Harry stepped out of the elevator and started down a well lit, but still very dark corridor. Well, he didn't walk along this corridor. He observed through the eyes of someone walking. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that, but it felt like him.

The floor and walls around him were plated with black tile. It didn't look evil, but...ominous. And the black didn't reflect much torch light, lending to the dark and ominous feel.

Passing through the door at the end of the hall, he found himself in a black chamber. The black here was glossy, the reflecting blue torchlight causing everything to look almost watery. The chamber was circular and identical doors were set at differing intervals around the room.

He confidently strode to a door on his right and stepped through it, not even pausing to consider the others. A room of dancing, golden lights. He wanted to stop, to look and see what it all was...kind of. The "him" in control wanted to get to the end of the rectangular room without delay, and so that's what he did.

Past another door. The room beyond was enormous, shelves extended as far as he could see in the dim, blue lighting, which danced off of the racks of glass orbs. The orbs appeared to be the only inhabitants of this great hall and there must be thousands of them.

He walked along the central corridor, between tall rows of the orbs and partway down, he stopped. He examined one closer, looking at the text.

S.P.T to A.P.W.B.D
Dark Lord
and (?) Harry Potter

"We have him here, master." The voice was both familiar and not. Harry couldn't think of a time he'd ever heard it, but the feeling in his chest was one of familiarity. Also, elation. He ran a long finger along the plate, careful not to touch the orb above it.

Then he turned toward where the voice had come from. Two masked Death Eaters were holding the arms of a man on his knees, long black hair obscuring his face. Hair that Harry recognized, without ever needing to see his face. It was Sirius.

"It was just a dream though, right?" Neville asked. Shadows from the flickering light of the common room fire obscured his few remaining bruises, the ones too deep for Hermione to heal with her limited knowledge of healing spells.

"I don't know how else to describe it," Harry replied, biting his lip hard enough that he almost expected blood. "Sirius is in danger, I know it." He patted his chest for emphasis.

"And," Hermione added, a sheepish look on her face, "his dreams have been pretty accurate, actually."

"What?" All three boys asked at the same time, looking to her. Ginny, too, had a look of surprise. Harry stared into her eyes, for the brief time she could maintain his withering gaze.

"Well, a couple of security wizards were killed at the Ministry recently…" Harry felt his face drain as she spoke. "...it was deemed a freak accident...a fire."

There was a long silence as the others waited for Harry to speak. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You already had such a hard time with it, the dream…" an apologetic look flashed briefly across her face before her features hardened, more confident. "I didn't think that telling you would help you, not at the time."

Harry tried to find some adequate response. He trusted her to help him figure this whole thing out. If he'd known his dreams were real...well, he didn't really know what. Dumbledore wasn't here, he couldn't confide in the Headmaster. On the contrary, the Headmistress was looking for a way to hang him. There was very little he could do, actually.

"Well, we know now," Ron said, filling the silence as Harry gathered his thoughts. "So, you know...now what?" They all looked to Harry again.

"We can't leave him there. We have to go help him." Harry had already determined that he would go help his godfather. There was no way he could leave Siris to the clutches of the Death Eaters. He hoped his best friends would help him, but he'd go either way.

"When do we leave?" Neville asked, his face oddly stoic. Harry had seen the look more and more frequently on him while they trained, but it still struck him as odd. The unconfident, goofy Neville, looking serious and determined.

"I can't ask you all to come along on this, Neville," Harry said, looking to Ginny as well. He already felt bad needing Ron and Hermione with him. If something happened to either of them...well, that was a bridge for a different time. He couldn't worry about the others on top of that. "It's too dangerous."

"It's not too dangerous," Neville said fiercely, stepping forward to meet Harry's gaze. He limped, but showed no reaction in his face. "What do you think we've all been training for? Someone needs help, and we're the ones in a spot to do it." Ginny, too, had a look of grim determination on her face as she stared back at Harry.

He sounded so confident in that moment, Harry almost didn't recognize him. Neville wasn't just some goofball that could barely keep himself together, not anymore.

"Plus," Hermione added, "I've already sent out a message to the DA." She held up her coin briefly. "Anyone ready for the real deal is waiting to meet us now...wherever we're planning to meet."

Where should they meet? Harry hadn't anticipated bringing an entire gang with him. He had to admit, though, the thought of fighting Death Eaters alone had scared him. Having so many of his companions...his friends...at his back, he felt better.

"The Entrance Hall," Harry said, opting for speed. Sirius needed help fast. "We'll head to the Quidditch Pitch and get brooms."

There was a general murmur of agreement. They waited a moment for Hermione to compose and send the simple message. There was only so much information you could fit on a coin, after all.

They were in luck as they left. The Fat Lady was evidently using the typical quiet of nightfall for some time away from her portrait. They snuck out without a sound and by the time they'd made it to the Entrance Hall, half a dozen others were standing in the shadows.

"What's going on?" Cho Chang asked. The others gathered around her, as their unofficial spokesperson. Luna Lovegood, Ernie Macmillan, Hannah Abbott, Michel Corner, and Susan Bones were all there. He was glad to see them, in spite of his worries. They had all trained hard and he knew he could trust them.

"My godfather, Sirius, is being held at the Ministry of Magic by Death Eaters."

The looks of shock on their faces were plain and evident, even cast in dark shadows and dim light as they were. After all, it wasn't so long ago that they considered Sirius Black a mass-murderer and the Ministry a benevolent government.

"Okay," Cho said, finally. "So, we're going to help him?"

"Yeah. Look, this is dangerous. We all know the Death Eaters aren't messing around, the Ministry either. If you don't want to come along, I get it." A part of him hoped that they'd turn and leave. He valued their commitment, their willingness to help. But, they'd only be so lucky against the Death Eaters.

To a person, they stood there, silently affirming their commitment to stay and help.

"Alright," Harry said after a long moment. "We're headed to get some broomsticks. Then, the Ministry."

"Wouldn't the Floo be faster?" Ernie asked, an eyebrow raised. Hermione answered quickly.

"Umbridge has the only working Floo and we don't know the password to get into the office." Ernie nodded, and gestured for Harry to lead the way.

They snuck out of the castle without incident. Harry was impressed by how quickly and quietly the group was able to move. Even Neville, limping a bit from where his knee had been kicked, managed to keep up without complaint.

"Well, well, well," an unpleasantly familiar voice drawled in the darkness, causing Harry's group to stop and look around. From the darkness, several shapes emerged. Malfoy and his Inquisitors, at least a dozen of them. They were setting down their own broomsticks and many already had their wands drawn. Evidently out for some night flying.

Hermione and a few others had their own wands out, but they were outnumbered and crowded together. Not a good tactical situation.

"Where might you all be going?" Malfoy asked, approaching Harry through the darkness. Harry gripped his wand but kept it in his pocket, trying to to come up with some way they could get out of this. Sirius couldn't afford to wait.

"You need to get out of my way, Malfoy." He wasn't hopeful that Malfoy would listen, but it might buy him time to think.

The boy clearly hadn't expected that tone from Harry, and his eyebrows shot up in response. "Look around, Potter, you're not exactly the one calling the shots." The droning of wind picked up in the distance.

"I need to get to the Quidditch Pitch. You don't want to be in my way!" Harry raised his voice to carry over the wind, gripping his wand tight. If Malfoy thought he'd be going without a fight, he'd be sorely mistaken.

"Try me!" Malfoy replied, before looking around. Something was off about that sound. It was too choppy to be wind.

Harry placed the sound at the same time as Malfoy. They were both looking up and caught a glimpse of a small helicopter, briefly silhouetted by the moonlight as it rose to one of the towers, near the Owlery.

"Is that the muggles!?" one of the Inquisitors shouted over the roar of nearby rotors. Another helicopter passed over their heads, low and fast, headed toward the lake.

In the confusion, Harry pulled his wand. "Stupefy!" He caught Malfoy in the chest and sent him back. The others followed suit. Half of the Inquisitors were down in moments and the others either ran for the castle or fell after firing off their own wild shots.

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed. Harry ignored it, looking around the darkness for anyone else that might be a threat. "Harry, it's Neville!" That caught his attention.

On the ground, stiff as a board, Neville was laying there. "What happened?"

"He's been petrified. It won't last long, look." Hermione pointed to where Neville was already moving the tip of a finger. "Maybe ten minutes. Maybe Brad can help us-"

"We don't have ten minutes…" Harry said, feeling bad for Neville. He knew how badly Neville wanted to be there, but Sirius needed help, and fast. "Neville, tell Brad where we went...tell him what's going on."

Neville couldn't move or respond, but Harry knew he'd do it. He picked up one of the brooms dropped by the Inquisitors, gesturing for the others to do the same. "Come on, and fly low!"

Brad watched through his NVGs as the heads of trees whipped past his feet. He knew they were up high enough, just high enough, not to catch his feet, but he still caught himself lifting his legs now and again.

He felt lucky he was sitting at the front of the bench seat. Typically they flew with two to a bench seat. In a pinch, they could fit three on either side, but it was tight and uncomfortable. They needed someone to stay and hold down the initial objectives while the operators moved on to the next ones, so packed it was.

"Thirty seconds," a cool voice spoke over the radio, the lead pilot of their flight. Brad saw the other two helicopters dipping up and down, keeping low to the trees. While they didn't have to worry about radar picking them up, flying high, even at night, made it easier to be spotted and made the noise carry a lot further. The noise was their biggest issue.

They wanted to be on target and securing all lines of communication before Umbridge knew what hit her. The sooner she heard them, the less time they had to act.

Brad checked his rifle one last time as the castle came into view. His stomach sank low as the helicopter pitched upward, angling toward the flatter tower, adjacent to the Owlery. That would be their objective. He'd wanted the Quidditch field, as their secondary objective was the Entrance Hall, which would leave him closer to the Dungeons, but Phantom got that assignment.

He watched as their bird sank into the middle of the field. Spectre's team roared past at full tilt, headed for the lake. As their helicopter leveled out, he thought he saw something fly over the Forbidden Forest, but before he had time to get a better look, they turned and he lost the view.

Instead, he was greeted by the rapidly approaching tower. Within seconds, they were hovering just a foot over the roof. Brad, along with everyone else on the helicopter, quickly unbuckled and dropped to the stone. The pilot checked his own side as Brad glanced at the other.

"Clear," Brad said. The pilot didn't need to be told twice. He lifted off, headed to his position in the holding pattern. They were providing an aerial eye around the castle for possible escape attempts, along with casevac if anyone was critically injured. It was a long drive back to the FOB.

"Several squirters running into the Entrance Hall. They'll be sounding the alarm." Captain Mason, the head of Spectre team, was cool and even as he spoke. Everyone knew that meant the element of surprise was over. It was time to hustle.

"Breaching." Jason barely got the word out before throwing the roof hatch open. They knew from experience that the hatch was never locked. Jason dropped down below quickly, followed by Eric, Sara, and the two soldiers from Echo Company. Brad dropped in last.

The tower was empty, to be expected at this time of night. Most everyone would still be in bed.

"Let's move," Brad called into the darkness as his team cleared the room and headed into the hall. The two soldiers from Echo Company took up the rear.

Aside from murmurs of surprise and alarm from the paintings nearby, the hall was empty and quiet. They breached the Owlery quickly, surprising many of the owls. No students or staff were present, however..

"We've got this, sir," one of the soldiers said, gesturing for the other to cover the door they just entered. Brad nodded in response and led his team past the disgruntled birds to the other door. They stepped out and the soldier took up a defensive position just inside the doorway.

"Let's hustle," Brad ordered. Jason took point, moving rapidly down the staircase to the fourth floor corridor. They'd be heading across to the main staircase, where they'd go down a floor and secure the Headmaster's office, using a password given to Sumner by Dumbledore.

"Contact!" someone called over the radio as they hit the bottom of the stairs. The sound of suppressed gunfire echoed from down the hall, probably from Phantom team in the Entrance Hall.

"All teams, be advised, green robed students are patrolling the school and are likely hostile." Lt. Knight said over the radio. Brad clicked an acknowledgement as they made it to the main staircase. This was the tricky part for them.

They needed to get downstairs but there were many dozens of hiding places in the vast room of stairs that an ambusher could use. Rather than slow down, they used speed and surprise to their advantage. Jason and Eric aimed generally up as they descended the stairs, Brad and Sara covering the floors beneath them.

"Convoy sixty seconds out." That would be the rest of the assault force.

They made it to the third floor without incident and quickly pushed toward the Headmaster's office.

"Contact!" Jason shouted, firing several shots as the team broke to either side of the hallway. A pair of red streaks rocketed down the hall past them.

Brad raised his rifle as the others did the same. Four distinct lasers were illuminated by his NVGs, invisible to the naked eye. He targeted the nearer of the two students, who were busy flinging another magical salvo down the hall. Behind them, a short, plump woman disappeared behind the gargoyle statue.

Brad snapped off several shots, striking the student center of mass. The other three had targeted the further of the two, taking him down in a salvo of fire that was sure to leave some painful bruising. After a moment of silence, Brad and the team moved forward, operating on instinct now, a sixth sense that told them when and how to move in combat.

The gargoyle had just finished closing the passage as they reached it. "Butter toffee!" Brad shouted at the statue, barely restraining himself from trying to kick it out of the way. It jumped aside for them and they pushed up the stairs, this time Brad taking point.

A thumping sound came from upstairs, along with the sound of breaking glass. When Brad reached the top of the stairs, he didn't hesitate. He put a shoulder to the door and busted through, knocking it wide open.

Umbridge threw a fistful of Floo powder, half into the fire and half across the room as she jumped, startled by his sudden entrance. "Ministry of Magic!" she shouted, pointing her wand at them, her eyes wild.

Brad wasn't sure who shot first, but all four of them hit her with several stunning rounds. She fell backward against the fireplace, almost into it. Almost.

Crossing the distance quickly, Brad kicked her hand, knocking her wand away. He wasn't particularly gentle about it. Jason shoved her onto her stomach, yanking her hands behind her back and tying them with zip-cuffs.

"Headmaster's office secure," Brad said over the radio as Sara gave him the thumbs up. She and Eric had cleared the rest of the office while he and Jason took care of the interim Headmistress.

"A fireteam from 2nd Squad is headed there now to relieve you. Captain, you're wanted at the Entrance Hall by one of the students, he says he has critical information for you."

"Copy," Brad said, trying to keep the quiver from his voice. Jason grabbed his hand and it took him a second to realize he was fingering the clip for his knife as he stared at the Headmistress. He let go. "Tell the student to meet me in the dungeon, I'm heading there first."

"Negative," Colonel Sumners' voice cut in on the comms. "I'm aware of the situation down there, Captain, and we'll take care of it. The mission comes first."

Brad bit his lip. The team down there must have recognized her and told him. "Understood, sir." He couldn't help the bite in his words.

It didn't take 2nd Squad long to arrive. They secured the entrance to the Headmasters office, along with the office itself and the unconscious prisoner.

Brad and the team moved downstairs quickly. The assault teams were already working to clear the fifth floor. Shouted commands echoed from upstairs as they hit the ground floor. Neville Longbottom rushed up to them, looking pretty rough.

"You've got to help them!" Neville blurted out urgently, his eyes wild. Lt. Knight, standing behind Neville, shrugged his shoulders.

"What's going on, Neville?" Brad asked, placing a gloved hand on his shoulder.

"They're at the Ministry, they have Sirius and we were going to stop them, get him back, but then Malfoy stopped us and I got petrified, not much, but they had to leave me-"

"Neville!" Brad barked, causing him to jump and stop ranting. "Focus, buddy, one thing at a time. Who is at the Ministry?"

"The Death Eaters are, and they have Sirius. Harry and the rest of us were going to rescue him-"

"There are Death Eaters at the Ministry and Harry is going there!?" Brad couldn't believe what he was hearing. Harry had to be smarter than that.

"They have Sirius! Harry's going to need help." At that thought, Neville straightened up. "We need to help him."

"Reaper team, sitrep?"

"Sir, our HVI, along with several others are currently en route to the Ministry. Death Eaters are present at the Ministry with potential hostages. Request permission to pursue."

"Stand-by." The wait was painfully long, though it probably only lasted a minute or two. If Death Eaters were at the Ministry, the place might be on high alert when the TFA assault group arrived, or worse, fully under hostile control.

It wasn't likely that even the majority of Ministry personnel were supporting the Death Eaters, but the right people were and that was going to be difficult to root out from the outside.

"Reaper, Phantom," Sumner's voice crackled over the radio. "I'm retasking two of the Little Bird's to get you to the Ministry building, we're working on a way in for you now. Secure the Floo transit room and get Harry to safety."

"I can get you in." Neville said. Brad, already headed toward the Entrance Hall doors with the other operators, turned.

"What?"

"I've been there before with my Gran, I can show you where to go."

"Colonel." Brad beckoned for Neville to follow them outside, and he kept up, despite the limp. "I've got a lead-in."

"Understood. Get the Floo secure. I'm working on accelerating the assault group timeline as we speak."

A pair of Little Birds landed in the grass ahead of them and they rushed in, Neville sporting a mixture of fear and stoicism on his face. You and me, both, Brad thought.

He helped secure Neville to the bench seat, and as soon as they were secure, the helicopters were headed south.