Tempest Fugit

A/N: Well, here we are! Hermione is sticking by Harry to save Sirius at the Department of Mysteries. The title of this chapter is, Tempest Fugit, which is Latin for "time is of the essence." Certainly, this is true for Hermione and the Order to get to the Ministry before anyone gets killed. Please review! I LOVE to hear feedback! My thanks to WriterMerrin, who keeps working her magic, and to all those who read and review!

***

The Ministry was empty, looking eerie and dark. The small group went directly to the elevator that would take them down into the Department of Mysteries.

Hermione was nervous. It had been nearly four years since the last time she had been here. She hoped that whatever had occurred, Horatius was gone for the night. She didn't want to see him get hurt.

Whilst in the elevator, Hermione gave some simple instructions. "Harry has taught you all well, so I expect you to use what you've learned. You need to understand that, in this situation, there will be no distinction between adults and children. No quarter will be shown, so give none in return. Try to remain cloistered, allow the darkness to be your friend. If you find yourself in a situation that's too advanced for you and you cannot win, go immediately on the defense. Try to slow them down so others can have a chance." Hermione was tingling all over in anticipation. All the training from Moody all those years ago was coming back. She silently thanked Moody for not hiding the darker side of warfare from her. It had been humiliating, to be sure, but she felt ready to implement what she knew.

"Remember," she hissed as the doors opened, "constant vigilance!"

They moved down the corridor and walked slowly towards the door that Hermione knew would open to the glowing, cobalt-blue, candled room. When Harry nodded, Hermione opened the door and urged the rest to enter. They each stepped inside, wand at the ready, gasping at the tranquility of the deep, blue light that surrounded them. After a moment of silent awe, Ginny asked hysterically, "Which door? None of them are marked!"

"Let's start opening doors," offered Harry. The first one opened to a cavernous pit with stone stairs that ended in a stone dais and an archway with a large, fluttering veil that whispered strange sounds.

"No, Harry," Hermione said as she held him back. "Don't listen to the voices. It's the Death Chamber."

As soon as she closed the door, the room spun, moving all the un-marked doors in a circular motion. "Oh, no!" cried Neville. "How are we going to ever find our way?"

Hermione wrenched open another door. Lamps hung on golden chains and gave the room a great deal of comforting light after seeing the dark hole of the Death Chamber. It was a long, rectangular room that neither Hermione nor Harry recognized. It was quite empty, save for a gigantic pool of water filled with white, oblong objects.

"Brains," Hermione whispered. They looked supernatural in the green water they swam in. Harry looked anxious. "Let's get out of here!" he ordered.

Before Luna could close the door, Hermione stopped her and said, "Flagrate!" A large, gleaming red, fiery X appeared on the door. When it finally shut, and the room rotated once again, the mark stayed.

"Ruddy Brilliant!" praised Ron.

Harry tried another door. "It won't open!"

"Then leave it be!" Hermione snatched Harry away from the door. She knew what was in that room. It was the Ever-Locked Room, or the Room of Love. It held the most powerful natural magical force known to Wizarding kind: Amortentia. There was a huge vat of it, and Unspeakables studied the effects of sacrificial love, which was the only way to repel the Killing Curse. In Hermione's estimation, Lily's ability to harness that kind of magic without a wand and miles away from its source had to make her one of the most powerful witches that had ever lived, possibly more powerful than Morgana herself. However, she was not about to get into that conversation with Harry now.

"Harry," she said calmly as she took his face into her hands. "Look for the brilliant, diamond light. You told me the room that led you to the secret place you needed initially came from a brilliant light."

Harry looked as he crouched to see any light illuminating from under the doors. Hermione had them all extinguish their wands so he could see better. Once he found it, Hermione felt elation and sadness at the same time.

Harry opened the door, and the shimmering light nearly overcame them. The room was more brilliant than Hermione had remembered. She looked fondly at all the various clocks and timepieces, ticking along in synchronization, still the same as it had all those years ago. She walked up the aisle and saw that the small bell jar that she had seen long ago had morphed into a tall jar which was more substantial and impressive than when she had last seen it. Ginny squealed with delight as she watched the hummingbird hatch from its bejeweled egg, fly upwards to where it grew old and fell back down into the egg, only to repeat the process over again of birth, life, and death.

Hermione looked longingly at the old Grandfather clock with its rubies to mark the hours. Then she looked fondly at the heavy golden curio that held all the Time-Turners from days past. Some had changed yet again, but as Horatio had said, they changed as they were needed and not before.

Harry walked cautiously to the door next to the Grandfather clock and said, "It's this way."

They padded softly inside and adjusted their eyes to the low lighting. It was a gigantic room, full of various small, glowing balls that held thousands upon thousands of prophecies. All these years, Hermione had never known this room existed.

"Okay, Harry," she whispered. "Where is Sirius?"

He motioned them to follow, and he silently mouthed off the numbers. They started in the fifties and needed to make their way towards the nineties. All was silent, and it worried Hermione. Was Sirius dead? Had Voldemort already received the prophecy and was at this moment lying in wait for Harry? She held her wand deftly. She knew how to duel, and by God, she would take on the lot of them if anyone tried to hurt Harry.

When they reached the row where Sirius should have been, Harry was flabbergasted. Then Neville gasped. "Harry!" he said. "Look! There is a prophecy with your name on it!"

Harry slowly picked it up and looked at it with awe. Hermione was growing increasingly afraid. She could sense danger nearing them. "Let's get out of here, Harry!" she whispered urgently. "I don't like this at all!"

They made to leave when a sinister, drawling voice sounded out to them.

"That's a good lad. Now give me the prophecy."

***

Black wisps like smoke and sheer material descended around them. Hermione steadied her wand. She was sure to be recognized by at least one of the Death Eaters. It was over. Now they would all know the truth. There would be more no hedging, no more faking. If she were to go down, she'd go down fighting.

As they all came into form, with their disgusting masks and imposing robes, Hermione watched as Lucius Malfoy tried to bargain and worm his way into getting Harry to release the Prophecy into his clutches.

"Don't give it to him, Harry," she snapped boldly.

Malfoy looked her over in surprise. "Why, Miss Granger. It is such a pleasure to see you again. Bella!" he called.

A dark, gaunt, hollow-faced woman slinked out of the shadows and smiled evilly with glee. "It can't be! Why she looks no different than the night Severus took her to meet the Dark Lord," she said as she widened her fixed stare with her sunken eyes upon Hermione.

Harry was shaking his head. "What are you talking about?" he nearly yelled.

Hermione placed a calming hand on his shoulder. "Harry, you need to focus," she whispered into his ear, never once taking her eyes off Lucius.

Hermione felt the not-so subtle prodding of Lucius into her mind. She firmly raised the walls around her mind and, after giving a knowing look that she was well aware of his improper breach upon her mind, took up once again the role of diplomat. "After all, this doesn't need to turn ugly, does it?" she said lightly as she turned her gaze to Malfoy and then to Bellatrix.

"Indeed not, Miss Granger," Lucius drawled. "Avery? Mulciber? Come and greet your old friend, the Head of Gryffindor."

Lucius' tone was deliberately derisive with factious praise. He gazed upon her as a predator. Hermione knew that look well. However, she had not been sitting on her arse or on her back wasting time. She still knew how to negotiate, even with the likes of Lucius Malfoy.

She made a point to step between Harry and Malfoy. There next to Bellatrix stood Avery and Mulciber. Avery smiled viciously.

"Isn't it the Mudblood Granger?" he asked Lucius with grin.

"You used to call me 'Miss Granger,' if I'm not mistaken, Avery," Hermione said in a light, flirtatious voice.

"So I did," he admitted. "However, we are no longer children in need of establishing boundaries and alliances to protect the weaker amongst us...but alas, you probably still require it," he said coolly as he glanced at her comrades flanking her.

He shifted, and Hermione flicked her wand, sending a Stinging Hex that made him shriek. "You filthy cunt!" he swore. "I am going to enjoy killing you."

Malfoy drew an arm out in front of Avery to draw him back. "Let's not get testy, shall we?"

He looked at Hermione with a malevolent smile. "It seems Avery has forgotten his place," he said apologetically. "Let's not allow petty childhood slights to mar what needs to be accomplished this night. After all, there are no heads of houses here. Dumbledore put a stop to it, you know, after Severus left Hogwarts, when the first war truly began. But of course, you fled, didn't you, Hermione?" Lucius reminded her. "You left and let poor James and Lily Potter be slaughtered."

Harry was getting antsy. "What is he talking about?" he hissed at Hermione.

"Hermione didn't know my parents!" he yelled at Lucius.

"Harry, for once just...Shut. Up!" Hermione bellowed as she kept her eyes trained on Malfoy and Bellatrix.

"Lucius," Hermione said smoothly as she efficiently pushed Harry completely behind her. "Look at me. You are dealing with me now. We're all going to remain calm and try to sort this all out rationally and without anymore blustering or threats."

Lucius smiled lazily and leaned into her. "Compel Potter to give me the prophecy, Miss Granger," he whispered. "Give it to me now, or you can make your final stand here."

From behind her, Hermione heard voices scream, "Stupefy!" She vanished in a wisp of white smoke and sailed to the far end of the aisle and began to duel with Mulciber and Avery alone.

"How is it that you haven't aged, Granger?" sneered Avery as he sent her a non-verbal gouging spell that Hermione easily flicked away with her wand using a silent Protego spell.

"Tell us," demanded Mulciber as he attempted to circle Hermione. "How is it that you fuck a Death Eater and still remain in Dumbledore's good graces?"

He sent a Slicing hex her way, and she parried it, screaming, "Reducto!" sending Mulciber flying across the aisle, crashing into a gigantic wall of small glass balls that came crashing down on them. She darted away, flashing hexes at Avery as she went.

She stopped and saw Harry cornered by Bellatrix and Malfoy.

*"I want to know where Sirius is!"* he demanded.

*"I want to know where Sirius is!" mimicked * Bellatrix as she toyed with him.

"The Dark Lord," she said deeply in a haunted voice as she paced around Harry. "The Dark Lord always knows."

Hermione stepped closer to Harry and Lucius, straining to hear each word.

*"I know that Sirius is here,"* Harry said firmly.

"It's time for you to grasp the veracity of this situation, Potter," sneered Malfoy. "Now give me the prophecy."

"Crucio!" screamed Hermione as Malfoy seized and collapsed onto the floor. Bellatrix turned to look for the caster, and Harry slipped away from her. She snarled as she saw Harry's mad dash and took off, hot on his heels. "Hex them!" Harry screamed to the others. "Hex them all!"

Bellatrix sprinted back halfway towards Hermione and pointed her wand at her. "Avada..."

Hermione, who had released Malfoy, deflected the killing curse, and Bellatrix began to laugh hysterically.

"She knows how to play! Wittle baby orphan with not a fweind in the world," she pouted.

The two witches circled each other out in the open as Lucius remained unmoving on the ground. "Couldn't get a decent Gryffindor to respect you, eh?" Bellatrix spat. "You don't fool me! I know you are just Dumbledore's little pet! Just like that slimy, ill-tempered, know-it-all!"

"Why, that's what they call me!" Hermione laughed as she snapped with her wand, "Abduco Anapneo!"

Bellatrix began to choke, and her wand collapsed to the ground. Her hand clutched at her throat, and her eyes bulged from her sunken eye sockets. Hermione watched her prey sink to her knees as she struggled for breath. They needed to know. They all needed to realize that she wasn't here for fun and games. Bellatrix's lips were starting to turn blue when Hermione captured the witch's wand from the ground before releasing her and running towards the others. She burst through the door of the Time Room and shouted, "Colloportus!" sealing the door behind her.

She watched the others as they dashed through the room to return to the circular room. The door from the Hall of Prophecy blasted open, and Hermione slid under one of the many desks. Neville and Harry were trapped there. Neville was bleeding profusely from a hex. The Death Eaters were blasting apart the room, and Hermione's ire raged.

"What the fuck was that all about?" Harry demanded. "How do they know you? When did you ever meet Voldemort?"

Hermione was trying to heal Neville and stop his bleeding. "Harry," she yelled over the crashing of glass and tables, "I can't explain all this now. I need you go find the others and get the hell out of here!"

She rolled out from underneath one of the desks, and with her wand, she hoisted up the large desk next to the bell jar and flung it at the Death Eaters, crashing it on top of them.

"Go, go!" she screamed at Harry and Neville as she saw Bellatrix and Malfoy dashing into the Time Room. She stood her ground and fought them with all her might. Lucius was skilled enough to distract her so Bellatrix could recapture her wand. The curses and hexes were destroying everything in the room while shards of glass punctured their skin. Lucius, the coward, ducked out and left the two witches alone. With Bellatrix bearing down on her full force, Hermione couldn't do anything except scream, "HE'S COMING! RUN FOR IT!"

"So, tell me, little Mudblood," Bellatrix taunted her. "Who taught you Dark Magic? Was it Snape? Does he know what you truly are? That you're just a filthy, little Mudblood liar? Exspulso!"

Hermione repelled the hex, screaming, "Protego horribilis!"

The door from the Room of Prophecy crashed open, and more Death Eaters marched through the door, sending stunners their way. Bellatrix sidestepped Hermione to pass into the circular room as Hermione dove for cover under a table. As she took aim at the group of Death Eaters, Hermione screamed, "Confringro!"

The desks in front of the Death Eater blasted apart and sent Death Eaters flying across the room. One flew into the Bell Jar. Hermione watched in horror as he struggled to release himself. He crashed into the beautiful, heavy, golden curio that kept all the Time-Turners and destroyed it. The heavy frame shook and collapsed down on top of him. Hermione turned and ran into the circular room. It was dark. She placed a Colloportus spell on the door and marked it with another fiery "X". The room sprang to life. The candelabra full of the cobalt blue light illuminated the circular room again, and she gasped at the sight before her.

There was Ginny nearly unconscious on the ground with Ron and Luna by her side. Ron was white as a ghost and had black ooze foaming from his mouth. His eyes were glassy and unfocused.

Hermione knelt down and looked over Ron's and Ginny's wounds. "Where are they?" she panted.

"Harry and Neville went through towards the dark room with that whispering veil. We don't know which door to open; the spell you cast disappeared. Ginny hurt her ankle. Neville had to take Ron's wand. His is broken," Luna explained. "I knew the Death Eaters were coming, so I Disillusioned us from their sight. They all climbed into the same room Harry and Neville entered."

"Well, we have to try to help them," Hermione said desperately. "There are more Death Eaters behind that door, and I don't want them to catch us in here! Come on." She healed Ginny's ankle and began to open each door, steering clear of the one she had marked.

She wrenched open another door and saw it was the Death Chamber. She was about to close the door and try another when she heard the familiar cackling of Bellatrix Lestrange. She took her wand and nodded to Ginny to come with her. "Luna," Hermione whispered, "I want you to keep trying to get Ron and yourself out and back into the Atrium. Get out and then Floo to the Burrow, then to Headquarters, and get all who are in the Order here! Get Kingsley, Tonks, Remus, Ron's parents, Severus...anybody that can help us!" she pleaded.

Luna nodded, and she took Ron's arm across her shoulder. Hermione cast a Concealment Charm around herself and Ginny as they made their way towards the bottom. Lucius had Harry nearly cornered. Bellatrix had Neville around the neck.

"Give me the prophecy, or watch your friend die!" Lucius raged.

"Diplomacy, Lucius," Hermione said as she tried to catch her breath while she revealed herself on the stairs. "I told you before, you don't have a subtle bone in your body. I may have to teach you a lesson."

Ginny emerged from the Charm as well, snapping her wand like a whip, stinging Bellatrix in the arm.

"You bitch!" Bellatrix screamed as she released Neville.

Harry struggled to force the prophecy into his robes as Hermione watched Lucius wrap his nimble fingers around Harry's wrist.

Hermione didn't care about the cost. Lucius could not win. She flung a Banishment Charm at the globe, and it sailed into the air only to smash into pieces and dust past the dais where Lucius and Harry stood.

Lucius whipped his wand to curse her, and she leapt into the air, disappearing like a mist to distract him from Harry. With no prophecy, Lucius' life was now forfeit. He would kill Harry now, regardless of the consequences. Lucius flew upward, and they swirled round and around each other, fighting for dominance.

Lucius gave up his chase on Hermione to see to Bellatrix. Hermione landed in a darkened area to assess the situation. Harry and Ginny were battling Bellatrix as she cackled and laughed at their attempts to thwart her. Lucius screamed at Bellatrix, "NO! Don't hurt him! We need to take him to the Dark Lord alive!"

Lucius then brandished his wand and began to fight. Hermione screeched, "Duro!" and Lucius parried her.

He smiled wickedly at her with a gleam in his grey eyes and ground out, "Imperio!"

Hermione faltered for a moment, but then threw the curse off her, screaming "REDUCTO!" throwing Lucius off the dais.

Harry dodged, grabbing Neville and deflecting stunners from Death Eaters that were making their way inside, streaming down the darkened steps in their masks and death weeds towards the dais.

Hermione stood in stark fear as she watched the scene before her. Oh dear God, Hermione thought. We're outnumbered!

As she caught her breath and went to get behind some cover from Lucius, she saw Ginny battling Bellatrix. Harry was rushing from where he had stunned Avery to again join Ginny's side. Neville was in a struggle of his own with Mulciber.

Harry ran to the side to move out of the direct path of the Death Eaters. He grabbed Neville to run for cover, and Neville tripped. They went tumbling down the stairs, rolling down over and over.

"HARRY!" Hermione screamed.

The room exploded in blue light as the door that led to the circular room blasted open. Aurors were pouring in, and Hermione could see Kingsley, Tonks, Moody, Lupin, Sirius, and others from the Order racing down and cursing Death Eaters as they ran. Hermione was growing tired and knew Lucius could tell.

He disarmed her of her wand, and Hermione had to resort to hand-to-hand combat. She skittered around as Lucius laughed, toying with her until she became tired enough that he could put her down easily. She slipped away from sight and sprang upon his back, making them both crash onto the rough stone of the dais. Hermione wrenched Lucius' wand away from him, throwing it as far as she could away from them, and he roared with rage at her audacity.

He threw down his cane and cloak, and they began to fight in earnest. She took a blow to her stomach and face, but she fell low to swipe her leg against his ankles, causing him to lose his footing and fall onto his back. Hermione ran to find her wand, but as she reached for it, the Cruciatus Curse cut her down. Her screams reverberated loudly throughout the cavernous pit. Harry ran and tackled Lucius in order to stop Hermione's torture, and the two wizards began to duel furiously.

Hermione slipped down from the dais and hid as she tried to catch her breath. It was unreal. Her vision was blurry...from the hits she sustained either to the head or from the Cruciatus, she didn't know. She vomited as she collapsed onto her knees, and she could just see above her on the dais, Sirius and Harry fighting Lucius and Macnair.

She felt her body slip into darkness, however, the shouts and screams inside her head were pulling at her to stay awake. She clawed her way up the dais just in time to see Tonks fall at Bellatrix's hand. Then from across the room, Hermione watched as the evil witch took aim and cast a lightening bolt of green that burst onto Sirius' chest. Mulciber fell at Harry's hand, and Lupin fell out of nowhere, grabbing Harry to pull him down.

It was moving all too slowly. Hermione felt that each movement her body took was taking ages, and so were Sirius'. She caught his gaunt face as he stood suspended in the air. His eyes did not see hers. He gracefully flew back into the archway, behind that tatty curtain and disappeared. Hermione finally reached the top of the dais to see Harry screaming and struggling against Lupin. Bellatrix was running up the stone stairs back towards the blue light. Harry burst out from Lupin's grasp and charged her.

"Harry!" Hermione yelled feebly. She collapsed right there on the dais and knew no more.

***

A/N: The italicized sentences with asterisks belong to J.K. Rowling. The rest belong to me.

"Abduco Anapneo" - lit. to abduct or steal the breath from another person.