Excerpt from Chapter 8, “The Wedding”, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows:
At that moment, something large and silver came falling through the canopy over the dance floor. Graceful and gleaming, the lynx landed lightly in the middle of the astonished dancers. Heads turned, as those nearest it froze absurdly in mid-dance. Then the Patronus’ mouth opened wide and it spoke in the loud, deep, slow voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt.
“The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming.”
J.K. Rowling
~ + ~
Memories flashed in the darkness. A darkened forest. Cackling laughter. A wand, pointed at him. King’s Cross, bathed in white. A trembling figure curled in the fetal position beneath a bench. Dumbledore, falling from the tower – no, standing before him in full health. The darkened forest once more, and a green light. There was a woman, screaming. Screaming. And the shouted curse.
Avada Kedavra.
He was dead. There was no other explanation for the darkness that pressed down upon him. When Dumbledore had told him how to find the way out, Harry had thought he’d been choosing life. So why then was this darkness so heavy? Why wouldn’t his eyes open?
His world jolted, and sound came rushing back to his ears as the smell of blood and ash and sweat assaulted his nose.
“ - drop him!”
“ - okay mate?”
“Hang in there!”
Green eyes blinked open, and he took in the high ceiling above him. This wasn’t the forest. Where was Hagrid, and the Death Eaters, and…Voldemort? His body refused to snap up like he had wanted to, and Harry was forced to wait as feeling returned to his heavy limbs. Since his eyes were the only part of him that would currently move, he contented himself with looking as far to the left and right as he possibly could. He recognized this place. This was where Bill and Fleur lived, Shell Cottage. Yet this was not where he last remembered being. Last thing he knew, he was in the forest, and Voldemort had fired the Killing Curse at him. If he was dead, then he shouldn’t be able to feel the dull ache and the sharper pains that located the numerous wounds across his body. Nor should he be lying on the couch of the living room in Shell Cottage. Movement came to him, and he turned his head to see a few people huddled around another figure lying on the ground.
“Head wound…probably lost a lot of blood.” Harry recognized Hermione’s voice, and relief washed over him. She was safe. He couldn’t spot Ron though, which made him uneasy.
“I haven’t learned very many healing spells I’m afraid,” replied a softer voice. Luna gently touched the blood-encrusted fringe, her big blue eyes blinking down at the unconscious Neville Longbottom. “I won’t be able to help much.”
“If only I were able to get to the Hogwarts library,” Hermione murmured, her tone frustrated. “I’m sure there would be books on healing charms. Well, we need to stop the bleeding anyhow, and it doesn’t look terribly deep, so…Tergeo. Episkey.” The blood, dried and otherwise, began to siphon away, and the wound closed slowly. “That should be good enough. St. Mungo’s isn’t an option right now.”
Seamus Finnigan, who had also been crouched beside Neville, spoke up. “What are we going to do?” he asked, his voice low. Neither Hermione nor Luna responded for a long while.
It was Luna who spoke first. “Survive,” she said, her tone a lot cheerier. “It’s our only option really. I’m sure there are plenty of others who’ve made it out. And there are members of the Order still out there. They promised to meet us here, and help us escape.”
“Escape? Why would we need to escape?” All three of the students whirled around at the sound of his rasping voice.
“Harry?” whispered Hermione. Her eyes were wide, and beginning to glisten. “Please tell me I’m not imagining this…”
Harry sat up, his muscles protesting. “Why would you be imagining this?” The air was driven from him as Hermione launched herself at him in a tight embrace, her hair filling his face. “Hermione?”
“I thought you were dead,” she all but whimpered, releasing him to look at his face.
“When Hagrid brought you back in his arms…we…we thought the worst had happened,” she said softly. “You were so pale, so cold…and you had no pulse. Neville was the one who brought you here.” She waved a hand at the prone figure. “But he passed out within moments of carrying you through the door. This was the safest place we could think of, what with Grimmauld Place being compromised and all…”
Harry looked around, confused. “Why are we in Bill and Fleur’s cottage?” he asked, bewildered. “Shouldn’t we be out fighting? Voldemort is still out there!”
“Oh, Harry…” Hermione looked down. “People lost the will to fight when they saw you lying there. There was a battle, but it only lasted for an hour before people began to surrender. Most were students trying to save their skins and hoping that Voldemort would be merciful. Only the purebloods and halfbloods survived though.” She squeezed her eyes shut, looking sickened. Luna touched her shoulder sympathetically.
“All of the muggleborns were lined up and slaughtered,” Seamus continued for Hermione. His blue eyes darkened. “A few managed to escape, but the known muggleborns were called out by some of the others in an effort to please You-Know-Who. We lost a few members of the D.A.”
Harry’s mouth was dry, and licking his lips didn’t help. “Who?” he asked, dreading the answers.
“We won’t know for a while yet. But I know Justin Finch-Fletchley was a victim. I saw him get his throat cut.” Seamus’ eyes shut, mirroring Hermione’s horror-stricken expression.
“Colin Creevey is dead too,” Hermione whispered. “But it wasn’t during the ‘purging’ of the muggleborns. He went down during the battle.” Harry’s stomach clenched, and his fists curled into white-knuckled balls.
“I’ll kill him,” he said between gritted teeth. “I swear I’m going back there, and I’m going to kill him.”
“It’s too late to go back now,” Hermione insisted. “It was all we could do to get out of there with you. The Order is doing their best to rescue the surviving muggleborns and those targeted by the Death Eaters. Voldemort apparated away as soon as he’d ordered the muggleborns to be killed.”
“Why didn’t anybody go after him? It isn’t as though he has any horcruxes left!”
With a sideways glance to Seamus and Luna, who were a bit confused by the term, Hermione reluctantly responded. “Neville did manage to kill Nagini,” she said slowly. “But Voldemort had numerous wards surrounding him. He knew what we were doing with his horcruxes. He had protective measures in place. By the time we were able to even organize our thoughts enough to attack him, the battle was over. There was nothing we could do. Not if we wanted to survive to fight another day.”
Harry buried his face in his hands. “Slaughtered,” he murmured. “Turned in by their friends and slaughtered like animals…”
“Some survived,” Hermione reminded him gently. He looked up at her, his eyes blazing with hidden fire.
“I’m glad some survived. Really, Hermione, I am. But I will never forgive what Voldemort and his followers have done. Never.” He drew in a shuddering breath. “Where is everyone else then? You said this was the safest place?”
“Safest for us to apparate to. I told Tonks to meet us here. The others went into hiding. We know where a few are heading, but there’s a lot of others who we won’t be seeing for a long time.”
“Where’s Ron?” He held his breath anxiously, almost afraid for the answer.
Hermione’s face was grave. “The entire Weasley family went back to the Burrow for now. The wards there were rebuilt, so they should hold for a little while. They lost a few members during the battle. Ron’s with them now.” Seeing the unspoken question in Harry’s eyes, she sighed. “They lost Charlie during the first part of the battle, before you went to meet Voldemort in the forest. Percy died saving Fred when a part of the wall fell. And after you were brought back…” Her eyes watered and a tear slipped down her cheek. “A few people stood up against Voldemort. Neville was one of them, but we’ve managed to heal his burns and that head wound of his. He was the lucky one. The others who tried to duel Voldemort didn’t…didn’t make it. Harry, Ginny’s dead.”
Time seemed to stop. Harry stared at Hermione, his throat tight and chest aching. Ginny. The fiery redhead who’d bravely stood up to the Carrows all year, who’d done nothing but support him from the moment he’d saved her in the Chamber, who he’d fallen in love with steadily for the last year, separated though they were. Gone.
“Dead?” he repeated hoarsely. Hermione reached out and hugged him again.
“I’m so sorry,” she cried, the pain of losing her friend choking her voice.
“How?” Harry asked. “Was it quick?”
Seamus spoke up, his voice quiet. “She took a Killing curse for Dean Thomas. She knew what she was doing.”
“She and Dean used to have a connection,” Harry said hollowly. “She probably remembered that. Is Dean okay?”
“Bellatrix got him from behind when he went to check Ginny’s body.” Anger colored the sorrow in Seamus’ voice. “He never saw it coming.”
“They died quickly and bravely,” Luna said quietly from her position on the floor. “There was no pain for them.” Harry only nodded, grief making him unable to speak.
“The Weasley’s took it hard,” Hermione continued. “Ron naturally is blaming himself for letting Ginny run forward like that. Not that he could have stopped her – you know how Ginny was.”
“It wasn’t his fault,” Harry agreed sadly. “She never did listen to him.” They all fell silent for a moment. “So now what?”
“Now, we go into hiding. We-”
Hermione’s voice was cut off. There was the crack of apparition, and Tonks strode forward, Lupin’s arm slung around her shoulders. He leaned heavily on her, blood streaming from a gash in his thigh. Both blinked at the sight of Harry.
“Wotcher, Harry,” Tonks grinned at him. “I must say I’m surprised to see you alive and well. And yet, we are talking about Harry Potter after all, the Boy Who Lived. You would be the one person to survive the Killing curse not once but twice. You’ll have to save the story for later though.” The grin slipped from her face. “I’m afraid our location’s been compromised. I came here only to warn you, and to bring you to our next location.” Several sharp pops outside warned them of impending danger, and Tonks dragged Lupin forward with her.
“Hello, Harry,” he said, breathless with pain. “Like Tonks said, we’ll have to wait to hear your story. For now, all of you grab this.” He pulled out a coat hanger, which they all reached out to touch. Seamus dragged Neville up with him, holding tightly to the unconscious young man. With Lupin’s whispered password, the familiar tugging yanked them away. Shell Cottage faded as they Portkeyed to safety. A few flashes of light shone in the now empty cottage, and the few Death Eaters milled about, having just missed their quarry by seconds. The Dark lord would not be pleased.
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Author's Note: Inspired by a rather lovely set of images detailing the usual suspects as Wanted by Voldemort and his followers, who have taken over the Wizarding World. As this came rather suddenly to me, I haven't yet nailed down all the details, so I cannot promise regular updates. However, I will certainly try to post at least once each week. Probably on Sundays. (Yes, this is a Thursday, but I was too excited about it. :) I had to post now.) Some brief warnings for the journey ahead: there will most likely be language, most definitely violence, of a rather violent nature, so I may move this up to an R rating, depending on how bad things get. There will also be scenes of a sexual nature (probably MxM, so if that isn't your cup of tea, you may either skip those chapters or ignore the story altogether). The more graphic scenes will be ommited from the Watty version of the story, and from there I will direct you to the FF(dot)net version, which will contain the full scenes for those of you with more mature minds. Additional warnings include character deaths, both major and minor, though I haven't yet made up my mind about the more major ones.
Thus concludes the first chapter of The Ministry Has Fallen. I hope you've enjoyed it, and will continue to enjoy as it is completed. Read, fan, vote, comment! Refavoment!
Psst...I would love it if someone made an awesome trailer for this story. If interested, message me, and I might give you a few more details with which you can complete said trailer. If not, well...enjoy the lovely banners I've made, which will be alongside the next few chapters. :) Bye!