Disclaimer 1: This is fanfic. That means I do not own any of it. I just borrow it to play with for a little while and let people see the pathetic results if they really want to.

Disclaimer 2: I'm not making any money from it. It's just for fun.

Disclaimer 3: What isn't borrowed is all made up. None of this is real or most likely at all realistic. Please don't trust any of the information in here. Most likely you know more about whatever I'm writing about than I do.

Disclaimer 4: Attitudes, views and opinions expressed by the characters or in the story are not necessarily those of the author. Even when writing Science Fiction or Fantasy I do not tend to attempt to create perfect/better worlds in which everybody gets a happy end ... or whatever is best for them. Please accept that some characters will have a bad ending or be unhappy.

Disclaimer 5: I intend no insult to anyone. If I offend anyone I'm very sorry. Please understand that it was an accident as I tend to be very clumsy in these things.

Notes: Death Eaters! And Aurors! And Dumbledore! Things get quite chaotic at the Ministry of Magic.

Chapter 35: Beyond the Veil

"Give me the prophecy!" Lucius Malfoy ordered.

Harry took a frightened step backwards clutching the glowing sphere to his chest. For a moment he thought of running away, but adults in black robes and horrid white masks came out of every corridor. Corridors that he had only just checked and found completely deserted! How was that even possible?

"Prophecy?" Harry echoed stupidly while he tried to figure out what to do.

Mr Malfoy clearly was once again working for You-Know-Who and thus an enemy of the Ministry and the law. Obeying him might be illegal. But on the other hand he was still an adult and Harry was a child so disobeying him was bad.

"That'd be theft," Percy stated firmly. "As would be taking it with you, Harry. It does not belong to any of us. You must put it back where you took it from. You should never have picked it up."

Harry hesitated, but then he remembered that Percy was now an adult as well and he wasn't working for You-Know-Who.

He took a step towards the shelf to do as Percy had told him, but a female Death Eater stepped in his way.

"Hand it over!" she ordered.

Harry stepped closer to Percy.

"I'm scared," he admitted softly. "She'll take it if I put it back."

Percy had drawn his wand he noticed and was pointing it at the witch, but then Mr. Malfoy took a step closer and Percy's wand flicked to point at him, then back to the woman. Could he really aim it that quickly? And what about the other Death Eaters? Some of them were behind him and Percy and his friends.

"Grab the children," the woman ordered. "He'll hand it over readily enough once we start torturing them a little."

"Leave them alone!" Percy shouted sounding a lot more scared and desperate than authoritative, though.

The Death Eaters ignored him and lunged for Harry's friends. Ginevra screamed and they jumped and ducked out of the way. For a moment Harry thought that one of the Death Eaters had caught Draco, but he only had hold of a fold of his uniform robe and as Draco struggled away it tore and left the Death Eater holding only a bit of black cloth.

Somebody must have knocked into the shelf behind them. It swayed and then fell over with a loud crash and the sound of breaking glass and then misty figures began to rise from the debris.

Harry felt a sudden shove at his back.

"Run!" Percy yelled and they all dashed madly towards the door more shelves going to pieces all around them though Harry had no idea why. They regained the strange room they'd passed through before and Hermione too drew her wand and tried to fight, so Harry followed her example.

A Death Eater fell and landed with his head in some sort of time machine, but the rest kept following them and Draco got hit by some spell. Harry wanted to run over and check on him, but then Hermione went down as well and there were Death Eaters everywhere and all was confusion.

He fled through another door and somehow ended up in the room with the veil again and then, finally the Aurors burst in to rescue them.

Harry felt relief wash over him when he saw Sirius Black among them, but Auror Potter was with them as well and the Death Eaters didn't just give up, but kept fighting.

Did they really think they could defeat the Aurors?

A pink-haired witch in Auror robes stepped between Harry and the battle and assumed a fighting stance.

"Go," she ordered him without looking at him. "Get out of here!"

"But I can't!" Harry shouted.

"Out of this room! Run! I'll protect you!"

A tall, black Auror had run up to Percy.

"That's enough, Weasley. Good work protecting the kids, but we'll take it from here. Retreat now!"

"The children first!" Percy demanded.

"Go boy!" the pink-haired Auror insisted.

Past her Harry could see the woman Death Eater hit Sirius with a spell that sent him flying through the veil ... only he vanished as he went through and didn't reappear on the other side.

"Noooo! Sirius!" Auror Potter yelled and ran towards the veil to do who knew what to Harry's beloved secret uncle.

Harry had to do something to stop him and protect Uncle Sirius, but what?

The memory of the falling shelves and confusing misty figures flashed through his mind and hoping that it would distract the Death Eaters long enough for Uncle Sirius to get back up and defend himself he threw the prophecy that he was still carrying at Auror Potter with all his might.

Harry could see it hit the man in the head stopping his charge before it crashed to the floor and burst, but then the pink-haired witch grabbed him and started pushing him out the door and he could no longer see the fight, only hear the crashing and screaming.

"It's Dumbledore! Dumbledore's here!" he heard someone shout, but his Auror didn't appear to care. She just kept pushing him along. Somehow she appeared to know which door led back to safety and moments later they had left the Department of Mysteries and he was running down the dark corridor outside it following a pair of stretchers that were levitating along carrying Hermione and Draco and with Ginevra beside him where only a moment ago the Auror had been.

Where had the pink-haired witch gotten to? Harry looked behind him, but saw only Percy who gestured for him to keep going.

"To the elevator!" he shouted. "Harry! We must get out of the building!"

Harry wasn't sure why, but then Percy was an adult and the Aurors were fighting the Death Eaters and they'd never really captured or tortured his secret uncle Sirius at all.

Luna was already waiting at the elevator so their group was complete again as well.

Now if only Draco and Hermione weren't seriously hurt all would be well again.