Chapter 14: Never Let Go
Padfoot's Story
Disclaimer: Yes, I own everything. And even though I'm richer than the Queen of England, I decided to play around with my own characters on this site. (If you really believe that, I pity you.)
Jinkies, this Chapter was hard to write. Not 'cause this Chapter was sad or anything, of course, I just was having trouble wording it so it didn't sound stupid. I hope it doesn't still sound stupid, since I've already rewritten it three or four times. Remember to review at the end please!
And just to warn you, some of the text in this Chapter comes straight out of the 5th book. Figured I might as well stick to the solid facts ^_^
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With another bright flash of light that no one was there to see, the Order of the Phoenix members arrived at the Ministry of Magic. The Atrium was dark and silent-- kind of creepy, really. The umbrella fell to the floor with a clatter and everyone tore down the hall towards the elevators.
Sirius got there first and jabbed the down button hard with his thumb. The rest stopped behind him, slightly out of breath. Next moment a lift had clattered into view. The golden grilles sprang open with an ominous clanking sound.
Sirius jumped in front of the buttons and hesitated, having never been to the Ministry of Magic before. Tonks reached around him and pressed the one labeled 9. The gates slammed shut and the lift began its descent, rumbling and echoing. Sirius bit his lip impatiently.
Kingsley, who was standing next to him, looked up at the ceiling. "It's so strange not to see any of those flying purple memos hovering around up there," he said, bemused. Nobody answered him.
The lift was taking forever and Sirius cursed the slowness, earning him several annoyed looks. He gritted his teeth angrily and stuffed his hands into his pockets, resisting the urge to scream.
"Hurry up," he thought in frustration. He wasn't sure if he said it out loud or not.
A moment later he had wrenched his hands out of his robes and started pounding on the buttons on the wall. "Sirius!"
Everyone started yelled in varying degrees of exasperation and shock. Sirius felt a firm hand grab his wrist and jerked around to growl at Remus, "Well, I can't stand it, why can't it just hurry up! Voldemort could have Harry--"
But just then the lift shuddered to a complete stop. Everyone looked around nervously.
"Oh, now you've done it!" Tonks wailed in distress. "How are we supposed to get to the Department of Mysteries in a broken lift? These things have spells on them, you know!"
Sirius was about to retaliate, but just then a mechanical female voice sounded throughout the lift. "Please wait while a Ministry of Magic member arrives to sort out the problem with your stalled lift. This may take a few moments. We apologize for the inconvenience."
"Perfect," growled Moody sarcastically. "This one should be really easy to explain away. Why on earth would an accused murderer, a werewolf, and three Aurors be in a lift descending to the 9th floor at 2 a.m.?"
"Are there Apparating spells on the lifts?" Remus asked, sounding calmer than the rest of them put together. "Couldn't we just Apparate downstairs?"
"Nah, the only place you can do that in the entire building is the Atrium," said Tonks gloomily. "And trust me, the place is going to be swarming with Ministry officials when they find out someone's tried to break in. The Minister will come himself, even."
"Git," said Sirius under his breath, but everyone heard him.
Remus looked thoughtfully at Tonks and then turned to face the jammed buttons, pulling something small out of his pocket. There was a small jangling sound.
"Well . . .there's always the story that Moody, Tonks and I all stayed late to do some more work when we heard Sirius braking in, and chased him into a lift, and then there was this big fight and somebody hit the buttons in the confusion and the lift stalled," said Kingsley. Sirius stared at him; it was the longest sentence he had ever heard him say. "What? We've had that story ready for a long time now. Just in case, you know. You could just break out of Azkaban again and . . ."
Sirius shook his head in disgust. "We don't have time for that! Voldemort wants to kill Harry now, not next week!"
"Well, yeah, obviously he's still gonna want to kill him next week, because we won't let him kill Harry tonight," Tonks said reasonably.
"TONKS, we're stuck in a stalled lift! How can we save Harry like this?" Sirius yelled.
"Well, I'm just trying to be optimistic. You don't want Harry to die, do you?" said Tonks indignantly.
"Would you all shut up?" Moody growled. "You're giving me a headache."
"Aha! Got it!" said Lupin triumphantly.
There was a series of clicking sounds, the floor shuddered, and the lift started moving again.
Everyone gaped at Lupin.
"There's a lot to learn from Fred and George," he said, a smirk playing on his lips. He held up a hairpin. "Muggle tricks take awhile to learn, but it's worth it." Tonks let out a whoop, but Sirius's throat was too dry to speak.
"Department of Mysteries," the female voice said smoothly, and the grilles slid open again.
With Sirius in the lead, the group tore down the deserted hallway in single file, not having the slightest clue where they were going. Torches flickered in brackets on the wall as they all rushed past.
Sirius stopped short just in front of a plain black door, but Lupin, who wasn't expecting it, plowed into him and sent him flying forward. Sirius waited for the crash, but the door swung open on its own . . .
Everyone was piled on top of each other on the floor: Sirius, Lupin, Tonks, and Kingsley, respectively. Moody hobbled in a few seconds later. Both of his eyes focused on the sight in front of him, amusement twinkling in the small, beady one.
"Oh, I feel like we're in an American football match," Tonks groaned, as she hoisted herself off Lupin and arched her back.
"A what?"
"Muggle sport," Tonks answered and wrinkled her nose. "Disturbing thing to watch, let me tell you."
"Well, I feel like a pancake," said Kingsley. Sirius saw Moody's blue eye roll in exasperation over Kingsley's head.
"Tell you what, after this is over and we're all safe and happy, I'll make you some back at Grimmauld Place for breakfast," Lupin said. "But not before we all get some sleep." He yawned.
"That's just great, but IT'S NOT WHY WE'RE HERE!" roared Sirius. "Do you mind? We're on a RESCUE MISSION, YOU KNOW!" Everyone cringed guiltily.
Moody's eye was revolving crazily in its socket. Standing up, Sirius saw they were in a circular room with identical doors covering all the walls.
"Can you see anything?" he asked the old Auror anxiously.
"No," Moody replied, his large eye still darting in all directions and starting to make Sirius feel nauseous. "Three of them must have some sort of spell on them, 'cause I can't see through. And all the others are empty."
"Let's start with the first three, then," said Sirius. "Lead the way."
Moody walked up to one of the doors, which, to the rest of them, looked no different than the others. But Harry could be right inside it.
Sirius and the others huddled around Moody as he stopped about a foot away from the door, expecting it to open of its own accord. When it became apparent that the door had no desire to open willingly, Moody reached out his gnarled hands and gripped the cracks around the doorframe. He pulled, but it wouldn't budge.
Everyone had pulled their wands out expectantly a moment before, and now Kingsley waved his in a complicated jiggle that strongly reminded Sirius of Hermione. Sirius's breath caught in his chest-- Ron and Hermione were sure to be with Harry. Why wouldn't the stupid door open? Why were inanimate objects being so stubborn tonight?
Then realization hit him.
"Leave the door," he said suddenly. Moody, Kingsley, Lupin and Tonks all looked at him curiously. "I'm serious." Tonks snickered at that one.
"Really!" he said, beginning to lose his temper. "Unless you all want to die this very moment, leave the door alone. I know what's in there." Everyone looked alarmed and took a step back.
Sirius felt his breathing start to return to normal. "That's better. Now, let's spilt up for the other doors. Lupin, you come with me, and the rest of you stay with Moody."
Lupin moved next to his friend. "Which door, Mad-Eye?"
Moody gestured towards one 4 doors away. Sirius and Lupin strode over to it. Sirius took a deep breath and wrenched it open.
At first Sirius couldn't see anything, but the room was glittering.
"What the--"
Sirius could only gape, speechless, as he watched a full-grown man with a baby's head amble around the room. It was bawling loudly.
Remus stopped short behind him. "Wow, that's something I really didn't need to see." Sirius didn't answer-- his eyes were glued to a large dome in the middle of the room. A little bird had just hatched from an egg inside it.
Remus shook Sirius's shoulder roughly. "Earth to Padfoot. Rescue mission, remember?"
"Oh. Right."
Off to the right, Sirius could make out a door. "C'mon," he said quietly. They walked over to it. Sirius leaned his head in close to the wood to see if he could hear anything.
Muffled yells-- and strangled cries that were obviously curses-- were coming from behind the door.
"Merlin, this is it!" Sirius hissed excitedly. "There must be at least a dozen Death Eaters!" He yanked hard on the doorknob, but it was locked.
"Oh, why now?" he moaned, struggling with the door and his mind completely free of thoughts such as 'maybe they charmed the door to stop the Death Eaters from coming in.'
In the next room, everything had gone deadly quiet. Then Sirius heard an agonized scream.
"Move over," Remus mumbled impatiently. "Alohomora!"
The door swung open and Sirius and Lupin charged into the room; out of the corner of his eye Sirius saw Tonks, Moody and Kingsley burst in from the door next to him. Looking down, he saw Harry cornered by Death Eaters on a raised platform in the middle of the room, which was sunk some twenty feet into the floor. A large, black curtain was behind his godson. "He has the prophecy," thought Sirius, seeing it in Harry's outstretched hand. Immediately he started jumping downwards, shouting every curse he knew at the top of his lungs.
It only took a few seconds for the Death Eaters to get over the shock, but it worked: Harry had gotten out of the way and was now crouching in a corner with a small lump of a boy Sirius didn't recognize. The prophecy was out of sight.
Sirius started dueling with someone in a mask, trying to get in a Stunning Spell, but it wasn't working. All he was able to do was play defensive and stop the rain of Unforgivable Curses raining down on him. Finally he saw the man stumble, and seeing his chance, pushed him as hard as he could. The man crashed down a huge flight of steps and lay in a crumpled heap at the bottom.
Triumphant, Sirius turned, only to see a Death Eater bearing down on Harry.
"Oh no you don't," he panted, and rammed him hard in the shoulder just as the Death Eater tried to use a Summoning Charm.
They started dueling, and Sirius recognized the man from an article in the Daily Prophet-- Dolohov. As his wand flashed through the air like a sword, Sirius started grinning-- this was great, this was exactly what he been wanting to do ever since he'd first been condemned to living in Grimmauld Place. This was what it meant to be in the Order of the Phoenix. Those hate- inspired duels with ol' Snivellus were finally paying off.
Dolohov drew back his wand, but Sirius heard someone bellow "Petrificus Totalus!" and the Death Eater keeled over, stiff as a board. Looking around, he saw that it was Harry (and realized the boy with him was Neville Longbottom), and his smile widened.
"Nice one!" shouted Sirius, forcing Harry's head down as a pair of Stunning Spells flew toward them. "Now I want you to get out of--"
But a second later he had to duck as a jet of green light shot towards him. It missed him by mere inches. Across the room Sirius saw Tonks fall from halfway up the stone steps, her limp form toppling from stone seat to stone seat, and Bellatrix, triumphant, running back toward the fray.
"Harry, take the prophecy, grab Neville, and run!" Sirius yelled, dashing to meet Bellatrix.
Her face turned towards him, and she pushed her sweaty hair out of her eyes, and in a second that contained an eternity . . .Sirius's entire seventh year flashed in front of his eyes, the same way it had when he had first awoken from the dream. There was Sami, laughing . . .Sami, smiling in his arms after their first kiss . . .Sami, reaching through the flames to grasp his hand--
With a roar, he sprung at Bellatrix; wanting only to rip her heart out of her chest, make her pay for what she had done to his girlfriend. But would that satisfy him . . .? He didn't know. But he wanted revenge, and badly.
The two cousins circled each other, their wands pointing at each other's throats. Bellatrix was smirking. As usual. Sirius sent an Impediment Jinx at her, which she sidestepped easily.
"Well, cousin, it seems it's time to play another deadly game of cat and mouse," Bellatrix taunted softly. "And the cat never loses when it's hungry . . ."
"Last time the mouse got away, and has been waiting for years to kill the cat!" shouted Sirius furiously. He was completely oblivious to the curses criss-crossing over his head.
"Ah, the mouse wants revenge?" cooed Bellatrix in her mock-baby voice, one of the things Sirius has always most despised about her. "Because one of the mice didn't get away last time, did it?"
Sirius's wrath erupted, curses exploding from his mouth so quickly that Bellatrix had to dive out of the way; as Sirius paused for breath she scrambled to her feet and backed onto the dais with the black curtain. Her lip was bleeding, and she was mad.
"I killed her and she deserved it, the filthy little Mudblood!" she shrieked, obviously trying to send Sirius into a rage.
He shook his head angrily and took a step forward to join her on the dais. "All these years, and that's the best you can come up with?" he mocked, trying to sound incredulous. "You really need to work on your vocabulary, I think you've used that name before."
Her hand shook, and she shouted "Stupefy!"
Sirius ducked. The red jet of light shot over his head and crashed into a stone bench, which exploded. And if he hadn't been so absorbed in the duel, he would have heard the door far above him open, heard someone cry "DUBBLEDORE!" and register what it meant. But he didn't.
Instead, he leapt back up, laughing. "Come on, you can do better than that!" he yelled, his voice echoing around the cavernous room.
The next thing he saw was another jet of red light shooting directly at his chest.
The next thing he felt--
--was an object about the size of a quaffle crash into his thigh with such force it knocked him sideways.
And the next thing he heard was Bellatrix shrieking at the top of her lungs.
Other than that, the room had gone completely silent.
Sirius rolled over, moaning-- and saw such an astounding thing shadowed on the wall, he was sure he was having a heart attack. And what he saw was his cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange, fighting desperately with an owl.
Some ten steps up, Sirius heard Harry gasp, "Hedwig!"
But as Sirius lay there, the only thing he could hear was his conscience telling him what an idiot he was. How could he never have realized? How?
He rolled over again so he could see properly.
The owl had grabbed Bellatrix's wand. It snapped it in half with its beak. Bellatrix started wailing and swatting hopelessly at the owl with her arms, which were scored with several deep scratches.
Then Dumbledore plucked her off her feet and reeled her in towards the rest of the Death Eaters, who were struggling madly against invisible bonds right off the dais. But, as he had also missed many other things that night, Sirius didn't see it. He had eyes for one thing and one thing only: the snowy owl.
She fluttered in the air for a moment before transforming. And then she just stood there, staring Sirius in the eye, scared and uncertain about his reaction.
"Bloody hell!" said Harry weakly.
Sirius's mouth was hanging open and he was shaking his head in wonder. She seemed to take this as a bad sign, because she looked appalled and said, "It's okay, if you're mad, I'll just go--" but next second Sirius had picked her up and swung her around in a circle, then stood clutching her tightly.
"Oh, Sirius, I'm so sorry, I should have told you--" she began again, her voice muffled because she was speaking into his shoulder.
"Shh," he whispered back. "Sami, don't talk."
He took her chin in his hand, tilted her face upwards, and kissed her with all his might.
Tonks, who had been revived by Mad-Eye Moody moments before, whistled loudly and was soon joined by Lupin and Kingsley. When Sirius broke the kiss, applause from everyone echoed throughout the room. Except, of course, from the Death Eaters.
"I thought for sure you'd moved on," Sami said, resting her forehead on his.
"I couldn't," he said. It was a struggle to keep his voice from breaking with emotion. "And now that I have you back, I'll never let you go."
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This Chapter seemed to consist of a lot of people talking for a long time about completely random things, but oh well. Writing weird, random things can be a lot of fun sometimes :)
BlackLupin: Yep, you submitted the 100th review! Don't you feel powerful? And no, this Chapter isn't the last one. I want to say again I absolutely love the new Chapter of I Can See You. It was really good work, I liked it a lot~
Rebecca89: Hey, thanks so much! I feel it is my duty to the world to make up great fics, lol just kidding. I like you're fic!! I'll keep reading it~
Smiley-Freak :D: Well here it is! Hope you liked it~
Cestari: I was glad to get a review from you again! And I know, Bellatrix can be truly evil sometimes-- luckily she didn't get to commit her worst crime in my fic~
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MarauderGurl: Thanks for reviewing, and I like your fic too-- heck, all fics about the Marauders rock!!
If you review, you get a balloon and a lollipop in the flavor of your choice. I can't believe I have 100 reviews now! You guys all rock!!
~*Padfoot-dreamer*~