Chapter Sixty-Nine: Inside the Ministry
Andrea wrapped a heavy scarf around her neck and draped a thick cloak over her shoulders before braving the late November cold. She kept her hands in her pockets to hide their shaking. She bid her usual, casual farewells as she left the office, and only after she pushed open the door did her face show her true feeling.
Palmyitor had set her up with a small flat a block from the Ministry’s office”no need to Apparate to and from work. Although she was not going back to her flat today, she didn’t want to make anything seem unusual.
Andrea’s boots crunched in the thin layer of snow that covered the pavement. She quickened her pace and looked behind her before dodging into a narrow alley. She did not want anyone to see her Apparating. The Ministry did not have good relations with Alsemore these days.
The corners of her eyes tingled and she gulped down cold air to stop it. She had to be composed”despite the circumstances. Palmyitor would not take her seriously otherwise. She turned on her heel and disappeared into the night.
She reappeared in Alsemore’s entrance hall. The castle was drafty, but it was still warmer than the London cold. Andrea pealed the scarf from her neck and slung her cloak around her arm before heading down the stairs to Palmyitor’s office.
She had to stay composed. She had to stay calm. She knocked on the door.
“Enter.”
Andrea pushed open the door and strode into the office. Palmyitor looked up and set a quill down on a roll of parchment. “Yes?”
Despite her best efforts, Andrea still felt tears coming on. She pressed her lips together for a moment to stop herself from shouting. Finally, she said in a strained voice, “You know why I’m here.”
“Do I?” Palmyitor’s dark eyes were clouded over, completely unreadable.
“Don’t act like that.” Andrea cut herself off. The words had come out stronger than she had intended, though they were still true. She looked down, unable to meet eyes with the old professor for too long, and pretended to examine her immaculately pressed robes”she played her part of the young professional well.
There was a silence. Palmyitor sat back and raised her eyebrows, stubbornly waiting”giving Andrea enough time to break down”to be weak.
Andrea looked up. The grief in her eyes swam in a mist of tears. “Lottie””
“Tell me, Woolbright, does the world revolve around Rowe?”
Andrea looked back down, running her palms over her neat skirt. “Not the world, no.”
“Then why should I care what Rowe has done?”
“You know what happened,” Andrea said fiercely. “You know the entire situation. They returned the first years back to you and explained where they had found them. You could have told them. All they needed was for you to give word to let her out””
“Is that so?” Palmyitor leaned forward against the desk. “You think they would listen to me? You of all people should know what Barkesdale thinks of us””
“Yes, but why?” Andrea took a frustrated step toward the desk. “Barkesdale did his job well for a long time before this. You know it wasn’t just a random change of heart. The Dark Lord is involved somehow””
“So what if he is? What should we do?”
“Stop the whole Ministry!” Andrea shouted. “Take it down. They’re doing more harm than good these days. Half the people they’ve executed recently are on our side. We could just get rid of Barkesdale. It would be easy. We could free Lottie””
“Rowe has gotten herself into this situation. It is not my responsibility to rescue her.”
“Yes it is!” Andrea removed her glasses and rubbed the lenses furiously with her fist to dispel the fog that had gathered there. “As long as she is a student here, you are responsible for her. Do you plan on telling her parents that she died because you didn’t feel like saving her, even though you were fully capable?”
“Rowe’s parents are dead,” Palmyitor said unflinchingly. “It is insignificant.”
This succeeded in stopping Andrea in her tracks. She opened and closed her mouth a few times helplessly. Lottie had never told her that. How long had her friend been an orphan? Andrea took a breath and put off the thought. “Even if she has no family,” she said, “it is just as much your fault as it is Lottie’s”more even. You made her go with those first years””
Palmyitor picked her quill back up and began to scrawl on the roll of parchment. “This is not about who did what, Woolbright.”
“Then what is it about?” Andrea stomped her foot against the stone ground. “What is the point of doing nothing? It would take you five minutes to just go over there and let her out. You know what they do to suspected Death Eaters. Why don’t””
Andrea cut herself off. Her eyes widened suddenly as realization dawned on her. Her face darkened. “This is what you want, isn’t it?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. “This is what you”you planned. This is some kind of”of sick revenge. You’re upset that she revealed herself”and you”you’re just going to let her die.”
Palmyitor’s face remained blank. “Rowe is no longer useful. She cannot do anything. It wastes more to feed her””
“This isn’t about numbers. This is about Lottie”a human life. She’s not some animal that just eats and wastes energy”she’s alive with a soul””
“I don’t want to hear any more of this nonsense,” Palmyitor said firmly. “The danger of going to the Ministry is not worth the pay off. That is all.”
Andrea just stood there. Palmyitor really would not be convinced. The tears that had been threatening all this time began to fall in earnest now. They rolled down her cheeks and stung her face with salt.
“That is all, Woolbright,” Palmyitor said sharply. “You may go.”
Andrea did so without a word. She slammed the office door behind her and ran up to the entrance hall. She couldn’t believe that this was real”that this was actually happening. Lottie was her best friend and she was about to die for nothing. She sat down on the stairs and buried her face in her hands.
Her whole body shook with sobs. She knew that she had to pull herself together before she could go back, but was unable to. Lottie was her only friend”she couldn’t let her die.
“Andrea?”
Andrea picked her head up. Her glasses were completely fogged, so she could only make out a blurry figure walking towards her. She wiped the lenses on her sleeve and blinked. It was Neville”frown lines deepened and looking older than ever.
“What’s up? Aren’t you on a mission?”
Andrea nodded mutely, unable to speak because each of her shuddering gasps for air consumed her so completely. Neville put a hand on her shoulder, which calmed her enough to speak.
“They’re”they’ve g-g-got Lottie.”
Neville frowned further. “Who?”
“The”the Ministry”Barkesdale. B-b-but they think she’s a D-Death Eater. Th-th-they’re going to kill her.”
“Does Palmyitor know? She could send a team””
Andrea nodded. “She’s not g-g-going to. She planned this whole thing because Lottie c-can’t spy anymore. She’s going to die.”
Neville’s face darkened. “Palmyitor won’t do anything?”
Andrea nodded again.
“Don’t worry,” Neville said softly. “Well figure something out.”
Lottie woke in complete darkness. She blinked her eyes wildly but remained blind. Stillness surrounded her. Her whole body ached. She reached out and groped the air, desperate to hold anything tangible.
She made contact with a cold wall. This gave her some grounding in reality and calmed her down slightly. She breathed slowly.
Light flooded in. Lottie cried out and shielded her eyes. A door had opened, and a silhouette stood framed. “You’re up,” it said gruffly.
Lottie didn’t say anything. Fear invaded her blood and made her shake. She didn’t know who this was or where she was. All she was aware of was the pain in her body.
“Get up.”
Lottie did not head the order. To start with, she was too weak to move a muscle. Her body was tense and limp at the same time. Secondly, she wanted to cling to whatever dignity she could for as long as possible. She sat on her knees, her hand still making contact with the wall.
“Are you deaf?” The figure came into the room. Now that her yes had adjusted to the light, Lottie could see him. He wore long, sweeping robes that were reminiscent of a Death Eater’s but different in some way. He also had a mask. His face was contorted into a sneer. “I said get up.” He emphasized these words with a sharp kick.
When the man’s boot made contact with her side, Lottie fell, spluttering, to the ground. The blow awakened her senses, turned the dull ache into jets of acute pain. She wheezed. The kick had knocked the wind out of her so fully that she couldn’t have stood, even if she wanted to.
“No use,” grumbled the man above her. “Waste of time. Imperio.”
The curse invaded her mind. It tried to wipe it clean”make it blank, but Lottie resisted. It was similar to Occlumency in that sense. She fought the curse, struggling against its alluring temptations to be wiped blank, and held onto the tiny refuge of her mind.
“Get up,” commanded the voice from inside her head.
“No.” This was her own voice, stronger and more forceful than she had intended.
“Get up.”
“No.”
The corners of Lottie’s lips began to stretch into a smile. Her mind, if anything, was still functional; they could destroy her body and her soul, but at least she’d still have something.
The effects of the curse evaporated. The man put his wand down and slipped it into his pocket, mumbling profanities. “You want to play like that? Fine. You’re only making it worse for yourself.”
The man approached her. Now that he was closer, Lottie could appreciate just how large he was. His hands were so enormous that he probably could have strangled her with only one. Lottie knew that she couldn’t put up much of a fight.
He grabbed her. His powerful arms wrapped around her shoulders as he heaved her to her feet. Lottie writhed and kicked, but the man was like a stone. He was not going to let go, no matter how hard she tried, so eventually, she just gave up and let herself be dragged.
He took her to the corridor. As they walked (he had not loosened his grip in the slightest), Lottie saw that the stretches of wall were interrupted with large, iron doors, just like hers. They probably all led to more rooms”more cells”holding more suspects. She wondered how many were innocent like her.
They turned a corner to another long stretch of corridor. They walked in silence until the man stopped suddenly and pushed open one of the large doors.
This room was completely barren, but unlike her cell, it was full of light. There was already a man standing against the farthest wall, examining his wand casually. Lottie recognized him instantly”it was Barksdale. His clean-shaven, narrow face made him appear young and innocent, but Lottie was already painfully aware of the contrary.
“Ah, thank you,” he said with a nod to the man behind him. ‘You may go now.”
The man gave her shoulders an aggressive squeeze and roughly pushed her forward. Lottie stumbled, lost her balance and hit the ground, her chin scraping painfully across the floor. There was a loud slamming noise; the man had shut the door behind them.
“We’re glad you finally came around,” Barkesdale said with a flashy smile.
Lottie snarled back at him. She ran her hands over her empty pockets. “Where is my wand?” she asked.
“Oh, no.” Barkesdale actually laughed at this. “You do not honestly think us to be that stupid, do you? An accomplished Death Eater could make far too much trouble with a wand.”
“I’m not a Death Eater.”
“Liar.”
“I’m not a liar.” Lottie emitted some sort of guttural growl of frustration. She laboriously pushed herself to standing. The world wobbled ominously for a moment before steadying. “I’m not a Death Eater,” she said again. “I’m a Muggle-born. They wouldn’t even have me if I tried.”
Barkesdale’s smile had turned into laughter”a low stream of chuckles, each measured perfectly to be infuriating.
“Are you listening?” Lottie felt her control on her emotions slipping. “I’m not a Death Eater. I’m not! I’M NOT!”
With this, she used her remaining strength to push herself forward. She charged toward Barkesdale, fists swinging wildly, desperately, to hurt as much of him as physically possible.
Before she reached him though, a spell caught her in the chest and blasted her off her feet. She flew backwards and landed on her back. Stars burst into her vision and she gasped for breath.
“Now let’s not try that again. Understood?” Barkesdale’s voice was infuriatingly calm. He almost sounded bored like he did this every day.
Lottie lay helplessly on her back. “I’m not a Death Eater.”
“Now that is what we are here to discuss.”
Lottie propped herself up so that she was sitting and stared at him. “What’s the discussion? This is a fact. I am not a Death Eater.”
“Can you prove it?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Lottie floundered. This man would not converse with Alsemore, but the only people who knew her true alignment were there.
“Now to me, this whole situation seems rather obvious,” Barkesdale said as he began to pace. “We saw you Apparate with a group of children”and then attack one. Then we discovered the Dark Mark branded on your arm. How can you explain that if you’re not a Death Eater? Admit it.”
Lottie didn’t say anything. She had explained it, but this man would not listen. She didn’t know what else she could say. Everything was wrong.
“Admit it,” Barkesdale hissed again. “Crucio.”
The pain was unbelievable. It seized her chest, invaded her bones and burned her skin. She was screaming”her throat was raw from it. Every inch of her felt like it was aflame, or stabbed with infinitely small and many needles. Her heart was beating both impossibly fast and not at all. All she could hope was that her heart actually would stop”anything to stop the pain.
Then it evaporated. Barkesdale lifted his wand and graced her with another smile. “Are you ready to admit it?”
“No.”
“Crucio.”
The pain returned. This time it was even worse. Lottie’s whole body shuddered and seized. Her eyes rolled back into her head. Her legs flailed wildly, attempting to push against anything to make it stop.
Again, it lifted. Barkesdale strode around her, his eyes blazing, but oddly blank at the same time. “A little pause,” he said.
Panting, Lottie met his eyes. She still sat against he ground. She probably couldn’t have moved even if her life depended on it. Despite his outward show of unnerving charm, Barkesdale definitely seemed strangely blank”like his mind had been wiped clean.
Lottie’s eyes widened with realization. His mind had been wiped clean. She did not even have to do Legilimency to tell that he was under the effects of the Imperius curse.
“Please,” she said slowly. “I don’t know how to prove it to you. I work with Alsemore”I was a spy”if you could ask anyone””
“We do not affiliate with them.” Barkesdale slashed his wand and a deep gash appeared across her shoulder. Blood seeped onto her robes.
Lottie stared at him helplessly. She was going to die, she realized now. No matter what she said, he wouldn’t listen. Whoever held the curse over him wanted her dead”she had no chance. Panic swept through her. Her breathing quickened as fear seized her chest and squeezed her heart. No”she couldn’t die. She had to put up more of a fight.
“Please,” she said. “Please go to Alsemore.”
“CRUCIO!”
Lottie fell back again. Her whole body caved inward and she lay on the ground, twitching furiously. Her screams were nothing to articulate the pain. It shot through her fiercely, growing exponentially with every second.
“We do not speak to that filth.”
The curse had been lifted, but Lottie still felt its effects. She lay on her back, wheezing. “Andrea Woolbright,” she finally panted.
“What?”
“She”she works here.” Slowly, Lottie pushed herself up on quivering arms. “P-please. She’s proof. She knows.”
“Andrea Woolbright?” Barkesdale laughed mercilessly. “She is just a secretary. She knows nothing of””
“SHE KNOWS ME!” Lottie crawled forward to the Miniser’s feet. “Please”she”she knows that I’m not a Death Eater””
“Liar!”
Lottie winced, preparing once again for the Cruciatus Curse, but it didn’t come. She looked up at Barksdale, who was staring at her, blinking rapidly. His look was familiar. Lottie remembered the boy in the Muggle camps who had struggled against her Imperius curse. Snape had said that it was much more difficult to get people to do things against their principles.
He was going to kill her.
Lottie realized this and froze with paralyzing fear. Whoever was controlling him was about to kill her. “I’m not,” Lottie said loudly, as though trying to break the curse with her voice. “I’m not, I’m not, I’m not””
Barkesdale raised his wand. Fear like she had never experienced before filled her bones. Now was the time to act”now was the time to fight, but now was precisely when she was too panicked to do anything.
He opened his mouth and began to hiss an incantation, when”
BANG!
The door flew open. Barkesdale’s momentary surprise cost him his victim. He spun around to face the source of the noise with his wand extended.
“Expelliarmus!” cried the newcomer. Barkesdale’s wand flew from his hand and landed with a clatter against the stone floor. He stepped fully into the room and crossed towards Lottie. In the light, she could recognize him. It was Neville.
“Here,” he said, tossing her a wand. Lottie caught it. It was hers. “Let’s get out of here.”
Halfway to Infinity by Eponine
Chapter Notes: Thanks, coolh5000, for beta'ing this chapter!
This one's dedicated to the president of my university for helping all of us students avoid a very serious housing situation!