The Ministry of Magic
Kingsley apparated to the visitors entrance to find Alastor Moody in a fierce duel with seven death eaters dancing and dodging spells like a deadly ballet. Moody twirled his staff and knocked it upon the ground sending spells at an impossibly dizzying speed. Kingsley jumped into the fray, using every bit of his Auror training to help his friend, ex-colleague and mentor.
Moody's eye swivelled madly in its socket. Taking in every movement of each death eater. He cast a sideways glance with his good eye as Kingsley appeared at his side.
"Kingsley, lovely to see you. Nice day for it" shouted Moody.
"Good to see you too Alastor. I can see that a retired Auror still has a few tricks" replied Kingsley sarcastically.
"Where have you been anyway? Enjoying the sunshine?" asked Moody.
"I wish. No, I'm still on protection duty for Blair but I couldn't let you have all the fun" said Kingsley with a grin.
Alastor pushed Kingsley to the right to avoid a killing curse that was heading straight for him. Kingsley landed on the pavement with a thud and silently cast a strong shield charm around himself.
"It's like that then is it?" shouted Moody. "In that case, AVADA KEDAVRA"
Moody's spell barrelled in to the death eater that sent the killing curse towards Kingsley and they fell to the ground and moved no more. Upon seeing this, the other death eaters started to fire spells with fervour. Moody was starting to struggle under the strain of constantly defending himself.
Kingsley rose to his feet and took a cutting hex to his left hip. Wincing in pain, he threw a killing curse right into the death eaters that was sidestepped and crashed into the side of a building. Kingsley started to fire random spells to occupy the death eaters, allowing Moody to take them down one by one. Moody didn't hold back. The death eaters were there to kill so Moody killed them all first. As the last bright green curse hit the final death eater, Moody let out a sigh and turned to Kingsley.
"I was only here for a meeting to see about taking on a few more jobs and then these buggers appeared and started firing at me. What the bloody hell is going on Kingsley?"
"Attack on Tower Bridge by Voldemort. A lot of muggles are dead. Spoke to Scrimgeour and he told me the Ministry was under attack"
"Well I doubt that this was all there was" replied Moody waving his arm to indicate the downed death eaters.
"No, what do you say Alastor? Care for a bit more fun?" asked Kingsley with a hint of mischief.
Moody turned towards Kingsley and he could see the corners of Moody's scarred mouth turn up in a malicious grin.
"Oh yes, always" replied Moody.
Scrimgeour was back to back with Arthur and Percy Weasley in the atrium of the Ministry. Fierce duels were being fought all around them. The amount of killing curses being shot out of wands was sickening. The death eaters weren't there to play or test defences. They were there to murder.
"Careful Percy" cried Scrimgeour as he pulled him away from a killing curse.
"Thanks Minister. You shouldn't be here you know. Your office is protected for a reason. You should have stayed there" Percy shouted above the din.
"I'm not leaving any of my colleagues to fight alone. I'm still an auror at heart, no matter what my title may be now" hissed Scrimgeour.
No more had to be said and the trio found a rhythm of attacking and defending and dancing around. Scrimgeour had taken down no less than twelve death eaters. He didn't care about killing them. As far as he could see, several ministry workers were dead and the others were using this to fuel them into duelling to kill.
This was not how it should be. Ministry workers whose main jobs were in paperwork and politics should not have to fight for their lives.
Scrimgeour side stepped another killing curse that hit the fountain of the magical brethren. He laughed as he had never like that fountain much anyway. Now he had an excuse to put something better in its place. He shot five consecutive killing curses and three of them found their mark.
Arthur took a look around him and realised that there were far more death eaters dead on the floor than there were ministry workers.
"You know Minister, I think we just might win this" Arthur shouted hopefully.
"You may just be right there Arthur. We are pushing them back" came Scrimgeour's enthusiastic reply.
The fight continued until fifteen death eaters were caught back to back in a huddle. Seeing that their time was up, they disapperated but not before Scrimgeour saw Alastor Moody kill one more.
Scrimgeour placed his wand to his throat.
"I need urgent medical attention here now. Alert St. Mungos to send help."
Scrimgeour turned towards Arthur with a worried look on his face.
"What else Arthur? They have attacked muggle London and now us. Who else is fighting for their life right now?"
Moody came walking over to the trio with the telltale thump from his staff.
"This isn't over you three. This is just the beginning. Minister I suggest you start contacting places that may be attacked. Any aurors left standing won't be getting any sleep tonight"
"Yes Alastor. I'll go and talk to Dawlish and tell him to get the aurors together"
"Dawlish is dead. Fell to a killing curse" came Moody's reply.
Scrimgeour looked all around him and let out a sigh. What the hell was he going to do? He turned back to Alastor as a stray thought entered his mind.
"You know that meeting that you were here for Alastor? How would you like a promotion to head of the Auror office?" enquired Scrimgeour.
Moody let out a large sigh. He didn't want to go back to this full time but after what he had witnessed, he couldn't say no.
"I better get a raise" replied Moody with a grin.
Kingsley arrived at the atrium with Moody, but upon seeing death eaters enter the lift, he barrelled after them. Firing spells left and right and throwing up shield charms. He saw that the lift was heading to level nine. He knew that that was the department of mysteries and shuddered at the thought of what the death eaters could possibly want down there.
Upon arriving at level nine, he opened the lift to see the battle had already started. Two unspeakables lay unmoving. They must have been caught off guard. Kingsley could see another six engaged in a colourful light show with the death eaters. He watched as one unspeakable threw a jet of silver towards a death eater that broke through their shield charm and blasted them to pieces. He watched as another unspeakable was taking down with a bludgeoning curse. He made his way over to the unspeakables, never stopping attacking and defending.
This was where he found himself now. Himself and six unspeakables fighting for their lives. They were being pushed back and there was nothing that they could do.
"Take them towards the circular room" shouted one of the unspeakables from below their trademark hood.
"Follow us" shouted another at Kingsley.
They walked backwards still firing and defending. Kingsley managed to take down another death eater with a cutting curse. If he wasn't dead already, then he would be shortly. One of the unspeakables used his hands to create a ball of flame and hurtled it towards the death eaters. This fiery creation managed to take down another three who were screaming at the top of their lungs as the fire engulfed them and reduced them to ashes.
"sixteen to go" shouted another unspeakable.
They reached the circular room and allowed the death eaters to follow them in. The death eaters not knowing where they were started to panic as the room started to swirl around them.
One of the unspeakables reached towards a door and urged the rest to follow him. Kingsley wasn't sure if this was a random choice or if they had a plan for exactly where they wanted this battle to continue.
Kingsley back-stepped into the room to find himself in the death chamber once again. He remembered that the last time he was here was to save Harry and his friends along with some of the order. He saw that he was only standing with five unspeakables now. The other was up beside the veil. He was waving his wand in intricate patterns casting glances towards his colleagues to ensure that he was being defended to carry out his work.
"AND NOW" shouted the unspeakable from beside the veil.
Kingsley felt himself go rigid and found that his feet were glued to the floor. There was an ear-splitting crash from the veil and Kingsley watched as it started to ripple. It looked far more active than it had when he was last here. He cast a worried look at the unspeakable beside the veil who held his hand up towards Kingsley to reassure him.
Kingsley watched as grey matter from the veil spread out towards the death eaters engulfing them entirely. The death eaters started to panic and scream. They started to cast curses in all directions. Another crash from the veil and their wands were ripped from their hands and sucked into the veil. The death eaters were lifted into the air by the grey matter and dragged towards the veil at a very slow pace. It was as if the veil was taunting them. Kingsley held his breath as each death eater passed through the veil with increasingly loud crashes. Upon the last death eater passing through, the veil returned to its regular calm state and Kingsley found that he could move again. He looked at the unspeakable still beside the veil as he started to wave his wand in patterns again.
Kingsley looked to the five unspeakables and gestured around the room. He was desperate for an explanation of what he had just witnessed.
"Don't ask because we can't tell you. We don't want to obliviate a person who came to our aid so please don't make us. Give us your word that you will never repeat this and we will allow you to remember this event" came the voice of an unspeakable who hadn't yet spoken.
"I give you my word" replied Kingsley instantly.
Kingsley stepped forward to shake their hands when another boom echoed from the veil all around the chamber. It was far louder than any of the others. The unspeakables ran up the steps to the veil eager to help their colleague who seemed to be struggling to cast the required spells to undo whatever it was that they had done.
The veil rippled once again and an unearthly ear-splitting cry burst outwards from the structure. Kingsley watched as a hand pushed itself through the veil fighting whatever resistance that the veil was presenting. The unspeakables held their wands, ready to strike at whatever appeared.
"Don't worry sir. This happens sometimes. Lost souls try to escape the veil but it has always kept them contained" said one of the unspeakables into the air.
Kingsley watched as the hand broke through the veil material followed by a body and the unmistakable shaggy hair of a lost friend.
"SIRIUS" Kingsley shouted as the body crashed to the floor unconscious.