April 30th, 1981

I've never liked the Ministry. When I was little, my mum would take Marlene and I to visit our dad during his lunch break. The Ministry always seemed cold and unwelcoming at the age of eight.

At the age of almost twenty, the Ministry is just as cold and unwelcoming.

This time, I'm not visiting my dad, I'm here on a mission.

Our spy for the Order let it slip that a group of Voldemort's Death Eaters were planning an attack on the Ministry today. They're trying to take it over for good this time. Thanks to the help of our spy, we knew the exact time that they would start entering through the Floo, and a few names of who to expect.

It was no surprise when Lucius Malfoy was the first name mentioned, followed by Bellatrix Lestrange.

A part of the Ministry had been evacuated, and everyone who was deemed 'far enough away' was advised to stay put. There were groups of us scattered throughout the Ministry, the largest group stationed in the atrium, right where the Floo's were.

I was stationed just outside of the atrium, in the hallway where Death Eaters would start fleeing if they made it out of the atrium. Sirius Black stood at my side, his wand gripped tightly at his side.

"What time is it?" Sirius asked, grabbing my wrist to look at my watch. He exhaled loudly, releasing his grip on my wrist. "They should be getting here soon."

I glanced around the corner, my gaze drifting between a few of the people stationed in the atrium.

"Look, I don't like that they're that close either," I said, my jaw a bit tense. "But that's where Moody wanted them."

My eyes flicked toward Marlene, who was hidden behind one of the massive marble sculptures. A few feet away from her was Jack. They were talking in hushed voices, both ready for the first wave of Death Eaters to come through.

Sirius peaked his head around.

"I bet they're talking about you," He teased.

I smacked him lightly in the arm, making him roll his eyes.

Sirius is my favorite person in the Order to work with. Because no matter what situation we're in, he's always cracking jokes, a smirk on his face.

I glanced to the other side of the atrium, catching sight of Remus Lupin.

He was tucked off to the side, hidden between two of the offices that protruded from the wall.

Everyone was here. Well, almost everyone. Since Harry and Neville were born, Lily and Alice hadn't been on as many missions, and rightfully so. Nobody wanted Lily, James, Alice, or Frank to purposely put themselves in harm's way, but James always found his way into being wrapped up in a mission. Peter was nowhere to be seen. Apparently he was on vacation in America with his family. I still think it's a bit odd to take a vacation in the middle of a war.

Emmeline was more involved in the strategizing compared to the actual combat. So she was at Order headquarters.

The Ministry was quiet. The usually bustling environment was replaced with silence. That was until the first crack from the fireplaces was heard.

I held my breath, peering around the corner.

"Hey, make sure to breathe, little McKinnon," Sirius whispered, nudging me with his arm.

The rest of the fireplaces went up in green flames, people stepping out of them. Everyone leaving the Floo was wearing a Death Eater mask, their faces hidden.

All of the sudden, Alastor Moody ducked out, throwing a curse in the direction of a Death Eater.

The atrium erupted into chaos.

Spells were flying all over the place, and part of the wall, three feet from my head, was hit, kicking up a cloud of dust and debris as the brick was blown apart.

I ducked down, bringing Sirius with me, as the debris covered us.

I gripped my wand tightly, stepping out of our hiding spot. I threw an impediment jinx in the direction of a Death Eater who was attempting to advance on Dorcas.

The jinx struck, slowing the motion of the Death Eater. Dorcas hit them with a full-body binding curse, sending her attacker falling onto the tile.

Everything was going well so far. A quick glance around the atrium told me that none of my fellow Order members had been knocked out.

Everything was going well until a blasting curse was thrown at the statue that my sister and my boyfriend were still dueling behind.

I watched in slow motion as the statue blew up, large chunks of marble flying across the room, shattering the tiled floor as they landed. There was so much debris flying through the air that I couldn't see Marlene or Jack.

While I was distracted, a knockback jinx came hurtling towards me.

Just as it was about to hit, I was pushed out of the way. I went tumbling into the floor, the weight of a body keeping me pinned to the floor.

I opened my eyes, only to be met with the sight of a Death Eater mask staring back at me. I started to thrash, trying to get my hand that was gripping my wand out from where it was pinned underneath our bodies.

The person who had pulled me out of the way pushed up their mask.

"Meredith, what the hell are you doing here?"

My eyes widened. With my free hand, I struck him across the face, my hand leaving a red mark across his cheek.

"What'd you do that for-"

"Evan, what the hell are you doing here?" I yelled.

"Oh I'm here for a job interview-, what else would I be here for?" Evan hissed, rubbing the welt that was forming on his cheek

I shoved him off of me, gripping my wand tightly as I stood up and regained my balance. My head hurt, but not enough to the point where I would be concerned.

"I haven't heard from you in two fucking years," I muttered.

We were hidden behind a pillar, out of sight from the rest of the fighting.

Evan's eyes darted towards mine.

"Have you heard from him?"

My breathing hitched for a second.

"No, I haven't for two years," I replied, brushing off the emotions that were threatening to claw their way out. "He's dead, Evan."

Evan didn't show any emotion on his face. He just nodded. "I know," He muttered, "I just thought that if he was still alive he'd be in contact with you."

"Well, he hasn't."

Evan nodded, exhaling loudly.

There was a loud crash, which brought me back to the battle that was currently going on.

Sirius came running over, grabbing me by the arm. "Come on, McKinnon, we have to leave. Now!" He yelled.

His gaze fell on Evan, and Sirius raised his wand.

"The fuck do you want, Rosier?"

Evan held up his hands. "Go on, Black. Kill me."

Sirius tightened his grip on his wand, only for me to grab his wrist and force his arm down to his side.

"Sirius, leave it. We need to go."

His eyes flicked to mine.

"Fine, they opened the wards. We're apparating back to mine."

Before I could say anything, Sirius grabbed my arm and we were twisting and spinning with apparition.

We landed in the middle of Sirius and Remus's flat, and I barely had time to gain my footing before someone was barreling towards me.

"You're okay-, I thought we lost you for a second there," Jack muttered, holding my body tight against his.

"I'm okay, I'm fine," I said.

I glanced over his shoulder to Marlene slumped on the couch, holding a washcloth up to the gash on her forehead.

"Is everyone okay?" I asked, a panicked tone to my voice.

Marlene met my gaze.

"Everyone's fine, we all made it out with minor injuries," She answered.

I pulled away from Jack's hold, finally getting to take a look at him. He had a black eye and a long gash on his right arm.

"What the hell happened then?" I asked, looking around.

Marlene sat up straight, letting both of her hands fall into her lap.

"They gained control of the Ministry," She said.

With those six words, my blood ran cold.