Categories > Books > Harry Potter > Fait Accompli
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Rated for character death, reference to violence and adult themes.
Fait Accompli
Floating. On a sea of black she floated, blissful emptiness all around and inside. A complete fullness of dark, no sound, no breath, no movement. This was the life.
Harry. Ron.
No.
Movement began, a sense of rushing, bright sparks and /sensation/. Pain.
Oh god, that hurts.
She blinked, once, twice. It didn't help. Life went from soothing black to a fuzzy white world, too pale, too bright, and too painful.
"Drink this, dear. It'll help."
"Hurts..."
"I know, duck, just drink this."
"Harry... Ron?"
The voice- warm, matronly, female- clucked sympathetically. "Harry's no worse off than you are." A vial was insistently put to her lips and she swallowed obediently. White faded to grey and then the black took over.
Much better.
*
Amelia Bones, Minister of Magic, surveyed the grounds at Hogwarts from the back of a thestral. Several small figures scuttled about far below, combing the area. The horse-like creature shifted, impatient, the smell of blood thick even from this height.\r\n\"Minister.\" Dumbledore greeted her. She resented the sudden urge to clutch him for comfort and wail like a small child.\r\n\"Professor. How many dead?\" Too many. Susan./\r\n\r\n\"Fourteen too many.\" Odd, how he echoed her own thoughts. \"Two Death Eaters killed by their compatriots when they turned to run. Three Death Eaters killed in combat. Tom Riddle, obviously.\"\r\nBoth thestrals maneuvered around a column of thick, greasy smoke. Hogsmeade was still burning. Once the beasts found clearer air they waited for directions from their riders. Neither Madam Bones nor Dumbledore gave indication for movement, so they merely waited.\r\n\r\nShe closed her eyes and was filled with the memory of Hogwarts as it had been in her day; pure, pristine, carefree. A place of children. For a time, she refused to open them; the sight below was one of scorched earth, blast marks, rubble. It was a violated place. At least the bodies had been removed. Dumbledore would have allowed her more time, forever perhaps, but things had to be done yet. Decisions must be made. He cleared his throat, ever so gently.\r\n\r\n\r\n\"I\'ll execute them all.\" She said it quite calmly, and felt better for it.\r\n\"That would be your right.\"\r\n\"Damn skippy, it is. Do you happen to have something stronger than tea, Dumbledore?\"\r\n\"Minerva has located Poppy\'s medicinal store of seventeenth century bourbon. It\'s not lemon drops, but it isn\'t half bad. Shall we have a drop while we discuss logistics?\"\r\n\r\n\r\nThe thestrals circled the wreckage and put down near the back of the castle. A hole had been blasted in the walls, conveniently near to the headmaster\'s office. It was a short walk that took too long, delayed by the throngs of Healers in lime green robes. The hallway reeked of medicinal things and devastation. It reeked of aftermath.\r\n\"Why /here/?\" She hadn\'t meant to say it aloud. She hadn\'t even known she was thinking it.\r\nThe headmaster\'s eyes were overly bright and moist; they had the look of eyes that might never twinkle again. \"Because this is where it would hurt the most. And because this is where Harry was. But mostly, I think, because this is where it would hurt the most.\"\r\n\r\n\r\nHis office was quiet, hushed, as if the room itself were in shock. They drew up chairs, poured drinks, and applied themselves to quill and parchment. St. Mungo\'s was overflowing and it was easier to treat the overflow at the site- Hogwarts- than to move the injured, dead and displaced. This meant food and drink, blankets, spare medicines, and volunteers to help with it all. Owls flew in, out and around the room, and Dumbledore filled a tray with bread crusts and water for the birds to refresh themselves before being given more letters to deliver. Paintings left for their other portraits, speeding messages along. Heads popped in and out of the fire. Arrangements were made. Dinner was left untouched and another bottle of bourbon was opened and half gone when the pair deemed Hogwarts on the way back to stability.\r\nShe leaned back in her chair. His eyes watched her. Was she ready? No, one could never be ready for this. Damn it all anyway. \"The dead.\"\r\nHe handed a list to her, pretending not to see how her hand trembled. She took it, pretending not to see his breath hitch or his shoulders shake. It evened out.\r\n\r\n\r\nDennis Creevey, fourth year, Gryffindor house. Enchanted four suits of armour to successfully hold the breach in the wall of the Great Hall, thereby killing Antonin Dolohov and saving the first and second years hiding under the tables.\r\nSeverus Snape, head of Slytherin house. Killed while using his body as a shield to protect Ginevra Weasley.\r\nSibyl Trelawney, Divination teacher. Died of smoke inhalation while evacuating the Astronomy Tower.\r\nRubeus Hagrid, Care of Magical Creatures teacher. Held the front doors for twenty minutes with only three hippogriffs and a large dog. \r\nPadma Patil, seventh year, Ravenclaw house. Broke the wands of three Death Eaters after the apparent loss of her own.\r\nSusan Bones.\r\n/Oh god./\r\nSusan Bones, seventh year, Hufflepuff house. Pushed by Lucius Malfoy out of a third floor window, used Summoning charm to pull him out the same window after her. Both died in the fall.\r\n\r\n\r\nShe could read no more and put the list down. The names spun madly through her head regardless. Ernie Macmillan, Laura Madley, Malcolm Baddock, Millicent Bulstrode, Eloise Midgen, Dean Thomas, Lavender Brown, Euan Abercrombie. They all died bravely. More to the point, they all died.\r\n\r\n\r\n\"Order of Merlin, First Class, awarded to all posthumously. Full Ministry burial with honours. A plaque on the wall of the Ministry atrium bearing all their names. Whatever else I can think of in the next few months.\" Her hands curled instinctively into claws. \"Execution isn\'t painful enough. I need to think of something better.\"\r\n\"You always were a creative student,\" he remarked mildly. Her answering grin was all teeth and no humour. \r\n\"/Accio parchment \" She began dictating a letter to the French Minister, requesting all possible assistance in the locating and extradition of any Death Eater within French jurisdiction. The letter was smooth, artful, phrased in flawless French and overflowing with implications of what she, personally, would do to anyone who stood in her way. Dumbledore had to admire her style.\r\n\"More bourbon?\"\r\n\"Lovely, thank you. France, Bulgaria, Assyria... where else might the Death Eaters run to?\"\r\n\"It would be best to send word to all countries.\" An uncharacteristic hiss crept into his voice. \"Otherwise they might try to get away.\"\r\n\"All countries, then. Brilliant idea, Headmaster.\"\r\n\r\n\r\nShe drained her glass in one go and stared into the fire. He noticed abruptly that she was quite drunk. \"Is there anything else, Albus?\"\r\n\"Several students are still missing. We have volunteers combing the grounds, though, and we are hopeful.\"\r\nShe sighed. No more names on the list. Please, no more names. \"I\'ll have Shacklebolt start the interviews then. Damn, never mind, he\'s dead. Did Moody survive?\"\r\nDumbledore shook his head. \"Dawlish, then. No, wait. Bloody hell, do I have any Aurors left? Sod it, get Weasley down here and have him do it. I know for a fact that one\'s alive, had to tie him to a chair myself to keep him at the Ministry when the Aurors left.\"\r\nA ghost of a smile flitted around the headmaster\'s face. \"Yes, I heard he tried to Floo here chair and all. A Mr. Perkins finally locked him in a closet.\"\r\n\"At least he\'s alive.\" She moodily refilled her glass. \"Arthur Weasley is on loan from the Ministry for as long as you need him. Man\'s erratic, but steady and rather clever. He can have a team of any three people he needs, on Ministry pay, preferably volunteers as I\'m already short-staffed. He reports only to you or I, and I want copies of the interviews and witness accounts. Anyone in particular he need ask about? One of the missing?\"\r\n\"A few of the students in Slytherin house are unaccounted for. And Hermione Granger.\" \r\n\r\n\r\n~ * ~\r\n\r\nAuthor\'s notes: I am adoring the site\'s ten point font, but I think I\'ll spend the next couple of chapters fiddling with the format. Huge font everywhere else means my compensatory formatting looks a bit silly in ten point.
Fait Accompli
Floating. On a sea of black she floated, blissful emptiness all around and inside. A complete fullness of dark, no sound, no breath, no movement. This was the life.
Harry. Ron.
No.
Movement began, a sense of rushing, bright sparks and /sensation/. Pain.
Oh god, that hurts.
She blinked, once, twice. It didn't help. Life went from soothing black to a fuzzy white world, too pale, too bright, and too painful.
"Drink this, dear. It'll help."
"Hurts..."
"I know, duck, just drink this."
"Harry... Ron?"
The voice- warm, matronly, female- clucked sympathetically. "Harry's no worse off than you are." A vial was insistently put to her lips and she swallowed obediently. White faded to grey and then the black took over.
Much better.
*
Amelia Bones, Minister of Magic, surveyed the grounds at Hogwarts from the back of a thestral. Several small figures scuttled about far below, combing the area. The horse-like creature shifted, impatient, the smell of blood thick even from this height.\r\n\"Minister.\" Dumbledore greeted her. She resented the sudden urge to clutch him for comfort and wail like a small child.\r\n\"Professor. How many dead?\" Too many. Susan./\r\n\r\n\"Fourteen too many.\" Odd, how he echoed her own thoughts. \"Two Death Eaters killed by their compatriots when they turned to run. Three Death Eaters killed in combat. Tom Riddle, obviously.\"\r\nBoth thestrals maneuvered around a column of thick, greasy smoke. Hogsmeade was still burning. Once the beasts found clearer air they waited for directions from their riders. Neither Madam Bones nor Dumbledore gave indication for movement, so they merely waited.\r\n\r\nShe closed her eyes and was filled with the memory of Hogwarts as it had been in her day; pure, pristine, carefree. A place of children. For a time, she refused to open them; the sight below was one of scorched earth, blast marks, rubble. It was a violated place. At least the bodies had been removed. Dumbledore would have allowed her more time, forever perhaps, but things had to be done yet. Decisions must be made. He cleared his throat, ever so gently.\r\n\r\n\r\n\"I\'ll execute them all.\" She said it quite calmly, and felt better for it.\r\n\"That would be your right.\"\r\n\"Damn skippy, it is. Do you happen to have something stronger than tea, Dumbledore?\"\r\n\"Minerva has located Poppy\'s medicinal store of seventeenth century bourbon. It\'s not lemon drops, but it isn\'t half bad. Shall we have a drop while we discuss logistics?\"\r\n\r\n\r\nThe thestrals circled the wreckage and put down near the back of the castle. A hole had been blasted in the walls, conveniently near to the headmaster\'s office. It was a short walk that took too long, delayed by the throngs of Healers in lime green robes. The hallway reeked of medicinal things and devastation. It reeked of aftermath.\r\n\"Why /here/?\" She hadn\'t meant to say it aloud. She hadn\'t even known she was thinking it.\r\nThe headmaster\'s eyes were overly bright and moist; they had the look of eyes that might never twinkle again. \"Because this is where it would hurt the most. And because this is where Harry was. But mostly, I think, because this is where it would hurt the most.\"\r\n\r\n\r\nHis office was quiet, hushed, as if the room itself were in shock. They drew up chairs, poured drinks, and applied themselves to quill and parchment. St. Mungo\'s was overflowing and it was easier to treat the overflow at the site- Hogwarts- than to move the injured, dead and displaced. This meant food and drink, blankets, spare medicines, and volunteers to help with it all. Owls flew in, out and around the room, and Dumbledore filled a tray with bread crusts and water for the birds to refresh themselves before being given more letters to deliver. Paintings left for their other portraits, speeding messages along. Heads popped in and out of the fire. Arrangements were made. Dinner was left untouched and another bottle of bourbon was opened and half gone when the pair deemed Hogwarts on the way back to stability.\r\nShe leaned back in her chair. His eyes watched her. Was she ready? No, one could never be ready for this. Damn it all anyway. \"The dead.\"\r\nHe handed a list to her, pretending not to see how her hand trembled. She took it, pretending not to see his breath hitch or his shoulders shake. It evened out.\r\n\r\n\r\nDennis Creevey, fourth year, Gryffindor house. Enchanted four suits of armour to successfully hold the breach in the wall of the Great Hall, thereby killing Antonin Dolohov and saving the first and second years hiding under the tables.\r\nSeverus Snape, head of Slytherin house. Killed while using his body as a shield to protect Ginevra Weasley.\r\nSibyl Trelawney, Divination teacher. Died of smoke inhalation while evacuating the Astronomy Tower.\r\nRubeus Hagrid, Care of Magical Creatures teacher. Held the front doors for twenty minutes with only three hippogriffs and a large dog. \r\nPadma Patil, seventh year, Ravenclaw house. Broke the wands of three Death Eaters after the apparent loss of her own.\r\nSusan Bones.\r\n/Oh god./\r\nSusan Bones, seventh year, Hufflepuff house. Pushed by Lucius Malfoy out of a third floor window, used Summoning charm to pull him out the same window after her. Both died in the fall.\r\n\r\n\r\nShe could read no more and put the list down. The names spun madly through her head regardless. Ernie Macmillan, Laura Madley, Malcolm Baddock, Millicent Bulstrode, Eloise Midgen, Dean Thomas, Lavender Brown, Euan Abercrombie. They all died bravely. More to the point, they all died.\r\n\r\n\r\n\"Order of Merlin, First Class, awarded to all posthumously. Full Ministry burial with honours. A plaque on the wall of the Ministry atrium bearing all their names. Whatever else I can think of in the next few months.\" Her hands curled instinctively into claws. \"Execution isn\'t painful enough. I need to think of something better.\"\r\n\"You always were a creative student,\" he remarked mildly. Her answering grin was all teeth and no humour. \r\n\"/Accio parchment \" She began dictating a letter to the French Minister, requesting all possible assistance in the locating and extradition of any Death Eater within French jurisdiction. The letter was smooth, artful, phrased in flawless French and overflowing with implications of what she, personally, would do to anyone who stood in her way. Dumbledore had to admire her style.\r\n\"More bourbon?\"\r\n\"Lovely, thank you. France, Bulgaria, Assyria... where else might the Death Eaters run to?\"\r\n\"It would be best to send word to all countries.\" An uncharacteristic hiss crept into his voice. \"Otherwise they might try to get away.\"\r\n\"All countries, then. Brilliant idea, Headmaster.\"\r\n\r\n\r\nShe drained her glass in one go and stared into the fire. He noticed abruptly that she was quite drunk. \"Is there anything else, Albus?\"\r\n\"Several students are still missing. We have volunteers combing the grounds, though, and we are hopeful.\"\r\nShe sighed. No more names on the list. Please, no more names. \"I\'ll have Shacklebolt start the interviews then. Damn, never mind, he\'s dead. Did Moody survive?\"\r\nDumbledore shook his head. \"Dawlish, then. No, wait. Bloody hell, do I have any Aurors left? Sod it, get Weasley down here and have him do it. I know for a fact that one\'s alive, had to tie him to a chair myself to keep him at the Ministry when the Aurors left.\"\r\nA ghost of a smile flitted around the headmaster\'s face. \"Yes, I heard he tried to Floo here chair and all. A Mr. Perkins finally locked him in a closet.\"\r\n\"At least he\'s alive.\" She moodily refilled her glass. \"Arthur Weasley is on loan from the Ministry for as long as you need him. Man\'s erratic, but steady and rather clever. He can have a team of any three people he needs, on Ministry pay, preferably volunteers as I\'m already short-staffed. He reports only to you or I, and I want copies of the interviews and witness accounts. Anyone in particular he need ask about? One of the missing?\"\r\n\"A few of the students in Slytherin house are unaccounted for. And Hermione Granger.\" \r\n\r\n\r\n~ * ~\r\n\r\nAuthor\'s notes: I am adoring the site\'s ten point font, but I think I\'ll spend the next couple of chapters fiddling with the format. Huge font everywhere else means my compensatory formatting looks a bit silly in ten point.
Sign up to rate and review this story