AN: Just another PSA that this fic is VEVRY close to the end. This means, yes, most of the next few years will be summarized, because this fic is NOT going to be 500k words long (and would be if I don't summarize) I know this makes some of you very angry, but I still love you, and I hope you still enjoy this fic. Once I write an epilogue, we should end right at 300k. Guys, this is still HUGE. Feel free to keep commenting your outrage, comments make me happy even if they are angry. I never intended for this fic to be as long as it is, so as I see it, there were two choices. #1 end it early while Mia was in the middle of her school years, and hint about the ending. #2 summarize some years, but make sure we see the important bits. I chose door #2 because I want Mia's story to feel resolved.
This chapter is extra long. I hope you enjoy.
All thanks to my beta Katherine.
Mia's History of Magic exam didn't go great, but she didn't really expect much from it anyways. She knew some of the answers, she'd paid attention through four years of the class after all and had read about seventeen chapters of notes right before the exam, but there were definitely gaps in her memories. She didn't remember names and dates, but she knew the general stories. What she didn't remember clearly, she made up. Where she drew a total blank, she made up really funny and super unlikely answers so hopefully someone grading her test would enjoy failing her.
Then, in the middle of the exam, Harry had some kind of fit. He fell out of his desk and started screaming. She knew all about his dreams by now, and when Snape had stopped agreeing to teach him, Hermione urged Harry to work with Gabe. Gabe was totally up for it, hoping to learn some of what Snape had taught Harry, but Harry usually seemed distracted, and not totally into the discussions. Gabe told Mia he didn't think he wanted to block out the visions.
She had been exhausted that day too, after being up most of the night doing their astronomy exam, then worrying over McGonagall all night, so she understood perfectly that Harry would fall asleep during a subject so boring they were somewhat programed to fall asleep in, but it just mean to Harry that his dream, or vision was not as private as he would have liked.
Professor Tofty tried to get Harry off to the hospital wing, but he refused. Instead he was sent to get a drink of water and didn't return. When the exam was over, Mia and Gabe, Ron and Hermione went to find Harry. Something bad had happened, and they needed to know what.
When he told them Voldemort had Sirius, dread filled Mia. He told them all about his vision, Voldemort in the department of mystery, torturing Sirius and trying to get him to take the weapon for him. Harry wanted to go, now to rescue him, but the others weren't so sure. How could they get there? How could Voldemort be there in the middle of the day? Hermione said it was too unlikely, and that it sounded like a trap. This of course set Harry off.
Luna and Ginny came in while they were arguing, and Hermione came up with a deal. With McGonagall gone, they didn't have a way to alert any order members, Ron and Harry flat out refused to go to Snape, he would be fine with Sirius dying, and they weren't totally convinced he wasn't hurting Harry instead of helping with the occlumency lessons. Mia wasn't so sure but stopped arguing. If Harry's plan didn't work, she could go tell Snape herself. Hermione promised to help Harry get word out, or if there was absolutely no way to get word to another order member, she would help rescue Sirius. Mia was surprised at Hermione but was of course on board.
The first thing they checked was the two-way mirror Sirius had given him for Christmas. Harry had used it all term, and Sirius usually answered, but not always immediately. He didn't come this time, but Hermione wasn't satisfied. "He could be in the bathroom," she insisted. So they came up with a plan to use Umbridge's fireplace, the only one in the school not under guard, to communicate with number twelve. Either they would get Sirius, or whoever was on duty if Sirius was out on a mission. They could tell who ever was on duty what happened, and they would send the rescue party for Sirius.
So, they planned.
Ron went to distract Umbridge, Ginny and Luna would stop students from going near the school, Gabe went to set off some more fireworks, and Mia to find the Inquisitorial Squad, and tempt them into taking more points from Gryffindor. They had won the Quidditch Cup after all, thanks to Ron, and not all the points had been deducted from them yet.
Mia found Warrington, a rather dim Slytherin surrounded by a few other Inquisitorial Squad members, and just started walking around in front of him, smiling happily. It was the perfect lure, he started deducting points for too much joy, then went on from there. Another Slytherin, a third year she didn't know well, ran into the courtyard and told them Umbridge's office alarm spell had gone off, and to round up anyone suspicious. Warrington looked at Mia and Mia looked at him, then pulled out her wand. She was halfway through her jinx when he punched her in the nose.
Everything went white, then black, it hurt so bad she couldn't think, and blood was rushing down her face, then she felt ropes slither around her, and someone stuck a gag in her mouth, jostling her nose, and she came to with sudden and alert pain. It was so hard to breathe. With her nose broken and bleeding and her mouth gagged, it was all she could do to breathe. Someone was carrying her by her ropes, they cut into her arms and sides painfully, and it looked like they were heading towards Umbridge's office. She could just see as they came in sight of Ginny standing guard when one of them hexed her from behind. Neville was walking by and tried to jump in but also got hexed. From the other end of the hall came more Slytherin's dragging Luna, Ron, and Gabe. Gabe's lip was bloody, and when he saw Mia his eyes went wide over his gag. She couldn't imagine how she looked, her nose having bled all over her face. They were all dragged into the office where Harry sat, Umbridge holding a fist full of his hair, and Hermione also in ropes. Draco appeared with Snape, his eyes went wide at the sight of Mia as she was shoved into a kneeling position with the others, lined up on one side. She desperately wanted to know what Harry had learned. Was her dad ok?
Umbridge asked Snape for more veritaserum, and he told her he'd already given her his whole stock, and it took a month to brew more. Mia almost smiled, except for the gag, and broken nose... veritaserum took three days to brew, Snape was still on their side. When he made to leave, Harry decided it was worth the risk and called after the Professor.
"He's got Padfoot in the place where it's hidden!"
Mia's blood ran cold, and the pain in her face disappeared for just a moment as her head swam. What had Harry heard in the fire that had him convinced? Could it really be true that her dad was being held and tortured by Voldemort? She hadn't really believed it at first, sure Hermione was right, it was a trap, and there was no way her dad was really in trouble. Harry just hadn't practiced Occlumency enough.
Umbridge asked Snape what Harry meant, but he played stupid and left. Then Umbridge seemed to see she had no other choices left, and talked herself up for some action, then she prepared to use the Cruciatus curse on Harry, and admitted it had been her who ordered the dementors after him over the summer.
As she started the Cruciatus curse, Hermione yelled, and said they would tell her. Hermione started to cry, and Mia tried to yell through her gag. Ron, and Ginny also thrashed in their robes, and Warrington hit Gabe up the side of the head.
Then Hermione lied.
Mia stopped yelling, but then realized how suspicious it would look, so she kept making noises till Warrington looked at her threateningly again.
Hermione told Umbridge they were trying to find Dumbledore and had tried to contact him at all the public places he would be least likely to be. She told Umbridge how they had made a weapon for Dumbledore, and it was ready, and hidden, but she would only take her alone, because who would want the rest of the students to know where it was, and use it against her. Only Hermione and Harry went with Umbridge, while everyone else was set to guard Mia and the rest of the captives.
When they were gone, the Slytherins seemed to relax. Draco made a joke and pulled out a pack of exploding snap and started a game with Warrington. When he lost, Warrington played against Pansy, and Draco started pacing, looking at all the ugly cats on the walls. He complained about being hungry, then sent Crabbe to go get food for him. Warrington complained, so they also sent Goyle and Millicent to carry back enough for them all. Warrington and Pansy resumed their game while Draco walked in front of Mia, to look at the cats over her head. He was fiddling with his wand, and when a few of Pansy's cards exploded, Draco whispered something, and her ropes loosened around her shoulders. If she moved, she was sure they would come off. He turned from her and put his hands behind his back, presenting his back and wand to her and blocking Warrington and Pansy's view from her. Mia looked down at the wand, then at Gabe who made lots of eyebrow movements at her she couldn't interpret. Mia shrugged and moves her arms as little as possible to grab the wand.
Draco walked to the other end of the room and made a comment to Warrington on the game drawing his attention. Better now than never she decided, and loosened the ropes before she pulled the gage from her mouth and whispered a stunning spell directly to Warrington. He was knocked out without any warning, and Pansy stood up and ripped out her wand. Draco also made as if going for a wand, and Mia stunned Pansy.
Mia stared down at the stunned students, surprised it had been so easy. She looked at Draco who was smirking. "Nice wand word, Black," he said to her.
Mia grinned and turned to Gabe and the others. Gabe looked like he was smiling, but Ginny, Neville and especially Ron were staring at Draco with absolute and utter shock. Luna seemed quite content. "What's the incantation to remove their bindings?" Mia asked. Draco told her, and she started freeing them.
"You'll have to stun me too," Draco said. "Make it look like you ambushed us all."
"I'm not stunning you, Draco," Mia said as she pulled the gag from Gabe, who scooped up their wands from the desk where Warrington had left them.
"I'll do it," volunteered Ron, grabbing his wand back from Gabe and turning on Draco.
Mia cut him off. "No," she told Ron, waving her finger in his face like she was scolding a puppy. She turned to Draco. "Can't you just lay down and pretend to be knocked out?"
"And risk people finding out I helped you? No thanks. And if any of you tell, I swear I will hex you till you can't breathe," he said, glaring at the others.
"Why did you help us?" Ron asked accusatorially.
"I didn't help you Weasley, I helped her because she's family, and it would look bad on our family."
"I love you to, Draco," she said.
Draco looked disgusted at her words. "Will you just stun me already?" he sneered.
Mia sighed. "Fine, but let's call it payback for when you broke my arm. Sleep well, dearest cousin," she said before saying the jinx and Draco collapsed on the ground.
Gabe handed her wand back and started binding the Slytherins. "Your family is so weird," he told her with a smile.
"Do we know where Harry and Hermione took Umbridge?" Ginny asked Ron, who just shrugged.
"It looks like they are heading out into the Forbidden Forest," Luna said from the window. They all crowded around to look, and sure enough, they could just see Umbridge's pink cardigan disappearing into the trees.
"Let's go!" Ginny said, heading for the door.
"Wait," Gabe said, turning to Mia. "Let me fix your nose."
"Gabe, no, you haven't practiced the spell," Mia said, pushing away his wand.
"But I saw you try it enough times after Pomfrey used it on you in the hospital wing. Come on, you can barely see."
It was true, both of Mia's eyes had started to swell up, and she could barely breathe out of her nose. It had made being gagged quite interesting.
"We have to go," Ginny said from the door.
Mia whined for just an instant. Her father was on the line, this wasn't time to be squeamish. "Ok fine, do it." She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth.
Gabe pronounced the spell loudly and clearly and Mia felt a snap that radiated through her brain. Her head swam and then Gabe was holding her shoulders, steadying her on her feet. Their eyes connected for a moment. "Better?" Gabe asked.
Mia nodded. "Let's go." She turned and headed for the door, stumbling a little at first, but the dizziness wore off in a moment. Ginny took off, Neville, and Luna right behind her. Gabe took an extra second to conjure water and dampen one of the cloths and handed it over. She whipped her face gently as they followed the others. Her face still hurt a bit as if bruised. Mia's vision was still a bit blurry, and the swelling in her face hadn't gone down yet, but it also hadn't gotten worse. As they ran for the forest, Gabe stayed by her side, watching her closely.
When they reached them, Hermione and Harry were arguing about how they were going to get to London without their wands, and from the middle of the forest. They were covered in blood, and Umbridge was nowhere to be found. Mia was slightly worried they'd murdered her till they explained about the centaurs. They didn't explain about the blood, so she didn't feel totally better.
Luna recommended they fly to London, and then Mia noticed the thestrails coming out of the woods to inspect them. Could they be flown? Once Harry stopped yelling about how they didn't have brooms and how Ginny, Luna, Neville, Gabe and Mia weren't going with him, Luna pointed out the Thestrals. Only half of them could see them, Harry and Neville both having the ability along with her and Luna.
Mia asked Harry what exactly he had heard at headquarters, and he said Kreacher said Sirius was gone and wouldn't be coming back. It was enough for Mia, and she helped Gabe find and mount a thestral, ignoring Harry's protest while Luna helped Ron and Ginny. According to Hagrid, apparently the thestrals were great navigators.
The flight was not enjoyable to Mia. A few times the Thestrals dived and swooped as if enjoying the journey, and maybe one or twice Mia was caught off guard and screamed. She felt so lame, but she wasn't the only one to scream. Gabe, she saw at one point flying past her, had his arms wide and eyes closed, hanging on with only his legs as his thestral seemed to dive and twist as if egged on by Gabe's whoops of joy. Mia's eyes watered from the wind as they flew, and her tear ducts ached. The swelling had barely gone down on her face, and she was sure she had double black eyes.
She had tried to get off most of the blood, but without a mirror and more water was sure there were still streaks of it over her face. The front of her robes were also covered in dry blood. Regardless of her pain and the exhaustion creeping at the edges, Mia felt wired. She was so worried about Sirius. It hadn't felt real earlier, they didn't know for sure if Harry's dream was real or not, but as they flew through the night, breaking every school rule known, she couldn't ignore what was happening. Sirius was actually trapped in the Ministry at the hands of Voldemort, and somehow they thought they could rescue him. She had so many nagging worries floating through her mind, compounded with fear and panic, and If she thought about it for a moment longer, she would lose it.
The thestrals took them to the visitor's entrance of the Ministry of Magic, a phonebooth they all somehow squished into. Someone dialed a phone number, and a woman's voice asked them to state their names and business. Harry listed all their names, and said they were there to save someone. Eight little visitors' badges clinked out of the phone change collector, and Ginny, squished down by that part of the booth passed them out. Mia read hers. "Amelia Black, Rescue Mission." She attached it to the front of her robes. If they all lived through this she would keep it forever. If they didn't...
Harry seemed to know exactly where they were going. Mia had never been to the ministry before, but apparently with all his dreams over the last year, he knew the path perfectly to the department of mysteries, and to a secret room no one was supposed to know about.
They walked through a plain door into a circular room filled with many identical doors, and when they shut the door, the room spun, mixing up the doors till they had no hope of finding their path. They picked a room at random.
It was a bad pick. This room had a large tank with what turned out to be brains floating through it. They went back to the round room, and Hermione marked the door with a cross before they closed it, so they would know which one they had tried. The rooms were all weird. One had a giant amphitheater in it, and in the center was an arch with a black veil that floated in the wind. It called to some of them, till Hermione snapped them out of it. Finally, they came to a room with a dancing sparkling light, and Harry said it was right. At the end of the room was a weird bell jar with an egg that kept hatching to a bird, then turned back to an egg. There was a door nearby that Harry went straight to, and inside were rows and rows of shelves, with small glass orbs filled with grey smoke.
Harry said they were looking for row ninety-seven, so they all quickly rushed down the aisle till they got to the correct row. It was so dark, they couldn't see anything, and Mia lifted her wand high trying to light the way, looking for her dad. Harry kept going down the row when they found it, as if sure just a little further he would find Sirius, but he wasn't there.
Mia's stomach turned uncomfortably. Was he gone? Dead? Or had he never been there?
They were going to start searching when Ron saw Harry's name on one of the orbs. Hermione told him not to touch it, but Harry couldn't help himself. He lifted it off the shelf, and then a familiar voice that sent chills down Mia's spine called out.
"Very good, Potter. Now turn around, nice and slowly, and give that to me," her uncle said.
Black shapes in hoods appeared all around them, stepping out from the darkness, and Lucius stepped out, holding out his hand palm up. "To me Potter."
"Where's Sirius?" Harry asked.
The Death Eaters around them laughed and Mia leaned back into Gabe seeking comfort. One of the laughs, it tripped a warning in her head and fear raced through her.
Harry asked where Sirius was again, and a woman's voice that Mia knew deep down mocked him.
It wasn't. She prayed it wasn't who she thought it was.
Harry seemed confused. He didn't get yet that he had been led here. Mia got it immediately at the sight of her uncle, so not surprised to see them. It was all a trap, and the Death Eaters mocked them and threatened to start using wands. Her aunt pulled off her mask and cackled some more, mocking Harry for being so stupid. Mia willed herself not to show the panic racing through her. Bellatrix stepped forward to Accio the orb, the prophecy she had called it, and Harry deflected the spell. It knocked another orb off the shelf which shattered on the ground, and out came the wispy whispering shadows of a prophecy.
Lucius snapped at Bellatrix, that they couldn't damage the prophecy Harry held, and then Mia understood why they hadn't yet really attacked. They wanted to coerce them into handing it over and avoid the chance of the orb getting smashed. Bellatrix seemed to grow bored with the negotiations and suggested they just torture the 'small one' in their group till Harry gave in. Mia stepped in front of Ginny, and her movement caught Bellatrix's eye. She looked at her interested for a moment, then grinned. "Now you wouldn't be my cousin's half-blood daughter, would you?" Mia clenched her teeth and gripped her wand tighter. "Yessssss," Bellatrix said before she cackled again. "You know I killed your mother, don't you, little girl? Maybe I shall do the same to you, prune the family tree a little, bloody your face again maybe?"
"I wish you would," Lucius drawled. "My lovely wife is way too fond of that girl, you'd be doing me a favor getting her out of the way."
Mia looked at him shocked. She knew he didn't like her, but to wish for her death? How did Draco ever have a hope growing up in that house?
The Death Eaters mocked them more, and Harry got them riled up by saying Voldemort's name. While they were distracted, he whispered something to Hermione, who then spread it to them. When Harry said go, start blasting the prophecies around them.
Harry pointed out how Voldemort was only a half-blood too, his dad being a muggle, and when Bellatrix went to hex Harry, he yelled go, and they all blasted the shelves around them. They started to go down and Gabe grabbed Mia's hand and pulled her away. They ran through the shattering glass and wisps of grey smoke rising around them. They went through a door into a space filled with tiny pinpricks of light, they felt they should avoid at all cost, then they came to another door. They separated from the others, but a Death Dater was on their trail, and Gabe blasted him with a stunning spell, causing him to bump into a small prick of light, and the man froze in midair before turning into stone, and falling to the ground.
"Here," Gabe said, opening another door and ducking inside. Mia followed him and saw there was a hazy circle in the middle of the room. She called out to Gabe to stop, but too late. He hit the mist and morphed suddenly into his wolf form and fell to all fours panting. He turned to Mia, and then shook his head. She moved towards him, but he barked at her, calling her to a stop. He excited the circle, and came back towards the door, and paused, then he shook his head again.
"What's wrong?" She asked, knowing he couldn't reply. "Why don't you turn back?"
Gabe growled lightly and shook his head again. "Are you ok? Are you hurt?" Gabe shook his head. "ok, so you aren't hurt?" He shook his head again. "Can you turn back?" He growled again softly and shook his head again.
"Ok," Mia said, trying to be calm. "The mist turns an animagus into their shape for a fun little time. Don't worry, we will figure it out later. Maybe we should go back the other way?"
Gabe wagged his tail once, and led the way back, dodging the stone death eater and points of light.
The room filled with prophecies was a mess. Shelves tipped over, and broken glass everywhere. She tried to clear the glass out of the way before Gabe walked across it, but he was limping slightly by the time they were back in the room with the bell jar. In that room they found... it was one of the death eaters, but his head was that of a baby, and he stumbled around screaming, his arms thrashing out in confusion and rage. Mia stunned him and they moved through the room filled with broken shelves of clocks that kept unbreaking, and then re breaking again. In the round room again, they picked a door at random, and came to the room with the brains and ducked inside.
"They aren't here," she told Gabe, but before they turned around Harry ran in, followed by Luna helping Ginny, and Neville carrying a lifeless Hermione. Ron looked drunk, stumbling behind.
"Lock all the doors!" Harry yelled, and Mia ran around helping when Luna screamed from the other side of the room, and flew through the air as three death eaters, led by Bellatrix blasted their way through the door she was trying to lock. Luna hit a desk and slid to the floor laying still.
Mia froze in shock, then Gabe growled and jumped at one of the death eaters biting into his wand arm. The man screamed and Mia snapped out of it, she shot a hex at her aunt who batted it away like a gnat, laughing.
"Get Potter!" she shrieked.
Mia moved to block her off and collided with Neville who shot another hex at Bellatrix.
"Neville, move, she killed my mum, I got this."
"She tortured my parents to insanity!" Neville shouted back as he blocked a hex and shot another at her.
Mia had no time to be shocked at the revelation, this whole time Neville had feared her, and they had been more alike than they knew. Instead she stayed by his side, and shot hex after hex at the woman who had ruined both their lives, as she laughed and blocked each strike. Bellatrix didn't seem like she was even trying very hard. "Oh, think you can get me back, do you? Maybe in about thirty years you'll be a match, sweethearts."
She raised her wand again, and Gabe jumped at her, fangs gleaming. His paws were inches from her face when she shot a hex at him, and he collapsed to the ground. Mia fought the urge to scream and blasted another hex towards her aunt. Then all the brains in the tank launched into the air as Harry called out "Ron, NO!"
Ron was giggling excitedly at the brains and touched one, and it started wrapping around his arms. He started screaming and Ginny staggered to his side, severing the tentacles one by one. One of the Brains went for Bellatrix, and she blasted at it. Mia took the opportunity to shoot a stunning spell at her, but then another death eater was at her side, and blocked the spell. Her uncle lowered his wand and walked towards her, an evil gleam in his eyes. "Ah, so we meet at last."
Mia took a step back and adjusted her grip on her wand. "If you kill me, your wife will never forgive you."
Lucius shrugged and smiled. "Maybe, but maybe not. It could have been an accident. Another Death Eater did it when I wasn't in the room." He grinned again, and Mia prepared to block. He raised her wand, and he cried out with venom and rage, "Avada Kedavra!"
Mia raised her wand to block, but it was too late. No one could block that curse. It would go through any shield.
But at just that moment, one of the brains flew their way, blasted by someone else in the room, and the green jet of magic collided with the brain, and it fell lifeless to the ground. Mia stared down at it with shock.
"Drat," Lucious said, and then he raised his wand again.
Across the room Harry raised the prophecy in the air and called out to the Death Eaters before running through another door, leading them out.
Lucious grinned at Mia. "To be continued." And chased after Harry.
Her path now free, Mia raced to Gabe and felt his chest. It wasn't moving. She put her hand under his nose, but her heart was beating too fast, she didn't know if he was breathing shallowly or not. She tried casting a diagnostic spell over him, she only knew the basics, but the scan lit lights over Gabe's body. The red pulsing one showed life, it was small, and wrapped with so many colors, but that meant he was alive right? She wasn't sure if it would look different for a wolf. She looked around, Ron was trying to pull tentacles off of himself, and Ginny was helping. Hermione was still in a corner lying still. Mia levitated Gabe's wolf body over to the corner where Hermione was, and performed the same spell on her.
"What does it say," Ginny asked, fear heavy in her voice.
"I- I don't really know. I think she's still alive, but I don't know how to fix her. Her or Gabe."
"Why is he a wolf?" Ginny asked.
"He walked into some mist, and now he can't change back." She wasn't sure if Ginny knew he was an animagus, they had tried so hard to keep that news quiet. Hermione had found out during fourth year when she was looking up the animagus public records, but how many students did that? "What's wrong with your leg?" Ginny had been limping, even as she helped the frantic Ron remove the tentacles.
"I don't know, but check on Luna first."
Mia nodded and crossed to the girl. She performed the same spell. "This one looks more normal, there's not all the other magic wrapped around her. I think she's just knocked out." She still didn't know how to revive her.
She had wasted so much time studying for exams that year when she could have been learning healing. She didn't need to know herbology now, she didn't have any potions to help! She was so incredibly underprepared for this. She took a deep breath to ward off the panic and levitated Luna over to Hermione and Gabe in the corner where they would be more shielded.
She started trying to help Ron with the tentacles but gave up. They were stuck tight and didn't seem to be hurting him anymore now that the brain was detached. But he was still disoriented and scared from whatever spell had struck him.
Why hadn't she spent more time learning counter-curses and healing spells? She could have helped them, got them back to fighting condition if only she knew how. Now they were trapped here with most of their party injured, and most of the Death Daters had recovered or fixed their own counter-curses.
Ginny's ankle was a quick fix. It had a very small break that Mia could heal. She knew that spell at least.
Mia looked towards the door Harry and Neville had gone through.
"Go," Ginny said. "We'll be ok."
Mia nodded and started jogging for the door. She wiped sweat from her forehead, then realized it was blood. They were all so scratched and cut from all the flying glass. She could have healed their cuts, she could do the non-magical ones, but it would have wasted time. She ran through a few open doors towards flashing lights, and came into the amphitheater room, with the arch in the center of the room. Neville was a short distance away, his legs dancing madly so he couldn't stand, and Harry was by his side, being choked by a death eater. She shot a spell at him and he crumpled. There was so much action going on in the room, the death eaters were fighting... the Order. She wanted to cry with the relief of it. Sirius, Tonks, Remus, Moody and Kingsley. They were here, they had come for them. Mia raced towards Harry and Neville as Harry turned back to help fight the man Sirius was battling. Harry stunned the man and Sirius straightened.
"Nice one Harry, now I want you to get everyone out of here." He turned and saw Mia, and relief flooded his face. "Get everyone out," he said again looking at her, when Bellatrix sent a hex towards him. He blocked it and shot back till they were locked in a duel, shooting spells faster than Mia had ever seen. Bellatrix really had been messing with her and Neville. She could have killed them at any moment. Sirius was just as good, if not better. He defended them with a ferocity that made it clear he hadn't spent the year laying about in number twelve. From their bare bone's owl correspondence over the year she knew he'd been off on missions for Dumbledore and his dueling skills were as sharp as his mind. Gone was the jokester there to have a good time and in his place stood her father, protecting his kids from the evil trying to hurt them and when it was all over Mia had no doubt he would ground them.
She saw Moody get hit by a jinx and fall to the floor just as she reached Neville. Harry turned and blasted another death eater, then ran to them, between them they helped Neville stand and tried to hurry towards the door, Neville's legs thrashing wildly. The prophecy fell out of Harry's pocket, and one of Nevill's feet kicked it, and it smashed into a wall, too far away for any of them to hear as the smoke dissipated. Mia and Harry looked at each other with grim expressions, and Neville apologized profusely.
Then Dumbledore appeared.
Mia's eyes did water that time in relief, but she quickly shook herself, reminding herself to be alert.
They turned and watched as Dumbledore quickly and completely defeated the death eaters, locking them in some sort of forcefield. All of the death eaters except for Bellatrix who was still battling Sirius. They were moving slowly towards the veiled archway in the center of the room as they shot spells back and forth, and Mia had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. "No," she whispered.
Harry had seen it too. "You got him?" he asked Mia, and she nodded, supporting Neville, as Harry let go and raced back down the steps, shooting curses at Bellatrix as he went. Bellatrix pivoted, but didn't slow, now fighting both of them and laughing maniacally.
"Harry no, just get out of here," Sirius called, and then Bellatrix sent another curse at him, and he didn't dodge quick enough, and he fell back as if in slow motion towards the veil covered archway.
Mia's heart threatened to crack in two. Harry yelled in outrage, and Bellatrix laughed and started running for the room. "Catch me if you can Potter!"
Harry chased after her, a crazy gleam in his eyes.
Mia set Neville down carefully and raced to Sirius's side as he lay on the ground a few feet from the archway. "Dad, are you ok?" He was laying still, his eyes closed. "Dad!" she yelled, shaking him slightly. His eyes snapped open and immediately filled with pain and he groaned. His leg was bloody and torn, oozing blood. It was a magical cut, she couldn't heal it without risking more damage. Why hasn't she learned more med mage magic? When they got out of this, she would spend all of her free time next year learning everything she could. She took her wand to her robes and started severing long strips of cloth from it.
"It's fine, I'm fine," he panted. "What happened to you kid? Your face is so gruesome."
Mia laughed, glad he could talk and think normally. Clearly, she hadn't done a great job cleaning the blood. "A seventh year punched me in the face. He broke my nose." Remus came to her side and inspected the leg.
"Nice one Sirius. If she had hit you dead on, well..." He didn't finish.
"Can you heal it?" Mia asked.
Remus shook his head. "You are probably better off tieing it off like you planned."
Mia nodded and proceeded to slip the cloth under Sirius's leg carefully, then wrap it around tightly and tied it.
Sirius groaned and shuttered as if it was taking all his effort not to cry out. "Hey dad," Mia said. Sirius grunted in response. "I'm gonna need another shopping trip for new robes soon," she said as she cut another strip out of hers and turned back to slip it under his leg again. He let out a pained laugh then winced, but either way Mia was relieved.
"It will have to wait," he told her through clenched teeth. "You and Harry will both be grounded till you're thirty after this."
Mia smiled. She would be fine with being grounded if it meant he was there to do it. She had been so worried, so convinced deep down she would lose him somehow. She kept forcing back the tears. They were still in danger and she needed to focus, take control of her adrenalin and emotions.
When his leg was tied up, and no longer oozing blood, she helped him stand, his arm over her shoulders so she could support his weight on the bad leg. "You know I could just levitate you," she pointed out.
"Please Mia Bell, if you're ever going to be a proper healer you need to learn to leave your patients with at least a little dignity," he said through gritted teeth. Mia chuckled, although it was a little hysterical at this point.
Kingsley was standing guard over the Death Eaters, and Mia told him where he could find a few more. He thanked her and went to look for them. Tonks was trying to revive Moody, and Remus had left with Neville to go find the others. Mia helped Sirius climb the stairs, till they were back in the round room.
"Do we want to find the others, or the exit?" she asked.
"We need to find Harry," Sirius said, as he shut the door and the room started spinning. When it stopped, he reached for the door directly across from them. It didn't have one of Hermione's X's on it.
"How do you know that's the right one?" she asked.
"That's how it works. You just tell it where you need to go," Sirius said, opening the door to the hallway where the lift to the atrium was.
Mia shook her head in frustration at their wasted effort and took his weight again, helping him to the door.
The atrium... was a mess. The ugly fountain had been blasted apart, Bellatrix was trapped under part of a statue, and Harry was in the middle of the floor, writhing as Dumbledore stood nearby.
The fires all around the room burst into flame as ministry wizards rushed into the room, pointing their wands all around until suddenly in a wave of mist, and smoke, and flashes of light Voldemort rose out of Harry with a scream of pain and appeared in the room for all to see before he flew through the air on black smoke and grabbed Bellatrix, and disappeared.
Mia's heart pounded. That was hHm. She'd seen Him.
The room was silent, then everyone started speaking at once, shock and fear echoing in every voice. Fudge stepped forward. Pale and panicked as he murdered "he's back" over and over again. Dumbledore took charge of the room and told Fudge he would give him a few minutes of his time after Harry was safely back at Hogwarts. Then he made a portkey and had Harry take it, and Harry was gone. The lift behind them opened again, and Ron, Hermione, Gabe and Luna were brought out, levitated by Remus and Tonks. Moody was walking again, and had one hand on the dazed Ron, directing him. Dumbledore saw them all, standing there in a mess. "Ah, yes, I think the Hogwarts Hospital wing would be best," he said, and gestured towards one of the fires. Remus took charge and directed them all to one of the fires. Ministry workers moved out of the way in a daze, and Mia helped Sirius into the fire before shouting their direction.
Madam Pomfrey was shocked to see them,' but snapped quickly into action. Ron and Luna were healed with quick spells, and Gabe was revived, but still couldn't change back to human. Pomfrey fixed Mia's black eyes, and directed her to the potions for cleaning and healing everyone's small cuts and gashes while she stopped the bleeding in Sirius's leg, and set i on Hermione.
Dumbledore appeared later with Harry, who looked shell shocked as if he'd just heard news that would change his world, and then Dumbledore left again. Mia cleaned and healed Harry's cuts, then picked glass out of Gabe's paws. The glass was of magical origin, and Gabe's feet weren't human, so Pomfrey recommended doing it the muggle way, although she did provide a lens that gave Mia near x-ray vision, and a potion to numb Gabe's paws.
When Dumbledore returned again, he was guiding Umbridge. Mia glared at the woman, babbling and clearly terrified out of her mind. It wasn't enough. She deserved worse. She could tell they all wanted to ask how Dumbledore had gotten her back from the Centaurs, but no one did. Pomfrey asked her to give the teacher a sleeping potion so she would stop muttering and said any injuries could wait while she helped those who really needed it. Mia smiled at the venom in her voice. Months of having to treat Umbridge's victims had clearly weighed on the healer.
Hermione was the worse off. After hearing how she was hurt, Pomfrey said if the spell hadn't been half interrupted, Hermione would have died. She would need to take a lot of potions over the next few weeks. Ron had scars from the brain that Pomfrey wasn't sure would fade, and Sirius's leg would need a few more spells before he could put weight on it again.
Pomfrey said she would work on turning Gabe back to human again after she could consult a few books. The spells she and Dumbledore had tried were not successful, but Dumbledore wasn't overly worried. He said he would ask someone who worked in the department of Mysteries for advice.
When she was done removing the glass, Mia leaned against the cot Sirius lay in, and Gabe curled up next to her, his head on her leg. Everyone was safe, and Voldemort was in the open. As the sun rose through the windows her adrenalin crashed and she slipped off into sleep.
She awoke sometime later to voices talking quietly. She knew the voices, so she was comforted instead of panicked at her unknown surroundings.
"-Everyone except Bellatrix," Remus said quietly.
Sirius cursed softly. "And I suppose the rest will weasel their way out in no time," Sirius said.
"Maybe a few, Malfoy still has powerful friends, but Rookwood and Dolohov will be locked away again for good."
"Until the dementors let them out again."
"No, the dementors are gone. They've completely abandoned the prison."
Silence. She could hear Sirius breathing heavy.
Mia turned and sat up. She disentangled herself from Gabe, who had been snuggled against her, but clearly awake and listening in wolf form.
"How are you feeling," Sirius asked as she crossed to his cot.
"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" She yawned and sat on his bed. He put an arm around her and pulled her against his side.
"Oh, I'll be fine. The leg is healed, and Pomfrey gave me a potion to help speed up the muscle regrowth. She's bringing me another blood replenishing draft then I'm out of here."
Remus smiled down at her. "But we will see you again when you come home in only a few days."
"But things will be different now, won't they?"
Dumbledore had explained the finer points to them all that night, or morning as it had been, how their belief they needed to go to the ministry to rescue anyone had been his fault. If he had been more direct with some of them, they would have realized the order was well equipped to deal with any issues that came up. Mia had stolen a glance at Harry, and seen him frowning, as if he'd heard this all before, in the time he had been alone with Dumbledore, and now he had too many thoughts to sort through.
"Yes love, they will be different now, but we will manage."
Mia looked over at Gabe on her cot. He was laying down, his head on his paws watching her. They would manage.
Over the next few days, the Daily Prophet went rampant, trying to catch up on all the stories, telling the "uncovered truth" where before they'd been the ones burying the truth. No one knew exactly what had happened in the dregs of the Ministry, and Mia hoped the particular details stayed hidden. She tried to catch Draco a few times, but he kept dodging her, till she saw him leaving the great hall, and followed him out. "Draco, hey wait up," she called when he'd made it to the dungeon door.
"What, Black? What can you possibly want now?" he asked with a venom and rage that startled her.
"I wanted to make sure you're ok."
Draco laughed angrily. "Yeah, of course I'm ok? Why wouldn't I be? I only helped my cousin get out of trouble just so she could turn around and stab me in the back. Tell me Mia, did you even try to return the favor with my dad, or just stun him and tie him up for the Aurors."
Mia was so shocked she just stared at him for a moment.
"That's what I thought," he said before turning back to the dungeon.
"No, Draco, you have it all wrong. I didn't capture him, Dumbledore did. But if you must know, if I had had the chance, I would have knocked him out. He tried to kill me, Draco."
Draco froze and turned back to her. "You're lying."
"No, I'm not. First Bellatrix threatened to kill me like she did my mum. Your dad told her to do it, it would be doing him a favor, because his wife was so fond of me, and he found it endlessly annoying. Then he attacked us, and he used Avada Kedavra on me." She paused to let it sink in. "The only reason I'm alive is because this weird brain thing got between us, and it got hit instead of me. Draco, he knew exactly who I was, stared me down as he cursed me, then said 'drat' when it missed. He wanted me dead."
Draco frowned and shook his head.
"We both know your dad won't be in Azkaban long. He will buy his way out, and then what? Do you really want to stay there this summer with him and our crazy aunt Bellatrix?"
She saw fear in his eyes for a moment, but then he shook his head again. "I won't be in any danger."
"Do you really believe that Draco? You can come home with me this summer. Seriously, Draco, you can stay with us."
His expression turned back to rage. "You aren't better than me, Black. Just because your side can live in the daylight doesn't mean it's right. My side will win in the end. You're just fighting a losing battle."
"Do you really believe your side is doing what's right Draco? Does it feel right?"
"It doesn't matter. Family doesn't turn on family."
"Oh right, so what did your dad and Bellatrix do at the ministry when they tried to kill me then?"
"You aren't really family!" he yelled at her. "You're just the half-blood spawn of a mudblood," he screamed.
It stung. But it didn't hurt any worse than any of the cuts and scrapes and bruises she'd suffered at the ministry. She knew he was only lashing out because he was scared. She wouldn't let it turn her mind against him.
He opened the door to the dungeons and walked down the steps without another word.
"The offer still stands Draco," she called before the door closed.
After Gabe was turned back to human, they spent their last few days of term laying around the far side of the lake with the wolf pack, soaking up the sun, in human form. Gabe wasn't quite ready to try transforming again, and Mia didn't blame him. He'd been stuck as a wolf for three days till Madam Pomphrey tried a spell Dumbledore suggested in combination with a few potions.
Laying in the sun by the lake with the young wolf cubs playing around her, it was hard to remember that Voldemort was now in the open, returning to power as he had been all year, but now no longer trying to hide it. She couldn't imagine how the world would change in the next year, so she wouldn't miss the small moments of happiness where she could find them.
AN: You guys didn't really think I would kill Sirius, did you?
This is FAN FICTION. This is the place we come to change the world and heal our broken hearts from tragic book deaths.
Mind you, this doesn't mean people won't die later...
Comment your feels, yes, even if they are negative.