Thanks for all the reviews! This is the second last chapter so enjoy...
Chapter 17
Fire
Voldemort sat in a large armchair in front of the fireplace, stroking his fingers on the velvet of the chair's arm. In front of him a fire burned and a giant snake coiled at his feet like a dog. Voldemort could hear commotion on the other side of the closed wooden door. Amid the sounds of shouting and breaking glass, Bellatrix Lestrange burst through the doors.
"The Order of the Phoenix is here!" Bellatrix screamed.
Voldemort leapt up from his seat, his eyes wild.
"You fool! Get back out there and fight them; I will call the rest of the Death Eaters."
Before she could run back out, Voldemort grabbed Bellatrix's arm and pushed back the sleeve of her robes where the Dark Mark stood striking against the witches pale skin. He pressed a long skeletal finger to the tattoo.
"Where are they?" Voldemort yelled, wheeling around the room. "Don't they feel their Master calling?"
Bellatrix's eyes widened and she ran to the door and looked out.
"We won't be able to hold them back; we've got to get out of here!" she screeched in panic.
Voldemort let out a yell and tossed the lounge chair to the floor. He blasted a hole in the wall and leapt out, followed closely by Bellatrix.
"Make sure you search every room in the house," Severus shouted as a dozen Order members and Aurors swarmed the Lestrange home. "Do not let a single one escape."
The instant the troops began to enter, the house exploded into chaos. Severus, Lily and Remus Lupin burst through the front doors, surrounded by determined Order Members and Aurors, while more men jumped in through windows. All hell broke loose within the manor house as spells exploded against furniture and blasted holes in walls.
Severus ran through into the living room, firing curses around him. Panicked Death Eaters fled towards the front doors only to be grabbed on the outside. As Severus battled on the ground floor, Remus and Lily took the stairs, followed by more of their troops.
"Take a room each," Remus shouted at the man behind him.
Lily ran into the first room at the top of the stairs as Remus continued along the hall.
Voldemort's long black robes flew out behind him as he ran, barefooted, out the back door and across the lawn. He could hear the shouts and explosions of the battle from within the house. Rage reddened his pale features as he ran towards the dark woods on the far side of the grounds. Behind him, Bellatrix Lestrange struggled to keep up.
"Master, wait! Master, please!"
Several cloaked figures, who had appeared from the side of the house were closing in behind them, firing curses as they chased the two fleeing figures.
"It's him, it's Voldemort!" Moody called to his men. "Don't let him escape!"
As Voldemort disappeared into the dense woods, Bellatrix stopped short and turned to face her pursuers.
"Dumbledore's fools!" she yelled.
She aimed her wand at Moody and a bolt of lightning leapt forth, piercing him in the chest.
As the Order Members stopped to check on Moody, Bellatrix fled into the darkness behind her master.
"Leave me," Moody said struggling to sit up. "It's Voldemort, get after him!"
Flying through the night sky Sirius sat on his broomstick with four Order Members on either side of him. The group swooped down low to scan the street below them. Sirius, noting that it was clear, gave the signal to dive.
All nine men swooped low, jumped from their brooms and rushed into a nearby door that stood under the dull light of a sign, The Paupers Plate. Inside, several of the tavern's patrons began to scream as Sirius and his group ran in. They ignored the cries of shock and terror from the customers and headed straight to a group of hooded men at a corner table. The men stood up, wands drawn.
"Petrificus totalus!" Sirius yelled.
As one Death Eater fell to the ground, the rest scattered in all directions.
"Get out, all of you!" Sirius ordered the frightened customers behind him.
They didn't need to be told twice, fleeing the bar as curses ricocheted around them. Against only a small group of Death Eaters, it didn't take long before Sirius and his men brought them all down. After the brief battle, Death Eaters lay scattered around the room, some frozen solid, others bound and the rest unconscious.
"Get them all to Azkaban," Sirius ordered. "Then meet me at the Lestrange house."
"Give up Malfoy!" Arthur called out as he and a small handful of Aurors stormed Malfoy Manor.
"Downstairs is all clear," Dawlish said.
Arthur headed up the staircase.
"Check every room," he called behind him. "We're not letting this one get away."
At the top of the stairs Arthur ran to the first door and found it locked. He kicked it in and charged through. Inside the large room on a sofa sat Lucius Malfoy, his wife huddled close to him. Arthur stopped short; he had expected Malfoy to put up a fight and yet here he sat cradling his wife in his arms. Arthur stepped slowly towards them, his wand outstretched and ready.
"Please," Narcissa Malfoy pleaded, her eyes filled with terror. "I beg you to spare my husband's life."
"I'm not You-Know-Who," Arthur told her. "I don't wish to kill anyone."
"Then what shall become of me?" Malfoy asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
"All Death Eaters are going to Azkaban."
Narcissa Malfoy began to sob quietly and Lucius picked up her hand, pressing it to his lips. When he stood, he allowed Arthur to bind his hands and lead him from the room.
Minerva McGonagall strode purposefully down a narrow alley, two tall men following her close behind. They passed dark shop windows that had closed hours ago, their owners home safe in bed. Only one store had candlelight still burning. As Minerva headed straight towards that shop, a fierce determination shone in her eyes, a look that not a single one of her students had ever seen in her many decades of years of teaching.
The trio stopped briefly in front of Borgin and Burke's, and Minerva raised her wand. A blast followed and Borgin, sitting behind the counter inside, was showered with glass and splintering wood. The two men behind Minerva rushed into the store and dragged the shocked shopkeeper outside.
"Borgin," Minerva said without emotion.
In an instant a fireball erupted throughout the shop and from inside the sounds of artefacts exploding and smashing filled the street.
"NO!" the old man screamed, dropping to his knees. "My store… why? I've done nothing!"
Minerva turned to him, the nearby flames bathing her face in an amber light.
"Your days of dealing with dark objects and Death Eaters are over," she said. "Consider this your foreclosure."
In a rush of flames, Dumbledore and Kingsley leapt out of fireplaces lining the main hall in the Ministry of Magic. All around them Aurors entered from nearby doors.
"Gather in close," Kingsley ordered them. "Tonight the Ministry is working with the Order of the Phoenix, conducting raids on known Death Eaters and you are all here to assist by doing an equally important task. There is no time to explain details now but we have known for some time that there are a number of Ministry officials who have been placed under the Imperius curse."
Kingsley paused to scan the faces in the room, all looked serious.
"Your mission will be to collect these people and bring them back here so that we can lift the curses and debrief them," Kingsley continued.
"Please be gently with them," Dumbledore added. "But remember that they are not in control of themselves and are therefore capable of anything."
Kingsley concluded by dividing the Aurors into small groups and told them their targets.
"You will need to be swift," Dumbledore said. "Timing in this mission is crucial."
Dumbledore and Kingsley watched as the group quickly dispersed, vanishing via the vast floo network.
"Fudge is not here yet," Dumbledore said. "I thought he said he wanted to be here."
"He did," Kingsley replied in his baritone. "Most likely he got cold feet. Perhaps he thought you would ask him to fight too."
"Indeed."
"You can go to the Lestrange house now if you want," Kingsley said. "I will remain here to help when the Ministers are brought in; it should only be a one man job."
Dumbledore nodded.
"But first I think I would like to check in on Fudge."
Severus moved down the front steps of the Lestrange house, pushing a hooded Death Eater in front of him. Remus and a dozen other men followed, each holding tightly to their own captives. Severus pushed the Death Eater roughly to the gravelled pavement.
"Get them all to Azkaban," he ordered.
He turned to Remus and asked where Lily was. Remus looked around anxiously.
"Mad-Eye's missing too," he said.
"Hey, up here!"
The men looked up, following the calling voice to a second story window.
"Lily," Severus called to her. "Is everything alright?"
"Ah, yeah, but I think there's something up here you should see."
Severus and Remus ran back into the house and took the stairs two at a time to the second floor.
"She was in here," Remus said, pointing to the first room.
They drew their wands as they approached the slightly ajar door. Inside, the room was dark, lit only by a dwindling fire. Lily stood across the room with her back to the window.
"I can only guess this is Nagini," she said.
In the centre of the room a giant snake was curling and uncurling itself, clearly very agitated.
"I wasn't sure if I'd be able to kill it," Lily said. "Should we bring the sword?"
Severus shook his head.
"It will take too long," he said. "If we can just immobilize the snake it might be easier to take her to the sword instead."
"Any ideas then?"
Behind them, a slightly overweight wizard ran up the stairs puffing.
"You-Know-Who and the Lestrange woman took off into the woods," he wheezed. "Moody's gone in after them."
"You two go," Lily ordered Severus and Remus. "I'll take care of fang features here."
"I will not leave you alone with this thing," Severus said.
"I'll help," Remus said. "You go get Voldemort."
Severus gave him a curt nod and took off.
Mad-Eye Moody clobbered through the dense trees as fast as his _ leg would allow him. The pain in his ribs from Bellatrix's curse still throbbing as he ran. Up ahead he could see various shadowy forms of bodies weaving in and out through the trees. Moody resisted firing until he could tell just who he was targeting. Nearby bushes rustled.
"Give up Voldemort!" Moody called, spinning around.
As fast and stealthy as a cat, out of the bushes lunged Bellatrix Lestrange.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Lily and Remus stood at either side of the dark room as Nagini reared up angrily. She opened her mouth wide to hiss loudly and flashed fangs bigger than their heads. Lily flicked her wand at the door and it slammed shut behind Remus.
"We don't want her getting away," she said.
Remus nodded and motioned for Lily to move aside. Doing as instructed, Lily dropped to the floor and rolled across the room as Remus took aim at Nagini. His curse narrowly missed the snake, the resulting explosion on the wall behind caused Nagini to dart about the room in a panicked frenzy. Remus tried again and this time Nagini headed straight towards him. From behind, Lily jumped back up.
"Arnia exumai!"
"Thanks," Remus said, watching the snake fall limply to the floor with a thud.
He stepped forward and nudged at Nagini with his foot.
"I don't think you've killed it yet though," he said.
"We won't be able to kill Nagini like this."
"What do you mean? Why not?"
Lily shook her head.
"I don't have time to explain now," she said. "I need to get her back to Hogwarts."
"You can't…"
"There's no time Remus!"
Lily put a hand on Nagini and an instant later, both had dissapparated.
Severus sprinted through the dense woods, knocking branches out of his way as he went. Up ahead he made out the form of three people and drawing closer he noted Moody being carried by two Order members. Moody was conscious but walking unsteadily, aided heavily on either side.
"Where is the Dark Lord?" Severus asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks for asking!" Moody slurred, trying to keep his head from lolling to the side.
"What happened?"
"Lestrange tried to kill me is what," Moody said. "Lucky for me all she hit was a tree."
"We chased her off," a young witch to Moody's left said. "Mad-Eye was pinned under a tree branch."
Severus stared off into the woods.
"So the Dark Lord and Lestrange?"
"Got away Sir."
Severus sighed.
"Go to the Ministry and find Dumbledore, tell him we have captured all here at the house but that the Dark Lord and Bellatrix Lestrange have fled."
The young witch nodded and rushed off and Severus took her place at Moody's side, holding him up as they made their way out of the woods. Back at the house the rest of the group had gathered in the main hall.
"Where is Lily?" Severus asked.
"She said she had to take that snake to Hogwarts," Remus said. "Would you happen to know why?"
"She will be disposing of it properly. It cannot be destroyed by any normal means."
"O…kay," Remus said, frowning.
Severus helped ease Moody down into a chair.
"Go on with yeh," Moody grumbled. "I'm not an invalid."
"Really? Because with your performance tonight I would have thought you were well past it," Severus snapped.
Anger flared in Moody's one good eye and he pointed his cane at Severus.
"I hope you're not suggesting I let Voldemort get away."
Severus shook his head.
"Not at all, I am sure he could have wandered away from any one of us just as easily."
Moody tried to stand but fell back down onto the chair. Remus moved to place himself strategically between both men.
"What we need to focus on is what we should do now," he said. "Since we've obviously lost the element of surprise."
The large front doors swung open and Minerva stepped through.
"What news?" she asked.
"Voldemort and Bellatrix got away," Remus said.
"Oh, dear."
The doors opened again and Arthur Weasley walked in, a huge grin splitting his face.
"Might I assume all went well with you?" Minerva asked him.
"You'd never believe it," Arthur began. "Lucius Malfoy just gave himself up without a fight. Caught him in more of a whimper you might say."
"You're kidding?" Remus asked. "Malfoy?"
"No joke. All the way to Azkaban I kept expecting him to try and run off, but he went just like a good little boy."
"Well, Voldemort sure put up a fight," Remus said. "Or at least Bellatrix did, they both got away."
"Blast!" Arthur said. "Does Albus know?"
"I sent someone to tell him," Severus said. "And to let him know this location is now secure."
"So what happens next?" asked Arthur.
"With the frightening combination of Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange on the loose?" Remus said. "This battle is far from over."
Dumbledore raised a fist to the door and knocked again, his heavy ring making a loud click against the wood. He had stood outside Fudge's home for several minutes but was yet to hear any sound of life inside.
"Cornelius?" Dumbledore called out. "Are you home?"
This time Dumbledore was sure he had heard movement on the other side of the door.
"Cornelius, it's Albus Dumbledore, open the door."
Again there was a noise inside; this time Dumbledore heard the unmistakable sound of feet shuffling across carpet. The door swung open slowly to reveal Fudge on the other side.
"Do come in Albus," he said stepping aside. "What can I do for you?"
"Do for me? You were supposed to be at the Ministry tonight."
"At the Ministry?" Fudge looked absently out the window. "But it is night-time."
Dumbledore squinted at him suspiciously.
"Don't you remember Cornelius? Tonight there is a city-wide raid and arrest of all Death Eaters. We are also capturing all Ministry members whom we suspect have come under the Imperius Curse."
"You don't say?" Fudge reached into his pocket. "And how can I help you?"
"I think you had better stop right there," Dumbledore said pulling out his wand.
Fudge froze, his glassy eyes fixed on Dumbledore.
"What can I do for you Professor?"
"You can let me examine you," Dumbledore told him. "I suspect you are currently under the _ curse yourself."
With the speed of a man half his age, Fudge pulled his wand from his pocket only to have Dumbledore knock it away with an invisible hand.
"Come now Cornelius, do not do something you will regret once this curse is lifted."
Showing no signs of emotion, the Minister made a move towards his fallen wand.
"Immobulus," Dumbledore called and Fudge dropped to the ground.
Dumbledore stood over the frozen body and sighed.
"Now that," he grinned. "I do not regret."