Sixteen

Mundungus Fletcher did not appear on Grimmauld Place as they had expected but Kreacher did keep his word about finding him. Erin was pleased had turned out that way because she was almost certain Sirius would have killed him after what had happened taking Harry out of his uncle's house. Had he been in front of her, she could have done it herself. Kreacher arrived one day in the middle of the afternoon without Mundungus and without the locket. Mundungus had already sold it to a woman from the Ministry, in his own words, to an old nosy witch with a toad face, small and with a little hat on her head. It was not the most complete description they had heard, but it was enough to think that it could be Umbridge, who had become the Head of the Muggle-Born Registration Commission.

Everyone had gathered again in the library. After four long days of waiting for Kreacher, they had received very little news of what was happening outside. They could not risk leaving the house, even to buy The Prophet.

"Now we know where to start looking. "Erin intervened. "Although this doesn't make it any easy for us. Where would you keep it if you were Umbridge?"

"I don't think she'd leave it in the Ministry." Sirius said. "That would be very naïve of her."

Beside him, Harry kept flipping through the newspaper and reading news aloud to him if they seemed relevant, such as Severus Snape being the new director of Hogwarts, less than a month before classes resumed.

"Maybe she has it in his office." Hermione spoke. The girl had been quiet for a while, pondering.

"And how are we going to register it?" Harry asked. "We cannot enter the Ministry."

If it had been difficult before, now that everyone was looking for Harry the idea was almost inconceivable.

"Polyjuice potion." Hermione replied, as if it were obvious.

"Yeah and we'll have to wait for a month that we'll lose if Umbridge doesn't have it there in the end." Ron complained.

"I think it's better than nothing." Erin said. "We have to decide who goes and think about who we are going to transform into."

Hermione, Harry and Ron exchanged glances, making it almost clear without saying anything what they were thinking. The three of them were inseparable so Erin would not have expected a different decision. They wanted to do it together. Sirius didn't like the plan because he didn't want to leave them alone, but Harry insisted that they had faced worse things before and in the end everyone agreed. The next morning they would infiltrate the entrance of the Ministry to confuse workers close to Umbridge and remove at least one of their hairs, in order to impersonate them.

"Meanwhile, there has to be something else we can do." Sirius added.

"You know the Ministry much better than us, Erin. Why don't you and Sirius go?" Harry asked. "Before we finish the potion. We would know where it is."

"If we are lucky, we wouldn't even need it." Sirius said and then looked at Erin. It was exactly what he wanted. "I'm in."

"Me too." She answered without hesitation.

Sirius could transform and Harry also offered his father's invisibility cloak, which terrified Erin and excited her at the same time. If they were in a hurry, they could both use it. Everything went perfectly the next day and they decided to wait at least a couple of days for the next step: the infiltration into the Ministry. A week had passed without any progress apart from the Polyjuice potion Hemione had already begun. Although it took a long time to prepare it, it was better to be cautious than too anxious. The plan for Saturday's afternoon at the Ministry was quite simple; they would enter through the Floo Network, find Umbridge's office and if the locket was not there, they would look for her. Above all, it was essential that no one recognized them, or a second attempt would not be possible.

"Are you ready?" Sirius asked, when the two of them were in front of the fireplace.

Erin nodded.

"Before we go, I want you to know that I'm going to do anything to get that locket today." He said. "I'd understand you didn't want to do it."

She turned to look at him, moving away from the fireplace. She knew it before he had said it. She was not expecting less from Sirius, seeing how much he had opposed Harry even leaving the house.

"We're both going to do everything we can, don't say that." She corrected him. "Besides, you need me."

Erin knew the Ministry, where all the departments and offices were, especially the Department of Magic Law Enforcement. Without her, Sirius would take twice as long to get his bearings.

"No heroic stupidities." She continued. It was not a day for recklessness. "Promise me."

"At the first sign of danger we leave." "Sirius said looking into his eyes." I swear it."

"No matter how close we are."

Sirius sighed with resignation but nodded.

"Let's go."

They entered the fireplace and wrapped in an emerald green flare, they arrived at the entrance to the Ministry. The Atrium seemed darker than Erin remembered and was also busier than she would have expected for a Saturday afternoon.

"Put it on." She said giving Sirius the cloak before heading out into the hall. "We have to get to the elevators."

"I'm following you."

Erin nodded and started walking to the centre of the lobby. What she saw made her stop dead. Where the Fountain of the Magical Brethren had been before, there was now a large sculpture that said THE MAGIC IS MIGHT. In the centre there was a wizard and a witch of immense size, sitting on two thrones. However, when she observed it for a while, she realized that the thrones were not thrones, but representations of Muggle men, women and children crushed by them. They were crooked, trying to escape. Erin's stomach shrunk as she watched the scene, but continued to circle the sculpture toward the golden doors the elevators guarded. At the gates there were at least fifty people waiting and as there were also many elevators, she waited until everyone filled them to find an empty one. Once the door closed, Sirius came out from under the cloak and handed it back to Erin.

"Have you seen that?"

"Not seeing it seems impossible." She answered as she pressed the button on the first floor. "It's the most twisted thing I've ever seen."

"You should wear the cape, too." Sirius said. "I don't like this at all."

To Erin the whole thing had seemed like a children's game in the morning, but she was not so sure anymore. What would happen if someone recognized her?

"Me neither." She admitted

The girl spread the cloak and covered Sirius with it. He leaned forward with his hands so he could see where they were walking. They could go on like that, one after the other. Suddenly the voice of the elevator announced they had arrived.

First Floor: Minister of Magic and Support Personnel.

"Umbridge's office has to be here, it's where the Undersecretary of the Minister was." Erin said.

The elevator doors opened and they both moved in silence, walking slowly under the cloak. As soon as they left to the right, they found an endless row of tables with people working. They placed and sealed pamphlets that Erin had seen in the Prophet in the previous days. Harry's face filled most of them and others were pure propaganda against Muggles and those born of Muggles, claiming they had stolen magic. One lie after another, which unfortunately, some people would believe. Luckily for Sirius and Erin, the door to Umbridge's office was far enough from those workers. They could see them sneak into it without being seen so when no one was around they opened the door cautiously.

Erin had hardly set foot inside when she realised there was no single space undecorated in the room. She heard Sirius close the door behind her and pulled the cloak.

"This is worse than your place."

"A thousand times more disturbing, yes." Sirius answered. He stared at the decorative dishes of cats on the wall, which moved from side to side.

Everything in the room was pink, except for the pillars and decorative details on the golden ceiling. It was as if they were inside a dollhouse. A dollhouse with really creepy dolls.

"Accio locket." Sirius said raising his wand. Nothing happened. "I don't think it's here. It's either that or the spell doesn't work with the locket."

Erin began to search inside a small closet on one side of the office, near the window. It didn't take more than five minutes to see there were only files and folders with more papers in that part, while Sirius looked at Umbridge's desk. Erin turned to him when he saw him reading something. He had stood, pushing the chair aside.

"The locket is not in any drawer." He said looking up at her. "But there is something interesting here."

He handed her a folder full of files, just like hers when she worked for the Ministry. Erin began to read. She had categorised people as the most wanted and there were others she was watching. Arthur Weasley and his family were marked as related to Harry Potter, also Tonks and even Sirius himself. Half of the sections were unfilled due to lack of information and as much as Erin read and reread, she did not find a single mention of herself.

"I'm not here? " She asked when she finished reading the folder.

Sirius shook his head.

"And you are not here either. You are lucky."

Or I know genuine kind people, Erin thought as she remembered Tonks and his friend. Her file was already secure at her parents' house. There was nothing she wanted more at the moment than to take all the files and leave with them but if they did, Umbridge would know that someone had found them. Sirius put everything in the drawers where he had found them, put the chair back in its place and grabbed the invisibility cloak again.

"Where do they interrogate people?" Sirius asked.

"I assume she is using the Courtroom Ten, so the tenth floor. " Erin replied. "And to get there we can't use the elevators, you have to access from the ninth floor and use the stairs."

Sirius immediately realized what department she was talking about.

"The ninth floor is the Department of Mysteries. Perfect." He said sarcastically.

Nor was Erin's favourite place. Once they were there, she even got goosebumps. Thanks to Harry's cloak they were able to enter the room where Umbridge was unseen, staying at the door. They could see what was going on and at the same time they could escape quickly if the situation required it.

"Bloody hell. " Sirius said from the entrance.

"What's wrong?" Erin asked. She had stayed behind him and from where she was, Umbridge was still out of sight.

"She's wearing it."

Sirius backed away so Erin could stand where he was and then she saw her. Umbridge was right in the centre of the Hall, presiding over the court, in a bright-coloured suit and as Sirius had said, Salazar Slytherin's locket hung around her neck.

"We'll wait for it to end." Sirius murmured.

"Let's just hope there are no more trials after this."

At the back of the room, most of the seats were empty and there they stayed for a long hour listening until Umbridge asked for a break and got up from her seat. They almost also jumped and rushed to get to the exit to follow her before they lost sight of her. She was alone and if she didn't stop with anyone that was their chance to surprise her and get the locket. They chased her down the same stairs they had come through but were not able to catch up with her until they reached the two elevators on the Department of Mysteries. Running under an invisibility cloak was not something easy, not for two people.

"I'm going out." Erin announced before the hall ended.

"What are you doing?" Sirius reproached her.

"We have to get in the elevator in front of hers to see where she's going." -She explained. "We have to be visible; the elevators don't move alone. She'd suspect."

One of them had to be seen if they wanted it to work. Erin stood very close to the fence, Umbridge was not paying even the slightest attention but she had already made her way among the rest of the people who went with her to stop the elevator. Erin stopped it too. They were almost on the second floor, in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. When the cage was already reaching the ground, Erin saw a person in the distance waiting for the elevator right next to her. The person looked up and Erin had to stop.

"Oh no."

Tall, brown hair stretched back, prominent cheekbones, young. He had the sleeves of his shirt rolled up and on the left arm his Mark was fully visible.

"What is it? " Sirius asked without showing himself.

"There' someone who knows me." Her heart started beating fast. "He's seen me. You go after Umbridge or we'll lose it."

The elevator stopped, the doors opened, the man entered without taking his eyes off her and Erin was unable to move. At least, Sirius could follow her.

"Erin?" He asked as if he didn't quite believe she was her. "I didn't know you were with us."

Never, she thought.

"Peter. " She said, having to fake a smile. "It's been a long time."

His family, the Rosier, were one of the Sacred Twenty-eight, and he was like the lot of them, a blood supremacist. The only merits that had led him to work in the Ministry were the money and the connections he had, nothing else. Therefore, Erin knew very well that he was a dangerous person who was better not to cross.

She had never talked to him more than was strictly necessary, nor did they have acquaintances in common beyond work which she thanked at the time. She didn't know how much he knew about her at, if he knew who her father or her friends were. The only thing Erin knew was she couldn't bear to have him in front of her, with his ceaseless gaze on her face and body.

"Are you going upstairs?" She nodded. "I thought you were coming from there."

"Yeah, it was a mistake."

Peter smiled a little and the door closed.

"I'm going to the ninth."

"Me too." Erin replied.

Then she stared at the floor, hoping he wouldn't want to go on with the conversation.

"I haven't seen you with Yaxley."

Erin's mind went blank. Yaxley, the Death Eater? Perhaps he was occupying the position the Aurors had before.

"I haven't had time to talk to him yet." She excused herself.

Her hands were shaking and suddenly, her wand slipped through her fingers.

"Do you want to hear something?" Rosier spoke as Erin crouched down for it. "Maybe you were a good Auror, but you're a lousy liar."

Erin swallowed and just when she reached her wand, he snatched it away. Then, he raised his own wand and the elevator stopped in the air.

"Surely you won't mind answering some questions, since you're here. Then I'll return your wand. Remember that if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear."

She shrugged indifferently.

"Of course."

The elevator continued moving and Peter didn't close his mouth either.

"I see three possibilities." He started. "You either have a Muggle family, you're protecting someone or maybe you're just a traitor. Which one is it?"

Erin stood up again, trying to stay regal. Sirius would already be behind Umbridge and even though things had started to look bad for her, she was sure at least they now had the locket. He had to do it.

"I have principles." She murmured.

Rosier burst out laughing and advanced on Erin, pointing his wand at her.

"You have the guts to come here, I recognise that."

He was so close that now she was scared. He had cornered her being much taller and stronger than her.

"You were always a beautiful girl. That doesn't mean I'll turn a blind eye." He said raising her chin. Erin turned her face away immediately. "I'm not so stupid."

"I think you are." A third voice said. "Expelliarmus!"

Right in front of Erin, behind the Death Eater, Sirius appeared with his wand against his neck. Later on Erin would kill him for not going after Umbridge, now she could only calm down because she knew she was safe.

"Give her what belongs to her." He said firmly. "It is not a suggestion."

Erin recovered her wand, moved away from the man and stopped the elevator. Sirius forced him to turn around and stay against the back wall. As soon as he turned around, Peter's eyes reflected he recognised him in just a few seconds.

"So the third option, a traitor." His scathing voice sought Erin's reaction but she did not flinch. "Maybe it's more than one option, knowing your history, Black. Always surrounded by the very best: half-bloods, lovers of Muggles, Muggles."

"I see you've been investigating about me. Perhaps you're jealous." He replied back.

"Your family would be even more ashamed of you if they could see you."

"Then I must be doing something right." Sirius said without lowering his wand. "I've already heard enough. Confundus."

Peter's legs began to shake and his body immediately collapsed as if he were a puppet. Erin stepped forward and crouched down with her wand in her hand.

"Obliviate. " She whispered.

Once dismemorized, Erin turned to look at Sirius, raising her voice.

"Didn't I tell you to go after Umbridge?"

"Yes." He replied. "And what did you make me swear before we left?"

At the first sign of danger we leave.

Erin ducked her head. She didn't want to shout at Sirius because the rage wasn't for him. All the restlessness she felt was because of the unconscious man behind her.

"What do we do with him?"

Sirius ran his hand through his hair.

"We leave him on the floor with fewer people."

Erin could not think of anything better. When he woke up, he would surely suspect something had happened but it wouldn't be a problem.

"Fine." She tried to think of a solution. "There's one floor for storing files, it is too late already. No one will see us."

As she had said, they did not see a single person. Between the two of them, they dragged him out of the elevator and left him leaning against the wall.

" Are you alright?" Sirius asked once they already inside the elevator again.

" I don't know." Erin answered honestly, although she was not able to look him in the face, only at the elevator gate that she was more than tired of seeing that afternoon.

"We're going home."

If the thought was supposed to comfort her it didn't work out because Erin just thought Harry would be disappointed. However, none expected to get hold of the locket that day and there was no reproach while Sirius explained what had happened, without going into details about their encounter. He told them Umbridge did not keep it in his office but was wearing it and that they had been very close but in the end they had lost track of it because someone had recognised Erin.

"And we take care of him." Erin said. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay." Harry said. "We still have the potion."

"But we'll have three weeks ahead."

"Three weeks to keep thinking about what to do after this Horcrux." Hermione said.

She was right. Erin felt a little better after that although she was not reassured at all. After having dinner and changing her clothes, she found herself going down the stairs to the living room. She poured herself a glass of firewhiskey and lay down on the couch, face up. Shortly after, she heard a few steps approaching the room. There were no greetings or questions. Sirius slid down the top of the sofa and dropped down beside Erin, also on his back. The sofa was not wide enough for two people and Erin had to move half of her body, almost above him so that the two fit but Sirius didn't seem to care.

"Hey!" She moved, raising her glass so it would not fall.

"What are you doing?"

Erin lowered her arm and showed him her hand.

"I'm drinking." And think about how disappointing I am.

"Can I have a sip?"

She did not feel like going to the kitchen and bringing another glass so she gave him her glass and stretched to put it on the table again.

"We have an unfinished conversation." Sirius said, putting his arm around Erin's shoulders.

"Do we?"

"You didn't want me to stay with you, right?"

She shook her head.

"Not really." She admitted. "I wish you'd listened to me, although I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't appeared."

"You would've come up with something, I'm sure."

Erin was not so convinced, maybe Sirius had very high expectations about her. Now that they were both alone and she felt Sirius's fingers stroking her arm, Erin did feel like discussing it. That and many other things they did no talk about. They had been like this many times before, maybe not so close, but just listening to each other.

"I saw the tattoo on his arm and to be honest, I don't know what crossed my mind. "She continued. "I've faced people like that many times before but him in particular... it disgusts me how he looks at me."

Erin drank then, Sirius did the same after and the girl fell silent.

"I don't understand why you were willing to be alone with him."

"We were so close." She lamented. "I would've done anything."

Erin rested her head on Sirius's shoulder and suddenly a thought came to her mind: his eyes settling on her lips while the two danced at Bill and Fleur's wedding, his hand on her waist, so close to her she thought he could have heard how fast her heart beat. It seemed to her it had been just her imagination, but the doubt still haunted her, especially after that afternoon. She couldn't help wondering what if it's not just me?, although at the same time, she didn't know why Sirius, among all the people in the world, would be interested in her.

"Why did you stay with me?" She asked.

"If I have to choose between you and Umbridge I don't think it's very difficult. A guy appears with the mark on his arm, showing it proudly, and you think I'm going to leave you alone?"

She already knew it, what was important was the reason he had done it. It was the perfect moment. Only the two of them, no one would notice. If things went wrong, nobody would ever have to know. Only the thought accelerated her heart, but what if ... Shewould have to summon the courage from somewhere, she thought. She couldn't think of the worst that could happen, she just had to say it.

"I keep thinking about something I want to ask you and it is not...easy. Please, if this doesn't work out, oblivate me or the shame will be unbearable."

"If you don't tell me what it is, I can't answer you. And no, I'm not oblivating you."

"Alright, anyway. At the wedding." She cleared her throat. "Erin sat up a little away from him. Sirius looked up, with interest. "When you sat with me, after dinner. You mentioned that someone from Fleur's family had asked you to dance and you said no because you weren't interested."

"Yes."

"Then you asked me to dance with you, so I suppose you would be interested in me. I mean, maybe. And when we danced there was a moment I almost believed... hat you were going to kiss me. Did I imagine it?"

Her voice was more stable than she had expected, and she tried not to look away from Sirius for a second. She didn't want to miss any of his reaction; if he stopped observing her or not, if he was ashamed, he laughed or there was any glimpse in his face that could betray his feelings. His eyes were still fixed on hers and Erin would swear his lips curved upward. Sirius was silent and Erin had to hold her breath. She could feel the heat in her cheeks and of course, the position in which she was not helping.

"You didn't imagine anything." He admitted. "I only realised maybe it was not the best time."

The blush took over Erin again and although the nerves had not left her, she now felt capable of anything.

Sirius wanted to kiss her. Sirius wanted to kiss her.

"What would you have done if I had kissed you?"

"In front of everyone? I would've killed you. " She said being sincere.

"And in private?"

He was provoking her, yes, the smile on his face betrayed him but she also knew how to play.

"You tell me." She replied.

Sirius leaned back, for once with nothing smart to answer. Without thinking, Erin took advantage and almost without pretending to, ended up on top of him. She could not have taken Sirius by surprise, he immediately held her face in his hands. A quick glance between them was enough to know what they wanted, and it was Erin who leaned down and finally, closing her eyes, let her lips caressed his. The first kiss was tender. When they both separated, Erin could feel Sirius's sincere smile although he began to shake his head.

"It's a terrible idea." He murmured against her mouth.

Erin had her doubts too, from their age difference to what the others would think, Harry…at that moment she didn't want to contemplate it. It was only their concern.

"We have nothing to lose."

No, he wouldn't lose anything, Sirius thought as he wrapped her in a much longer and hungry kiss. But winning, he could win everything.

Well, this chapter was definitely fun. I hope this is what you were all expecting, consider it an early Christmas gift!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year :)