The Enemy of my Enemy

The Punishment

I can't believe this is the second to last chapter of Year Five.

"She killed him! She killed Sirius - I'll kill her!"

Harry's words raced through Teddie's mind as she pursued him through the rooms and back out into the hallway. He was still several feet ahead of her, already at the lifts and jamming the button for one to come get him while Bellatrix was already at the top, probably in the Atrium.

"Harry!" Teddie called, skidding around the corner and heading directly for the lifts. She saw him disappear into the lift, the doors closing seconds before she reached them.

Teddie huffed and punched the up button on the wall. She was hoping that Harry's lift would come back down, it couldn't have been at the next level so fast, but she also knew that if it did then he would be pissed at her for delaying his chase. But maybe that was a good idea right now.

She knew, better than most, what it was like to run into a fight with a full head. If Harry had any chance of stopping Bellatrix then he needed a clear conscious, she could understand his pain. Sirius Black was the only family that Harry had left, and now he was gone. Gone through the veil. She didn't fully understand what the veil was, but if she had to guess, she would say it was something to do with death - especially since the same people that could see the Thesterals, could hear the voices.

A lift jangled into view and the doors opened. Teddie threw herself inside, punching the number for the Atrium. The doors lifted and she closed her eyes, leaning against the back wall as she felt herself moving upwards. The Department of Mysteries was on the ninth level of the Ministry of Magic, so it meant that Harry was at least two or even three floors above her. Bellatrix was most certainly at the top by now.

As the lift continued to jangle upwards, Teddie stuck her hand inside the pocket of her robes. She still had the crystal orb. She still had the weapon that Voldemort was after, and if Bellatrix thought that she still had it, then maybe bringing it to the Atrium was not a good idea. But where could she stow it for safekeeping? It had to be somewhere that no one would think about looking.

Definitely not out in the open, but maybe not so much concealed, either. Sometimes, the best hiding places were in plain sight. People tended to look over things that were hidden in plain sight, especially things that were valuable. Teddie thought long and hard for a place that she could hide the orb when she got out of the lifts, she hadn't had much of a chance to see the Atrium in great detail when she arrived earlier that evening, so she wasn't entirely sure of a secure and safe hiding spot off the top of her head.

She could remember passing the fountain, but that was in the middle of the room, and where could she hide a crystal ball in a fountain? She could've just left it under the water, maybe the rippling effect would lead anyone searching for it to believe it was a part of the fountain, a bubble or something. But how could she get it there without being detected?

As she reached the top floor, Teddie removed her hand from her pocket and gripped her wand tightly. This was it. This was where she was getting off, and she had very little time to think of a full proof plan. She needed to hide the orb and then find Harry. She wasn't sure whether she would be helping fight off Bellatrix, or stopping him from killing her, but she knew that whatever was waiting for her on the other side of the doors, wasn't good.

Taking a deep breath, Teddie stepped up to the doors as the lift came to a full stop and started to open. "Here we go," she said, breathing out.

With the doors fully opened, Teddie's eyes widened and her heart dropped as she looked up into the face of Avery Sutherland.

"Well, hello, daughter," Avery cooed. "Nice of you to join us."

~X~

Harry laughed as Bellatrix continued to scream. Her wand waving frantically in the air as she tried to summon the prophecy. He wasn't entirely sure if they Prophecy was still intact, or if Teddie had already destroyed it. He hadn't had a chance to catch up with the Slytherin since she had fled, the prophecy above her head, and the Death Eaters giving chase. He understood why she had done it, but it put her at serious disadvantage when she finally run out of puff.