As ever, standard disclaimers apply.
Well. It's taken another turn I had not anticipated. But it's a smallish turn and it fits.
Kingsley was kept at the center of the silent group and it made him nervous that he could barely see where they were going. He hadn't felt this small since he was a very young child being herded along Diagon Ally by his mother and four aunts. As they rounded the third bend, however, he was grateful for the protection (whether or not it was meant to be so). A blast from an energy weapon grazed the woman at his left. She stumbled into him but caught herself quickly even as her comrades were answering the attack and pulling back out of the shooters' sights.
The Auror was also grateful for the curved hallways else there would not have been any possible retreat. There were not very many doors that he could see. Storerooms? Labs? Well, at least one conference room. He glanced back the way they'd come. So far nothing. But with all this shooting they'd bound to have been heard by now and reinforcements had to be on their way.
Suddenly, he was yanked backwards. Not into a room but into yet another tunnel.
Or maybe not... He couldn't help the look of surprise that rode his eyebrows up into his nonexistent hairline. He gaped. Cavernous. That was the only word to describe where he now found himself. They were all huddled on a platform that extended out into the great void. Down its impossibly long and unrealistically distant center a many-hued, multicolored cable, spun rapidly about itself. He had no way to gauge perspective. And then no time to consider it further. Auror-honed senses detected motion immediately beside him and he forgot all about peculiar spaces as a sudden thrust against his shoulders heaved him off the platform.
He gasped. Then once again when instead of falling he floated! The platform spun quickly away from him. Or was he the one spinning?
Before he could even panic, much less think coherently, the grey-haired woman gracefully floated to his side and grabbed his arm. Her determined expression was unchanged. This wasn't an amusement. She twisted her body and dragged him along as she propelled herself in some pre-determined direction. He saw another group of beings emerge from somewhere slightly (relatively speaking) above them. The woman tensed slightly and muttered something to her companions as they formed a phalanx around her and the Auror.
After a few moments someone spoke and the tight formation eased while another person called out a greeting. The distance between the two groups closed and Kingsley recognized Snape's limp form hanging over someone's shoulder. He grimaced in frustrated uncertainty.
Almost as soon as the two groups became one someone gave another shout and the now rather substantial contingent of invaders quickly moved themselves into a bizarre formation that belied any concept of direction. Not a single one of them was oriented quite the same way. Kingsley was dizzied by this sudden loss of any sense of up or down. This was unlike any levitation spell; for even then one knew the ground (or a floor) was below. But now the only referent was the spinning inside bulkhead that had, until he'd been pushed away from it, seemed motionless.
He groaned as nausea turned his stomach over. Someone tapped his arm and pointed off in some vaguely left-like direction. Kingsley's gaze followed and he forgot all about his stomach.
Their escape was about to be fought over. Another globule-like formation of torsos and limbs spewed out of a not-distant-enough opening in the revolving wall. This unwelcome horde was even more adept at maneuvering than Kingsley's group. The ship's defenders quickly matched their motion to the escaping invaders' and were already bringing up their weapons. About him, voices were swearing or arguing, the harsh tones exuding tension, if nothing else.
The approaching enemy was swept from view when another yank on his arm sent him spiraling off in some new direction. Another pull again shifted his trajectory. He wondered if these space people ever got dizzy.
The now familiar hiss followed by explosions of the aliens' weapons rang out from both sides. Dodging was not an option not without hitting a stray arm or leg! Which would certainly not help matters, every motion Kingsley quickly learned obtained a completely opposite one!
He was aware of yelling and screaming, of near and distant explosions, of bits of shrapnel hitting the fighters and occasionally himself. But the dance was wild and more than once he was yanked or shoved or jerked into some unexpected direction or orientation. His stomach and head were both ready to rebel.
Nonetheless and despite the cacophonic chaos he noticed that with every seemingly unplanned maneuver they edged closer and closer to a particular ledge. He was pushed, dipped, spun. Yet moved closer and closer to a scuffed looking ledge with a portal that was not quite shut tightly.
Someone gasped behind him and as there was nothing untoward before him he twisted his head around. He gaped at the torpedo like device heading unerringly at them. He felt the push on his back and turned to see where it was sending him. Not surprisingly, he saw the bulkhead looming quickly closer and his speed was not changing!
Behind him came cries of alarm and then a flare of blue-white brilliance. A final shove sent him careening blindly, not into the wall, but rather into another's grasp. He was yanked roughly forward and what suddenly felt like 'downwards' when his feet slapped against something solid. Another push propelled him into stumbling forward. He heard voices, hushed and worried, more explosions both close by and distant, a sound much like a sob. The bright blindness would not clear; he could only move as he was directed, running to Merlin knew where.
His vision started to return at about the same time he was pulled to a stop. He was panting for breath as both exertion and anxiety at his vulnerability drained him. The shooting and yelling had stopped some time ago. He squinted, willing his sight to return faster now that he knew it was going to return.
He was prodded more gently and found himself moving forward and slightly upward. He peered down at the grey ramp under his feet. And then looked up to see something of a doorway pass over him. He blinked his eyes furiously. His vision was almost normal except for several white blindspots that sparkled like insane faery light. A face swam into view. A young woman's wan smile greeted him.
Someone shouted and a strange sort of harness was pulled past his shoulders and pinned him to a soft, padded wall. He was about to struggle when he realized that everyone else was eagerly placing themselves in the same restraints. Snape and one other hung limply from their own harnesses.
This was no mere room. It was a smaller spaceship inside the larger one!
Silence. And the room, the smaller spaceship, shuddered. It lurched gently and Kingsley felt its motion.
But how were they going to get out of the larger ship? Surely they weren't going to just let them go! Were they?
His companions had expressions of grim determination. But there were faint reflections of anxiety in more than one pair of eyes. The grey-haired woman caught his gaze and she smiled encouragingly back at him. Had she done this before?
He felt himself pressed back against the wall. Harder. Until it hurt. Until his chest felt like Hagrid's brother was sitting on it.
Then nothing. The weight was gone. Around him a cheer picked up. He opened his eyes, (only then realizing he'd closed them). An internal door flew open and someone floated inside - upside down! He spoke and then withdrew. Everyone began freeing themselves. Kingsley managed to find the release and he too was floating effortlessly. Snape, on the opposite wall, was still being held by the restraints. His head lolled oddly and his shoulder length hair floated about his face.
Moving carefully, Kingsley pressed a hand to the bulkhead behind him and gave himself a gentle shove. As he expected, it sent him forward across the space. But unfortunately, not quite far enough. He was now stuck just past the middle of the room. There was nothing to push off of, nothing to pull on. If he moved his arm forward, his body recoiled backward. He tried sweeping his arm as if swimming but this made him spin is the oddest fashion more than anything else; although he had inched forward a little.
After a few minutes of this frustration, and realizing from the few amused snorts that he had become a bit of entertainment, he let himself relax. The grey haired woman floated over to him and with a wide grin maneuvered him to Snape's side.
Severus felt his head bang against something solid: several times. He thought to open his eyes and pushed himself through the molasses enveloping him.
By the time thought became action, Severus' head was no longer being thudded against anything. He did have a headache though: straight through his ears and eyes and across his left temple. He grimaced both at the headache and at the hallucination of people floating every which way in a blazingly bright region.
He slammed his eyes shut again. A moment later Kingsley Shacklebolt's voice buzzed from somewhere. The sound moved and in his right ear he heard a concerned, "Severus, if you can hear me, nod!"
"I hear you, you don't have to yell." His voice was unexpectedly rough.
"Sorry mate. You had me worried."
"Why? What happened?" And upon opening his eyes again: "Where are we now?"
"Space. Another spaceship, anyway, and a different set of erm..."
"Captors. I don't know about you, but I feel like a prisoner."
"Yeah mate, well. Our previous hosts are playing us and You-Know-Who for fools. The captain told me that Lucius and his mates were killed. He told You-Know-Who that we were killed. After having returned his Death Eaters to him."
Snape did not seem surprised. In fact, he only shrugged, after a fashion still hung up in the harness.
"Anyway, I was looking for you when I ran into these Muggles. I think they came to get us. one of them speaks English or at least no one has done so. On the other hand, that captain pretended he didn't so..."
"So. Yes, I see. Kingsley..."
"Yeah?"
"I think I might be hallucinating."
The Auror grinned. "No mate. We're in space and there's no gravity in space. No gravity, no up or down."
"But the other ship"
"Artificial gravity. You need a crash course in Muggle Studies, Severus, with a focus on speculative fiction! But there's no time for it now."
"I-what?"
"Never mind. Just trust me."
A new voice interrupted them and both wizards looked at a coppery haired woman floating near by. The grey haired leader had left them just after delivering him to Snape's side. She pointed at the bulkhead where Kingsley had previously seen the inner door open. Beside it was a screen much like the one he'd seen on the planet. It's flat matte surface blinked and showed a picture.
Space. What else could it be? A black that was emptiness; a black that was the velvet cloth upon which were scattered a spray of steady pinpricks of light. And superimposed on that expanse was a bevy of moving shadows, visible only because they eclipsed the background of stars.
"I think we're being chased."
The younger woman pointed at the nearest harness and gestured. No translation was necessary. Severus observed woman buckle the in next to him and then she moved to secure herself beside him. Everyone else was secured by then too, it seemed. A disembodied voice made some announcement. He looked back at the image. Just in time to see one of the shadows erupt in an explosion of orange and yellow brilliance. Some of the still glowing debris seemed to be coming straight at them. Instinctively, he tensed. Beside him, he sensed the Auror do the same.
A moment later he felt their own vessel lurch. There were shouts. On the screen, more explosions.
The disembodied voice spoke. Someone answered it and tense laughter answered that. Then everything went grey. Old Magic swept through him without regard for the fragility of a human body. He gasped and choked and vomited whatever was in his stomach. A hand touched his jaw and then rested on the artery in his neck. Something cool swept over his face and then something pricked his arm.
And then the universe returned to normal. The greyness was gone. Two worried faces filled his vision. One of them belonged to the Auror.
"Shaklebolt! Did you feel it?" He barely managed to gasp. "Old Magic!"