Sunday, Bloody Sunday

Chapter Ten - Reign of Terror

"The blood he spilled,

Jerusalem! Jerusalem!

So many killed,

Gone all of them, gone all of them."

-Peter, Paul and Mary, "Hayo, Haya"

Monday, November 3, 2003

Draco Malfoy hung back in the shadows of an alley, watching the mob gather outside the Ministry of Magic building. He heard the chant of Dumbledore’s name, a chant that quickly grew louder. A demand to install a new Minister of Magic immediately, and a demand to see the Weasleys still employed standing trial for the deaths of Dumbledore and Fudge. Draco cursed softly, watching the crowd lose control.

It was late afternoon in London, one of the rare sunny days one prays for. The mob was there in force, biding their time until a Weasley appeared on the steps of the Ministry. It was nothing more than a lynch mob, reading to pounce on their unsuspecting prey and drag him – or, God forbid, her – off to a nice quiet park to smack around until they grew tired of it.

Continuing to curse under his breath, Draco backed more deeply into the recesses of the alley. Ginny would be getting off work soon. He knew her schedule by heart. She’d walk down from her office and open the front door only to be attacked by a crowd seeking blood. Concentrating, Draco murmured the words of a spell and pulled a simple glamour over himself – darken the hair, disguise the color of the eyes. Enough Veela blood ran through his veins to use the not-quite-Dark magic.

Moments later, a man looking quite unlike Draco Malfoy crept out from the alley and pushed his way through the crowd, joining in the chant for Azkaban. No Aurors came to quell the crowd of protestors. In fact, Draco was quite sure that a few of the proud peace-keepers of the wizarding world were among those crying for Arthur Weasley’s resignation. He inched forward, pushing his way closer to the doors, intent on the goal.

He could care less what happened to the other Weasleys. Or he would, except for Ginny and Fred. He’d been taught to hate Weasleys, but Molly and Arthur had spawned his best friend and the woman he... desired? Idolized? Needed. Loved.

Draco roughly shoved aside a man who loudly called for Fred’s twin to be Kissed by the Dementors. He shuddered at the thought – Fred’s twin was an Auror, probably as loyal to Dumbledore’s order as Lucius Malfoy had been to Voldemort’s. Aurors. Fanatics. Either word suited them all.

With a final push, he reached his goal, the foot of the stairs, head of the mob. The moment Ginny stepped through the door, he’d throw himself forward and Apparate with her. She’d have no time to think, no time to be afraid of the mob hurtling at her, no time for the mob to try to rip her to shreds. He waited.

~

Mere steps away, behind the ancient door of the Ministry building, Ginny and her father waited in silence, listening to the chants for their deaths. Parvati hurried over from a nearby office, shaking her head. "Mr. Weasley, the back way is blocked too. And we’re still not reconnected to the Floo network."

Ginny watched her father impassively as he swore. "Dad, the apparition field ends at the top of the stairs. We open the doors, take a few steps, and we’re home at the Burrow..."

"They’ll get to us before we have a chance," Arthur murmured back. "Damn, damn, damn. How long before they give up, do you think?"

Parvati shrugged almost imperceptibly, cringing away from the yelled promises of violence from outside. "I don’t think they’ll go anywhere. They’re likely to storm the building itself... will you have enough time to get everything you need before they reform in Ottery St. Catchpole?"

"Mark?" Arthur called to a mousy man dashing across the grand entrance hall. "Did you get that owl off to Molly?"

"Mailing Charlie’s now!" he shouted back, turning to take the stairs two at a time.

"Parvati, go talk to Moody, he should be in his office. I need to know how many Aurors are part of the crowd." As she nodded and scurried off, Arthur sighed deeply, pulling his daughter into a hug. "They stormed the Ministry in ’78. They were trying to get Headmaster Dumbledore proclaimed Minister, that time. It was a near coup – I was working as a secretary in Muggle Artifacts then. It was one of the most frightening moments of my life."

Ginny gave her father a peck on the cheek and a tenuous smile. "It didn’t work then, and it won’t work now. Plus, this is nowhere near as frightening as Ron’s graduation day. We survived that, didn’t we?"

"We survived," he murmured, more to himself than Ginny. "Is Parvati far enough from the door, do you think?"

She gave a nod. "They won’t connect her to us, when they push inside."

Arthur gave a nod back. "Almost time, then." He stepped back and straightened his robes, making a beeline for the first office. Yanking the door wide, he poked his head in. "Gordon, get your staff upstairs. They’re getting pushy."

As if to support his statement, another round of shouts came from the mob, coupled with the sounds of something being thrown against the door. Ginny backed away with a start to watch Undersecretary Gordon and the rest of his staff lugging boxes of papers toward the stairs. Arthur moved back to her side. "That’s the last of them. The records should be in the vaults before everyone makes it upstairs."

"Dad, what if they go too far? Are they going to blame all of the staff for what Percy did?" She felt sixteen again. In her mind’s eye, the shouts outside became the shouts of the Death Eaters trying to take Hogwarts; the sounds of students crying in fear, the echoes of the curse aimed at Harry. The curse a convict took to save him.

"Moody’s up there. He’ll know how to handle them." Arthur leaned over and planted a kiss on Ginny’s forehead, drawing her back from the memories. "Whatever you do, don’t Apparate to the Burrow. Ron’s safe in New York, wrapping up from the Quidditch Cup... Charlie’s in Scotland, he’ll join us as soon as he gets the owl... George’s safe at Hogwarts. I’ll get your Mum and we’ll be out of the house in a few minutes."

She gave a quick nod. "I’ll meet you at Hogwarts tomorrow. I’ll get past the Aurors somehow."

Another peck on her forehead, and Arthur nodded. "I’m going to open the door. I want you to run to the edge of the field, get out, and don’t look back."

"Be careful, Daddy." Ginny stepped forward, picturing in her mind the back alley behind the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade. If she could make it there, it was mere moments from the doors of her old school. Hogsmeade. She could make it. The roar of the crowd was a smooth crescendo.

The doors parted. Five steps to the edge of the warding field. She heard a ripple of shouts moving through the crowd, caught sight of someone in Auror’s robes rushing her.

Four steps. Three. The crowd was rushing, someone was pointing a wand in her direction. Two. A brown-haired man she didn’t recognize grabbed for her arms as she plowed right at him.

One. His hands grabbed at her, pulling her past the wards. He Apparated, pulling her with him.

~

Hermione cuddled Harry’s curly-haired son in her arms, holding the sleeping baby close. She made a poor shield against the dangers of the outside. Even his parents wouldn’t have been able to save him. According to Headmistress McGonagall, only the entrance of Ron and one of his Cincinnati Charms friends had stopped a second death from occurring the night before... and no one was quite sure why two Quidditch players were enough to scare off the Lord of Darkness.

A single word from the wireless in the corner of the staff room snapped her back to attention. She flicked her wand to bring the volume a bit higher. "... crowd of nearly two hundred protesters gathered outside the Ministry of Magic this afternoon, calling for the resignation of both Arthur and Virginia Weasley, father and sister respectively of the men responsible for the murders of Albus Dumbledore and Minister Cornelius Fudge last Tuesday. Witnesses report that just after four o’clock, the two Weasleys in question exited the front of the Ministry building. A man described as dark-haired and tall snatched Virginia Weasley from the steps and Apparated away. Arthur Weasley was attacked by the crowd, and is reported to be in very critical condition at an undisclosed location. At this time, anyone with information as to the location of Virginia Weasley is urged to contact the Aurors -"

Another flick of the wrist, and the terrible news was over. Hermione cuddled the child close and sobbed.