THE ORDER OF DRACONIS
Nb. I apologise, yet again for such another short
chapter. The next chapter will be
dedicated to everyone who should be kind enough to review.
Thank you.
The Dark Mark was still burning, although not as viciously as before when it had yet again burned black. In a way, he was glad of the brand. It told him of the Lord's presence (although with it brought binding agony) and that was why they were all still alive and running through the Ministry building, undetected. They had been running for quite a while now, and when Dumbledore raised his hand in a gesture to stop, he felt relieved. As soon as the pain had manifested itself, it had been draining him of energy. He came to a halt behind Remus Lupin, his face white and filled with concern.
"You and me both," he thought, "at least Voldemort isn't after your blood".
They all gathered in a tight circle around Albus Dumbledore, waiting tensely for further instruction. Snape carefully scrutinized Dumbledore's face, as the only way you could tell his true feelings was to look at his eyes. As usual, his face showed only calm, but his eyes betrayed the anxiety dwelling within. It was showing.
"I'm afraid the situation is grave," Dumbledore announced. "There is no point in hiding the severity of this case…"
"But what about Voldemort," Sirius interrupted, "how can you be so sure that he is actually here?"
Sirius cast a venomous glare in his direction. Severus knew that Black still didn't trust him at all.
"Fine with me," he thought, "I can't trust you as far as I could throw you, either. It's mutual, Black".
He decided to return the glare, with interest.
"We know, Sirius, because Severus felt the Mark burn," Dumbledore said with just a bite of impatience in his usually neutral tone. "As you well know, the Mark only burns when…"
"Voldemort summons you, is close by, or is feeling particularly murderous," Harry finished off.
They all turned to Harry in surprise. He hadn't spoken since they had all up and left half an hour ago from outside Fudge's waiting room. Harry smiled back at them all. He seemed to be amused by all of this, as if it were just another school Quidditch match, but he could see that under the façade, he was worried just like the rest of them. Dumbledore smiled back at him. The sight of Harry not breaking down into a nervous wreck seemed to give the old man a new strength.
"Right. Here's what we'll have to do. I'll take Harry and Sirius," he looked at Snape, his blue eyes sharp and alert, then at Sirius, "because I can't trust you two to work together civily. Minerva, Severus and Remus, you work together. Find any traps and remove them, as we'll need safe passage through the building if…" he paused, "…if we need to escape quickly."
"Ahh. So that's the plan," he thought. "Dump Black and the Boy somewhere safe, get rid of all the traps in our escape route and get out as soon as possible".
"Does everyone understand?" asked Dumbledore.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Good luck".
He watched apprehensively as Dumbledore left silently with Harry and Sirius. Once they had rounded the corner and were out of sight, the three continued their descent further into the bowels of the Ministry.
They walked without another word for some time, Minerva in front, Lupin coming behind her and himself at the back, checking behind doors for danger or loose Ministry workers. After a while, Minerva stopped abruptly and motioned them both to come forward.
"I think I heard…"
Whatever Minerva was about to say was abruptly cut short by a soft clatter and a thud. As one, they all reached for their wands. The corridor ahead was pitch black, as was the corridor behind. All the torches had been extinguished and the little light there was, was borrowed light from the moon outside. The Death Eaters must've come up from underground.
"Shit," he thought, "they've found us already".
He tried to maintain a cool composure, but his voice wavered slightly as he spoke.
"Clever of them," he sneered, "but not their style".
"No. You're right, Severus," Lupin whispered behind him, "they usually barge in, wands blazing".
"Yes. They're being more careful this time," Minerva muttered, "I expect they don't want to botch this mission".
The shuffling stopped. There was a quiet scraping noise, as if metal were being dragged along the floor, then a clunk as something fell into place. The tension so palpable he could taste it. Then there was silence.
Minerva slowly approached the corner of the corridor, her footsteps padding across the marble floor, and looked around carefully. He watched in apprehension as she inspected the lengthy corridor ahead. For a few seconds, which felt like an eternity, he didn't dare breathe. Then, she turned back round and motioned for them to come forward.
He started to follow Remus down the passageway, but shadow moving quickly forced him to the ground. He yelled as something slammed hard into his ribcage and he rolled over, lashing out wildly into the darkness. He felt his fist connect satisfactorily with something, accompanied by a grunt of pain.
"Yes…"
He heard more footsteps sprinting down the corridor, Minerva and Remus, or someone else. He used the moment of weakness to push himself from the ground. He staggered away and reached for his wand, his hand grasping the pleasantly cool, smooth wood, wrenching it from his robes. He swiftly raised his wand, knowing that the attacker would surely be up on his feet again. The incantations were already forming in his head before they arrived at his lips.
"STUPEFY !!!" he yelled.
"STUPEFY !!!" another unknown voice cried from the distance.
He dived for the ground as the curse streaked past him, hitting the wall opposite and whipping his hair up with the backdraft…and his world exploded with pain. His groin felt as though it were on fire…
"Fuck you," he managed to gasp, "I will not give in to you".
"Severus?" a worried voice exclaimed.
The voice struck a chord in his memory. A voice he knew and remembered only too well…
"Yoshi?"
Disclaimer: As before. None of the characters portrayed belong to me, although the plot does. I have borrowed some of the characters because, to me, they showed an infinite amount of creative promise. As before, I have worked hard on this fic. So be a responsible reader and review, review, review. Creative criticism more than welcome. Flames will be laughed at. Aha. K