A/N: Couldn't resist the title. Sirius runs into trouble at the Ministry. WARNING: Scenes of mild torture, unpleasant images, CHARACTER DEATH.
Chapter Twenty-Two- Sirius Matters
Sirius had just finished a rather exhausting day at the Auror Department. Fudge was beginning to rely almost entirely upon James Potter; his word was the deciding factor on many changes in the Ministry, not just the Auror Department. Sirius couldn't fight back against the policies as they were outside his concerns, which was a rich irony when he thought about it. His smart-mouthed comment for the day was that it wasn't James Potter's concern either, was it?
His direct superior was Rufus Scrimgeour and the lion-like man was less than pleased with the comment. Rufus had given him a pile of paperwork, due before work the next morning. So here he was, signing off on the last piece of parchment with a sour expression. It was past 6 in the evening and he hated paperwork. His fireplace flared to life just as he was finishing the last document and he said irritably, "Yes, sir, I'm almost done with the—"
"Sorry, Sirius, but I don't think I'm who you're addressing," Albus' eyes were sparkling even through the Floo.
Contrary to being pleased to see the Headmaster, Sirius felt his stomach plummet. Recently the Order of the Phoenix had been taking a great deal of time to guard the Department of Mysteries in case the Dark Lord attempted to gain the prophecy. According to schedule, Sirius' next turn guarding the doorway wasn't until two days from today. Elphias Dodge was supposed to be there tonight.
Thus he was entirely unsurprised and unhappy when Albus continued. "Elphias is in St. Mungo's tonight, someone gave him a nasty hex. I know you're not supposed to guard again until Thursday but everyone else has already left the Ministry."
I'll bet, Sirius thought dryly. With a sigh he said, "All right, Albus, but Elphias gets my shift on Thursday. I'm not going to do this tonight and then two days later."
"Of course," Albus said cheerfully. "Thank you very much, Sirius. I will let Elphias know about the switch."
Sirius finished his last paper, grumpily dumped the lot on Rufus' desk and walked away, robes swirling around his heels. He stepped onto the elevator and when the cool female voice said, "Department of Mysteries," he stepped off.
Even the hallway to this department was intriguing. Black and white marble, a black door with a gold handle in the exact center and an arched hallway that reminded Sirius of the dungeons in Hogwarts. He had always thought that the appearance was similar to a child's journal with the words 'keep out' scribbled all over the cover. It just begged you to ask or take a look. Quite contrary to the purpose, as the hallway had been designed to warn off errant visitors. Or so Regulus had told him.
Walking about halfway down the hallway he began to pace back and forth, thinking. Severus had contacted him two days ago; apparently Rial had overheard the Midnight Sun prophecy along with the one about Zachary in its entirety. He had been, in Severus' words, 'less than pleased'. Knowing his fiery-tempered son like he did, Sirius could safely say that he'd thrown an impressive fit.
The thing that was bothering Sirius was the fact that Rial seemed to think that they'd held the prophecy from him because they thought he was a child. Sirius was so proud of his son it was ridiculous. Rial was top of his class in most of his classes, polite to a fault and embodied the qualities of Slytherin house to a point where it was almost scary. The last word that came to mind to describe Rial was child-like.
Rial had never been a child, not really. He'd been emotionally starved and withdrawn; Severus had told him that it was a hard concept for Rial to wrap his mind around the fact that he didn't have to rely on only himself anymore. The attachment that had started to form between his son and the sarcastic Potions Master had turned into true affection and high regard. Rial had probably known about Severus' crush on him before he had figured it out.
Sirius smiled softly. Flicking his eyes up and down the corridor he continued to pace as he thought about Severus. Had anyone told him he would be in a relationship with the kid he'd always teased to death in school he'd have chucked them into St. Mungo's. But then, he wouldn't have ever guessed that Moony would finally get over his shyness toward Lucius Malfoy either. What shocked Sirius now was how deeply he was coming to care for Severus.
Yes, the man could be as bitter as the coffee he drank. Yes, he could still unintentionally hurt with his acerbic commentary. Yes, he had been fully expecting Severus to turn away his apology; yes he had been ashamed for many years about the incident he still felt had deserved expulsion. No, he had not been expecting Severus to be able to look past all of his faults and come to love him like he had. A small part of Sirius' mind cursed the timing as he had yet another person to worry about seeing through the Second War he knew was just over the horizon.
The greater part of him embraced it. After the disaster with Lily he'd focused on his career, using his position as an Auror to help try and improve the lifestyle of the magical creatures in Great Britain, inspired by his good-natured, intelligent best friend. First Rial and then Severus had been the first people to really draw him out of his working shell and help him embrace his life, learning to take it as it was, including the thorns. Said thorns were mostly limited to James Potter, his arrogant son and Dumbledore. Of course, the largest one was Voldemort, without him around things would be much easier.
Absorbed in his thoughts, he almost didn't hear the sound of footsteps. But he did and he stopped his musings, sliding his ash wand closer to his fingers. The footsteps continued to approach with a regular thunk and he identified them as boots after a moment. Holding his wand close he watched in surprise and wary alarm as one of said thorns approached him.
James Potter wore brown leather trousers and a white silk shirt. Brown eyes looked at him with calculation before a thin smile spread across his lips. What struck Sirius as off was the fact that he was wearing casual clothing, which meant he'd already left the Ministry and now was back for some reason. Tightening his grip on his wand Sirius shifted to a more relaxed pose that would let him strike quickly if necessary.
"What are you doing here, James? Albus told me everyone had left the Ministry when he was trying to find someone to guard tonight. You can't possibly be here because you feel bad and are going to let me go home."
James breathed in deeply and sighed with fake regret. "No, I'm not here to take your place. And I don't feel bad, at least, not yet."
"What do you mean by that?" Sirius asked harshly.
"What do you think the Auror Department will do when they catch your Slytherin son in the Department of Mysteries?" James said suddenly.
Sirius snorted. "Nice try, I know Rial is safe at Hogwarts."
"I think he'll come after you, however," James murmured just as something extremely heavy slammed into the back of Sirius' head.
Seeing stars, Sirius bent with the blow, starting to lift his wand. James punched him square in the face; he felt the bone in his nose shatter. In two moves, James had kicked him in the gut with his heavy, steel-toed combat boots and grabbed his ash wand from his trembling fingers. A high, sickly sweet giggle met his dazed ears and even through the pain he mentally groaned. Not her…
"Glad to see me, cousin?" Bellatrix gave another obnoxious giggle. "You have James Potter to thank for that!"
Looking up at James' irritatingly smug expression he croaked, "You were the one to let them out?"
"To the contrary, I just let Bellatrix out. After that I gave her the key and let her deal with the others. As for why," he grabbed Sirius' chin in his fingers and forced him to look him in the eye. "Your son has been a pain in my side since he was born and Bellatrix here is quite interested in meeting him."
Inwardly Sirius screamed NO! I don't want her near Rial! Outwardly he gave James a stare of composed fury and spat in his face, taking a small amount of pleasure in watching the pureblood recoil and wipe away the blood-flecked liquid.
"CRUCIO!" Bellatrix hissed.
Sirius gritted his teeth and endured. This was Bellatrix's favourite curse; she'd been fond of practicing it on him during the holidays before he ran away from Grimmauld. Breathing through his nose he attempted to force his muscles to relax, the more relaxed they stayed the better. What felt like hours later she stopped the curse. James lashed out with a booted foot and caught him in the ribcage. He felt a couple bones break under the impact and growled softly in pain.
"That was 10 minutes, Padfoot. I wonder if your son will come when he gets the letter Bellatrix wrote tonight."
Sirius paled and gritted out, "He won't."
As Bellatrix dragged him through the black door and into the Department of Mysteries by his hair he winced in pain and thought, Please don't come. Please, Rial, act like a Slytherin.
-D-N-S-D-
Rial was sitting at the dinner table, talking to Draco and ignoring Zachary Potter's murderous expression. The Gryffindor Golden Boy had a long, ugly scar running down the left side of his face, mirroring the snake on Rial's. The Memory Charm was holding, but he was suspicious of Rial none the less, especially taking in the fact that the Healer had told him the scar was permanent.
In return, Draco was immensely displeased at the bruise and split lip Rial had been sporting when he'd returned to the common room. Draco was very protective and possessive of him, something that for the most part Rial was more than willing to indulge. However, he did not want the hot-headed Malfoy getting in trouble, so for the past two days he'd been restraining his boyfriend from attacking Potter, especially as Zachary would have no idea why.
The evening post flew in, less than a quarter of the owls that flooded the Great Hall in the morning. What caught Rial's attention, along with everyone else, was the raven amongst the usual flock of owls and falcons. It flew down the length of the Slytherin table and dropped a scroll in front of Rial before flying back out the open eaves.
Before Rial could blink, several older Slytherins shot a number of spells at the parchment. A satisfied but wary 7th year said, "You can open it, but be careful. There might be something we missed."
Rial nodded and reached for the parchment with shaking hands. He briefly noticed the lack of seal before unrolling it. He read it and felt his heart freeze in his chest.
Rial,
You braved a maze once before. Will you do so again for an even greater prize? Your father waits somewhere in the Department of Mysteries. 'Past three hours the prospect's black, too late, it's gone, it won't come back'.
The ink was dark red and came off on Rial's fingers. Forcing himself to not hyperventilate he stood up, catching the Potions Master's gaze. Draco walked along with him and Rial let him read the parchment. Staring at the dark red liquid running down his fingers from the parchment he let out a soft whimper of panic. The tone was as macabre as it was obvious. If he didn't get to his father within 3 hours, whoever had sent this letter would kill him.
Severus swept in behind them, looking at his no-doubt pale face with what passed as worry in his dark eyes. Shakily he handed over the parchment, watching Severus sink into a chair and read it through. For some reason, Severus seemed more interested in the ink than the message.
"Do you think they have Father?" Rial asked impatiently.
Tapping one of the words with his finger, Severus stared at the ruby liquid. Then, to Rial's disbelief, he licked it. Licked the ink. Rial was beginning to question his sanity when the Potions Master looked at him with a grim expression. "Blood. The message is written in blood."
Horrified, Rial stared at the stain on his fingers. He left the room, going into Sev's bathroom and washing his hand thoroughly. Staring at the pink-tinted water he breathed in and out, slowly. He was not going to panic. He couldn't.
Walking back out he was just in time to see Severus pour a few drops of a dark blue potion onto a piece of spare parchment. Then he carefully swabbed some of the blood off the message and soaked it in the potion. Looking up to see Rial watching him he murmured, "An Identity Potion, to confirm whose blood this is."
The potion turned dark green and he upended the rest of it onto the parchment. For a couple of seconds nothing happened and then the green potion started to twist itself into words like small snakes. The glowing green words spelled, Sirius Orion Black. Tasting bile in his mouth, Rial whispered, "They wrote that message using my Father'sblood?"
Severus, he noted, looked extremely pale as well. "They know you're a Slytherin and that I'm your Head of House. They know me well enough to know I wouldn't believe that unless I could prove they had Sirius. There was already a point in their favour, however."
"What is that?" Rial asked, sitting in between Severus and Draco. He leaned gratefully into Draco's comforting arm that was wrapped around his waist.
"The Order of the Phoenix has been assigning people to watch over the entrance to the Department of Mysteries. Dumbledore was convinced the Dark Lord would try and have someone lead Zachary Potter to the Hall of Prophecies as the last we knew; he hadn't heard the entire thing. Elphias Dodge was supposed to be on watch tonight, but Albus notified me earlier that your father had taken the shift. Apparently Elphias was given a very nasty hex and had to be taken to St. Mungo's."
"That was probably whoever has my Father," Rial muttered. Anxious, he said, "We're going after him, right? After all, we don't know how long he's been there already."
"Yes, we're going after him," Severus said grimly. "Let me Floo Lucius and Remus, they should probably come with us."
Severus stood and walked out of the room. Rial sat quietly, plucking at the fringe of a blanket with his fingers. One of Draco's warm hands covered his and stopped his restless motion, prompting him to look up into worried silvery-grey eyes. "We'll get him back, Rial. He'll be all right, just wait and see."
"I hope so, Drake. I can't lose him, I just can't," he whispered, feeling vulnerable to admitting this. Draco merely squeezed him tighter in response.
"Come on, you two," Severus said briskly. "We're going to Floo through to Malfoy Manor and leave for the Ministry from there."
Rial was in a daze and barely noticed the Floo trip nor the Apparition to the Ministry. When he came back to himself, he was standing in the gilded Atrium of the Ministry of Magic. Shaking himself out of his stupor he scolded himself. He didn't have the time to be ignoring his surroundings! Looking at his companions, he noticed that Remus was trembling visibly, wand fisted in a white-knuckled hand. Lucius and Severus both were grimly determined and his beloved Draco was pale yet equally determined.
They boarded the golden elevator and stepped out only when a female voice said, "Department of Mysteries."
At the very end of the pathway was a black door with a gold handle. Severus opened it and they all walked inside. When he shut it the doors began to revolve, spinning faster and faster until finally they came to a halt, with no clear way out. They were all silent for a long moment as the three adults tried to think of a way to figure out their path. Finally Rial said clearly, "Show us the path forward!"
A doorway to his left clicked open. Lucius and Remus both blinked before Severus chuckled and murmured, "Logic."
Without elaborating he moved to the door and cautiously flung it open. After a long moment he moved out into the hallway and motioned for Lucius to follow. The two teens followed behind Remus, not surprised or protesting in the least at the precautions. They were smart enough to know that they were lacking in the experience the three adults had in these situations.
They moved forward, past all sorts of strange objects, including a veil that fluttered in still air and a tank of what looked suspiciously like brains. All at once, they entered an area that glowed beautifully around them. In meticulous rows, with numbers that went past their current row of 9247 were tiny, fragile spun glass spheres. They were filled of gray, blue or red smoke.
"Prophecies," Remus explained in a strained tone of voice. "The blue ones are fulfilled, the red are considered nullified or expired."
"Move toward the center," Lucius hissed. "I would guess there is an empty space in the middle of all of these rows."
Rial picked up his pace until he was walking next to and slightly in front of Severus. Will you brave another maze? bounced around in his head, mockingly. With a set, determined expression on his young face he led them toward the center.
When they reached the middle, it was pitch black. "Stop," Severus hissed in his ear. "Someone has smashed the prophecies illuminating the middle. They won't reform for another three months."
"DUCK!" a hoarse voice shouted. They all obeyed without question and a red curse shot overhead. It hit the prophecies behind Rial and shattered the spheres. Ghostly figures rose and began to speak, but he ignored them as well as the pieces of glass in his hair. He knew that voice.
A woman's high-pitched voice said, "CRUCIO!"
Even as he flinched Severus murmured in Rial's ear, "Bellatrix Lestrange. Watch out, the Cruciatus is her favourite curse."
The same hoarse voice that had warned them broke out into a few low cries of pain. Rial flinched, longing to creep closer to his father in the dark. He knew that was him and he hated to hear him in pain.
A very familiar, arrogant voice said, "Let's shed some light onto the scene, shall we? Lumos Maxima!"
A ball of light shot up into the middle of the dark circle and slowly crept toward their corner. Shown prominently in the light was a wild-haired woman with a cruel, elegant face. From pictures in the Prophet and his father's descriptions this was Torian's mum, Bellatrix Lestrange. Standing a few paces from her, a nasty smirk on his lips was James Potter. Behind him, Rial heard Remus snarl in rage.
Between them, tied to a supporting post and sitting on his knees, was Sirius. Rial's hand trembled. His father was barely conscious and looking directly at him with dull, pain-filled grey eyes. He was bleeding freely from several gashes, one shoulder was dropped at an awkward angle and his face was badly bruised. Part of his hair on the left side of his face was matted and stuck to his face with slowly drying blood and from the way his breath was rasping on each exhale there was significant internal damage as well.
"Well, squibling, are you going to do something or simple stare?"
Severus, Lucius and Remus flew into action at his words, flinging curses at Bellatrix and James. Bellatrix was a competent witch; she was more than holding her own against the three wizards. With James flinging the occasional spell to distract the trio, she was transformed from merely competent to deadly.
Angry, Rial started flinging spells at James. He didn't care if they hit, he just wanted to distract the Auror. It was working too, until James flung one spell that barely missed Draco. Lucius spun around and attacked James with blind fury and Bellatrix was able to fire a spell in under Severus' arm that blew him backward into a shelf of prophecies. It didn't do anything besides daze him for a moment, but a moment was long enough and James flung a swift, "Incarcerous!"
For half a moment Remus was distracted when James bound Lucius. It was enough for Bellatrix to fling another spell that blew him back into a support pillar. Werewolves were difficult to stun however, and Remus ducked and rolled forward in time to avoid a pale blue curse from James. His own face was ashen when he came to his feet and he whispered, "You would use a Silver Blood Curse on me, Prongs? Did our school friendship mean nothing to you?"
"No," he answered contemptuously. "Confringo! Expelliarmus!"
He blasted a whole wall of Prophecies behind Remus. When the werewolf lifted a hand to shield his eyes he was disarmed, his wand flying across the room and landing with a clatter near the bound but conscious Lucius.
"Stupefy!" Severus snarled and Bellatrix fell to the floor, unconscious. The Potions Master whirled on James, who snarled out a quick, "Levicorpus!"
Severus dodged black eyes alive with malice. "Seeking to use an old torment, Potter? I'm surprised that your son hasn't tried to use that spell on one of my snakes yet."
"Reducto! My son is turning into a disappointment, Snivellus," James sneered in reply. "He spent too much time around the squibling in his youth, no doubt."
Rial felt only a moment's indignation before Severus snapped back, "The one you call squibling is one of the most talented young wizards I have had the pleasure of knowing!"
James snorted and in a split second, turned his wand on Draco and shouted, "Incarcerous!"
Rial snapped his wand up and yelled, "Protego!" The shield charm came up in time to spare Draco the full result of the spell, but he still was thrown over to land near Remus. To Rial's relief, he only looked a bit dazed.
The reflected spell sped away from Draco and hit Severus' legs. It knocked him off his feet, the hickory wand flying away from his fingers. Severus was fine, but without his wand he couldn't unbind his legs.
It was down to Rial and James. The Auror snarled, "Reducto!"
Rial dodged, but the edge of the spell still nicked his shoulder. He could feel the blood trickling from a small cut but ignored it, retaliating swiftly. Noise seemed to dull until Rial was oblivious to all but the flares of light from James' curses and his own, a silence punctuated only by the steady, thunderously loud beat of his own heart. In slow motion he watched as his perfect opportunity appeared and snarled audibly, "Sectumsempra!"
The Cutting Curse slashed through the skin of James' arm. Bloody fingers slipped on his wand as he retaliated with a swift "Expelliarmus!"
Rial was unable to dodge in time and his wand flew out of his fingers. Looking over, he spotted Bellatrix's wand and threw himself sideways, landing in a roll that just barely escaped another curse. It came so close Rial could feel it heating his skin. Snatching up her wand he flung a returning "Expelliarmus!"
Maybe it actually hit, or possibly James' bloody hand slipped on his wand at the same time the spell hit. Either way, the wand went flying, clattering away somewhere near the edge of their circle. Rial pointed his wand triumphantly at James, pushing himself to his feet and glaring at the Auror.
"Did you let the Death Eaters out?" he demanded.
James snorted. "Just like your father. I only let Bellatrix out; I knew I'd get killed if I tried to release one of the others, especially Fenrir. The man's more than half insane now; he was bad enough when your father put him in there."
"Did you suggest Cornelius Fudge authorise the use of an Unforgivable in detentions?"
"Yes," James replied idly. "I've also been funding his policies. Not that you'll ever be able to prove it, squibling."
"Well," Rial breathed, "you won't be around to see if I do prove it, James. I recently found out about a prophecy that concerns me. The last line is, treat me as you wish to be treated. For almost my whole life, you've treated me like I don't exist, like you'd prefer my death."
Leveling the wand at the Auror he said, "I want you dead in return, James Potter. You'd better be praying to Merlin hoping I'm as much a squibling as you say I am."
"You're being an idiot, or did you not remember the Ministry can track spells?" James said sarcastically. However, his face was beginning to pale slightly.
"I remember. However, you seem to have forgotten that this is Bellatrix Lestrange's wand."
Staring at the man who had made his life a living hell, Rial said, "Good riddance, James Potter."
Bringing to mind every incident of mistreatment by the man in front of him, Rial snarled, "Avada Kedavra."
James Potter's body fell backward gracefully, hitting the polished Ministry floor. Rial glared at the corpse, eyes blazing and chest heaving. He walked over and dropped Bellatrix's wand next to her unconscious body after muttering a sharp, "Obliviate!"
Striding coolly over to the dead body of his tormentor, Rial brought a heel down sharply on his wand, breaking it in two. He tossed the pieces onto the Auror's chest and retrieved his own wand. He released Severus and Lucius before limply walking over to his father and throwing his arms around his shoulders.
He ignored the tears streaking down his face and only dimly heard Severus' voice saying, "Portus."
He concentrated on clinging in relief to the warm, living form of his father. He paid no attention to the body of the man whose manipulations had almost brought him the ultimate office in the magical world. In the future, they would only be able to guess how much damage Rial had prevented with one use of the Killing Curse.
For the present, Rial wanted to just ignore the rest of the world and hold his dad. So he did.
A/N: 4,463 words! I think that's the longest single post. 10 pages in Word. So, what did you think of James Potter's end? Good, bad or just okay? I like it, the actual battle scene was pretty short as I'm not that great at describing them. Review!