Chapter 2

A deafening stillness crashed through the Atrium, interrupted by a flick of Dolores' wand. "Expecto Patronum."

A silvery cat landed at Nova's feet, and the world became a cheerier place. Dolores' gaping maw snapped back to human-like proportions, and she snarled, "What do you think you're doing, you stupid little girl? You'll go to Azkaban for - "

"Where you left Dad to die? No thank you, Mother."

"November Melissa Umbridge," Dolores coldly enunciated each syllable. "You will not talk to me that way. You know perfectly well what he got mixed up - "

Nova threw a staggering amount of shade into her next words. "Is that why you framed him? Just because he was bitten by a were - "

"SHUT UP!" shrieked Dolores. "SHUT UP SHUT UP! YOU WILL NOT MENTION THAT FILTHY ANIMAL - "

Nova's eyes flashed with rage, and Dolores caught the wrong end of Nova's taser shell mid-sentence, collapsing like a spastic bowl of Jello. This caused quite a stir among Dolores' allies, and an emergency broadcast immediately echoed through the hall. "ALL MINISTRY PERSONNEL, UNDESIRABLES LOCATED IN THE ATRIUM. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. I REPEAT, THIS IS NOT A DRILL. LOCKDOWN PROTOCOLS ARE IN EFFECT - "

I sighed. Well. Guess we're doing this live then. I suppose if we were going to improvise, violence was a solid call.

Based on the composition of security forces arrayed against us, we defaulted to our standard combat arrangement: Nova and Justin rolled straight at the Death Eaters, leaving me to engage the Dementors from a safe distance.

I wrinkled my brow. A lazy summer afternoon. Three figures, teenagers, lazing about by the sea. The one with long auburn hair, idly filling out a crossword puzzle, rested her head on the Chinese boy's shoulder. Completely oblivious to her presence, he turned a page, absorbed in his novel. The blonde girl to his left scribbled on her pad, her pencil photographing the landscape. Whispering waves, clear skies, coarse sand that gets everywhere… "Expecto Patronum."

A huge silvery mess erupted from my Floating Point, smoothing out into a sleek canine form. The fox charged the Dementor's ranks, scattering them like frat boys before a breathalyzer. Ah, I love Dementors. Fighting them is just so easy.

Nova's boomstick boomed again -

Her target casually slapped the shell aside with a wave of his wand and a vaguely condescending sneer. "Tanner, these fuckers have firelegs," he called out to the second Death Eater.

"I know, Gupta, I know," was the exasperated response. Tanner's wand blurred through an incantation, and my shotgun melted into a water.

Fuck.

"It's firearms, you ignorant plonker," a slightly damp Nova muttered as she adjusted to her sad gun-less existence and blocked Tanner's stream of curses with a Shield Charm.

Justin didn't miss a step when his KSG melted. As the water leaked through his fingers, the droplets warped, flattening out and freezing into a loose cloud of razor-sharp hexagons. With a flick of his wrist, Justin blessed the shards with velocity and sent a shotgun blast of icy shrapnel in Gupta's general direction.

There was another condescending sneer, and Gupta's Transfiguration spell swapped Justin's ice shards out for cotton balls. "You'll have to do better than that, fucking blood - "

I swept in on Gupta's blind side and whispered, "Avada Kedavra."

He spotted my Killing Curse at the last second and was forced to divert resources away from his stupid mouth to avoid my thoughtful little present. Yes, yes, I know Nova (and by extension, Justin and I) had agreed to Charlie's ridiculous restrictions on lethal force for this little field trip to the Ministry, but the opportunity to murder a couple Death Eaters was just too good to pass up.

Gupta skewered me with blazing eyes and lashed out, slinging a kneejerk "Crucio!" my way.

I didn't even have to alter my trajectory; the spell missed me by about three meters. I raised an eyebrow.

This prompted a passionate speech from Gupta questioning my virtue and my mother's career choices. I rolled my eyes. I've heard better. I sent another Killing Curse his way, deliberately aiming at his feet in a show of contempt.

Hoo boy. That set him off. Gupta was halfway through a statement disparaging my reproductive system when Justin ghosted in from behind to implement lesson number four: a wandless wizard is a dead wizard.

Justin's arm blurred through a single downward stroke, and the kukri's heavy blade slid through Gupta's arm with supernatural ease, taking the Death Eater's wand hand off just below the elbow.

That's what you get for monologuing in the middle of a fight.

As Gupta sank to his knees and started blubbering about his boo boo, Justin torched the Death Eater's wand and casually tossed the severed appendage at Tanner. "Redanimatus."

Tanner never saw it coming. One moment he's happily trying to survive all of Nova's explosions, and the next, there's an undead arm sinking its fingers into his throat. Life just wasn't fair sometimes. His concentration faltered, and Nova plugged him in the chest with a spell that blew him in half.

"Level Eight, Atrium," a chorus of elevators announced, and a red tide of Ministry security personnel flooded the Atrium.

"FREEZE! DROP YOUR WANDS! DO IT! DO IT NOW!" screamed a security officer with leadership potential.

Justin ignored that directive; he calmly walked up behind Gupta, grabbed a fistful of hair, and decapitated the Death Eater in front of our live studio audience.

Every single red robe froze in shock. Most went pale. A couple dozen vomited. Understandable. Violence in the magical community isn't usually quite so… visceral; they're used to cuddly PG-rated Avada Kedavra pillow fights, and we'd just given them a front row seat to a hard R slasher flick.

Justin lobbed the head in their general direction. The frontline collectively recoiled from the rolling bundle of hair and bone.

Yeah, time to get out of here while they were still reeling from that senseless act of -

A chain of explosions walked up the hideous piece of totalitarian "art" dominating the Atrium, reducing the stone witch, the stone wizard, and the stone chair of humanity into an artistic pile of stone rubble. Nova released a satisfied breath, and threw up the Funny Mark to complete her deconstructed masterpiece.

Ministry Security was mildly offended by that. I didn't blame them, really. I mean, first their lovely statue gets blown up. Frowns all around. Then the hooligan responsible literally places a smiling pile of shit over the shattered remains. That tipped the mob mentality from the no-thank-you-I-like-my-head-where-it-is cringe to the oh-no-they-didn't roar.

I glared at Nova as we tactically advanced away from the horde screaming for our blood. "What?" she asked. "It had to be done! That thing was so ugly. And stupid."

We sprinted toward the fireplaces -

Which were magically bricked up to prevent our escape. Of course.

I glared at Nova. She rolled her eyes. "Expulso!"

Nova's spell hit the sealed fireplace, reducing the brick to dust and wishful thinking.

The three of us dove through the wreckage and emerged in an all too familiar toilet stall. Justin didn't bother with the knob; he just put his shoulder down and plowed straight through the door. Air tinged with an inadequate amount of cleaning fluid flooded my lungs as I followed him. Nova brought up the rear, blowing up the innocent toilet behind us before breaking out a compact mirror. "Charlie!" she shouted at its reflective surface. "We need a pickup!"

"Pulling up now!"

We were almost out when they emerged from the other toilets. It was far more ominous than it sounds.

The three of us hit the exit at a dead sprint, beelining for the magenta minivan idling at the curb. The sliding door rumbled open and our getaway driver, Charlie Weasley, poked his head out. "What happened? What - "

Charlie's eyes widened when he saw the howling mob on our tail. He immediately dove back into the driver's seat and disengaged the parking brake.

The three of us piled into the vehicle, and Nova screamed, "GO GO GO!"

"GOING GOING GOING!" Charlie roared back at her.

The car kicked off, rising at an absolutely glacial pace away from the Ministry -

And straight into a cloud of broomsticks and red robes. A half dozen spells slammed into the armor plating, staggering the vehicle. Nova careened around dangerously for a moment before hooking her arm around the driver's headrest, fingers scrabbling across Charlie's chest for stabilization. His hand left the steering wheel to grab her hand.

Justin immediately threw up a Shield Charm around the minivan. A dozen spells smashed into the translucent dome, throwing off sparks.

"I thought I recruited you lot for covert operations!" Charlie Weasley growled as he fought to keep us aloft. "What about this is covert?!"

I glared at Nova. "Nova had to blow up the statue in the Atrium."

Charlie looked over his shoulder, adding his glared to mine. "Oh, well done, Nova, well done. Was that" - he levelled a finger at the Ministry security forces pursuing us - "worth it?"

"Yes," Nova sniffed primly as she pressed a button on the dashboard to pop the trunk. "You didn't see the statue. It was ugly."

Cold air swirled through the minivan, making a fine mess of my hair. I also got a fine view of our pursuers forming a loose umbrella above us, battering the minivan down to an elevation of two meters.

A particularly powerful volley of spells shattered Justin's Shield and smashed into the roof of the minivan. We took a hard bounce off the pavement before Charlie was able to regain control. He stomped on the accelerator and roared, "Okay, everyone needs to start hitting back! Now!"

The three of us complied with his request, and Nova asked in a sickly sweet voice, "Charlie, love, why haven't we jumped yet?"

Charlie imitated Nova's sickly sweet tone. "Because, dear, you activated the Minisitry's Anti-Disapparition field when you blew up that statue!" He reverted back to his normal voice. "Remember when I asked you not to do anything stupid because there's a ten kilometer Anti-Disapparition field that would make our lives difficult? THIS IS IT!"

Nova swatted his shoulder and pouted at him. "You don't have to yell, you know. How much further?"

Some of the irritation bled out of his voice, and he ratcheted down the volume. "Sorry about that babe. Almost there! We just need to…"

His voice trailed off as the temperature plummeted, dropping thirty degrees Celsius in as many seconds. Condensation crept across all surfaces and crystallized into frost.

The minivan dipped and slowed. Charlie swore furiously. Uh oh. Our engine was a finely tuned piece of machinery that definitely wasn't rated for subzero conditions. A sad creaking emerged emerged as pistons began to stick and lubricant turned to jelly.

"Got this!" I called out.

I cranked open the passenger-side window and climbed halfway out of the vehicle. A small bead of concentrated warmth coalesced in my palm, and I floated it in lazy circles around the hood, melting away the gathering icicles.

"Thanks!" Charlie called out. I looked at him through the windshield and gave him a thumbs up.

My thumb was retracting when I caught movement in the windshield's reflection. Two shapes, high speed. I looked up just in time to see a couple red robes diving out of the sun. They leapt from their broomsticks and landed on the roof with impossibly loud thumps.

"What was that? Are they on the roof?" Charlie asked.

I levelled my Floating Point at one of the boarders. "Crucio!"

He screamed, his muscles locked up in pain, and he flew off the van. The pavement gently broke his fall.

The second turned toward me with unfriendly intentions. An intangible Justin, wreathed in tendrils of smoke, emerged through the van's roof and loomed over the boarder. As Justin solidified, his right hand clamped over the boarder's face, and his suppressed USP introduced a .45 caliber round to the the back of the boarder's left knee. As the leg collapsed, Justin caught the man's wrist and pulsed his Floating Point. There was a wet crunch, and the boarder's arm warped as the Shattering Charm obliterated every single bone in the appendage.

The boarder's wand dropped from his twitching fingers. Justin kicked the screaming man off the roof and gave me a nod.

Okay then. "Not anymore!"

"Copy that!" Nova called out to us.

Charlie's finger stabbed wildly through his window. "NOVA, PAY ATTENTION! INCOMING, THREE 'O CLOCK!"

"Jesus, no need to shout," Nova harrumphed. "I got him, I got him, I got him" - she missed - "nope, I don't got him!"

A Ministry Security officer smashed his way through the driver's side window, showering Charlie with delightful little glass shards. A massive forearm groped its way inside, trying to find a handhold inside the vehicle. The fingers found Charlie's throat, and the entire hand clamped down around his Adam's apple.

Charlie, turning slightly purple, took both hands off the steering wheel in an attempt to pry the officer's hand away from his windpipe.

"Stupefy!" Nova screamed.

Somehow, some way, she threaded the curse through the narrow gap between the door and Charlie's headrest, planting the spell directly into the assailant's face. The officer fell away.

"Charlie!" In the space of a blink, Nova was at Charlie's side.

He caught her hand and answered her unasked question with a wheezing, "Don't worry, I'm okay."

She cupped his cheek with her palm and said, "That's nice, but are we there yet?"

"WE'LL GET THERE WHEN WE GET THERE!" Charlie roared. Then he checked his bearings. "Oh, we're there," he said sheepishly. "Everyone hold on!"

With a muffled crack, urban London slipped away, pursuit replaced by lack of pursuit, buildings by grass, concrete by more grass.

We made it out. Thank God we added the armor plating. Don't think the van would've pulled through otherwise –

An explosion ripped the engine block right off the vehicle.

Yeah, it was one of those days.

Hindsight being what it is, the explosive surprise probably shouldn't have been a surprise. After all, the security officer did attempt to murder Charlie with one hand, which is a pretty high quality distraction for planting an explosive device on the vehicle with the other.

So there we were, fifteen feet and gravity separating us from a prominent amount of pain. With the van barreling ahead at breakneck speeds, things weren't look so -

Wait a minute. Altitude of fifteen feet. I could -

Too late. As I began to form that train of thought, the van thundered past the point of no return.

Desperate times, desperate measures. "Protego!" I screamed.

A protective blue dome appeared around me and immediately shattered when an errant screw bounced off of it. Yeah, the Shield is weak in this one.

"BRACE FOR IMPACT!" roared Charlie as soil and vegetation reached out to break my frail and squishy body.

My eyes met Justin's as he made a desperate lunge in my direction.

His arms closed around my shoulders, and his tackle carried me completely out of the passenger-side window and clear of the minivan.

"Protego" I heard him whisper.

I looped my arms around his back and locked fingers right before his shield met the ground. We hit at an angle, and the world devolved into a confusing swirl of sky blue and grass green.

When all was said and done, I found myself draped awkwardly over Justin, my cheek against his chest. My entire body was one giant ache, and it took me a few moments to find my voice. "Everyone okay?"

Justin groaned, and I crawled off of him. "I'll survive... I think," he wheezed.

Somewhere in the background Charlie said something like "Everything hurts."

Nova flounced over, moving like she hadn't just gone through a minor crash landing. "Don't listen to him, he's exaggerating. He's good. I'm fine!" she said brightly.

Still on my back, I croaked, "Could you go get the med kit upstairs? We'll be right behind you"

She hesitated before Charlie croaked, "Don't worry, no one's home."

"Got it!" Nova said and booked it for the estate down the hill.

I'm not sure how long we remained immobile in that field, but I finally convinced my aching body to stand. I pulled Justin to his feet, found Charlie, and took inventory of our injuries. Cuts and bruises for me, scrapes for Charlie, broken wrist and fractured ribs for Justin. After another blissful moment of immobility, we finally mustered the willpower to stagger after Nova.

Picturesque grassy knolls gave way to the tangled chaos of the Burrow's… I hesitate to call it a "garden" because the word "garden" implies order and human maintenance. Amid the flora bedlam was the estate's main structure, a Frankensteinian style house that somehow featured no straight lines or right angles. An equally dilapidated farm and garage rounded out the rest of the property.

We had just passed the barn's flaking doors when Charlie came to an abrupt halt.

My wand arm twitched. "What?"

Charlie pointed wordlessly at his parent's bedroom window before sprinting for the Burrow's front door. It took me a few moments to figure out what was wrong with this picture.

The bedroom's lights were on.

Oh dear lord.

Justin and I glanced at each other before hobbling as fast as we could after Charlie.

Entering the Burrow is like a mediocre acid trip. The Weasleys had subscribed to the M.C. Escher school of interior design, and the resulting layout was a colorful explosion of stairs and superfluous support beams.

We took three steps into the house and walked into a different kind of explosion altogether.

"...TRYING TO GET HIM KILLED?!" Mama Weasley roared.

Charlie courageously and suicidally leapt between Nova and his mother. Before Nova could answer, Charlie wrapped his arms around her, crushed her to his chest, and turned her away from Mama Weasley. Nova pushed at his abdomen in an attempt to turn and re-enter the fray, her mouth opening to say something regrettable. Charlie just tightened his hug and gently buried her face in his sternum. No one could make sense of the resulting garble Nova shouted into his chest. It was probably for the best.

Charlie answered in her stead. "Mum, please be reasonable. We're at war. We all have to take risks."

Mama Weasley rounded on her son. "DON'T YOU DARE DEFEND HER! YOUR FATHER TOLD ME WHAT YOUR… FRIEND PULLED AT THE MINISTRY TODAY! ENDANGERING YOUR LIFE FOR WHAT? PETTY VANDALISM?!"

Charlie, Justin, and I glanced at each other (November tried to join in on the fun, but Charlie was having none of that). Props to the Ministry spin machine; they really got in front of this one. Charlie asked, "That's all Dad mentioned? Just the statue?"

That was exactly the wrong thing to say. "JUST THE STATUE? THERE'S MORE?! WHAT ELSE DID YOUR… FRIEND DO?!"

Charlie relaxed and took this opening to deflect that question. "Mum, we've talked about this. Nova's not my friend, she's my - "

"NO. NO NO NO. SHE IS NOT. HOW COULD YOU - "

Works like a charm everytime. Charlie winked and shoved Nova in my arms. I got the hint and hustled Nova and Justin up the stairs. Charlie settled in with a bemused smile to endure yet another lecture about his… friend.

The radio was on when we entered Charlie's old bedroom, Ministry propaganda disguised as a WWN news broadcast. Nova dug the first aid kit out from under the bed, and I gently placed Justin into a rickety old armchair. As I got to work on his wrist, the WWN broadcast switched to a new story.

"The popular statue featured in the Atrium at the Ministry of Magic was taken down for restoration today. Madam Undersecretary Dolores Umbridge, in an official statement, has said, 'In order to preserve the fine details on this beloved statue and ensure that future generations can enjoy its beauty for years to come, we've temporarily removed the statue from the Atrium so our master restorers can care for this tremendous piece of art quickly and properly. It was a relative slow and uneventful day at the Ministry, so we felt that today was a good time to get this process started.' The statue, carved by the reclusive…"