Note:
Once again, thanks to Grace, my beta-reader and my friend. You
are loved… never forget that. Oh, and this chapter was removed before but now back.
Chapter Summary: The fates of those inside the Ministry of Magic are uncovered; Faith makes her choice about her involvement in Harry's life; after hearing of his father's role in the massacre at the Ministry of Magic, Draco must make his choice about where he really stands; a traitor is uncovered in Bulgaria;
Warning: These next few chapters are dark, just to be warned…
Chapter 11
We All Fall Down
Part II
x-o-o-x
"You can only come to the morning through the shadows." – J.R.R. Tolkien
"You look beautiful."
Buffy turned from where she was looking at herself in the mirror and smiled at her sister standing in the doorway. Dressed in a long, elegant black gown with enough sequins to qualify her own fireworks display, Buffy felt glamorous and certainly desirable.
Dawn stepped inside, a camera in her hand. "Mum and Dad already left, but they wanted some pictures. The motorcade isn't leaving for another few hours yet, so I just thought…" She waved the camera about. "When he gets here, I want pictures of you both." Her smile turned wistful and she shrugged. "After losing so many precious memories, we want you to have tonight."
"I'd like that," Buffy said softly, smoothing the front of her dress.
"You have no choice," Dawn smirked, stepping forward and holding up the camera. "Now, just act naturally… fix your hair or something."
"My hair? What's wrong with my hair?" Buffy murmured in a distressed voice, turning around to face the mirror and reaching up to touch her carefully swept-up 'do. "I don't see anything wrong with my hair."
"That's my sister," Dawn said fondly, snapping two pictures. "I've kind of missed you."
Buffy turned back and felt her face soften. Her sister was the sweetest girl, she thought to herself. She was lucky to have a sister like her. Sweeping over to Dawn, she wrapped her arms around her sister and giggled slightly.
"Love you too," Dawn murmured into her older sister's shoulder. She pulled back when the door rang downstairs. "Guess that's the royal guard coming to bring Cinderella to the ball."
"Better go catch my golden pumpkin then," Buffy winked, giving herself one last look in her mirror and turned back to grab at the small, beaded bag on her bed. She heard Dawn running downstairs, laughing loudly as she banged her way to the door. A moment later, the door opened and she heard two voices talking below.
"Here I come," she whispered, taking her first step out. As she rounded the corner on her descent, she saw a figure standing with his back to her, wearing a tuxedo with tails. He turned around when he heard the sound of footfalls. It was almost worth the whole agonizing experience of her hairdresser to see the look on his face. It was almost worth the horrifying experience of trying on many, many gowns just for this moment to see the gleam in his eyes.
"Wow," he breathed, attempting to talk. When words failed him, he looked aside, cleared his throat and looked back up. "I mean… wow…"
"He thinks you look great," Dawn chimed in, reappearing with two large duffels as large as she was. "I just called my cab so I'll be back on Monday. Wish me luck tomorrow." Stepping forward, she kissed her sister's cheek. "And you… have the time of your life tonight, okay? You've earned this. After everything you've been through, you both earned this." Stepping back, she held up the camera and quickly pushed her sister and her sister's boyfriend together for the pictures she'd threatened earlier.
Buffy watched as her sister dashed away again before turning back to look at Cedric. "Look at you," she said sweetly, walking over to him as he reached for her arm. "My escort looks like a prince tonight."
"Well, if you think this is princely, I give you…" He opened up the door and swept her out. Her eyes widened as she saw a large, old-fashioned black car with a man in a white suit standing with the back door open.
"Wow," she whispered as she took the steps carefully, attempting to sweep the train of her gown behind her. "I think you outdid yourself."
"If you think this is good," he said, grinning down at her. "You haven't seen anything yet."
x-o-x
Tomas stared dutifully at the figure of the fallen Watcher on the ground before glancing at the weapon in his hand. Moving to Rupert's quiet form, he bent down to remove a dart from the back of the man's neck. "So sorry," he muttered, breaking the dart in two and tossing it away.
"What is this? What have you done?"
Tomas felt his brow crease in sudden confusion as he turned around to face his partner. "Kris?"
"You… you shot him?" Kris asked in a trembling voice. "Why would you shoot him?"
"I… I…" Tomas glanced down at the gun in his hands and shrieked, the gun falling from his left hand. "Oh, my… oh, my… oh, dear, dear, dear… what have I done?" He stared at the blood on his hands, splattered from when he'd tugged out the dart from the man's neck. "Oh, my God…"
"It's about time, too," Kris said, his voice hiding his contempt as his foot nudged the fallen watcher. "He was a bit annoying."
"I… shot him."
"Yes, you did."
"Why did I shoot him?" Tomas whispered, mortified as he bent down to rouse the man awake. "Is he dead?"
Kris bent down and took the man's wrist, feeling the pulse. His eyes narrowed when he felt a slow but steady throb. "He's not."
"He's not?" The relief was evident in Tomas's voice as he looked over and felt the same vein Kristofer had felt. He sighed with relief as he stood, his eyes misting at the thought his second mistake hadn't murdered someone.
"No," Kris said in a hard voice, rising up and pulling out his wand. "He's not."
"Can we wake him up?"
Kris glanced at the other man before shaking his head calmly. "I'm sorry, but no."
"We cannot wake him up?" Tomas asked in his heavy accent.
"No, we cannot," Kris said, smirking slightly as he turned to face the other man. "He was supposed to die."
A look of realization suddenly crossed Tomas's dark eyes. "What is this?"
"Exactly what it is meant to be," Kris said, lifting up his wand. "And now you will do exactly as I say."
"Why would I do that?"
"Because I will kill you if you do not," Kris said in a chiding tone. The light, teasing look in his eyes was gone now, replaced by a hard, cold look that scared Tomas. "You see, when I put you under the Imperious Curse, you were not supposed to come out of it so easily."
"That was you?" Tomas gasped, horrified. "I thought it…" He glanced at Giles lying next to him.
"No, no," Kristofer said calmly, stepping around the fallen Watcher and advancing on his partner. "It was me all along. I switched the darts with poison as I was ordered to do." There was a manic gleam in his eyes now.
"You… you tried to kill Buffy?"
"I never meant to kill her," Kris said calmly, a smile on his lips now as he glanced at the quiet, eerie county around them. "She will be taken as promised—"
Tomas felt something catch in his throat and fought the urge not to throw up. He suddenly felt trapped. Very trapped. "Are you going to kill all of us?"
"If I must," Kris shrugged nonchalantly, glancing at Giles' body lying on the ground behind him. Almost instinctively, he pushed his foot into the man's hip and flipped him over onto his back. His glasses were broken and crooked on his nose. Small trails of blood from the wound in his neck ran across his face and down the front of his stark-white top. "You were to kill him. And then I would kill you."
Tomas felt near panic now. "I…"
"Put him in the river," Kris said coldly, switching his gaze back onto Tomas. "Drag his body down to the river and put him in it."
Tomas felt his hands shake as he stared at the rapid current of the river and then back at Kris. "How do I know you will not do me in?"
"You do not," Kris said in a mocking voice. "I owe you nothing."
"And what about Buffy?" Tomas asked. "Do you realize how important she is for us?"
An odd shiver passed Kristofer's face. "I do know what she means for you," he said coldly, advancing quickly on the man who backed uneasily away from him. "You, on the other hand, have no clue what she means to us."
"I will not involve myself with this," Tomas said, his eyes drawn to the wand in the other man's hand. "I will not kill for you."
"You almost killed Rupert Giles, did you not?" Kris sounded amused now.
"You cursed me," Tomas snapped, reaching behind him and feeling in the back band of his pants for his wand. "You deceived me. You lied to all of us! How could you do this to us?"
"The question, dear friend, is whether or not this had been planned from the beginning." At seeing the blank look on his partner's face, he lifted up his wand, gesturing back. "One last chance… no?" He asked, his eyes twinkling at the utter horror on the young man's face. "You leave me with little choice."
"I die of my own free will," Tomas stuttered.
"So brave and yet so foolish," Kris admonished him as he lifted his wand. "Avada Kedavra!"
The blast of green light shot out from his wand and hit the other man square in the chest. The impact flung him back several feet and he fell, rolling over and over until he rested near the body of the Watcher.
Slowly, he started laughing as he pulled his wand arm down. "Two down," he said silkily, flicking his eyes towards the mansion looming only a hundred yards behind them. "One to go."
x-o-x
Staring hard at her feet, Emma Vance felt the cold of the late afternoon as she shivered underneath a blanket. She was sitting on a tailgate of some Muggle vehicle. People came and people went, but she didn't pay them any heed. She just sat on a cold metal chair wrapped in a blanket and staring at her feet.
"How are you holding up?"
Emma forced herself to look up at Arthur Weasley. Wrapped in his normally worn Wizarding robes, he looked out of place on the busy Muggle street. She blinked up at him before her gaze dropped back down to the ground. "I'm okay."
She felt his comforting hand on her shoulder as she fought back tears. Hours had passed since their escape from the hell beneath which had once stood as the proud Ministry of Magic. She pressed her cold hand to her numb face and took a deep, shuddering breath. She heard Arthur moving away and talking to someone. Glancing up, she saw a group of people who could only come from Hogwarts. Remus Lupin and Minerva McGonagall were amongst a group standing with other Wizards Emma recognized as working in the Ministry. She felt something like a laugh bubble up from her chest as she turned away, resting her head against the cold metal frame.
Across the lot, Percy Weasley stood with a group of Ministry employees. His eyes were on the gaping hole in the ground with thick white smoke billowing out. Closing his eyes, he heard the screams of fellow employees still echoing in his ears…
He had managed to find his way out of the Minister's office. Once out, he saw the crowd swelling around the one lift off of the hallway. Turning on his heel, he found the main corridor and found that the elevator was crammed full. He spun around only to find a half-dozen Ministry employees running terrified with a half-crazed look in their eyes. He knew that unless he found another way off of this level, he would be trapped. As he turned to walk away, he heard the elevator bell ring and the doors pulled open. He heard voices inquiring about who was actually inside the elevator cage. And then he heard the screams.
Against his better judgment, he turned around, staring behind him. The sprinkles over their heads suddenly activated, spraying all in the corridor with an icy blast of water. Spluttering and wiping his glasses uselessly, Percy managed to find a doorway. He had somehow managed to clear away from the crowds. He still heard the screams…
He couldn't leave them all behind. Who was he to run away like a coward? He was the Minister's Junior Assistant, for crying out loud. He had a responsibility to the people whose office they had voted for he worked and dedicated his life to and nearly destroyed his family over.
"Percy?"
He whirled around and glanced behind him. "What is it?" he said, glancing at the younger man who was pale and gazing at him, horrified. It was then that Percy noticed the bright red stain on his chest. The man groaned as he fell face-first onto the tiled floor. Lifting his eyes from the body, he stared at the figure behind him. Or rather, the creepy semi-transparent ghoul that gazed at him with socket-less eyes and a rather eerie smile on its face.
Instantly, his mind went back to a lesson taught by Professor Quirrell in his fifth year. The only way to defer the Inferi is with fire. Mainly, their essence is of cold which means that heat and fire will successfully fend them off. Though the Inferi may not be destroyed, it can be stopped or slowed down. Pulling out his wand, he muttered the spell for fire and watching as the blast came from his wand. The Inferius shrieked as it stepped back before smashing through a wall.
Percy dropped his wand arm, his breath hard and his heartbeat ringing in his ears. He knew that he had come close to dying at that moment. It was his clearheaded thinking and his ability to solve problems instantly that came into play with his survival.
But then… when that thing had smashed through the walls it had revealed an opening. He stepped inside and glanced down towards the Atrium. Aside from residual dust settling from the crumbled walls and the large, gaping hole on the other side, he realized he had just found the one way off this level without dying.
The only problem rested in how to get down. He got down and slid through the narrow gap and glanced down below. There was a small cable of some sort that would have to do. He reached out and grasped it, testing his weight before he attempted sliding down. It was rough and coarse on his hands. He felt the metal as it bet into his hands and as it tore his cloak. But he was desperate. He could hear them screaming again. It forced him into action. He needed to move. He needed to get out of here. He knew that much.
At last he reached the next level. Stepping on what little floor there was, he kicked at the wall until it crumbled away. Moving his bleeding hands to push the bits of wall and concrete away, he tumbled out of the hole to find himself facing six armed Witches and Wizards standing with a barricade and their wands drawn out.
"Don't shoot!" Percy shouted, putting his hands up and holding them protectively over his face. "Don't shoot! It's me, Percy Weasley."
"Percy?" a quiet voice asked. Percy nearly laughed at the thought that he had found his brother. Bill was standing there next to his stunning fiancé. He could have cried with relief.
"Bill," Percy said, moving behind the barricade. "What's this?"
"From what we've been able to gather, everyone who was in or near the Atrium is dead."
"And… Dad?" Percy asked, his voice suddenly hoarse.
"We don't know," Fleur said in her thick accent as she joined Bill's side. "We have not heard of him."
Percy felt his hand moving to his face until he realized there were tiny trickles of blood running down his wrists. "Are you all right?" he asked his brother, his future sister-in-law and the others.
"We're fine for the moment," Bill said in his serious voice, glancing at Fleur. "I don't think this level has been hit yet. But, were you—?"
"Oh, yes," Percy said sarcastically. "We were hit. There's Inferius."
Bill's eyes widened. "That's not good."
"You're telling me," Percy said, trying to shield his eyes from his brother. Yet Bill seemed to pick up on it.
"What is it, Percy? What's got your knickers all twisted?"
"You have time to joke like this?" Percy asked in disbelief, staring hard at his brother who shrugged.
"I'm just trying to lighten your mood, little brother. I know I'm not doing a very good job of it, but we need you here." His voice dropped dramatically as he dragged his brother by the elbow over to the corner of the corridor. "We have not had sight or word from any of the other government figures. We have to assume the worst."
"But I'm still here," Percy argued.
"Yes, you're here. You alone are standing here bleeding and terrified and we still have levels to go," Bill retorted. "Listen… there's a few of us who are guarding this level. Every time we're attacked, we fall back to the next level. The gate and lifts are out. We can't Apparate or Floo out."
"They've got us trapped," Percy said quietly. "We're cut off from the outside world."
Bill shook his head and whistled under his breath. "We need to find the others."
"The others?"
"Other people who have survived this monstrosity," Bill clarified, glancing around. "But it is your call."
"How is this my call?"
"You know this lovely building we're currently trapped in? You were willing to cut off your family for this office. You are Minister Fudge's Junior Assistant… it's time to act like one. What do you want us to do?"
Percy felt as though something was stuck in his throat. Finally, he glanced at his brother. Bill was far braver than he could ever hope to be. "What would you do?" he asked cautiously.
"I would tell me to go down and find survivors. If we get enough, maybe we can fight back."
"You want us to fight back against the Inferi?" Percy asked scornfully.
"This isn't my call, Perce," Bill said, rolling his eyes. "This is yours. That's what I would do. Maybe we can't fight the Inferi, but if there are others…"
"Like Death Eaters," Percy muttered under his breath.
"Yes, Death Eaters… those we can fight… to the death if we must."
"All right," Percy said after thinking for a moment. "But I…" How could he ask his brother to risk his life at a time like this? Both he and Fleur were together and they were safe. He knew Bill too well to assume he'd take the upper levels. "Would you…"
"We'll go down," Fleur said, stepping forward suddenly and taking Bill's arm. "The both of us will go down. We'll find as many as we can and we will find a way to get them back up to the Atrium."
Percy sighed in resignation and held out his arm as Bill and Fleur crawled through the tiny hole he had just come through. Before Bill disappeared entirely though, he felt he needed to say his piece. "Bill?"
He watched as his brother's pony-tailed head turned around and he found himself staring into his cool eyes. "Yes?"
"Be careful, okay? I've lost my best friend… I can't lose my brother, too."
Bill's eyes flickered with confusion but a moment later he disappeared inside the crawl space. Percy could hear them using the cable to slide downwards. He felt something painful clench his chest. Yes, he had to find his father. Nothing mattered more to him. He had burnt enough bridges with his family. Here was his one chance to actually do the right thing, even if it meant risking his own life.
Standing in the daylight, Percy squinted at the hole and turned towards his father who made his way to him. "Percy… I know you're not really here right now, but we need you to ask you to do something."
"I'll do it," Percy said simply, glancing up at his father and at the circle of others gathering around them.
Arthur hesitated for a moment before continuing. "You… you may be the last survivor of Minister Fudge's office staff. You are quite possibly the only living witness." He winced as he saw the dark, haunted look in Percy's eyes. "Could you make a statement to the rest of the Wizarding world? We need… we need to tell them what happened here."
Percy's mind chose at that moment to fade out as he remembered something that had happened. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise and he shivered. He longed to remember something else. Anything else. He would rather have his joints broken and bent than reminisce about the terrors he had seen. But his father was right: the world deserved the right to know what happened.
And then he saw Emma Vance and he felt his words clog in his throat. He longed to hold her, to do anything to get that deadened look from her face. He knew in his heart that he wore the same devastated look on his face. He also knew that something of it had come from seeing his ex, Penelope Clearwater, taking on two Death Eaters on the level top the Atrium at once.
He remembered feeling so helpless in that very instant because he knew that Penelope was clearly the better at hexing and jinxing in their pairing. He also remembered feeling stupid for crying out her name.
"Percy!" Penelope cried, backing over the bodies of their fallen coworkers as she stood next to him, panting and huffing at the same time. As the two Death Eaters began to hex others in their immediate area, Percy turned to her. He had never seen her look so beautiful, so alive… maybe instead of working for the historical society as she had so wonderfully chosen, she could have made one hell of an Auror, or someone to apprehend people from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement…
"All right?" he asked her breathlessly as she glanced away.
"They…" she swallowed hard, forcing herself to continue. "They… they killed…"
"I know," Percy said in a low voice, desperately trying to keep the emotion out. "I know, Penny. They've killed a lot of people."
"But… but her?" she asked, pointing a shaky finger at a figure lying in the gap between the two parties. "They shot her from behind… those bastards. They can't even fight fair… this isn't war, this is a massacre!"
"Welcome to the real world," Percy said darkly, pulling out his wand and preparing to go forward to help. But Penelope placed her small hands on his chest and pushed him away.
"No, Percy, no… this isn't your fight. For all we know, you're the last person left of the governmental body. You have to get out of here alive."
"I'm not leaving you here to die!"
Even the Death Eaters stopped shouting curses as they turned to look at him before lifting their wands, this time aiming in their direction.
"Percy, please." She was crying now. Tears slipped from her eyes as she stared up at him. "Please go. Please…"
"No." He was struggling to hold it together now. He knew what was at stake. He knew that people were dying and his superiors were likely either dead or being tortured at this very moment. "No, Penelope, please listen to me. I just watched my brother disappear. Buffy, she…" He couldn't get it out. Try as he might, he couldn't spit it out. "I need to be here," he appended, shaking his head at the concerned look on her face. "I can't bow out now."
"How touching," an icy voice said as a third Death Eater joined them. Percy turned and his eyes widened as he glanced at the man. A small army of Inferi blasted through the walls behind him. "Lovers quarreling at the time of their doom. It would make a touching film if either of you were to live to tell the tale."
Before he could stop her, Penelope charged forward just as the Death Eater took out one of the last standing people between her and the male.
"No, no, no," Percy murmured, horrified. And yet he watched as she charged in with all the grace of a Slayer. Her hexes were fast and furious but he knew deep down that she was doomed. Instead, he focused on the figure standing there with the other two Death Eaters sweeping in to defend him. "Penelope, no!"
It was like watching the scene unfold in slow motion. He ran forward just as one of the curses hit the center of her forehead. Her screams would forever reverberate in her ears. He caught her before she fell. Even as he held her dying body in his arms, even as he struggled to find the words to say, he couldn't speak. Nothing seemed appropriate. Should he apologize for something he should have done? Should he have come forward and fought to the death by her side? They had once been equals until they had graduated. Why didn't he ever tell her that he'd loved her?
"Get out of here," Penelope whispered, the light dying from her eyes. "You have to go… now. Please… don't die here now because of me."
Percy glanced up and saw an Inferius bearing down on him. Gritting his teeth, he gentle set Penelope's body aside before getting to his feet. Using his brain, he did the one logical thing he knew how to do – he set fire to the debris before him. With a wall of flame protecting him from his attackers, he was forced to leave Penelope's remains to those he knew would show her no mercy.
As he ran for his life, Percy berated himself for leaving her behind. She was still breathing when he left her. Should he go back? Did he want to go back?
Yes. But he couldn't now. Everywhere he looked people were dying. They were blasted off their feet. They were fatally touched by Inferi. They were dropped hundreds of feet to their fiery deaths.
"Percy? Son? Are you still with us?"
"Dad," Percy said, shaking the horrible memory from his head. "I'm…" He couldn't quite say what he was. He wasn't with them. He couldn't stop the nightmarish thoughts from spilling into his brain. He remembered seeing his brother's body one level above the Atrium. He had apparently fought his way there before being ripped apart by Inferi. As he ran into the Atrium, he stood there. And then Emma had come out of nowhere, stumbling and falling. Being that she was his friend, he wasn't going to watch another friend die. He had seen Fleur Delacour fight brilliantly to her last. He had grabbed Emma and had dragged her clear out of harm's way. His only regret was that Emma had watched her mother die.
He closed his eyes and buried his face in his hands. He felt his father's hand on his back, reassuring him that he was not alone in this. But now he felt alone… truly alone. Everything he had worked so hard to protect was gone. Things were falling apart. And he couldn't pull himself back together, not with these thoughts racing through his head…
He moved from his father, from that entire group. They didn't understand. Perhaps his father did, but he had managed to get himself out alive without seeing anything too drastic, right? He could hear Penelope's voice in his head telling him that he needed to go on because he was alone. Just like the Slayer. Just like her destiny… alone. He heard Bill telling him that he needed to get his head together and tell them what they needed to do because he was in charge. He heard Emma sobbing her heart out to him just moments after she woke up from passing out, telling him that every time she closed her eyes, she saw the deadened, terrified look on her mother's face as she died.
There was so much death… so much darkness… it was hard to imagine anything better. He glanced around bitterly as he saw others gathered at the gaping hole, trying to figure out a way inside. Apparently it was still closed off to anyone not wearing the Dark Mark.
"It's useless to try," Minerva McGonagall was saying as she glanced at her compatriots around her. "If we were to use magic to get inside, they could have thousands of Inferi just waiting to ambush us."
"Yes," Sirius Black said, grimacing at the thought of walking in like that. "But what choice do we have?"
"We could ask Snape," Remus Lupin replied, his face clearing wearing the expression that he thought this was the worst idea ever.
However, this got Sirius thinking. "Maybe we don't have to use Snape."
"What do you mean?"
"We just need someone with the Dark Mark, right? They don't have to be evil?"
"I'm not sure," Remus said cautiously, staring at the white smoke still pouring from the ground. "I have no idea what sort of barrier there is to get inside."
"Snape is the only one in this country with that sort of status," Minerva reminded Sirius gently.
"No, he's not," Sirius said, smiling suddenly despite the dismal situation. "There is another…"
x-o-x
Loud jazz music spilled out of speakers perched on top of Grecian columns. Flash bulbs popped as celebrities strolled a bright red carpet, lining as far as the eye could see. Buffy stood at the front of the car as Cedric swept around the back and took her arm, pulling her forward towards the red carpet. "Hey," he said, tugging on her arm to stop. "Shine for a moment."
Buffy turned, blinking as a dozen flash bulbs popped. She couldn't stop beaming even as Cedric pulled her into him, his hand on her back. Moments later, they turned to run up the short flight of stairs and into paradise.
"This is awesome," she whispered as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Did we always get to go to functions like this?"
"Well, no," Cedric sighed. "Believe it or not, this is the second one I've ever been to."
"Just like a daddy's boy?" she teased, reaching up to tweak his nose.
"Speaking of parents," he breathed, leaning away from her and extending his free arm out. "Mother, father…"
"Ah, Cedric!" an older man said, stepping away from a group of people clustered in a small group talking over the soft jazz swelling inside. "And Elise? My, my… you look quite the dish."
"Hello, there," Buffy said, smiling as she shook his hand. To her surprise, he held onto her hand for an extra moment before releasing it.
"Denise, love… our son is here," the man said, nudging a woman who was still standing with the group. She immediately turned, her perfectly made-up eyes widening as she came forward.
"Oh, Amos, dear," she giggled, setting aside a champagne flute. "Hi, Ced… you look swell tonight."
"My mother, the drinking comedienne," Cedric whispered into Buffy's ear, rolling his eyes. Buffy barely held back a giggle as she reached forward to shake Denise's hand. "And our seats?"
"You're with us," Amos Diggory said, gesturing to a circular table somewhere to the left of Cedric. "I hope you don't mind. After all, tonight is an important night. Now, now… we must go and make our rounds. Why don't you two sit and order some drinks? You can make the rounds later."
"Smashing idea, Amos," Denise said, wiggling her arm through her husband's and taking her drink up again. "See you in a bit, dears."
As soon as Amos and Denise slipped away, Buffy turned to Cedric as he led her to their table. "Your mother is drunk."
"She's enjoying life," Cedric said, grinning down at her.
"With champagne?" she teased, moving to pull out her chair to sit down. To her surprise, Cedric blocked her with his arm before pulling out her chair for her. "Hmm… I didn't know they existed anymore."
"Such the perfect gentleman," an older woman across the table sighed, waving cheerfully at them. "Hello, Cedric… Miss Potter…"
"Hi, Helen," Cedric said, adding his charming smile as the older woman smirked, her tiny eyes disappearing into plump cheeks. "You enjoying yourself?"
"Ooh, very much, very much, Cedric. Your parents have outdone themselves again."
"Yes, they have," he said, clearing his throat as he glanced back down at Buffy. "What can I get you?"
"Something sweet," she said, leaning her chin on her fist and gazing up at him.
"I think I'll save that for later," he said, lifting his eyebrows mysteriously. At her sudden surprised look, he bent down, kissed the tip of her nose and disappeared to the bar set up next to the stage where a jazz quintet was playing. As he swept off, she let her gaze wander. She found herself staring at the mutinous faces of a dozen young women glaring daggers at her. She couldn't help but smirk as two bent their heads together and whispered furiously.
A sudden movement caught her eye and she saw a figure moving in the background. She felt a sudden chill race up her spine and turned away, folding her arms against her chest. She felt something on her arm prick and she knew it was the stupid tattoo. Though she'd actually managed to make it disappear under goop of concealer, it still burned. She held her position even as the table filled up around her. Every greeting was answered with a small smile. It wasn't until Cedric got back with two glasses did she actually breathe out a sigh and smile up at him.
"Your wine, dearest," he said, handing her a tall glass and taking the seat next to her. A moment later his parents came laughing to the table. The rest of the tables were filling quickly now and men in red uniforms were circling around the tables with trays of incredible smelling food. "Are you being nice?"
"Except to those girls who are just waiting to stab me in the back and take my place," Buffy said sweetly as he wrapped an arm around her.
"Just let them have their bitter envy… it's not as though they have any other things in their life other than spite," Cedric mumbled under his breath.
"But you love me, right?" Buffy asked him lightly.
"I don't think you have much of a choice there," he teased, squeezing her once before turning to the woman sitting on Buffy's opposite side. "Mrs. Carding, how have you been? How're the kids?"
Buffy sat in her chair, watching the light banter around the table, feeling content. She sipped at her wine and enjoyed her moment. She knew she could get used to this.
She was shaken from her stupor by a deep booming voice. She turned in her chair and saw Amos Diggory taking a microphone from a red-faced young man with a bottle in his hand.
"Thank you much for that retelling of our infamous credo," Amos said dryly, watching as the young man stumbled away. "Let us hear it from the court jester!" Scattered applause broke out along with gentle laughter. "Now, before we are served this magnificent feast that you all paid a load of gold for, I have something to say. For this, I wish to invite my son and only child Cedric up here to join me."
Buffy glanced at Cedric as he slowly got to his feet, shrugging at her. She watched in confusion as he walked over to the bandstand where his father was standing waiting for him. "Someday, you good folks will be seeing my heir up here making the small talk and welcoming you all to a night of fraternization and friendship and French chardonnay. Before we eat, I would like to make an announcement. Or, rather, my son has an announcement to make and tonight seems as good a night as any. We would like to announce the engagement of our son, Cedric to a rather extraordinary young woman, Elise Potter."
Buffy felt like all the air had been sucked out of her lungs. She felt her jaw drop and struggled to breathe as cheers rose out around her. Following them were strong boos, particularly from the bitter and spiteful club in the back. A single figure slipped from the throng of people lined near the back and held her champagne flute, glancing in disbelief around at the jeerers.
"Go up there, sweetheart," Denise said, leaning over and tapping on Buffy's knee. Standing up on watery legs Buffy walked forward as though in a daze. Cedric met her halfway, taking her trembling hands into his. Before she could do or say anything, he reached into his pocket and removed something and handed it over to her.
"Please tell me this isn't happening in front of hundreds of your parents' friends?" she begged him softly.
"This is exactly where it needs to happen," he said, opening a small box and turning it for her. "You probably don't remember but we… we talked about this. And the time is right. I love you…" He reached out to touch her face and tipped her chin up towards him. "And I kind of adore you. You mean so much to me. Now I get the chance to spend the rest of my life with you… how could I not want that?"
"Oh," Buffy whispered, glancing down at the ring as she reached for it, lifting it from the tiny box. She was aware that there were hundreds of eyes on her, some of them vengeful. "This is probably the sappiest moment of my life. It will be mocked for all eternity in made-for-television movies staring people who don't even look like us… but in the end, it comes down to doing what is right. And this is right. So… yes." She lifted her gaze and met his squarely. "Let's do this together." He suddenly grinned as she handed him the ring. "And, of course, since I'm the girl, I don't put this on myself."
"No… I got this part down," he added with a wink. After he slid the ring onto her finger she leapt into his arms. He wrapped his arms around her as Amos came forward, clapping them both on the back.
"Welcome to the family, Elise. I only wish those good, hard-working folks of yours were here to see it."
"Somehow I think they already knew," Buffy said, giving Cedric a long look. After a moment he smiled helplessly at her, took her by the hand and led her back to their table.
x-o-x
"When I volunteered to help out, I never thought you meant to use my darkest powers."
"Well, yes, if you want to mock this rather dire situation." Sirius suddenly paused, taking his sister by the arms. "Faith, can you listen to me for just one moment? All of these people," he gestured around the street to where people were standing, their expressions crossed between distraught and numb, "have seen death today. Yes, I know that that Mark has caused you a lot of grief but right now, we need that power more than anything. We need to break down the barrier between this world and that…" His voice caught in his throat.
"What do you want me to do?" Faith asked quietly.
"We need you to get through the barriers between the street and the entrance into the Ministry of Magic. Once you break down that barrier, we should be able to get help in."
"Okay… just show me where to go."
"Are you sure you're all right with this?" Sirius asked, leaning closer to her.
"Of course I'm not," Faith retorted, taking a step away from him. "How would you feel if you were the last hope for potential survivors stuck in hell? But it's a job and I do my job."
"Faith…"
"I'm okay, Sirius," she said, giving him a dark look. "So," she said, raising her voice as she walked towards the group clustered by the hole. "How can I help?"
x-o-x
Crash.
An entire stack of rubble came crashing down, landing this way and that around the cramped corridor. Coughing as she swept the dust from in front of her face, Nymphadora Tonks stumbled away, grasping at the wall as she fell to her knees, struggling to breathe. A moment later, she shook her head to clear it and pushed herself to her feet. Cradling her injured arm to her side, she continued along the narrow hallway, straining to hear the sounds of approaching Inferi or the callous voices of the Death Eaters. She didn't know how long she'd been unconscious but it had been for an actual length of time. Everything seemed so still, so quiet now. She had half-expected to hear the sounds of people screaming or crying or something… but all she heard was silence.
She felt along the floor with her uninjured arm for her wand, knowing she'd need it to defend herself. As she bent over, she became lightheaded and fell onto the debris. Feeling as though she were dangerously close to blacking out, she forced herself to sit up and fell back against the wall.
Reaching up, she felt her head and her face, wincing as she hit a cut above her eye that obviously hadn't stopped bleeding yet. She knew she was defenseless except for the ability to morph herself in order to get out of this place alive. But she was an Auror and her job was to defend this institution. With her blurred gaze, she found herself believing that this institution needed all the defense it could get. Everyone who had likely lifted a wand to defend this Ministry was likely dead. She wondered about the fate of the others, including Arthur and Emmeline.
"How in the hell am I supposed to get out of here?" Tonks whispered to herself. She couldn't see straight. She knew she was injured. She wasn't quite sure where she was. The last thing she remembered was hanging by the ankle and then she saw the floor speeding close to her face. She may have screamed. Her throat was sore as though she had been screaming.
She longed to close her eyes again…
A sudden thump shook her from her drowsiness. Squinting in the bright corridor lights, she moved to her knees, reaching for a board on the floor in case she needed to defend herself. Though she was no Slayer, she knew she had to defend herself. What she wasn't expecting was a figure bursting through the door and collapsing on the ground. A cloud of dust rose into the air and, coughing, Tonks crawled over to the figure. The figure was decidedly male and when she turned him over she felt her breath catch. She pressed her fingers to his neck, searching for a pulse and smiled in relief when she found one. Now all she had to do was wake him up.
Slapping his face, all it did was loll around. She poked various parts of his body. It was only when she started tickling his sides did a hand reach out and grasp hers. She gasped and turned to see a pair of cold eyes staring at her.
For a moment, time stood still.
"I'm so sorry," Tonks whispered, twisting her arm from his grasp and turning her gaze away.
"Who are you?" The voice was hoarse and raspy.
"I'm Ton—err, Nymphadora Tonks. I… I work here." Her eyes narrowed at the suspicious look on his face. She didn't recognize him and he wasn't wearing Wizards robes. He was wearing plain, ordinary Muggle clothing. "Who are you?"
"You don't know me?"
"Should I?" she asked, bending her face closer to his to hear him. Her hand reached up to touch the scratches that marred his face.
"Not unless you're a prisoner."
Tonks' hand froze and she moved away, settling back on her heels. "I wasn't aware we had any prisoners here."
"Only ones they apparently drag across the world," the man said, gritting his teeth as he struggled to get up on his elbows.
"No, don't," Tonks said, grasping him by his shoulders. "Please… you'll only injure yourself further."
It was then he noticed her hair. "Your hair is purple. Did you know your hair is purple?"
"Yeah, I like it best that way," she said, grinning at him despite their rather desperate situation. "You're hurt." She paused as she helped him lean against the wall. "You're from… where, exactly?"
"California," he said, swaying as his head smashed into the wall. He winced as debris from the broken open ceiling fell onto them, littering her brilliant purple hair with white strips.
"Oh," she said softly, though her curiosity was getting the best of her. "Well… how did—?"
"I'm a Watcher."
Tonks blinked and shook her head. "Why would they have taken you here?"
"For my protection, apparently," the man moaned. "I'm Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, Nympha—"
"If you want to keep that head of yours, you will call me Tonks," she growled as she settled onto the floor next to him, letting her head fall back into the wall. "This is unbelievable. First they ship one Slayer off to California. The next one they ship off to Bulgaria. They drag one of the last two Watchers to Bulgaria and here you are."
"You seem to know a lot about the Slayers," Wesley said, squinting at her.
"Yeah," Tonks said, spying her wand lying underneath some broken tiles from the ceiling. "I do know them… both of them, actually. Faith and Buffy. Well, I knew Buffy first but Faith, well… if she's really Sirius's sister as she claims to be, she's my cousin." Leaving him for a moment, she retrieved her wand before returning to her spot.
"So…" he said quietly, turning to look at her, "what now?"
x-o-x
Rupert Giles groaned as his hand moved towards his face. He felt something sticky on his cheek and winced as he sat up. The pain in his head seemed to double and fell back against the ground. For some odd reason, it felt soggy. He heard the crackle of thunder in the distance. He felt the prickle at the back of his neck and reached back, feeling more dried blood. He slowly drew to his knees as he tried to remember the last thing he knew happened. He remembered staring at the river and then hearing a crack. Judging from the hole in the back of his neck and the broken dart lying by his side, he knew he had been shot.
The air was thick with the smell of rain. He had to get up. He had to get out. He had to get to Buffy.
As he stood up, he nearly tripped over something on the ground. It took him a moment to realize it was the same vampire hunter who shot him.
Something wasn't right, he thought as he glanced up and turned back towards the house. Something wasn't right…
x-o-x
"Are you sure you're going to be all right?"
"I'm five by five," Faith said, squinting at the late afternoon light surrounding the figure of Professor McGonagall. Grasping the cable that would take her slowly into the crevice, she adjusted the belt on her hips and gave the thumbs up sign to the others. "Wish me luck?"
It took a surprisingly short amount of time to reach the barrier. It was on top of part of the wall that had been blasted inwards. She felt the black magic energy the moment she slipped the belt off her hips and moved down the unstable wall and nearly fell into the barrier. She immediately felt the prickle on her arm from the Mark and pushed the thought out of her mind. Breaking this barrier didn't make her a Death Eater. It made her something else because she was trying to get the people still alive and trapped in this hellhole out.
She pushed her hand into the barrier. As her fingers moved through, she felt as though her arm was on fire. The Mark had turned black and yet she struggled to push on. Finally the barrier blinked out and she stumbled down the rabbit hole into something out of a natural disaster movie. She blinked as she walked inside, glancing this way and that. The entire opening entrance had been blown out. Remnants of fireplaces and elevators were ripped and lay gouged into the floors and up into the ceiling tile. A few steps further revealed the Atrium in its horrifying glory. Everything seemed so out of place. Everything seemed so…
One step further and she heard herself gasp. Bodies… there were bodies everywhere. Something began to burn in her stomach and boil upwards. She swallowed hard as she forced herself to continue moving. The Slayer part of her kept warning her that she was still in danger here. She couldn't fight a Death Eater or some weird semi-transparent zombie thing with her Slayer skills; she needed a wand and she had no skills with one.
The mortifying emotion was quickly replaced with anger when she saw many bodies on their stomachs, their backs burnt from the residue of hexes or bloodied gashes from the touches of Inferi. She felt the Dark Mark prickle as she passed another field. It was something a little more important than the entrance and she pushed her way through it. The Dark Mark burned black on her arm as it, too, winked out, leaving her standing alone in the middle of a barren death trap.
Cold fingers fumbled for the police radio she'd attached to her hip. Mustering the only voice she could, she uttered, "I'm in. Coast is clear… come on down." She couldn't keep the darkness from her tone and blinked away tears as she pulled the radio away. She thought she heard someone respond, but the radio had already clattered to the debris-strewn floor.
Some of these were bodies she recognized. One woman had a bruised forehead and her body was cold and stiff as Faith checked for a pulse. Emmeline something-or-other… why did she have to be so bad with names?
After what seemed like an eternity, other people started crawling down the elevator shaft and joined her in the Atrium. She stood there, covered in dust and blood, staring at nothing in particular and struggling to hold it all together. When she felt Sirius touch her arm, she glanced up and felt her self-control wane as tears trickled from the corner of her eyes. "They didn't stand a chance," she whispered. "They were shot in the back."
"We never said the Death Eaters fight fair," Lupin said as he joined the pair. "We're going to try and restore one of the fireplaces. Faith, if we could use your help."
Before she left, Sirius grasped her arm. "Are you sure you're all right?"
"Please don't ask me that," she said in a trembling voice. In the background, she heard Lupin shouting for someone to contact St. Mungo's and let them know they needed a large room to serve as a morgue so bodies could be identified and families could be contacted. As she was called again, she moved forward to stand next to Professor McGonagall. The older woman was using her wand to reassemble one of the fallen fireplaces. "This is really here, isn't it?"
"Yes, it is," McGonagall said quietly, pulling her wand arm down, her brow furrowing in concern for the youngest Black sibling. "Are you all right, dear?"
"Please don't ask me that," she repeated. "I mean… look at this place. How much more can you people take?"
"I think you'll find that after the last time, this world can sustain a lot," McGonagall said, returning to her task.
"This… this is what Harry has to fight?"
"Yes."
"How can he do this alone?"
McGonagall finished her incantations and frowned at the rather shoddy position of the fireplace. "He'll just have to. We have little choice."
"But he's just one kid… one man. Look at what those bastards did to an entire office. How can one person stand up against this?"
McGonagall stepped forward and placed a comforting hand on Faith's shoulder as the younger girl tried to control her tears. "He has friends who can help him. He has an entire community behind him."
"Even after this?" she asked, turning to face the Deputy Headmistress. "These Death Eaters or whatever knew what they were doing. They knew that destroying the government would make the public's faith about Harry a lot harder to follow. People will lose faith."
"As I said, there are those who are loyal to him and stand by him until the end."
"I hope they didn't think I was going to back away after this," Faith said, looking distraught as her eyes trailed around at the Witches and Wizards moving slowly through the Atrium. "I can't leave him to face this alone or with his friends. I may not have the magic mojo, but I have my strength. There is no way I can leave him to face this alone."
"Faith…"
"No," she said angrily, holding up her hand. "No. I told B I was leaving to protect him. How in the hell is he protected when something like this can happen?" She pointed angrily at the massacre around them. "When I'm done here… can I see him?"
"Of course you can," McGonagall said soothingly. "But for now, could you please remove the barrier from this fireplace so we can set up a Floo network?"
"Yes," Faith said, brushing her eyes clear and moving to the fireplace and reaching in with her right arm. "Of course."
x-o-x
"I know you can't hear me but for what it's worth, I do respect you and what you stand for. I believe that you do have a great deal of power and it will be used for the greater good. I only wish you were awake now. We need you, more than ever."
Irene Ironton smiled down at the pale, gaunt face of the Vampire Slayer once under her care.
"There is much going on and hopefully soon you'll see that you are the hero we've been counting on. You are the one we need. Your brother must live with the knowledge of the prophecy, yes… but you, my dear, have a destiny all your own. Despite the Mark…" She reached down, wincing at the Dark Mark, barely visible beneath her skin. "You will do great things, Buffy. You will—"
"Mrs. Ironton!"
Irene turned around and saw the figure of Kristofer, one of her two vampire hunters. "Kris?"
"It is Mr. Giles… he and Tomas have gotten into a fight," Kristofer gasped, grasping his side as he panted for breath.
"Where are they?" Irene asked, wincing as thunder sounded right over the house.
"Outside… near the river. Come, come!"
As Irene ran past him, Kristofer turned and dropped the act. Reaching into his pocket, he withdrew his wand and, with an evil grin, moved off behind her.
x-o-x
To be continued…
x-o-o-x
Just for the record, this chapter was only 18 pages long. The previous chapter was 20. The next chapter will also be about 20. There is just so much I want to add to this chapter, but this seemed like a perfect stopping point.
Next Chapter: The Ministry of Magic struggles to pull itself together after the massacre; showdown in Bulgaria between one former Watcher and one psychotic vampire hunter; Draco discovers his father's role at the Ministry of Magic; Faith makes her move…
Reviewer Comments –
One of the hardest things for me to do is kill off a good character. I had so much trouble figuring out a certain main character's death in Aurora Mirabilis. In this past chapter, I killed two for sure and the fates of the other two as well as the death of a fifth were decided in this chapter. Believe me, part of the reason that chapter took so long to write was because it was just that hard to let certain characters go.
CharmedChick: Poor sweet Joahn. I'm sorry, but I can't make any promises about which male characters live or die so at the moment, all bets were off. Killing Bill was like killing Xander and as much as I hated to do it there is the realization that this is war and good people die in war. Up until I posted the previous chapter I was undecided in his fate. Oh, and if you are confused, I may have messed something up or otherwise went against something already written.
Nikki: Unlike my other stories, this story takes up so much time and energy that it seems a pain to update it. There is just so much going on that it takes a small army of us to tackle it from different angles. But thank you for your review and I hope these chapters were worth the wait.
Demongirl024: I had been wanting to write action for so long... the deep, dramatic action and not something you sit there expecting to giggle at. The worst part was killing off Emmeline. I knew she was going to go in the beginning of the story because of something yet to be written. As for the 'rescue', I wanted a couple to do it. After watching Fleur in the Goblet of Fire movie run around and basically be utterly useless, I decided to give her character a fitting end. Bill was a toughie, though. I'm glad you enjoyed the action. All I can say is... much more to come. As for Buffy's entrance back... well, she'll be back at Hogwarts. As for how she comes back, that's yet to be determined. PS, Happy Belated Birthday!
NiennaFaelivrin: You won't have to wait as long for the next update, I can assure you of that. This chapter was just a huge pain to figure out and I hope I did it justice.
Lightdemondarkangel: One thing about Giles... he has a habit of coming back just when you need him the most. As for the mysterious Death Eater, he will be addressed in the next chapter by name. So, yeah... he didn't die. But he did accomplish his goal, which was to get both Slayers marked. You can see how handy that turned out for Faith.
Jackie: Well, well, you might actually get this request then. As I continue working through the outline of this story, it seems more and more prevalent that Harry/Faith will actually happen.
Smurfinator: I feel almost guilty in saying this, but there are more to come. I hate being so blase about it, especially since most people like characters I'm gleefully picking off, but it's becoming obvious that this story doesn't exactly convey how serious the situation really is. I love Faith/Sirius because there is just so much potential to explore. As for Buffy charging in to save the day... that won't happen. Yet. She's still in Bulgaria and still in her coma.
Naitch: We all know how dangerous Faith is sitting on the side. However, she's about had enough of sitting on the sidelines. Bill's fate is learned in this chapter. Giles was shot, yes... because things are about to go down in Bulgaria. Rest assured our favorite Watcher will be back!
harmoni9: I wish I could say the bad stuff was over, but I can't. There is still the penultimate battle and then the final battle coming. Everything looks bleak now, but things will start to get better but the ultimate bad is still to come.