21. Prophetic Chaos

Tonks got the Patronus as soon as her meeting was over.

She headed over to the Department of Mysteries as fast as she could, cursing under her breath. It was a good thing she had finished the meeting first. Now all she could do was wait for the good news.

Tonks was at the Department of Mysteries before the people from Hogwarts got there, presumably because they couldn't Apparate from the castle. Her head was spinning.

You-Know-Who had come? In person? Since August, all of the attacks had been carried out by his Death Eaters; some like Lucius Malfoy, who worked at the Ministry, some like Bellatrix Lestrange, who escaped from Azkaban. If You-Know-Who had come to the Department of Mysteries himself, then it could not be good. They were going to get the prophecy.

At that moment, Mad-Eye, Kingsley, Remus, Hestia, Dedalus, and Sirius arrived, their wands outstretched, eyes alert. She quickly morphed her appearance to save them from asking a security question, and they seemed satisfied. After proving their identities, they headed into the Department soundlessly.

There was noise coming from one doorway, and it was partially open. A sickening feeling sunk into her stomach. It had to be the Hall of Prophecies.

The sound of smashing glass was echoing around the hall, shards of glass scattered everywhere, fallen shelves, the piercing sound of glass colliding with glass. They silently split up, going in different directions to corner the source of the sound near the far side of the Hall of Prophecies.

There they were.

Eight black, cloaked figures with the reviled Death Eater masks over their faces. In the middle, a black cloak with a noseless face sticking out from the top.

Lord Voldemort.

There were five fallen Order members there already, two of whom looked ghostly pale, one of whom didn't seem to be breathing, and two of whom were too covered in blood to assess quickly enough. The Death Eaters were all upright, except for one, who was lying lifelessly on the ground. Wands out, teeth bared, devilish grins that Tonks desperately wanted to wipe off their disgusting faces. She felt the rest of the Order spread out beside her, assembling into their duelling positions, though nobody made a first move.

"Three rows behind them," Kingsley breathed into her ear, his lips not moving.

She gave a tiny nod of her head, which he seemed to understand. The prophecy was located on the shelf three rows behind the Death Eaters, and they could not afford to smash it.

"Thank you for arriving here on time," drawled Voldemort in a cold, calm voice. "I daresay it will make my job easier."

They tensed collectively, not responding.

"Which one of you would like to find the prophecy for me?" he asked slowly. "I know it's somewhere in this section, but I am yet to find it."

He cocked his head towards them, a small smile forming on his face. "Whoever is the one to find it will be spared."

Thank Merlin Mundungus wasn't amongst them. It was exactly the kind of trap that the coward would fall for. She just hoped that none of the others were thick enough to fall for it.

"Do you need more incentive?" asked Voldemort when nobody answered. "Very well, then; you and your family will be spared. Neither I nor my Death Eaters will ever think about harming you. I give you my word."

"Fat lot of good that is," spat Mad-Eye, and a jet of red light shot out of the end of his wand.

Once the first hex was shot, there were flashes of light everywhere. She dodged curses and threw curses, putting as much venom as she could into them. She wasn't sure which Unforgivable Curse she heard the most; the Imperius Curse was being yelled out loud, but she saw people suffering under the Cruciatus Curse, and there were many jets of that unmistakable green light bouncing off of the various shelves and smashing prophecies that signified the Killing Curse.

Three Death Eaters down.

A battle of poison, of hatred, of rage, of fury. A battle of pain, and screaming, and suffering, and heart-wrenching throbs. A battle of not knowing what was going on around you, but needing to know what was going to happen.

Four Death Eaters down, one Order member down.

She saw You-Know-Who disappearing through the shelves, searching eagerly for the prophecy. She shot a curse his way, which he deflected, causing the shelf in front of him to crash.

Shoot.

They couldn't afford the prophecy to crash. They needed it secure, but more importantly, they couldn't afford for You-Know-Who to listen to the contents of it.

Five Death Eaters down, three Order members down.

Not good.

"Crucio!"

She dropped to the ground, clutching her wand tightly, unable to feel herself. It was torrid, excruciating pain, stretching everything inside so badly that she wasn't able to feel anything but the pain. She pulled her remaining strength together to shoot a "Stupefy!" at her perpetrator, who dropped to the ground, relieving her of the inconceivable pain she had experienced only moments ago.

Six Death Eaters down, four Order members down.

This wasn't looking very good.

There were four Death Eaters and three Order members left. She wasn't able to tell who was still standing; a hazy smoke now engulfed the air, the result of one of the Death Eater's spells, and she was barely able to make out the outline of You-Know-Who heading for the second shelf.

No. No. No.

"Expulso!" she shouted, causing the collapse of the shelf directly in front of him. He screamed, sending a curse her way which she, thankfully, deflected.

Eight Death Eaters down, five Order members down.

It was two versus two. She wasn't aware of who the other remaining Order member was, but, based on the constant dull clunking noise echoing through the corridor, it was Mad-Eye.

It was the first time she had actually directly duelled You-Know-Who. She reminded herself that she should treat him as any skilled Death Eater, any normal Dark wizard, not the greatest Dark wizard of all time. He was just another masked, cloaked person. His face just happened to resemble that of You-Know-Who.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

"Protego!"

"Confringo!"

"Stupefy!"

"Crucio!"

"Impedimenta!"

It went on for what seemed like ages, dodging, and firing, and smashing shelves containing hundreds of glass balls. Some remained intact, and others weren't so lucky; deadly fragments of glass lay on the ground, poised to strike and pierce any unsuspecting victim who placed their foot there.

And she saw, to her horror, as she recovered from the Cruciatus Curse that had been placed upon her yet again, that he was carefully scanning the second shelf for the prophecy. Upon not finding it, he set on it another Blasting Curse, sending the entire shelf into smithereens and sharp shards of glass in all directions.

She placed a Shield Charm over her, deflecting the glass fragments from impaling her. She shot about half a dozen hexes and curses at him, but to no avail.

And then he lunged, snatching the prophecy from its location on the shelf. The shelf shuddered a bit, but the prophecies didn't fall to the floor. Which made it very easy to see the gaping hole of the line of prophecies where the prophecy used to be.

Now it was being held by You-Know-Who. And she needed to stop him from getting out of there at any cost.

He had the prophecy.

He had the prophecy.

Then there was a whoosh of black smoke where You-Know-Who had just been standing.

And he was gone.

She sank to the floor, breathing heavily, unable to believe what had just happened. You-Know-Who had the prophecy. He had escaped. Anything could happen from here on.

She ran to find Mad-Eye, who was huddled over someone, Kingsley, by the looks like it, muttering healing spells under his breath.

"Mad-Eye!" she shouted.

He whirled around. "Tonks," he acknowledged gruffly. "What happened?"

She made her way towards him. "He's got the prophecy!"

His face was impassive, as always. Then he stood up and headed over to the third shelf, most of which was intact.

He scanned the shelf quickly, looking through it. She looked around at the bodies all around the room; ten Order members and nine Death Eaters, the latter of whom were neatly bound and gagged by ropes, no doubt Moody's work. Then…

"It's still here, lass."

She spun around. "What?!"

Mad-Eye beckoned for her to go there, so she complied. He pointed to the prophecy right next to the gaping hole.

"See? That's the one."

She stared at him in disbelief. "Do you mean to say that… You-Know-Who grabbed the wrong prophecy?"

He nodded gruffly. "Must be. He could realize any second, though. I'm going to seal off the Department of Mysteries."

"Should I come?"

"Take care of the rest of the Order. In case we get into another battle, we need as many of them on their feet as we can get."

A sickening sensation started unfolding in her stomach. The others. Had they all made it? As Mad-Eye stalked out of the hall, she ran to find Remus.

He lay unconscious, his wand held loosely in his left hand, his hair dishevelled. She knelt by his side and felt for a pulse. She had to strain to listen to it, since her heart was thumping ferociously in her chest.

It was faint, but it was there. She blinked the tears out of her eyes and laid her head on his chest, listening for his heartbeat.

"Remus," she whispered, so quietly she wasn't even able to hear herself. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Episkey," she croaked, aiming her wand at his blood-soaked chest. "Episkey. Episkey. Episkey."

She siphoned off the blood, healed off the wounds, and ran her fingers through his hair. He would be all right. She was going to make sure.

She crawled over to where Sirius lay and did the same for him, cleaning out the wounds and wiping off the bloodstains.

"Tonks?"

It was the hoarsest of whispers, but she still heard him; in a flash, she was by Remus's side.

She helped him sit up slowly, supporting him as he leaned on her. He flinched, but otherwise made no protest.

"What happened?" he breathed.

"He escaped, but with the wrong prophecy," she explained shakily. "The other Death Eaters are bound up on the ground."

"Won't he just come back?"

She shook her head fervently. "Mad-Eye's sealed off the hall."

He took a few, deep breaths, closing his eyes and leaning against her. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah. H-how're you feeling?"

"Absolutely terrible. But I'm fine. This is normal for me."

She buried her head into his shoulder. She knew she shouldn't. He was the one who needed the support.

"It's fine, Tonks, it's okay." He patted her back gently. "I'm used to it. How are the others?"

"Mad-Eye's sealing off the hall, and Sirius is unconscious, but he's breathing… I don't know about the others."

He gave a small nod. "Let's take care of them, then."

"Remus, are you mad? You need to recover! I'll take care of it. You rest. Please."

He shook his head. "I'm fine, Tonks, I really am. We need to bring everyone back to strength and then get out of here. We can't afford to be found by the Ministry."

"All right," she relented, "but come to me for the advanced spells, okay?"

He smirked. "Yes, Healer Tonks."

She helped him stand up, and when she ensured that he was able to stand firmly, she took his hand and helped him walk over to where Sirius lay.

"I'll be fine," he said quickly, smiling at the look on her face. "Go take care of the others."

So she finally let go of his arm and waddled over to Emmeline, who had been knocked out before she had arrived. Mad-Eye came limping back into the room and started attending to Kingsley. Once more people were awake, they were able to work faster. As soon as everyone was conscious, be it fully or barely, and all of their queries were answered, Mad-Eye spoke.

"We should probably fix this place up." He gestured to the broken glass and fallen shelves that surrounded them. "The Ministry doesn't need to know we were here."

"Couldn't they come in any moment?" Dedalus asked.

"The hall has been sealed off," growled Mad-Eye, a touch of annoyance in his voice. "Now help clean up this place."

"Couldn't we go to Azkaban for being in here?" asked Dedalus fretfully.

"Yeah," Hestia replied wistfully. "Sturgis was only released last month, and he was Imperiused to try to get in."

"Yeah, well, he's out now," Sirius said carelessly. "Let's hurry up."

So they complied, spacing out the remaining prophecies so it didn't look like at least a third of their number had been smashed not two hours ago. Shelves were uprighted, bits of broken glass were Vanished, and countless other items were restored to their proper locations. Smoke was cleared, blood was cleaned, and, overall, the Hall of Prophecies ended up looking normal, with no air of a battle having just been fought there.

"All right," Remus said, once the cleaning was done, "we need to head back to Grimmauld. We need to figure out what happened here. How they got in. Why we couldn't stop them. Voldemort…" he paused as everyone winced, "Come on, guys, get used to it. Voldemort grabbed the wrong prophecy, and that was sheer luck on our part. We can't expect to be this lucky next time."

"He's got a point," Hestia cooed.

"Shut up, Hestia," Tonks said, rolling her eyes. "We all heard it when he said it himself."

She stifled a laugh as Remus's cheeks turned pink.

"The man's right," Kingsley agreed. "Let's get to headquarters."

They each apparated to the front, most of them landing within a foot of each other, Mad-Eye being a typical Mad-Eye and landing twenty feet away from the jumble the rest of them had created. He snorted when they all stumbled over each other's feet and muttered, "constant vigilance."

Most of them were too weak to walk on their own, so she, along with Mad-Eye and Remus, the latter of whom was showing surprisingly high resilience, helped support the others as much as they could.

Finally, they all entered the house, where Mad-Eye had already called the remaining Order members. Everyone was looking pale, stricken, anxious. No doubt why. They needed to figure out how You-Know-Who had been able to get into the Department of Mysteries.

As she made her way to the enlarged dining table, Remus gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"It'll be okay."

If only.

A/N: Wow. How did Voldemort get into the Department of Mysteries? Was it simple, or is there more than meets the eye? A tense Order meeting coming up in Chapter 22!

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