Hermione pressed her fingers to her lips, and then to Sirius's.
Pushing off the ground, she wandered back to her room, and, just before going through the door, turned to look back at Sirius sleeping. She smiled at him, and then turned out the den light.
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Waiting until the door was shut behind her, Sirius opened his eyes, and looked around the empty den. It was entirely too quiet. He pushed himself into a seated position, and picked up the book from the floor he had hastily cast down so many hours before, trying to find that crucial page.
Planning his stunt had been terribly easy; with her footnotes in the book, Hermione had seen to that. He reread the passage and the commentary a few more times, heart beating somewhere in the vicinity of his throat, and made up his mind.
He would do it that night.
Sirius stood and walked alone, with the book Secrets From Beyond the Veil tucked underneath his arm. He tread very softly, waiting until he was out of the house to Apparate, so Hermione could not hear him leaving. Her wand in his hand, he tucked it into his pocket, and then Disapparated.
The Ministry of Magic was completely empty as Sirius padded gently down the hall branching off the Atrium. He entered the empty lift.
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The blond man sat up suddenly, jerkily, as one who has just come out of a deep, if not comfortable sleep; his gray-streaked hair mussed up more than slightly from having lain down so long. He felt a twinge on his security spell, which meant that somebody had just entered the room with the archway at the Department of Mysteries. Anticipation built in him. This was most likely the person that he needed to do away with… the person who had meddled with the arch before. Before his plans for the future of the arch were carried out, nobody could know anything about the arch. It was not in his nature to be so cruel, but it had to be that way.
"Wormtail!" He yelled. There was silence from the house around him. He yelled it again, louder this time, and heard annoyed footsteps pounding down the hall, and then his room door opened.
"Yes, master?" Wormtail said bitterly.
"There is somebody at the Department of Mysteries." The man said, unable to keep the excitement from his voice. "If it is a friend, come back with me. If it is an enemy… push him or her through the arch."
There was no hesitation, no moment to rethink the corrupted order. The smaller man merely smiled dementedly. "Yes, master." Wormtail bowed low and backed out from the room.
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Sirius felt the unmistakable sudden jolt of passing a security spell on his way to the Department of Mysteries, and then another one entering the room with the arch. He did not care, however. He was confident that he could do the job and get out of there by the time whoever it was that had set those up got to him.
He looked around the empty amphitheatre, and cautiously jogged up and down the rows of seats just to be sure. Nobody was crouched behind them, so, satisfied, he made his way up to the dais, and sat facing the arch.
There were definitely whispers coming from behind the fluttering veil. Sirius shivered, and had immediate second-thoughts.
For Hermione, he said.
He opened the book to the page where Hermione had scribbled a protective spell necessary for his proceedings on the corner of the book. Smirking a little to think of what the old Hogwarts librarian would think of that, Sirius pulled out Hermione's wand.
He knew that shielding was really little use; this process would at least hospitalize him no matter what, and most likely kill him. Performed so close to death as he was, with a wand that was not his own, he would be lucky to get out of this insane.
She sacrificed herself, and though it wasn't for you, it certainly did benefit you. He told himself before he could back out. She needs this from you.
"Markem." He said, and his wand grew white at the tip, almost like it was chalk. He sat down and drew a full circle around himself. He read another scribbled note that Hermione had put on that page.
'Tell the arch what you want. It's better the more eloquent it is, the arch is so ancient.'
Sirius smirked. He conjured up a dagger, a plain metal one. He grimaced when he saw it, but bared his forearm, anyway.
At that moment, a door across the room burst open, and two people stepped through, casting long shadows all the way down the aisles between seats and onto the dais where Sirius sat. He froze.
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Draco Malfoy felt a strong twinge on his security string, and sat immediately at attention. The Department of Mysteries. Broken into. Disjointed thoughts floated across his head as he scrambled to put on an acceptable amount of clothes.
He was halfway through his Apparition twirl when he realized he did not have his wand. He stopped dead and then grabbed it. He could only imagine what that stupid Apparition teacher would have said about that… very possible to splinch himself, etcetera. Draco did not really give a damn at the moment. If what he thought was happening was truly happening, it did not matter to him if only his right leg ran to go right the situation.
He Apparated, concentrating especially hard so that he could skip the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic completely, and take himself to the next Apparition point—the one that was much more difficult to reach—the lift.
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Wormtail ran from the Atrium to the lift, and leaned against the back wall of it while waiting for his floor, panting slightly with overexertion. He was just beginning to get a hold of his breath when somebody Apparated right next to him.
He jumped sky high and practically wet himself in fear, but when he realized who it was, his fear turned to shock.
The tall, pale boy saw him before he could say anything, however, and sneered.
"You're not the intruder, are you? If so, I'm really worried for nothing… it's not like someone so stupid could hurt anything."
"What, you have security around this place, little Draco?" Wormtail demanded.
"Yes, I have. I'm being paid to watch over the Department of Mysteries. Undercover, though, so you can't tell." Draco smirked slightly. "Not like you could, anyway… after all, you're supposed to be dead in five different countries, aren't you? Whose dirty work are you doing this time?"
"Someone who saved my life once." Wormtail said darkly. "It seems that there are too many of those around."
"Department of Mysteries." Said the woman's voice from the lift, and both Draco and Wormtail started for the lift's exit at the same time, then stopped, exchanging glances.
"Oh no, you're not coming too, are you?" They both said, then grimaced.
"Fine, but don't get in my way." Draco snarled, pushing ahead and running off down the corridor. Peter scampered after him.
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Draco stepped into the light first, eyes wide with surprise. The years had treated him well; he was handsome, lean, and, though still pale as ever, a tad more muscular than his scrawny teenaged frame had been. Sirius, in surprise, took a step forward and out of the protective spell.
"Malfoy?"
"Black?"
"Black." The shorter man stepped into the light, and Sirius dropped the book from surprise.
Wormtail did not look surprised to see Sirius in the least; if anything, he looked completely at peace with the situation, Draco and Sirius gawking at each other. He stepped forward, lifting his wand, and took advantage of the time it took both Draco and Sirius to pull out their wands to lock the doors.
"Master will want to know you are here. He said to kill the enemies." Wormtail spoke slowly, not aiming his wand at either, instead at somewhere in between them, and smiled an evil smile. "I would say that both of you are enemies, and I will most definitely kill you… after the first order of business." He walked slowly down the steps and away from Draco, until he was about halfway between the two men, who were both brandishing their wands at him threateningly.
"Halt!" Draco finally yelled, voice shaking slightly. Wormtail did, but he was still smiling, which put Sirius at unease. "What do you think you are doing?"
Wormtail sighed. "I can see I will have to explain it all." He considered. "I don't see why not, if you are both going to die. You can applaud my brilliance before you beg for my mercy…."
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A/N: I'm not sure if I'll be able to get another chapter uploaded before going on my road trip. I hope so. If not, I'll try and get it all done before I upload again. WooT for climaxy chapters that always feel way too rushed! Haha, I guess there's really nothing to guess at now except WHEN WILL SIRIUS AND HERMIONE FINALLY GET GOING!