~*~Chapter 14 - The Retrieval~*~
It was well past eleven when the group reached the phone booth that was the entry to the Ministry. "What do we do if people are still there?" Ron (or was it Sirius?) asked. Remus frowned a moment then smiled. He muttered something inaudible and the five students felt the familiar sensation of the Disillusionment charm. He cast the spell on himself and smiled, "That better?"
"That's brilliant," Hermione grinned, "Why didn't I think of that?"
"Do you remember how to get to the chamber, Harry?" Ginny's voice asked.
"Yeah," Came Harry's voice. "We have to get in there first."
They all crowded, once again, into the telephone booth. Harry picked up the receiver and dialed the proper numbers. When the female voice asked the names and purpose of the admittance He said, "Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy, Ginny Weasley, and Remus Lupin to help a friend."
The pins fell out into the coin return and the booth began to move. The Ministry was as empty as it had been that night in June. Harry shivered slightly in remembrance. He took a deep breath and exhaled heavily, "You guys ready?"
Everyone answered in the affirmative. "It's alright, Harry." Came Ron's voice, but everyone knew it wasn't Ron speaking.
Harry smiled, not that Sirius, or anyone else for that matter, could tell. "Alright, Lets get rid of the Disillusionment, so we know where one another is."
He heard muttering and slowly each of his friends began to reappear. Finally he felt Remus's wand tap his own head and felt the cool sensation as the spell went into affect. He glanced around and nodded, "Lets go."
They slipped silently through the building until they exited the lift and found themselves in the room of doors again. "Which way?!" Harry asked aloud remembering how the doors opened for him when he was chasing Bellatrix. One door flew open and Harry pulled out his wand as he cautiously entered the room. Sure enough he found himself standing in the place his recent dreams had brought him back to.
Harry began to tremble slightly until he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. He glanced up and saw Ron giving a small smile. "Let's get this done, Harry."
Hermione led the way down to the arch. She glanced over her shoulder at Ron and sighed. With a small smiled she motioned for Ron to stand directly in front of her in front of the arch. Taking a deep breath she began the first part of the spell, " Animus ut eram irretitus intus voluntarius populus vadum iam exsisto privatus."*
Ron's head fell to his chest for a moment. He glanced back up with a questioning look. Hermione silenced him, and spoke again, "May nos rector is lost animus tergum ut suus somes may is alio , pro quos nos tutela , redeo nobis ut is quondam eram."**
A heavy breeze swept through the room and Hermione smiled. "May animus iam rejoin somes."***
Harry and Remus held their breath. Harry knew that Hermione knew what she was doing, but he still had the voice in the back of his head that said that the whole trip was folly. The two exchanged glances that were full of hope and worry.
Draco and Ginny had stayed close to the door to keep watch but even they were watching with curiosity. Ginny had subconsciously crossed her fingers and glanced nervously at the blond wizard as though to say, what's taking so long? He shrugged and watched the veil of the arch.
Hermione smiled as a tall figure stumbled from behind the veil. She hurried forward to keep him from losing his balance. "You did it, Hermione." He said quietly. "I knew you would."
Harry's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as he and Remus saw Sirius leaning against Hermione. Before he could stop himself he had ran forward and threw himself into his godfather.
Sirius nearly collapsed, not used to balancing. "Oof," was the only sound he made as he put an arm around Harry's shoulders. He smiled as his old friend approached him with a look of mixed disbelief and joy. "Hey Moony," Sirius said with a small smile. He disentangled himself from Harry and made his way slowly over to Remus. He pulled his friend into a brotherly hug, much in reminiscent of the one they shared in the Shrieking Shack two and a half years ago.
Harry walked over to Hermione, eyes still filled with unshed tears. "Thank you, 'Mione," he said.
She smiled and shook her head, "Don't worry about it, Harry. I did what I could. I'm just glad it worked."
Harry glanced at Ron, "You alright, mate?" Ron nodded, "It was weird, but yeah, I'm fine." Ron shook his head slightly and made his way back to his sister and Draco.
Turning back to Hermione, Harry smiled weakly, "I don't think you know how much this actually means to me, Hermione. If you ever need anything from me, don't ever be afraid to ask, I'll gladly do whatever it is."
Hermione's smile faltered, she had not expected that type of reaction. She shook her head slightly and threw her arms around her friend's neck, pulling him into a hug, which he returned. She could feel his shoulders shaking, and knew he'd finally let it all out. Sirius and Remus looked worriedly at her, and she shook her head softly. He would be fine, everything was just catching up to him. After giving him some time to gather himself, Hermione stepped back and looked up at him. "You alright, Harry?"
"Yeah, I'm going to be just fine." He gave her a shaky smile before looking at the rest of his friends. "We should really get out of here."
Everyone nodded and hurried towards the main level, then to the exit. "Umm, what are we going to tell my mum when she sees Sirius walking into the house?" Ginny inquired.
Remus smiled slightly, "It's safe to tell her the truth now. Before, she would have stopped us. It's to late to change things now"
Author's Note: I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter up! There are a few more latin phrases in this chapter. Here are the translations:
* The soul that was trapped within the willing host shall now be released.
** May we guide this lost soul back to its body, may this person, for whom we care, come back to us as he once was.
*** May the soul now rejoin the body.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review and let me know what you think!
-->