Enclosed

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Gone

Rose stared at the space Scorpius was in moments before, trying to comprehend that he wasn't there. In only a few moments her world had come crashing down. Her chest constricted like someone was pulling the strings of her heart tighter together. It became painstakingly hard to draw a breath. 

He was gone.

He was in the clutches of their worst enemies and they could be doing Merlin knows what to him. 

Rose placed a hand over her chest, trying miserably to steady the ragged breaths. All she wanted to do was panic. To cry and curse whatever divine being caused this mess, but right now that wasn't an option. She needed to push aside her fears and use all her energy to find Scorpius.

Cautiously, Rose stood and assessed the scene. The three Reformed members they'd roped and gagged were struggling against their bindings. The member Rose sent flying into the wall was still knocked out, lying unconscious next to a dumpster. Another remained stunned, but the jinx would be wearing off soon. 

Rose found her wand easily and bound the remaining Reformed members. She debated on taking off their masks and revealing their identities but decided against it. There wasn't time to play Auror. 

She grabbed their wands and placed them in her bag. Wands were like fingerprints. They could be used to easily identify their owners through a simple identification process and save her the time of unmasking everyone. 

The member who'd taken Scorpius would be reporting back to whoever ordered their attack. Rose couldn't risk being in the alleyway if reinforcements were to arrive.

Using Leviosa she moved the members next to a dumpster and placed a temporary concealment charm over them. Once the alleyway was cleared, Rose found her bag and the spare vial of polyjuice potion. She uncorked in and took a huge swig, emptying the vial.

She let the polyjuice potion take effect and apparated straight into the heart of London.

***

Getting to the Ministry was easy. All she had to was find the right telephone booth, enter the guest code, and place one of the spare wands in the container. She didn't dare risk placing her own and alert the whole of the Ministry that she was in fact not in Bulgaria. Rose just hoped that whoever that wand belonged to wasn't on the wanted list and her descent into the Ministry wouldn't raise any alarms. 

The lift brought her down to an all too familiar floor. She restricted her feet from running and forced them to keep a hotty pace. She rolled her shoulders back confidently and walked around like an Auror coming back from an undercover assignment would do; as if she owned the place. 

In her muggle clothing, Rose stood out like a sore thumb. Wizards and witches alike served her odd looks as she sauntered through the Ministry. She didn't pay them any mind. It wasn't uncommon for an Auror returning from a mission to forgo the Auror's special entry point. 

Nobody bothered her as Rose made her way to the second level. Out of habit she almost turned down the left hallway to the legal wing. She altered her course, taking the right hallway instead. 

She stepped into the grey offices to find it in complete chaos. Aurors were running around shouting orders at one another. Files were being exchanged like common currency. The department floo was going non-stop, with green flames igniting every few seconds to transport somebody. A patronous message shot over her head, its iridescent glow lingered for a few seconds before it disappeared.

A young woman bumped into Rose, muttering a quick apology as she bolted into the hallway. Rose waved her off and ran for her Uncle's office. Whatever happened to put the Aurors into such a frenzy couldn't be good.