"But it's true!" Edward shouted, swinging a fist at the green baubles but Fudge was not listening. He was reciting a string of words which sounded like his rights.
Fudge's eyes were darting around and he waved a frantic hand at the dementors then at Edward and Black. His words were coming on in a garbled mess and it sounded almost demonic.
When Fudge finished speaking, the green head of Lucius Malfoy smirked and the dementors pounced onto the ragged duo.
"Not happening again!" Edward hissed. He grabbed Black by the scruff of his shirt and ignoring his shout of protest, Edward flung him against the dungeon walls.
"C'mon! We're getting out of here!" Edward said, clapping his hands and trying to stave off the coldness from the oncoming dementors.
"You fool! You don't have wands!"
Edward slammed his hands against the floor and the stone crumbled to form a slide down the tower.
Fudge's face was something to remember by. His mouth dropped and he was struggling for words. In his shock, his patronus had disappeared. Even the green head of Lucius Malfoy raised its eyebrows.
"I should do this more often," Edward muttered and jumped onto the slide, still dragging Black after him.
He underestimated the height of the tower.
"HAVE YOU ANY IDEA HOW FAST WE ARE GOING?" Black yelled as they were almost flung off from the slide again from sheer speed. They were only saved by Edward's iron grip on the side of the makeshift slide. Edward could already feel his automail hand thinning as it scraped through stone at incredible velocity. Winry was so going to kill him when he returned.
"They're still coming!" Edward roared back. He could feel the dementor's cold presence inching closer. The purple lights were flaring all around him and Edward shook his head vigorously.
"Hey Black! Trust me ok!" Edward said.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK-"
Edward flung Black off the slide. It was not difficult despite Black being a grown adult. The momentum of their descent helped a lot.
With a yell, Edward clapped his hands and pressed them against the slide. He almost got thrown off himself in doing so.
A wall rose up from the top of the slide and encircled the two dementors, trapping them in a dome of stone. The purple lights faded as Edward slid down the last few metres on the slide.
"Hey! How's it doing?" Edward said nonchalantly at Black who was hanging above him. A long stone spike had shot up from the slide and impaled Black's coat, leaving him hanging helplessly in the air.
"What on earth were you trying to do?" Black yelled as he squirmed to get a better purchase on the spike.
His coat ripped and he plummeted down. Edward clapped and a hand rose from the ground to soften the landing.
"WERE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?" Black said, gingerly getting down from the enormous hand.
"Oh come off it, it was only a little fall." Edward said.
Black opened his mouth to say something but he closed them again. His eyes darkened. Edward narrowed his eyes in response.
"Where are Harry and his friends?"
"Oh crap. I think we left them behind." Edward said. "We have to get back before the dementors-"
Black shook his head. "No, I don't think they're in danger of the Kiss. Harry's too famous and they are all still under-aged. Well, you weren't considered a wizard though. They probably thought you were a spy for Voldemort." Black nodded at Edward's enraged look.
"And you trust me?" Edward challenged.
"Oh of course not. But I'm not stupid to try to escape by myself. Enemy of my enemy, you know?"
Edward sighed and kicked at a rock on the ground. It clunked back onto the ground with a thud.
"We have to get moving soon. Before they find us," Edward said briskly. "We'll start by going back to the shack. It's the safest place for now. Then we'll see what we can do for Harry and the others."
Black nodded and together, they made their way back to the shack in silence. As they neared the tree, a cold familiar chill befell on them.
Edward tensed, ready to form a protective dome around them when Black pushed him violently to the ground.
"Hey!" Edward protested and looked up just in time to see Black raise a foot and kicked him square under his chin.
The blow threw the breath out of Edward and his head darkened for a moment. Bright white lights sparkled under his eyelids. Whether it was due to his disorientation or not, Edward felt himself fall and the branches of the tree swirling in manic frenzy.
He shook his head abruptly, trying not to pass out. He was in the hole that led to the shack. Blinking rapidly, Edward crawled towards the hole and peeped out.
The dementors were there. He could not tell how many there were but two of them were holding onto Black who was completely unconscious. They were dragging him back to the castle in languid movements.
One of them stopped and turned to look at the tree. Edward held his breath. The dementor drifted slowly to him. Edward shifted away from the line of vision. A scabbed hand reached into the hole. Up close, the hand had the texture of a burned tree bark. The skeletal arm snatched at the air, reaching out to where Edward was hiding.
Edward clapped and mount of earth snapped up, pinning the arm to the ceiling of the hole. The arm made furious grabbing motions at Edward but Edward clapped again and ran through the tunnel he created back to the castle.
Edward needed to get the principal's office fast. The old geezer was probably the only one who could stop Black from being Kissed.
He had no idea how to get there though so the best solution was to go raring in through the front door.
Edward burst into the Great Hall, expecting the dementors who were normally on guard to attack him but they were not there.
He raced up the stairs, while the portraits on the wall glanced at him and whispered. Their eyes were wide. Edward knew he had to reach the old geezer fast before news of him in the castle spread.
"What amazes me most is the behavior of the dementors... you've really no idea what made them retreat, Snape?"
It was Fudge's voice. Edward skidded to a halt when he heard voices up ahead. He treaded carefully, aware of how his platform boots made several loud thuds even though he was walking on carpeted ground. Edward pressed himself against the wall, ignoring the frightened squeak from the portrait he was leaning against.
"No, Minister... by the time I had come 'round they were heading back to their positions at the entrances..."
"Extraordinary. And yet Black, and Harry, and the girl-"
"All unconscious by the time I reached them. I bound and gagged Black and Elric, naturally, conjured stretchers, and brought them all straight back to the castle. Any news of them, Minister?"
"Black has been recaptured. The dementors found him near the Whomping Tree. Elric, however, is nowhere to be found. We did find one of the dementors pinned at the tree. Elric's doing, I suppose."
Edward dared to look around the wall to see Fudge and Snape talking in low voices. They were outside the infirmary.
"WHAT?"
Edward almost jumped when he heard Harry screaming from inside the infirmary. Fudge and Snape ran into the room and Edward took the chance to dash closer towards the infirmary.
"Minister, listen!" Harry said. "Sirius Black's innocent! Peter Pettigrew faked his own death! We saw him tonight! You can't let the dementors do that thing to Sirius, he's-"
"Harry, Harry, you're very confused, you've been through a dreadful ordeal, lie back down, now, we've got everything under control..."
"YOU HAVEN'T!" Harry yelled. "YOUVE GOT THE WRONG MAN!"
"And you're in the wrong place," said a voice behind Edward.
Edward reacted instantly, dropping to the ground and kicking viciously at the newcomer. But his leg did not connect. Instead, he was hung upside down by that leg by invisible ropes.
"Let go of me!" Edward hissed. The person did not reply. There was a soft whish of a stick and Edward was slowly turned around to face the very man he was looking for.