A/N: Okay, so this is a really, really long chapter... I combined the whole Ministry thing into one chapter, because I wanted to cover it more quickly, and I didn't want to just copy word for word from the book.
"Harry!" I said at once, grabbing him in a quick hug. "What happened? Are you all right? Are you ill?" I hounded him with questions, finally having to take a breath.
"Where have you been?" Ron asked the moment I paused. His eyes were equally wide with worry, looking Harry up and down, examining him for any obvious injuries. Harry was extremly pale, and looked as though he had been attacked. He grabbed each of our arms, pulling us down the corridor to an empty classroom. He told us he'd seen a vision of Voldemort torturing Sirius in the Ministry of Magic, and that he was going to kill him. And then he asked the question I so did not want to hear.
"How're we going to get there?"
"G-get there?" Ron asked.
I drowned him out. I knew what Harry was thinking. He wanted to go to the ministry and free Sirius from Voldemort. He wanted us to take on the Dark Lord. My first reaction was to drill him with logic. It had worked before. I asked him question after question, but Harry refused to see reason. Couldn't he see that this was probably a trap? That Voldemort had probably planted this vision? I asked him as much and he just got angrier. He started yelling and the doors burst open. Luna came in, followed by Ginny, who looked worried. Luna walked directly to Ron, who was obviously worried, and gently took his hand in hers.
"Hi," Ginny said nervously. "We recognized Harry's voice. What are you yelling about?"
Harry just blew both of them off, but then an idea that would have made George proud occurred to me. I told them my idea and within a few moments we had a plan. Ron would go tell Umbridge Peeves was causing trouble, drawing her away from her office. Ginny and Luna would guard the corridor and Harry and I would sneak into her office to see if Sirius was at Grimmauld Place. We got everything together and ran to her office, throwing the plan into action. It seemed to be working so well too… and then everything went to pot. I should have expected it, really, nothing ever worked right for Harry, Ron, and me. We just had terrible luck, the worst in the history of Hogwarts. Of course Sirius would not be there, and of course Harry would assume the worse, and of course, I would have missed an obvious spell. I couldn't believe I was the reason we got caught.
Harry was just finishing up his conversation with Kreacher when she came bursting through the office with Malfoy and Millicent, and I knew it was over. I was going to be suspended at the best, sent to Azkaban at the worse.
Darn you Sirius Black, why in Merlin's name could you not stay home?
They took our wands and Millicent pinned me against the wall, as if I could actually overpower her. A moment later the doors burst open and several more Slytherins came tramping in, carrying Ginny, Luna, Ron, and to my horror, Neville. He must have tried to help the others, poor, loyal, dear, fool. The awful beast had actually gagged them, and they were having to fight just to breath.
"Got 'em all," a bulky boy said, shoving poor Ron forward. He poked his fat finger at Neville. "Tried to stop me taking her,"he pointed at Ginny, "so I brought him along too."
"Good, good," Umbridge said, watching us struggle. "Well, it looks as though Hogwarts will shortly be a Weasley-free zone, doesn't it?"
That did me in. There was no way I was getting out of this room uninjured, and free, so I was not going to hold back. I swore loudly, surprising myself, and hit Millicent as hard as I could in the guts. The Slytherin hadn't expected it and doubled over, allowing me the time to launch myself across the room, only to be caught by Malfoy.
He laughed, grabbing me around the waist and pinning my arms to my sides. I struggled gallantly but to no avail. He wasn't taking any chances - he knew I could hit. I'd proven it quite thoroughly in our third year. Umbridge ignored us both and sat down in her armchair.
"So, Potter, you stationed lookouts around my office and you sent this buffoon," she nodded at Ron, causing Malfoy to laugh even louder and me to struggle even harder, "to tell me the poltergeist was wreaking havoc in the Transfiguration department when I knew perfectly well that he was busy smearing ink on the eyepieces of all the school telescopes -Mr Filch having just informed me so. Clearly, it was very important for you to talk to somebody. Was it Albus Dumbledore? Or the half-breed, Hagrid? I doubt it was Minerva McGonagall, I hear she is still too ill to talk to anyone."
Rage filled me at that and I couldn't see straight. I could have cast a brilliant Crucio in that moment. I had plenty of rage to hurt her. She spoke to Harry some more, and protectiveness flooded into me as well, so that I was now mad and worried. I had to get the others out of here, I had to get Harry out. She then called for Snape.
How could I have been so stupid? I had forgotten the only Order member left! Why had I not thought to go to him? Tears of silent rage filled me as I realized that we could have avoided the whole thing if I had just thought.
"You wanted to see me, Headmistress?" Snape questioned when he returned with Millicent.
"Ah, Professor Snape," she said, smiling like a cat with a saucer of cream. "Yes, I would like another bottle of Veritaserum, as quick as you can, please."
He told her he had none, and that it would take a month to brew. She freaked out and I felt a swift thrill for my Potion master. I wanted to give him a high five for infuriating her.
"He's got Snuffles!" harry shouted suddenly, a desperate look on his face. "He's got Snuffles at the place where it's hidden!" Harry struggled to look at Snape as Umbridge moved around to block him. Snape just pretended to have no idea what he was talking about. I couldn't tell if he was genuinely clueless or just pretending.
And then she threatened the Cruciatus Curse.
Neville instantly paled. Harry just looked appalled. He'd been Crucioed by Voldemort, so she probably didn't scare him too much. But I couldn't sit here and let her do it. I couldn't stand by and do nothing while my best friend was torturedand my other friend forced to watch what had caused his mother and father to go insane. The images of Alice and Frank Longbottom blazed against my eyes as I shrieked "No!" She ignored, me, so I told her Fudge wouldn't like it. She ignored that, admitting she'd sent the Dementors. That confirmed my worst fears - she'd have no qualms about killing Harry. I had to act now, I had to distract her - give her what she wanted.
A weapon that didn't exist.
"Cru!" she yelled.
I screamed "NO!" and struggled desperately. "No - Harry - we'll have to tell her!" I pulled what little acting skills I had together, and fighting my immense repulsion at what I was about to do, I began to cry pathetically into the back of Malfoy's robes.
"No way!" Harry yelled predictably, actually thinking I'd give the Order up - it was a little insulting.
"We'll have to, Harry, she'll force it out of you anyway, what's . . . what's the point?" I asked, forcing myself to look broken. Malfoy was frozen against me, unsure what to do. He disliked me as a rule, but he was probably raised to not make, or let, a woman cry.
"Well, well, well!" Umbridge said, with a sickeningly triumphant look. Everyone was looking at me like they'd never seen me before, like they actually believed I'd betray them and everyone else. It made the tears fall from my eyes quicker. Did they really have so little faith in me?
"I'm - I'm sorry everyone," I said, tears now pouring down my cheeks. "But - I can't stand it – "
Umbridge encouraged me to blab, leading me to a chair and towering over me.
I gulped, faking fear, "He was trying to speak to Professor Dumbledore."
Ron froze at that, Ginny whipped her head towards me, and Luna actually started paying attention to the conversation. I hoped desperately that they would stop, they were making it obvious I was lying. George had taught me that the key to a convincing bluff was making sure everyone acted the same, that no one was surprised.
Umbridge ate my excuse right up. She didn't even hesitate to believe that he'd hidden a weapon on the grounds. I told her I didn't want anyone to follow us, and then told her I'd love for the others to use it on her. As I'd hoped, she saw Malfoy's greedy look and became instantly suspicious. She led Harry and me out alone, leaving Ron, Ginny, Neville, and Luna with the squad.
Now all I had to do was hope that my crazy plan worked.
As we walked to the forest I kept my hand in my pocket, desperately typing a message to George, informing him of what was going on. I typed as fast as I could, but I didn't get to send it before the chaos started. Arrows started flying and Centaurs started to surround us - there were at least fifty. Things quickly got out of control, and I feared for our lives, but then Grawp appeared. I never thought I would be glad to see that giant, but I could have kissed his huge lips at that moment.
And then things once again got worse. Why, why, why, did that keep surprising me? I should just expect it. Ron, Luna, Ginny, and Neville had escaped, and now wanted to go to the ministry with us. I wasn't all that sure how we had even decided on going to the ministry, but Harry was not to be dissuaded. Luna came up with the idea on getting there, flying on thestrals. She wanted me to not only fly - something I hated doing - but she wanted me to fly on something I couldn't even see!
A pang of guilt hit me as I climbed onto the creatures back as I remembered that I had promised to celebrate the end of exams with Angelina in the common room tonight… I didn't think I'd get a chance to ever actually go back to Hogwarts. We'd surely be expelled, and I was beginning to fear that there was already a cell in Azkaban waiting for me. How had I let myself get talked into all this craziness? How had things gotten so bad so quickly?
We were landing at the visitors entrance to the ministry when I remembered my message to George. I drew the galleon out of my pocket and erased the message, writing a new one instead.
G, heading to Department of Mysteries with Harry. He saw Sirius being tortured by Voldemort. Ron, Ginny, Luna and Neville with us, please bring help!
Now we only had to stay alive long enough for the Order to arrive.
We got into the ministry with surprisingly little trouble. It was actually alarming just how easily we managed to break in. There was no one anywhere, not even night guards. We all felt that this was an extremely alarming fact, but none of us voiced the thought aloud. We rode an extremely loud lift to the Department of Mysteries, and still there were no guards. A plain black door blocked our path, and it was with great trepidation that I walked through it. The first room we came upon was circular, and everything in it was black. The walls, the floor, the ceiling, all of it black. Blue candles floated about the room, and their blue light cast eerie shadows on the room, making it feel unnatural. The moment we closed the door the room spun around, making it impossible to know which door we had entered through. We were all instinctively quiet, talking very little and whispering when we did speak. Harry chose the door he was facing, trying to act brave and sure as he walked through it.
The room was well lit, with a few desks on the exterior of the room. at the very center of the room sat a glass tank, which the room's inhabitants had obviously been studying. It was filled with green liquid, and pearly objects were floating in it. It took me a moment of looking at it to realize what they were. I walked towards it in horror, praying they weren't what I thought they were. The others started whispering about what they could be and Luna started explaining about some nonsense creature. I told them my suspicions, and it silenced them.
Harry led us out of the room immediately.
I put a flaming cross on the door, and then when we shut it and the room spun again, we could tell which door it had been. Harry again walked through the door right in front of him, and this room was extremely different from what the last had been like. It was larger, and more dimly lit. It appeared to be some sort of atrium: the centre of it was sunken, and it had different levels of the room. in the center of the room stood a great archway, with nothing in it. It was clearly ancient, looking as though it had been around far longer than the ministry. It unnerved me to look at it; it was as though my very soul was warning me not to get to close. The hair on the back of my neck stood up, and I felt my body tensing, my feet refusing to move closer to the arch.
"Who's there?" Harry called out suddenly, stepping forward. I grabbed his arm instinctively, hissing for him to be quiet and careful. He clearly didn't feel the terror I felt in this room. Something about this arch went against my very nature. It was not good. We needed to get out of here. I begged Harry to leave, not bothering to hide the fear in my voice. Maybe if he heard it he would leave with me. He started to, he'd stopped going forward, but then Luna piped up that she could hear the voices.
Was this like the thestrals? Did you have to see someone die to hear the voices? That thought just added to my unease. We needed to get out of here, and we needed to do it now before Harry walked through that arch. Why wouldn't he come with me? Harry mumbled Sirius's name, and that snapped him out of the trance the arch seemed to have on him. He let me lead him out of the room. I put the X on it and we went towards the next door.
It was the room in Harry's dreams. Thousands of aisles lined the room, and it went on so long that I couldn't see its end. The shelves were filled with small glass orbs, there must have been millions of them in the room. We walked down the eerie aisle to row ninety-seven, but nothing was there. Harry showed the first signs of panic, scanning the room with desperation. We shouldn't have come, we shouldn't be here… why did I let him do this?
"Harry?" Ron called suddenly, causing me to jump.
"'What?" Harry questioned, looking green. He was terribly pale and it made his scar stand out darkly against the white skin of his forehead.
"Have you seen this?" Ron asked, pointing to a sphere. I walked up with Harry and studied the sphere.
S.P.T. to A.P.W.B.D.
Dark Lord and (?)Harry Potter
Everything clicked in place when I read it. That's what this was all about, this little glowing orb. Voldemort had tricked us into coming here for this, whatever it was. He must not have been able to get it himself, he had to have Harry grab it. But what was it for?
Harry grabbed it off the shelf before I could warn him against it. I held my breath. I didn't know what I expected to happen, but nothing did. Harrydusted it off, gazing at it with curiosity, and then a drawling voice spoke from behind me.
"Very good, Potter. Now turn around, nice and slowly, and give that to me."
We whirled around, and black shapes started emerging out of the shadows, they surrounded us, blocking off all exits. They had dark hoods on and their wands were all pointed at us. We were trapped. My first instinct was to panic. I wanted to scream and start throwing spells, but then an odd calmness washed over me as I felt the courage that got me sorted into Gryffindor rise within me. I would remain calm; I would think of a way out of here. I had to think of a way out of here.
"To me, Potter," Lucius Malfoy repeated, his drawling voice sending chills down my back. There were twelve Death Eaters surrounding us. We didn't have a prayer of escaping. My vision grew blurry as Harry spoke, my mind started racing through strategies, escape plans, none of which would work. Then, the Death Eater named Bellatrix tried to summon the prophecy, but Harry was too quick for her. He cast a shield charm and blocked her. I barely heard it, I was too busy trying to think of escape plans.
"You need more persuasion?" Bellatrix asked, her mad eyes sparkling maliciously. "Very well - take the smallest one. Let him watch while we torture the little girl. I'll do it."
I did hear that. Neville, Ron, Luna, and I circled Ginny immediately. We caught each other's eyes and a silent resolve took us. We wouldn't move; they'd have to take us all down to get to Ginny. There was no going back now. We'd crossed a line that we couldn't cross back. We couldn't just escape now. We all had to escape. We couldn't leave anyone behind. Harry stepped between Bellatrix and Ginny, holding the prophecy to his chest.
"You'll have to smash this if you want to attack any of us," he said to her. "I don't think your boss will be too pleased if you come back without it, will he?"
She didn't respond, so he continued. "What kind of prophecy are we talking about, anyway?" Harry asked, stalling for time. Neville was shaking behind me, and Ginny was breathing heavily beside me. Ron had wide, scared, eyes, but an extremely determined look on his face. We had an advantage, we'd fought in extremely stressful situations before. Ginny, Neville, Luna, none of them ever had.
Harry's stall worked, he got her talking again. However, he ruined her distraction by insulting Voldemort. I moaned in horror and he ignored me. Bellatrix tried to stun him, but Lucius deflected it. Two of the orbs exploded and misty figures rose up out of them, saying something, but I couldn't hear what. Harry took the distraction to his advantage; he stepped on my toe, drawing my attention.
"When I say now," he whispered. Of course, that could work. I turned my head slowly and nudged Ron in the ribs.
"When Harry says now, aim for the prophecies." He nodded his head and whispered what to do to Luna, who whispered to Neville, who whispered to Ginny. Not a moment too soon either.
"NOW!" Harry yelled. I sent a Reducto at the nearest shelf, and it blew up, making the towering structure sway dangerously. Harry yelled for us to run, but we were already moving. Shelves were falling everywhere, voices were yelling, spells were flying. People tried grabbing us but I shot silent stunners, thanking George profusely in my head for teaching me how to do them.
We reached the end of row ninety-seven. Harry turned right and began to sprint in earnest and we followed as well as we could. Ron, Ginny, and Luna were far ahead of us, and they disappeared in the aisles ahead. Harry was right beside me, but Neville was lagging behind me, panting heavily. I urged him on, pulling him with me by the arm. He took a deep breath and redoubled his speed, keeping up with us now. We ran out of the door into the strange circular room. I whirled around and sealed the door, breathing heavily.
"Where - where are the others?" Harry gasped. I looked around in horror, Ron, Ginny, and Luna, all of whom had been ahead of us, were now nowhere to be seen.
"They must have gone the wrong way!" I whispered, terrified at the thought. Had I really just sealed them in that room? Malfoy came up to the sealed door and began to bang on it. He told the others not to harm Harry, but to kill us.
"What do we do?" I asked, annoyed at my trembling voice but unable to stop it. We were all going to die! Even Harry as soon as they got that prophecy. We shouldn't have come here. Why did I let him leave?
"Let's get away from this door," Harry said, pulling us through a door. We were in a room with deskand a strange shimmering bell jar where a tiny egg was hatching and un-hatching. We didn't take time to explore it though. A voice behind us yelled; "Alohomora!" As the door flew openwe all dived under a desk.
"Check under the desk," a voice said. Merlin save us, they were coming!
"Stupefy!" Harry yelled from under his desk. Why hadn't I taught him any nonverbal magic yet? We didn't need them to know where we were hidden! He'd just given up his hiding spot!
Things started happening too fast for me to keep up. A Death Eater had found me and aimed his wand at me. He started some spell but I didn't hear it. Harry launched himself at the Death Eater, and Neville disarmed him, disarming Harry too in the process. They started to run from the room, and I followed them out. I sent a stunner at the Death Eater in front of Harry and he dropped to the floor. Harry snatched up his wand and we ran forward. The Death Eater fell into the bell jarwith the bird in it. His head began to shrink, de-aging as it turned into a baby's head. I watched it in horrid fascination. Had someone managed to trap time in a jar? How did they do that? I was temporarily distracted from the battle raging around us as his head began to grow older again. Somewhere in the back of my mind a voice was telling me that how they did it was of absolutely no importance right now, that I needed to be getting Harry and Neville out of this room, but I couldn't tear my eyes from the sight.
There was a shout from a room nearby, then a crash and a scream.
"RON?" Harry yelled, "GINNY? LUNA?" He turned his head from the Death Eater, right as he stood up. I yelled for Harry to watch out, and we backed away as more footsteps came for us. We ran from the room. I turned to lock the door, but the Death Eaters were too fast. They cast Impedimenta at us and the force of the spell caused us to be blasted backwards. The Death Eater began to scream at the top of his lungs.
"WE'VE GOT HIM! IN AN OFFICE OFF –" I did the only thing I could think of, I sent a silencing spell at him, praying I wasn't already too late. The other Death Eater stepped forward, and I feared it was over. Harry raised his wand and petrified him. He fell over, but the other Death Eater raised his wand and aimed at me. Two things happened at once; a streak of purple flames shot at me and I fell to the floorand an explosion happened in the hallway causing the door to blast open. My vision faded as a pain welled up in my chest. The last thing I saw was a shock of flaming red hair and familiar vivid blue eyes.
"George?" I murmured, and then the darkness took me.