Chapter 132

Students on the Run

As Minerva stood at the end of a street holding her list, she took a breath, looking at Moody and Scrimgeour. "Once we do this, there's no going back," Scrimgeour said.

"I know, and we need to do this. There's no choice," Minerva said.

"You're not wrong, but I wanted to give you a choice. This isn't going to be safe, and we could end up fighting for our lives, or worse, dead," Scrimgeour said.

"Time is a factor, Minister, so let's not waste any," Minerva told him firmly.

"She's right," Moody agreed. Minerva walked towards the house, knocking on the door. As they waited, Minerva thought of what she was going to say. Thankfully, this was a magical family, and Minerva really hoped it wouldn't be a supporter of Voldemort.

"Someone's coming," Scrimgeour whispered, a moment before the door opened, revealing a middle aged woman. Minerva could smell flowers, from what she assumed was scented candles, music playing, and the sound of a dog barking.

"Can I help you?" the woman asked, before frowning. "Professor McGonagall?" she asked.

"Hello Amelia. I'm sorry to bother you so late at night, but we need to speak to you. It's important," Minerva said.

"We?" Amelia asked, before seeing Scrimgeour and Moody. "Minister Scrimgeour? You… you're okay? I thought you had retired to rest?"

"Long story short, You-Know-Who has taken over the Ministry," Scrimgeour said. Amelia looked between them and gulped.

"We were… afraid something bad had happened," Amelia admitted. "But… why are you here?"

"Because your daughter, Mina, is a half blood, and we know that half-blood's and muggleborns are being rounded up, and not allowed to attend Hogwarts, so we've established a secret location to take you and your family to," Minerva explained.

"Where?" Amelia asked.

"Can't tell you, but we need you all to gather some supplies now; we'll be taking you there immediately. You won't be back for some time," Moody said.

"If there was any other way, we'd take it, but we're not letting You-Know-Who get hold of anyone," Minerva added. "May we come in?"

"I… I guess," Amelia looked pale, and Minerva could tell she wanted to be sick. As the group went through to the living room, Minerva saw a muggle man – Amelia's husband – and her daughter, Mina.

"Sorry for the lateness of the hour, but you need to start packing your bags, immediately," Moody said. "You're all in danger."

Minerva began to explain the situation in full, and by the time she was done, all three of the people looked fearful and pale.

"Get your bags, now," the man, David, said. "We aren't letting anyone hurt Mina."

"David, you start packing what we'll need down here, we'll start packing clothes," Amelia said.

"Can we help?" Scrimgeour asked.

"I could use help getting some of our personal items that we can't replace," David said.

"I'll help Amelia and Mina," Minerva offered, going with the two up the stairs. It didn't take long for the family to be packed, with Minerva creating a portkey.

"Mr. Matthews, this is going to feel strange, but you're about to be lifted away from here to a safe place, and someone will be there on the other side, a woman called Molly Weasley. We've made sure you can be there, most of the time muggles can't be around wizarding places. Just take a deep breath, and if you need to throw up on the other side, do so," Scrimgeour explained. David nodded.

"Won't they be able to track us?" Mina asked.

"Not using a portkey, no," Moody replied. "Don't worry lass, you'll be perfectly safe."

"Thank you," Amelia said, smiling softly.

"Go, quickly, and we'll see you there," Minerva assured them. As the three held hands, they also grabbed the portkey, disappearing as they did so. Minerva sighed softly.

"That's one down, at least," Scrimgeour said. "I've already got this charm to make sure Riddle's people don't know they're gone, at least not until they come here."

"How many families do we need to visit?" Moody asked.

"From the information we have, there's five muggleborns that we need to get out, and fifty half-blood students," Minerva replied.

"And how many of them do we need to hide?" Scrimgeour asked.

"My list has us getting thirty students," Minerva answered, as the three of them left the house, locking it up with magic as they did. "The others are from families that'll be okay; they're well connected enough to be allowed to attend, but if we can get them, we should."

"Not leaving anyone to chance, so we'll get all fifty students," Scrimgeour replied.

"There are a number of students we can leave, they're connected to families that support You-Know-Who," Minerva said. "But we'll be getting thirty five students by my count."

"And you're sure about those? They're definitely connected to Riddle and his people?" Moody asked.

"I'm sure. I've done a lot of research for this, and I know the families. Trust me, the half-bloods we leave are those who will be treated properly by You-Know-Who," Minerva assured them.

"Alright then, you know we trust you," Scrimgeour said. "It's going to be a long night, so let's get moving," he said, before the three of them disapparated away from the area.


As the sun began to rise, Minerva knew they were almost finished getting every student on the list, but she was also concerned that so far, nothing bad had happened. She knew that couldn't remain the case, especially with Death Eaters likely looking for them. They had five more families to visit, all of whom Minerva knew would likely be under surveillance given they were the muggle born families.

As Minerva, Moody, and Scrimgeour stood hidden in an alley, near the first of the five houses, they were ready for battle. They knew it was going to happen, though they hoped it wouldn't.

"You sure about this?" Scrimgeour asked, as Moody looked around.

"I'm sure. I can smell it," Moody replied, scowling. "Death Eaters are here."

"You can smell it?" Scrimgeour asked.

"Trust me," Moody replied.

"I'll send word to Sirius and the others, they can be here quickly," Minerva said, as they looked at the house they were watching. "Wait… there!" Minerva said, pointing to the side of the house. She could see three Death Eaters. "They're aware of what we've been doing," Minerva surmised.

"That's my bet as well. When the others arrive, they can cause the distraction, whilst you go in and get the family," Scrimgeour said.

"That's assuming they're in there, lad," Moody pointed out. "We need to know if they are or if they've been taken."

"I'll handle that," Minerva replied. "We'll need to apparate away quickly if they're not, but I can do a revealing spell."

"No, that can be fooled," Scrimgeour replied. "Luckily, I have someone I can summon here who can help," he added, smiling as he pulled out his mobile phone.


Minerva had to admit, she hadn't expected Scrimgeour's contact to be someone she knew. She was even more surprised at how the contact could get in and out without being seen, which was the case at that moment.

"You're sure she won't be detected?" Minerva asked.

"No one knows the truth about her abilities," Scrimgeour said. "I found out about her skills through Lily."

"Lily knew?" Minerva asked, her eyes widening.

"Yes, she revealed the truth to Lily during her fourth year," Scrimgeour said, as a small buzzing sound could be heard nearby. "Sounds like she's back."

"Good," Moody said, frowning as the buzzing stopped, and gentle footsteps were heard behind them. Minerva turned and came face to face with Rita Skeeter.

"Rita, good, you weren't detected?" Minerva asked. Rita chuckled.

"No, I'm too good," Rita replied. She sighed as she sat down on the wall nearby. "You were right, Moody; the family's gone. The others as well; I heard the Death Eaters talking about it, they were laughing about how you'd fall into their trap."

"Not bloody likely," Moody replied. "Right, let's get back to the safe house, now."

"Agreed. No point in staying here," Minerva agreed, taking hold of Rita's hand, as she, and the others, disapparated quickly.


"Damn, we should have all gone," Sirius said bitterly, pacing up and down the narrow living room.

"There's no point in assigning blame, Sirius. We could have done a lot differently. We've saved a lot of people, but there's more to do," Minerva said. "We need to make sure they stay safe."

"We need to do more than that," Sirius said. "We should go into the Ministry and get them out. We're already planning to attack, so we'll have to do things differently."

"You really think the attack is a good idea?" Remus asked.

"Of course I do," Sirius replied. "I know I'm usually one to act rashly, but think about it; we launch an attack, it'll be impossible for Riddle to keep the truth hidden, right?"

"Maybe, but there's no guarantee of anything," Scrimgeour pointed out.

"It shows that we're not just going to lie down and accept You-Know-Who and his rule," Charlie said, looking at the group. The living room wasn't massive, but it had what they needed; enough chairs for everyone to sit down on, and a table with drinks. "We can't just sit here and do nothing when there are people who need help."

"How do you propose we launch the attack?" Moody asked. "Anyone have a plan?"

"I've got… well, the makings of a plan," Sirius said.

"This should be good," Remus teased, smirking.

"You're lucky I love you, Moony," Sirius replied, returning the smirk. He then used his magic to call up an image of the Ministry, based on drawings that Scrimgeour had given to them. "So, here's the first thing we do; we start by sending a few of us, using Polyjuice potion, in the visitor entrance, and they get into position in the main atrium. Soon as they are, the second team, who will have gone in via the secret escape tunnel, will launch an attack from the office floors, which will get the guards running. Once that attack begins, the atrium team launches their attack, which causes the guards to split their forces," Sirius explained.

"Meanwhile," Remus spoke up, understanding what Sirius was leading to, "a third team, who go in the tunnel entrance as well, but split up as soon as they reach the offices, will get to where the trials are being held, and free everyone being held there."

"Exactly," Sirius confirmed. "Three attacks, the guards won't know where to go, so they'll split up, giving us more strength to attack."

"It's certainly got the element of surprise," Minerva complimented.

"When we've got everyone out, we all get out, and apparate to different locations. We'll need to have a couple of people with Portkeys ready to get the people away, and to safety, to our hidden base," Sirius said.

"And if any Death Eaters manage to sneak in?" Moody asked.

"We don't send them straight there, we pick a place where we'll have the advantage, and we can check everyone who comes through. Any Death Eaters make it, we kill them," Sirius replied.

"Sounds like a plan. Who are going to be in the teams?" Bill asked.

"I'll lead the teams through the tunnel to launch the attack from the offices," Sirius replied. "I'll take Remus, Kingsley, and Bill."

"Then I'll lead the attack through the main atrium," Charlie said. "I'll go with Tonks, Sophie, Percy, Cedric, Viktor, and Alicia. We'll be able to get in quickly."

"Which leaves me leading the way to get the prisoners out," Scrimgeour said. "Moody, and Crouch can come with me. We should have an easy time of it, just the three of us, getting past the guards there. We'll have backup from the prisoners when we get them out, we can take the spare wands we have, and make sure everyone has a wand."

"Works for me," Moody agreed, with a grim smile. "I'm looking forward to this."

"I'm not," Bill admitted. "But we need to do it. Minerva, you should get back to the hideout school with Mum, and make sure everyone there's okay."

"I will," Minerva said. "All of you, please be careful."

"We will be," Sirius assured her. "We should get plenty of rest; tomorrow's going to be a big day."


As Sirius sat in the bedroom with Remus, he sighed, looking out at the garden. It was a decent sized garden for a one bedroom flat, and the area was peaceful, yet Sirius couldn't feel any peace at all.

"Wanna tell me about them, love?" Remus asked.

"Hmm?" Sirius questioned, not turning around.

"Your thoughts. You've got a lot on your mind, I can tell," Remus told him.

"Obviously, given tomorrow," Sirius told him.

"I know, my love. Right now, we should be on our honeymoon, yet here we are, ready for a full on battle at the Ministry," Remus said, with a small smile. "I love you, Sirius, but you're starting to be like Lily."

"You mean with the whole taking everything on my mind and feeling like I need to protect everyone?" Sirius asked. "Who do you think she got it from?"

"I figured that," Remus said. "All those years in Azkaban, I was so afraid for you and Lily, although I didn't know she was Lily. Why did she pick that name, anyway?"

"I think she wanted to pay tribute to her mother. From what I've learnt, a lot of trans people have difficulty picking their names, but for some, it's just there. She said she considered going by Minerva Potter, but it didn't sound right, though it was a close thing," Sirius explained.

"I'm sure Minerva would have loved that, and she'd have caused a lot of confusion," Remus chuckled.

"Yeah, most likely. But at the end of the day, she knew when she was six what her name was. She pictured herself, and managed to access her Metamorphmagus abilities, and she just knew she wanted to be Lily Potter," Sirius said. "I guess some people might be confused about there being a new Lily Potter. I remember at the Quidditch World Cup, Bagman, that moron, didn't know what I meant when I said Lily Potter was there."

"I know James and Lily would be damned proud of the young woman Lily's become," Remus said, as Sirius sat down, with Remus starting to massage his shoulders. "I know I am, and so are you."

"Of course I am; she's the most amazing person I've ever known, and I'm damned lucky she's my goddaughter, well, our goddaughter, but I still… I won't lie, I'm still angry at Dumbledore for what he did, and how he made so many decisions without even asking me," Sirius confessed, revealing an anger he'd been holding onto for some time now. "The fact is, he wanted to send Lily with Petunia, and the life Lily would have had there would have been awful. She'd never have been allowed to be herself, and I can only imagine where she'd be now."

"I know. I'll be honest, I was angry with Dumbledore when I learnt of that as well," Remus said, kissing Sirius's neck. "I wanted to curse him for it. I don't know what the hell he was thinking, but he never had that right."

"No, but you're right, but that's now the past. What if I had gone after Pettigrew? What if I had agreed to be the Secret Keeper? Would I have gone to Azkaban? Would I have agreed to use Pettigrew? Would I have been there to stop Mouldy Shorts?" Sirius asked angrily.

"Sirius, What and If are two words that mean nothing alone, but put them together, and they can be the most powerful weapon against us. We can ask the question over and over, but we can never change what has happened. All we can do is move forward. Right now, Lily is safe. We're here, together, married now, and with children on the way. Angeline is at the hideout with Minerva, Molly, and the others, and she's safe, as are our babies. Yes, we're going into battle tomorrow, but we're warriors. We've done this before, and we'll do it again," Remus said softly, pulling Sirius onto his lap. "I love you, Sirius, and I won't allow you to destroy yourself by asking that question. What if doesn't matter, all that matters now is What is, and what is true is that we have each other, and we're going to get through this, the same way we always have."

"Together?" Sirius asked softly. Remus nodded, and kissed Sirius.

"Together," Remus promised kindly, smiling as he pulled Sirius onto the bed, and for that night, he would take away all of Sirius's worries and troubles, because he loved the man completely.

And love, as everyone knew, was the most powerful weapon in existence.