Chapter 1 – Dead On Time

Soon, they were surrounded. Of course it had been a trap! What more should he have expected from Voldemort? He knew he should have tried to find out if Sirius was really missing, shouldn't have trusted Kreacher's word alone. Maybe they wouldn't have fumbled their way into this godforsaken place and none of this would have happened. He didn't know anything about this stupid prophecy thing in the first place. And now all his friends would die all thanks to his brilliant leadership. Harry started to feel helpless, and the feeling started to panic him. He saw them getting cornered, backed up against the mysterious Veil – he swore he could hear those voices louder than ever. They couldn't hold out much longer. Harry cast one final glance to Neville before closing his eyes and muttering a brief appeal that his friends could forgive him for all this. It was all his fault.

Then, in a brief moment of quiet, a series of loud cracks! broke out across the room. Members of the Order of the Phoenix apparated all around the terrified students, shielding them from the onslaught and coming back tenfold. He was in shock. Then in the next moment he felt a rush of relief as Sirius' cheery grin came into view and hands cupped his face protectively. He was looking mischievous but there was clear relief in his eyes. Harry snapped from his panic and grinned an unstoppable grin.

"Sirius-"

"-Stay with your friends, Prongslet. The cavalry's here, now."

He gently patted Harry's cheek before dashing off to support Remus against Malfoy and Dolohov. Harry turned to look for his friends. Neville and Ginny were helping Ron, as he hopped on his uninjured leg. They went for cover behind a large boulder. He spotted Luna limping along slightly behind them. He did a quick visual scan over their injuries. They all seemed generally unhurt for what it was worth. Okay, four out of five. Harry looked around for Hermione and his heart started skipping beats.

He snuck around a pair of rocks by the Veil, trying to avoid the crossfire. Death Eaters were blasting wildly all around. Chunks of rock and debris flew about. Boulders smashed, incinerated, blasted into oblivion. The Veil remained untouched the whole time, further unnerving Harry in the back of his mind. Kingsley rushed across in a back-and-forth spell exchange with Nott Snr. The whole Veil room became a light show between light and dark. He ducked another shot and rounded the next corner. When he came upon Hermione his heart almost shattered.

She was laid out on the stone floor; just out of the way of the battle. It was clear she had maneuvered herself there from a slight trail of blood from the middle of the room. She hoisted herself up onto a concealed face of a sloping rock. She was in complete shambles by the looks of it: quick, shallow breaths between pained whimpers. Her clothes were half in tatters, and her hair was a complete mess. The worst part was her hand clutching her side with a significant amount of blood over it.

She looked up to acknowledge his approach. She didn't react particularly except a few slight nods between shaky breaths. He bent down to pick her up and she clung to him with desperation as he carried her across the battlefield and re-joined the group. Neville was keeping lookout while Luna and Ginny did their best to heal Ron's leg. They saw Hermione and grimaced. He gently rested her beside Ron. She looked up at him with watery eyes, still breathing heavily. Luna went to work on her immediately, casting a short glance in Harry's direction. He frowned deeply when looking at the state they were all in. Holding the bridge of his nose in his thumb and forefinger, he let out a deep sigh.

"Guys, look." He drew their attention and regretted it. "You don't know how sorry I am for leading you all into this." He let it sink in.

"Hey, mate. No worries, alright. We've been in plenty of tough scrapes before." Ron quipped, with a pained smirk, trying to lighten the tension as always.

Harry chuckled a bit before seriousness set back into his features.

"Look, I'm serious-"

"-Harry, stop." Neville interrupted boldly. "Now's not the time for apologies, we all know what we were getting into. Now's the time for action." He lifted Harry's wand arm in front of him, closing his fingers around his fist.

Harry nodded in agreement. He should focus on getting them out of this mess he had created. Neville, Ginny and he were in the best condition and decided to go out and join the Order in the battle.

Harry immediately spotted Sirius in a duel with Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange and ran to his aid. As Sirius was bearing down on Bellatrix, he noticed a stray bolt from Malfoy. Harry threw up a shield in the nick of time and the spell exploded violently on impact.

"Nice one, James!" called Sirius. Harry joined his side, and they redoubled their assault.

The world was a blur, with Order members and Death Eaters flying about and firing spells with multi-coloured explosions. The two pairs were circling on the plateau in front of the Veil. The duel was getting heated. Lucius and Bellatrix were shooting off curses Harry hadn't even heard of before. All he and Sirius could do was bear the brunt on their shields before returning with an offensive of their own. Harry was getting exhausted, but pushed on.

Sirius was actively taunting them as he matched Lucius, beat to beat. In a few seconds, with back-up from Harry, he was stunned, disarmed and blasted several feet away. Sirius laughed triumphantly but, in the blink of an eye Bellatrix stuck back and sent a disarming spell that wrenched Sirius' wand from his hand, she smiled wickedly.

"Avada-"

In a flash, she flew back unconscious and splayed out on the ridge. They turned to see a bruised and battered Neville, wand arm straight out and rage in his eyes. He nodded to us as he walked passed and he helped Kingsley restrain her. They looked around and saw that many of the fights had been resolved with a few more being restrained, although Lucius had managed to escape. Bellatrix was struggling but with a wand at her throat from Neville, she was silent. Sirius and Harry turned and hugged wholeheartedly; tears in their eyes. They slid slowly to their knees, with only the other to support them

"I thought I was going to lose you." Harry managed to choke out.

"You foolish, foolish boy." cooed his weary godfather.

"I know, I just-"

"-shhh Quiet now. Everything's alright. You've done beautifully." Sirius gently stroked Harry's hair as they felt the incredible exertion of battle catch up to them.

A loud explosion was heard and a large team of aurors poured in, headed by Rufus Scrimgeour and Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge, himself. The Order were in shock. Being a secret organisation under the nose of the higher ups of the Ministry was not a good position to be caught in, especially not while also harbouring a wanted fugitive. Sirius blanched as Fudge shouted for the aurors to seize him. But before they could get any closer, everyone collapsed in pain as a hissing voice was heard, burning in their ears like acid.

You have thwarted me for now, but you will all soon feel the unbridled wrath of your Dark Lord. Enjoy your petty victories, you will need them when you and everyone you hold dear suffer living hell by my hands. Prepare for your fate, it will not be painless.

It was with fear that everyone got to their feet. The Minister stuttered out another timid command to arrest Sirius and the several Order members.

"Stop right there!" Kingsley Shacklebolt had stepped between Sirius and the fellow aurors. They faltered at his booming voice. "We have some key suspects who are believed to be involved with the Death-Eater cult who may be able to bring us information on He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and could shed light on Sirius' case. I suggest you evaluate your priorities."

This is when Scrimgeour stepped forward, eyeing him suspiciously with an intelligent, analytical gaze.

"What's this all about, Kingsley?" He cast a quick glance to the other members of the Order. He focused on Harry for a few seconds before settling back on the senior auror.

"That can be explained at a further date, I promise. But for now let's focus on our primary concern: arresting and interrogating these, now confirmed, Death Eaters" Scrimgeour hesitated for a moment before giving a sharp nod and sending the aurors into action.

"You realise this group of yours will require interrogation as well?" Kingsley gave a resigned nod before leading the others out into the Ministry main atrium. After a small silent exchange between Harry and Sirius, Harry ran back to check up on Luna, Ron and, of course, Hermione.

"She's stable for now but she'll need some more serious medical attention." Luna said with the most determined expression he had seen her with. He nodded carefully. They helped her out with Ron, who was able to limp at this point. As the six teenagers walked through the room doors, casting one final look back to the Veil, they could just overhear Fudge muttering to his several bureaucrats and advisers.

"He's back. He's back. He's back..."

-AAfA-

DAILY PROPHET – Wednesday 19th June 1996

p.2 – The Bad News - SHOCK ATTACK AT THE DEPT. OF MYSTERIES by Morton Carneirus

Everyone across magical Britain and Ireland was shocked today at the report of a Death Eater attack at the Department of Mysteries, in the heart of the Ministry, just last night. Reports have it of a team of the cloaked, Dark magic terrorists attacked in ambush last night, beginning in the Hall of Prophecies and culminating in The Veil Room. The more observational readers of the DAILY PROPHET may be wondering against whom? Well this is a fact that Auror Office Head, Rufus Scrimgeour, and Minister Fudge have kept close to their chest. It isn't difficult to see that the secret of this vigilante 'mystery group' goes quite high up - if not to the top.

The speculation of who is the ringleader of such a group will undoubtedly be talked the nation-over for the next week until the hasty upcoming public trials and investigations by the D.M.L.E. Rumour spread that such people as senior auror Kingsley Shacklebolt and retiree Alaster 'Mad-Eye' Moody were involved. There were even allegations that fugitive/murderer and Azkaban escapee, Sirius Black, were apart of this. It was known that Albus Dumbledore was pushing the Wizengamot for a re-examination of the Potter-Black case only a few years ago. Perhaps our 'esteemed' Chief Warlock has seen the need to take the law into his own hands while being on the outs with the Ministry over the past year. One can only speculate.

One must also wonder if the Ministry and D.M.L.E. are fully capable of cleaning up such a conspiracy. Or if all of these rumours of corruption will cause a failure of their bureaucracy. Of course, only time will tell, we will have to await the trials.

Unfortunately, due to this imposed secrecy, no aurors or Ministry officials were available for comment.