CHAPTER THIRTY: THE BETRAYAL
Giles followed Fudge and the three Aurors out into the Entrance Hall, the Professor keeping a close eye on the Auror that was carrying Buffy. Giles closed the doors behind them and looked at Fudge expectantly.
Fudge looked back at Giles questioningly, as though he was uncertain what Giles wanted him to do. Giles' eyes narrowed dangerously and he gave his patented Ripper-glare.
"Let her go Fudge," Giles said quietly.
Fudge just shook his head and glanced at the three Aurors, who took their silent cue from the Minister of Magic. The three men turned and began walking towards the double doors at the far end of the Entrance Hall. Giles froze momentarily before working out what exactly was happening.
He raced after the three Aurors, grabbing hold of the man who carried Buffy. Giles couldn't quite work out the best way to attack the man without hurting Buffy, and so had no choice but to hope that Buffy would heal from any damage caused in the scuffle. Giles punched the man's nose, causing him to drop the small blonde girl in his arms. Giles quickly pulled out his wand to -"Stupefy!"- stun the man, but found that the other two Aurors didn't appreciate one of their own being attacked.
His wand was quickly -"expelliarmus!"- taken from him, and he found himself laid out flat out on his back, stunned. Fudge stood above Giles and smirked at him.
"It looks as though you lose this time," Fudge said coolly.
The three Aurors, one carrying Buffy, and the other helping the other Auror who'd been stunned, followed Fudge out the front door of Hogwarts, leaving Giles to wait out the effects of the Stunning Spell.
All Giles could do was silently pray to whatever Higher Powers were listening that Buffy would make it through whatever the Ministry had planned.
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"You wanted this to happen!"
"I wanted no such thing Mr Weasley."
"I bet you and Fudge were in on it together. It was your idea in the first place!" Ron accused.
Things had gone from bad to worse when the group had found out about Fudge's other plan to take Buffy regardless of her innocence. Ron had lost his temper, and Snape was on the receiving end of it. Hermione was completely stunned, Harry was devastated, and Draco was pacing the room anxiously.
"Who knows what he's doing to her!" Ron continued, ranting obliviously to Snape's rising anger. "I bet he's locked her up in a dark room with a billion dementors. What if he's using the Cruciatus Curse on her. What if he uses the Avada Kedavra Curse?"
"Ron-" Harry tried.
"What if she's already dead? What if we can't save her? What kind of friends are we?"
"Ron-" Hermione attempted.
"What if we ever see her again? What if-"
"RON!"
Ron stopped at Harry and Hermione's simultaneous yell. He turned to look at them, startled out of his questioning. He sighed, the wind taken out of him and took a seat between his best friend and his girl friend.
"We should have expected something like this," Giles muttered angrily.
He couldn't believe he'd let himself be set up like that. He should have known that something in the plan had been changed when the Aurors had knocked her out with three stunning spells instead of one. He shouldn't have trusted Cornelius Fudge to agree so readily to their plan. Unfortunately, Fudge had seemed to genuinely wish to aide them in helping Buffy.
Dumbledore sighed quietly and stroked his beard, deep in thought.
"As far as I am aware, no minor will be allowed into Azkaban Prison, unless they are there visiting," Dumbledore mused.
The group seemed to sigh in relief at hearing that news.
"Well, in the muggle world, they have juvenile detention centres," Harry said. "Does the wizarding world have anything like that?"
Dumbledore shook his head. "Before the rise of Voldemort, if a juvenile committed a felony, they were left in the hands of their parents. Or, if their parents were unfit, they were left in the custody of Hogwarts. Unfortunately, seeing as Buffy's father is neither alive nor exceptionally trustworthy even if he were, there is no where for her to go."
"Why won't she be handed over to Sara?" Draco asked.
"Sara Lanstone was banished from the Wizarding community. Regardless of the fact that she was never a Death-Eater, nor even remotely evil, she will not be welcomed back. Not when Cornelius Fudge is still the Minister of Magic," Dumbledore explained.
"Which means that Buffy can't be given over to her parents, and she is obviously not going to be entrusted to Hogwarts," Giles summed up.
Silence once more filled the room, each of them deep in their own thoughts. Hermione was close to tears, and Harry wasn't far off either. Again the silence was broken by the most unlikeliest of people.
"Whilst Mr Weasley may have been…overly dramatic…he might not be wrong," Snape spoke up softly. "We don't know what Fudge will do with her. He has shown, time and time again, that he holds Miss Ridd-…Miss Summers with little to no regard."
"We have to do something," Harry said, his voice quietly forceful. His eyes held tears, anger and love. He was getting increasingly tired of people kidnapping his girlfriend.
"It's not as though we can exactly appeal to the Ministry," Hermione said quietly, her voice croaky and strained from holding back her tears. "And even if we did, who would go against the Minister of Magic?"
"Perhaps the first order of business will be to locate Buffy," Giles suggested. "Fudge may just be daft enough to place her in Azkaban regardless of the fact that she is a minor."
"So, how do we get into Azkaban without Fudge noticing us?" Draco asked.
Once more the room fell silent. Harry suddenly grinned and clicked his fingers, an idea forming in his mind.
"Harry?" Hermione asked curiously.
Harry looked up, his grin widening.
"I think I have a plan."
"I'd like to place a vote against this plan," Snape said.
Harry glared at the Professor. "You haven't even heard it," he complained.
Snape smirked and raised his eyebrows at the Sixth Year Gryffindor. "No, but I can guess what you're about to say."
"Really?"
"If it has anything to do with whom I think it had to do with…"
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When Buffy awoke, she knew that she was in trouble. The last thing she remembered was taunting the Ministry Aurors in the Great Hall. Usually, having no memory after such an action was generally not a good thing. She awoke to find her hands bound and her mouth gagged shut.
She shifted slightly to try and feel her wand in its position in her boot, but couldn't feel the comforting black wooden length. She scowled, annoyed that something had obviously gone very wrong sometime between the meeting in Dumbledore's office and the confrontation in the Great Hall. Her first and only conclusion, Fudge was an asshole.
She opened her eyes, not surprised to find two of the three Aurors who had accompanied Fudge to be guarding her. She glared fiercely at them, but they only smirked at her. One of the men stood and walked to the door of the large office that they were in. He opened the door and whispered something to someone on the other side. Buffy guessed that it was the third Auror.
She listened carefully, trying to pick up on what was said. She grunted when she realised that she couldn't hear them. She really missed having her slaying powers. With them, she could have broken her bonds easily, fought the three men and made it out of wherever they were holding her, all in under ten minutes. She knew she shouldn't have agreed to allowing the Ministry to strip her of her powers. It seemed that even with them gone, the Ministry still did not trust her. All of it was for nothing after all.
He door swung wide open, Cornelius Fudge strutting into the room. He moved to stand in front of Buffy and carefully removed the gag from her mouth.
"You asshole," she spat out angrily.
"Colourful girl," he commented dryly.
"You really have no concept of right and wrong, do you?"
"I am right, you are wrong. That is all I need to know," he replied. "You are Voldemort's daughter. I have not, and will never trust you. Had I had the power to have you eliminated when you were a child, you would not be here."
"I am not my father," Buffy said vehemently.
Fudge shrugged and hauled Buffy to her feet. She stumbled slightly, and the two Aurors grabbed hold of her by her arms, dragging her out of the office. They walked through a corridor lined with doors until the reached the end offices. The doors went from wood to steel, and Buffy knew that this was not a good thing. They reached the final door and Buffy felt complete and utter terror.
The two Aurors shoved Buffy into the room. The walls were painted black, and there was nothing to it except for a drain in the corner and a small square window that was only six square inches. The window was in the top right hand corner of the room, six and a half feet off the ground, making it impossible for Buffy to even reach it.
The two Aurors stepped out and Fudge entered the room. He gestured for Buffy to turn and face away from him, which she reluctantly did. She felt him untie her hands, but he kept hold of them so that she couldn't move.
"The only reason you haven't been sent to Azkaban is because they will not allow someone of your age to be placed there. But that does not mean that there aren't other ways of making you suffer for what you've done," Fudge said, his voice low and menacing, barely a whisper in her ear.
"But I haven't done anything!" Buffy yelled, struggling against him. He shoved her against the wall, knocking the wind out of her. He leant his weight against her, crushing her into the cool concrete.
"You have Dumbledore bewitched. Rupert Giles is too attached to you to see your darkness. Mr Potter is too young, and his two friends are too naïve to understand the darkness within you. Mr Malfoy is drawn to you as he was drawn to his Slytherin friends, because you, Elizabeth Riddle, are nothing more than an instrument of evil," Fudge said. "And I will not stand by and watch you destroy the wizarding world."
He drew back, still holding onto Buffy, making her take a step back with him. Before she could regain her balance, he shoved her forcefully into the wall, and stepped out of the room. Before the door shut though, Buffy felt everything inside of her suddenly seize up with dread. Her mouth dried out and her stomach fell, her throat tightening in sudden fear.
Her knees buckled and she dropped to the ground, scooting back against the wall and drawing her knees to her chest. As a barrage of coldness hit her, she looked up she saw a black-cloaked shadow waft through the door. She tried to get a glance at it's face, an old habit picked up from slaying. Always look your opponent in the eyes. Except this creatures face was completely blackened, and she could only wonder what was beneath the hood.
The door slammed shut, magically locking itself, and Buffy felt every single drop of happiness and hope that she'd ever felt completely drop away, leaving her in a labyrinth of her deepest, darkest and worst nightmares. She closed her eyes and let the tears finally fall.
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This does not look good for our heroine…
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DKG