Chapter 19: Breaking and Entering

"Glasses? Where did you get those?" Snape asked as Lucy entered his quarters just as Jessica left. Lucy had forgotten that she was still wearing the glasses that Matt had bought her. After leaving him she had come straight to Snape's quarters as she was so tired. 

"I, uh," Lucy looked around for some kind of convincing excuse but unfortunately Snape knew her too well for excuses now. She cringed and pushed her glasses up her nose. "Well does it matter? At least I can see again now." 

"I guess you're right about that," Snape agreed just as Lucy looked around nervously. She reached towards one of the kitchen cupboards then paused. 

"Can I have some wine?" 

"No," Snape replied firmly. 

"I've only had one glass before!" 

"You're sixteen years old and I'm not having you becoming an addict." 

"I'm not an addict I just want some wine, OK?" 

Snape looked at her strange from his seat. "Why do you want wine at this minute? It's far too late." 

"I could ask you the same thing when you gulp it down by the bottle," Lucy replied smugly as she reached into the cupboard, grabbed a bottle of wine and a wine glass. She slammed the wine glass down on the table with so much force it almost broke. She pulled out a bottle opener from a draw and then opened the wine bottle. She threw the cork in the bin swiftly before poring some of the contents of the bottle into the glass. 

"Don't drink too much," Snape ordered just as Lucy began to drink the contents of the first glass. 

"I won't," Lucy groaned as she took the glass in one hand and the bottle in the other, then walked to her room and closed the door behind her. 

She sat on her bed and rested her back against her pillows. She set the wine bottle down on her bedside cabinet then opened the draw on her bedside table, she pulled out the Half-Blood Princess' book and opened it. It was time she had a proper look. 

She flicked through the pages slowly, skim reading all the information after pulling out the seperate pieces of paper she had found that were hints and tips she had found around the school. At once she became indulged in the book, looking at a few annotations around the text in the book. It was as though the book had been corrected by someone. 

Lucy took a sip of her wine as she turned back to the first page in the book. Over and over again she read the Half-Blood Princess' name. What was so fascinating about this name to her? She couldn't comprehend why she was suddenly so attached to this book. It was as though there was something about it that was...different. It was as though this book could help her in something but she had no idea how. 

Lucy reached into her bedside cabinet draw again and pulled out a book she had picked up at the library once all about the medieval period. Not about the medieval islands but on the medieval period. It might not centre around Lucy's main focus but the book certainly influenced the topic of the medieval islands and it gave her a better understanding of what the medieval culture was all about. 

She turned to a certain page about 'important people of that time' then skimmed all the words, forgetting the illustrations of various people. There were knights who were the true symbol of the medieval period, various King's and Queen's and a few other hero's that historians liked to study. However, Lucy did not gain her answer from this book. She sighed and took another frustrated sip of her wine. 

For some reason she had thought that the Half-Blood Princess could be associated with importance in the medieval era because of her Princess status. But there was nothing to be found, not even something close. There wasn't even the Half-Blood Prince's name mentioned so they couldn't have been famous in that time. Or were they just associated with the medieval islands? They could have something to do with the medieval islands considering royalty wasn't a big thing anymore. 

Lucy closed her book on the medieval period and threw it in her draw then slammed it shut. She then took the Half-Blood Princess' book, shoved the loose pieces of paper inside then threw it across the room. It landed near Angus' basket causing the cat to wake and take a curious claw at the book. 

"Stupid stressful life," Lucy sighed and finished off her glass of wine before filling it with more. She did this until the bottle was empty. She placed both the glass and the bottle on the floor before switching off her light, laying down on her side. As soon as her head hit the pillow; she was asleep.

*      *      *  

'Why didn't anyone tell me about her?' Snape asked as he sat on the edge of his bed and put his face in his hands. 'Surely someone knew. Black could have known, Lupin could have known. They were close with Lily and could have known that she had had a daughter! Or did she keep it so secret that she couldn't tell anyone about the poor child who didn't ask for this torture!' 

Snape got up and opened up his wardrobe and looked around frantically for something. He moved his clothes out of the way and bent down to look at the bottom of the wardrobe. 

'I could have spoilt her rotten, I don't have much money but I could have done it. If only I'd have known sooner...' Suddenly Snape turned around to look at the suit on his bed, it was the one he was going to wear to the Yule Ball. 'Now she won't talk to me.' 

Snape narrowed his eyes as he began to write something down. He then walked out of his room down to his classroom and placed the object down. He then left the room swiftly, slamming the door behind him just as Lucy awoke from her sleep. 

"I told you not to drink the whole bottle," Snape chuckled smugly as he took the bottle from the floor after slamming the door behind him, the next morning, and threw the bottle in the bin.

"I don't care," Lucy groaned as she placed a hand on her forehead to massage the stabbing pain that had occurred. 

"You can be a thick child sometimes, you know that?" Snape announced as he took hold of the wine glass and ignored Angus as he walked right past him. "You don't listen to me either." 

"You didn't stop me." 

"'I'm a mature adult now! You've got to let me make decisions for myself now!'" Snape mimicked Lucy as she groaned in response. 

"Alright, you're right. I'm wrong!" Lucy huffed. "Are you happy now?" 

"Yes, it's just what every parent wants to hear," Snape smirked. 

"Did I mention we're going to break into the Ministry of Magic today?" 

"WHAT?!" 

Now it was Lucy's turn to be smug. "Mr Fudge spoke to me yesterday and he told me we're going to visit the Ministry of Magic, break in and practice some fighting," Lucy turned to her other side to see Snape's shocked face. "Yes, I know I'm a reckless child and you don't have to tell me that." 

"Why don't you try using a word like 'stupid' child." 

"That was two words." 

Lucy removed her glasses from her face and ignored the pain on the bridge of her nose where she had slept awkward and the glasses had dug into her nose. She had forgotten to take them off considering this was her first time wearing them and she wasn't in the routine of taking them off. Lucy groaned again and rolled onto her other side so Snape could only see her back. 

"You're such a grumpy child." 

"I'm allowed to be a grumpy child." 

"No you're not, get up," Snape left the room swiftly to address the knock at the door. "You better be up by the time I get back!" Snape called just before he opened the door to let Dean in.

Lucy made her way out of bed and then slowly got dressed and hoped the aftermath of the wine would get better.

But it didn't  

Throughout the day she was constantly bothered by her headache as well as tiredness after not going to bed until late. All she kept repeating to herself was 'I wish I hadn't of drunk that wine, I wish I hadn't of drunk that wine, I wish I hadn't of drunk that wine...' She had been such a fool and for once she should have listened to her father. 

It was only just halfway through first lesson when Lucy finally lost it. She was sat next to Shona and Dean was on her other side in  Transfiguration and she just rested her head on the table and ceased doing work. She didn't look up once, not even when something hit her back gently. 

"Someone threw a paper airplane at you," Shona announced as she picked up the neatly folded piece of parchment from the floor and placed it on Lucy's head just for amusement. 

"Shut up," Lucy grumbled though her voice could barely be heard as it was muffled by her cardigan. 

"I'm not joking with you, I've just put it on your head so you can read it when you want." 

"She's not lying," Dean assured as he eyed the little paper airplane on her head. 

Lucy reached up and took the paper airplane. She opened it up and was expecting it to be from Matt but it wasn't. It simply said in big letters 'LOOK BEHIND YOU.' 

For a moment she just thought it was one of her classmates being silly but then she gave in and turned around. The door to the classroom was slightly ajar and Lucy could see someone's hand just visible there. She couldn't identify who it was just by their hand but when they revealed their face Lucy saw that it was Cornellius Fudge. 

"Shona, Dean," Lucy whispered as she faced the front again. "We have to get out of here." 

"Why?" Shona raised an eyebrow but Lucy didn't have time for explanations as the whole class had gone silent and she couldn't say it out loud. Also, she couldn't write it down as Shona sometimes struggled to read her far too neat writing. 

"Just trust me," was all Lucy said before turning in Professor McGonagall's direction and starting her plan that she had just thought of. Dean and Shona looked at each other in confusion. "Professor!" Lucy called in a somewhat urgent tone. 

"What is it, Lucy?" McGonagall asked as she looked up from her work at her desk. 

"Shona ate some undercooked sausage for breakfast and it's really not agreeing with her! I have to escort her to the toilets in case she throws up on the way there!" Lucy tried to sound as dramatic as possible but McGonagall wasn't buying it. 

"Miss McGuire looks perfectly fine in my — " 

Lucy suddenly elbowed Shona in the stomach and she began making noises of pain, this helped the situation a lot. 

"Professor, she's ill! I have to take her out of class!" 

"Very well, you may escort Miss McGuire to the toilets," McGonagall began but Lucy and Shona had already slung their bags over their shoulders and cleared all their belongings into them. Lucy, Shona and Dean were just out the door when McGonagall called after them. "But I wish for you to be back in five minutes!" 

"Quite a marvellous escape, if I do say so myself!" Fudge chuckled as Lucy closed the door behind her, Dean and Shona. "Very inventive too!" 

"Yes, thanks, Lucy," Shona put on a fake smile. "Now the whole class knows I'm going to puke in the bathroom! It's going to be a popular story for weeks!" 

"Nonsense, you'll be fine. Now, what is it you want from us, Sir?" Lucy asked. 

"There has been a slight change of plans regarding the trip to the Ministry," Fudge looked at his feet. 

"Which are — ?" Shona prompted. 

"We have to leave right now because if we leave any later it'll be known we have broken into the Ministry. You see, the later it is the tighter the security is. So, if we leave now we'll have much less of a chance of being caught." 

"We have to get dad as well but he's currently teaching," Lucy looked a little disappointed that her father wouldn't be able to join them now. 

"Don't worry, my dear, I already have that sorted. I have made sure that Jessica, the head of the Resistance, has taken his place in teaching. So there will be no troubles there." 

"Indeed not," Snape joined in the conversation as he walked over to the group of four. "I am quite happy to join you in this trip, however, I must state something before we leave." 

"It's OK, Snivels, I'll try not to steal anything," Shona winked, causing Dean to laugh. 

"Keep quiet, McGuire," Snape gave her a stern look. "No matter how brilliant the plan is to get into the Ministry of Magic, if we get caught at any point looking like ourselves we shall be in deep trouble. Especially you, Mr Fudge. Can you imagine stepping into your old workplace and being greeted like an old friend? I can assure you that is not the reaction you will receive. You are more likely to have a dozen hexes thrown at you from every person there. Now, I have devised a plan myself that we can get into the Ministry unnoticed as I have spare Polyjuice potion on me." 

"Well that won't last long," Lucy frowned. "Maybe for an hour or two but what about the rest of the time we're there? Say we're just leaving and in the entrance hall we become ourselves again? That's going to be a lot of use isn't it?" 

"Polyjuice potion might not last for a long time but I know what will," Fudge whispered and they all turned to him. 

"Well what's your bright idea?" Shona folded her arms. 

"Follow me," Fudge ordered and the four of them followed him to an empty classroom halfway across the school. When they were inside, Fudge locked the door behind them with a spell then turned towards them. 

"Now what?" Dean wondered to himself, he didn't mean for Fudge to hear him as he was merely thinking aloud. 

"That, Mr Cousins, is a very good question and I don't know if this is going to work because it's never been done before..." Fudge's voice trailed off as he looked at Lucy. "Lucy, my dear, come forward." 

Lucy looked rather awkward as she walked towards Fudge. As soon as she was in front of him he took her hand and held onto it tightly. 

"You're a metamorphmagus, aren't you?" Fudge asked and Lucy nodded, she felt like a victim in a game show. "Good then you'll know all about changing your appearence, don't you?" 

"Yes but how is this relevant — ?" Lucy began but Fudge held her hand tighter. 

"Haven't you ever wondered if you could change someone else's appearance too?" 

"Not really..." 

"Well, today is your chance to try it out and you get to test your powers out on me," Fudge smiled reassuringly. 

"On you? But this could go terribly wrong! You could end up blond for the rest of your life! Or perhaps even become a brunette! Or a red head! Or you could even have red eyes! Or even yellow eyes! At least with me I can change myself back to my original appearance without any worry, but with you I have no idea if I could bring you back to your original form!"

"It's quite alright, I wouldn't mind having a colour other than this grey in my hair. Now go on, why don't you try making my hair blond like your first suggestion?" 

"But — " 

"I trust you in this, have faith in yourself otherwise it will go wrong," Fudge assured. Lucy didn't say anything as Fudge held their hands up, the one's in which were interlocked. Lucy then focused on trying to picture Fudge's hair going blond just like she would picture herself going blond if she were in Fudge's position. She thought about it as much as she could, she relaxed and ever so slowly Fudge's hair began to turn blond. Afterwards, she felt a little weak but still fine. 

"What the..." Shona gasped as Lucy moved out of the way to reveal Fudge's new hair colour. 

"I knew she could so it!" Fudge cheered as he ignored the others' shocked faces. "Now why don't you change it back so we can start the real transformations." Lucy took hold of Fudge's hand again and turned his hair back to it's original colour, she felt full again as though she was herself again.

"So how am I going to change everyone's appearance? What shall I make them look like?" Lucy wondered as Fudge pulled five images out of his pocket. There were three males and two females facing the camera so that all details of their faces and the shape of their bodies could be seen. 

"You do exactly what you did to me in the process but this time you will change not only the hair but the eyes, lips, ears, eyebrows, hands, feet and bodyshape. You will change everything of your peers' apperances to make them look like one of the people in the images. Now, if everyone would like to choose an image, we'll get started. Preferably you'll want to choose someone of the same gender to make it easier for Lucy." 

Everyone chose their images and admired them before Lucy got started. Lucy ended up with a picture of a woman with blond hair a little bit shorter than hers with beautiful blue eyes, slender frame and a pretty face. She began her transformation first starting with her hair, then her eyes, then her face, then her body shape. When she was finished she was 5 ft 8 as opposed to 5 ft 5 and was a pretty young woman who was around the age of 25. 

"As you may have guessed all the people who I have chosen are not at work at the Ministry today so you won't see your person around," Fudge announced as Lucy moved on to Shona (who had a red headed woman who was also 25 and had grey eyes. She too was blessed with a good height of 5 ft 8.) 

When Shona was finished, Lucy moved onto Dean who had a man the same age as him who had hazel eyes, brown hair and was around 6 ft. Then Lucy moved onto Fudge who would be turned into a man who was around fifty with light blue eyes and grey hair just like his own, he was 5 ft 9. 

Finally Lucy moved onto Snape. He had chosen a man with black hair, grey eyes with a height exactly the same as his own at 6 ft. He was also wearing a grey suit in the image and judging by the box of clothes that Fudge had just summoned, they were also going to dress in the person they had been turned into's clothes. 

"Luckily for us there are seperate booths in this room and you can enter one each to get changed," Fudge motioned to the five booths in the room. He then began handing each of them their outfits and they entered one booth each. 

When they were finished they left their clothes in the booth and walked out and looked at each others' new appearance's properly. Lucy, however, looked very drained and had to hold onto the edge of a table for support. 

"Is everything alright, Lucy?" Snape asked as he walked over to her. 

"Everything's fine, it's just that I feel rather drained after giving you all a different appearance. It's like I've transferred some of my powers into all of you," Lucy admitted.

"Against all odds I suggest that when we get there Lucy changes us all back, we can't have her falling asleep while holding a big sword. That reminds me, do you have Merlin's sword with you?" Fudge gestured towards the bag she was holding.

"I do," Lucy pulled it out of the bag so that everyone could see. "Good, now before we leave I guess you should all know your new name's in case anyone asks of it." Fudge pulled out a piece of parchment then looked at the group. "Dean Cousins, the man you have been transformed into is called Howard Wainright."

"Howard Wainright..." Dean repeated. "I like it!"

"Shona," Fudge continued. "Your name is now Celena Freestone."

"Could have hoped for better but beggars can't be choosers," Shona shrugged.

"Professor Snape," Fudge looked down his list and found his new name. "You shall be known as Clint Wakely in the Ministry." 

"Better than your real name, Snivels," Shona elbowed him in the ribs causing Snape to hit her over the head. 

"I shall be known as Eduardo Davenport and finally, Lucy, you shall be known as — " Fudge looked at his list. "Athena Justice." 

"Wow," Shona snorted. "We have such weird names." 

"They're not weird!" Dean protested. "They're individual and pretty!" 

"Shut up, Howard," Shona joked. "I guess we've just got to remember them now." 

"Shouldn't take too much time," Fudge admitted. "Now shall we get going?" 

Shona was apparated to the Ministry by Fudge while Snape apparated both Lucy and Dean. Dean looked rather wary as Snape offered his other hand as Lucy had already taken hold of his right. Dean stared at Snape's hand and then looked at Snape. Luckily for them the charm of apparating had been lifted by Dumbledore so they could train in the fighting room. 

"Come on, Mr Cousins, we haven't got all day," Snape sighed and held out his hand impatiently. "We need to get to the Ministry quickly otherwise we'll loose McGuire and Mr Fudge." 

"B-But what are you going to do to me?" Dean asked worriedly as he looked again at Snape's hand. "Shona and Mr Fudge disappeared into thin air! Are we going to do that too?" 

"We are, it's a little bit strange at first but you'll see the sense in it," Lucy admitted. 

Dean eventually took hold of Snape's hand and Snape apparated as soon as he had. Dean did not expect the strange sensation of being apparated and was a little dizzy when they arrived in the Ministry. Snape immediately let go of them but led them towards where the Minister was standing. 

"We need to move quickly and stay together if we're going to get there without causing suspicion and so Lucy doesn't feel drained for much longer. I'll lead the way, come on," Fudge strode towards an elevator with everyone else following behind. They squeezed into the already full elevator and they were off again. Snape tried to prevent Lucy from falling but he got a snide comment from the person next to him. 

"I didn't know you were dating Athena, Wakely," the man laughed. 

"We're not," Snape replied rudely, he almost said 'she's my daughter' but thought that would be wrong, considering the current circumstances. "I wouldn't want her to fall, would you?" 

"Can't say I blame you there but I thought you worked on the other side of the Ministry?" 

Snape paused for a moment to think of something creative. "I do...I just have to deliver a letter today." 

"Oh really? About what?" 

"None of your concern," Snape spat back rudely just as the elevator doors opened and Dean, Fudge, Lucy, Snape and Shona all walked out together. They walked out just in time as the elevator doors swiftly closed behind them and the elevator moved onto it's next destination. 

"Dad..." Lucy muttered, trying so hard to forget the drained sense she was getting. "We need to find this room fast." 

"I know, we will," Snape assured. "Take my hand and we'll get you there as quick as possible — Mr Davenport! I suggest we hurry!" Snape raised his voice for the last part of the sentence so that they could reach their destination quicker. 

Fudge acknowledged the tone in Snape's voice and dashed towards the room in which they needed to get to. At once Fudge found it, he looked down the corridor both ways to make sure nobody was there except the group he had allowed to join him. He then shoved a key into the door and began to turn it. 

"Mr Minister," Lucy spoke up weakly. "Why do you still have that key?" 

"What the Ministry doesn't know can't hurt them," Fudge smirked before allowing them all in and then locking the door behind him. 

When they stepped inside, everyone but Lucy and Fudge marvelled at the weapons as they had seen them all before. While the rest were admiring the scene, Fudge immediately let her turn him back to his original state so she felt a little better. 

Once the exciting atmosphere of the room had worn off a little bit, everyone let Lucy turn them back to their original state so she had all of her powers back. After that, Fudge instructed them to use the changing rooms at the back of the room to change back into their normal clothes. Once everything was in order; they began. 

"I guess this is a very appropriate time to show you this room," Fudge announced. "With Zuc on the rise it is a very vital time for you all to train yourselves not only with magic but with a various amount of weapons so that you can surprise your enemy." 

"LOOK AT ALL THESE SWORDS!" Shona screamed as she ran towards one of them, she went to pick one up but Fudge took out his wand and made sure she couldn't get near it. 

"Rule number one; don't let McGuire touch sharp objects," Snape sighed as Shona plodded sadly back to her place. 

"I guess you should all try out the different stations," Fudge continued. "And see how you do, first of all, I think we should try out those knives!" Fudge gestured at all the knives against one of the walls. 

Shona's eyes seemed to gleam at Fudge's words. "ME FIRST!" 

"You last, when everyone else is out of the room and six feet under ground!" Snape hissed as the group walked towards the knives. 

"Who would like to go first apart from Shona?" Fudge laughed. "Mr Snape, you can go first," Fudge held out one of the throwing knives to him and he took it unwillingly. 

Dean held onto Lucy's arm as he watched. "I don't like these sharp objects — but I'd jump out in front of one of them if it meant saving you, Lucy!" 

"Oh, Dean," Lucy smiled and hugged him tightly. 

"Now, step froward and throw the knife right at that knight figure," Fudge instructed. "Throw the knife as hard as you can and aim directly at the knight." 

Snape stepped forward while everyone else stepped back just for safety. He aimed and then threw his first knife. It narrowly missed the knight and Snape shook his head. 

"That was pathetic," Snape cursed. 

"YOU'RE RUBBISH AT THIS, SNIVELS!" Shona yelled and Snape shot her a glare. 

"Never mind, never mind, you can have another go — " Fudge handed him another throwing knife. "There's a lot of time to practice here." 

Snape took the next knife and threw it, it hit the knights left shoulder. He then took his last knife and it hit the knight in the chest. He stood with everyone else and Fudge chose his next victim. 

"As I understand, Dean, you've already done this sort of training. Would like to have another go anyway?" Fudge asked and after his question, Dean's grip on Lucy's arm tightened a little. 

"I-I'm OK!" Dean saluted. "I know how to do this sort of thing..." 

"Good, then if Miss McGuire would like to step forward she can have a go at using the throwing knives," Fudge gathered the three knives that Snape had thrown and then handed them to Shona one by one. 

Shona did pretty well with her aiming, one knife even hit the knight's helmet causing it to dent. Fudge quickly fixed that after she was done, though. Everyone knew that Shona would have no trouble with killing a knight with knives so the last person to have a go at throwing the knives was Lucy. 

"Lucy, you're up," Fudge said and offered her the knives as though he was offering something inviting. Dean let go of Lucy's arm slowly and she walked towards Fudge, he handed her one of the knives but she looked at the other two with need. 

"Can I have them all?" Lucy asked and gestured to the knives. 

Fudge paused for a moment and then handed the other two knives to her. "By all means." 

She took the other two knives and then stared at the knight. She moved to the right a little bit, she was a long distance from the knight and everyone else looked intensly as Lucy stared down the knight. She looked at it with a little bit of her determination that she had managed to conjure and before they all knew it; Lucy had begun. 

She threw the knives one by one. Before she threw the first knife, she darted to the left and then the first knife hit the knights right arm. Then she spun around and threw the knife and it hit the knights chest. Lastly, her back was to the night and she threw the knife over her shoulder and it hit the knights helmet right where it's eyes should be. 

Lucy faced the others and looked worriedly at their reaction, they weren't saying anything and she suddenly looked guilty. 

"Now that's just showing off!" Shona laughed. 

"Have you ever done knife throwing before, Lucy?" Fudge asked. 

"Not once," Lucy shook her head. 

"Am I sure my eyes aren't playing tricks on me?" Snape asked and he looked at the knight with three knives protruding from it. "Did you really just do that, Lucy?" 

"I think so..." Lucy looked down at her feet. Snape walked over to her and lifted her chin up with one finger. 

"I knew you had it in you and I don't know why you doubt yourself," he whispered as Fudge collected the knives from the knight and stored them away and Shona and Dean moved onto the next station. "You should be proud of yourself, even for the simple things." 

"I hope the knife throwing is something to be proud about," Lucy smiled a little. 

"It is," Snape agreed and kissed her on the top of her head and then the two walked over to the next station. 

"What's next?" Shona asked eagerly as Fudge took a training sword. 

"Sword fighting," Fudge grinned and admired the sword in his hands. "Now, I believe I instructed Lucy to bring Merlin's sword? If she did, would she like to step forward?" 

Lucy walked over to her bag which was by the entrance and she took Merlin's sword and then she walked back over to Fudge with it in her hands. 

"Have you had any experience with sword fighting before?" Fudge asked. 

"Yes, just a little bit of it. I don't think I'm extremely good but — " 

"Confidence!" Snape hissed. 

"I mean, I've done a little bit of sword fighting before and I think that I'm OK at it." 

"Good, now, how about you test your skills and try and fight me?" 

"Yes, Sir," Lucy nodded and readied her sword. As soon as Fudge was ready, she swung her sword and it made and clashing sound with Fudge's. He repelled her strength before she let go and tried again. This time she used all her strength against Fudge's sword and eventually he let go and his sword fell to the floor. "I'm sorry..." 

"Don't apologise!" Fudge chuckled. "There's no apologising when it comes to this! Be brutal, girl! You  make sure you defeat anyone at this sword fighting, alright?" 

"Understood," Lucy nodded. 

"Let us continue!" Fudge pointed forward and moved onto the next station which Lucy was the most interested about because the last time she had been here, Fudge had picked up this particular weapon and looked at her curiously. 

"Archery?" Snape wondered as he picked up one of the bows and admired the object. "This sounds quite medieval, I looked this up the other day." 

"Exactly," Fudge smiled. "This is one weapon we can use against Zuc's army, we can use their weapons against them. Whilst you're fighting one of them they could drop their bow and arrows — if they come armed with them — and you can kill them with their own weapons!" 

"But doesn't loading a bow take a bit longer than say just swinging a sword?" Shona wondered as she took the bow from Snape and admired the simple object. 

"It does but if you aim correctly you can shoot the enemy in the heart with one arrow and finish them off," Fudge grinned and Lucy fantasized killing one faceless member of Zuc's army with a bow and arrow in one shot. "But just looking at Lucy I can tell she could be somewhat good at this..." 

"Me?" Lucy gulped. "Don't you think I've had enough of the spotlight now? Perhaps Shona could go first..." 

"You can go first," Fudge grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her forward. He took the exact same bow he had held when Lucy had been in the Ministry for work experience and handed it to her. "I think it's pretty simple how to use this object — " Fudge handed her an arrow. "Now go for it, hit that knight in the heart." 

Lucy looked ahead at one of the knight figures then took the arrow from Fudge. She loaded the bow with ease and hoped she was doing it right before pulling back the string and aiming the arrow. She released her hold on the arrow and it hit the knight in the heart. 

"I'm beginning to think you have a better hold on these kind of weapons," Snape admitted. "It will surprise the enemy better, too." 

"Especially those knives!" Dean admitted. "You could just put them in your pocket because they're so small, the enemy will think you're unarmed but then you could just pull one out of your pocket and kill them in an instant." 

"The sword would come in handy too," Shona admitted. "You could juat grab hold of it, swing it and chop off an enemies head just like that — " Shona clicked her fingers. 

"The bow and arrow aren't bad either," Fudge nodded to the weapon she was holding. "Even if it was a push comes to shove moment, you could just pick it up and know how to use it." 

"But I'll still be able to use magic, won't I?" Lucy wondered. "Not just these weapons." 

"Of course you will! But this will surprise the enemies more!" Fudge then turned to everyone else. "I want all of you to practice using these weapons, by the end of the day you will have all successfully learnt how to use at least one other method than magic." 

*      *      * 

At twelve o'clock Fudge decided that it was best they leave and after the suffering Lucy had gone through to change everyone's appearances, they decided it would be unnecessary. Instead Fudge just gave them all cloaks that would conceal their faces. 

"Remember to put your hood up, nobody needs to see your faces here," Fudge reminded. "Otherwise we'll be in trouble." 

They were all about to put their hoods up when Dean noticed someone staring at them. He tugged on Lucy's sleeve worriedly. "Lucy..." 

"What is it, Dean?" Lucy asked and Dean pointed to the a man standing not so far away from them in a suit with a flashing badge. "Oh no..." 

"Is he bad, Lucy?" Dean asked. 

"That's my ex boyfriend," Lucy gulped as the red head stared at her from a distance. "Fred Weasley." 

Dean registered the name almost immediately and prepared himself to attack Fred as he began to walk towards the group. He then began walking quicker towards Lucy, then he started running. The closer he got, he became even more convinced that it was Lucy standing there. 

"Lucy!" Fred gasped as he was seven metres away from her. "I - I haven't seen you since — " 

"The time you threw me out of your shop," Lucy snapped back firmly. "That was rather kind of you, by the way." 

"But I — " Fred looked confused. "I didn't do that!" 

"Don't act like you don't know what you did!" Lucy hissed and Dean prepared to attack Fred. 

"But, Lucy, I — " Fred tried to protest but in the next moment Dean threw him against the wall and pinned him down. 

"Go, Lucy!" Dean commanded. Lucy threw up her hood and both her and Snape ran to the exit. They got strange looks from passers by and when they came to the elevator Lucy looked around desperately; if they were spotted in the elevator they were doomed. 

"We have to take the stairs," Lucy commanded as she looked at the inside of the already full elevator doors. 

"But it will take too long!" Snape hissed from under his hood. 

"It's our only choice, come on," Lucy took hold of Snape's hand and dragged him towards the stairs. They both ran down the never ending spiral staircase together in single file. Lucy went first while Snape followed closely behind. 

Their cloaks flowed behind them and when they had made it a quarter of a way down the stairs, alarms began to sound. 

"Well that can't be good," Snape called. 

"We need to run quicker!" Lucy snarled and ran faster down the steps while the speakers in the Ministry warned that there had been a break in by a group of hooded figures. "Can we apparate down here?" 

"As soon as we're in the entrance hall, yes!" Snape called back. "We need to get rid of these cloaks, also." 

"But we'll get caught!" 

"We'll get caught with or without these silly cloaks, they're after us now that we're wearing them and just us as well. So we have to take them off." 

Lucy trusted her father and as she ran slipped off the cloak, Snape took his off too as soon as they reached the bottom of the stairs. Snape knew Lucy wasn't as quick at running as him and so took her hand and he ran. 

"There they are!" Someone shouted and pointed to Lucy and Snape who were desperately trying to get into the entrance hall. 

"Get them!" Someone else yelled as Snape and Lucy met up with Fudge and Shona who didn't have their hoods up. 

"Where's Dean?" Lucy asked, suddenly in panic. 

"Still trying to hold Fred down for you," Shona replied grimly. "Fred was putting up a right fight." 

"It's a good thing Mr Cousins is strong — " Fudge began just as the sound of feet hammering against the ground could be heard as well as harsh breathing...but it didn't belong to Lucy, Snape, Shona or Fudge. 

"COME BACK HERE!" Dean commanded as he chased after the frantic Fred Weasley. 

"No!" Fred called back to him as he tried desperately to catch up with Lucy. "I NEED TO TALK TO YOU!" 

"Ignore him, keep running," Snape ordered firmly. 

"PLEASE, GIVE ME A CHANCE!" Fred called after Lucy, she turned around once and caught sight of Fred's pleading face but she wasn't buying it. He had broken her heart in fifth year and she could never forgive him for that, he had caused her a lot of pain. 

"Keep running," Snape ordered again. "Keep looking forward, we're almost there." 

At last they reached the entrance of the Ministry of Magic and several things happened at once. Snape held onto Lucy as tightly as possible before apparating but before he did, Lucy caught a glimpse of what was happening around her as if in slow motion. 

A group of guards were frantically chasing after them, refusing to give up the chase. Shona and Fudge were running beside each other and Fudge was reaching out to Shona and Dean so that he could apparate. Fred watched in disappointment as Snape was able to apparate Lucy away from the scene. 

When Lucy and Snape arrived, they were in the abandoned classroom that they had apparated from. As soon as Fudge was back with Dean and Shona the apparation charm would remain strong again. 

A few seconds later Fudge arrived with Shona as well as Dean and Fred Weasley was left back in the Ministry. Lucy looked at everyone else and saw that they were indeed very tired after all of the running that they had to pursue. Snape seemed like the only one who was willing to speak. 

"That is the last time I break into the Ministry of Magic."