Chapter Ninety-Four: A Helping Hand

…Or were they?

"Where are the others?" Harry said frantically.

Daphne shook her head. "I don't know," she said, thinking quickly. "They must've been forced into another direction…But that's fine, all of the rooms in Department of Mysteries eventually open up into the Entrance Room. Come on, close the door, we'll meet up with them there if we have to!"

Harry closed the door and Daphne pointed her wand at it. "Colloportus!"

The door sealed itself with a squelching sound and Daphne looked at the others. "Let's move, there's no time to wait around," she said.

She could already hear the voices of the Death Eaters from the other side of the door, and she knew that her spell wouldn't keep them out of the Time Room. It would only buy them a few seconds at most.

Fortunately, the others realized this as well, and they kept their wands at the ready even as they crossed the Time Room.

"Alohomora!" a rough voice said on the other side of the door.

It flew open, and Harry immediately fired a Stunner at it, which hit no one, as the Death Eaters had been anticipating the attack and positioned themselves around the corners.

"Duck!" Harry yelled, giving the example by diving behind one of the desks.

Daphne, Ginny, and Luna quickly followed him, and not a moment too soon.

Two Death Eaters came into the room, wands at the ready.

"Check under the desks," the one with the rough voice said. "And be careful — we don't want to accidentally destroy the prophecy."

Daphne noticed there were only two of them now. They must've split up, even though Harry had tried to pull all of them in his direction. Did the Death Eaters suspect a trap?

It didn't matter. Even four on two, their odds in a fight weren't great. The two Death Eaters were methodically scanning all directions.

"This is taking too long," the second Death Eater said. "Homenum Revelio!"

Daphne felt the spell, the feeling of some invisible presence swooping low over her head.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

The desk beneath which she was hiding lifted off from the ground and Daphne knew she only had an instant.

"Protego!" she shouted, at the same time throwing herself backwards underneath another desk.

The Stunner the other Death Eater had fired bounced off her shield and destroyed one of the many clocks on the wall.

"Expelliarmus!" Luna shouted from somewhere else in the room, but the Death Eater who'd flipped the desk off Daphne was quick enough to parry the spell and took aim himself.

"Avada–"

"Impedimenta!" Harry shouted, and he struck the Death Eater in the chest.

The man staggered back and fell. His head hit the bell jar — and fell right through it. Daphne watched for a moment, horrified, as the man's head began to shrink, rejuvenating into that of a baby.

The other Death Eater, however, didn't give her much time to stare, as he began firing curses at everything that moved, all caution forgotten.

"Stupefy!"

Ginny's spell, fired from between the overturned desk Daphne had been hiding behind moments earlier, and a filing cabinet, hit the enraged Death Eater in the stomach and he collapsed.

Meanwhile, the Death Eater who'd fallen through the bell jar had managed to pull his head free, but it had been in its baby state when he did, and he screamed madly, flailing his arms.

"Stupefy!" Daphne yelled, and he joined his unconscious comrade on the floor.

Without wasting any more time, they began to run toward the exit, but just before they reached it, two more Death Eaters came into the Time Room through it.

"Impedimenta!" both yelled, and Daphne was knocked off her feet and blasted into and over one of the desks just behind her. The back of her head slammed into the floor where she landed and her back hurt from the impact with the desk, but despite seeing stars and being in pain, she immediately struggled to regain her footing.

"WE'VE GOT HIM!" one of the Death Eaters yelled into the Entrance Room. "HE'S IN–"

"Silencio!" Harry shouted from a heap of desks and filing cabinets, and the Death Eater fell silent mid-shout.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Ginny shouted from somewhere else, and the Death Eater stiffened and fell over.

"Stupefy!" the second Death Eater yelled, and a red jet of light shot past the desks, roughly to where Ginny would have been.

The rage Daphne felt at the possibility that Ginny might have been hurt finally allowed her to overcome her dizziness and she took aim, but Harry was closer.

He leapt out from cover and punched the Death Eater, who had clearly not been expecting this. Despite his surprise, however, he recovered quickly, and he was much stronger than Harry, so he quickly reversed their roles and backhanded Harry across the face.

"Stupefy!" Luna shouted, and the Death Eater slumped forward, leaving Harry able to awkwardly free himself from underneath.

Daphne staggered forward to check on her friends. Her head spun and she felt like she was about to throw up, but there was no time to waste.

Ginny lay between some broken cabinets, wand still in her hand.

"Rennervate!" Daphne said weakly, but nothing happened other than her headache intensifying.

"Damn…I can't cast spells like this," she said to Harry and Luna, who had also come over.

Luna was clutching her left arm, while Harry was bleeding from the corner of his mouth from the Death Eater's punch.

He pointed his wand at Ginny and said, "Rennervate!"

To Daphne's great relief, Ginny stirred and sat up, groaning.

"Damn, I got hit, huh?" she said softly.

"At least it was only a Stunner," Harry said, relief clear in his voice. He looked at Daphne. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Daphne shook her head, and immediately had to steady herself on the desk to keep herself from falling over.

"No," she groaned. "Everything's spinning and trying to use magic just hurts my head. Also–"

A wave of nausea hit her and she turned away, vomiting all over the floor.

"Yeah…that," she said. "But don't mind me, now. We have to get moving or we're all going to be hurt a lot worse…"

Ginny scrambled to her feet and winced. "My ankle hurts pretty badly," she said softly. "I'm not going to be very fast…"

"Okay…" Harry said, thinking. "Luna, can you help Ginny?" he asked.

"I think so, but then I won't be able to fight. My left arm is…well, I'm not sure if it's broken, but I can't use it."

"I can still cast spells," Ginny said. "But if they use Unforgivables, or anything else my Shield Charm can't block…"

"It'll have to do," Harry said, clenching his jaw in frustration. "Daphne, you can lean on me. I'll cast spells for the both of us…Luna, do you still have the prophecy?"

Luna nodded. "It's in the pocket of my robes. Do you want it back?"

Harry considered for a moment. "Yeah, that's probably safest," he said. "I think I'm in the best fighting shape right now; I'm just a bit bruised…They want the prophecy, so if I can use it to bait them…"

Daphne rubbed her forehead. Everything was beginning to look and sound a bit fuzzy.

"Let's get moving," she said weakly. "I feel like I'm about to fall over…"

It took a monumental effort to focus on the present. Her back hurt, the back of her head felt like it was on fire, and none of her senses seemed to work the way they should. She couldn't recall the last time she'd felt this bad. All she wanted was to just lie down and sleep for a week, but there was no time to stop. They had to get out. Away from the Death Eaters.

Slowly, they staggered into the Entrance Room, closing the door behind them. The walls began to spin and Daphne closed her eyes; everything was spinning enough already as it was. At least the room's magic made it feel like she was standing still.

"How do we get out?" Harry asked.

Before Daphne could answer him, one of the other doors opened and Hermione, Ron, and Neville nearly fell out, all looking distinctly worse for wear. Neville's nose was bloody, Ron looked dazed and unfocused, and Hermione was staggering, clutching her side.

"What happened?!" Harry asked frantically.

Neville shook his head. "Ron god hid wid some weird curse…dunno wad it was…I god kicked. Broke my nose," Neville said, his voice heavily congested because of his bloody nose.

Ron giggled hysterically and waved at Harry. "Hey…hey Harry…we saw Uranus, Harry…"

"I got blasted through Saturn," Hermione said, breathing shallowly. "I think I've got some cracked ribs…It hurts to breathe…"

"All things considered, I think we got off better," Ginny said dryly.

"Harry…ask for the exit," Daphne said softly. The room was swimming in and out of focus and she bit her tongue to clear her head just a bit.

At that moment, though, two doors swung open at once. Through one, five Death Eaters, led by Bellatrix, emerged.

Through the other came rather more welcome people: Dad, Sirius, Remus, Moody, and Kingsley. They immediately began firing curses at the Death Eaters, who were surprised by the sudden arrival of five fully-qualified wizards.

"Edmund! Get the kids out!" Sirius shouted.

"Got it," Dad said, and he quickly turned to Daphne and the others, though not before flicking his wand with lightning speed and pulling the legs out from under one of the Death Eaters.

Dad looked over all of them and winced at the state they were in. "Okay, I'm not a Healer, but…Episkey!" he said, waving his wand over all of them.

Daphne's head cleared a bit, and the pain in her back diminished.

"It's not a full heal, but you should all at least be able to walk…" Dad said.

He looked at Ron, who was still grinning vacantly, with a worried look, and then shook his head.

"Come on, let's go," he said, gently pushing everyone.

Harry looked over his shoulder. "They're outnumbered," he said to Dad.

Dad shook his head. "Not for long. Dumbledore's on his way. He'll be down here soon. And the others can hold their own. Now come on…"

He looked at the wall behind them. "Where is the exit?" he asked, and the door directly ahead of them swung open in response.

Still looking worried, but knowing there was nothing to be done, Harry allowed Dad to push him and the others — he was physically pulling Ron — toward the exit and into the hallway.

The moment the elevator grille slid shut behind them, Daphne breathed a sigh of relief, despite the elevator clearly not being made to handle eight people at once.

"You have to be the most reckless bunch of kids I've ever met," Dad said as the elevator rose. "Coming here knowing the Death Eaters were waiting…I know you've become good duelists, but you can't handle these guys…"

"We know, Dad, but I wasn't going to risk Harry getting hurt," Daphne said.

"I know. And Snape clearly did, too. He told us you'd be here."

"Well, yeah, he told us how to get here in the first place," Daphne said.

"Then I'll need to have a word with him later," Dad said darkly.

The elevator came to a stop and the group trooped out into the still-empty Atrium. Where was everyone?

"Come on, over to the visitor's entrance at the far end…"

They had just passed the fountain when Harry suddenly gasped and collapsed to his knees, screaming in pain, both hands pressed over his scar.

"Leaving so soon, Potter?" a high, cold voice said from behind them. "I believe you have something that belongs to me…"

Daphne turned around and her legs nearly gave way, not due to her lingering head injury, but the sheer terror of seeing Voldemort himself standing in the Atrium. She could see his white, snakelike face underneath his wide hood, the red eyes gleaming maliciously. A cold smirk was on his lips. Aside from Ron, who remained dazed and giggling, everyone looked as terrified as Daphne felt.

"Get behind the fountain," Dad said softly. "I'll keep him busy…Dumbledore will be here soon…"

"Dad, no! You can't–"

Dad held up a hand to silence her. "This is also part of being in the Order," he said. Then he looked at Voldemort and said, "You'll never possess the prophecy. I won't let you."

Voldemort's cold smirk widened. "How sad that a member of a pureblood family that used to be of such good stock would raise his wand against me. I take no pleasure in spilling magical blood, you know…" Voldemort said. "But since you're standing in my way…Avada Kedavra!"

Voldemort was blindingly quick, but his short introduction had given Dad the time to ready himself and he dived to the side, causing the curse to miss.

He flicked his wand, and chains appeared from thin air to bind Voldemort, but Voldemort barely had to move his own wand to break the chains and fire another Killing Curse at Dad, which he avoided just in time by Disapparating and Apparating to the side, slashing his wand down aggressively and seeming to slice the air itself — but again, Voldemort easily deflected the attack with just the barest flick of his wand.

He gave a short sweep, and the floorboards rose up like ropes, coiling around Dad's legs and holding him in place.

"Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort shouted.

Dad threw up his wand and there was a loud crack, but then the jet of green light collided and blasted Dad off his feet, breaking the floor boards that were binding him.

"NO!" Daphne shouted.

She wanted to run over to Dad, Ginny grabbed her and held her in place.

"No! He'll just kill you too," she said, her face ashen-white.

"I'll kill him!" Daphne shouted.

Voldemort laughed, a high, clear laugh that pierced even Daphne's fury and rage and chilled her to the core.

"Foolish girl. Lord Voldemort cannot die," he said.

"But there are other ways to destroy a man, Tom," a deep voice said from behind him.

Voldemort turned around and Daphne looked past him to see Dumbledore striding up, his expression calm, but radiating that inexplicable sense of power.

"It was foolish of you to come here, Tom," Dumbledore said. "The Aurors are on their way back."

"I will be gone before they get here, old man, and you and these children will be dead. No one opposes Lord Voldemort and lives!"

He shot a Killing Curse at Dumbledore with blinding speed, but Dumbledore, like Dad had done moments earlier, avoided the spell with ease.

He flicked his wand, animating all the statues of the fountain behind which Daphne and the others were hiding. The statues formed a protective circle around them, as Voldemort tried yet again to kill Dumbledore, who once again Disapparated to avoid the attack.

Dumbledore now flicked his wand at Voldemort, who had to conjure a shining silver shield out of thin air to deflect it. A deep, gonglike note reverberated from it, and before Voldemort could do anything else Dumbledore conjured up a whip of flame, which he used to bind him in place.

Voldemort Transfigured the flames into a serpent, which he set on Dumbledore, and Voldemort himself Disapparated, appearing on the other side of the circle of statues, and firing a Killing Curse at Harry.

The House-Elf statue leapt in front of the curse and exploded into a shower of stone, and Voldemort readied himself to strike again.

Dumbledore Apparated next to him and struck once more with a fiery whip, forcing Voldemort to create some distance.

"Difficult, isn't it, protecting those weaker than you?" Voldemort taunted. "You see, Dumbledore, how weak loves make you? You cannot fight freely, and thus my victory is inevitable."

"Once more you astound me with how little you understand, Tom," Dumbledore said calmly. "Love enables us to do great things. It is a force greater than anything you possess, and it shall be your undoing."

"Worthless and cheap talk, Dumbledore, like it has always been."

"Is it? Yet I am not the one hiding behind a shield, Tom. You are. And…your shield seems to have a few weaknesses…"

Dumbledore flicked his wand once more and the water from the fountain's pool rose up, curling around Voldemort like a cocoon, which slowly shrank around him…and then he was gone, Disapparated once more.

Daphne looked around wildly, to see where he had gone…and Harry screamed, even louder than before, and though his body remained strained, as if in terrible pain, he fell silent abruptly, and when he opened his eyes Daphne was sure she saw a red gleam in them…

"Kill me then, Dumbledore…" Harry said, his face contorting into a horrible grimace.

"Harry…no…" Ginny whispered.

"If there are worse things than death…if love is truly so strong…kill me," the possessed Harry taunted.

Dumbledore stood transfixed, unable or unwilling to move.

"Harry!" Daphne shouted in desperation. "Harry! Fight him, Harry!" she said.

"Yes…I survived it, so can you!" Ginny added.

"Come on, Harry! You've been in tougher situations," Hermione pleaded.

"You taught me to stand up for myself," Neville said.

"Thanks to you I have friends," Luna said with a smile.

"You're a pretty alright bloke, Harry," Ron said vacantly.

Harry was still grimacing. "Kill me, Dumbledore…" he said through gritted teeth.

Daphne grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "Leave Harry alone, you fucking bastard!" she shouted.

"Get out of his head!" Ginny said, also putting herself in front of Harry, whose eyes retained a red gleam… Daphne and Ginny locked eyes, and both reached the same conclusion at the same time.

As one, they both said, "I love you."

There wasn't a flash of light, but something black and smoky was hurled out of Harry's body and skidded across the floor, coalescing into Voldemort, who staggered to his feet, glanced over his shoulder, and Disapparated with a whirling cloak.

"Harry!" Daphne and the others shouted.

She and Ginny helped him sit up, and he shook his head to clear it.

"Are you okay?" Ginny asked frightfully.

Harry nodded slowly. "I…could hear you," he said. "But I couldn't do anything. He was too strong…but when you all tried to reach out for me I felt myself getting stronger, and his grip loosening…and then…you said you love me…and it was like something exploded within me. It wasn't quite Occlumency, but it was like…it was like a Patronus. A double Patronus…"

"Merlin's beard!" someone shouted from the back of the hall. "That…that was You-Know-Who, Mr. Fudge! I saw him!"

Daphne looked up and saw a large group of people, among whom Fudge and Umbridge, who both looked very confused.

"I…I know, Williamson," Fudge said, sounding just as confused as he looked. "I know…I saw him too…w-why did I order the Atrium closed, again? I swear it seemed like a reasonable idea…"

He looked at Umbridge for help, and, for once in her life, she seemed unable to provide an answer.

"I…don't know, Minister. It seemed like a smart move to me, too…After all, we had…Potter!" she shouted, spotting Harry among the group of animated statues.

Dumbledore picked up a piece of broken statue, tapped it with his wand and said, "Portus!"

"Dumbledore," Fudge gasped, apparently still too out of sorts for any other comments.

"Take this Portkey, Harry. Your friends and I will join you soon. I think, however, that it's best if you leave the Ministry as soon as possible."

Harry nodded numbly, gave a last, grateful look at his friends, ending with Ginny and Daphne, and then took the Portkey. He vanished in a flash of blue light.

It was then that Daphne glanced over and saw Dad…and, to her utter astonishment, he was moving.

"Dad!" she shouted, fully ignoring the fact that half the Ministry was staring in bewilderment at her. The sheer relief that washed over her was bigger than any she'd ever felt. He was alive…

"Dad…how are you…how are you alive?" she asked, kneeling down next to him.

He groaned and grinned at her. "I'll tell you in a moment. I think Dumbledore needs to clear some things up, first…"

"Y-yes, Dumbledore!" Fudge, who'd been listening, and who seemed to be regaining his bearings more and more by the second. "I think we would all like an explanation."

The fireplaces around the Atrium roared into life and Aurors and Hit Wizards began to pour out of them, all looking livid. Amelia Bones emerged from the fireplaces as well, glaring at Fudge with an expression that would've made Daphne cower if it had been aimed at her.

Dumbledore seemed very amused by their arrival. "Good. That will save me the trouble of repeating myself," he said cheerfully. "Now, then, Cornelius…do you or do you not agree that you have just witnessed Lord Voldemort Disapparating from the Ministry?" he asked. His tone was friendly, but his eyes had a hard edge to them.

"I…Yes, I saw him," Fudge said unwillingly.

"Good. Now then, if you proceed into the Department of Mysteries, you will find there a number of Death Eaters, bound by an Anti-Disapparation Jinx. Among them, you will be interested to know, is one Lucius Malfoy. I gather you've met with him earlier today?"

Fudge nodded a bit uncertainly. "Yes…yes, I believe I spoke to him…it's a bit vague…"

"I imagine it would be, seeing as you and Dolores were Confunded by him and Macnair, who, coincidentally, is also in the Department of Mysteries at the moment. The Aurors Dolores brought along to arrest Harry, Rogers and Penrose, were on Malfoy's payroll and, I believe, recently Imperiused as well.

"You then allowed Harry to accompany Malfoy into the Department of Mysteries, ordered the entire Auror force and all Hit Wizards to leave the Ministry, ostensibly to arrest me somewhere near Inverness, and then you ordered the Atrium closed and all Ministry employees to gather in Courtroom Ten for an emergency address to the entire Ministry, to warn them against helping me in any way once I had been brought in."

"That…that makes no sense at all!" Fudge said indignantly.

"Er, respectfully, sir, I tried to tell you that, but you dismissed my concerns," Percy Weasley said from behind him, looking rather embarrassed. Fudge ignored him.

"You and Dolores had been Confunded, Cornelius. You weren't in your right mind. Now, however, I do hope your eyes have been thoroughly opened," Dumbledore said. His pleasant expression vanished. "For a year, you have been attempting to discredit and persecute those who are dedicated to warning the world of Lord Voldemort's return. You have even extended your campaign so far as to interfere at Hogwarts.

"You shall remove Dolores Umbridge from Hogwarts at once, and render all Educational Decrees you have made since the summer null and void. The teachers you have sacked shall be reinstated, and the Aurors shall stop searching for my Care of Magical Creatures teacher so he can return to the school in peace.

"This evening, I shall stop by the Ministry in order to clarify some things in greater detail, but for now, I have a more important conversation waiting for me."

Without sparing another glance at Fudge, Dumbledore walked over to one of the fireplaces and threw some Floo powder into it.

He looked over at Daphne and the others. "Floo to the Headmaster's Office," he said. "Edmund, are you well enough to assist the others downstairs?"

Dad got to his feet and groaned. "A bit bruised, but otherwise fine," he said. He looked down at Daphne. "I promise I'll tell you what happened tonight, okay? I'm sure Professor Dumbledore will allow me to visit Hogwarts once we're done here…"

"Most certainly," Dumbledore said, inclining his head. He gestured at the green flames. "Go on," he said. "Harry will be anxiously waiting for you, and I imagine you all have questions for me as well…and I believe a visit to the hospital wing won't go amiss, either…"

Daphne got up, hugged Dad tightly and hoping it would convey even the tiniest fraction of her happiness at him not being dead, despite the fact that he should be.

"I'll see you in a bit," he promised, clearly picking up on it.

Daphne smiled, stepped into the flames, and said, "Headmaster's Office!"

She closed her eyes as the flames flared up and took her back to Hogwarts.

In case anyone is now thinking that I'm simply going to remove all deaths and near-deaths in canon…I won't. There will be a body count yet. However, who will die and when is up in the air for now. In my story, however, there was no narrative reason for anyone to die in this fight, unlike in canon. There was, however, a narrative reason for Edmund to survive here, which will be made clear in the next chapter.