Chapter 15

Into the Breach

Words could not describe what Willow was feeling. Stood in the hall, clutching the deep velvet purple bag that Remus had handed to her a few moments before, all she knew was that she was ready to do this, despite what her churning stomach said.

"Do you know fully what you are doing?" Remus had asked her upon giving it to her.

"Yes."

"Will?" Xander came down the stairs, looking almost as pale as Remus had done. Willow could only offer him a shaky smile. Her friend came and stood next to her.

"Buff's just choosing a nice jacket to wear… " He rolled his eyes, before stopping and sighing, still smiling though.

"Willow, I'm not going to give you the 'you can do this' speech. Because you know you can. Just…" Xander paused, and embraced his friend, "Just be careful OK?"

"O-OK."

"And keep away from the light. And if you see a killer clown anywhere in there then you get the hell out of there OK?"

Willow laughed. Xander smiled again, squeezing her hand before heading through into the kitchen. Buffy watched from the top of the stairs, before slowly heading down them. She and Willow said nothing, for they had both said enough the night before. They had stayed up late discussing it over and over until they were certain of what they were doing. The clock chimed. Eight o-clock. With a small look of encouragement, Buffy took Willow's hand, and they both went into the kitchen, ready for the adventure.

"Oof!"

"Shhhh!"

"Sorry."

Buffy had landed, again, face first as she fell out of the fireplace. Moody's strong gripped pulled her up towards where he and Snape were stood, as Willow stumbled out behind her followed by Remus, Bill and Giles, all who stepped out easily. Buffy would usually have grumbled, but this was neither the time nor the place. They had come from The Weasley's home to here. The Ministry of Magic. The large and pristine atrium was silent, apart from their hushed whispers and footsteps. Dimmed lanterns were their only light, and Buffy glanced warily around, expecting someone to jump out at them from the gloom. Nobody did.

A glimmer of gold caught her eye…Buffy saw someone, and immediately fell into attack position. There were figures at the end of the corridor nearby. The tinkling of water reached her ears, and a hand fell heavy on her shoulder.

"It's a fountain…statues of people." Snape said tonelessly. Buffy sighed, relieved a little.

"OK…this way…" whispered Remus, and they crowd walked quickly, past the golden fountain of people, towards a set of golden gates, their footsteps resounding loudly around them.

"You know…after a big security breach like they had a few months ago…you'd expect them to have something…" muttered an aggravated Moody as he spotted the empty security desk.

"Come on Alastor…this is Fudge we're talking about…" Bill whispered back.

The seven of them clambered into a lift, and with a press of a button and a horrifically loud clanking noise, they began to descend. Buffy, from previous talks with Remus, knew they were underground, and had the horrible inclination that if they went any further, they would surely be in hell…

A crisp voice sang out…

"Department of Mysteries."

The grilles slid noisily open and all stepped out, hurrying along the corridor to a plain black door at the end. Willow could feel the heat inside her rising as they grew ever closer to their destination. The door swung open again…and a screeching alarm echoed around them. Buffy flung her hands over her ears, but still the noise did not cease. It stayed constant, not even muffled.

"This didn't happen before!!" Willow cried, eyes wide in fret. Remus scanned around quickly, as did Bill and Moody. Giles also covered his ears, but the look on his face told Buffy she wasn't alone in failing to suppress the noise. It was Snape who, with a look of contempt, pointed his wand at the door.

"Silencio!"

And indeed, the noise stopped.

"Thank you Severus…" Remus breathed quickly. Snape only glared.

"A bloody alarm that can be stopped with a silencing charm," tutted Moody, pushing past to enter the circular room beyond, "Useless!"

They all followed him through, and as Giles shut the door behind them, Buffy heard a great growl from beneath her feet. Her mouth fell open slightly as the perfect black room began to rotate. Eventually it stopped.

"Crap." She said.

The others seemed unperturbed, and Buffy was surprised to see Willow lead them to a door on their right. It was as if they were gliding over water; the blue candles shimmered, reflected on the marble beneath them. She trailed in after everyone again as Willow opened the door, and saw only black. The door closed with a small click behind her, and another rumble from behind told her the room must have rotated again.

"Lumos…"

"Lumos."

"Lumos!"

"Lumos," Remus spoke last. Four small dots of light illuminated the room.

"Why is it dark?" Willow asked, her voice echoing around them.

"Protocol. Dad said that they do it in all the rooms here now, after…everything…that happened. So it's not as easy to see…" Bill reached and grabbed the bag he'd been carrying on his back, his fang earring sparkling in his own wand light. Out of it he took a long coil rope and some candles. Remus began to light them with his wand. The place they were stood in was becoming a little lighter, and Buffy looked down to see the outline of something that looked like a huge arch, with something fluttering…

"OK…Willow…come on…" Remus' voice was hoarse, and picking up the rope and a candle, he and Willow headed down to the dais. Snape followed a little while after them, but stopped at a bench about halfway down the tiered room. Bill gulped quietly, and headed off around the room muttering something about finding lanterns. Moody stumped after him. Buffy turned to Giles. The man was staring down after Willow and Remus.

"Giles?" whispered the Slayer.

"Yes?"

"N-Nothing, no…well…" Buffy turned to him, and he looked up from whence he was staring, into her eyes.

"Buffy. Everything will be fine."

Nothing more was said. Buffy watched her friend disappear into the shadows…

Willow tied the rope into a firm knot as it looped around her waist. Remus was stretching the rest of it out, tying the very end to a bench nearby, knotting and double knotting. The rest of the loose rope he grabbed and looped around his hand securely. Looking up at her, he did not smile as he usually did.

"Have you got everything?"

"Yes. I checked."

"You know what you are doing?"

"Yes."

"Pull three times and I'll pull you back."

"OK."

"Good Luck Willow."

Willow nodded for what she felt was surely the one-thousandth time. Then, her palms sweaty, gripping her bag, she walked quickly forward, stepped up onto the dais, and swept silently through the veil…