Chapter 15
James felt his stomach plummet and he looked at his ex girlfriend in wide eyed horror, "she never appeared," Annemarie continued still staring at James as the department now knew he had been seeing her in secret, even if that little affair was over, "and we daren't mention her in case she was safe and they sought her out."
"That was good Annemarie," Zabini said in his confident tone, "all likelihood is that she got away or is hiding safely." As he had been off on leave he did not know about her and James' relationship which had become the biggest story in the office since she had walked on him sleeping with Zelda; therefore he wasn't aware that his junior auror's brain had now gone into overdrive with panic and worry. "Hermione," he continued turning to look at the bushy haired woman awaiting her instructions, "get these down to the floo in the department of mysteries like I instructed; keep to the shadows as much as possible and be alert."
"I'll go with her," Ron said protectively and Zabini nodded his understanding.
"We'll try and get to the aurors," he continued turning to James and Harry; the latter nodded understanding but James looked at his superior before making his request.
"Sir," he began, "may I go and look for Holly?" The senior auror looked from him to his father who nodded back and Zabini seemed to understand immediately. He had seen the look on James' face before on the face of the ex-auror also stood in front of him and realised immediately that he was worried about the girl; the others would be there at any moment if they had passed through the ministry safely and he could spare James for now.
"If you find her; get her out," Zabini ordered and James sprinted for the door immediately. "And watch out for my patronus," he added.
"James," he heard his father call and he turned back to see him holding something silvery out to him, "take this." In his proffered hand was the invisibility cloak which he had loaned to Blaise, "and make sure she's safe," he added knowing full well how worried he was about the girl having been in a similar situation himself many years ago with James' mother.
He nodded with gratitude before hurtling from the room passing Jordan and Martika with their gang of Weasley's who had evidently made it through the ministry unscathed.
Quickly donning the cloak James made his way along the corridor to the back stairs which were barely used anymore and climbed them two at a time stopping when he reached the top to peer around the corner and check it was all clear. A cloaked figure was walking up and down the opposite end of the corridor and he held his breath as he pointed his wand at the back of the man and whispered, "Stupify," quickly followed by, "muffliato," which once again cushioned the sound made by his body hitting the floor. He paused only to hide the sleeping figure before dashing down the corridor to Holly's office which was at the opposite end; it was dark through the glass window of the door and he held his breath as he slowly opened it to peek inside. "Holly," he whispered dropping the cloak from his shoulders and revealing himself; a short, gasping, muffled sob from the back of the room made his stomach settle as she came into view from between two large oak cabinets behind her desk.
"James," she whispered running forward and stopping in front of him.
"Thank Merlin you're safe," he replied pulling her into his arms even though in any other situation he would have known it was the wrong thing to do now. "I was so worried," he continued wrapping her tightly into them and placing his chin on top of her head. She was scared and did not refuse the comforting hug as she started to sob, "What happened?" he asked loosening his hold enough so she could look up at him and breathe.
"I heard all the commotion outside; people were screaming and the doors were being kicked in. I ran for the door and peered out to see everyone being dragged from their offices so I jumped in between the cabinets in fear, not sure if I could hide from them or not; I blew out the candle and waited holding my breath. They kicked the door open but I heard another call from somewhere and whoever was going to come in here left without checking the room; mine was the last I think and I just listened to them all. I heard more screaming and didn't know what to do; I dare not move in case I was found so I just stayed here; eventually when it had all gone quiet I tried to apparate but I couldn't get out so I just...just waited," she finished as fresh tears ran down her face.
"Holly," he whispered pulling her into his embrace again and holding her tight.
"Who are they?" she asked from the crook of his shoulder where her head had come to rest.
"The High Lord," he replied and she gasped, "and a woman who we don't know. My father and my family are here and Zabini is trying to rescue the aurors so we can fight him but we need to get you out of here," he said releasing her again and looking around the room. "Put this on," he added throwing the cloak towards her, "and stay close to me," he finished while grabbing her hand and pulling her in the direction of the door; she obeyed without complaint and allowed him to lead her. "Stay close to the wall," he whispered as he headed back down the corridor to the back stairs with his wand held aloft in front of him. At the bottom of the stairs he checked for any guards but found the place still empty so he headed for the apparent brick wall which he opened using the spell Zabini had shown them.
Too afraid to even realise where they were going Holly just followed him obediently; he never let her hand go and they were fortunate enough to make it all the way back to the bottom of the stairs before they came across anyone else. On the corridor which led to the department of mysteries James heard a noise behind them and he backed Holly into a deep doorway pinioning her inside it with his body. He heard voices and knew there were at least four of them, too many for him to take on alone with a clerical worker who was scared; turning his body to face her he whispered, "Shhh," and then pulled the cloak around him as he encased her against the door. Their hearts were beating wildly both from the situation and the close proximity of their bodies and they breathed raggedly as they waited for the dark wizards to pass by. They remained undetected but it was a few minutes before they were able to move again; grabbing hold of her hand he pulled her in the direction of the department of mysteries not letting out his breath until they were on the other side of the door where he saw a train of people reaching the other end of the tiled corridor. "Hermione," he called pulling the cloak from around her and realising the train were the other administration workers from the auror office. The woman leading the troop turned to see her nephew standing with Holly and she beckoned for the frightened young woman to join them quickly, "Go with them; get out of here," he said to her, "go to my parent's house; Rose is there; you'll be safe."
She nodded at him with doleful eyes and turned to run up the corridor but before she got away James grabbed hold of her hand again and she turned back to face him, "Holly," he whispered, "I'm sorry, for everything. And...and for this," he added pulling her close and crushing his lips against hers for a quick but furious kiss which he hoped would show her what she meant to him. When he pulled away and let her go she looked shocked and confused but he had no more time to stay, "I love you," he added gesturing for her to go down the corridor and join the others who were fleeing to safety.
"James, be careful," she replied before he turned to go and he smiled as he reopened the entrance to the department and disappeared to the other side of it.
He headed back to the auror department while stuffing the cloak into his robes but was stopped on the way by a shimmering silver animal which came bounding down the stairs to find him. It was Blaise's puma patronus which stopped and spoke in Zabini's deep, confident voice, "Auror's freed and attempting to free the other departments in the Ministry; your father has gone to the Minister's office and I will be joining him there; choose where you go." When it's message was over the creature swirled into a puff of silver smoke and disappeared; James made the instant decision to join his father; he had never been able to fight with him and he wanted to give him the back up he needed and deserved. James knew immediately why Harry had gone to the Minister; he wanted to face Lestrange himself and do what he needed to do to end what had started over twenty years ago. Changing his direction he began to run back down the stairs to the Minister's department which was on the second floor. As he reached the floor he could tell that things had changed; there were obvious battle noises as aurors and dark wizards duelled and when he ran into the main corridor of the Minister's office he was confronted by them all. Spells and curses flew around the room, jets of bright light which James ducked and weaved around as he ran for the Minister's room which was at the end of the corridor. The dark wizards were showing no mercy and he saw many fallen aurors some who, he could see, had been killed by avada kedavra; but he had no time to stop; he needed to help his father.
He reached the Minister's room and flung open the door holding his wand in front of him ready to face whatever he needed to face; scanning the room with a trained eye he saw Penelope Clearwater, the Minister, unconscious on the floor in an awkward position with a short, stout dark robed wizard standing over her, his wand trained on her head. His father was facing the High Lord with his own wand on him afraid to strike while he had the Minister as a hostage. Disturbed by the noise of the door opening again Lestrange turned to look at the new arrival before starting to cackle loudly never taking his wand away from the minister but staring gleefully in the direction of James. "And finally we have the young Potter; the one who has made my plan complete; and the one I can now dispose of without need or want anymore. I no longer need to try and take the magic ability of a powerful Potter, neither father nor son, as I will soon have my very own Potter; my very own powerful Potter to mould and shape into the greatest dark wizard the world has ever known." Both men looked at him curiously as he continued to cackle in an evil way knowing something that they didn't and clearly enjoying it. "The minster has bowed to me and my men will dispose of the aurors, or bend them to our way of thinking. My master plan has finally been realised, finally been put into practise. I never wanted to take Russia; they were just an easy target to start with; my real intention was always to come back here, to take over where the Dark Lord left off and to see his plan through, taking it further that even he had ever imagined."
"And what makes you think you can do that this time?" Harry yelled at him.
"Because this time I have my secret weapon," Lestrange continued calmly watching the duo who still had both of their wands trained on him, "a power that I never had before; I will rule until it is ready; but one day the world will bow down to a great leader, a powerful leader; one taken from the other side to do our bidding and continue our ways. Beat down the muggles; erase the mudbloods from our society and rule as supreme Minister of all wizard kind above that of the muggles, not even in harmony with them but superior to them as it always should have been. And now the time has come to finally kill the ones who have thwarted these attempts; to get rid of the one who saw the downfall of my master; who all but killed my brother and evaded me once; but he won't evade me again; as I said I have what I want and have no further need for either of you!"
"And what exactly do you have?" Harry barked at him.
"I have told you; a powerful Potter to shape and mould," he repeated. "The seed of James Potter in the belly of my right hand woman," he continued holding out his wand free hand as a body stepped forwards from a shadowy corner.
James turned his head to see a familiar woman, one he had known but who looked completely different; gone was the long blonde hair and tarty clothes which she had worn, the cheap smile and the flirty look; they had all been replaced. Stood in front of them now was a red headed woman wearing long black robes and a pointed velvet hat under which most of her hair was scraped back. She looked demure and smart, completely opposite to the cheap woman who had tried to seduce him and his mouth fell open in shock as he realised what Lestrange was saying. In a barely audible voice James whispered, "Zelda?"
