ginny278 - Thanks a lot for the review. They always help.
Hint, hint guys.
Ron Apparated into the misty desolate section that was St. Mungo's, as Chris Apparated in next to him in a moment. Both hit the ground immediately and scanned their surroundings to check if any Death Eaters had heard them, but thankfully, there were none in the close vicinity, as Ron had figured it would be. Quickly, they cast Disillusionment Charms - Invisibility Cloaks would be too clumsy for these circumstances - and got up slowly and soundlessly, and then cast Silencing Charms on themselves. Ron beckoned to Chris to follow him and the two stayed close to the ground in London.
It was shocking, really, the change that had happened in London. No previous wizarding conflicts had ever impacted the Muggle world so heavily. But the Muggle world was hit, as Voldemort waged open war on Muggles, ruthlessly killing mobs of them and taking down buildings in the open streets in the middle of the day. In fact, most Muggles of the world now knew about the existence of magic, something that had horrified the Ministry to a very great extent. But Muggles were virtually powerless to do anything about the magic, despite worldwide clamoring from rabble-rousing Muggle politicians to hunt the wizards down. But the hunt for wizards and witches were indeed as ineffective as the old witch burnings in Medieval times, and were more a nuisance for either side.
Thus, the astonishing change in London. It had been one of Voldemort's greatest victories, taking London, and Ron knew it was not a coincidence that it was only a week after the Great Battle that Voldemort had made his full-out attack on London. The first wave came from the inside, as Death Eater insiders in the Ministry of Magic allowed them to infiltrate and systematically destroy all Ministry resources, and kill anybody who wasn't lucky enough to either not be there or get out fast. It was a short, quick battle as there were too many traitors in Ministry ranks for the good guys to know who to fight. Quickly, the Death Eaters moved onto St. Mungo's, another strong focal point for wizards and witches to be in London, as well as an obvious point of defence as it had tons of healing supplies already there. The battle there was even shorter, as St. Mungo's was not as secure as the Ministry, and then the Death Eaters, a mere twelve hours later, moved in on the killing blow. Both of the other attacks had occured totally covert - no Muggles even knew it had happened. Suddenly, Voldemort ordered his Death Eaters out into the open, and the worst mass Muggle killing in centuries occured. Buildings in London collapsing on each other, trains exploding off of the tracks and skidding out into the street before combusting to create a massive explosion, Dementors swooping in on unknowing Muggles and administering the Dementor's Kiss on them, sucking souls out joyfully as they absorbed all the emotions that London was rife with. Thousands dead. The Order, helpless to stop it, crippled by a lack of numbers and by a breakdown of communications as key members were killed and captured.
And London was empty now. Some Muggles on the outskirts, too foolish to desert their now ruined home, but the cars were gone, smoking, the lights and electricity weren't powered, bodies could be found on the streets sometimes, and the occasional Death Eater or Dementor running or swooping around, looking for victims or intruders.
Ron shivered. Such a horrible place, such a ghastly transformation - it would have not been imagined in even the darkest places of Ron's mind. Never had such an event wrought such a change in the world. The Order had never thought that Voldemort would be capable, that he would have that many Death Eaters at his call. But wizards were joining Voldemort fast, some outright declaring themselves, arrogant pure-blooded wizards, seeing the Muggle panic, thinking that perhaps extermination would be the right way to go about things.
Do we have hope? Ron wondered as he darted around the streets silently, Chris tailing him precisely and keeping a watch out. Against such an evil, such power, and so many, is it even worth it to fight any more? Even if it's worth it, can we even win?
Ron stopped his musings short abruptly. St. Mungo's security was heavy, but as Ron scanned it, he could see it wasn't impenetrable.
"Six dementors, patrolling circular pattern on ground," Ron whispered to Chris in an undertone, as Chris scribbled notes down on the paper.
"I count five."
"Six - look - in the back - "
"Alright, alright. What else?"
"At least four Death Eaters patrolling inside floor. Looks like there are a substantial amount of spells inside on the lower level. Besides that, I can't tell." Ron sighed.
"And we can't go in," Chris interjected.
"No, we can't. Too dangerous for now. Well, we already know the layout. Make a sketch, quickly. Then we can get a little closer."
"Ron, we can't!"
"Not go in, just get a little closer. This is a goddamn recon mission Chris, I'm not going to get us killed."
Chris pulled out a notepad and made a quick cursory sketch of the building, then marked the paths of the patrolling dementors.
"Alright, that's good. Follow me. Come on, Chris!"
Chris hesitated for a moment as Ron darted out of the bushes and hid at an alley-way behind the building to the immediate right of St. Mungo's, and darted after Ron, staying low to the ground and looking nervously at the dementors, who had seemed to detect something.
"Building to the right is empty. Mark it. No patrol. No nothing. I think - weak protection enchantments. Shoddily done. Wearing down."
Chris scribbled as Ron talked.
"Quieter! Come on, then."
"Ron - I think the dementors -"
"They can't detect us at this distance. The enchantments over here confuse them as well."
"Ron, I'm serious, I think that they -"
"Shut up!" Ron said in an unusually harsh voice, signaling something had changed. He waited a beat. "Do you hear something?"
Chris didn't hear anything. "What are you -"
"Quiet! Listen - it's a girl." Ron's eyes darted around as he tried to locate the sounds.
Chris continued to be clueless for a moment, but gradually, as he stayed quiet, the sobs started to penetrate through - muffled, racked sobs, from a young girl.
"Yeah - yeah, I hear her! Where is she? Who is she? Could she be - is she a trap?"
Ron shook his head. "Only one way to find out. Come on, I think she's in the building here."
"Ron, our mission is only to -"
Ron was already tiptoeing over to the doors of the building, though, and had quickly opened it and beckoned to Chris, roundly ignoring his protestations. He muffled a sigh as he followed Ron through. Besides, it was true, they couldn't really just leave the girl there.
Ron scanned the dusty, largely misused room quickly for Death Eaters, but there was nothing. The windows were cracked and broken, cobwebs lay everywhere, and the doors and floors creaked, but then again, most of London was like this these days. It was clearly some kind of deserted Muggle home, Ron gathered, as he saw the shattered, broken remains of a television on the floor, an unplugged and wrecked telephone on a table which had only one leg fully standing, cracked frames of paintings, and sparking wires that had been wrenched from their usual paths, threatening to electrocute. Ron chose his steps carefully and quietly, and turned the knob of the next room. The girl's sobs got more audible as they were closer, and both Chris and Ron were surprised that they had heard her at all. Ron quickly swung the door open and darted to the side along with Chris, to the shadows, as they cast their eyes on the bewildered girl.
She was young, but old enough not to be helpless, somewhere in her teens, covered in dirt and grime, her hair matted and tangled, her clothes somewhat tattered, and many scratches and bruises on her body. She was alert, though, and had immediately darted up when the door opened, her crying ceasing immediately, her green eyes darting around the room, and her right hand raised immediately with the wand pointing warily at the door. She looked around, surprised not to see anybody, as she hadn't looked at the door when they swung it open, and the Disillusionment Charms were cover enough in the shadows.
"Where are you?" she said, her voice quavering. "Come to kill me again? I'll fight! Are you too cowardly to show yourself?" The girl demanded, her wand swinging around her voice strengthening as she looked around and gained the full extent of her consciousness.
"We're here to help," Ron said, revealing himself out of the shadows and breaking his Disillusionment Charm as he spoke. Chris reluctantly followed his lead. The girl swung her wand around at them and pointed it at Ron's chest, but didn't attack, and Ron's wand remained loosely at his side in a nonthreatening manner.
"Who are you?"
"This is Chris Galen. I'm Ron Weasley. We need to get you out of here. Come on." Ron gently took hold of the girl's arm as he spoke.
"Ron Weasley! The Ron Weasley?"
"That's me. Come on, then. You're too young to Apparate, right?"
The girl nodded tentatively.
"We can talk about why you're here later. In the mean-time, grab my arm tightly - hold it - tighter - good. Don't let go. This will feel very weird, and likely uncomfortable."
"Where are you taking me?"
"Some place safe. I promise, we're not here to hurt you."
The girl nodded after a moment and grabbed his arm and shut her eyes tightly as well, gripping Ron's upper arm with an intensity that was cutting off his bloodflow. Ron signaled to Chris and the two Apparated out with no trace to leave behind.