Death Before Dishonor

DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR

Chapter Fifteen: Unexpected Heroism

Taking a deep breath, Harry knocked on the wooden door. He was a little nervous about turning to Professor Lupin over this, but Sirius wasn´t here--and Harry knew that no matter how little he wanted to talk about this with anyone, he had to. Still, he´d hesitated before approaching Professor Dumbledore, in case he really was only worrying needlessly, and had finally settled on Professor Lupin. Even if he was not quite as comfortable with Remus Lupin as he felt with Sirius, Harry had trusted the werewolf since before he´d even met his godfather, and knowledge of Remus´ friendship with his father had only cemented that faith. Besides, he had to talk to someone because Harry had no idea about what he should do.

After a slight hesitation, the familiar voice emerged from behind the office door. "Come in!"

Harry opened the door, partially nervous but also glad he had come. The sight before him, however, came as a surprise--instead of encountering only Lupin, he found himself looking right at Severus Snape, who was leaning on one of the History professor´s many bookcases and staring back at him in equal surprise. Lupin sat behind his desk, facing Snape with a thoughtful expression, but he smiled as Harry hesitantly entered the office.

"Hello Harry," his father´s old friend said as Snape scowled. "I didn´t expect to see you."

The unwelcoming expression on his Potions master´s face made a cascade of images resurface in Harry´s mind. Blinking, he tried to make them go away, but it was no use. Once again, he saw a flash of green light, heard screams, saw bodies flying and buildings falling...there was confusion, dust, debris and laughing Death Eaters... Suddenly, the memory faded, and Harry shook himself. The first he had seen these images had been just under twenty minutes before, and it was their unexpected presence that brought him to Lupin´s office. They weren´t like his infrequent dreams--they were less concrete and foggier; it was harder to figure out what was going on in the few seconds´ worth of flashes. Also, he hadn´t even been asleep.

"If you´re busy, I can come back later," Harry heard himself say quickly. Something about the look on Snape´s face told him that this was a bad time...and habit overrode the urgency that he felt concerning the flashes he was seeing. After all, I don´t even know what they are, he tried to reason. They might have happened years ago... Or they might be happening now.

The two professors exchanged a glance. "We´re not that busy," Remus replied. "You look as if you something is bothering you. Why don´t you close the door and sit down, Harry?"

He nodded and complied, unable to keep the relief off of his face. There was something important about those images, even though he could not tell what... Harry tried to remember exactly what had happened, but as seconds passed, the flashes because murkier and murkier. All he remembered now was destruction--could he have been seeing Beauxbatons? That would fit... With a start, Harry realized that both professors were staring at him expectantly. He swallowed, trying to figure out how to explain events that he couldn´t even remember, trying to figure out how to describe the urgency he felt without being thought ridiculous.

"It´s my scar," Harry finally explained, wishing that the Potions master wasn´t there to hear him sound like an idiot who couldn´t even remember something he´d seen less than a minute before. "It´s burning."

Obviously, Lupin understood the significance of that; his History professor sat up straight and stared at Harry in concern. But it was Snape´s reaction that shocked Harry; the Potions teacher´s expression changed abruptly from one of annoyance to one of genuine concern.

"Shit," Snape said.

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The second groan finally allowed Sirius to get his bearings, and having wasted enough time already, he rushed over to its source, yanking the desktop (minus its legs, which he spotted lying a few feet away) off of the Minister of Magic. Sirius might have despised Cornelius Fudge as a person, but as his head stopped spinning, the situation became clearer. And so did Voldemort´s target.

He hauled Fudge to his feet. "Let´s go."

"Huh?" the Minster asked stupidly. "Go where?"

"Anywhere but here," Sirius replied, tightening his hand on the other´s arm and pulling him man forward. He was hoping for more confusion than resistance, but, unfortunately, Fudge slammed on the breaks.

"Wait a minute," the Minister of Magic snapped. "What´s going on?"

"You think I know?" Sirius retorted angrily, thinking, We don´t have time for this! "All I know is that the floor just dropped out from under us, and this place is under attack. We have to leave now."

Steel had entered Sirius´ voice with the next words; his instincts were telling him that there was no time to waste, and his instincts were never wrong in times like this. He knew what had to be done and knew it had to be done fast. Escaping Death Eaters was never an easy task (in fact, many had found it downright impossible to do), and the longer they waited, the less time he had to save Fudge´s practically useless but symbolically important life. He might have hated the man, but the consequences of allowing Voldemort to kill the Minster of Magic were unthinkable. Regrettably, Fudge was not as quick on the uptake.

"What are you talking about?" he demanded. "This is the Ministry of Magic. It can´t be under attack!"

"Tell that to Voldemort," Sirius snarled.

Fudge opened his mouth to respond, but Sirius slapped a hand over his mouth, listening closely. The screams had started again, but this time they were closer. And there were less. Again, the oppressive feeling of death swept over him, and Sirius actually shuddered upon feeling it. People were dying, innocent Muggles along with the outmatched Ministry witches and wizards. Some had been caught in the blast that had taken the building apart (used, he was sure, more for psychological effect than its destructive value), and others were dying now as the Death Eaters came out to play. Play. It was barely past noon. It was still daylight. They were indeed getting bold.

Without warning, the years had melted away. He was an Auror again; his senses and reactions told him that. They were trapped and they were outmatched, but he was calm. He was ready. Abruptly, Fudge jerked away from him and snapped. "You´re mad!"

"Am I? What other explanation can you think of? This isn´t exactly an earthquake in the middle of London!" he snapped. "Use your brain, Fudge! Listen to the screaming! Voldemort is here!" Again, he grabbed the Minister´s arm. "Now, let´s go."

"But it could be..." Fudge trailed off, so frightened that he was unable to think of an excuse for what had happened.

"Sure it could," Sirius rolled his eyes, leading an unresisting Minister forward. "And I´m your Fairy fucking Godmother." Ignoring Fudge´s babbled protests, he pulled his wand from his robes, letting go of the Minster as they reached the window. Carefully, he glanced outside, but there was still a great deal of dust in the air, which made it hard to see. However, he could tell that the window faced a street--hopefully a back alley not a main street in Muggle London, but whatever it was, the window offered a way out. Belatedly, Sirius realized that he and Fudge had landed in a bottom floor conference room, which was why they were still alone. He mumbled, "Finite Abderum."

The anti-concealment spell revealed no hidden surprises immediately outside the window, and Sirius heard Fudge sigh in premature relief. He, on the other hand, simply resisted the urge to roll his eyes again as he reached up and grasped the window frame. Hope the blast weakened the fittings, or we´ll be here awhile, Sirius thought to himself. He pulled. The window resisted, and Fudge didn´t help.

"Why don´t you just blast the thing?" the Minister asked impatiently. He did have his own wand out, now, but Sirius certainly hadn´t noticed Fudge offering to lend a hand.

"Let´s just light off a beacon in the sky saying `we´re here´, too, why don´t we?" he retorted.

"There´s no one out there." Fudge rolled his eyes this time.

"No one that you can see, you mean," Sirius replied. How did a stupid git like this ever become the Minster of Magic? He yanked the window frame angrily, and felt it budge.

"So why don´t you just do a Dark Searching spell, if you´re so worried about someone being close by?"

Anger did the trick, it seemed; after another jerk, the window came free in his hands. Sirius lowered it to the floor carefully, turning to look at Fudge and biting off the sarcastic reply that came to mind. "Come here. I´ll boost you out the window."

"Me? I´m not going first!"

"You´re bloody well going when I tell you to." Sirius wondered why he even bothered not to scream at the man. Again, he grabbed Fudge and dragged him forward. "Get over here."

"I´m the Minister of Magic, you can´t order me around like some--"

"And I´m trying to save your pathetic neck," he growled. "Stop arguing with the person who has experience doing things like this."

"You see--what if there is someone out there?" Fudge panicked. "I mean, if you´re trying to save me--AH!"

Sirius grinned nastily. Willing or not, Fudge had just gone out the window; Sirius had picked up and thrown him bodily through the small opening. Quickly, the ex-Auror followed, not much happier with the necessary arrangement than Fudge was, but he understood the reasons. There was no way that the undersized and unfit Minister would have been able to hoist himself up and out the window without help, whereas Sirius had no problem with that. He didn´t exactly enjoy leaving Fudge exposed for the few seconds necessary to work himself through the opening, but nothing ever went perfectly, as Alastor Moody used to remind his students. Everything always gets fucked up.

Fudge had gotten to his feet as Sirius climbed out the window, but instead of doing something intelligent like taking cover, the Minister simply stood upright and stared. Sirius opened his mouth to yell at him to get down, but the words dried up in his mouth as he noticed what Fudge was looking at. The once proud Ministry of Magic was in shambles.

Half of the building´s front was caved in; rubble was strewn all over the street, with bodies mixed in amongst the debris for extra flavor. There were hurt and curious Muggles wandering around, poking at the wreckage and staring at the building, which indeed looked like it had experienced its own private earthquake. Unfortunately, none of the neighboring structures had been damaged at all, which was bad because it meant that Voldemort could control this destructive power he had created. The Ministry did not look as crushed as Beauxbatons had, though, which Sirius suspected was due to the wards guarding the place. Beauxbatons had been breached through treachery, and while he had no doubt that the Ministry had its own share of traitors, too, Sirius knew that the layered defenses at the Ministry of Magic would make it harder for a few traitors to lay the building wide open for the Dark Lord. I would rather consider that than the other possibility, though, Sirius thought. That just means Voldemort is strong enough to blast through the wards.

Movement in what remained of the building´s entranceway caught his eye, and Sirius swore. Hooded and masked figures were rushing in his direction, wands at the ready. A quick count revealed at least five of them, and shadowy figures moving within the collapsed doorway told Sirius that more were coming. Death Eaters.

"Let´s go!" Again, he grabbed Fudge, who was all too willing to move this time. They sprinted down the street--which, unfortunately, was filling with Muggles--So much for a back alleyway!--trying to open up as much distance between themselves and the Death Eaters as possible. Even the most powerful magic had limits, and the effective range of spells depended upon the strength of the caster. The chances of doing so were slim, but if they could get enough of a lead and stay out of range, he and Fudge might have a chance to lose the Death Eaters and escape.

A sense prickled in the back of his mind, and although the words to the incantation were lost in the wind, Sirius heard the power behind the words right before a wave of energy knocked into them from behind. He lost his grip on Fudge´s arm as he flew, but a distant part of his awareness noticed when the Minister struck another building and slumped to the ground. Sirius, however, sailed straight and true, landing hard on the paved street. The impact knocked the breath out of him and he smacked his head hard enough to see stars, but there was no time to complain. Desperately, he twisted aside just before a red flash of magic impacted with the spot of pavement he´d previously occupied.

Sirius rolled, coming up into a crouch, with his left hand forward and his wand held in a low fighting stance by his right side. His eyes honed in on his attackers, and came to rest on one Death Eater who had arrived before the others. The Death Eater´s wand pointed straight at Sirius´ face from not twenty feet away, and despite the mask and cloak, the ex-Auror would have recognized the slender and tall figure anywhere.

"Malfoy," he purred, smiling at his opponent.

"Black." He could hear the sneer in the other´s voice through the mask, and the anticipation. Malfoy was happy. That meant Voldemort must really want his head.

Sorry if I don´t give it to you today, Voldy-boy, Sirius thought. I do have present need of it. Both wizards spoke at the same moment.

"Imperio!"

"Everbero!"

Malfoy´s Imperius Curse struck Sirius even as he heard the other laugh aloud as Sirius´ spell sailed past him without doing any damage. But even as he fought of the Imperius Curse--something he´d had a natural talent for even before Auror training--Sirius saw the other approaching Death Eaters sail backwards, victims of the same spell Malfoy had used to strike him and Fudge. It was nice to know that he hadn´t lost the ability to hit what he was aiming at. Suddenly, though, Sirius found himself fighting off the entirely sensible urge to stand up and walk towards the now distracted Malfoy. He paused and stilled his mind, all the while letting the curse build in strength--then floored it with the strongest resistance he could muster.

And suddenly his mind was his own and his vision was clear. Sirius stayed in the crouch, his favorite fighting stance, and watched Malfoy´s shocked body language as he judged what spell the other would not expect. Quickly, he ran through a mental catalogue of his offensive weaponry, and for a short moment actually toyed with the idea of throwing the Imperius Curse back at Lucius Malfoy--but there were more effective ways to deal with Death Eaters.

"Rotoentilo!" Sirius snapped his wand up, and watched Malfoy fly into the air, twisting like a top. The other howled in fury, but that wasn´t the point--"Conteriaco!"

An invisible hand slammed into the still airborne Death Eater and crushed him to the ground. He twitched once, and then was still, but just to make sure, Sirius snapped, "Expelliarmus!" as he shot out of his crouch. Malfoy´s wand sailed into Sirius´ left hand, and the Death Eater didn´t move, which proved he was unconscious. It had been quick and dirty, but that wasn´t the point. Speed was. Before turning away, Sirius glanced at the Ministry building one last time, and immediately wished he had not.

A new figure had emerged from the ruined doorway. He alone did not wear a hood or mask, but then again, he had no need to worry about recognition. Despite himself, Sirius shivered as red eyes burned into him. The inner sense he had of death and pain grew stronger. Voldemort.

Sirius Black was far from a coward, but he turned and ran, grabbing Fudge as he went. Discretion was sometimes the better part of valor, and he had better things to do.

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When nervous or otherwise emotionally unstable, Apparition was generally considered a BAD idea. In fact, it was a well-known fact that doing so often ended in the foolish wizard being splinched, which was probably the most embarrassing and uncomfortable accident a witch or wizard could have--and in his case, probably the deadliest as well. Remus Lupin wasn´t particularly worried about embarrassing himself (he´d done that plenty of times), and his life had been anything but comfortable since the werewolf had bitten him as a boy, but he had no intention of winding up with half of his body sitting helpless and motionless where a Death Eater could kill him. Somehow, he reflected, that just would not make the day a success.

Not like today has been anything but disastrous, already.

He Apparated into a back alleyway only a block away from the Ministry of Magic. Remus did not know what he would find there, but the little news he had heard on the WWN did not sound good. He hadn´t expected to come here, but upon going to visit the Headmaster about Harry and Severus´ unsettling troubles, he had been drafted for this mission. After all, Snape couldn´t exactly go wandering around in a city that was probably still crawling with Death Eaters--that would be equivalent to writing him a ticket back into Voldemort´s hands, which none of them intended to do. So Remus had gone, because someone had to do it.

Someone had to find out if Sirius was alive.

Remus swallowed. Just thinking of losing his friend again was unbearable. For twelve years, he had been alone, separated from the best friends a man could have--the only true friends he´d ever had. They had been his companions and his partners in crime. They had been his brothers in all but blood... For twelve years, Remus had believed himself the last Marauder, the only reminder of a brotherhood broken by betrayal. He had lost James and Peter to Sirius´ treachery, had lost Sirius to Azkaban and had hated him for every moment of loneliness--until he had learned that it was Peter´s betrayal that had killed James and sentenced Sirius to hell. Sirius...

He gulped back emotion, moving swiftly out of the alley. He wasn´t going to lose his best friend now. Not after he´d gotten him back. Moony could not bear to let Padfoot die...they were the last of the Marauders. They were brothers. Remus quickened his pace. It would not end like this.

Coming around the last bend in the street, he ran immediately into a crowd of nervous onlookers. Remus was only partially surprised to see that the mob consisted of both Muggles and Magical folk; the attack had taken place less than an hour before, and most of the people who would normally be tasked to deal with the aftermath were inside the wreckage--and the werewolf gaped as he set eyes upon what was left of the Ministry building. It was a wreck; a Muggle bomb would probably have caused less damage. The wind shifted, carrying the scent of pain, fear, and death to his extra sensitive nostrils. Pain seized up in his chest, then, and almost paralyzed him as he thought of the people who had died at Voldemort and his Death Eater´s hands, or had been crushed in the collapse--the collapse! Suddenly, his mind was working once more, and he realized that many of the scurrying figures were digging through the wreckage for a reason. There could still be people trapped inside.

Remus jogged forward, looking for anyone who looked to be in charge. Finally, his eyes settled upon a slim young wizard, and the professor realized he was in luck. With an extra burst of speed, he reached the young man´s side and halted. The other looked at him with wide eyes, exclaiming,

"Professor Lupin!"

"Tell me what happened, Percy," he said quietly. Remus needed more information, needed to know if anyone got out.

"They...I don´t really know..." Percy Weasley´s voice shook as he nervously ran a hand over his face. "There was a sudden blast, and then everything started falling apart... We´ve found a lot of bodies, most of which seem to have been killed by...the Killing Curse."

"Have you found any survivors?"

"Of the curse?" Percy asked stupidly, and Remus resisted the urge to shake some sense into him. He´s frightened, Lupin reminded himself. People do dumb things when they´re scared.

"Of the explosion," he replied gently.

"Oh...uh, two," Weasley replied. "They´re both in pretty bad shape; they´re with mediwitches. We´re looking for the Minister right now."

"Ah." Remus tried to sound noncommittal; after all, he had no way of knowing if Sirius had been speaking to Fudge when Voldemort had struck...or if he´d been in the waiting room that no longer existed inside the building´s front doors. "You haven´t found him yet?"

Percy shook his head. "No. His secretary said that he was meeting with Sirius Black when everything--Professor, are you all right?"

Too later, Remus realized that he´d gone white and had to suck in a deep breath of air to keep his face impassive. Oh, god--oh, Sirius... He coughed to cover the emotions whirling through his head. "Perhaps I can help," he said quickly, trying to concentrate, but it was so hard... "My senses are enhanced by my condition. It´s quite possible that I´ll be able to pick up where people are."

"That would be very helpful," the young Ministry employee replied with feeling. "All the Dark magic in the air is wrecking havoc with searching spells, and we don´t have nearly enough people..."

But Remus did not hear the rest of Percy´s words as he moved away, weaving his way through the wreckage to where he remembered Fudge´s office being. He´d only visited the Ministry a few times, but he remembered the Minister of Magic´s office being in the right hand wing...Oh, shit. The werewolf stopped cold. Almost the entire area had collapsed in. All four floors were now compressed into one. Sirius! Without thinking, Lupin sprinted into the center of the wrecked wing, tripping over a large chunk of wall along the way, but not caring. He had to get to Sirius.

The wolf was a pack animal, and it was as desperate as he. Padfoot was pack. Padfoot was family. I have to get to Sirius. Desperately, Remus stretched his senses out, thankful, for the first time in his life, for the wolf. The wolf could smell what humans could not. The wolf could spell Padfoot--but his senses were overwhelmed, at first, by blood. By death. By pain. A wave of dizziness swept over Remus, and his stomach revolted at the scent. Fear was heavy in the air...Fear...Fudge! Further into the wreckage, he picked up Fudge´s scent, and Remus waded forward, kicking debris out of his way. Moving towards where the scent was strongest, he stopped. There was a door in his way, so he opened it, and followed as the Minister´s smell grew stronger. Lupin was now in a room--it looked like it had been a conference room at one point, but its furniture was buried underneath rubble from the stories above. Finally, he reached a relatively clear spot on the floor, and knew he´d found what he was looking for. Fudge had been there, and very afraid.

There was a flat piece of wood nearby (a desktop?), and not too far away, was an open window--no, that wasn´t an open window. It was a hole in the wall. The window and frame were gone--again, he corrected himself. The complete frame, including its sheet of unbroken glass, lay off to the side. Curiously, Remus walked towards the opening, feeling that Fudge had been there, too, and his nose finally picked up a second scent. This one had been hidden by the stronger smell of Fudge´s terror, but the wolf in him almost howled victoriously upon picking it up. He knew the scent. Sirius!

Quickly, Remus looked around, trying to recreate his friend´s actions. It was easier to think clearly now that he knew Sirius was alive. Both human and wolf were calmed by that knowledge, and he could smell his friend´s cool intensity in the room now that he knew what to look for. They fell, Lupin realized. The floor collapsed and they fell...and they went out that window. He peered outside, not expecting to see anything, but somehow getting a sense that Sirius had done the same. What he saw, however, was a street. In fact, it was a street that ran right into the one he´d come to the Ministry on; the building was, after all, situated on a corner.

Without further thought, Remus hoisted himself out of the small window and saw an even larger crowd milling around than on the front street of the building. His sensitive ears picked up a great many conversations, but they were too jumbled to pick out the particulars. However, most of the witches and wizards seemed to be more interested in the street than the Ministry. A voice called to him. "Excuse me!"

Remus turned to see a pretty, auburn haired young woman approaching him. He glanced around, sure that she could not be aiming for him, but she seemed to be walking straight towards him. Cautiously, he responded, "Yes?"

"Are you Remus Lupin?" she asked as he stared at her in surprise. His face wasn´t exactly well known... She continued, sticking out her right hand. "I´m Amanda Givens, Daily Prophet. I heard you talking to Percy Weasley."

"Hello," he responded carefully. Reporter, Remus thought. Great. Just what I need. I´d rather be looking for Sirius right now.

"I´m very sorry to bother you, but aren´t you a professor at Hogwarts?" she asked with a reporter´s sweet smile.

"I am." So? The wolf wanted to flee. The human didn´t have time for this nonsense. "Look, I´d love to talk to you, but I´m looking for a friend right now. Perhaps we can speak some other time."

Remus turned to leave, but her next question stopped him cold. "Do you know Sirius Black?"

"Sirius?" He spun back to face her, struggling to control his face. Don´t tell me they found his body, the werewolf thought desperately. Please don´t tell me he´s dead. He swallowed. "I do. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I was wondering if you could shed some light on what happened here," Givens responded with a blinding smile. "The insider´s viewpoint, if you would."

"What happened here?" She doesn´t sound upset, Remus tried to calm himself. In fact, she sounds excited... Unfortunately, though, that could just the voice of a reporter who had just uncovered the story of the year.

"You don´t know?" Givens asked incredulously.

"No. I just arrived from Hogwarts." He wanted to scream at the woman. What happened?

"Oh!" Again, her young face lit up. "It was incredible. It took place in the middle of the street, with dozens of witnesses--It seems that Black had somehow gotten the Minister of Magic out of the building, and they were trying to escape when Death Eaters started chasing him. No one is quite sure how many there were, but Black took them out and they got away."

"They got away?" Remus gasped. It was hard to breathe.

"I was hoping you might know where they are, actually," Givens said, nodding.

"No, I don´t," he replied. Thank god. "I knew Sirius was here, but..."

"Sirius?" she repeated with interest. "Do you know him well?"

"He´s a good friend," Remus replied honestly. I can´t believe I´m talking to a reporter, he thought to himself. I think it´s time to leave before she decides to interview me. "Now, as much as I hate to say it, I must be returning to Hogwarts."

Before she could reply, Remus had nodded politely, and Apparated.