A bang followed by a scream of pain brought him back to reality with a jerk. Kingsley was on the ground, Bellatrix was running for the exit, and...
"SHE KILLED SIRIUS! SHE KILLED HIM! I'LL KILL HER!" Harry was sprinting after her, shouting over his shoulder at Remus who had tried to stop him.
"HARRY, no!" Lily screamed next to him, but by the time she and James had disentangled themselves from each other, both Harry and Bellatrix were gone, and Dumbledore was halfway up the stone seats.
"Find the others and do what you can for them," he called over his shoulder at the remaining order members, although only Remus, Lily, and James were left standing.
There was no way that James was staying there. Sirius had just... there was no way he was going to let another person save his son, not even Dumbledore. He had to be there! He sprinted after the headmaster.
The door led to a room with a tank tilted on its side in the center, foul smelling liquid on the floor, and weird, white blobs scattered around. Four kids in various degrees of injury lay about. Ginny, the only one who was conscious (though she clutched her ankle very white in the face), pointed towards a door at the other side of the room. "They went through that one," she said.
James nodded at her and ran at the door. It opened into the room of spinning doors as if conspiring to keep him from his son. How had Dumbledore known where to look? How had Harry? Bellatrix would surely have headed for the atrium, but...
James yanked open the first door. It was space. He left it open and moved to the next. It was the room he'd just left. With the doors open, the room did not move. The next door was the horrible room with the veil. The fourth didn't open at all. The fifth was the one with the time turners. On the sixth door, James found the hall that led to the Department of Mysteries.
He sprinted down it and took the elevator to the atrium, spending the entire long ride mentally yelling at it to go faster. Finally, the gold doors opened, James leapt out, brandishing his wand, and...
Voldemort and Dumbledore both looked at him from their interrupted duel. Voldemort hid behind a shield, the golden centaur from the now empty fountain of magical brethren cantered around Dumbledore.
Dumbledore tilted his head behind him. The giant golden wizard was shielding Harry from the duel.
A jet of green light came hurtling at James from behind the shield. He disapperated just in time, reappearing behind the golden wizard. "Harry," he whispered, urgently, gripping his son's arm. "Are you alright?"
Harry nodded but didn't say anything. Both turned their eyes back to the duel, which had continued during their preoccupation. A giant snake was preparing to strike Dumbledore. At the same time, Voldemort appeared on the plinth in the middle of the pool where the fountain had stood.
"Look out!" Harry cried.
Fawkes appeared, swooping in front of Dumbledore and swallowing Voldemort's killing curse whole. Dumbledore vanished the snake and used the water from the fountain to cover Voldemort like a cocoon. For a few seconds, that seemed to be it. Then, Voldemort vanished, and the water dropped back into its basin with a splash.
"Master!" Bellatrix screamed from where she lay trapped. James had not noticed her before.
Harry made to run out from behind the statue, but James grabbed him by the arm to hold him back. Something didn't feel right.
"Stay where you are, Harry!" Dumbledore called, sounding frightened.
Dumbledore never sounded frightened. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. Where was Voldemort?
Then, Harry went suddenly limp in James's grasp, falling to the floor without a sound, gravity breaking James' hold.
"No," James gasped, going to his knees beside his son, feeling for a pulse. Then, Harry's eyes opened. Instead of the green eyes he loved so much, Harry's eyes were dark red.
James startled backwards in shock and fear, but at once returned to his son's side. Dumbledore was at his side then, bending towards Harry as the boy writhed. "Kill me now, Dumbledore," Harry rasped. James shuddered. He knew this wasn't really his son, but still.
"If death is nothing, Dumbledore, then kill the boy."
Fury and pain filled James. It wasn't fair that Harry had to suffer so much and more. How dare Voldemort possess him after everything he had already done? James wanted to rip the Dark Lord out of his son with his bare hands, but there was no way for him to do that. There was no way for him to protect Harry from this. James was helpless.
As suddenly as it had started, everything stopped. One minute, Harry was writhing on the floor, eyes wide and red, the next he lay limply, eyes closed, as if he had passed out. James looked wildly about him, one hand tight around his son's wrist feeling his pulse, and the other clutching his wand. Voldemort shattered the gold witch pinning Bellatrix as green fires flamed into being all around the walls. Ministry wizards began pouring into the room. Voldemort grabbed Bellatrix.
Then, he was gone.
James ignored the crowds and focused on Harry. His eyes blinked open, and he reached for his glasses. His eyes were, thankfully, once again green. He raised his head and met James' worried gaze. "Are you alright, Harry?" James asked.
"Yeah," said Harry, looking from James to Dumbledore. He was shaking so badly he could barely hold his head up properly. "Yeah, I'm... where's Voldemort, where... who are all these... what's..."
The atrium was full of people and chaos. "He was here!" A scarlet robed man was shouting. "I saw him, Mr. Fudge, I swear, it was You-Know-Who! He grabbed a woman and disapperated!"
"I know Williamson, I know. I saw him too!" gibbered Fudge, "Merlin's beard... here... here... in the ministry of magic! Good heavens above, it doesn't seem possible, my word. How can this be?"
James stopped paying attention to the conversation as Dumbledore stepped forward to explain the situation. At the moment, he couldn't care less to see Fudge proven wrong, or if he had a heart attack from two of the most wanted people in the world being on ministry property at the same time. All that mattered was Harry.
He helped his son to his feet, taking in his paleness, and unstoppable shaking. Despite what he said, Harry was not alright.
"Harry... Harry Potter?" Fudge shouted. James instinctively shifted, so he was between Harry and the rest of the room, wand still clutched in his hand.
"I shall explain everything when Harry is back at school," said Dumbledore. He walked away from the gathered wizards. He made the head of the wizard a portkey. "This will take you to my office, Harry," he explained. "I will see you in half an hour." Harry nodded. Dumbledore turned to him. "James, I will need you here to help with proceedings."
James nodded. As much as part of him didn't want to let Harry out of sight ever again, he knew he couldn't. Lily had been right. They couldn't protect him from everything, whether from Voldemort himself or the terrible knowledge of why he was after Harry. The safest place for his son right now was Hogwarts, and James had his own duties to deal with.
Besides, the prophesy would come better from Dumbledore. He would have to be there anyway as the only person who knew the whole thing word-for-word, and James... James couldn't stand having that horrible conversation right now on top of everything. And they couldn't afford to wait any longer. Shouldn't have waited as long as they did.
James gave Harry a hug. He tried to put as much comfort into it as he could; he didn't trust himself to speak. Then he pulled away, and Harry touched the portkey. They both vanished, leaving James with Dumbledore and the ministry wizards.
"What is the situation with the Order, James?" Dumbledore asked.
James swallowed. "Lily and Remus are fine. Moody was conscious, but down when I left. Tonks is unconscious; I don't know how bad. Kingsley," James shook his head, "I don't know." He didn't mention Sirius. Dumbledore couldn't possibly not know what happened.
Dumbledore nodded. "Fudge has sent wizards to take care of the Death Eaters. Go tell Lily and Remus what has happened, then help the Order members and the other students as much as you can. They will be sent back to school, if possible, very soon. In the meantime, do what you can."
James nodded. Then, he suddenly reached out and grasped Dumbledore's arm. "Dumbledore, Harry... tell him the prophesy, Professor. He has to know. I should have..." He broke off.
Dumbledore surveyed him with those piercing blue eyes. Then nodded. "It is time," he agreed, "I meant to ask you."
James nodded, slowly, releasing the Headmaster's arm. He ran a hand over his face. "Lily was right. We should have told him before," he muttered. "I was such a fool."
Dumbledore looked old and tired. "Many of us have been fools in this area," he said, quietly.