trip, quickly fading away.
The street they were on contained several rather shabby-looking offices, a pub and an overflowing skip. Orion had expected a rather more impressive location for the Ministry of Magic. But soon, his eyes caught sight of the visitors' entrance.
"Where do we go from here, then?" asked Calypso, looking around.
"Over here," said Orion, pointing at an old red telephone booth, which was missing several panes of glass and stood before a heavily graffitied wall.
He quickly reached the telephone booth, opened the door, and urged the others, "Come on!"
They squashed themselves inside, Calypso ending up being jammed against the telephone apparatus, which was hanging crookedly from the wall as though a vandal had tried to rip it off.
"Scaly, dial six two four four two!" said Orion hastily.
Calypso did it, her arm bent bizarrely to reach the dial. As it whirred back into place, a cool female voice sounded inside the booth.
"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business."
"The good, the bad, and the ugly," said Orion very quickly; the first muggle thing which had sprung in his mind. "We're here to have a night stroll."
Lezander and Calypso arched an eyebrow at him, but remained quiet.
"Thank you," said the cool female voice. "Visitors, please take the badges and attach them to the front of your robes."
Three badges slid out of the metal chute where returned coins normally appeared.
Calypso scooped them up and handed them mutely to Orion and Lezander. Orion peered at his: 'The Bad, Night stroller'.
"Visitors to the Ministry, you are required to submit to a search and present your wands for registration at the security desk, which is located at the far end of the Atrium."
"Fine!" Orion said loudly, as his urgency and trepidation increased. "Now, can we move?"
Calypso and Lezander were silent, also feeling tenseness; the brief time of illusionary normalcy having long passed.
The floor of the telephone booth shuddered and the pavement rose up past its glass windows; the buildings sliding out of sight and blackness closing over their heads. And with a dull grinding noise they sank down into the depths of the Ministry of Magic.
A chink of soft golden light hit their feet and, widening, rose up their bodies. Orion bent his knees and held his wand, as ready as he could in such cramped conditions, while he peered through the glass to see whether anybody was waiting for them in the Atrium. But it seemed to be completely empty.
The light was dim, there were no fires burning under the mantelpieces set into the walls, and complete silence reigned.
The lift slid smoothly to a halt.
"The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant evening," said the woman's voice.
The door of the telephone booth burst open, and Orion toppled out of it, closely followed by Calypso and Lezander.
The only sound in the Atrium was the steady rush of water from a golden fountain; where jets from the wands of a witch and wizard, the point of a centaur's arrow, the tip of a goblin's hat and a house-elf's ears, gushed into the surrounding pool.
"Come on," said Orion quietly.
The three of them sprinted off down the hall, Orion in the lead, past the fountain towards a desk, above which, there was a sign indicating the Departments and their respective floor numbers.
Orion quickly took notice of the floor number of the Department of Mysteries. And he felt sure there ought to be a security person there. Their absence was an ominous sign, and an unpleasant squirming in his stomach increased as they passed through the golden gates to the lifts. He pressed the nearest 'down' button and a lift clattered into sight almost immediately, the golden grilles slid apart with a great, echoing clanking and they dashed inside.
Orion stabbed the number nine button. The grilles closed with a bang and the lift began to descend, jangling and rattling. Orion grimaced at how noisy the lifts were, before quickly casting a silencing spell.
When the lift halted, the cool female voice said, "Department of Mysteries," and the grilles slid open. They stepped out into the corridor where nothing was moving but the nearest torches, flickering in the rush of air from the lift.
Orion turned towards the plain black door. After months and months of dreaming about it, he was here at last.
"Let's go," he whispered, and he led the way down the corridor, Lezander and Calypso right by his side, tense and alert.
"OK, listen," said Orion, stopping within six feet of the door, and sternly looking at them. "I want you to use the portkey I gave you, the instant things get rough."
Calypso was about to retort, when Orion raised a hand, and added sternly, "No, no arguments about this. Promise me you'll use it."
"What about you?" said Lezander quietly.
"I can take care of myself," whispered Orion. "Besides, I have your necklace, I can use it."
Though he didn't have any intention of using it, not until he had the prophecy in his grasp, and after confronting Voldemort, as Harry Potter, once and for all. He had no intention of dueling with Voldemort, but he did want to clear things up; promising to join him if he accepted all the things they had discussed about.
"Alright," said Calypso, as Lezander nodded in acceptance.
Orion turned to face the door and walked forwards… just as it had in his dream... Abruptly, it quietly swung open. Orion inhaled deeply, and with determination, he marched over the threshold, the others at his heels.
They were standing in a large, circular room. Everything was black including the floor and ceiling. Identical, unmarked, handleless black doors were set at intervals all around the black walls, interspersed with branches of candles whose flames burned blue.
"Someone shut the door," Orion muttered.
The instant Calypso obeyed, the place became so dark that for a moment the only things they could see were the bunch of shivering blue flames on the walls and their ghostly reflections in the floor.
"Lumos," whispered Lezander and Orion, at the same time.
Orion looked at the illuminated doors uncertainly. In his dream, he had always walked purposefully across this room to the door immediately opposite the entrance and walked on. But there were around a dozen doors here.
Just as he was gazing ahead at the doors opposite him, trying to decide which was the right one, there was a great rumbling noise and the candles began to move sideways. The circular wall was rotating.
For a few seconds, the blue flames around them were blurred to resemble neon lines as the wall sped around; then, quite as suddenly as it had started, the rumbling stopped and everything became stationary once again.
"We won't know which door we came in through, when we have to leave," said Calypso in a frantic, hushed voice.
"Doesn't matter," said Orion quietly, clutching his wand tighter than ever. "You and Wildmane will use the portkey."
"Where do we go, then?" asked Lezander in a whisper.
"In the dreams, I went through the door at the end of the corridor from the lifts, into a dark room - that's this one - and then I went through another door, into a room that kind of… glitters. We should try a few doors," Orion said hastily. "I'll know the right way when I see it. Let's get to it."
He marched straight at the door now facing him, the others following close behind him. He set his left hand against its cool, shining surface, raised his wand ready to strike the moment it opened, and pushed.
It swung open easily, and they went inside.
After the darkness of the first room, the lamps hanging low on golden chains from this ceiling gave the impression that this long rectangular room was much brighter, though there were no glittering, shimmering lights as Orion had seen in his dreams. The place was quite empty except for a few desks and, in the very middle of the room, an enormous glass tank of deep green liquid, big enough for all of them to swim in; a number of pearly-white objects were drifting around lazily in it.
"What are those things?" whispered Lezander.
"No idea," said Orion with a frown.
Calypso moved forward to look through the side of the tank. She halted, and said with an odd voice, "They're brains."
"That's it, we're leaving," said Orion at once, as he grabbed her and pulled her away. "This isn't the room."
"There are doors here, too," said Lezander, pointing around the walls. Orion's heart sank; how big was this place?
"Let's go back and try from there," said Orion.
They hurried back into the dark, circular room.
"Wait!" said Calypso sharply, as Lezander made to close the door of the brain room behind them.
She moved her wand through the air, pointing at them and then at the door, as she said, "Nostrum occulum numerata!"
A fiery number one appeared on the door.
"It will number the doors we've tried, and only we will see the marks."
"Excellent, Scaly," said Orion with a small smile.
No sooner had the door clicked shut behind them, that there was a great rumbling, and once again, the wall began to revolve very fast, but now there was a great red-gold blur amongst the faint blue. When all became still again, the fiery number still burned for them, showing the first door they had tried.
"OK, let's try this one," said Orion.
Again, he strode directly at the door facing him and pushed it open, his wand till raised, the other two at his heels.
This room was larger than the last, dimly lit and rectangular, and the centre of it was sunken, forming a great stone pit some twenty feet deep. They were standing on the topmost tier of what seemed to be stone benches running all around the room and descending in steep steps like an amphitheatre. There was a raised stone dais in the centre of the pit. Unsupported by any surrounding wall, the archway was hung with a tattered black curtain or veil which, despite the complete stillness of the cold surrounding air, was fluttering very slightly as though it had been touched.
Orion was entranced by it, there was something very powerful behind it; he could feel it pulling at his dark magic, enticing him, calling him.
Without noticing, he fluidly went down the benches, one by one, until he reached the stone bottom of the sunken pit. He walked swiftly towards the dais. The veil swayed gently, as though somebody had just passed through it.
It was beautiful. He deftly climbed up the dais and looked with fascination at the gently rippling veil. Orion stretched out a hand, his dark magic swirling animatedly inside of him, his pulse quickening, and his eyes darkening, as the pull became stronger.
"What are you doing?" said Lezander in alarm, as he grasped and halted Orion's stretched hand.
Orion heard something. There were faint whispering, murmuring noises coming from the other side of the veil.
"Do you hear?" said Orion breathlessly.
Calypso, who had just reached them, shot Lezander a worried glance, and said, "No, Firebreath. There's complete silence."
The whispering and murmuring was becoming louder, the pull he felt towards it more intense and inviting.
"There's something in there," whispered Orion, mesmerized.
"What do you mean, in there?" said Calypso. "There isn't any 'in there', it's just an archway, there's no room for anything to be there. Firebreath, stop it, I don't like it, come away –"
She seized Orion's arm and pulled, but he resisted.
"No," said Orion, in an unearthly voice. "There's something…. It's a Necromancer's Gate..."
Calypso gasped. "How do you know?"
Orion blinked at her, his mind briefly returning to him. "I- I just know."
Calypso frowned at him, but then said angrily, "Well, if you're right, they must have stolen it from some dark wizard. Light wizards have no right to something that belongs to our kind!"
"Whatever," interjected Lezander, shooting the veil a worried glance. "Let's leave; it gives me a very bad feeling."
Orion had become mesmerized by it again. He couldn't hear anything else but the whispers calling to him; his dark magic bubbling happily in his body, being pulled inexorably towards the veil, wanting to feel it, touch it...
Suddenly, Lezander forcefully grabbed him from behind.
"Firebreath!" snapped Calypso at Orion, a slight fearfulness lacing her voice. "Let's go! The prophecy, remember!"
Something finally slid back into place in his brain, and Orion shook his head and wrenched his eyes from the veil.
"Let's go," he said.
"That's what I've been trying to - well, come on, then!" said Calypso with exasperation, and she led the way back around the dais.
Casting a worried glance at Orion, Lezander took hold of his hand, and followed Calypso.
They hastily clambered all the way back up to the door, and entered the dark circular room.
Calypso quickly used the spell again, inscribing a number two on the door, glad to be far away from that room. There was an ominous, spooky atmosphere to it, and Orion's reaction had been very weird.
Once more, the wall spun and became still again. Orion, with a feeling of increasing desperation, approached another door at random and pushed.
"It's this one!" he said immediately.
He knew it at once by the beautiful, dancing, diamond-sparkling light. He saw clocks gleaming from every surface, large and small, hanging in spaces between the bookcases or standing on desks ranging the length of the room; a busy, relentless ticking filled the place like thousands of minuscule, marching footsteps. The source of the dancing, diamond-bright light was a towering crystal bell jar that stood at the far end of the room.
"This way!"
Orion's heart was pumping frantically now that he knew they were on the right track. He led the way down the narrow space between the lines of desks, heading, as he had done in his dream, for the source of the light, passing the crystal bell jar, quite as tall as he was, that stood on a desk and appeared to be full of a billowing, glittering wind.
"Oh, look!" said Calypso with great interest, pointing at the very heart of the bell jar.
Drifting along in the sparkling current inside was a tiny, jewel-bright egg. As it rose in the jar, it cracked open and a hummingbird emerged, which was carried to the very top of the jar, but as it fell on the draught its feathers became bedraggled and damp again; and by the time it had been borne back to the bottom of the jar, it had been enclosed once more in its egg.
"Keep going!" said Orion impatiently.
Calypso huffed, deprived from learning more about it, but obeyed.
They followed him past the bell jar to the only door behind it.
"This is it," Orion said again, and his heart was now pumping so hard and fast that he felt it interfered with his speech. "It's through here."
Standing before the door, Orion glanced at them. They had their wands out, their glamoured faces were shadowed by their hoods, and they looked serious, anxious, but determined.
"If we encounter the Death Eaters," whispered Orion, "we can only use spells which won't reveal that we're dark wizards."
"We cannot hurt them," said Calypso, casting a stern glance at Orion.
"They'll hurt us!" interjected Lezander. "We have to be able to defend ourselves."
Orion nodded at Lezander. "If they battle us, then we'll use moderate dark spells. I'll use easy dark spells which Harry Potter, as any light wizard, could have learned and mastered, from a book."
"And if things get ugly?" insisted Lezander.
Orion sighed. "You two use whatever spells you like and get the hell out with the portkey."
"And what spells will you use?" said Calypso. Then she added pleadingly, "Don't hurt them, my father is with them."
"He has to hurt them if they start cursing him!" growled Lezander.
"I'll decide what to do when it happens," said Orion. He looked at Calypso, and added quietly, "Never fear, I'll defend myself without hurting your father or Lucius. I just hope they aren't there."
Calypso sighed wearily and nodded.
Orion abruptly grabbed Lezander and gave him a deep, longing kiss. He broke from it, with a slight pant of air, and then he sunk his eyes into Lezander's, and whispered, "If things get tough, use the portkey to get out and take her with you. I'll use your necklace, but don't wait for me. Promise me you'll do this."
Lezander mutely nodded, giving Orion a last lingering caress on the cheek.
Orion turned around, looked at the door, tightly gripped his Phoenix wand, and pushed.
It swung open.
They were there, they had found the place: high as a church and full of nothing but towering shelves covered in small, dusty, glass orbs. They glimmered dully in the light issuing from more candle-brackets set at intervals along the shelves.
Orion edged forward and peered down one of the shadowy aisles between two rows of shelves. He could not hear anything or see the slightest sign of movement.
"Look for row ninety-seven," he whispered.
Orion looked up at the end of the closest row. Beneath the branch of blue-glowing candles protruding from it, glimmered the silver figure fifty-three.
"We need to go right, I think," whispered Calypso, squinting to the next row. "Yes… that's fifty-four…"
"Wands ready," said Orion quietly.
They crept forward, glancing behind them as they went on down the long alleys of shelves, the further ends of which were in near-total darkness. Tiny, yellowing labels had been stuck beneath each glass orb on the shelves. Some of them had a weird, liquid glow; others were as dull and dark within as blown light bulbs.
They passed row eighty-four… eighty-five… Orion was listening hard for the slightest sound of movement, his heart pounding, all his senses alert, his dark magic swirling in anticipation, as if sensing the possibility of usage.
"Ninety-seven!" whispered Lezander.
They stood grouped around the end of the row, gazing down the alley beside it. There was nobody there.
"Just like we suspected; it was a fabricated vision," whispered Orion with relief. "Okay, stay alert and follow me."
He started taking the same path as he had done in the dream. Orion led them between the towering rows of glass balls, some of which glowed softly as they passed…
They reached the end of the row and emerged into more dim candlelight. All was echoing, dusty silence.
Orion looked up at the endless shelves filled with glass orbs.
"Start checking the labels," said Orion quietly, as he started doing that himself.
Calypso and Lezander quietly obeyed, moving around Orion, carefully checking the yellowed labels.
The minutes seemed to stretch indefinitely, and Orion impatiently went to check another row, leaving Calypso and Lezander behind. His eyes rapidly scanned label after label, his heart pumping, cold sweat breaking on his forehead, and his fingers tightly wrapped around his wand.
"Firebreath, here!" said Calypso's eager voice.
Orion snapped his head up and hastily went back to where Calypso and Lezander were standing, a little way down row ninety-seven.
They were staring at one of the dusty glass spheres on the shelf.
"Look at the label," said Lezander breathlessly, pointing at one of the small glass orbs that glowed with a dull inner light, though it was very dusty and appeared not to have been touched for many years.
Orion stepped forwards. Not as tall as Lezander, he had to crane his neck to read the yellowish label affixed to the shelf right beneath the dusty glass ball. In spidery writing was written a date of some sixteen years previously, and below that:
S.P.T. to A.P.W.B.D.
Dark Lord and (?)Harry Potter
Orion gasped as he stared at it, quickly unraveling the initials of the names. He had been right. Trewlaney had told Dumbledore the prophecy.
He quickly started casting spells –which Roman had taught them- to detect any wards or curses on the orb. Only one was detected, which had to be the one preventing anyone else, but those who the Prophecy mentioned, to touch it.
Orion heaved in a breath, and closed his fingers around the dusty orb. He expected it to feel cold, but it did not. On the contrary, it felt as though it had been lying in the sun for hours, as though the glow of light within was warming it.
He swiftly lifted the glass ball down from its shelf and stared at it.
Nothing whatsoever happened.
Calypso and Lezander moved in closer around Orion, gazing at the orb as he brushed it free of the clogging dust.
And then, from right behind them, a drawling voice spoke.
"Very good, Potter. Now turn around, nice and slowly, and give that to me."
The three of them swirled around, as one, with their wands aimed forwards.
Black shapes were emerging out of thin air all around them, blocking their way left and right; eyes glinted through slits in hoods, a dozen lit wand tips were pointing directly at their hearts. Orion felt Calypso tensing besides him.
"To me, Potter," drawled Lucius, as he held out his hand, palm up, while he squinted his eyes to look at Orion's glamoured face, shrouded in shadows by the hood.
Orion squared his shoulders, and said, changing his voice, "Who are you?"
Several of the Death Eaters laughed; a harsh female voice from the midst of the shadowy figures to Orion's left, sneered, "The Dark Lord said you were clueless, little baby Potter, but this is too much! Who do you think we are?"
"His followers, then," retorted Orion sharply. "Well, I have a deal with him. I'm the one who has to give this to him and -"
"A deal with the Dark Lord!" shrieked Bella furiously. "You think he would make a deal with a filthy half-blood street urchin like you?"
"Give me the orb, Potter," said Lucius softly. "We will give it to the Dark Lord. Then you can discuss things with him."
Orion snorted and tightly clutched the orb against his body. "I - not you- will give it to him. And only after I discuss things with him, as you put it. Where is Voldemort, anyway? Is he planning on making an appearance?"
Several of the Death Eaters let out low hisses.
"You dare speak his name?" whispered Bellatrix.
"Yeah," said Orion, "I've got no problem with saying Vol-"
"Shut your mouth!" screeched Bellatrix. "You dare speak his name with your unworthy lips, you dare besmirch it with your half-blood's tongue, you dare –"
She and her fellow Death Eaters had closed in so that they were mere feet away from Orion and the others.
Orion felt Lezander stir besides him, and he muttered, "Don't do anything."
Bella let out a raucous scream of laughter.
"You hear him? You hear him? Giving instructions to the other boy as though he thinks of fighting us!"
The Death Eaters laughed, though Bella laughed loudest of all.
"Give me the prophecy, Potter, or we start using wands," said Lucius sternly, "No one need get hurt, if you obey."
"Yeah, right!" said Orion with a nasty laugh. "I give you this - prophecy, is it? And you'll just let us skip off home, will you?"
The words were hardly out of his mouth when Bellatrix shrieked: "Accio proph-"
Orion shouted "Protego!" before she had finished her spell, and though the glass sphere slipped to the tips of his fingers he managed to cling on to it.
"Oh, he knows how to play, little bitty baby Potter," said Bellatrix, her mad eyes staring through the slits in her hood. "Very well, then –"
"I TOLD YOU, NO!" roared Lucius at Bella. "If you smash it -!"
Bella stepped forward, away from her fellows, and pulled off her hood.
"You need more persuasion?" she said, her chest rising and falling rapidly. "Very well - take the girl," she said to the Death Eater beside her. "Let Potter watch while we torture the little girl. I'll do it."
Orion and Lezander instantly closed in around Calypso, who had been approached by a Death Eater who Orion instantly recognized as Romulus Rosier. But Calypso didn't betray herself. With nerves of steel, she stood between Orion and Lezander, wand raised, and glamoured face stern as she peered at her father's masked face.
"You won't touch any of us," hissed Orion at Bella. "Or I'll smash this orb. I don't think that Your Lord will be too pleased if you come back without it, will he?"
She did not move; she merely stared at him, the tip of her tongue moistening her thin mouth.
"So," said Orion, as his mind swirled to find a way to get them out of there, with the prophecy intact in his hands, and without revealing who they were, "what kind of prophecy are we talking about, anyway?"
"What kind of prophecy?" repeated Bellatrix, the grin fading from her face. "You jest, Harry Potter."
"Nope, not jesting," said Orion, his eyes flicking from Death Eater to Death Eater, looking for a weak link, a space through which they could escape. "How come Voldemort wants it?"
"Don't dare say his name!" screeched Bella, before casting a curse at him.
A jet of red light shot from the end of Bellatrix's wand, but Lucius quickly deflected it; his spell caused hers to hit the shelf a foot to the left of Orion and several of the glass orbs there shattered.
Two figures, pearly-white as ghosts, fluid as smoke, unfurled themselves from the fragments of broken glass upon the floor and each began to speak; their voices vied with each other, so that only fragments of what they were saying could be heard over Lucius and Bellatrix's shouts.
"… at the solstice will come a new …" said the figure of an old, bearded man.
"DO NOT ATTACK! WE NEED THE PROPHECY!" roared Lucius.
"He dared - he dares –" shrieked Bellatrix incoherently, "he stands there - filthy half-blood -"
Orion used the distraction to whisper at Lezander and Calypso, "Smash shelves and we make a run for it."
"WAIT UNTIL WE'VE GOT THE PROPHECY!" bawled Lucius.
"… and none will come after…" said the figure of a young woman.
As the two figures that had burst from the shattered spheres started to melt into thin air, the three of them yelled, "REDUCTO!"
Three powerful spells flew in three different directions and the shelves opposite them exploded as they hit; the towering structure swayed as a hundred glass spheres burst apart, pearly-white figures unfurled into the air and floated there, their voices echoing from who knew what long-dead past amid the torrent of crashing glass and splintered wood now raining down upon the floor.
Orion seized a handful of Calypso's robes and pulled her forwards, as they started to make a mad rush along the corridors, the shelves swaying precariously and more glass spheres falling from above.
He quickly cast a protective spell over them, as chunks of shelf and shards of glass thundered down upon them. A Death Eater lunged forwards through the cloud of dust and Orion quickly cast an Incarcerus spell at him.
Everyone was yelling, there were cries of pain, and thunderous crashes as the shelves collapsed upon themselves, weirdly echoing fragments of the Seers unleashed from their spheres.
Orion found the way ahead clear and saw Lezander swiftly picking Calypso up, and dashing by his side, as they both ran, in tremendous speed, along the corridor.
They were at the end of row ninety-seven; Orion turned right, followed by Lezander, with Calypso in his arms; as she cast spell after spell, over Lezander's shoulder, to the Death Eaters that were now chasing them, far behind.
Straight ahead, the door through which they had come was ajar; Orion could see the glittering light of the bell jar; he pelted through the doorway, the prophecy still clutched tight and safe in his hand, and waited a second for Lezander to hurtle over the threshold, before slamming the door behind them.
"Colloportus!" yelled Orion, and the door sealed itself with an odd squelching noise.
Lezander placed Calypso on her feet, as Orion swirled around to look at them.
"I want you out of here, at once!" Orion said sharply. "Use the portkey to my Manor, now!"
"No!" snapped Calypso. "If you stay, we stay as well, to help you!"
"We stay by your side, meu dragoste," said Lezander quietly.
Orion grabbed Lezander by his collar, and said frantically, "You promised, Lez!"
"I'm not leaving without you," said Lezander softly, cupping Orion's face.
"You must!" said Orion desperately. "I need to stay only for a little while, to confront Voldemort as Harry Potter, to talk to him. There's no need for you to stay with me!"
"We stay," reiterated Lezander with stern determination.
"Damn it!" cried Orion, releasing Lezander and carding his fingers through his hair. "Very well, then we all leave! Take out the portkey, Scaly!"
In an instant, Calypso brought out the portkey. Orion quickly pocketed the prophecy, and they all grasped the portkey at the same time, as Orion whispered the activation code: 'Black Manor'.
Orion blinked when nothing happened.
"Wards!" gasped Calypso. "Ministry wards!"
Orion frantically took out Lezander's necklace. He hugged Calypso and Lezander tightly against him, and whispered Lezander's name.
Nothing stirred, no one moved.
"Fuck!" cried Orion, releasing them. "I can't believe this!"
"The wards are too powerful," said Calypso in a hushed, shaky voice.
Orion turned to them, and said frantically, "But Lez's portkey even works in Voldemort's Manor!"
"The Ministry must have very ancient and powerful wards on it," replied Calypso. "Centuries of wizards must have added wards upon wards on it."
Orion heaved in a breath and forced himself to calm down. He fiercely rubbed his forehead in thought. He frowned as he remembered Roman's extra-curricular lessons. Ministry wards, ancient wards, wards upon wards over centuries of time… His eyes widened. Roman had prepared him for a situation like this! He knew the theory! He had written extra-credit essays about it. Complex spells, combined from several very powerful wizards, were required to break such wards. But perhaps, with time on his hands, and deep concentration, he could try. Maybe he could do it, with his dark magic… His dark magic which inexplicably had become even more powerful during the year…
"Listen!" whispered Calypso in alarm.
Footsteps and shouts echoed from behind the door. They heard Lucius roar, "Leave Nott, leave him, I say — his injuries will be nothing to the Dark Lord compared to losing that prophecy. Jugson, come back here, we need to organize! We'll split into pairs and search, and don't forget, be gentle with Potter until we've got the prophecy, you can kill the others if necessary -Bellatrix, Rodolphus, you take the left; Crabbe, Rabastan, go right -Jugson, Dolohov, the door straight ahead - Macnair and Avery, through here - Rookwood, over there – Mulciber and Romulus come with me!"
"What do we do?" Calypso asked Orion, with a frantic expression on her face.
"I can try – the wards -," rambled Orion, "but I need time – concentration -"
"We can't stay in this room," said Lezander hastily. "They'll find us!"
"Yes," said Orion, clearing his head. "We need to find a room in which I can work and concentrate. Let's go!"
"Work on what -?" started saying Calypso, but Lezander had picked her up again, and they were now running at full speed, past the shimmering bell jar, towards the exit.
They took the door that stood open at the other end of the room, leading back into the black hallway. They had run halfway towards it when Orion saw, through the open door, two Death Eaters running across the black room towards them. Veering left, he burst instead into a small, dark, cluttered office and slammed the door behind them.
"Collo-" began Calypso, but before she could complete the spell, the door had burst open and the two Death Eaters had come hurtling inside.
With a cry of triumph, both yelled, "IMPEDIMENTA!"
"Rejecto Alica!" spat Orion, at the same time that Lezander and Calypso yelled, "Protego!"
As the spells bounced off, without touching them, one Death Eater yelled, "WE'VE GOT HIM! IN AN OFFICE OFF—"
"Petrificus Totalus!" shouted Orion.
The Death Eater's arms and legs snapped together and he fell forwards, face down on to the rug at Orion's feet, stiff as a board and unable to move.
"Stupe-" started casting Calypso at the other Death Eater.
But the Death Eater, who Orion now recognized as Dolohov, made a sudden slashing movement with his wand; a streak of what looked like purple flame shooting towards Calypso's chest.
"NOOO!" cried Orion and Lezander at the same time, as Lezander launched himself at her, pulling her to the floor, while Orion yelled in succession, "Atrum escudum! Somnus eternis!"
The purple non-verbal dark curse ricocheted from Orion's dark spell shield, hitting a wall and scorching it, as Dolohov dropped to the floor, deep asleep.
"Fucker!" spat Orion angrily, as he viciously kicked Dolohov in the ribs. He had recognized the dark curse, it would have pulverized Calypso, and only a dark spell shield could have diverted the curse from her.
Lezander pulled Calypso to her feet, as she muttered, "That was embarrassing… should have seen it coming…"
"We're not far from the exit," said Lezander hastily. "We're right next to that circular room… if we can just get across it and find the right door, before any more Death Eaters come, then we can leave the Ministry."
"Alright, let's go!" said Orion.
They crept out of the office and back towards the door into the black hallway, which now seemed completely deserted. They walked a few steps forwards and entered the circular room. The door swung shut behind them and the walls began to rotate once more. When the walls stopped moving, Orion's heart sunk. Calypso's numbers had faded from the doors. A Death Eater must have detected the spell and annulled it.
Lezander looked around, and said, "So which way do you reck—?"
Suddenly, a door across the hall burst open and three Death Eaters sped in, led by Bellatrix.
"THERE THEY ARE!" she shrieked.
Stunning Spells shot across the room, Lezander smashed his way through the door ahead of them, Calypso and Orion hot on his heels.
"Colloportus!" shouted Calypso, and they heard three bodies slam into the door on the other side.
"It doesn't matter!" said a man's voice. "There are other ways in - WE'VE GOT THEM, THEY'RE HERE!"
Orion spun around; they were back in the Brain Room and, sure enough, there were doors all around the walls. He could hear footsteps in the hall behind them as more Death Eaters came running to join the first.
The three of them tore around the room, sealing the doors as they went; Orion crashed into a table and rolled over the top of it in his haste to reach the next door.
"Colloportus!"
There were footsteps running along behind the doors, every now and then another heavy body would launch itself against one, so it creaked and shuddered; Calypso and Lezander were bewitching the doors along the opposite wall. Then, as Orion reached the very top of the room, he heard Lezander yell.
"Collo— aaaaaaaaargh…"
Orion turned in time to see Lezander flying through the air; five Death Eaters were surging into the room through the door Lezander had not reached in time. Orion's heart stopped as Lezander violently hit a desk, slid over its surface and on to the floor on the other side, where he lay sprawled, unmoving.
Orion saw red; his blood rushed fiercely in his veins, his dark magic pulsed dangerously under his skin, and his darkened green eyes swirled with ire.
"Get Potter!" screeched Bellatrix, and she ran at him.
Orion didn't bother with his wand, he didn't think about it twice, he just pushed his palm forwards, and bellowed wrathfully, "CRUCIO!"
In an inhuman shriek of unbearable, body-wrecking pain, Bella dropped to the floor, her limbs flailing and jerking madly on the hard stone, as her body convulsed and her mouth frothed.
The other four Death Eaters stood in shock, watching, before they regained their senses and started casting curses at him and Calypso.
Calypso yelled for his help, as she countered every spell sent towards them, and Orion's mind returned to him. But he didn't lift the Cruciatus Curse on Bella, he sustained it with his left hand, with extreme relish and pleasure coursing through his body, as he used his wand with his other hand, casting shields and defensive spells.
Spells and curses flew through the air, bounced off shields, ricocheted on walls, and abruptly, one beam of light struck the tank filled with brains.
The scene seemed momentarily frozen. Orion, Calypso, and the Death Eaters turned, in spite of themselves, to watch the tank exploding as brains burst from the green liquid like leaping fish. For a moment they seemed suspended in midair. Then, they soared through the air, falling towards them, spinning as they came, and what looked like ribbons of moving images flew from the brains, unravelling like rolls of film...
In a flash of speed, Orion jumped on Calypso, rolling with her on the floor, as he cast a protective bubble over them.
Two Death Eaters shrieked in pain as the tentacles of some brains wrapped themselves around their arms, as the other two Death Eaters were protected with their own shields, casting spells, trying to help their comrades, while Bella gasped for air on the floor, her body still shaking with intense, lingering pain.
"Diffindo!" yelled a Death Eater, trying to sever the feelers that were wrapping themselves around one of his partners, the brain tight around his fellow's chest, like an octopus.
Calypso and Orion swiftly got up from the floor, vanishing brains as they ran towards Lezander.
Orion threw himself at the floor, cradled Lezander's body, and aiming his wand at him, he said at once, "Ennervate!"
With a gasp, and a jerk of his body, Lezander snapped open his pale blue eyes.
"Are you alright?" said Orion softly, caressing Lezander's face, his heart still madly pounding in his chest.
Lezander smiled up at him, and said quietly, "I'm fine, just a rough fall. Help me up."
Orion nodded and pulled Lezander up with him. In that instant, the other Death Eaters started shooting Stunning Spells at them, Bella seemingly a bit recovered already.
The three of them made a run for it, without time of thinking of anything else, as they dodged spells, and skipped chairs and tables.
The Death Eaters, who hadn't been attacked by the brains, streaked after them, knocking the chairs and tables, but not daring to cast any harmful spells on them, in case they hurt the prophecy.
Calypso, Lezander and Orion dashed through the only door still open, the one through which the Death Eaters themselves had come; inwardly praying that it was the exit from the Department of Mysteries.
They ran a few feet into the new room and suddenly, they felt the floor vanish...
With a startled scream, they started to fall, but Calypso quickly cast a protective bubble around them, and they went down, steep stone step after steep stone step, bouncing on every tier until at last, with a soft 'thud', they landed flat on their backs, unharmed, in the sunken pit where the stone archway stood on its dais.
Orion frantically patted his pocket and felt, with a sigh of relief, that the prophecy orb wasn't broken, thanks to Calypso's spell.
Suddenly, the whole room was ringing with the Death Eaters' laughter. Orion looked up and saw the two who had been in the Brain Room, plus Bella, descending towards him, while as many more emerged through other doorways and began leaping from bench to bench towards him.
Orion, Calypso, and Lezander jumped to their feet, wands tightly clutched.
They backed away, looking around, trying to keep all the Death Eaters within their sight.
The back of Orion's legs hit something solid: they had reached the dais where the archway stood. They climbed backwards onto it.
The Death Eaters all halted, gazing at them. Some were panting hard, others bleeding, but most had triumphant smirks on their faces.
"Potter, your race is run," drawled Lucius, pulling off his mask, "now hand me the prophecy like a good boy."
"Let us go, and I'll give it to you!" said Orion, already extremely tired and wanting nothing more but to take Lezander and Calypso away from there.
A few of the Death Eaters laughed.
"You are not in a position to bargain, Potter," said Lucius, his pale face flushed with pleasure. "You see, there are ten of us and only three of you… or didn't you learn how to count while you lived in the streets?"
"Don't give it to them," growled Lezander by his side, with his wand aimed at Lucius.
Calypso said quietly, "I agree. We'll find a way out of this mess."
Orion shot her a glance and saw that she had her wand aimed as well, though she was casting glances at her father, with an anxious, pale face.
Bellatrix took some steps towards them, and snarled, gazing up at Orion, "Potter, either give us the prophecy, or watch your little friends die the hard way!"
Orion's hand twitched as it moved towards his pocket, where the prophecy was, when suddenly, he felt a tingling on his face. His eyes widened and he heard Calypso and Lezander gasping by his side, also feeling how their glamours were about to fade away.
In an instant, it was mayhem, when high above them, two more doors burst open and twelve more people sprinted into the room: Alastor Moody; a witch with pink hair, whom Orion believed to be Nymphadora Tonks, according to Sirius' description of her; Kingsley, the Head of the Auror Department; and nine others who Orion didn't recognize.
As the Death Eaters were battling fiercely with the newcomers, and without pausing to think about how the Order could have possibly found out about this, Orion pushed Calypso and Lezander to the floor, as spells flew over their heads.
"Our faces," whispered Calypso frantically, as they huddled together, after casting protective shields on themselves.
Orion saw the real face of Calypso and Lezander already showing, and he swallowed thickly before saying, "Is my-? Do I look like myself?"
"Yes," said Lezander quietly, as he looked at him. "Let's pull our hoods over our heads; there isn't much else we can do."
They immediately did so, and Calypso whispered desperately, "How are we going to get away from here, without the Order or the Death Eaters stopping us, or seeing who we are?"
"Oh, fuck this!" said Orion frantically. "I can use my dark magic to-"
"No!" said Calypso instantly. "They'll immediately know who you are! The Order as well! Think about it, they are expecting Harry Potter, and then you appear and -"
"MY LORD!" yelled the ecstatic voice of Bellatrix.
Orion's face drained from all color, and his heart starting pumping fast, as he slowly turned his hooded head, and saw Voldemort, with his intense dark aura pulsing and wrapped around him, framed in a doorway above the stands, shrewdly inspecting the scene with glinting crimson eyes and a confident smirk on his handsome face.
Orion felt a kind of electric charge surge through every particle of his body.
Calypso tightly clutched Orion's arm, as she whispered urgently, "We need to join the Death Eaters in the fight. It's the only way to explain our presence here. We will say that I heard my father planning on coming on this mission, so I told you and Lezander, and we three decided that we wanted to help."
"No one is going to be fooled by that!" said Orion frantically. "And where is Harry Potter now, then? Just vanished into thin air?"
"It's the only way!" snapped Calypso at him. "It doesn't matter if they don't believe us right now. They'll be too shocked to see us here, and they can't exactly interrogate us in the middle of a battle, can they? We'll think about a more believable excuse, later. And Harry Potter could have, just as well, fled in the middle of this chaos!"
Lezander quickly glanced around at the battle currently going on. Then he looked at them, and said quietly, "She's right. Let's get into the fray, and mingle with the Death Eaters, then we drop our hoods, as if we just got here and started fighting against the Order. Our robes are black, just like the Death Eaters', so we can mingle easily. And right now, everyone is too occupied battling the other side, so they won't notice."
Orion wearily rubbed his forehead. "Alright. Let's do it, if you- "
"DUMBLEDORE!" hissed a furious voice.
The three of them snapped their heads to a side, and saw Voldemort pointing a wand at Dumbledore, who was speeding down the steps, with wand aimed as well, and had a fierce expression on his face, looking more powerful than ever, while he shot searching glances around.
"Let's do as you said," said Orion with determination.
Intense, powerful spells were now raining, as Voldemort and Dumbledore started dueling each other, while the Death Eaters and the Order members kept battling, leaving a wide area in the middle of the room, where Voldemort and Dumbledore were matching powers.
They jumped from the dais to the sunken floor. Through the darting bodies and the flashes of curses, they quickly mingled.
Calypso went straight towards her father, who was fiercely battling Alastor Moody. Orion saw her lowering her hood as she ran.
Orion quickly lost sight of her as he dodged a jet of red light, separating from Lezander, who started dueling an Order member who had attacked him. Orion started shooting curses left and right, and then his eyes caught sight of Lucius and Rodolphus, fighting back-to-back, against four wizards who circled them.
He ran in a flash towards them, as he lowered his hood, and started casting curses to help them.
"Negralis mortalita!" Orion yelled, and an intense black beam of light shot from his wand, hitting one of the four wizards, who toppled down, opening a space in the circle.
Orion jumped to Lucius' side, as he cast a shield against an incoming curse.
"Orion!" said Lucius in surprise, as he continued casting spells. "What are you doing here? – Crucio!"
"Helping," said Orion quickly. Then he yelled, "Flagellum dollum!"
Lucius shot him a narrowed glance, but he continued his fight, another Order member having arrived, to duel them.
"Let's see those curses I taught you!" said Rodolphus to Orion, with smirk, before he quickly turned to send a very nasty curse at the new arrival.
"Cruor ferventa!" roared Orion, as his eyes frantically searched for Lezander and Calypso, while Lucius, Rodolphus and he moved around as the Order members advanced on them.
"Tempestas ignis!" yelled Orion, as he swirled around, and jumped to Lucius' side again. As the small storm of flames shot towards one of the wizards, Orion deflected an Incarcerus, panted for air, and then roared at two wizards who were fiercely fighting Rodolphus, "Poena lacer!"
"Where is Potter?!" growled a familiar voice near them.
Orion snapped his head to a side and saw that they had moved to be next to where Voldemort and Dumbledore were fighting each other, near the dais.
"Have you lost him, Tom?" said Dumbledore with twinkling eyes, while they had their wands trained on each other, robes torn or scorched, the only evidence of the brutal duel they were engaged in. They seemed to be at a stalemate, their powers too evenly matched to allow one of them easily defeat the other.
Voldemort snarled, "It's you who lost him, old man. You never found him, did you? Your little Savior escaped your clutches. Who is going to win the war for you this time?"
Dumbledore's eyes snapped to Orion, and he said pleasantly, "Ah, Mr. Black. How nice it is to see you again, even if it is in these unexpected circumstances."
Voldemort swiftly turned his head, his eyes narrowed at Orion, and he hissed, "What are you doing here, boy?"
"Interesting question," said Dumbledore, his twinkling eyes boring into Orion's.
Orion tensed, his mind swirling with frantic thoughts and his heart pumping madly. But suddenly, over Dumbledore's shoulders, he finally caught sight of Lezander. He was fiercely dueling with Kingsley and another wizard, on the dais, a few feet away from them. Lezander had several injuries on his body, looked exhausted, and Kingsley and the other wizard were gaining ground on him.
Without a second thought, only Lezander on his mind, Orion flashed by Voldemort and Dumbledore, jumping on the dais, to Lezander's side.
"Protego maxima!" yelled Orion at Kingsley's incoming spell.
Lezander shot him a smile, before roaring, "Sever corpus!"
Kingsley jumped to a side, to avoid the curse, and then bellowed at Lezander, "Contracto mentis!"
Orion instantly jumped in front of Lezander, and yelled furiously, "Atrum escudum!"
As the spell bounced off, Orion saw, from the corner of his eyes, a dark green beam of light careening towards him, from the other wizard.
"NOOOOO!" shrieked Lezander, launching himself at Orion.
Orion's wand slipped from his hand, as he heavily hit the floor. Sprawled on his back, as if in slow motion, he saw the jet of light hitting Lezander squarely on the chest, his pale blue eyes widening, as his body curved in a graceful arc as he sank backwards, towards the veil.
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" cried Orion desperately, as he jumped to his feet, his blood igniting and rushing in his body, as he shot forwards, stretching out a hand, his mind losing all reason, his heart clenching in frantic fear, his dark magic roaring savagely inside of him...
As Lezander crossed through the Veil, Orion's fingers seized Lezander's hand, and he began sinking in with Lezander, extreme coldness creeping through his hand, as he began crossing over, through his arm, as he kept going…
Abruptly, he was pulled from behind, by strong arms that wrapped around his chest and waist.
Orion's whole right arm had gone through the Veil, still grasping Lezander's hand on the other side.
"LET GO OFF ME!" bellowed Orion hysterically, as he tried to disentangle himself from whoever was holding him back. He felt Lezander slipping on the other side of the Veil, something slipping away from Lezander's body, as unbearable coldness petrified his right arm.
"ORION, LET GO RIGHT NOW!" roared Voldemort furiously at him, tightly gripping him against his chest. "There's Death there, your friend is already dead!"
"NO! HE IS NOT!" shrieked Orion insanely and desperately, as thick tears rolled down his cheeks; pushing Voldemort away from him with his other arm. "I FEEL HIM! HE'S THERE! I CAN BRING HIM BACK! I WILL BRING HIM BACK!"
"NO ONE COMES BACK FROM THERE! IF YOU GO THROUGH, YOU'LL DIE AS WELL!" bellowed Voldemort, violently jerking Orion backwards, making his right arm start to recede from the Veil.
"FUCK YOU, TOM! LET ME GO!" screamed Orion hysterically, choking a heart-wrenching sob, and jumping forwards to the Veil, sinking his arm further in. "LEZANDER WON'T DIE! I WILL NOT ALLOW IT! NO ONE ELSE I LOVE WILL DIE BECAUSE OF ME!"
Orion lost all reason when he felt Lezander's essence slipping away, as if a cold, unrelenting, clawed hand was tearing Lezander's soul away from its body.
His heart was racing so fast that it seemed about to burst, his dark magic exploded inside of him, filled him so completely and violently, that he started to shake and convulse, never having felt something so powerful and intense…But it ignited him, it spurred him further, energizing him beyond comprehension.
Without a second thought, Orion released it, he released everything he had in him, and felt Voldemort stumbling back, as waves of his dark magic rushed outwards from his body…
Orion focused all his mind, heart, and power, in grasping Lezander's soul. He didn't know how, he didn't know why, but he could feel Lezander's essence, and he grasped it, as it was about to completely tear away from Lezander's body. Orion wrapped his own dark magic around Lezander's soul, as if it were his own life-line, directing his magic with his mind, not understanding how, but doing it, instinctually.
Orion snapped his head back and a scream of unbearable pain tore from his throat, as he felt that huge clawed hand brutally gripping Lezander's soul on the other side, and attacking his dark magic at the same time, feeling the intense pain himself.
With fierce determination, Orion fought back, pushing all his roaring magic against it, wanting to savagely tear that hand to pieces, to make it feel as much pain as he was feeling, fighting for the life of his mate, of his love.
After casting a parselspell around himself, protecting him from Orion's savage, ravaging waves of pure dark magic, which were consuming everything around them, Voldemort surrounded Orion from behind, aggressively pulling him away from the Veil and certain death.
But the young wizard wouldn't budge. Voldemort glanced down at him, and saw that Orion's eyes were completely black; obsidian orbs, swirling with unimaginable power in their endless pits, but there seemed to be no conscience behind them.
Only the roaring of Orion's magic could be heard in the room, and Voldemort saw all the wizards and witches plastered against the walls – his Death Eaters included-, looking frantically for an escape, as Orion's waves of unbridled, furious dark magic rushed towards them, blocking every path. He snarled when he saw Dumbledore intently watching Orion, the old man covered with a protective spell as well, as the waves of darkness clashed against it.
Voldemort clutched Orion tighter against his chest. He pulled the boy's head backwards, and sinking his eyes into Orion's, he forced his mind through them, as he furiously yelled, "ORION! STOP THIS AT ONCE! CONTROL YOUR MAGIC! YOU'RE GOING TO KILL MY FOLLOWERS! YOU'RE GOING TO DESTROY US!"
Voldemort's voice abruptly entered his mind, and Orion wrathfully and insanely bellowed aloud, "IF LEZANDER DIES, EVERYONE DIES! YOU HEAR! EVERYONE! I DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT ANYTHING BUT HIM! IF MY MATE DIES, YOU ALL DIE WITH HIM!!!"
Voldemort froze at those words, before he tightly grasped Orion's face, pushing his mind into Orion's eyes again, about to furiously demand an explanation, but he was brutally shoved away from Orion's mind.
Orion ignored everything outside of him, and with a furious, insane shriek, he summoned all his magic and launched a devastating, desperate, savage attack on the cruel, powerful force that wouldn't let go of Lezander.
His throat seemed to tear as he screamed in unrelenting pain, continuing his vicious assault, clashing against the other force, clawing, ripping it, desperately, furiously, giving no quarter. With a final, scream-wrenching effort, he pulled Lezander's essence back, and he felt the force staggering back, as he snapped Lezander into his body.
Orion kept pulling, he pulled with all his strength, with the last breath from his mouth, and abruptly, he physically staggered backwards as Lezander's body came out through the Veil.
Orion slumped against Voldemort, shakily holding Lezander in his arms, gasping and panting for air, his mind wrecked by the effort, his body in pain; as all his dark magic rushed back to him in thunderous waves.
He jerked violently, when his dark magic crashed into him, filling him again, roaring contently inside of him.
But in the next second, Orion gasped when he felt an inexorable, forceful pull around him.
In an instant, Voldemort -who had staggered backwards, holding Orion and the additional weight of Lezander-, saw Orion disappear from his sight, as the vampire fell with a 'thud' to the floor.
Orion crashed against a cold, stone floor. He immediately jumped to his feet, tense and alarmed, his eyes taking a little while to adjust to the darkness of the room.
He sensed something moving in the shadows, and snapped his eyes towards it.
Orion reeled back in shock, and gasped, "YOU!"