The Eighth Year Universe
Love Wins
So Young and Brave
The chapter title comes from the song:
Pioneer – The Band Perry.
The parts in Italics are soundbites from the WWN news bulletins as the day(s) progress.
St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies
Saturday 28th August
5 pm
The hospital was hectic when Clara and Daphne arrived.
"Clara!" Nevaeh gasped when she saw her.
"Oh my god, that's Lilly."
Clara just nodded and powered on, "I need an OR now."
"There aren't any," Nevaeh replied, "People are operating in on-call rooms; it's crazy."
Clara cursed under her breath then started yelling until she had cleared a room that she could use to operate in.
"Daphne, you're not coming in here."
"Uh yes, I am!" Daphne objected.
"You're not a Healer, so you can't help her," Clara said firmly, "Stay out here and do what you can for the families of these people. It will distract you from thinking about your own family, trust me."
Daphne cursed under her breath but didn't follow Clara into the room. Instead, she watched the door swing shut on her face.
Inside, Clara ordered Nevaeh around as she prepared to operate when the door swung open unexpectedly.
At first, Clara thought it was Daphne, and she looked up irritably, ready to tell her to get out. But then she saw Michael standing in the doorway.
"What's wrong with her?"
Clara shook her head, "She spent the last five hours working triage with a broken ankle, and because of her goddamn stubbornness, we have to amputate."
Michael shook his head and grabbed a blue cloak, "We are not amputating until it's the last call. Lilly Longbottom is the best trauma healer this country has seen in a long time. She has saved countless lives, even today when she must have been in unbearable agony."
"Michael, it's her foot or her life!" Clara exclaimed.
"Like hell it is," Michael said firmly, "She's my patient now, and she's going to keep her foot."
.
It has been some hours since the explosions that devastated Diagon Alley earlier today hit, and the Minister for Magic has finally issued a statement confirming that "Yes, the Ministry had its security protocols hacked to initiate lockdown. We know that this is linked to the Statute Saboteurs but cannot say any more at this current time."
Minister Black is very busy trying to contain the threat. But earlier today, she spoke to one of our reporters…
"What happened today was a tragedy. You can blame it on hate or blame it on magic. But either way, what happened at noon today has left a hole in the heart of this nation. Right now, our world is broken, but we can put it back together again. The brave Aurors and volunteers are showing us that right now as they work tirelessly in Diagon and Knockturn Alley to find survivors."
.
Diagon Alley
8 pm
It took eight hours to put all of the fires out and evacuate everyone trapped in the flats above. By early evening, teams of healers and volunteers had moved everyone in triage to the Trauma ward or the morgue. All that was left to do was search through the rubble.
Theo was persevering on, despite looking exhausted. Harry noticed, of course, and gave him somewhere else to be.
"Theo. Go to your school," Harry said, patting the other man's arm, "There are terrified kids there who don't know where their parents or siblings are. Go, be with them, console them. That's your place, not here."
Theo looked around and nodded. His eyes fell on Sadie, who was on a mission to dig through the rubble of the ice cream parlour.
"Sadie. Please, come with me to the school."
Sadie shook her head but didn't turn to look at her husband.
"I am not leaving until I find Sorenson. Even if that takes all night, I won't do it!"
She spun around with tears in her eyes, "After the Battle of Hogwarts, he refused to go home to his son until he found me, so I'm not going home until I find him, Theo."
"Then I'll help you," Draco said. He was covered in soot, with a few minor burn marks on his arms and legs that would need tending to at some point.
Draco gripped Theo's arm and said, "Be the Headmaster those kids need. I'll help Sadie find Sorenson so we can take him home to his family."
Theo nodded, tears filling his eyes. He reached forward and pulled Draco into a hug, the two of them murmuring words that nobody else in the vicinity could hear.
Then Theo left, and they began to dig through the rubble.
St Mungo's
10 pm
Ron was delirious. He didn't really know where he was. Whether he was on a bed somewhere in the triage area of Diagon Alley or the hospital, all he knew was that the world was twisting, turning and fading in and out around him.
"Felicity!" He gasped.
"They're searching for her," A voice promised, "They're searching for your wife."
Then all the colours faded to black and burst into technicolour, and Ron wondered what kind of hard drugs he was on.
"It's alright, Ron," A familiar voice was saying, "You're just gonna be a bit legless for a while."
"He's delirious," The unfamiliar voice said, "Up his pain potions and get the man some sleeping draught."
"His brother is crashing!"
"Charlie!" Familiar voices yelled.
Then everything went black again.
.
In the wake of the tragedy, Aurors and Healers are working through the night to salvage what they can from the wreckage.
The refuge centre at the Hermione Granger School for Young Witches and Wizards estimates that at least 300 people are still unaccounted for. Aurors on the scene say some life signs can still be seen beneath the rubble.
The effort continues to get as many people out as possible.
.
Sunday 29th August
Diagon Alley
Approximately 1 am
It had gone midnight when they arrived in their droves. They apparated in because there were no such wards to stop them from doing so now.
The crowds of witches and wizards from around Britain who had come to help all sent Lumos spells into the air, converging to create a sizeable false star that shone over the alley.
It gave light to those still searching and hope to those trapped beneath the rubble who only had the smallest slithers of moonlight to rely on.
Harry was amongst those still searching. Sadie had left a few hours ago when they found Sorenson's body in the wreckage of the ice cream parlour. She had taken him back to their childhood home, and Draco had accompanied her. He watched while Lotus screamed and shook her head, sobbing over her only son's body. He watched Sadie cry and break down with her mother. Then he returned to the alley to continue searching.
He and Harry were at the leaky, which had been the worst hit and was estimated to have the most significant body count. Harry didn't know about Felicity. Sorenson and Ron were both gone when he arrived at the alley.
Daphne was gone too, but he wasn't worried. He figured Lilly had forced her to go to the hospital with magical exhaustion, and Lilly would be in the Trauma ward saving lives, so he wasn't worried about her either.
Still, he was feeling the exhaustion set in when a voice asked.
"Can we help, Dad?"
Harry turned around and nearly cried when he saw Andrea and Alastor standing behind him.
Draco turned too, and he did smile tearfully at Charlus and Elladora, who were standing with them.
"What are you guys doing here?" Harry asked weakly.
"The message on the WWN was that the searchers were going to carry on through the night, but that they needed help," Alastor said quietly, "We wanted to help."
Ella nodded, "So do we. Ada and Dora are with Mama and Grandmama. We want to help, Dad. We don't want there to be any other horrible stories like Uncle Sorenson's."
"There will be more horrible stories," Draco said, pulling her into a hug and kissing her on the head, "If you stay and search through the rubble, you're going to see horrible things, the sort of things that change you forever."
Ella held her head up firmly, "I don't care, Dad. I'm staying. If I don't stay, someone might lose their parent or child, which will change them forever. You said that Black-Nott's are survivors, but we're more than that. We do everything we can to help those in need. You taught us that."
Harry smiled slightly and patted Draco on the back, "You're a good man, Draco Black," he murmured as he branched off slightly to pull Alastor and Andrea into a hug.
"If you two want to help, that's great," Harry said honestly, "But I'm going to go into Head Auror mode and put you where you can help the most. Andrea, that's not here; it's at the HG school with Uncle Theo. There are scared kids there who need someone who can talk to them gently and kindly to find out their names and the names of who they are looking for so we can search for their relatives in the morgue."
"Are there enough people in the morgue identifying bodies?" Alastor asked.
Harry shook his head, "Alastor, that's no place for a kid. Those bodies are seriously burned or mangled in some cases."
"And I want to be a Herbologist. I've seen some of the horrific things plants can do to people," Alastor argued, "And I know a lot about embalming. I could be useful there."
With a sigh, Harry nodded, "Go then."
His two children nodded and went their separate ways, then Harry went back to the wreckage and shifted a large wooden beam, only to whisper a horrified, "No," at what he found underneath it.
Draco heard him and moved over, his own eyes widening when he saw her.
"Felicity."
"Help me move this, Draco."
Draco nodded, even though they both knew that Felicity was gone and had been for a while now. They shifted the beam so that they could lift her body onto a stretcher, and Harry felt for a pulse, but rigour mortis had already begun to set in, and her wide eyes were staring up at the starless sky.
Harry shook his head, and Draco reached down for Felicity's wand, which lay by her side.
"Prior Incantato."
A burst of blue light came from the wand and showed Felicity in the sub-level of the Leaky Cauldron, right down in the basement kitchen. That explained why it had taken so long to find her. The final spell she had used was a powerful shield charm that covered herself at the centre but fringed out enough to cover the Squibs from the Closes who worked in the kitchens. One of those squibs used a single-use wand to blast a hole in the wall, opening up a passageway from the Leaky that ran beneath the alley and came out in Knockturn. Harry knew it was there; Ron had told him about it over fake beers one night – a former landlord had used it for running illegal alcohol in and out of the pub once upon a time.
Felicity held the shield charm until all the squibs were safely inside, then she couldn't hold it anymore, and it collapsed, the weight of the entire building collapsing on top of her.
Harry couldn't speak. His throat was tight, and he was shaking his head because this was Ron's wife, and if Ron wasn't here searching through the rubble for her, something was wrong. Where was he? That was how these thoughts transpired in Harry's head.
Draco hugged him and said, "It was instant, Harry. She didn't suffer for hours; it was instant."
Harry hugged him back tightly, but he still wasn't capable of words, so all he could do was nod.
.
Hundreds of witches and wizards have gathered at Diagon Alley to help Aurors search through the night for survivors in the wake of what is already being described as the single largest loss of life in wizarding Britain in over 200 years.
However, a beacon of hope has appeared over what remains of our beloved alley, thanks to the hundreds of Lumos spells that have been fired into the sky to aid the Aurors in their search.
Once more, in the face of tragedy, the British wizarding world has united.
.
St. Mungo's
4 am
The Trauma Ward was overflowing, so the reception area was transformed into a makeshift extension to the ward. The hospital was so chaotic, and they didn't have the capacity for a largescale disaster like this.
The OR's were fully booked across the whole hospital, and they had to operate anywhere they could – whether that was on the ward or in an on-call room. It wasn't ideal, but as Clara had yelled when they began bringing patients into the hospital.
"These are wartime conditions! You do what you can with what you've got, fuck protocol!"
And they had done just that. Everyone had shared duties and gotten on with them. They had Muggle nurses, doctors, paramedics and first aiders in St Mungos for the first time. But these people were the parents of magical children, the husbands or wives of magical people. Some had lost their partner or child in the explosion, but here they were, working side by side with Healers in an attempt to save as many people as possible.
There weren't enough rooms, so people who couldn't be discharged were crammed into rooms together. Ron and Charlie were sharing a makeshift room in the former café on the top floor; it had been transformed into a recovery ward.
Ron was still unconscious, but Charlie was coming around. His arm was all bandaged up, and it didn't hurt, but he supposed that was because of whatever potions they had given him.
He blinked and looked around. This wasn't even a room; it was a curtained off area in a large hall. There were noises and smells of all varieties, and Charlie felt a little green.
"I think I'm gonna be sick."
Somebody placed a bucket in front of him, and Charlie promptly threw up into it. He felt a hand on his back, and Bill's voice murmured, "You're back in the land of the living, Char."
Charlie groaned and leant back in his bed. He looked up at Bill, who was standing at the foot of it. Next to him was George, standing at the foot of Ron's bed.
"What happened?"
"It was bad," Bill replied, "You had to have surgery to remove the damaged tissue. They said you probably would have lost your arm to an infection otherwise. They had to take a skin graft from your arse to cover the wound too. It was right to the bone, Charlie. They said there was a bit of nerve damage, but it's in your upper arm, so it will probably affect strength, not your ability to hold a wand."
"Well, I can use my wand left-handed anyway," Charlie said offhandedly, "Why doesn't it hurt?"
"They pumped you with a lot of potions," Bill replied, "It's probably what made you throw up."
"Right," Charlie grimaced. He turned his head slightly to look at Ron. Who was incredibly pale and hooked up to a lot of tubes.
"How's Ron?"
"Alive," George answered quietly.
"He's getting a blood transfusion," Bill explained, "George and I both donated what we could. The ice cream parlour collapsed while he was getting people out. He lost his leg and a lot of blood."
"He lost his leg?" Charlie asked weakly.
Bill nodded, and Charlie sighed, then threw his head back against the pillows, "Fuck. How's Gin?"
"Fine," George replied.
Bill smiled slightly, "She's being Gin. She's downstairs in Trauma helping out. They needed anyone they could get. It's…it's bad down there."
Charlie laughed lightly, "Yeah, sounds like Gin. I'm surprised Mum and Dad aren't here."
"They are," Bill said quietly, "But….Harry just came in. He said he needed to tell them something, to relay to Ron when he wakes up."
Charlie sat up a little straighter, "No…."
That was when Molly and Arthur stepped into the room. Molly had tears running down her cheeks, and Arthur had a hand on her back, steadying her and anchoring her to reality.
"Mum, don't say it…." George said, his own voice choked.
Molly shook her head, and Bill drew her into a hug.
"Felicity didn't make it," Arthur said evenly.
Everyone looked at Ron, who was breathing steadily in his sleep, and they all felt that same sense of loss and dread overcome them – the same one they had felt after Fred died. The same one they had felt when they showed up at Bones Manor to find Susan sobbing over Percy's body.
It never went away, and it never eased.
George voiced it – the thing that everyone else was thinking.
"Sometimes, I think we're cursed."
.
There are genuinely unprecedented scenes at St Mungo's today as all who are able to help do everything they can for the survivors of yesterday's attack.
Never before have Muggles worked side by side with Healers in such a way. But these Muggles are the parents of magical children, the wives of wizards, the husbands of witches. They are irrevocably linked to our world, and today, they play a crucial part in saving it.
.
St Mungo's
5 am
When Lilly woke up, it was very early in the morning. But the hospital wasn't dead like it usually was at this time; it was louder than ever.
Lilly grunted in pain and rubbed her eyes. Her entire body felt heavy, and the dull ache in her foot made her look down. A blanket covered her leg, and as the memory rushed back to her, she began to panic.
What if this was just phantom pain? What if she had lost her foot?
"Lil?" A sleepy, muffled voice said.
Lilly would recognise it in an instant, "Daphne?" she asked weakly.
The next thing she knew, someone was forcing her to drink a little water and helping her sit up straight. Then there was some movement, and the door to her room opened up.
Lilly blinked a few times and looked at Clara, who seemed exhausted. She was covered in blood, but she was still plodding on, just like Lilly would if she had lost someone she loved.
"What happened?" She asked groggily.
Clara crossed her arms over her chest, "You were an idiot; that's what happened. I trained you to be better than that! I trained you to always look after yourself first because you can't look after others if you're dead, can you?"
Lilly sighed, "I didn't think it was that bad. I healed it, and I didn't think putting pressure on it would cause that much damage."
"Lilly, the infection was eating through flesh," Clara said in disbelief, "Didn't you feel the pain?"
"It hurt a little, but I just got on with it," Lilly admitted. She rubbed her eyes and looked down, "How bad was it?"
"It was bad," Daphne replied quietly, "You were dying when we got you here. The infection was spreading through your entire body."
Lilly nodded and looked up at Clara, "You had to amputate then?"
"We should have," Clara said, "Protocol dictates that amputation should only be used as a last resort, and we were losing you. I was willing to amputate to save you, but it wasn't my call in the end."
Lilly frowned, "You're in charge of Trauma. Who could overrule you?"
"The Chief of Surgery," Clara replied.
"Michael?" Lilly asked in disbelief.
"Yes, Michael bloody Corner, as you so frequently refer to him," Clara said. She raised an eyebrow at Lilly, "Who took over your care the minute Daphne told him you were in his hospital. He refused to amputate. He said he would only do it if there was no other way. He spent two hours working on you, Lilly, two hours straight. He cut out the affected tissue bit by bit. I got you here and saved your life, but he saved your foot."
Lilly swallowed, "Why would he do that?"
Clara smiled slightly, "Because, in his words, Lilly Longbottom is the best trauma healer this country has seen in a long time, and after everything she's done to save lives, I won't let her lose her foot'."
Lilly nodded tearfully, "He knows Mum and Grace are okay, then?"
Daphne nodded and took her hand, "Grace is at the HG school. Thea's keeping an eye on her and your mum's upstairs. They turned the café into a temporary recovery ward; it's all a little manic. She got hit pretty bad, it's just a concussion, but Michael wants her to stay in here overnight just in case."
"Why the hell am I in a private room?" Lilly asked, pushing herself up and frowning, "I'm not the bloody Pope, and we're obviously over-capacity. Don't give me any special treatment."
"Lie down before I make you lie down," Daphne said firmly, "You get special treatment because the sooner you're healed, the sooner you can help other people, so shut up and take your potions like a big girl."
Lilly fought the urge to roll her eyes, "Quit being bossy," she muttered.
"You're in here, and the last time I saw Harry, he was running in and out of the only building in Diagon Alley that was still on fire. I'm allowed to be on edge," Daphne pointed out.
Lilly sighed, "Where's Neville?"
"He's in the morgue," Daphne replied quietly, "After they evacuated Knockturn, Harry asked him to help out there. The death count keeps going up, and they need people to identify the bodies so that Theo knows how many kids in the great hall of his school are orphans now."
Lilly swallowed and looked up at Clara, "Are you okay?"
"No," Clara replied simply, "You know when you marry an Auror that there's a chance he might not come home one day. But it's different when it's like that. He worked in CPS; this was his retirement job. He was supposed to be safe."
Lilly looked around the room with a frantic look in her eyes, "Where's the jacket I had on?"
"It's over there," Daphne replied, frowning at the panicked look on Lilly's face, "Why?"
"Just give it to me!" Lilly exclaimed.
Daphne grabbed the jacket and put it on Lilly's lap. She rummaged through a pocket and pulled out the now-dead decoy detonator.
"Sorenson threw this to me just before the building collapsed," Lilly explained, "He said to give it to Sadie and tell her 'it was him', but I don't know what that means."
"I don't know either," Clara said, frowning at the little device.
"But Sorenson obviously thought that Sadie would," Daphne said. She took the device from Lilly and promised, "I'll take it to her."
Lilly nodded.
"You – rest," Daphne added when she reached the door.
"Yes," Lilly muttered.
"And Clara?" Daphne said, lowering her voice so that Lilly couldn't hear them.
Clara looked at Daphne with a frown, "Yes?"
"When it hits you, don't hold back," Daphne advised, "Go somewhere far away from civilisation, scream, cry and let it out. Holding it in will kill you, trust me."
Clara could only nod in response.
.
More survivors emerge from the wreckage. All buildings on the western side of the alley have now been evacuated, but rumours have arisen that some people are trapped in the basement level of Helga's Kitchen in Knockturn Alley.
The Minister for Magic has been in her office with advisors all night, but one key advisor remains absent. Draco Black, Head of the DMLE, has continued searching for survivors by digging through the rubble with his former Auror partner, Harry Potter.
As dawn begins to break over what remains of the alley, we all begin to wonder where the Minister will go from here.
.
Cauldwell House
Norfolk
The middle of the night had become early morning when Daphne floo-ed into Cauldwell House, but the house was not silent. Ada and Dora were curled up together on an armchair, both dozing.
However, Sadie and her mother were sitting by the fire, staring into it with tear-stained cheeks.
"Sadie?"
Sadie snapped out of her thoughts and looked up, "Is everybody okay?" she asked, panic setting in.
Daphne nodded, "Everyone is fine. Theo is at the school, Draco is still searching through the wreckage, and Hermione has been in her office all night. I don't know what she's doing, but I'm sure it's important."
"Tendering her resignation, probably," Lotus said quietly.
"Mother - "
"She's right, Sadie," Daphne said softly, "Ministers can't stay on after a tragedy like this. They feel like they've failed the nation, or the nation feels like its Minister has failed them. Either way, the writing is on the wall."
"If Hermione does not resign, a vote of no-confidence will force her out," Lotus agreed.
Sadie sighed and rubbed her eyes, "I should go…she probably needs…someone."
"You're needed here," Daphne said gently, "Everyone else is doing okay. They've got it covered."
Sadie swallowed and frowned at her old friend, "Then…why are you here?"
"Lilly just woke up," Daphne explained, "And she told us that just before the building collapsed, Sorenson threw something to her and gave her a message that we think only you can understand."
Sadie's frown deepened, "What…what do you mean?"
Daphne lay the motionless decoy detonator on the coffee table in front of Sadie, and the other woman paled significantly.
"He said to give it to you," Daphne continued, "And to tell you, 'it was him'."
And Sadie couldn't believe it. She felt sick, her stomach lurched, and she uttered one word, laced with both betrayal and denial.
"No!"
.
As the operation continues to save as many people as possible in Diagon and Knockturn Alley following yesterday's horrific attack, the same question is being asked across the country…
Is Minister Black fit to lead us through this war?
.
The Minister's Office
9 am
Hermione turned the radio off and turned around.
"Bloody vultures."
"They are the press," Tiberius McLaggem said coolly, "Reporting the news is in their job description."
"Thank you, Tiberius," Hermione said dryly, "If I need any more helpful comments, I'll be sure to ask."
The department heads who could be here were all gathered in Hermione's office. Draco was absent because he was searching through the wreckage, and Charlie's absence was understandable because he was in the hospital.
Mafalda, the Head of the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophe's hadn't responded to the call to meet, and rumour had it that she had been in Diagon Alley with her great-granddaughter today. As such, Hermione had called up the Assistant Head of Department, but he wasn't here as of yet.
"Draco really ought to be here," Tiberius pointed out, "As Head of the DMLE, his presence is the one most sorely missed right now."
"Draco is where he needs to be," Hermione said firmly, "Saving people, not debating politics while our world burns."
"Unfortunately, we do need to decide how to progress," Michael Corner Senior, the father of the Healer who was working himself to the bone in St Mungo's, remarked, "A resignation is on the cards, I believe."
"Yes, perhaps more than one," Hermione said dryly, "Should the man who allowed our floo system to be hacked keep his job, Michael?"
"As Head of the Department of Magical Transportation, the security of our floo system is your responsibility, Michael," Tiberius agreed.
"It remains to be seen exactly how they were able to do what they did," Michael said uncomfortably.
"Well, I suggest you make it a priority to find out exactly how they did it," Hermione said coolly, "Because our floo system is supposed to be impenetrable. After the wars with Voldemort, it was engineered not to be tampered with by anyone."
Michael crossed his arms over his chest, "Well, if the Department of Mysteries had managed to come up with a counter to this new form of imperius curse, then the Saboteurs would never have planted the bombs."
"Don't try and foot the blame on the Department of Mysteries," Gwenog Jones, the Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, objected.
"Although the question does arise – where is the Head of that department? Is their absence explainable, Minister?" Tiberius asked.
"There is not currently a head of that department," Hermione explained, "The stepping down of the old head most recently presented a problem when nobody else stepped forward to fill their shoes. It's an ongoing issue, so yes, their absence is explainable. Any more deflections, Michael?"
Michael scoffed and got to his feet, "My son's working through this, you know? While I sit here letting you throw baseless accusations at me!"
"Do you truly think you are the only person affected by this?" Tiberius drawled, "My son was in Diagon Alley with my grandson when the explosions hit. My wife is looking after my grandson right now while my son searches through the rubble for survivors. Gwenog's wife is an Auror, working through the night to save whoever is left, and we are down two heads of department because Charles Weasley is fighting for his life, and Mafalda has probably lost hers!"
Tiberius shook his head in disbelief, "Your son is far nobler than you, Michael. I suppose he takes after his mother."
Michael looked at Tiberius in disbelief and turned to Hermione, "I don't have to deal with this. Minister Black, please take this as my resignation, with immediate effect."
He left the office without another word, and Hermione sighed, "Well, that was what I wanted. But it wasn't entirely how I hoped to orchestrate it. All the same, thank you, Tiberius."
"Trust me, Minister, that fool has irritated me longer than he has you," Tiberius remarked.
Hermione looked between him and Gwenog, and she wished more than anything for Draco to walk in through that door right now. To her surprise, it swung open, but it wasn't Draco who stepped through.
"Minister," The redheaded man said, bowing his head slightly.
"Arthur," Tiberius said, stepping forward and holding out a hand, "I hope the family are well?"
Arthur smiled weakly and nodded, "Ron and Charlie will make it through, one having lost his leg and the other with severe burns but unfortunately…Ron's wife Felicity didn't make it."
Hermione's calm composure flickered then.
Arthur continued, "She evacuated the Leaky Cauldron before it collapsed but didn't make it out herself."
Despite being Minister for Magic, Hermione was also Hermione Granger, and this was Arthur, the man who had been like a father to her for so long. And Ron was Ron, her best friend, who had just lost his wife and his leg.
So she stepped forward and hugged him, pulling back to kiss his cheek and whisper that she was sorry.
Tiberius took Arthur by the arm and led him into an armchair close to the fire that had been burning all night long.
"Oh, my dear man," He said, pouring him a firewhiskey and pushing it into his hands.
Arthur nodded politely and tried to smile at Tiberius, but it came out as little more than a grimace.
"There are crowds in the atrium, Minister - "
"Hermione," She cut in, "I've known you since I was 11 years old, Arthur, please don't call me Minister."
Arthur nodded and bowed his head, "They are calling for your immediate resignation."
"I know," Hermione promised him, "And I will give them what they want. But when I go, I will do it on my own terms."
.
Breaking News!
Just in, Minister Black has announced her resignation. She will continue as Minister until the Wizengamot has selected her successor.
In her statement to the Prophet, the Minister cited that she was stepping down due to the tragedy that has befallen our nation….
"While this is the job I have wanted to do for as long as I can remember, being the best Minister that I can be includes knowing when I am not the right person to lead us through this crisis. I fought by Harry Potter's side against Lord Voldemort, and I am not running from this fight. However, I have come to realise that I can be more useful to our nation by wholly supporting a more pro-active minister during this time."
.
Diagon Alley
10 am
"I'm calling it."
Draco looked up at Harry.
"It's been almost 24 hours," Harry said, looking around at the searchers, "This search and rescue has just become recovery."
Draco sighed and raised his hand to wipe his sweat and dust-covered brow, but he nodded. It was always the most brutal call to make – the point when the search for survivors became futile.
"Someone inform the families of those at the refuge centre," Harry said, "Before the press or the WWN get a hold of this."
Draco nodded, "I'll do it. But Harry, you ought to go home - "
"I'm needed here," Harry said curtly.
Draco knew his friend well enough not to push the issue. So he nodded and disapparated away from the alley for the first time in hours.
When he reached the HG school, things were chaotic. Camp beds lined the great hall, and people handed out soup and water to anyone in need. Theo was crouched down talking to a young girl when Draco stepped into the hall.
"What's going on out there?" He asked, rising to his feet, "I haven't heard anything for hours, and I don't know what to believe on the WWN. They're saying Hermione's resigned."
Draco nodded and met the other man's eye, "It's true. There was no way she was going to get through this as Minister, and you know Hermione, she wanted to go out on her terms."
Theo sighed and cursed under his breath, "Who's going to take her place?"
"I have no idea," Draco replied, "And right now, I don't care. I just want to get through this."
"I know," Theo promised, "Where's Sadie?"
Draco swallowed, "We…found Sorenson. Sadie and the twins are at Cauldwell House. Lotus….she didn't take it well."
Theo shook his head, "I should be with her - "
"You are needed here," Draco cut in. He reached out for Theo's arm, "Sadie knows that."
Theo sighed and broke eye contact with Draco.
"Charlie and Ella are helping with the rescue effort back at the alley," Draco said quietly, "She's being very brave, our Ella, I remember what…."
He swallowed, "I remember how hard it was for me, seeing those things at her age."
"So do I," Theo whispered, "The collapse of the tower at Hogwarts…the corridor just running with blood."
Theo sighed and looked up at Draco tearfully, "I never wanted that for our kids."
"I know," Draco said, pulling the other man into a hug, "I didn't either."
Theo let out a shaky breath, and they held onto each other for a few minutes. Then Draco drew back and murmured, "Harry just made the call. Search and Rescue has become Search and Recover."
Theo nodded, his eyes darkening, "Lupin House won't be able to cope with all of the orphans we're about to have, Draco."
Draco grabbed his hand, "I know. But we'll do what we can like we always have done."
.
News just in…Harry Potter, the incident commander of the wreckage in Diagon Alley, has made the call that the Search and Rescue mission has now become a Recovery mission.
"It has been 24 hours since the explosions hit the alley. Shield charms can only be held for ten hours, even by talented or powerful witches and wizards. Anyone trapped underneath the rubble would have had two to three hours of oxygen at most. We have to, regrettably, make the call that now the search for survivors ends, and we aim to recover the bodies of everyone that we can to give their families closure. Incident Command at the refuge centre has been informed, and we are working with St. Mungo's to reunite as many families as possible. No further information will be released at this point."
News bulletins will continue to keep the nation updated on an hourly basis. But for now, almost 24 hours after the tragic attack, we at the WWN would like to thank everyone who has helped with the search. Our hearts go out to the families of those who have lost their lives.
They will never be forgotten.
- TBC -
