Oops

I scrambled backwards, my feet sliding against the gritty ground. My fingers clawed at the cold stone, my lower back dragging against the ground as I crawled away from Greyback's menacing form. I clutched my wand with sweaty fingers, the moments splintering into fragmented dashes of green and red as hexes ricocheted against the walls.

I needed to survive.

I heaved myself to my feet, bracing myself against the slick wall, and lurched forward clumsily. Focus, Adela. The phoenix was screeching above, each pulse of sound seeming to shake the very ground I stood on. It flailed desperately, scarlet feathers flashing as it struggled to escape Ragnuk's spell. My heart ached to see such an elegant creature reduced to blind, frantic terror. It cried, feathers trailing down, blood red curls against a grim black backdrop.

Another roar - Greyback, leaping forward. I cast a quick shield spell three meters in front of me, wincing when his curved claws easily shattered it, scattering hazy orange shards through the damp air. Al dispelled the shattered spell fragments with a slash of his wand. He rushed towards me, flinging a searing fire hex at Greyback. The werewolf growled, pressing himself to the ground as the fireball raged above.

I quickly concentrated on the rapidly dissipating fire hex, narrowing my eyes as I molded the flames into a tenuous net. With a quick diagonal thrust of my wand I twisted the net around the werewolf, encasing him in a bristling cage. He howled, slamming to the ground once more, his fur flashing red and black in the sporadic light.

Al threw me an admiring look over his shoulder.

"Brilliant," he said. I smiled briefly before turning my attention back to the werewolf. The spell wouldn't hold him for long; already the flames were weakening, violent red dulling to a muted orange. I shifted my stance, my knees bending slightly as I raised my wand in preparation of his next assault.

Al moved behind me, his fingers fiddling with the communications device pinned to his collar. "Department of Mysteries menageries code black code black," Al muttered, his lips grazing the top of his singed black shirt. The small black chip remained sullenly unresponsive. He cursed, glanced at me with something that looked frighteningly like desperation in his eyes, and repeated his sentence two more times.

Nothing.

Stupid black chip of stupid broken promises (Merlin, now I was sounding like those angsty teen singers I - er, Seth used to obsess over).

"I've been trying to contact the other Aurors for the past hour. No response," he said grimly, his lips growing thin. Dread clawed at my heart; no one knew we were down here. I had no idea how often the Unspeakables made their rounds, or if they would even be down here considering the chaos we had left above.

Another roar-

Greyback's monstrous paw slammed through the fire net, dispelling the wavering flames with a resolute slash.

The werewolf slid sinuously to his feet, his muscles rippling underneath his dark fur. The acrid scent of burning hair filled the cave, and Greyback's eyes glinted dangerously. He paced, his claws scraping loudly against the ground.

I swallowed, flung my arm forward, and shouted, "REDUCTO!" Greyback dodged the spell easily, and it collided with the back well with a deafening boom. The stone splintered, angry cracks seeping into the dark marble. I winced; I'd have to be more careful. It would do no good to bring this cave crashing down on us.

I frowned, a desperate idea (as in, on the craziness level of Seth's idiotic plans) budding in Numberita. What if I brought the ceiling down and protected myself and Al at the last minute with a shield charm? It was crazy. No, scratch that. It was very near suicidal…

Al let out a muffled yell as he fell backwards, barely dodging Greyback's gnashing teeth. He slammed against the ground with a sickening crack, his feet drawing up to keep the much larger werewolf at bay. Greyback pressed on with unsettling determination, his paws scrabbling at the smooth ground as he tried to reach Al. My heart froze; if he even landed one scratch on Al…

That settled it. I had no choice. I shifted my stance, planting my bruised feet firmly on the damp ground, and pointed my wand not at the werewolf attacking the man I would give practically anything for but at the low ceiling above.

"REDUCTO!" I bellowed. Another wave of pure magic swept from my wand, slamming into the stone with a satisfying - and terrifying - groan. Dust rained down, making my eyes water and my throat itch. One particularly sharp fragment glanced off of my left forearm, and I hissed at the sudden lash of pain.

Again. I squinted, trying to peer through the hazy dust, and aimed at the area I thought was above Ragnuk. "REDUCTO!" The cracks widened, and the wall let out another sickening groan.

Although Greyback and Al did not notice my efforts, the goblin did. Ragnuk stuffed the last phoenix feather into his pouch and, his keen eyes narrowing, quickly deducted my plan.

"N-" he began, his gaunt fingers raising the Elder Wand -

It was too late.

"REDUCTO!" I finished. The last syllable had scarcely left my mouth when I dove towards Greyback, slamming into his side. The momentum carried our bodies forward a meter and a half, the startled werewolf yelping as he crumpled to the ground. One of his claws caught against my trousers, and I froze. If he broke skin…

Two strong hands gripped my shoulders, yanking me back. Greyback's claw tore free, ripping eight centimeters of my trousers. Greyback was on his feet almost instantly, his muscles bunching as he prepared to leap towards Al and me -

Crack.

His misshapen, sharp face jerked upwards, his murky eyes widening when he saw the heavy stone creaking ominously above. The cracks covered the whole ceiling, now, and the very stone seemed to ripple unsteadily.

I managed a weak smile.

"Oops."

He snarled, snapping his teeth at me. His eyes brimmed with such rage, such hatred that for a moment all I wanted to do was turn like a child, close my eyes, and pretend that he wasn't there (what? I never claimed to be brave. Honestly, I was just glad that I hadn't wet my pants by now).

"Soon," he growled. Then he quickly turned, his tail making a harsh arc in the dust-choked air, and raced towards Ragnuk. The goblin eyed me silently, an unspoken promise clear in his haughty stance. A shiver slid, unbidden, down my spine, whispering of pain and darkness and the inevitable flow of time -

Then he brought the Elder Wand down with a flick of his wrist, and in the next moment they were gone.

I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding before turning to Al.

"The Elder Wand must be able to break the Apparition barriers set around the Department," I babbled, my voice a tad high (I blamed it on the nerves). "That explains how they were able to break into Hogwarts all those years ago. Too bad we don't have the same advantage...er, sorry for maybe possibly accidentally dooming us..?" My voice cracked, and I winced. Thankfully, Al didn't comment.

He glanced up at the ceiling before looking back down at me.

"I don't know whether to yell or kiss you," he confessed. I followed his gaze, biting my lip as Numberita calculated the time we had until the cave collapsed (four minutes and twenty-one seconds).

Well, the good news: Greyback and Ragnuk were gone.

The bad news: They'd taken the phoenix. And there was that small fact that Al and I were about to be crushed by several tons of solid rock.

Honestly, I wasn't even sure whether I wanted to kick myself or congratulate myself.

I snuck a quick look at Al again; his brow was furrowed, his green eyes narrowed as he contemplated the ceiling. Then he began chanting under his breath, flicking his wrist expertly as he slowly constructed a thick, translucent red shield charm above us.

Merlin, all I'd done was endanger him. First the box, now this…

The chanting stopped, and I looked up to see Al staring at me.

"Oh, damn it all," he muttered. Then he stepped forward and, cradling my cheeks with his fingers, pulled me in for a fierce kiss.

Eep.

I rose slightly, balancing on my toes, and laced my fingers through his soft hair. He still smelled the same - like crisp winter days and evergreen forests. With my eyes closed, I could almost pretend that we were two normal (okay, sort of normal) people out to watch some Muggle movie involving outlandish plot devices that we could then laugh at during the equally cheesy dinner afterwards and then we would slurp spaghetti to the tune of some Italian chef's singing "Bella Notte" with an accordion-

…

What? I'd seen it happen (okay, admittedly it was in an animated movie...with two talking dogs...but that was besides the point).

His thumb traced over my cheekbone, his other hand slipping up to entangle itself in my hair. I sighed, tasting pine and snow and home (Dear Merlin, I was in trouble) -

After an indeterminable amount of time, we separated, staring at each other with wide eyes.

"Um," I managed eloquently, my chest heaving slightly as I struggled to catch my breath.

Al's lips curved into a slight, wry smile. "Um," he repeated softly, his brilliant eyes still fixed on mine. Merlin, his eyes were as pretty now as they were in First Year when I first experienced that first ill-fated infatuation…

I could feel my cheeks flushing, but this time I didn't care because Al's eyes were darkening and he looked as affected as I did.

His eyes flicked back down to my lips, and I stepped forward unconsciously, an invisible force drawing us together -

His lips parted slightly, his dark, inky lashes lowering -

Crash. Another sizeable rock slammed to the ground only three meters to our right. I flinched, my hand tightening on my wand. I quickly estimated the number of the cracks again, Numberita working furiously to rework the time we had left.

My heart sank. Two minutes and thirteen seconds.

"Adela," Al said quietly.

I looked at him. He held out his right hand, and I took it firmly.

"Remember when Rose charmed our hands together?" I asked. He grinned.

"How could I forget?"

Then he sobered, tugging me down to the ground next to the wall. I sat carefully behind the half-finished shield charm.

"Now, Lancaster, let's try to live," he said. Then he smirked. "After all, if I die, who will stop James from telling everyone he's the better Potter?"

I shook my head before brushing an impulsive kiss against his sharp jaw. He stilled, his eyes softening.

We nodded at each other, took a deep breath, and then murmured, "Protego Totalum."

Twin jets of bright, rippling light shot from our wands, colliding with the half formed shield. Beads of sweat dripped down the nape of my neck and collected at the small of my back as I concentrated, gritting my teeth as I struggled to maintain the spell. The shield grew at an agonizingly slow pace, the solid red surface rippling as wave after wave of magic hit its smooth surface.

The shield grew, slowly curving upwards until it formed a protective bubble around our kneeling forms.

I lowered my wand slowly, my hands trembling with exertion.

"Okay," I gasped out, the sound oddly muffled by the thick shield.

"Okay," he echoed, staring up through the shield. By Numberita's estimations, the ceiling ought to collapse at any second now. The cracks covered every spare area, and already sizeable chunks were falling, emitting small eruptions of dust as they crashed to the battered ground.

I looked worriedly up at the shield. Because it contained our combined magic, it was certainly stronger than any other shield I had ever created before. From the amount of visual distortion its rippled surface caused, Numberita gathered that it was around twelve centimeters thick. I could only hope that it would be enough to withstand several tons of falling stone.

The ceiling groaned and, with one final heave, emptied its contents into the silent chamber below.

No one said that silence was louder than even the most exuberant of quidditch fans. No one said that silence could be just as disorienting as a wave of screams. No one said that silence was only frightening because of the absence it entailed.

No one said, no one warned.

Author Note: I'M SORRY FOR THE CLIFFHANGER but it practically wrote itself. But, hey, a timely update! That counts for something, right? Right? (please don't kill me). (also some reviewer pointed out the connection between Adela's last name and a certain heroine's whose name rhymes with Mazel. Although the connection was unintentional, I couldn't resist sneaking in a reference in this chapter. Read into it what you will).

Anyway, as always, thank you all so much for reading! Let me know what you think :)