Unofficial Portkey Archive

What is Love

Chapter XXVI:

The new gang

It is the soundtrack of your ever-flowing life

It is the wind beneath your feet that makes you fly

It is the beautiful game that you choose to play

When you step out into the world to start your day

You show your face and take it in and scream and pray

You're gonna win it for yourself and us today

It is the gold, the green, the yellow and the grey

The red and sweat and tears, the love you go. Hey!

Com uma forca com uma forca

Com uma forca que ninguem pode parar

Com uma forca com uma forca

Com uma fome que ninguem pode matar

(.- Forca by Nelly Furtado)

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2004 - Outside of the Old Ministry, Downtown London

10:36pm

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Sourceless POPs made a few rats and spiders scurry back to safer havens. A slight crunch of leaves under dragohide boots were the only sound in the cool October night that gave away the intruder; the new light-reflecting spell he and Neville had developed worked wonders in stealth missions like this one; they were almost invisible to any passersby.

Harry opened his eyes as soon as the pressing sensation subsided and immediately tapped his glasses with his wand to activate the Signature-Id charm he had on them to make out the shapes of all the members of his reduced team as they materialized next to him, each with a different sound. "All good?"

"Perfectly fine, mate," Ron's whisper came from Harry's left and he turned to identify the shape his friend's magical waves outlined.

"Yes. Just that all this- quiet creeps me out," Neville added from Harry's other side, worry for his former fiancée etched in voice.

"Maybe they got word we were coming and bolted?" the redhead put in with a sheepish tone.

"That is exactly what worries me," Harry and Neville replied in unison.

"It could be an ambush."

"Or they already finished the job." Each voiced their concern.

"Let's get going. Turn your goggles on," he told the other two.

Ron tapped on his glasses with his wand, as he'd been directed by Harry and gasped in surprise. "Wow! You've got some really wicked toys, don't you?"

"You don't know the half of it mate," Harry said, amusement in his voice.

"Lucky git," Ron whispered as they walked the half block towards the alley where the red phonebooth that used to be the visitor's entry to the Ministry, and only found a sewer lid in its place.

"Blimey! What happened to the booth!"

"What do you-" Harry began, unable to believe that Ron didn't remember the explosion that had taken Parvati and Dean with it but then remembered that when the booth blew up, sealing the beginning of the final battle, the only ones there had been Harry, Hermione and their group.

Harry sighed. "The explosion was our welcome wagon."

Ron paled instantly. "Was this where-" he needn't finish the question; through his dark-out goggles, Ron saw his friend nod and sighed. After a moment, he took in a deep breath. "Let's get my sister… soon please."

"Absolutely, mate," Harry reassured his friend.

Neville lifted the charm that made it look like a sewer lid and revealed an apparently bottomless pit, dark as ebony inside. "Wands at the ready, fellows."

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2004 - Atrium of the Old Ministry, London

10:48pm

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The three men slid for at least a kilometer before landing on the Atrium, at that front desk, or what was left of it. "There were only Death Eaters here, last time around. And what is with these vases?" he asked, frowning at the at least hundred display columns with vases in different shapes and colors on top of them.

"Traps?"

"Possibly."

"Ambush?"

"Could be."

"Let's hope not," Ron finished.

Both aurors were a little taken aback by the unfamiliar voice in their typical auror-partners dialogue and the both turned to him, bewildered, only to laugh softly afterwards. It had certainly been a long time and many things had changed.

"Yes, let's hope not," Harry responded fondly, quietly glad that the male part of the original sixsome was complete again, and even more glad to have his friend back in his life. "And let's just stay as away from the vases as possible, all right?"

"Yes, boss," Neville nodded.

"You don't have to tell me twice," Ron added, sliding through the numerous vases on the display columns.

After a moment, Harry tapped his glasses again and adjusted them to scan the magical signatures of the floors above and below. "Nothing."

"Up or down then?" Neville asked, his own dark-out goggles scanning the dark Atrium, just in case.

He sighed. "Downstairs, I suppose. There are five floors below and only two above, we have a better chance," Harry reasoned. "Ron? Still with us?" Harry asked the air, turning to where he assumed his friend was.

"Yup, just over here." The voice came from near the stairs and Harry turned with his dark-out glasses there.

"Good, right behind you then." Harry walked forward, followed by Neville, who was still scanning the Atrium level for any signs of a living being.

A few paces later, he miscalculated the distance between himself and the new addition to their team, bumping into the redhead and nearly knocking him to the ground. On reflection, Ron reached for the closest thing for balance… one of the vases.

Not a moment's breath passed and the vase resting on top of the display column he had reached for, started tipping over, its contents spilling all around and on Neville's left shoulder.

A painful groan pierced the dark Atrium and Harry rushed to the source of the sound. "What happened? Ron? Neville?"

"I'm here, I'm fine," came Ron's voice from Harry's left.

"Nev? Neville, what happened? Talk to me!" Harry started and looked around for his friend. "Are you all right?"

The young man in question only managed to let out another groan and then clear his throat. "Nothing too serious."

"Can you continue?"

There was a moment's pause and then a muttered pain-killing spell. "Yes, let's go."

Knowing auror procedure, and against all his screaming common sense, Harry took his friend's word without asking further questions.

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2004 - Old Ministry, London

11:22pm

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The CRACK of an apparition was muffled by the deafening wind of downtown London. There was no one in the streets and they looked anything but cheerful on a night like tonight. Hermione's stomach protested when she materialized; almost as if she had splinched herself. Interesting, she thought, making a mental note on looking up How to get around Wizardring England while pregnant or something like that.

She heard a faint POP to her left and looked that way, as if to make sure it was Draco and not someone else. "Took you long enough," she said smugly.

"I had to pick up a couple of things. Unlike you, I don't carry my war kit with me all the time," Draco defended annoyed.

"If you had been where I was when the war was raging, you would have the same paranoia," she retorted.

"I was dead, remember? I think that tops your `Potter Squad' status."

"Ha-ha, very funny," Hermione replied idly; she was looking around the building she had once been so familiar with. "Where d'you reckon we should start?"

"Oof! No bloody idea, though I don't suppose they would be on the atrium, would they?"

Hermione sighed and shook her head. "I don't know, but how I wish I had Harry's invisibility cloak right now," she muttered, more to herself than to her partner in this mission.

"Good Merlin! WhoEVER said you were the brightest witch of the age?"

She was snapped out of her stealth-strategy sketching by the comment and turned to him with a frown. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Did you pass your NEWTs? Were you ever part of that little gang called Dumbledore's Army?"

"Hey! That `gang' wiped off half of the first group of attacking Death Eaters. And I don't know what you're talking about."

Draco looked at the sky, as if asking the heavens for patience and then looked back at Hermione. "Disillusionment charm?" She opened her mouth to correct him but stopped before she even started and looked down, pink on the cheeks. "All right, come on, I'll perform it on you first."

He tapped his wand on her head and she felt the familiar sensation of something cold and thick washing over her. She looked down at herself and saw only the filthy sidewalk. She laughed. "Ok, you come here now," she said and performed the charm on him. Now they were both as invisible as it was possible without an invisibility cloak or house-elf powers. "Right, so only a couple blocks from here."

"Wait, I am not sure it would be very wise to just walk in through the front door. Plus, it was destroyed in the final battle, wasn't it?" Draco asked and felt Hermione tense next to him. "Was it your group who got the-"

"Yes, it wasn't pretty."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It's all right, it's not as if you blew it up."

"Right, sorry," Draco said, at loss of words. After a moment, he spoke again. "So, how are we going to get in?" He heard Hermione take in an encouraging breath; I didn't imagine it would be so hard for her… Draco said to his insides.

"Press entrance. You can only get in with a press pass, and I always have mine with me."

"Wow, maybe I should become a journalist…" he said, trying to lighten the mood.

"You would need another brain for that, dear Draco," Hermione said sarcastically, clearly making an effort to keep on with Draco's lightening initiative.

"Should I remind you that Potter barely surpassed me to get the Head Boy's badge?"

"But he got it and you didn't," she said cheekily.

"Ha-ha, very funny. Go on then, lead the way. But I need a piece of your cloak or something to not lose you."

"What am I, your dog?" She heard a snigger a couple feet from her and swung her right arm towards the sound, missing. "Draco Malfoy! You're insufferable."

"You know you love me..." he drawled.

"Oh shut up and just grab my cloak." He did as directed, and they were on their way.

A few minutes later, they were standing where the old Ministry had once stood, with its ten floors of offices and Departments. It was all quiet... too quiet, and that only made the anxiety deepen inside Hermione's chest to an almost unbearable level. The two men that had always been her whole life were possibly somewhere in there, with a group of dark wizards who had systematically killed very accomplished witches and wizards. This could go so terribly wrong, she thought heavily.

The atrium was completely deserted; the once polished dark-wood floor was now dusty and with holes all over. The large fireplaces that used to line both walls had been reduced to the home of spiders, bats and any other animal that hated light.

She looked around, a pressing feeling taking over her; the only signs that there had been life in here were a couple of broken vases, their water spilled all over, and a few footprints around the floor. "Someone's been here recently," Malfoy whispered a couple inches from Hermione's ear- she felt his breath so close and shivered.

"But we don't know if it was Harry or the Falange."

"Somehow, I think we are about to find out," he spoke and they kept walking. They stepped on the spilled water, and immediately, a cry of pain pierced the pressing silence of the Atrium.

"What? What happened?" Draco asked a little louder than he'd intended. If something happened to Granger, he was as good as dead... again.

"The water... acid," Hermione spoke between muffled sobs.

"Can you walk?"

"Y... yes." Draco heard a whispered healing incantation and a rather soundly gasp. "Fine now, let's go find Harry, I want to be out of here as soon as possible," she muttered and they started down the stairs when Hermione stopped all of a sudden, resulting on a bewildered Draco bumping into her.

"What is it?"

"Why didn't you get burned by the acid?"

"Oh, dragonhide boots," he replied simply, and, had he been visible, Hermione would've seen the smug look on his face

"Bugger, I need to get a new pair of those-and don't look so smug, you git," she said as if reading his mind.

"Me?"

"Yes, you. I can sense you smirk all the way here."

"Fine, miss know-it-all." He heard something that sounded curiously enough as a tongue being stuck at him and rolled his eyes.

They continued down the stairs and reached the first landing of what used to be the Department of Law Enforcement. Hermione looked around; she had been here many times before, though never after the last battle. A quick magical signature scan revealed that the last bit of magic performed around here had been less than an hour ago. "Let's keep going, they are close."

"Potter and his mates or the Falange?"

"Both," Hermione clarified and sighed deeply, she would never forget Harry's magical signature, for it was most peculiar.

"You wouldn't forget Potter's magical signature, would you?"

"What do you mean by that?" she asked angrily.

"Nothing, Granger, nothing," he said, raising both his hands in surrender. "Wasn't he your permanent guinea pig?" he tried, hoping for the best, and reaching his goal.

Hermione chuckled. "No, he wasn't, only that we- spent a lot of time together back then, while the spell was being developed."

"Right. That's what I meant."

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2004 - Level five of the old Ministry, Downtown London

12:08

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The three aurors walked through the dark corridors leading to the high-ceiling room they remembered to be level five. It was pitch-black and as they walked in a tight triangle Harry heard a distinct WHOOSH he remembered with little joy.

"Is that what I think it is?" Harry asked his two collegues.

"I think it is," Neville responded immediately.

"Watch your step then," Harry answered his auror partner. "Ron?" he called out.

No answer. "Ron?" He heard another whoosh and a yelp. "Nev, duck!" he ordered his partner as an apparently very sharp rope launched towards them. "Ron! Answer me, you git!"

A strangled sound was all they heard. Panicking, Harry lifted the light-reflecting charm and all hell broke lose. The lights turned on, Ron was hanging from the ceiling, spikes started to emerge from the floor, and what originally was one sharp rope was now closing in on Harry and Neville.

Harry jumped to avoid a white spike and landed a couple feet from it, only resulting in a rope trying to pull him to the ceiling, next to Ron. "One meter radius is red zone!" he panted to Neville just as he was jumping.

Inevitably, the other man landed two feet from another spike and a vase materialized on top of Neville, almost burning him with the liquid pouring from it.

"Lift me!" Harry ordered Neville. A swish and a flick later, he was prompted towards Ron and grabbed him in mid-air. "Got him! Apparate to the edge, now!"

Neville nodded, broke the charm holding Harry in the air and apparated on the edge of the stairs, just in time to prevent both Harry and Ron from coming crashing to the floor. "You all right?" he asked.

Harry nodded and felt for Ron's breath- nothing. "Come on, don't do this to me!" Harry begged and as if he had heard his friend's plea, he gasped loudly and opened his clear blue eyes. "Thank Merlin!" Harry let out and, without thinking, hugged his friend. "Thank Merlin," he repeated and helped Ron up. "All right?"

"I… think I'm in one piece," the redhead said in a raspy voice. "Thanks mate."

"Anytime," Harry facilitated and winked. "Thanks a lot," he said to Neville.

"Anytime," Neville mimicked Harry and the two laughed.

"Let's get going, then, I saw some magical signatures in the next level."

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12:21pm

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The stairs led them to the second landing of the Department of Magical Law enforcement, where the Aurors' headquarters used to be. They walked down the long corridor; the once magical windows were now only black squares. Lumos! Hermione cast silently and guided their way until she felt Draco's hold on her cloak tense. She gasped. "Silence!" Malfoy ordered. "I heard something-" He was quiet for a little while and then let out a breath. "They are gone."

"Who?"

"I don't know, I just know they disappeared through that door." He pointed at a spot on their left; a door Hermione had never seen before.

Through the door, there was nothing but rubble. Hermione cast a Revelio spell but this was no illusion. "There is no possible way they could have fought here, and there is only one other way to go."

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12:23pm

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"Magical transportation! I thought they'd destroyed this place!"

"This could be an advantage," Harry said thoughtfully, checking for magical signatures into each of the doors.

"Assuming there is something working left," Neville countered.

Harry let out a groan of frustration and the other two men in the room with him turned his way. "What happened?" Ron and Neville asked in unison.

"Nothing!" Harry cried.

"Nothing? Then what's the problem?" Ron asked with a frown.

"Exactly that is the problem!"

"Calm down, boss, they cannot be far."

"What if we are in the wrong place?"

"We aren't, all right? Now get your arse together or I will kick it, mate," Ron told his friend, knowing Harry and knowing how stressing this situation must be for him. Just like six years ago… poor man, Ron sighed to his insides. "All right?"

Harry frowned at his long-time friend and sighed as well. "Fine," he sulked.

"This was the door to the Portkey office, I saw my dad slip in a few a couple of days before the battle," Ron offered. "Maybe there is something left?"

"We'll see…" The three men entered and saw four desks flipped over, Harry sighed, this place brought too many memories.

"Here, let me ID the ones that can be reprogrammed," Neville came forward and did three, four flicks of his wand- but only two glimmers told them that the objects were reprogram-able and working. "Accio!" he cried and a paperweight shaped as a snitch and a Coca-Cola bottle flew to him. "Clever," he inspected the bottle.

"Haven't you tried it?"

"Not really."

Both Harry and Ron gasped. "Oh boy, that's the first thing we'll do when we are out of here," Ron said with a grin.

Ron's comment accomplished its purpose, for both aurors laughed and relaxed a little bit; especially Harry, and Ron was glad that he still had that effect on his friend.

"Okay, so we should probably leave these here; otherwise we might lose them."

"Yes, but leave them where we remember so we can accio them faster," Harry told Neville, who did as directed.

"On with the task?" Ron asked.

"Indeed, my friend," Harry said with a smile and the three continued to the next level.

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12:31pm

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"Magical Transportation, this could definitely be of help. There must be something that works here," Hermione said, more to herself than to her companion.

Draco nodded and cast the charm to identify reprogramme-able portkeys. "There are two," he informed as the glimmer shimmered and vanished.

"Good, remember where they are, it could be our escape route," she said and stopped. "Hey, your disguise…"

"There is not point in keeping it up, you know who I am and it drains my magic. We'll probably need it in a little while," he said and they continued, not knowing how close they were to the ones they were looking for.

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2004 - Level nine of the Old Ministry, London

12:44pm

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Each level they passed brought with it the faces of the ones fallen in the battle; more than one time, they had to look away from their mission to get their faces off their eyelids. With very step they took, the air was thicker with death and survivor's guilt, and they only had each other to push them into taking the next step and not wrap themselves into a tight ball and cry.

"You don't suppose they have them in Magical Sports or in International Magic, do you?" Ron asked the other two, having gone through Magical Catastrophes and Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures and finding nothing.

"There are two levels left," Neville provided.

"And they are the Department of Mysteries and the Courtrooms and dungeons," Harry finished. "So I say we are close. I'm just pissed that the cowards only left a couple magical creatures instead of coming themselves."

"Which only makes me more nervous, for we don't know how many or what they hold above our heads…" Ron finished Harry's thought and hurried his step, eager to finish this as soon as possible.

"You mean apart from two key pieces in their hope to bring Tom back to life?"

"Yes, that," Ron replied dryly. "You need me to remind you it is my sister in there?" he responded.

"Need I remind you that there is much more at stake here? And that two of the few close ones I have left are in there," Harry retorted just as defiantly.

Ron opened his mouth to argue, but Neville jumped in the middle. "Hey, look, it's the door for the Department of Mysteries."

"Oh great, fifth year all over again," Ron grumbled and sighed.

"Only that it's not just a prophecy what we need to retrieve," Harry finished.

"Hopefully we'll find our way fast," Neville cut in as if to shut them up.

Taking a deep breath, the three men stepped into the infamous round room and Harry recognized a mark that was almost ten years old. His eyes widened and he looked away.

Ron came forward next to Harry and grinned. "Way to go, Mione," he complimented his ex-girlfriend. "Flagrate." Ron's voice called and a cross appeared on the door above Hermione's, forming an asterisk, just before the room started spinning.

"Here we go again," Harry commented as the spinning slowed and came to a stop. He placed his hand on the handle and opened the door, revealing the `Brain room'.

Ron's eyes widened and he gasped. "Close that bloody door!" he yelled, stepping back immediately.

Harry bit back a laugh and scanned the area quickly. "Nothing," he grumbled and only a second before the door pushed them inside, him and Neville stepped back into the Round Room and the latter cast a last minute flagrate.

And on with the spinning.

Another door, this time it was Neville's turn to open the door and he stepped into a room filled with melting clocks. "Maybe we could get a hold of a Time Turner," Neville said, more to himself than to the other two. He swished his wand a couple of times and no glimmer followed. "Not a single time turner survived, isn't it strange?" he asked Harry.

"Very much, but we don't have time for this right now," Harry responded thoughtfully, trying his best not to remember the purple beam that almost took Hermione from him back in fifth year. He shook his head and occupied it in the million possibilities that the `no time turners' situation could bring. He was about to scan the room when Ron's voice interrupted him.

"No traces here," he stated and stepped back. A flagrate later, the room was spinning once more.

Ron tried another door. "Locked? What the-"

"There was always a room we couldn't open- love, Dumbledore said," Harry informed in a faraway voice. "Flagrate" he cast and a burnt cross appeared over the one Hermione had cast so many years ago. The room spun again. "Let's see." He tried this new door and found it quite familiar. "How odd," he commented to himself and pushed it open.

Silence.

"Harry?" Neville's voice came from behind.

"Bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed and pushed an almost petrified Harry to the side, closing the door immediately. "Flagrate".

Harry's body hit the wall softly and he slid to the ground. "Harry. Harry, mate, look at me," Ron said, pulling Harry's face so it was facing his. He slapped his friend's face. "Goddamnit, Harry! React!"

"Here, move," Neville pushed Ron aside. He swished his wand and a small spurt of water hit Harry on the face. He blinked a couple of times and shook his head. Neville sighed in relief. This had only happened once before, in a mission which scenery was very similar to that of the battle between Harry and Voldemort. The results had been terrible for the team and Harry had had to go into St. Mungo's for a full week's rest.

Ron placed himself in front of his friend and grabbed his face again. "You with me?" he asked.

Harry nodded slowly and closed his eyes, two tears escaping them. He took a deep breath and wiped them away. "Yes, I'm fine, let's get out of here; they are not in the Department of Mysteries." He tried to stand and his knees failed him, resulting in Ron having to grab Harry by the arm and helping him up. The green-eyed auror looked into his friend's blue ones and gave him a small, genuine smile. "Thanks."

Ron smiled back and nodded. "This should be the door." He pointed at a door with an asterisk and a circle next to it. Without letting go off Harry, Ron led the way towards the door and opened it.

Feeling a little more confident in his legs, Harry detached himself from Ron and scanned the place with his dark-out glasses. "Stupefy!" he yelled immediately and the red beam made a hole in the stone wall.

"What? Who was there?" Neville asked, activating his own dark-out goggles and seeing a foot turning the stairs. "He's gone. He went that way."

"Let's go then!" The three started to run down the stairs, only to find themselves in the deepest darkness. "Level ten: the Cells and the Courtrooms." Harry stated and activated his dark-out glasses. The corridor came into view in green shapes. Harry heard Ron take a breath to call for his sister and launched towards him. "Don't!" he whispered forcefully in his friend's ear.

"There is no one near," Neville informed the other two. "They must be in one of the Courtrooms. So, there are five cells and three courtrooms, we should split," Neville spoke, barely above a whisper. "I'll take the two on the right," he said and his footsteps died away.

"Left, then," Harry told Ron and they went their way.

"These are magical containing cells, so if someone tried to do magic in there, their signature should be pretty strong."

"All right then. Over here," Ron reached the first cell and motioned Harry to do the magical signature charm.

"Nothing, next one," Harry moved forward and was about to try the spell again when he saw a silver shape out of the corner of his eye. "Neville's got one of them," he whispered to Ron and they ran to meet the other member of their team.

"Ginny's here, but we don't know where they took Luna."

"Reducto!" Ron cast, and his spell only made a small mark in the heavy oak door.

"Ron! Do you want to blow the little cover we have?" Harry scolded. "And didn't I tell you the cells had magical containment properties?"

"Merlin! You just spoke like Hermione!"

"Ron!"

"Right, sorry."

"There is a more sophisticated and quiet way to open these," Harry said just as Neville was sticking his wand where the keyhole would normally be. "We are aurors, law enforcers, remember?"

Ron's eyes widened and he looked down, turning redder than his hair. "I suppose they didn't count on it…" he tried to ease away of the embarrassment and saw both his friends' eyes widen.

"Get down!" the two yelled at the same time just as half a dozen beams of light flew their way.

Ron did so and the three fired back with all they had. They heard a couple of yelps and the beams of light were reduced to only four. "Into the cell, now!" Harry roared and they obeyed just as four more jets of light collided with walls and doors awfully near them.

They entered, only to find an annoyed Ginny inside. "Some saviors, you are."

"Hey, keep the attitude and we'll leave you inside." Ron rebuked, not saying how relieved he was to find his sister alive and well.

"I love you too, dear Ronnie," Ginny said sweetly.

"Don't call me that, you brat!"

"Great Merlin! You are 24 and 23 and still bicker like ten years ago! Unbelievable!" Harry put in, laughing.

"I guess it runs in the blood," Ginny responded with a fond smile; Harry would always be special to her.

"Guys- I hate to break your bonding moment, but we are still missing one," he said, devoid of emotion before the woman he'd considered his first love, and maybe the only real one.

Ginny turned to him; her chocolate eyes a little hurt at his behavior. "They took Luna from the cell across about ten minutes ago," she informed breathlessly.

"You all right? Did they do anything to you?" Ron asked, grabbing Ginny by the shoulders.

"Yes, I'm fine."

"Like hell you are! You're bleeding all over the place!" he responded, worried, and Neville came to his side.

"Leave that to me," he scanned Ginny's injuries and seemed angrier and angrier every time he cast a healing and a pain relieving spell on her.

"It's all right, Nev, I'm fine."

"The almost chopped your face off, Ginny!"

She stopped, remembering the strange phrase she'd heard from the Death Eater before he portkeyed her away. "They didn't, it's just a scratch. But he said something…" The three men turned their full attention to Ginny and she continued. "When she got this piece of skin, he said he thought it would be enough. Does that ring a bell?"

The looked at her, bewildered, and shook their heads. Harry was about to say something when four jets of light hit the door again. "You all right to walk, Ginny?" he asked as the three sent curses flying back.

"And to fight as well. I'm just tired from the Crucios, nothing more thanks to Neville," she said and smiled at her former lover, thanking him silently, and Neville smiled back.

This exchange went completely unnoticed by Ron, whose face was all red. "Crucios?! Oh, they are so dead!"

"Ronald! I said I'm fine! And frankly, I am more concerned about what they might be doing to Luna."

"She's right, mate. You can kill them after we get Luna," Harry offered.

"All right, then, let's hurry."

"Are they gone?" Ginny asked. They all fell silent for a moment, and Neville nodded at her and in general direction.

"Right." Harry stuck his wand into the inexistent keyhole and muttered a spell so the heavy door clicked open surprisingly quietly. "You two stay close to the wall on the right. At the end of the corridor there are three doors. Nev, cast the magical signature charm on the Courtroom closest to you and Ron and I will take care of the other two."

Neville nodded and motioned for Ginny to go first. A moment later, Harry and Ron peeked their heads out and swiftly moved to the wall opposite, gliding across it until the end of the corridor.

Harry told Ron, with a hand motion as old as their friendship, to take the guard on the left and that he would take the other one. A silent stupefy from Ron, and the guard of the Courtroom to their left collapsed, followed by the guard of the other Courtroom, falling to the ground petrified.

"I didn't know you had mastered silent spells," Harry observed.

"It's been a while, mate," he responded with a sad smile.

"That it has," Harry agreed with a nod and looked up to see how Neville was going with Ginny. Apparently really good because a several magical signatures appeared above the closed door of Courtroom 10; the one Harry had seen in Dumbledore's pensive so long ago. "There they are." Harry hurried towards his partner, Ron close behind.

"Finite," Neville cancelled the imperturbable charm just as the other two arrived by his and Ginny's side, and he squeezed her hand, upon hearing their friend's screams.

Ginny gasped. "Luna!" She started forward but Neville's strong hand wouldn't let her.

The auror partners looked at each other and both nodded. Neville let go off Ginny's hand for the first time since they had left the cell and gave her to Ron. "Take care of her," he whispered and stood next to Harry.

Right shoulder against left one, the two raised their wands as one. "Inferate leviosa!" the two cast at the same time and the door blew up, breaking into a dozen pieces, each flying in a different direction.

Both men stepped inside in time to duck and protego themselves from the bolts of light that flew back at them. Harry and Neville's eyes followed half a dozen shards of wood and metal from the door and directed them towards the Death Eaters closest to the chained chair in the center. They all fell dead, spiked through by the sharp pieces of the door.

"Ron, Gin, now!" Harry yelled and the siblings stepped into Courtroom 10.

"We've got you covered, get Luna!" Neville complemented Harry's order as each faced the Death Eaters of the Falange five to one.

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2004 - Level Ten of the Old Ministry, London

1:47am

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After entering and failing to find anything useful in two of the rooms in the Department of Mysteries, Hermione decided to use a very old charm; one that looked for living beings through walls in a ten meter radius.

The walls glowed gold and became transparent for a moment. There was no living being around. However, when she turned to the locked room, the one they had never been able to open, she noticed something strange: a rainbow orb apparently lit the whole room. She had to look away and the charm fell, along with most of Hermione's energy. She collapsed to the floor and was caught by Draco just before her head hit the wall.

"Granger!" he called as the two slid to the cold stone floor. "Wake up, now, Hermione," he said, as calm as he could.

She scrunched her eyes and slowly opened them. "Malfoy!" she said, alarmed.

"Gee, what a way to thank me for not letting you split your head open."

"You what?"

"You don't remember?"

"I- I saw- that light, it was so bright, did you see it?"

"The charm only works for the caster," Draco provided.

"Right. It was so bright… I had to look away. Dumbledore said that one was the room of Love," she said, a little more clearly now.

"Well, he must have been mistaken, for I don't see much love around anymore," he responded sarcastically.

"Come on, let's go." She tried to stand and failed miserably, so she had to ask for help against all her pride. "Please?"

"Sure… but you won't go fainting on me, will you? You want an energizing spell?"

Hermione laughed softly. "No, I don't think so… I think I'm all right. There is no one in the Department, they must be in Level Ten," she started to walk and felt very tired, so she stopped. "On second thought, it can't hurt," she said and Draco nodded, calling the incantation that worked like a magical Red Bull. Hermione closed her eyes and took in a deep breath upon getting the boost. "Thanks," she said with a smile and Draco nodded in return.

A second later, they were on their way through the door marked as the exit and pushed it open, only to hear a scream. "That's torture," he muttered.

"You don't know that."

"Trust me, I do," Draco assured gravely and they hurried down the stairs, as spells were shouted from the end of the corridor.

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2004 - Level Ten of the Old Ministry, London

1:51am

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"Protego!" Ginny cast on Luna.

"Reducto!" And Ron blew all the chains from the chair. A moment later, a barely conscious Luna came crashing to the ground. "Luna!" he hurried forward as his sister covered his back and sent back all the curses coming Ron's way.

The redhead took Luna in his strong quidditch-keeper arms and lifted her like a feather, running towards the exit and closely followed by the other three and the Falange Death Eaters.

"Harry!" A shout came from the end of the corridor and Harry froze.

"Hermione? What are you-" but a spell hit the auror on the back, knocking him down and leaving a bleeding mark where it had struck.

"Harry! Reducto!" she fired, but her spell was thrown from too far away, and it barely knocked the Death Eater back.

He lay on the ground for the longest time, but just as the Falange was hovering over him, the boy-who-lived stood and used muggle martial arts to rid himself of the six or so attackers, hurrying towards the others.

"Send the sign!" a deep voice echoed from the Falange, and not a minute later, a dozen more Death Eaters appeared, adding to the dozen Harry, Ron, Neville and Ginny had been fighting. "I want them all!"

"Bloody hell! Let's get out of here!" Harry ordered everyone and reached the group. He froze in the spot upon seeing the platinum-haired man he'd known to be dead for five years. "Be careful Hermione! Stupefy!"

"Harry, don't!" she screamed and placed herself in front of Draco, falling to the ground.

"Mione!" He launched forward and glared at Draco. "What did you do to her?" he demanded and kneeled beside Hermione.

"It was you, Potter!" he roared.

"If you're not here to hurt us, then I suggest you cover some of our backs!" Ginny screamed above all the spells being shot at them.

"Harry, she's just stunned!" Neville yelled, trying to drive his partner from his temporary state of panic.

"You don't understand, she's-"

"Let's go!" Ron yelled from the stairs.

Harry tried to lift Hermione in his arms, but the wound on his back wasn't helping. "Let me," Draco came forward and Harry pushed him out of the way.

"I can't hold them any longer!" Ginny and Neville called from each their sides.

"Stay away from her! Death Eater!"

"Potter, either you trust me and I help you with Granger, or you all go into the Falange's custody, because you four are in no shape to fight off two dozen Death Eaters!"

Harry looked at Draco, then at the Death Eaters getting closer. "Fine!" he growled and the two lifted Hermione up at the same time they tried to keep their bodies intact.

"Ron, go to the round room! Neville, you and Ginny climb through the lift, we'll go up!" Harry directed each pair and started up the stairs.

"We need the six of them! And get me Malfoy too!" the deep voice called again as the three groups disappeared each a different way.

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