The next morning Harry and Hermione were sitting in Kingsley's office and he was recounting all that they had missed.
"12 dead and hundreds injured just in the last two day" finished Kingsley.
"How did it get so bad?" Harry muttered to himself.
"Cause we're idiots and missed it" said Draco from where he was leaning against the wall.
"Has R... Voldemort approached the giants yet?" Hermione asked.
"Yes and so have we, however this time we have had better luck and we have the sworn help from two clans" Kinsley answered, trying to put a positive spin on things.
"Out of 30" Draco said puncturing the hope that had passed over Harry and Hermione's faces.
Kingsley was about to reply to Draco's down cast remark when a large amount of noise erupted from outside the door. Before the four people in the room could draw their wands, two more people burst into the room.
"Harry, Hermione!" yelled the woman and she ran forwards and threw her arms around the pair of them.
"Calm down Luna, let them breathe" said the man who had accompanied her.
"Sorry Neville" Luna said and, removing herself from her old friends throats, she went and stood next to Neville.
"Neville" Harry said, standing. He extended his hand and shook with his old classmate, before pulling him into a bear hug.
"How you been?" Neville asked when he had hugged Hermione.
"You know. So-so, people trying to kill us, terrible enemy, end of the world." Harry said with a remarkably straight face.
"So just a regular day then?" Neville said with an equally bland look on his face. Then the whole room, even Draco, started laughing.
"So are you with us?" Kingsley asked when they had calmed down.
"I dunno Shack. I mean I know things are bad and I want to help but, Hermione and I made a deal when we left last time that we would never fight again." Hermione nodded in agreement.
"The cold turkey method" Draco said from the wall when he had resumed his leaning.
"Cold turkey?" Kingsley asked, slightly perplexed.
"Yea, when you decide to just stop doing something like smoking or drinking or saving the world" Draco said with a sideways look at Harry
"Ah I see" Kingsley said
"Of course it never works" Draco continued "you always talk yourself into that last cigarette or last pint" He turned to face Harry.
"And you Harry have something worse than a smoking or a drinking habit. You have a saving people habit." Harry bridled slightly then relaxed when Hermione put her hand on his arm.
"You always were a git Draco" Harry said.
"Does this mean you will help?" Kingsley asked.
"Sorry Shack. The promise comes first" Harry said.
At that moment there was a tremendous hammering on the door. Neville jumped and swung it open.
"They're attacking!" screamed the scribe before fainting on the floor.
Kingsley jumped to the window and looked out over the atrium, just in time to see the main gates blown of their hinges and a black cloud come sweeping in, as it passed the fireplaces each burst into green fire and people in black robes and masked stepped out. There was a calamitous noise rising from the atrium as people tried to flee and were caught. Those that tried to fight were quickly overwhelmed by sheer force of numbers.
"Now will you help?" Kingsley yelled over the noise. Harry just nodded. Neville and Luna had already left the room to assist with the defence and Draco was hovering in the doorway waiting for the Minister.
"You will need these" Kingsley said and summoned the two wands from the crest and caught them. He handed them to Harry and Hermione. As they took their wands they felt a surge of power and a connection neither had felt since they had given them to Kingsley all those years ago.
Harry, Hermione, Draco and Kingsley sped out of the door, wands drawn to join the fight. They ran down the stairs and found a barricade that had been erected at the base of them. Neville was there, trying to staunch the bleeding of an auror that had been hit. He looked up when he heard them coming.
"Orders?" he asked Kingsley. The minister thought for a moment before looking at Harry.
"Ask Mr Potter, he is in charge"
Harry looked almost like he had been hoping for Kingsley to say that. He looked at the aurors that were stationed at the barricade and looked out over the battlefield and then looked back at Kingsley.
"No quarter" he said and turned back to face the charging enemy.