Shattered | Hermione x Draco

Battle of the Ministry of Magic

I don't know how much time I have spent on the hallway on the seventh floor, but it is useless. We know that they are in the Room of Requirement, and out of nowhere the room is empty and they are not even visible on the map. Over the last few weeks we tried every spell on the wall, but it did nothing. It didn't create a door and didn't get damaged.

I give up for the day and walk to the Great Hall, I'm hungry and very annoyed. Just before stepping inside I empty another phial of my potion, giving me a boost for a couple of hours. The tables are already full of students and food. I join the pact, quickly making eye contact with Draco. His face is a mask. Being away from each other is hard and it starts to feel more and more like an actual breakup, and I am not ready for that. We just can't give Umbitch any reason to mention us to the Dark Lord. He has been gaining a lot of power since Christmas. The ministry and newspapers are almost fully in his grasp, the Daily Prophet is slowly changing, reporting less on Death Eater activities while we know that it is only increasing.

My goblet is filled with water, but I can use something stronger. With the inspiration from Seamus in the first year, I turn the water to rum. In a few swallows the burning liquid is gone and spreading through my system, hopefully numbing my pain further. I have hit a maximum with my potions, the only option I have is to drink more of them. The ingredients are not pure enough to create stronger pain relief.

I taught the others how to brew the potion and we have two cauldrons bubbling away in our dorms, concealed under multiple spells to not draw any unwanted attention.

I plate up a bit of food, but I'm not really hungry lately, a side effect from all the potions. After a few bites the owls start to fly in. Achilles catches my eye, the massive black bird dropping on my shoulder. He has a note in his beak and a small bag in his paws.

"Good boy," I tell him and scratch his head.

I feed him a piece of my chicken and he coos. "You can have it," I tell him and he jumps on the edge of the table, picking out all of the chicken on my plate.

The note is short. "If you ever need a way to escape."

I frown and open the little bag and I recognise the black power immediately. Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder.

Fred and George probably joined the Order of the Phoenix and learned of my place, or they are smarter than I gave them credit for and they figured it out on their own. I tie up the little bag and drop it into my illegally expanded schoolbag. A few nights I spend some time learning how to change the bag into different styles without disrupting the content. I also added some extra items in it, like a long black cloak, extra set of clothes and even a survival kit.

The others are very distracted at the table and I look up. Everyone in the Great Hall is watching Umbitch walking through the middle, followed by a group of people. Percy Weasley is dragging Harry and Cho with him, and I also recognise the Minister of Magic. The other people are probably Aurors or something like that.

"Dumbledore's Army, proof of what I have been telling you right from the beginning," the Toad complains loud enough for everyone to hear, which is probably her goal. "All your fear mongering about You-Know-Who never fooled us for a minute. We saw your lies for what they were, a smokescreen for your bid to seize control of the ministry."

The Minister of Magic looks between Dumbledore and Umbridge.

"Naturally," Dumbledore responds, but remains seated behind the Professors table.

"Professor! He had nothing to do with it! It was me," Harry comes between them.

The Minister is holding a paper and looking over it.