It was an exceptionally chilly morning on September the second as Harry, Ron, Hermione and I all crouched in an alleyway that was a popular Apparation spot for Ministry wizards going to work. Ron and Harry lurked behind some large trash bins, Hermione was under the Cloak, and I was just inside a busted open fire door. Our first target, a small witch with grey hair, Apparated just feet from where I knew Hermione stood. Moments later, a silent Stunning spell hit her, and the witch toppled over.
"Nice one," Ron said, appearing from behind the bin. Hermione threw the cloak at Harry, and took some hairs from the witch before Ron and I dragged her off into the corridor behind the fire door.
"We've got two minutes, make it quick," Harry said, keeping an eye on his watch.
Hermione drank down the Polyjuice Potion and transformed before our eyes. I rooted through the woman's handbag, pulling out a handful of tokens and an ID card.
"Mafalda Hopkirk, Improper Use of Magic," I said, handing it over to Hermione. "She'll be on the second level."
"Right, second level," Hermione repeated, putting on the glasses that Ron handed her.
"Quick, he'll be here any second!" Harry said, throwing the Cloak fully over himself. Ron and I resumed our positions.
Right on schedule, a small wizard with an extraordinary mustache Apparated into the alley. "Oh, hello Mafalda," he said, starting out of the alley.
"Good morning! How are you feeling today?"
They were going to cross the street. 'Come on Hermione.'
"Not well, I'm afraid, I—"
"Have a sweet!"
He stopped on the sidewalk, confused. "Er, no thanks—"
"I insist!" Hermione said, shoving a Puking Pastille into his hands. He was so shocked that he did as she asked, and then immediately began spewing vomit. He didn't even notice Hermione yank some hair off his head. "Oh dear, you had best take the day off!"
"No—I—I have to—" But he was retching all over the walkway, unable to string a sentence together.
"You can't possibly work in this state!" Hermione's panicked voice was finally serving her well. "You ought to head to St. Mungo's, they'll sort you out!" After the wizard nearly collapsed, he nodded in agreement with her and Disapparated. "Ew, it would have been much easier to stun him," Hermione said, tiptoeing back to us. It didn't seem as if she had drawn much attention, thankfully.
"But a pile of bodies might draw more attention," Ron reasoned, accepting the flask of Polyjuice with the wizard's hairs in it. He left to change quickly and I vanished as much of the sick as I dared off of the sidewalk. The last thing we needed was a nosey Muggle coming upon us now.
Ron came back transformed and wearing a stolen set of blue robes. "Odd he wasn't wearing his uniform today, but I'm Reg Cattermole."
"Good, now Harry, you hide, we'll be back," Hermione said. Harry gave me the Cloak and I hid underneath, poised in the alleyway while Harry hid behind the door.
Hermione and Ron were still not back yet when our fourth target appeared in the alley. I was so surprised that he managed to take a few steps before I hit him with a silent Stunning Spell and he crumpled to the ground. Harry emerged from the fire door and I bent down to help Harry lift him into the corridor where Mafalda was stashed.
"Almost missed him with my spell," I grunted, setting him down. "Bloody hell."
"Harry? Jen?"
Hermione and Ron were finally back. "Sorry Harry, we don't know who he was—Merlin's pants," Hermione hissed. "He was early?"
"It's fine, I got him," I said, yanking some blonde hair out and taking his glasses. I checked his pockets for his ID as well.
"Here, you'll need bigger robes Harry." Hermione had fished out some larger robes from her bag while Ron handed over some grey hair to Harry. "He was much bigger than you."
Harry emerged from behind the fire door roughly two heads higher than usual, with much wider shoulders and a beard. The wizard he had turned into looked terribly imposing, and his face seemed to naturally fall into a sour expression. I was last, transforming into the blonde, feeling completely ill at ease in the wizards' body. I checked over the ID before I pocketed it: Lewis Turnbull, Beings Division. I knew he looked familiar - he must have been the one who stopped me when I visited Cedric in February.
Harry stashed the Invisibility Cloak and his glasses in his robes. "Okay, everyone take a token," Hermione said, distributing them before we slipped out of the alley and into the crowd. I lead them to the entrances for the toilets that acted as the entrance to the Ministry now.
"Meet you in there," Hermione muttered, splitting off from us to go to the LADIES side. It felt so odd descending with Harry and Ron into the GENTLEMEN's toilets. I managed to get into a stall before the boys, and I heard another man strike up a conversation with Ron somewhere behind me. I stood in the toilet, absolutely disgusted, and flushed myself in.
At the very least, I arrived perfectly dry in the Atrium of the Ministry. I manage to see Hermione over by the grotesque statue that had replaced the golden fountain that was there during my last visit. The black stone was carved in the image of a witch and wizard in elegant robes sitting on thrones. The closer I got, the more I realized how cruel their faces looked, and that the thrones were not simply chairs. Carved along the bottom of the statue were the words MAGIC IS MIGHT.
"It's horrible," I muttered to Hermione, who was making a point to not look at it. Twisted limbs and ugly faces of Muggles made up the thrones themselves.
"I can't… it's too…" she murmured back, and Ron joined us. Finally, I saw the hulking form Harry had taken coming towards us, and we started pushing through the crowd towards the lifts.
"Cattermole!"
My stomach churned at the recognition of that voice. Other workers fell silent around us as Yaxley strode up to the four of us, wearing elaborately embroidered robes and looking as unpleasant as usual. "I requested somebody from Magical Maintenance to sort out my office. It's still raining in there."
"I—in your office? Raining?" Ron gave out a little nervous laugh that made Yaxley look as though he would hex him right here on the spot.
"Is that funny to you, Cattermole?"
Two witches near us left the lift line for another one.
"N-no, no sir, of course not—"
"I'd be extra sure to get my office in order, quickly, Cattermole. You realize I'm on my way down to interrogate your wife?"
"I—I—"
"If my office isn't dry within an hour, her Blood Status will be in even more doubt than it already is," Yaxley sneered. He gave a sort of cruel smile to Harry before he got on to a different lift than the four of us. Ron looked very pale.
"What am I going to do?" he whispered as the grates closed. "My—I mean, his wife… bloody hell."
"We'll go with you—" Harry started, but Ron cut him off.
"No, I'll do my best, you lot find Umbridge. Any guesses on getting the rain to stop?"
"Finite Incantatem, to start," Hermione said. "But if that doesn't work, it's probably something to do with Atmospheric Charm, in which case—"
"Level Four - Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures," said the disembodied voice as the lift grates opened and a couple of wizards and some memos boarded.
"Lewis, aren't you getting out?" one of them asked me, startling me enough to remember the man I was embodying supposedly worked on this floor.
"Er, no, I've got a meeting higher up," I said. That must have been enough to dissuade any further discussion, and the lift moved again. Hermione was whispering frantically to Ron behind me. I wanted desperately to bump into Cedric here, but I also knew that was the stupidest desire. If he suspected something was off, it could blow the whole mission.
"Level Two - Department of Magical Law Enforcement." Everyone left the lift, and Hermione gave Ron a little push so he would follow them.
As soon as the grates closed again, Hermione's anxiety overtook her. "No, I should go with him, he won't know what to do and besides, if he's caught, we're—"
"Level One - Minister of Magic and Support Staff."
Hermione gasped as the grates opened once again to reveal Umbridge in her standard pink suit talking to a wizard with long hair and the most elaborate robes I had ever seen not on Dumbledore.
"Ah, Mafalda! You were sent up for me?"
"Y-yes!" Hermione managed to squeak.
"Excellent, you'll do just nicely - and Lewis, good to see you so promptly. I just left a meeting with Mr. Malfoy, he's expecting you down in his office," she replied, smiling wide at me. I awkwardly returned the smile, seething with hatred, and stepped out and around her and the other man. Mr. Malfoy? Since when did Lucius actually work?
"That's one problem solved, Minister. Now that I have Mafalda, I'll be able to start straight away. Ten people today! One of them the wife of a Ministry employee, can you believe it?" She stepped into the lift with Hermione and Harry, followed by a few more wizards. "Everything you need is already down there, Mafalda. Aren't you getting out, Albert?" She was giving Harry a quizzical look.
"Yes, of course," Harry replied, and stepped out as well. I slowly started stepping down the hallway, pretending to leave to go to my meeting.
"What brings you here, Runcorn?" the Minister asked Harry.
"I needed a quick word with… Mr. Malfoy, as well," Harry said, looking over the Minister's shoulder at me. "Coordinating efforts."
"Ah, yes. Very important work Mr. Malfoy is doing, ensuring the safety of our society," the Minister replied. "Good day, Runcorn."
"Good day, Minister."
The Minister swept past me down the hall, and Harry and I were finally quite alone. In my mind, I was trying to concoct a plan that would reunite all of us, but it was too hard with everyone rushing around about their morning business. Perhaps in a short while it would calm down? But we surely only had forty or so minutes left, maybe less.
"Bloody hell," Harry muttered, pulling the Cloak out from in his robes. "I didn't think we'd get split up this fast."
"Me neither," I said. "Let's go, I'm sure Lucius is expecting me."
We took off down the velvet-carpeted corridor together, Harry invisible just behind me. I scanned every nameplate we passed, looking for Malfoy. No luck so far.
"Her office has to be up here, right?" Harry mumbled behind me.
"I'm betting," I whispered. "You should check the office first, and if it's not there, we'll collect Ron and head down the lift. She's probably got it on her. If they're doing what I think they are, they'll be in the courtrooms."
Our voices, though as quiet as we could keep them, still sounded loud in the deathly quiet hallway. I turned a corner, and the hall dead-ended into a large, open space where there were at least a dozen desks set up with workers at them. They flicked their wands in rhythm with each other, and I noticed papers folding and shifting and stacking all around. I stopped in my tracks, sure that I had gone too far, and was about to turn back when I noticed a wizard sitting just two desks up from the entrance.
"Cedric," I breathed under my breath. What was he doing up here? I felt Harry pass around to the side of me, and I staggered a few steps back and around the corner. He was supposed to be down on level four. How had Umbridge gotten a hold of him?
"Turnbull, there you are, you've certainly taken your time."
The voice made my spine stiffen as I turned slowly.
Mr. Malfoy was not Lucius at all.
It was Lance.
He looked immaculate, wearing deep blue robes that made his grey eyes look even colder. I did note with some small glee that his nose looked slightly more crooked than the last time. He was looking at me with a sneer on his face, clearly very irritated with my tardiness. I knew that expression all too well.
"M—Mr. Malfoy, I apologize," I said, taking small steps towards him. "I had forgotten which office was yours—"
"So you've forgotten how to read?" he mocked. "Absolutely ridiculous."
He swept back towards an open door only a few down from where we stood at the corner. I followed him into his office, and shut the door behind me. His office was quite spacious, much larger than the one I had seen Cedric in. An enchanted window gave a view of London. The wooden furniture was highly polished, and everything was perfectly organized for someone who was supposed to be extremely busy. In Lewis's body, I was almost as tall as Lance - it was the first time we could see eye to eye since I was thirteen.
"Well? Has my request been approved yet?" he asked, clearly irritated that he had to speak first. How long had Lance even been working here? Surely it wasn't long.
"Your request, sir?" I tried not to wince. I didn't want to make Lewis's life actually hell when he reappeared tomorrow.
Lance rolled his eyes. "My request to use ten Dementors on my next few raids? Did you drink a Forgetfulness Potion for breakfast?"
"Ah, yes," I said, pushing the slipping glasses up my nose. "Yes, sir, that should be—"
BANG
The noise came from down the corridor, back where we had been. Lance's expression shifted quickly from impatience to alert. "Stay here," he commanded, and swiftly left the office, wand drawn. I had absolutely no intention of staying put, and wanted to check his office for anything useful before running back to the lifts. I circled around his desk to look at the few decorations on it - the picture frame was particularly intriguing - and maybe shuffle through a drawer.
My stomach dropped out as I recognized myself looking back from the picture frame. It was recent… taken through the window of Flourish and Blotts while I was restocking some books. Occasionally, I stopped to read the back of one, smiling a little at whatever it was I held. My chest clenched and I felt like I would be sick. How had he gotten this? I snatched it off his desk and fumbled with the clasps on the back of the frame. I could hear shouts down the hall and smell smoke, too. Had Harry set something on fire? I finally got the picture out of the frame, and shoved it into my robes. My fingers where shaking horribly as I reset the clasps and set the frame back down to my best approximation of where Lance had it. Just as I reached for the top drawer on the right side, I heard Lance shouting.
"Get yourselves together, you absolute disgrace! If your numbers aren't consistent today, I'll be personally examining your family trees!"
Sounded like it was time to go. I threw myself out of the office, met with a haze of smoke still in the hallway. I had enough sense to shut the door behind me before sprinting down the hall, footfalls thankfully dulled by the carpet. The smoke made me choke up, and I barely made it to the lifts before my lungs and throat felt like they would seize on me. Frantically, I cast Anapeo on myself, then charmed away what smoke I could.
I had completely fucked up, and needed to get as much distance between myself and Lance as possible.
I stood with my back plastered against the stone wall, chest still heaving, eyes darting between the lift grates, and ears perked to try and hear anyone coming down the hall. Finally, one slid open and was empty, and I darted inside. I could just start to hear footsteps down the hallway as it closed and descended.
There was no way I'd be able to find Harry at the moment. He would have to be on his own, for now. At least he was invisible. And if the locket wasn't in Umbridge's office, Harry would follow the plan. Maybe I could go and find Ron now, and cut time off of Harry trying to find us.
"Level Two - Department of Magical Law Enforcement."
Ron had gotten off here, and I pushed past the onboarding wizards. My breath was finally a bit more under control, and I started walking briskly through the department, trying to look as if I was in a bad mood and didn't want to be bothered. No one seemed to pay me much mind. If I hadn't specifically looking for Ron, I would not have cared where I was going. I tried to walk slow enough to briefly scan the nameplates on doors. My chest was aching from how hard my heart was beating, bashing against my ribs. There was still no sign of Yaxley's office, though I had passed Mr. Weasley's.
"R-right, I'll go d-down and try and find him then." A door just a few ahead of me on the right burst open and a sopping wet Ron staggered out of it and down the hall towards me.
There were too many people around to have a good excuse for the sudden change of direction I was about to take, so I barked out, "Cattermole! There you are, I've been looking for you—"
"B-blimey, don't tell me it's raining in your office, too?" he said, clearly wild with stress. A few witches in the hallway gave us sidelong looks, clearly pitying Ron.
"Yes, and I've been told to report it to you." I turned and walked alongside him, back tracking. "You've figured out this mess?" There were still people around, and taking a haughty tone seemed to be a good deterrent.
"I—I'm uh-about to," he stammered. We made it to the lifts, alone, and one lift was approaching us from above.
'Shit.' "Ron, it's Jen," I whispered.
"Bloody hell," he moaned. "I'd forgotten what you looked like. Where's Harry?"
"Still above. Ron, if this lift has Lance in it, just run, I'll hold him off—"
The grates opened and standing there was Harry, looking out of breath, pressed into the corner. I hurried Ron on, and he mumbled, "Morning."
"Ron, it's me," Harry hissed. Please let us be the only ones on here.
"Merlin's pants! Where's Hermione?"
"She's down with Umbridge in the courtrooms, we have to get to her—"
"—I quite understand, Wakanda, but I unfortunately can't—"
Mr. Weasley and a short witch had approached the lift and entered, but he cut the conversation off when he caught sight of us inside. We rumbled downward, an awkward, tense air hanging between us.
"Hello, Reg," Mr. Weasley said, looking down at Ron. "Isn't your wife in for questioning today—er, why are you wet?" He seemed to have realized that Ron was dripping water heavily, making a steady puddle in the lift.
"Yaxley's office is raining," Ron replied, body stiff. "They've, er, sent me to get Bernie, to help it stop."
"Yes, that's been happening a lot." His voice was very casual, but slightly tense. Did he hate Lewis? Or maybe it was Runcorn that he hated? Yaxley had attempted a smile at Harry earlier. "Have you tried Meteolojinx Recanto?"
"Meteo… no, not yet. Thanks D—Arthur," Ron said, and we shook to a halt again.
"Level Three - Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes." Ron, the witch, and I all pushed out. Harry attempted to follow, but Mr. Weasley said, "One moment, Runcorn." I glanced back and made eye contact with Harry. I mouthed 'Courtrooms' to him, hoping he would understand me, before the grates closed again and they were gone.
"Now what?" Ron asked, nervously looking about. "I haven't a clue where this bloke is."
"We can't look for him, we have to get down to Umbridge," I muttered, trying to look inconspicuous, like we were waiting for another lift.
"But Yaxley's office—"
"Let's go back up. I can do the charm." 'I think.'
Two lifts opened at the same time; one going up, and one going down. I yanked Ron into the one going up just as the people getting off of the downward one rushed off. I gasped as Lance pushed his way off the lift, eyes scanning around for someone - me. I hid myself in the corner by the door, turning my back on him and prayed, eyes locked with Ron.
"There are intruders in the Ministry!" Lance cried out. "Be alert! It is likely Undesirable Number One!"
Shouts and panic overtook everyone in the vicinity, and Ron's eyes grew wide as our lift started to move upwards.
"I think he knows," Ron breathed. "He looked at me, dunno, like straight through me, and my eyes kind of darted to you as we started to move…"
My mouth went very dry. "We will be very, very fast. He'll be on the next one up, but if we sprint, we might make it to Yaxley's office first."
"I'm sorry," Ron said.
"We're trying to save an innocent woman," I reminded him through gritted teeth, and the second the grates opened again, we burst through, thankfully not fighting anyone as Lance seemed to have already alerted this floor. I could still hear doors being slammed shut and locks clicking as we ran past, workers throwing themselves into their offices. I followed Ron, left hand gripping the sleeve of his robe, right hand casting Anapeo on myself again when we rounded a sharp corner. A moment later, Ron and I found ourselves sloshing into Yaxley's excessively large office, water rushing out into the hallway when we let ourselves in. I slammed the door shut, locking it behind us.
"Quick, start casting Impervious on everything, I'll get the jinx started." I took a moment to get my breath to stop coming in such sharp gasps before swirling my wand in the air. I had a vague memory of my N.E.W.T. Charms class covering Atmospheric Charms. No wonder Ron had such difficulty.
"I think whatever I did made it worse," he said, frantically tapping his wand on everything he could to try and stop it from being waterlogged.
"It's fine, just keep at it!" I was focusing now on picturing a bright, sunny day, still twirling my wand. The rain was slowing down.
Bang bang bang! "Cattermole, are you in there?"
"Shit," I gasped, and I lost the spell. The rain was back to a steady pace. "It's him."
"What do I do?" Ron asked, face white.
"Cattermole?"
"Answer it, before he makes a scene," I whispered, jumping to the wall where the door would open and hide me from him. It would have to be enough.
Ron struggled for a moment before remembering to unlock the door, and backed up to hold it.
"M-Mr. Malfoy?"
"I saw you get on a lift with Lewis Turnbull," Lance said in a deadly, low voice. My entire body went numb. "Where is he?"
"I—I'm not sure, I just got back here—"
"Do you want your filthy Mudblood wife in Azkaban?" Lance screamed. "Tell me where Lewis is!"
"I—he—"
Ron's hand slipped from the door, and I seized my chance - I threw my entire weight against the door, and sent it smashing into Lance. He cried out and I heard a splash as he fell into the water.
"GO!" I yelled, and Ron didn't need telling twice. I used a spell to throw Lance's legs out of the way of the door and into a chair, then slammed the door behind us. "Duro!" I said, turning the door and frame into stone. A head poked out of the office three doors down, and I shouted, "We've got him! The intruder is trapped in Yaxley's office!" I seized Ron's arm and dragged him along with me, making squelching noises as we went. I continued to shout all the way down to the lifts. "He's trapped! The intruder is trapped in Yaxley's office!"
I threw us into a lift going down, and we were mercifully alone for a few moments.
"He's going to be furious, I expect," I panted.
"You could say that," Ron retorted. "Merlin's baggiest pair of y-fronts we have to get out of here."
"Harry and Hermione should be below, we just have to get them and run. We won't have a lot of time."
"How are we going to get them out? Yaxley and Umbridge are down there, probably more."
I grimaced. He was right; this was going to be very, very rough. "Well, we've got wands still."
Ron gulped. "Right."
We stood in quiet as the lift went all the way down without stopping. The tightness in my chest was so painful, like my heart was trying to bash its way out of my body. I was so glad I hadn't eaten this morning. Why were we going straight down? Had the Ministry locked down already? I didn't know how to break Apparation wards; we would have to take a fireplace out to at least the bathrooms. I jiggled my wand in my hand, anxious to use it, to do something.
"Level Nine - Department of Mysteries."
"Reg!"
A small, middle-aged witch threw herself into Ron's arms the moment the grates creaked open. I threw up my wand, but stopped when I realized that Harry and Hermione were standing just outside the lift, surrounded by a dozen or so scared looking people and two Patronuses.
"Harry, they know there's intruders," I said hurriedly as Ron tried to make sense of what the witch - Mrs. Cattermole? - was saying. "We've got maybe five minutes, I tried to throw them off the trail."
"Harry, if we're trapped here—" Hermione's voice was extremely high, and her Patronus vanished.
"We'll be fast. Who has wands?" Harry asked the crowd. Half raised their hands. "Right, stick together with someone who doesn't have one, come on."
Everyone piled in to two lifts, and Harry concentrated on the Patronus spell until we had lost sight of the corridor.
"We've just got to get through a fireplace," I muttered to him, unsure if I was more trying to reassure him or myself. "You lead them, I'll hold off anyone who comes out of the lifts."
"Right."
"Level Eight - Atrium."
We all piled out of the lifts and saw a group of wizards moving from fireplace to fireplace, closing them off.
"STOP!" Harry roared, and they froze in place. "Come on," Harry muttered, leading everyone at a jog down the atrium. I stayed to the back, keeping my eyes on the lifts. Three of them were moving.
"Wh-what's up, Albert?"
"This lot needs to leave before you seal the exits."
"We were told to seal everything until—"
"Are you contradicting me? Would you like me to examine your family tree?"
"Sorry! No, of course not! But, I thought they were in for questioning?"
"Their blood is purer than yours, I daresay." One of the lifts opened, and the real Reg Cattermole burst out of it.
"Mary!"
"Shit," I hissed. There were still a few more Muggleborns to go.
Then the next lift opened. It was Yaxley, now disheveled. "SEAL IT!" he screamed, but the last of the Muggleborns where through.
I heard a scuffle behind me, and Harry yell, "He's been helping Muggleborns escape!" but I couldn't turn to look. The third lift opened, and several people poured out of it, led by Lance.
"There they are! It's them, the Potters!"
I saw Yaxley's eyes grow wide as he looked between me and the scuffle ensuing behind me. Before he could react, I whipped my wand through the air and with an enormous BANG, the statue that stood between Lance and myself exploded. Black rock shattered everywhere, and a chunk much larger than a person slammed Lance to the ground. I could hear the sickening crunch from where I stood.
A large hand closed around mine as Harry yanked me toward the fireplace. I ducked a curse sent by Yaxley - it exploded the tile behind us, cutting the back of my head. We were sucked through the fireplace and back into a toilet cubical, all shoving and tripping to get loose. Ron was arguing with Mrs. Cattermole.
"Reg, I don't understand—"
"I'm not your husband!"
"LET'S GO!" Harry roared. He still had a tight hold on my hand and Hermione's, helpless. I shoved my wand in my pocket, grasped Ron's arm, and with all my might yanked him free of Mrs. Cattermole. The second we were all linked, Harry turned on the spot, and we were spinning, suffocating in darkness. Please, please, we had to be safe inside Grimmauld Place, Kreacher was expecting us—
I briefly saw the serpent door knocker on the front door before I heard a scream and we were sucked back into the darkness, Harry's hold on my hand threatening to pop some fingers out of place, my grip on Ron's upper arm locking my arm muscles.
We would not, indeed, be safe in Grimmauld Place.
My beta reader suggested listening to "Yakity Sax" while reading this.
Thank you for all the great feedback! I'm glad you are all enjoying and the suspense is building! I deeply appreciate it.
Best,
Icamane