The Daily Prophet
Wednesday, November 10th, 1982
Minister Fudge Announces Cuts to Ministry Security in First Budget!
In his first budget since assuming the mantle of Minister in July, Fudge has made significant changes to Ministry department budgets.
"Along with the economy, the education of our children, our reputation overseas, the elimination of corruption and the pursuit of tougher punishments to be taken against the criminal elements of our society, the safety and security of the Ministry remains our absolute top priority," Fudge said to reporters. "However, the threat of You Know Who and his supporters has long since passed and the need to maintain a constant force of Aurors on duty inside the Ministry itself is unnecessary. The overtime costs alone… No, the money would be much better spent in revitalising businesses in Diagon Alley. Did you know that there hasn't been a professional hatter in this country since my father's time? To think that the people of Magical Britain don't have access to…
Ron was the first to leave the Great Hall once their exam parchments had been collected. He had tried to convince the examiner to let him out early, but the older wizard didn't allow it and Ron didn't have any Skiving Snackboxes on him to fake a medical emergency. He hadn't imagined that he'd want to get out of one of his OWL exams, even if it was History of Magic.
Harry had only started screaming, before he was taken outside, a few minutes earlier, but he was already gone. Hermione came up to Ron in a rush. She was clutching her exam question paper, but unlike her other exams, she was ignoring it.
"What was it, do you think?" she whispered worriedly to Ron. "Another vision?"
"Maybe," Ron said distractedly, trying to think. "Maybe there's been another attack." Ron tried to push down the concern for the Order members he knew, his mum and dad, Bill, Fleur, from overwhelming him. "Where's he gone, though?"
"If it was another attack," Hermione said, "he'd try and getting in contact with, well, you know," Hermione glanced around, "that group."
"Hagrid and Dumbledore are both gone," Ron said.
"McGonagall's in the Hospital Wing," Hermione said quickly.
"Let's go."
But when they slipped into a hidden passageway on the first floor, which would lead them all the way up to the Hospital Wing, they ran into Harry coming in the other direction.
"Harry!"
"There you are," Ron said. "What happened in the—"
"He's got Sirius," Harry said, his chest heaving. "He's trying to make Sirius take the thing in the Department of Mysteries."
"What?!"
"How?" Hermione asked, her eyes wide with worry. "Harry, that doesn't make any sense."
"Voldemort's torturing him, Hermione!" Harry snapped. Hermione visibly quailed before Harry's anger. "I already tried to go to McGonagall, but she's been taken to St Mungo's and we don't have any way to contact anyone else! An owl would be too slow and the fires are still being monitored, so the Floo is out of the question."
"Harry…" Hermione said carefully, as if she were trying to calm down a raging beast, "we should think about this carefu—"
"Umbridge's office!" Harry exclaimed. "She wouldn't have her own fire monitored. We can use it to get in contact with—" Harry cut his sentence short, clutching his head and wincing in pain. Ron and Hermione shared a terrified look. Ron reached out a hand to Harry's shoulder, but Harry shook it off and straightened up. "We have to go!"
He pushed past them, speeding towards the end of the passageway at almost a full sprint, Ron and Hermione trailing behind him.
"Wait!" Ron shouted when they entered the main hallway. "Fleur! I have the mirror I use to talk to her and she's in the Order."
Harry's expression morphed into relief for a brief second before switching back to frantic. "The dorm then, quickly!"
But they only made it up one flight of stairs before they were waylaid.
"Mister Potter," Umbridge said, blocking the way. Despite being a head shorter than even Hermione and dressed entirely in pink, she stood blocking the hallway, as if she thought she were the most intimidating person in the castle. "What are you up to?"
"Nothing," Harry and Ron said simultaneously.
Umbridge narrowed her eyes at the three of them. They were all short of breath, Harry was still angry and panicked and Hermione was visibly nervous. Only Ron, after years of withstanding his mother's ire, could keep a straight face.
"Detention, Potter," she declared.
"What for!?" he retorted angrily.
"For leaving an exam early. My office, now."
Ron saw Harry's hand twitch, as if he wanted to go for his wand and strike Umbridge down in the middle of the castle, but instead he just glanced significantly at Ron and Hermione and let Umbridge lead him away. Hermione looked at Harry with pleading eyes, clearly trying to say to him don't do anything rash.
Once Umbridge and Harry had turned the corner, Ron and Hermione resumed their mad dash towards Gryffindor Tower. When they reached it, Ron ignored the startled cry of the first year whom he pushed out of the way to get through the portrait hole quicker and took the stairs to the top of the tower three at a time.
Hermione closed the door to the boys' dorm, just as Ron pulled the mirror out of his bedside table.
"Fleur Delacour," he said firmly. For a moment, he just stared at his own reflection, silently urging Fleur to both have her own mirror with her and to notice that he was calling her.
He only had to wait a few seconds though, before Fleur's face appeared. He crushed the feeling of amazement he felt whenever he saw her beautiful face and opened his mouth to speak.
Before he could get more than a syllable out though, Fleur's face disappeared.
"Fuck!" Ron shouted, making Hermione jump. "Sorry," he said. "Mirror's out. It didn't have enough time to recharge."
"What do we do then?" Hermione asked. "Do we… Do we try to rescue Harry from Umbridge? Try and contact the Order some other way?"
Ron's mind sped up. He felt like he was in some impossible chess position, where any of the moves he could make would be mistakes… Chess…
"Chess!" Ron cried, spinning around. He grabbed his chessboard that was linked to Fleur's and quickly set it up. "I just hope she notices."
He thought for a moment, then played h3. With bated breath, he and Hermione watched to see if Fleur would respond.
Ron sighed in relief when the black pawn moved h6 across from him. He followed up with a3, then he moved all the pieces to make the famous Légal Trap. Then he reset the board and repeated himself, h3, a3, Légal Trap, reset. h3, a3, Légal Trap, reset. H, A, trap. Harry, trap… danger… about to lose…
He was resting the board for the fifth time when a silvery hawk appeared in the dorm room with them.
Their footsteps echoed ominously as they crossed the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic.
"Psst!" a voice whispered. "Over 'ere."
"Fleur!" Ron whispered back. He, Harry and Hermione rushed over to her.
"Have you see anybody since you got here," Harry asked.
Fleur shook her perfect head.
Harry frowned. "We can only hope that the night Watchwizard is merely indisposed," he said. He nodded towards the lifts. "This way."
The four of them descended into the bowels of the Ministry. The creaking of the lift mechanism did nothing to dispel the dark feeling that was pressing down on Ron. Fleur's hand snaked into his and he smiled at her momentarily. He could always find comfort in her.
The lift grates opened and Harry peeked out. "All clear," he said.
"They could be disillusioned," Hermione said, clutching her wand tightly.
"I don't believe so," Harry said simply. He walked out of the lift calmly and headed towards the entrance to the Department of Mysteries.
"Not even locked," Harry said to himself, opening the door. He reached into one of the pockets of his robe and took a sip from a small flask. "Just a little pick-me-up," he said in response to Ron's quizzical look.
They proceeded quietly, only the scuffing of their shoes and occasional squeaking door could be heard in the thick silence that surrounded them. Harry seemed to know where he was going… probably due to all the dreams and visions he had seen, Ron thought to himself.
"Harry," Ron whispered. "Do you think that Sirius is still…"
"Alive?" Harry said in his normal speaking voice. His voice startlingly loud in the oppressive Ministry basement. "I'm quite sure of that. It's just through here."
Suddenly, they were in a massive room filled with ceiling high shelves. Their wand lights reflected back at them a thousand times over in the silvery orbs on every shelf.
"Carefully now," Harry said. Ron and the others tightened their grips on their wands. "Just up here."
They continued to follow Harry. Ron placed his left hand on Fleur's shoulder. Eventually Harry stopped and cleared his throat.
"Where's Sirius?" he asked everyone.
Ron looked around, but he couldn't see Sirius either. The dust around them didn't look like it had been disturbed in days. "But Sirius…" Ron shook his head, confused. "I don't know, Harry."
"Look, Harry," Hermione said. "This pro— this orb has your name on it."
"Oh, would you look at that? So it does," Harry said, reaching out his arm.
"Harry, I don't know if this is such a good idea," Ron said nervously.
Harry just winked at him out of the corner of his eye.
Harry reached up to the shelf in front of him and when he drew it back, he was holding a glass ball like all the others.
"Very good, Potter," said a voice in the darkness. "Now be a good boy and give it to me."
Ron's heart sank, even as he lifted up his wand. They were surrounded and outnumbered. Death Eaters in their menacing masks were at either end of the row they were in.
"Give it to me, Potter," Lucius Malfoy said, holding out his hand imperiously.
"Ah, Lucius," Harry said. "I think I'd rather hold onto it myself, actually."
"Foolish child," said a witch next to Malfoy. "You're in no position to choose. Give it over or we'll torture one of your friends. The girl, maybe."
"I'd like to see you try, Lestrange," Hermione growled in response. Ron tried to edge in front of her, but Fleur had one hand on his robes, preventing him from getting in the way.
"Or maybe the other one," one of the other wizards said. "She's such a pretty thing."
Ron stopped trying to stand protectively in front of Hermione and was now staring down at the Death Eater who had spoken, rage in his heart and a curse on his lips.
"There will be no need—"
"Accio Prophecy!"
Harry flicked his long wand and Malfoy's Summoning Charm was reflected.
"—for such unpleasantness," Harry concluded, as if he hadn't been interrupted.
"This is ridiculous," Bellatrix Lestrange said in exasperation. "You can't possibly expect to fight against us and win."
"Oh?" Harry said. "If you three could manage those behind us," he said to Ron, Hermione and Fleur, shifting his weight on his feet.
"Right," Hermione said.
"Oui," said Fleur.
"Oh, and look after Ronald," Harry added.
Ron blinked confusedly, then shook his head. A moment later, it all started.
Ron turned to face the Death Eater's behind them and threw up the strongest Shield Charm he could and Hermione and Fleur started flinging curses and hexes at the Death Eaters before them faster than Ron could see. Behind him, Harry was fighting the other half a dozen of the adult witches and wizards by himself, the glass orb still held in his hand.
Ron couldn't let his attention wander though, as his shield shuddered and then collapsed under the onslaught of dark curses that were shot at him and the girls. They were strong enough that it left his arm shaking. One of the Death Eaters stepped forward and tried to cut him down, but Ron had a lot of practice in choosing which direction to move in.
Left or right? Left or right? Left!
Ron stepped to the side and the nasty Cutting Curse missed him by a hair. The Death Eater lifted his wand to try again, but Fleur and Hermione came to his rescue and forced the Death Eater back.
"Time to go," Harry said urgently. He had forced his opponents to fall back, but he hadn't managed to knock any of them out of the fighting. "Don't get separated."
They half ran back the way they came, fending off the occasional attack as they did. As they exited the dark hall and re-entered the more brightly lit part of the Department of Mysteries, they heard Malfoy shouting.
"You, you and you, head back to the entrance and make sure they can't leave. Everyone else, try and split them up, Potter won't leave anyone behind."
"Quite right," Harry said to himself. "Are any of you hurt?" They all shook their heads. "Good! Then let's keep going."
They cautiously made their way back through the department. The Death Eaters seemed to be leaving them alone until they entered a room filled with what looked like giant brains with tentacles in jars. All the doors to the room opened at once and a dozen spells flew toward them from all directions.
Ron's intuition told him to drop to the floor and a vicious looking red curse sailed over his head. The others defended themselves as well, but one of the deflected spells shattered one of the jars and drenched them all with murky water.
"Urgh," Ron said, wiping the gunk out of his eyes. Then he heard Fleur's scream of terror.
Ignoring the battle around him, he dove to her side and tried to wrestle the brain's tentacles that were winding their way up her arms.
"Relishio!" he tried, when he failed to remove them with his bare hands, but that didn't work either. "Harry, help me!"
But Harry was busy fighting eight Death Eaters all at once. Something about that seemed strange to Ron, but he just shook his head and turned back to Fleur. Harry was busy, but Hermione appeared at their side. She barked out a word in a language that Ron didn't recognise and the tentacles began to retract.
Ron squeezed Fleur's shoulder tightly in relief.
"I can't move my fingers," Fleur said, her voice faint.
Hermione poked at the ugly welts wrapping around Fleur's forearms with her wand. "There's nothing I can do here," she said clinically. "It'll have to wait until we get back to headquarters. Can you stand?"
Ron grabbed her wand, helped Fleur to her feet and then realised that there was still a battle going on. Harry had forced most of the Death Eaters back and had knocked two of them unconscious. His expression was serious, but still apparantly unconcerned.
"Harry, we need to go," Hermione shouted.
Harry nodded then began retreating towards one of the unmarked doors. He held it open as Hermione went through, followed by Ron supporting Fleur, his wand flashing all the time, defending them all from the barrage of Death Eater attacks.
When they were all through, Harry waved his wand at the doorway and the door disappeared, leaving a blank section of wall. Ron supposed that was one way to make sure they weren't going to be followed that way. They were in the first room, which meant that they were almost out, but there were three Death Eaters waiting for them. Harry forced them back with waves of golden flames, even as the room began spinning again.
"Exit, please," Harry said loudly and one of the doors springed open. Ron dragged Fleur out, while Hermione and Harry covered them both.
"Into the lifts," Harry ordered. They retreated towards the lifts cautiously and slowly filed in, ready for any more ambushes.
Harry calmly pressed the button for the Atrium and the lift began to move with a shudder.
There was a collective sigh of relief at the momentary relief, although Ron still had his arms clutched tightly around Fleur's shoulders.
"Miss Delacour," Harry said. "I apologise that you've been injured. May I?"
Ron released Fleur from his grip as she lifted her injured arms towards Harry. Harry peered at them over the top of his glasses, then frowned and readjusted them.
"Nothing permanent, I suspect," he said.
"Thank Merlin," Ron sighed in relief.
"I didn't see Lestrange at the end," Hermione said seriously to Harry, who nodded solemnly.
A moment later, the chime sounded and the doors opened. Ron peered into the dark room in front of them, but so far as he could see, it was as empty as it had been when they had arrived.
As they stepped out into the Atrium, Ron made sure that he was standing in front of Fleur, just in case.
"Avada Kedavra!"
There was a terrible rushing noise and Ron could see the deadly green light out of the corner of his eye, but the next thing he knew, he was lying on the ground. Fleur and Hermione were next to him, but Harry was standing confidently in place. Harry must have knocked them all down to protect them.
"Ah, Mrs Lestrange," Harry said loudly. "You can come out. I know how much you dislike fighting from the shadows."
Indeed, a moment later, from behind the Statue of Magical Brethren, the witch stepped out. She had discarded her mask, showing her crazed and angry face to the world.
"Give me the prophecy," she said, "and maybe I'll let your friends live."
Her voice was tinged with desperation and fury, but the wand that she was pointing at them was as steady as a rock.
Harry stared her down cooly, tossing the glass ball, the prophecy, whatever that meant, up and down repeatedly. After a moment's consideration, he came to a conclusion and stopped.
"Okay," he said simply, then he tossed the ball high into the air towards her. It was not a particularly accurate throw, maybe deliberately unhelpful, but Lestrange had her wand trained on it in a moment. It changed direction midair and flew into her hand.
Two seconds later, she screamed.
"A fake?!" she spluttered, after she had regained the power of speech. Harry just smiled at her in response. "Master, I've failed you! Forgive me!"
"I wouldn't waste your breath, Mrs Lestrange," Harry said. "He can't hear you."
"Can't I, Harry Potter?"
Tall, inhuman, and radiating malicious intentions, You Know Who emerged from the shadows. Ron's breath caught in his throat. He could hear his heart hammering in his chest and every muscle in his body contracted in fear. Only the familiar, comforting touch of Fleur's allure prevented him from collapsing into a quivering wreck.
You Know Who paced slowly until he was facing Harry across the Atrium.
"Too many times have you thwarted my plans, but no longer. I have nothing else to say to you. Avada Kedavra."
"Ron," the Patronus said with Fleur's musical voice, in the Gryffindor boys' dorm room. "I assume zat you mean something 'as 'appened with 'Arry. Don't worry, I am contacting the rest of the Order now. Standby for more instructions."
Ron slumped with relief, pushing the board away from him. "Hopefully they'll notice that Sirius is missing," he said.
"I don't think he is missing," Hermione said. "I don't see how he could be. Why would he leave headquarters? Why would Voldemort— don't flinch, Ron— go to the Ministry himself?"
"You think it's a trap?"
Hermione shrugged. "Rushing off into danger is something that Harry would do."
Any response that Ron could make was cut off by the appearance of another Patronus, this one a phoenix.
"Find Professor Snape," it said in Dumbledore's voice, before abruptly disappearing.
"Did we all forget that Snape is in the Order, too?" Ron asked, after a beat.
"Uhh," Hermione said intelligently.
They had to stop at the fifth floor for Hermione to catch her breath.
"Stupid… short… legs…" she let out between gasps.
Ron scanned the staircases beneath them, looking for Snape. Both his office and classroom were in the dungeon, so hopefully he was there. Otherwise they would have run all the way down the castle for nothing.
"There he is," Ron said pointing. Hermione followed his finger and they watched as Snape rushed up the stairs. It was strange to see him moving do quickly. He was unnerving enough normally, but when he was running, he was intimidating enough that the students in his way were pressing themselves against the walls so as to not upset him by getting in his way.
"Professor!" Ron shouted, trying to get his attention. Snape's eyes snapped onto him and a moment later he was upon them.
"Harry had another—"
"I already know," Snape said quickly. "Where is he?"
"He's in detention with Professor Umbridge," Hermione said.
Without a word, Snape spun around and headed towards Umbridge's office at a blistering pace.
Ron and Hermione struggled to keep up with him.
"Is Si— is Harry's friend okay?" Ron asked.
"Unfortunately," Snape drawled.
"So what Harry saw wasn't real?" asked Hermione.
"Obviously."
"So, it is a trap," Ron said.
"… Yes," Snape replied.
"Oh, thank goodness," Hermione said. "And to think, I was almost ready to go with Harry all the way to London! What a relief to not head off into danger again!"
Snape said nothing, but something about the way that he said nothing made the hairs on Ron's neck stand up.
"You still want us to go," Ron said, the words coming out of his mouth of their own accord, his eyes wide in realisation. "You want to… to reverse the trap. To spring it on them instead."
Snape whirled around. "Silence! Do you take pleasure in potentially revealing secret plans to the enemy or are you so short of wits that you just blabber out every thought that comes into your mind?"
Ron, thoroughly chastised, said nothing and just continued after the angry professor. When they approached the door to Umbridge's office, it opened at a wave of Snape's wand.
But instead of Umbridge standing over Harry, as she forced him to torture himself with that awful quill, Umbridge was slumped over her desk, unconscious and Harry was standing in front of the fireplace, his hand full of Floo Powder. Harry spun around, but there was a flash of red light and Harry collapsed, too.
"Hey!" Ron exclaimed. He and Hermione drew their wands and pointed them at Snape's back.
Snape ignored them and strode over to Umbridge's unconscious body. With visible displeasure, he rolled the witch over, peeled open one of her eyelids and peered at her closely. Scowling, he waved his wand at her, while muttering, "obliviate."
He looked over at Ron and Hermione. "Put those away and close the door," he said coldly. "This is all required for the Headmaster's plan."
Ron and Hermione shared a nervous look, but did stow their wands. To Ron, it seemed like he shouldn't trust Snape and what he said was exactly what a double-agent would say, but even so, he couldn't trust his intuition, nor could he bring himself to attack first.
Snape stepped up to the fireplace, reached into the small pot that Harry must have left open and threw his own pinch of Floo Powder into the flames. "Twelve Grimmauld Place," he said when the flames flared green. "The way is clear," he called into the fireplace.
Almost straight away, a tall figure emerged from the flames, standing up straight when his head was clear of the stonework.
"Headmaster!"
"Professor Dumbledore!"
"Good afternoon," Dumbledore said, smiling at the two children briefly. "This is a critical situation, but the circumstances allow us a little time to prepare."
"We'll help however we can, sir," Ron said. Beside him, Hermione nodded enthusiastically.
"Thank you," Dumbledore said in response. "I apologise for how Mister Potter has had to have been treated, but it's of paramount importance that Voldemort does not know of my involvement in what happens next. As I'm sure you are aware, Voldemort and Harry share a kind of magical connection. This is what allowed harry to alert us to Arthur's injury before Christmas and what Voldemort is welding against Harry now."
"A fake vision," Ron said.
"Precisely. Voldemort deliberately waited until Professor McGonagall was taken out of the castle before enacting his plot, which would take away Order members that Harry could alert and force him to go to London himself."
"What about Professor Snape?" Hermione asked.
"Voldemort is of the impression that Mister Potter does not trust Professor Snape." Snape stiffened slightly at the back of the room where he had retreated. "Perhaps he is correct to believe so. Nonetheless, by your quick thinking, you have prevented Harry from rushing off to London personally, which is exactly what Voldemort wants."
"But you want to make You Know Who think that Harry has gone," Ron said, putting pieces together in his mind.
Dumbledore gave him an impressed look. "Very good, Mister Weasley, a point to Gryffindor." Snape rolled his eyes dramatically behind the Headmaster's back. "Of course, Harry will actually be perfectly safe, here in the castle, but he must remain unconscious for the time being, otherwise Voldemort would detect the large wave relief and love that Harry would feel when he learns that Sirius is safe." Hermione sighed in understanding. "Professor," Dumbledore said to Snape. "Do you have it?"
Snape reached into his robes and pulled out a plain flask. "This is all that is left from what we found on Crouch Junior," he said to Dumbledore. Before handing it to the headmaster, he plucked a single hair from Harry's head and inserted it into the flask.
"Polyjuice?" Ron said. "But who's going to take Harry's place?"
"I think with the possibility that Voldemort himself may appear, it would be prudent to take his place myself," Dumbledore said, taking the proffered flask from Snape and swallowing a mouthful.
The bolt of green magic crossed the space between Voldemort and Harry in almost no time at all, but almost no time was still long enough for a flash of fire to appear in midair between them.
The Killing Curse disappeared as it struck Fawkes and Voldemort was momentarily stunned.
His expression morphed from surprise to anger. "Dumbledore," he growled.
By way of response, Harry flicked his wand and the golden figures comprising the statue in the centre of the Atrium came alive and leapt into action.
Ron's head was starting to hurt. Harry was Dumbledore? But Harry was Harry and Dumbledore was Dumbledore. He tried to shake his head, but suddenly, everything snapped into place.
"Now, in order to help maintain the illusion that Harry has fallen for Voldemort's trap, I would like your help," Dumbledore said, with Harry's voice and body, to Ron and Hermione, still in Umbridge's exceedingly pink office.
"Of course, sir," Ron said, uncomfortably aware that he was talking to a doppelganger of his friend.
"In order to make it easier for you to, ahem, follow the script, as it were," Dumbledore said. "Would you mind terribly accepting a minor Confundus to believe that I truly am Mister Potter?"
"Err, I guess that would be alright, sir."
Ron, Fleur and Hermione watched Voldemort fight with Harry, no, with Dumbledore pretending to be Harry, with expressions of awe. It was magic the likes of which none of them had ever seen. Fire, smoke and lightning, snakes, lions and birds were summoned and dismissed and conjured and destroyed. The ground shook and the air was heavy. There was the stench of death and dark magic in the atmosphere. Golden statues could be seen darting in and out of the fray, but they were gradually being cut down.
Ron spotted Lestrange first, trying to edge around the far wall of the Atrium and get behind Dumbledore. He squeezed Hermione's hand and pointed.
"Oh," Hermione said. "I'll deal with her."
"Hermione!" Ron whispered desperately at Hermione's retreating back. He wanted to go with her, but also didn't want to leave Fleur's side.
But when Hermione started trading spells with Lestrange, something strange happened. She actually held her own. Ron frowned.
"What about me, sir?" Hermione asked.
"While I have no doubt that you are among the bravest and brightest students in the castle, Miss Granger," Dumbledore said kindly. "I would still prefer to have as much professional, adult assistance as possible. We have no more Polyjuice, nor time to brew it, but fortunately, we have another option." Just then, the fireplace flared up as another figure stepped through. "Ah, excellent timing," Dumbledore said.
"Sorry, I came as quickly as I could," Tonks said, brushing soot from her shoulders. "How long have I got?" she asked Dumbledore.
"Will five minutes be enough?"
"Sure," Tonks said. "Hermione, stand here so I can look at you properly."
Hermione looked visibly embarrassed as the older witch stared at her intently, but her embarrassment became fascination when Tonks' body started to change. She shrunk several inches, her hair grew out and began to curl and change colour and the features on her face adjusted themselves.
Dumbledore conjured a large screen, so that Tonks could change into a school uniform and before five minutes had passed, a second Hermione stepped out.
"How do you deal with his hair?" Tonks said in Hermione's voice, batting her fringe away from her eyes.
"Uh, I'm just used to it I guess," Hermione replied awkwardly.
"Excellently done, Miss Tonks," Dumbledore said. "Now I think we are ready. I have asked Miss Delacour to meet us at the Ministry—" Ron's heart jumped into his throat for a moment. "—but any more people than that will run the risk of making our enemy see the trap reversed against him. Are you certain you're willing to come along, Mister Weasley? I will do everything in my power to keep you from harm, but your safety will be by no means certain."
Ron swallowed thickly. "Yeah. I mean, yes. It would look strange if Harry and Hermione were there and I wasn't, wouldn't it?"
"My thoughts exactly," Dumbledore said.
Tonks' fight with Lestrange was less impressive than Dumbledore's fight with Voldemort, but no less deadly and while Tonks was a fully qualified Auror, she was still struggling against the infamous Death Eater.
"Go and 'elp 'er," Fleur told Ron.
Ron looked at her. "I can't leave you while you're defenceless," he protested.
"I can still move," she said. "I'll 'ide behind the security desk." Ron still looked worriedly at her. "Everyone is far too busy to be concerned with me. Go."
With a shaky nod, Ron took a step towards the less spectacular fight, then another. Intentionally not looking back at Fleur, he spent a moment thinking about how to help. Surprise was his best advantage, but Lestrange was clearly too skilled to let an obvious attack trouble her.
Tonks stumbled after an exchange of spellfire gave her a bloody gash on her face and Lestrange leapt through the air to close the distance between them, her wand tip glowing with deadly power. Acting on instinct, Ron swept his wand through the air.
"Glisseo!"
Lestrange heard him, but didn't have time to stop casting her curse and to counter-charm the floor Ron had turned slippery before she landed. She fell in a tangle of limbs, her heavy, intimidating robes frustrating her efforts to fight herself. It only took an instant for her to finite Ron's charm, but it was enough for Tonks to gather herself and attack. Her first spell disarmed Lestrange and her second stunned her. Voldemort's lieutenant fell to the ground defeated.
"Thanks," Tonks said to Ron, trying to catch her breath at the same moment.
"No problem," he replied.
They both jumped and whirled around as the fireplaces that lined the wall near them burst into flame and wizards and witches started to pour out.
"—out of bed at this hour, Shacklebolt," they could hear Minister Fudge saying, still tying up his dressing gown as he was led by Kingsley , "there better be a good reason for it or there'll be… serious…"
Fudge's voice trailed off when he became aware of the titanic battle happening before him.
"Like I was saying, Minster," Kingsley said. "We received an anonymous tip that somebody was attacking the Ministry."
More witches and wizards were appearing now, staring in awe. Some had drawn their wands, but most were standing dumbstruck at what they were seeing. Even so, their appearance was enough for Voldemort to change tactics.
He disappeared in a swirl of his robes and appeared in front of Ron and Tonks. Tonks cried out in surprise and raised her wand, even as Dumbledore was apparating beside them, but Voldemort wasn't interested in them and merely grabbed Lestrange and disappeared again.
A brief silence descended upon the Atrium. Dumbledore's battle with Voldemort had wrecked the Atrium. The golden statue was lying in pieces and the walls were cracked and fallen in places. Even the floor hadn't escaped unscathed, marks and holes stood out like great ugly blemishes in the previously pristine atrium.
Fudge looked around with a mixture of outrage and terror. Finally his gaze fell on Dumbledore, still Polyjuiced as Harry.
"Potter!" He spluttered. "You… you… you haven't got an Apparition Licence!"
"Ah," Dumbledore said. "Cornelius, I should mention—"
"Now, now," Fudge said, shaking his head. "You can't just flaunt your rule breaking right in front of the Minister for Magic!"
"Sir," Kingsley said from just behind Fudge. "Didn't you notice You Know Who just now?"
"Don't interrupt me, please, Shacklebolt," Fudge said, waving his hand dismissively. "As I was saying—"
At that moment, Dumbledore hunched over, his body and face melting back into his ordinary, elderly self.
"Du… Dumbledore!" Fudge exclaimed. He looked around at the Aurors around him, even as Dumbledore untransfigured his robes and glasses.
"I am prepared to fight you and win again, Cornelius," Dumbledore said. "But you have just seen that everything I have claimed in the last twelve months is true!"
Ron slipped away while Dumbledore publicly berated the Minister for Magic, as cathartic as it was to see.
He found Fleur standing with Tonks, still wearing Hermione's appearance, in a hidden away corner.
"Dumbledore would want us to get out of here," Tonks said, pulling a ribbon out of her pocket. "Hold on tight."
Fleur's hands were still injured, so Ron had to wrap the ribbon around her fingers. He held on to her hand tightly anyway, just in case.
One slightly disorienting Portkey journey later, Ron, Fleur and Tonks were deposited in the Hogwarts Hospital Wing. The room was empty except for Madam Pomfrey, an unconscious Harry in a bed, Hermione, at Harry's bedside, Snape, who was standing menacingly by the doors, and a big, black dog by Harry's bed.
The dog perked up at their arrival and Ron gave it a quick thumbs up. The dog gave out a happy bark, but Snape clearly wanted more than that.
"Well?" he demanded. "What happened?"
Tonks and Fleur were being tended to by Madam Pomfrey, so Ron had to answer him.
"Uh, it was a trap," he said. "Death Eaters ambushed us. We had to fight our way out."
"And the Dark Lord?" Snape asked in a whisper.
"He, er, came at the end. Dumbledore fought him."
"And the Ministry?"
"Fudge saw the end of the fight, as well as a dozen others. They can't deny it any longer."
Snape slumped imperceptibly in relief. "Good," he said simply. "Now I am no longer needed to play babysitter, I have no desire to spend any more time in…" he looked at the dog, "present company."
The dog growled at Snape's back as he left and Ron went over to Fleur. Madam Pomfrey had submerged her arms in a bowl of what Ron thought was Murtlap Essence.
"I'll be fine by morning," Fleur said in response to Ron's nervous look. Ron said nothing, but squeezed her shoulder tightly. "You were brilliant," she said.
"Thanks, but that confundus messed with my head," Ron replied, rubbing his temples. "I'm the end, Lestrange got away anyway."
"But we defeated and disarmed her," Tonks said, no longer looking like Hermione. "Having just bonded with a new wand a few months ago, she'll struggle to do so again quickly, especially at her age."
"We can wake Harry up now, right?" Hermione asked.
There were no objections and she woke Harry with a quick rennervate.
"Huh?" Harry said, blinking his eyes open. "What's going on? Where's Sirius?"
The dog barked and Harry looked down in a mixture of relief and confusion. "What happened?"
Sirius, Tonks and Fleur didn't have anywhere else to sleep and Harry, Hermione and Ron didn't want to leave them, so everyone stayed in the Hospital Wing that night. Tonks left first thing in the morning and Madam Pomfrey's patience for having a dog in her hospital ended, so Sirius went to Dumbledore's office. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Fleur went down to breakfast together.
They were greeted by two welcome sights. First, the Daily Prophet loudly declared the return of He Who Must Not Be Named, although this was seen positively by only a few. Second, Dumbledore had returned to the castle and was sitting at the staff table again.
Dumbledore had managed to keep their names out of the paper, but even so, they were subject to a storm of questions, apologies and pledges of support.
When the last of breakfast was cleared away, Dumbledore stood up to address them. Immediately, three-quarters of the Great Hall broke into spontaneous applause, even some of the Slytherins seemed happy that Umbridge was out. The applause continued for some time, until Dumbledore raised his hands in an appeal for quiet. He wiped a tear from his eye.
"Thank you for such a warm welcome back," he said. A loud cheer went up from the students. "Hogwarts has been my home for, well, a long time and it brings me the greatest joy to return to her halls as headmaster." Another cheer rattled the rafters. "Which is why…" Dumbledore said, as the last of the cheer died away. "Which is why, however, it saddens me deeply to announce that I am resigning the headship."
A great shout of dismay went up from the students. Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at each other in surprise. None of them had expected this.
"You're very kind," Dumbledore said over the myriad objections. "But as we are all now aware, the situation facing our community is grim." Now, the hall was deathly silent. "The threat which faces all the good and true people of this land is at its most dangerous. Long have I cautioned and fought against the man known as Voldemort, and I have recently won a significant victory against him. Therefore, I am announcing my candidacy to take the position of Minister for Magic, to lead us all through the troubled times ahead."
There was a moment of stunned disbelief among everyone. Even some of the professors seemed shocked. But a moment later, the applause began again, slowly, but growing stronger and louder. Students stood up on their benches. Some of the Gryffindors started chanting "Dumbledore! Dumbledore!"
The soon-to-be-ex-headmaster smiled warmly at the reaction, before shouting over the din, "and now the school song!"
Everybody groaned.
Even after all the excitement at breakfast, the students still had to go to lessons. Still, for the fifth year students, exams were over, and for many of them, their whole world had been turned upside down by the morning's revelations, so the professors went easy on them. With McGonagall they just reviewed the transfiguration exam questions (where Ron felt he had done okay), and Flitwick offered to teach them anything they wanted. Nervous students had asked if they could try the Patronus Charm, which Ron and many of the other DA members could already do.
At lunch time, he wolfed down a quick sandwich, but then left the others and ascended the castle. As he expected, Fleur was waiting at their balcony.
"Hey," he said, trying not to startle her, as she stared out over the grounds. "How are your hands?"
Fleur smiled at him and her allure settled over him comfortingly. Ron felt he was almost used to it. "As good as new," she said, wiggling her fingers as proof. Ron caught her hand, though, and examined the dark scars that marked her otherwise perfect skin. "Though, they were 'ealed too slowly, unfortunately."
"I'm sorry."
Fleur shrugged. "I'm alright. I've decided to go for a 'warrior-princess' look."
Ron exhaled in amusement. It wasn't particularly funny, but he was happy that she was at least trying to be happy.
"What's zat?" Fleur asked, nodding at the pages under Ron's arm.
"It's the Prophet," he said, unfurling the paper. "They made the unprecedented decision to publish a midday special edition."
"Anything interesting in it?"
"Besides what we already knew? Dumbledore has released his 'campaign manifesto'."
Fleur took the paper from him and unfurled it. "When is the election going to be?" she asked.
"It's not been scheduled yet," Ron said. "I don't think Fudge has even resigned yet, but there's no way he can hold on to his position now."
"Is Dumbledore going to win, do you think?"
"I think he's going to get exactly seventy-five percent of the vote," Ron said with a wry smile. "He could have taken the Minister's job at any point in the last half-century, but had some reason or another not to. I guess it makes sense why he would do so now."
"Dismissing the Dementors from Azkaban," Fleur read. "Allowing help from abroad… A massive wartime recruitment drive?"
"Yeah, a real Dumbledore's Army," Ron said. "Yeah, apparently he'll accept anyone who's passed their OWLs."
Fleur looked up, surprised at the tone of Ron's voice. "You're considering it?"
Ron scratched the back of his head. "Well, yeah. I can't have you doing all the fighting, can I?"
"You mean you're going to try and steal my glory?"
Ron just stuck his tongue out at her.
"But you're not of age."
"The rumours say that I can still sign up with parental permission. Even if mum wouldn't give it, dad would probably understand. Besides, I'll be seventeen in a few months anyway."
"What about school?"
Ron shrugged awkwardly. "It just… doesn't seem so important, relatively speaking. I think Harry'll join up, even as much as he loves Hogwarts. That is, you know, if Dumbledore lets him. They're having a meeting now, actually, probably about the fate of the world or something. As for Hermione leaving school? Well, stranger things have happened. Besides, we can all come back to Hogwarts after it's all over, assuming that… well, you know."
Fleur slowly nodded. "You'll still come to the chess tournament in the summer, right?"
"Yeah, if the country is still standing by then."
"I doubt it will fall in the next couple of months with Dumbledore in charge."
A comfortable silence fell over them.
"Things are going to change quickly, aren't they?" Fleur said, looking out over the grounds again.
"Not my feelings for you," Ron said quickly.
Fleur snorted and glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "Zat was cheesy, even for you."
"Yeah, I know," Ron admitted. "But I mean it."
"I know."
Another silence stretched.
"I've actually got another lesson to go to soon," Ron reluctantly admitted.
"Go," Fleur told him. "I should get back to London anyway."
They stood and hugged.
"It may not even be a long goodbye," Ron said. "I may be going to London myself, soon. Dumbledore's Army and all that."
"Good," Fleur said into Ron's chest. "I like 'aving you close."
"I know."
The End
AN: and there we go! Goodness, this was a hard story to finish. There were some really dense parts of this story that I struggled with, but I hate to leave anything unfinished.
I'm marking this story as complete, but putting the series on hiatus. I have essentially zero ideas about what to do next, other than what I've hinted at in this final chapter.
I realised halfway through this story that I've been writing Ron and Fleur as mature adults, which really took a lot of potential for conflict out of the plot. Honestly, by the end of the first chapter of the first book, they were dating and by the last chapter they admitted their love for each other. I really have not much else to put them through.
I've got a few potential ideas in my 'to write' list, including some non-Harry Potter works, so who knows what might come next.
As always, thank you for reading through to the end and your kind reviews.
Sincerely
Lordrowantree