PS - Chapter 4
Sunday, October 25th 2009
Please wake up, Miss Tonks.
Tonks opened her eyes and blinked a couple times before looking around the room in search of the source of that voice. She then remembered the watch on her hand and sighed. "Right, what time is it, Holly?"
Five thirty. You have thirty minutes to get dressed and ready for the third part of your exam. Please change into the athletic clothes provided and stand outside your dorm room door when you are ready.
Tonks got up. She found a new set of clothes sitting on the bedside table. She changed into them and got ready for the day as fast as she could. When she was done, she stepped out into the hallway and saw the others already there. She met eyes with Lacey and gave her a small smile. Lacey smiled back.
Shacklebolt walked down the hallway and looked them over. "Good morning, I trust you all slept well."
Tonks definitely had not had the best sleep of her life on that lumpy mattress.
"We will begin today with our two point five kilometre run. Please follow me to the training course."
They all followed Shacklebolt down the hall and into the elevator. They got down to the main level of the building and he led the way down corridors they had never been before. The halls were quite empty. Only a few Aurors who were just getting off their night shifts were around. Shacklebolt stopped in front of a set of door and they walked in.
It felt like they had just walked out into Hyde Park. Tall trees spread out on one side of a small cement path and a small duck pond sat on the other. Sunlight shone down on them and when Tonks looked she could see a bright blue sky with few fluffy white clouds above them. Birds chirped, bees buzzed around some flowers, squirrels climbed up trees, and a gentle breeze swayed the blades of perfectly green grass.
"This is Eldritch Diggory Park, named after the founder of the Great Britain Auror Office back in the seventeenth century. It is summer all year round here and a very common place for people in all Ministry departments to come by to eat lunch or go for a run in. The path goes through the trees and around the pond and is exactly two point five kilometres in length. As soon as you begin your run, your watch will begin timing. It will stop and award you points based on the time you receive as soon as you make it back to this door. If you stray from the path you will be automatically terminated. Do not think that you must keep pace with me, go at your own pace and give it your best. If that is faster than me, great, if that is slower, fine, just try to finish no matter what. I am about to begin. You may start whenever you feel ready."
Shacklebolt started his run and, despite being told they could start in their own time, everyone followed after him. Tonks paced herself and Holly kept her updated on her distance, time, and heart rate. As she ran, Tonks wondered if Lucy was doing the same. They always went for morning jogs together. She wondered if Lucy would keep it up even if she wasn't there to run with her.
...
Lucy woke up early the next morning and went for a run like she did every morning when Tonks was usually here. She already missed Tonks, her morning jog wasn't the same without her. She wondered how Tonks was getting on at her Auror exam. She was probably kicking ass as always. Lucy couldn't wait for her to come home and tell her all about it.
"Ah, Miss Collins! How are you this morning?" an older woman tending to her small flower garden said as she jogged by.
Lucy stopped and pulled out one of her earbuds. She gave the woman a smile. "Hello, Mrs. Reed. I'm all right. How are you?"
"Oh, can't complain," Mrs. Reed said, getting up and taking off her gloves. She was a nice old woman who lived near Lucy and Tonks. They had a habit of stopping and talking with her a little bit every morning during their jog. Mrs. Reed walked over and leaned on her small white fence. "Where is that lovely friend of yours?"
"She's away for the weekend," Lucy replied, walking a little closer to the fence as well. "Visiting her parents."
"That's nice. Haven't seen your mother in a while. How is she doing?"
"She's doing well. Working hard, you know how it is."
"Of course. Well, I'll let you get back to your jog but if you're lonely with Miss Tonks gone and all you should stop by for dinner."
Lucy smiled. "Thank you for the offer but Mum and Nina are coming over for dinner today. I'm sorry"
"Oh, that's alright. Give my best to the both of them."
"I will, thanks," Lucy said. She said goodbye and continued on her run.
After her run, Lucy went back home and had breakfast. As she ate she went through some Collins Enterprises files and got some work done. After that she checked up on some things for Anne to make sure everything would run smoothly on the day of her wedding and then talked to Minerva on the phone.
"I'm going to the studio today," Lucy told her happily. "My first time back since I started at Collins Enterprises."
"That's wonderful, darling. I'm glad you've finally found some time to go out. You must be very excited."
"I am. I'll probably do some dancing on my own for a little bit, just get back into it, and then Jared Cooper is coming by and we're going to look at choreographing something new. We don't know if we're going to enter any competition or anything with this new choreo but it'll just be fun to do it."
"That sounds nice. Maybe you will enter a new competition. I love coming down to watch you dance."
"I know. So, are you still coming by for dinner tonight?"
"Of course. I'll be there at five thirty. I doubt Nina will arrive until six thirty at the earliest however."
"She gets off work at five forty five, she said, so it's not really her fault. Cut her some slack."
"I know. So, how's Tonks doing?"
"I have no idea. She's not allowed to talk to me until the exam is over. On Monday when I get off work, she'll be home and we're going to go out to dinner. She'll tell me all about it then, I'm sure."
"That sounds lovely."
"Yeah, we haven't gone out in a really long time so it'll be nice to go on an actual date again. Oh, by the way, Mr. Jackson asked about you again a few days ago when I was down there for lunch." Lucy could just hear Minerva rolling her eyes through the phone. "What? I think he likes you!"
"I'm not going to date the man who makes your sandwiches, Lucy," Minerva muttered with a shake of her head. "I don't need you matchmaking for me."
"Oh, you did it to me all the time. I'm just returning the favour."
"Don't worry about it. That kind of favour does not need to be repaid."
Lucy talked with her mother for a little while longer before finally saying goodbye and hanging up the phone. When the call ended, Lucy got up and grabbed her dance bag before heading out to the studio.
She apparated downtown and walked until she made it to the small old building that she knew and loved. She went inside and found it all but deserted. Walking up the stairs into the dark studio room, she turned on all the light, got changed and looked at herself in the studio mirror. It had been so long since she had been able to put her ballet slippers on again. She missed them so much.
The music played and Lucy let it go through her. She moved her arms and legs in time with it. The hardwood, the mirrors, the music. Lucy was home. She felt like she had been away for so long and now finally she was home.
The music swayed through her, taking her away from everything. The stress of work, the tension of being Enchantress, the loneliness of Tonks being gone, it all melted away. Ballet took her to a new world. A peaceful one. One that could not be moved or destroyed by anything outside these studio walls and she had missed this world so much. Never again, she told herself as she pirouetted gracefully in rhythm, would she stay away from this world for so long.
...
Congratulations, Miss Tonks, you have completed your run in eleven minutes and twelve seconds. This earned you a total of seven points out of an available seven points. Please take a moment to rest and lower your heart rate.
Eleven minutes and twelve seconds. It wasn't her best but it was enough to earn her seven points and that's all that mattered right now. Tonks picked up her water bottle and took a couple big gulps as she walked around a bit, trying to cool down. Lacey and one other person had finished ahead of her. They were sitting under the shade of a tall oak tree. Tonks walked over and sat down as well.
They waited for the rest of the Auror hopefuls to finish their run and then Shacklebolt took them back inside to the Auror Training Centre. Finally a room that Tonks had actually been in before. They did their sit ups, push ups, and chin ups next. In two minutes Tonks was able to do forty eight push ups earning her seven points and fifty two sit ups earning her another seven points. She was unfortunately only able to do seven chin ups earning her only six points.
Next was another run, this time a seventy metre obstacle course that was supposed to simulate running after a perp. They took turns going through the obstacle course which consisted of three hurdles, two targets they had to hit with a disarming spell, and a fifteen metre chase of a magical dummy. Tonks was able to complete her run in eighteen point three seconds earning herself another seven points. In the end she had gained a total of thirty four points. It wasn't the highest, unfortunately. That award went to a prospective Auror named John Dawlish who earned thirty five points. Lacey also earned thirty four points but she had missed the seven point goal in the push ups portion of her test.
After the physical exam ended, Shacklebolt looked at their scores and smiled. "None of you got below twenty five points so you will all be moving on to the final part of the exam, good job. You all did well. Please go shower and then head down to the cafeteria for lunch. You will be escorted to the Department of Mysteries at twelve forty and Part Four will commence at exactly one p.m. on the dot."
Everyone left the training centre for the showers. Lacey sped up so she could catch up with Tonks. "Hey, good job there."
"Thanks, you too," Tonks said with a smile.
"Dawlish over there beat us," she said, motioning with her head over to the tall man with very short, wiry black hair. He looked very tough and big, walking with his head held high. "Doesn't talk very much. I've tried to start a conversation with him but he didn't really take. Just kind of made 'mmhmm' noises whenever I said anything."
"He's smart, though. Ranked third in the written portion."
"Yeah. We'll have to watch out for him, I guess, but if he still acts like that during his interview I doubt they'll take him on."
Tonks looked over at Dawlish. He seemed very self-assured and confident. Tonks wished she could be that certain of her place here.
...
"So, how have you been Lucy? It's been so long," Jared said. He and Lucy were sitting in a small cafe near the dance studio. They had finished dance for the day and decided to get some lunch.
"It has. We shouldn't wait so long to dance together next time," Lucy said with a smile. "I've been good. How have you been?"
"Yeah, we really shouldn't. You're probably the best partner I've ever had. I've been all right. Did I tell you that I was asked to choreograph for Beyonce's newest music video."
"Wow! Really? That's awesome! So you're going to meet Beyonce!"
"Yeah, It's very exciting. So, how's the girlfriend?"
"She's good. She's away this weekend, visiting family, but she's good. How's yours?"
"She's good. I'm actually... thinking about... popping the question."
"Really? That's great! First Anne and Mitch and now you and Casey!"
"Yeah," he said with a sheepish smile. "Speaking of which, are you excited for the wedding? Mitch told me that you've basically been planning it for them."
"I've just been helping, not planning it for them," Lucy said with a laugh. "I mean, you know Anne, she's such a control freak. She would never just let me plan it all for her. I've just been helping plan it. You're coming right? I remember sending you and Casey an invite."
"Yes, we've already RSVPed, don't worry. We're coming. Casey already used it as an excuse to buy a new dress. A very expensive dress."
Lucy laughed. "Of course. It's a must right."
"Right."
They talked for a little while longer before deciding to head out. They said their goodbyes and went their separate ways. It was a nice warm day so Lucy decided to walk around downtown a little and look in some shops instead of going home right away.
...
After lunch, the six Auror hopefuls were escorted down through the main Ministry building and down to level nine, the second lowest level, where the Department of Mysteries was. They went through a large black door and through a few empty rooms before finding themselves in another waiting room. They sat down in the chairs and waited to be told what they were going to be doing next.
"Congratulations everyone," Lovelace said when they had all sat down, "for making it this far. From here we can take any number of you. That means we could take all six of you or none of you. Part four is the character and aptitude test. One by one you will go in through these doors and face whatever is inside. When your exam is over you will exit through a door on the other side of the room and your watch will guide you back to your dorm. After you enter this room, we will not see each other again unless you are accepted into the Auror Training Program. Your watch will inform you of your interview time tomorrow and navigate you to the room it will be held in. Try to remain calm and do your best. Good luck."
Lovelace moved to sit down and Shacklebolt came forward. "Up first, John Dawlish."
Dawlish stood up and walked forward. Shacklebolt stepped back and opened the door for him. Dawlish looked between him and the door before puffing up his shoulders a little bit and walking through. Shacklebolt closed the door behind him and then moved to sit down beside Lovelace.
After about an hour, Shacklebolt stood up again and said, "Nymphadora Tonks."
Tonks took a deep breath. She had not expected to be up so soon. Lacey gave her a reassuring smile and mouthed the words good luck. Tonks stood up and walked towards the door that Shacklebolt held open for her. He gave her a small smile as she walked by and closed the door behind her. Tonks was plunged into darkness. There was no lights in this room. It was pitch black in here and Tonks couldn't see anything.
Miss Tonks, welcome to the Auror Atrium.
Suddenly bright lights turned on and the room was plunged into whiteness. Tonks closed her stinging eyes quickly and rubbed them. When she opened her eyes again, she found that she was standing in the middle of a bustling London street. People pushed passed her irritably, walking briskly.
"Uh, excuse me," a woman with short blonde hair wearing a pantsuit muttered as she slammed her shoulder into Tonks's back. "You need to keep walking or move to the side. People are trying to get to work."
Tonks quickly moved to the side like she was told. That felt very real. She felt like that was a real person who had just hit her. It felt like the morning rush but Tonks knew it was well past lunch time now. This didn't feel like a magical illusion of some kind but Tonks new that it must be. It must be very powerful magic.
Two operatives traveling on foot, Holly's voice went through her head. One wearing a long black trench coat and the other a black business suit and holding a briefcase. Your mission is to retrieve the briefcase at all costs.
Tonks looked around and saw the two burly men walking on the opposite side of the street. She started walking in the direction they were walking in on her side of the street.
"Holly, what do I need to know?" she asked quietly, holding her watch up a little closer to her mouth. She looked over at the men every so often to make sure she could still see them.
Gelvin Pharos is the one in the trench coat. Wanted for two counts of armed robbery and one count of attempted murder. The one with the briefcase is Carlos Vasquez. Wanted for torture by use of Unforgivable Curse and possession and sale of illegal dark magical objects. The briefcase is thought to contain stolen goods to be sold. These two are very dangerous and will recognise you if you get too close.
"Well, that's easily fixed," Tonks said. She was about to change her appearance when she remember the presence of all the muggles. "The Muggles will notice if I change here, won't they?"
I assume so. Yes.
"Holly, I don't like your tone," Tonks said, though she smiles. "Can you track them while I duck into an alley or something?"
Yes.
Tonks found an alley and quickly turned into it. She looked around to make sure no one was around and then changed her appearance to resemble the rude woman who had bumped into her earlier. She looked down at the clothes, grey Auror robes. Those won't do. She pulled out her wand and changed them to look more muggle business casual so that she would blend into the sea of people around her.
"Alright, Holly, where too?"
Next left.
Cross the street.
Speed up and turn right.
Straight for a little while.
They are just around the next right.
Tonks stopped running and slowed to a casual walk. She turned the corner and was now a few feet away from the men.
These men are very dangerous. Proceed with caution.
...
Lucy was walking down sidewalk when suddenly she smelt something. She looked around and saw thick black smoke coming from a building a little ways away. Her eyes widened when she saw flames dance around the building. She heard yelling and screaming and made a very quick decision.
Lucy started running. She ducked into an alleyway and pulled out her Enchantress coat and bandana from her bag. She put a sticking charm on her bag, stuck it to the bottom of a fire escape escape balcony, and ran back out of the alley. Lucy ran passed the crowds of bystanders and pushed to the front, until she made it to the building.
It looked like something out of a nightmare. The building was already black with soot and twenty foot flames danced out every window. Smoke filled the air and Lucy could already feel it in her lungs. The building was so tall, there could be hundreds of people still inside. How could such a large fire start so quickly?
"What happened?" she asked a man standing nearby who seemed to have just come out of the building himself.
The man looked at her with wide eyes. "Ah - ah, I don't know... there were just... just flames and - and there are still people in there!"
Lucy didn't have to be told anything else. "Call 999," she called as she ran towards the building. As she got closer, she felt the smoke engulf her. She hadn't even made it to the building yet and was already having a coughing fit. She pointed her finger at her own head and cast the Bubble-Head Charm on herself. A large bubble formed around her mouth and nose, creating a mask of clean air around the bottom half of her face over her black bandana. She kept going towards the building, fire licking the walls and smoke billowing out of the windows. She opened the door of the apartment and went inside.
The building was dark, stuffy, and blazing hot. Lucy was already drenched in sweat as she took a couple more steps into the building. Sparks and embers floated around her as she moved. The flames must of fried all the wires causing the lights to go off. The only illumination she got was from the flames that climbed the walls. It felt surreal. Lucy felt like she had been transported down to hell. She grabbed a doorknob and quickly pulled back, the heat searing her hand badly.
"Oh god!" she cried as she looked down at her burnt hand. She took a deep breath, thanks to the Bubble-Head Charm, and looked around. What was she going to do? She had to think fast if she was going to save anyone.
...
"What do I do if they apparate away?" Tonks asked her watch as she kept following behind the two perps. Suddenly the watch began to move. A small compartment slid open from the side of it and a little piece of clear glass flew out.
The Invenietor: A device invented by Albus Dumbledore in 1998. It allows you to find anyone one it is attached to, even if they have apparated away.
Invented by Dumbledore? Wow. Tonks watched the Invenietor stay low to the ground and weave in and out of people's legs until it reached Vasquez.
Where shall I stick the Invenietor, Miss Tonks?
"Um, his trousers, I guess," Tonks said. The glass stuck itself to the bottom of his pant leg without him noticing. Tonks kept up pace with the two men, making sure to keep a few feet behind at all times. She thought about what would be the best way to retrieve the briefcase without a muggle seeing them.
She kept following them for a little while until they ducked into a small alleyway in between two very tall office buildings. This was her chance. Tonks pulled out her wand and followed them in. She cast a quick Muggle repelling charm on the alley and then looked around for Pharos and Vasquez. They were still walking in front of her. Tonks aimed her wand and cast a stunner towards Vasquez. It hit him in the back and he fell forwards to the ground. Pharos turned and sent a curse her way.
Tonks blocked it and threw one of her own as she took a few steps forward and changed her appearance back to herself. "Gelvin Pharos," she said in the most confident and fierce voice she could muster. "You are under arrest for the possession of illegal dark objects and intent to sell. Come quietly and I won't add resisting arrest to your list of charges."
Tonks smiled to herself, damn that was cool.
Pharos didn't seem to think so, however. He laughed and shook his head. "Go run and play with the other children," he said as he flicked his wand and sent another spell her way.
Tonks frowned. She blocked his spell and cast one of her own. Suddenly the fire escapes on each building on either side of them turned into chains and came at him. One of the chains grabbed his left arm while he blocked the other. He flicked his wand and the chains turned to sand. The sand collected together and shot at her at great speeds. Tonks quickly stepped out of the way and flicked her wand. She gained control of the sand bullet and brought it back around to blast towards him. Pharos sent a flash of red light at the sand ball. The lightning went straight through the middle of it and sand exploded everywhere.
"I've had enough of this," Pharos growled. He waved his wand and a huge wave of fire came towards her. Tonks moved quickly and created a magical shield in front of her to stop herself from getting burnt. Fire surged all around her and she could feel the temperature of the alley increase immensely. When the waves of flames stopped coming Tonks looked up and saw Pharos grab the briefcase from Vasquez's still unconscious body and start running away.
Tonks looked around and saw the flames were climbing the buildings around her. All she could think of was that she had destroyed their fire escapes! She quickly conjures up water from the tip of her wand and starts putting out the fire on one of the buildings but the flames on the other kept climbing up.
Miss Tonks, Pharos and the briefcase are getting away.
Tonks looked and saw that he was near the end of the alleyway already. She had to decide what was more important to her right now, saving these Muggles or finishing her mission. Tonks didn't know what to do. She wanted to do a good job and complete her mission but she didn't want to let these people die! Who knew how long it would take for the Muggle firefighters to show up and how many people would be stuck in the fire by the time they got here.
Miss Tonks -
"I know! I know!" Tonks said quickly. She finished putting out the fire on one building and turned to the other. There was no way she was going to be able to put this one out. The flames had climbed almost to the top now. She couldn't do anything about the briefcase now. She started running in the opposite direction as Pharos and towards the front of the office building.
...
Water gushed from the palm of Lucy's hand as she walked down the halls of the first floor. "Hello! Is anyone in here?" she called loudly. "I'm here to help you! Please say something if you're here!"
She kicked down doors and threw water in so she could make sure no one was inside. There were so many floors, there was no way she was going to be able to do this on every floor. Okay. Take a minute. Think about this, she told herself. You are a witch. Use your magic. Lucy stopped walking and closed her eyes. She let her magic flow out of her and fill the whole building, a spell to show her what was going on in the building. It allowed her to visualise the floors and see the people inside them.
Family of five in room 8A, two people in room 9A and 17A.
Lucy opened her eyes and ran to the rooms she felt people inside. She kicked open the door of room 8A and found two adults and three children inside. One of the children had a crossbeam over her foot. That must be why they hadn't been able to get out. Lucy moved forwards quickly and with a flick of her hand, the crossbeam moved off of the child's foot. With another flick, bubbles appeared around their mouths and noses. She picked up the girl and handed her over to her father.
She then blasted out a window and moved the fire escape that was made unusable by flames over. She doused it with water and then motioned for the family to go. "Get out! Go!"
The woman grabbed the hand of the other two children and dragged them out the blasted window. The man followed behind her. "Thank you!" he called as he climbed out but Lucy didn't wait. She ran to the next room and did the same thing. When she had cleared the first floor, she went up to the next. No one on this floor. The next. Two people. Next.
Lucy cleared six more floors. She was so glad that most people had been able to get out on the lowest few floors. As she got higher, however, there were a lot more people. She heard the sirens of the firefighters coming closer and felt a little bit of relief.
Thirty two people on this floor.
Thirty two! Lucy felt the flames eating away at the lower floors. It wasn't safe for her to send them down that way anymore. She burst through the doors, casting Bubble-Head Charms on everyone she encountered, and guided them all to a room that faced the street where the firefighters were. She blasted through a wall and looked down.
"UP HERE!" she yelled, pointing her finger at her throat and using an amplifying charm to raise the volume of her voice. "WE NEED A LADDER UP HERE!"
She watched the firefighters move around below her but they didn't seem to understand what she wanted them to do.
"They're not going to get up here in time!" a woman behind her exclaimed in a very panicked voice.
Lucy knew she was right but she didn't know what else to do! The building wasn't going to stand too much longer and there were still four more floors she needed to get to.
"We're all going to die!"
"What are we going to do!?"
"Enchantress do something!"
Lucy felt tears sting her eyes but did her best to keep them back. In all her work as Enchantress so far Lucy had never had to do anything this extreme. She had never had to worry about this many people all at the same time, crying and yelling at her, before. She needed to help these people. She needed to save them. She needed to figure out something.
...
Tonks ran in through the front of the building and yelled at the woman at the front desk, "The building is on fire! Evacuate everyone!"
"Fire?" the woman said with a frown. "The alarms haven't gone off."
"You can see it on the side of the building outside! There's no time to wait! Evacuate everyone!" Tonks yelled as she moved towards the stairs. "Hurry!"
The woman looked at her for a second before something on her computer started flashing. She looked down and saw that the fire alarm on the fourth floor had gone off. She quickly grabbed her phone and called into the building intercom.
As Tonks climbed up the stairs towards the top floor, she heard the woman's voice come over the intercom. "The building is on fire, please calmly evacuate as quickly as possible."
She heard commotion coming from inside the floors and the doors to the stairs swung open. Tonks moved out of the way as hundreds of people ran out and down the stairs passed her. She kept pushing past them towards the top floors.
"Can you see inside the building, Holly?"
Six floors, all offices. Three hundred and twenty two people are evacuating and should make it out in time. The fire has spread to the top two floors and is moving quickly. Nine people are still in the building. Two on floor six stuck behind some fallen debris and seven on floor five trapped inside a conference room.
"Okay," Tonks said, running up the stairs towards the top floors. She was so glad she had Holly to guide her and make her feel a little more calm.
Air quality has reached two hundred and twenty one AQI. This poses immediate health risks to anyone in close proximity. Please take necessary precautions.
Tonks nodded and pointed her wand up to her face. She cast a Bubble-Head Charm on herself and a large bubble covered the bottom half of her face, providing her with clean air to breath.
"What's the best plan of attack?"
Start at the top floor and take the two there down with you.
Again Tonks nodded. She kept running until she made it to the sixth floor. She looked at the bottom of the door and saw smoke coming out the bottom. She sighed and felt the door. It was hot. She kicked it down and sent water onto the flames that blazed inside. Thick smoke rolled all around her and Tonks couldn't see anything.
"Where are they?" she asked.
Keep moving straight ahead. Tonks followed Holly's directions until she couldn't go any further. They're just beyond the wreckage.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" Tonks called.
"Yes! Oh my god! Can you hear us? We're in here!" a man's voice came through the debris.
"We can't get out!" a woman said between painful sounding coughs. "We're stuck!"
"Okay, back up as much as you can. I'm going to blast through!"
She gave them a few seconds before raising her wand and sending a blast of water through the fire and wood. When the debris was moved and she could see the people on the other side of the wall, she cast a Bubble-Head Charm on the both of them. She then cast Momento Obliviscaris so that they would forget all about her and magic as soon as they left the building.
"Come through!" she yelled.
The man helped the woman through the hole Tonks had created and then came through himself. The woman looked at Tonks in shock. "What - what is this? How did you do that? What are you?"
"No time to explain. Let's go!"
Tonks guided them back towards the stairs. "Are the stairs still safe to use, Holly?"
Yes, they are made of cement. They can still be used as an exit point.
"Great," Tonks said. She put out fire around them to clear a path for the three of them back to the stairs. When they made it, Tonks motioned for them to go ahead of her. "Go all the way down. I'll get the others."
They ran down ahead of her and Tonks followed behind until the next floor.
"Okay, Holly, we're doing good right?" Tonks said as she kicked through the fifth floor door. "How's the building looking?"
Fire has spread through to the rest of the floors. Everything has become very unstable. The people are in conference room F and they have breathed in a lot of smoke. One has collapsed.
"Oh no," Tonks said. She had Holly guide her to conference room F and saw that the door was being blocked by a huge beam that must have fallen from the ceiling. She could see the people through the glass walls. They saw her and waved at her to help them. She moved towards the glass.
"It's security glass," an older man said through it. "We've tried to break it but it's not working!"
Tonks looked at it and nodded. "Move back. As far back as possible," she said before pointing her wand at the glass. They backed up and with one flick of her wand Tonks shattered the glass. "Come on, let's go!"
Everyone scrambled through. One of the men helped an unconscious older man through. Tonks cast the Bubble-Head Charm and the memory charm on all of them and started back towards the stairs.
...
"Okay," Lucy said finally, deciding what she was going to do. "You have to jump."
"Jump?!" a man exclaimed looking completely horrified. "We're eight stories up! We would never survive that fall!"
"I'll keep you safe!" Lucy said, walking to the side and motioning for someone to come forward. "You won't fall, just trust me." No one moved. Lucy looked at them pleading them with her eyes to listen to her. "Please! Please, just trust me! I won't let you fall! If you stay here I won't be able to keep you safe! Please!"
Still no one moved. All frozen in fear. Finally a little girl, who couldn't be any older than nine years old, stepped forward. "I trust you," she said quietly. She looked back at her parents. "I trust Enchantress. She's a superhero."
"No, Maddie, no," the man said quickly, moving forward to grab her but she moved out of his reach and ran towards the hole in the wall.
"Just jump?"
Lucy nodded. "I won't let anything happen to you, love. Just jump."
She gave Lucy a little smile, looked back at her horrified parents, and jumped. Lucy waved her hand and the girl stopped gaining speed and floated down to the ground slowly and safely. Her parents had run forward and watched their daughter land on her feet on the ground without any problem at all. Their eyes widened as they watched the disbelieving firefighters take the little girl over to the paramedics to get looked over.
"It's safe," Lucy said. "Just jump!"
They looked at each other before following their nine year old daughter's lead. Others started jumping too and Lucy floated all of them down to the ground safely. Once this floor was cleared she moved on to the next one.
She was able to clear the next two floors, sixty five people, using the same tactic and was running up the stairs to the next floor when she heard rumbling and felt the floor below her giving way. She jumped towards a sturdier part of the floor and looked around her.
Support beams are giving way.
The building is going down. Lucy took a couple deep breaths and kept jumping up the stairs. Just two more floors. Two more floors and she'd be done.
Lucy jumped on the wrong step and suddenly the floor fell through. She fell down towards the lower floor but grabbed the edge of the broken floor before she fell into the flames below.
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" she yelled as the flames on the floor below engulfed her left leg. She let go with one hand, pointed it downwards and doused the area with water. The cold water eased the pain on her leg a little bit. Lucy fell down to the lower floor onto her butt and looked down at her leg. Her trousers were burnt away and painful burns ran down her leg. "Oh goddamn!"
"ENCHANTRESS!" a male voice came from outside. It must be a firefighter with a megaphone. "THE BUILDING IS GOING TO COLLAPSE SOON. WE DON'T THINK IT WILL HOLD FOR VERY MUCH LONGER! YOU AND ANYONE ELSE LEFT IN THERE NEED TO GET OUT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!"
Lucy quickly scrambled up to her feet and built herself a new staircase to climb up to the next floor, ignoring the pain in her leg. She needed to get the last twelve people out of here as quickly as she could. She could feel the building support beams giving way and waved her hand. The fire escape outside melted, came into the building and secured itself around the beams. That may buy her a little bit of time.
She made it up to the next floor and was greeted by a horrific sight. The fire had completely destroyed this floor and the one above but the people here was still alive. She knew they were. The fire was all around the hallways, climbing the walls and dancing on the floors and ceilings. Lucy threw water down on the floor as she ran down the hall towards the room where her spell told her the people were. Right before she got to the room, however, she heard rumbling again. She looked up just in time to see the ceiling collapse in front of her. She jumped backwards to avoid getting crushed by the falling debris and watched the fire blaze closer to her. She sent water towards the flames but there was just too many. She needed to get passed them to the people still here.
Seven people left.
Lucy's eyes widened. She wasn't fast enough! Five people had died! Lucy tried her best to push through the flames to get to the others but it wasn't working. The fire was too much for her to fight all on her own. She planted her feet as sturdy as she could, raised her arms and concentrated as hard as she could. Concentrate, just concentrate, she told herself. Slowly the debris in front of her started moving upwards. It was very heavy and took all her might but it was moving!
"ENCHANTRESS!" the firefighter's voice returned, barely audible above the crackling fire. "YOU MUST GET OUT NOW! THE LOWER LEVELS HAVE GIVEN WAY, THE BUILDING IS COLLAPSING!"
Lucy heard more cracking and rumbling. The floor under her started shifting and cracking. The roof of the building fell from the floor above onto the debris she was already trying to move. She couldn't holding it up and everything went crashing down.
Three people left.
Oh god. The ceiling was coming down around her and she was forced backwards. She couldn't do it. Lucy couldn't do it. She couldn't save them. She needed to leave them if she was going to survive this. She needed to get out. Tears filled her eyes again as she turned her back on the flames and ran in the opposite directions. She blasted a way out on the other side of the hall and without thinking too much, jumped.
The sensation of falling lasted a few seconds before she stopped her fall and pushed herself over to the roof of a nearby building. She looked down at the ground where firefighters were still blasting water up at the building and paramedics were tending to the wounded. Their Bubble-Head Charms had disappeared when they hit the ground and they were mostly fine, just a few scratches here and there. They pointed up at her, shouting and thanking her, as she watched them from her vantage point. Tears fell down her cheeks as she watched the building give way fully and the wood around the cement and, now steel thanks to Lucy, support beams came tumbling down. The rubble sent more ash and smog into the air all around them. London would hold the smoke of this fire for days to come. It would serve as a constant reminder for Lucy that she had failed. She had failed to save the lives of twelve people. Twelve. Some of them probably children. Probably families. Wiped out of existence. All because she had not been able to make it up to the last two floors in time.
Lucy turned away from the fire and ran across the roof she was on. She jumped to the next and then the next until she was near where she had changed into her Enchantress clothes. "Accio bag."
The black bag whizzed out from the alley below and over to her. She changed into her other clothes and climbed down the fire escape if this building. When she made it to the bottom she tried to calm herself a bit.
Lucy kicked a metal dumpster nearby with her good leg and cried, "Augh!"
Tears rolled down her cheeks and she sank to the ground, leaning her back on the wall of the building she had just come down from. Twelve people! She had missed twelve people! That was a lot people that didn't deserve such a horrific death. Lucy put her head in her hands and sobbed. She was a terrible superhero. She had let twelve people die! What kind of superhero let people die? She would bet anything that Dorcas Meadowes and Peggy Carter would have found a way to save everyone in that building. Everyone.
Lucy didn't know how long she cried for but when she finally was able to calm herself down and stop the tears, she stood up, wiped the dirt off of herself, and tried her best to pretend like nothing had happened. Like she hadn't just been in one of the scariest and hardest situations of her life. All of downtown London smelt like smoke now so she didn't have to worry about stinking herself. She tried to walk but her burnt leg wasn't having it. Instead, Lucy just decided to apparate back home.
...
Miss Tonks, the stairs have been compromised. Debris too large to be moved is blocking the way.
"Shit," Tonks mumbled, looking around quickly. She needed to find another way out. "What do you think, Holly? Any other ways we could go?"
To your right is the alley. If you blast through the wall you may be able to use the fire escape of the building across from this one.
"That could work," Tonks said, she turned and pointed her wand at the wall. A jet of water came out of the tip of it and punched a hole through the wall. The people watched her with disbelief but she paid them no attention. She ran up to the hole she created and looked across the alley. She waved her wand and a ladder on the fire escape across from them unattached itself to the balcony above and moved towards them. It landed in front of her. She moved aside and looked at the people behind her. "One at a time please."
They looked at each other before forming a line and started to crawl across the ladder to the balcony on the other side.
"What about him?" the man who had been helping the unconscious man asked as he came up to the front.
"I'll take care of him," Tonks replied. "You go."
He nodded and put the man down before taking his turn across the ladder. Tonks looked down at the unconscious man. She flicked her wand and he started floating upwards. She climbed onto the ladder and the man came floating after her.
Tonks followed the rest of the office workers down this building's fire escape. She fixed the ladder she had moved when she made it to the bottom and then, with one of the unconscious man's arms around her neck and supporting most of his weight, she led them around the building to where the firefighters and paramedics were. Tonks put her wand away and brought the man towards an ambulance so he could be looked after. The memory charm worked and nobody remembered how they got out of the fire. Firefights ran around with their hoses, policemen took statements and paramedics bustled around patients.
Tonks was able to slip away in the confusion, going back around to the alley where she had left Vasquez, still unconscious. She pulled out her wand again and looked around. She found his wand next to him and the Invenietor flew off his robes, back into her watch. She flicked her wand and handcuffs appeared around his wrists. She put him upright and then put her wrist up to her mouth.
"Pharos and the briefcase got away but Vasquez has been arrested. Maybe he can help us find his friend," she said. Holly didn't say anything. Tonks looked down at her watch with a frown. "What do I do now?"
Suddenly the sound of stage lights turning off was heard and Tonks was plunged into darkness. Holly's voice returned once again. She said, simulation complete.
Tonks had completely forgot that it was a simulation. It had felt so real. She smiled to herself. She may not have gotten the briefcase back but she had saved nine lives and she counted that as a huge win. A door opened, letting some light into the room but not enough for her to see if anything else was inside it.
Please exit the Auror Atrium.
Tonks walked out of the darkness into the lit up hall on the other side. She found herself in the lobby of the main Ministry building. She looked back but the door that she had come through had disappeared. The Department of Mysteries was definitely full of mysteries.
Tonks walked through the pedway back to the Auror Office building and up to her dorm room. She was very pleased with how her exam went. She thought she had been able to show off a lot of her disguise and tracking skills as well as her good under pressure decision making skills. She felt exhausted though. She knew it was a simulation but she could still smell smoke on herself. She decided to take a shower, eat an early dinner and go to bed.
...
Please bring Burn Paste when you come over.
A lot of Burn Paste.
Minerva sighed and rubbed her forehead. What had Lucy done now? She stood up and looked at the time. It was almost time for her to go down to London anyways. She got up from her desk and started out of her office when her phone buzzed again. She looked down at it.
Don't let anyone know it's for me.
Again Minerva sighed. She walked down the corridors, putting her phone back into her pocket, and made her way down to the Hospital Wing. She walked in to see Madam Pomfrey sitting at her desk flipping through some paperwork.
"Hello, Poppy."
"Ah, Minerva," Pomfrey said with a smile. "What brings you down here?"
"I was actually wondering if I could steal a bit of your Burn Paste."
"Oh? Have you burnt yourself?"
"A little bit yes but it nothing to worry about," she said, hoping that for once Pomfrey would just do what Minerva asked without question. "Just a vial or two of paste should fix it up with no problem whatsoever."
"You should really just let me see," Pomfrey said, standing up and walking towards her cupboards. "I will be able to make sure it heals properly without leaving any scarring."
"Really, it's fine. Just give me the paste. I don't need you to look at it to know that it's just a burn."
Pomfrey picked up two vials of paste but made no move to hand them over. "How did it happen?"
"I dropped some hot water when I cooked dinner for myself and Lucy last."
"Oh my. Was the water boiling? I should really take a look if it was. Where is the burn? Your stomach? I should really take a look, Minerva. Just to make sure there's no infection."
Minerva had had quite enough of this. "I'm fine, really," she said before snatching the vials out of Pomfrey's hands. She turned on her heel and started towards the door. "Have a nice day, Poppy."
Pomfrey watched her go, glaring at her back with her arms crossed. She didn't understand why that woman always refused medical attention. She wished that Minerva would just be reasonable for once in her life.
Minerva walked out of the Hospital Wing and back up to her office where she Flooed down to Lucy's flat in London.
"No one knows how the fire began yet but the flames engulfed the entire building almost immediately trapping all the residents inside," a news anchor on the television was saying when Minerva entered Lucy's sitting room.
She stepped out of the fireplace and looked down at Lucy who was sitting on the couch with her leg up and tears her eyes. Minerva got very worried all of a sudden. "What's happened?" she asked, racing over to the couch and kneeling down in front of her daughter. "What's happened, my love? Are you hurt?"
"I - I couldn't save them, Ama," Lucy whispered, more tears falling down her face. "I - I couldn't get to them in time."
"Who?" Minerva asked, not understanding what Lucy was saying.
Lucy pointed over at the television and Minerva turned to look. On the screen was a video, filmed on what looked like a cellphone, showing a huge apartment fire. A banner on the bottom of the screen read Enchantress saved one hundred and ninety eight people from Westmount Apartment Building fire. Minerva's eyes widened as she watched bodies come out of the building but they didn't fall. They... drifted. They slowly floated down to the ground like leaves gliding gently from the tops of trees in autumn. After these people made it safely to the ground, some time past before anything else happened. The building began to fall. Another body jumped from the building but this one didn't land on the ground. Minerva saw Lucy land on the roof of a building nearby.
"Enchantress saved the lives of one hundred and ninety eight people today from one of the biggest apartment fires London has seen in a very long time," the reporter on screen now said into her microphone. "Unfortunately the bodies of twelve people who were not lucky enough to make it out in time were found in the rubble."
Minerva sighed and turned back to look at Lucy. She put a hand on Lucy's cheek and wiped the tears away from under her eyes. "It's all right, my darling. You did a great job. You saved so many people today. You should be proud."
"Mum, twelve people are dead. I - I tried... I tried to make it to them too but - but I couldn't! I couldn't save them! They died because I was too slow!"
"No, darling! No!" Minerva said, getting up off the floor and hugging Lucy closely. Lucy moved over so Minerva could sit down on the couch beside her and leaned into Minerva's chest. "It's not your fault. You did everything you could. You tried your best. You saved one hundred and ninety eight people today. That's a lot of people. I know it's heartbreaking that some people still died but you did everything you could and the people you did save are so, so grateful. I know they are."
"What kind of hero let's people die?"
"You didn't let them die. You fought hard to save them. It's just that... sometimes things happen that aren't under your control. The building collapsed. That's not your fault. I know that had you had more time, you would have saved those twelve too."
Lucy kept her face buried in Minerva's chest and Minerva rubbed her back. The news report kept going. They showed the rubble on the ground. The firefighters had finally gotten the fire under control but there was not much left of the building. The reinforced steel support beams stood with nothing left to support. The onsite reporters began interviewing people who had been inside the building. A few people talked quietly about being trapped and what they saw before Lucy showed up. A few started crying and the reporter gave them reassuring hugs and tried to keep them calm. Then a little nine year old girl came on the screen and smiled up at the camera.
"I wasn't scared," she said, making Lucy look up at the television again. "Mum and Dad were scared but I wasn't because I knew that Enchantress would save us! She's so cool! She told me to just jump and she would keep me safe. She said, 'I won't let anything happen to you, love. Just jump', and nothing happened. She didn't let me get hurt."
"Is there anything you'd like to say to her if she's watching?"
The girl looked into the camera and said, "Thank you for saving me and my parents, Enchantress." She looked down at her shoes and continued a little more quietly. "I said that I wasn't scared but that was after you came. Before that, when we were trapped and didn't know what to do, I was really scared. Thank you for saving us."
Minerva smiled. "See," she said quietly, combing her fingers through Lucy's hair. "You saved that little girl. You did a lot of good today and I'm very proud of you, my love."
"I - I just wish I could have saved them all," Lucy whispered, leaning back into Minerva's chest and hugging her tightly.
Minerva sighed and gave her a little squeeze. "I know, love. I know."
Author's Note:
Thank you for reading this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you're enjoying my take on the Auror Exams so far! Please leave a review letting me know what you think!