Disclaimer: JKR is our goddess, owns all the things, especially the canon that I attempted to follow in this next chapter.
Chapter 15
Hermione clutched at the empty air in front of her, terrified and freezing even more with every breath she took. She could see clouds and the ground moving slowly beneath her, but she knew that was an illusion. She was currently flying over Britain on some invisible beast, and her grasp on reality was as tenuous as it seemed to be on this creature.
What on earth is going on? What are we going into, and how did I get here? This refrain kept repeating itself over and over, and there were no answers coming to mind, just flashes of scenes that seemed out of dreams.
Frantic last-minute preparation for the O.W.L.S. and the arrival of the examiners…
Hagrid introducing them to that monstrous giant half-brother of his…
Hagrid fighting off 6 ministry officials and fleeing into the forest…
McGonagall being hit with multiple stunners as she attempted to protect Hagrid…
At this memory Hermione paused, as she could feel this moment as well as see it. She and the boys were on the astronomy tower, taking their exam. They watched as the ministry officials strode across the lawn towards Hagrid's hut, and while the other students twittered around them, Hermione readied her wand. She was sure that Ron and Harry did as well, though she didn't know what good any of them could do from that great distance. Any spell they cast was as likely to go astray as it was to hit their target, and who knows what kind of trouble they'd get into attacking ministry officials.
But when McGonagall burst out of the castle, Hermione felt an overwhelming need to protect her. She seemed so small, as far away as she was, and so outnumbered. She didn't know what spells the ministry might throw at McGonagall, but she immediately started her own warming charm, concentrating on pulling the energy from around Hagrid's hut. His lights seemed to dim a tiny bit, but then the stunners came from four wands at once. Hermione's concentration hadn't wavered, but she was unprepared for the blast of energy she felt from these spells. McGonagall fell, and Hermione almost did. She managed to stay upright, only letting out a tiny, "Oh, my!" in shock.
They didn't know what happened to McGonagall; Harry had later been told she was in St. Mungo's. Hermione whispered a little prayer that her professor was alright, that she'd be ok. And, that maybe Hermione had been able to help her. That alone would have made all of the late night lessons worth it. Hermione prayed to God, Merlin, and the air around her, and clung more tightly to the invisible neck.
She didn't know if these creatures could actually take them to the Ministry, nor what they would do once they got there. The wind whipping past Hermione's face seemed to carry all plans or ideas with it. She had to trust Harry. She wasn't sure she trusted Harry's visions, but she loved her friend, and trusted they'd be better together than apart. And there was no way Harry was going to stay at Hogwarts, not with Sirius in danger. So they went. Now nothing else seemed to matter: not the danger, not Umbridge, not Malfoy, just the flying and the hanging on.
The creature suddenly angled down, and Hermione screamed and clung tighter. They were descending.
The ministry was dark and menacing, empty as it was. The teenagers made their way to the Department of Mysteries, each feigning more confidence than the lot of them felt in toto. The outer room with the doors, so many doors, was so disorienting. Hermione came up with the idea of marking a burning "x" on each door they saw behind. The light was comforting, especially after what they saw in the rooms. The emptiest one, the one with a near-empty dais at the bottom of an amphitheater, was the hardest to pull themselves away from and reminded the students that nothing was simple here. They opened the room to the hourglasses and Harry pointed them through it. Then on to the room with the orbs, the shelves and shelves of orbs, each friend racing to find the row with the right number, each friend praying a dying Sirius wouldn't be on the floor of that row.
They did not find Sirius. But Ron did find an orb with a name they all recognized – Harry's. Harry moved to take it, and Hermione sensed a magical signature she'd felt before.
"Harry, I don't think you should touch it," she tried to warn, as Neville also cautioned against it. It didn't matter – Harry was drawn to the thing like a magnet and took it down off of the dusty shelf. The students crowded around him, trying to peer at the glass ball, but Hermione held back. She didn't trust it, and she preferred to stay in the shadows, keeping alert.
"Very good, Potter. Now turn around, nice and slowly, and give that to me."
The students jumped as one at the unmistakable voice of Lucius Malfoy, then gasped at the sight in front of them. Lucius was standing there with no fewer than 10 other figures, all hooded, all pointing lighted wands in their faces. Harry, Ron, and Luna were all clearly illuminated in the light, though all of the students were slightly blinded. Hermione took a step further back into the darkness, as slowly as she could.
"To me!" Malfoy demanded.
"Where's Sirius?" Harry demanded right back.
A cackle sounded at one side of the group, and while the woman who issued it was not visible, Hermione's stomach sank. She knew exactly who that was, and she now knew exactly how much trouble they were in.
Bellatrix.
Crazy, violent Bellatrix. The one from the forest, but even more manic and excited.
Hermione's mouth went dry at the thought of having to fight Bellatrix, of the woman finding out her real identity, at the very real possibility that one of them wasn't going to see another sunrise.
Harry and Lucius continued to tussle verbally – Harry alternating between readying his friends to fight and demanding to know what had happened to Sirius; Lucius continuing to issue orders that the prophesy be given to him. Bellatrix was becoming increasingly agitated at the time all this was taking, and when her mockery didn't have an effect, tried to Accio the orb to her. Harry was too fast for her, and Bellatrix shrieked in frustration. Hermione's blood iced over even more at the sound.
When Bellatrix pulled off her hood, Hermione barely recognized her. If it were not for the dark witch's telltale hair, she might not have at all. The woman's eyes were darting, crazed, and her lips were drawn tight across her teeth in a grimace. This was not Hermione's professor. It wasn't even Hermione's Bellatrix.
When the dark witch grabbed at Ginny, threatening to use torture her, Hermione regained her senses. Perhaps it was the witch's lack of resemblance to the woman she knew, or perhaps the threats to her friends, but Hermione snapped out of her terror. You can do this, Hermione. You can do this. Then Harry began to mock Voldemort, the dark witch lost her remaining composure. She began winging spells around, while both the DA and Lucius Malfoy attempted to stop her. Hermione's confidence took another plunge. She was torn between casting protective spells and trying to drain Bellatrix's energy, knowing that she wouldn't be able to do both. And, honestly, she was incredibly anxious that Bellatrix would discover her. Or that she wouldn't, in the end, be able to confront her directly. Or both. All of the above. You can DO THIS, HERMIONE!
When all hell finally broke loose, it ironically didn't involve any spell work from Hermione at all. Instead, on Harry's command, she yanked down a set of shelves, sending the glass orbs shattering on the floor. The dark room was filled with ethereal voices and strangely lit mist, distracting the hooded figures. The students each sent out their best DA spells and bolted for the exit. The Death Eaters joined the chase and Hermione lost the luxury to think about her next steps.
The friends made it to the next room, then out to the anteroom, where they scattered from each other. Harry and Hermione darted through one of the marked doors, and hid under a desk. A huge Death Eater burst in behind them, and the air was lit with protective and unforgiveable spells. Somehow Harry lost his wand, and one of the Death Eaters got his head stuck in a jar and became a baby. Hermione had no time to process these things, no time to focus. Neville had appeared, and then another set of Death Eaters flung through the door. Hermione's shouts joined the others, but it was a silent spell that hit her. She didn't see Harry's look of panic, Neville's look of despair. She saw nothing as she crumpled into the blackness.
When next Hermione's eyes registered light, she was alone. She did not know where she was, what she was doing, but the discomfort at being on the floor motivated her to move slightly. Her body shot stabs of pain through each of her limbs. Somehow the young witch knew to stifle her moans.
As she pushed herself up off the floor, Hermione took stock of her surroundings. Some of her senses had come back to her – she knew she was in the ministry, that the students had been ambushed by Death Eaters, that they wanted something from Harry, that Bellatrix… Bellatrix. Bellatrix was there. She refused to think anything more about that.
Hermione peered around the dark room, recognizing the doors. She was alone. She couldn't be alone. The others… where were they? Had they left her? Were they safe? Were they alive? Hermione confusion was replaced by panic, which ebbed slightly at the sounds issuing behind one of the doors. She crawled slowly forward, then pulled herself up. The young witch did not know if she could stand, did not know if she could fight. She said a quick prayer that she would find a way to help, her Gryffindor courage propelling her to go through the door.
They were in the amphitheater, and there were so many of them. At first Hermione could not make sense of what she was seeing, though she strained to find her friends in the chaos. Flashes of light were flying everywhere, giving barely a warning of the spells that accompanied them. Hermione shrank into the darkness at wall nearest the door and attempted to catalogue the fighters. Malfoy, Ginny, Ginny! Neville, Remus. Remus? The Order is here? Asshole death eater… Ron… where is Ron… Ron! Harry… Harry! And Tonks! Some asshole, another asshole… While tracking the wizards and witches with her eyes, Hermione attempted to either take or give energy to spells. It was easy to strengthen the spells of her friends, driven by love as she was. She was so exhausted, and she felt each drain of energy like another punch to the gut, but at least she was helping her friends. She wasn't sure she was as successful towards the Order, or in enervating the spells of the Death Eaters.
Suddenly, Hermione's eyes were drawn to two duelers edging out of the darkness towards the dais with the flapping veil. Sirius and… Hermione's heart sunk.
Bellatrix.
The teen desperately wanted Bellatrix to be anywhere else but there, to be anything else but an evil Death Eater. She had been deluding herself, she knew. That time was over.
Bellatrix was enjoying her duel with Sirius, using both hexes and taunts to mock him. Sirius rejoined with gusto, cursing their shared Black family blood and matching her power. But Bellatrix was gaining the upper hand. She hit Sirius with a powerful blow, the red light from the spell illuminating the faces of most of the wizards in the room.
Hermione watched her draw back her wand and knew that the next spell would be the killing green light. She concentrated on the dark witch, remembering how Bellatrix could be so kind, so patient, such a good teacher. Hermione pulled with all her might, feeling her body flash hot with the power from the dark witch's spell. Her knees almost buckled at relief, seeing another flash of red light, instead of the dreaded green.
Time seemed to slow as she began to slump against the wall. Hermione saw the dark witch's head turn, her eyes seek her out. Though Hermione was mostly in shadow, she knew Bellatrix had seen her. The dark witch's face showed confusion at first, then clarity, then intense anger. Hermione barely had time to register this, when Sirius's body, falling under the weight of Bellatrix's still powerful spell, disappeared behind the veil.
Bellatrix's attention was drawn back to the space where her cousin had been standing, and she paused for a moment. Then she began to laugh hysterically. Time, which had seemed to slow down in those moments, sped up suddenly as the battle was rejoined by everyone in the room. Dumbledore had suddenly appeared, from where? The Order seemed to be gaining the upper hand, as many of the Death Eaters were immobilized. There came sounds of struggle. Harry had begun to try to duel Bellatrix, driven by his desperate fury and fear for his godfather. Hermione could not take her eyes off of Bellatrix and Harry, pulling energy from Bellatrix's spells as fast as she could. She could tell Bellatrix could feel her, could sense both her pull and her magical signature. Finally, the older witch broke free from the duel and bounded up the steps towards the door, towards Hermione. Harry gave chase.
Bellatrix threw back some hexes towards Harry, then as she reached the door, she paused and glanced at Hermione. The young witch saw her face shut down its mania, saw the dark woman grit her teeth and stare at the younger woman. Then Hermione watched the manic expression return, as if forced, and she flinched at the sound of the laughter that left the older woman's mouth as she wrenched open the door and disappeared.
Hermione could not stand as she watched Harry follow her, then the Order and Dumbledore after him. It was not until she somehow made her way through the anteroom, propped up by Ron and Neville, that she realized her face was covered in tears. By the time they made it upstairs to the atrium to see the destruction that was left, Hermione had shoved her own grief deep down inside of herself. She forced herself to button down tight, to leave unexamined what had grown inside of her.
Hermione's near-catatonic state fit in with that of her friends, as they dazedly gave their statements to the Ministry officials and then were whisked back to Hogwarts, albeit not with Harry. They were each assigned beds in the hospital wing, and Madame Pomfrey was kind enough to allow the group to stick together. As the others began to reach out to each other, to talk through the events of the night, to comfort each other, Hermione curled up in a ball on her bed and cried herself to sleep.
Author's Note: I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to write this. I struggle with the canon, and frankly OtP is my least favorite HP book. So why did I set my story here... ? Anyway, I hopefully got through the hard part, and can move on. Thanks to those who found the story, especially those who reviewed. I'm not as happy with this chapter, but again, onward!