The fight at the Rowle residence was in full swing by the time Dumbledore, the Scamanders, McGonagall, Urquart, Frank, Alice, Dorcas and the Prewett twins arrived. There was broken furniture flying about and windows had been blasted free of glass. The moment they'd stepped through the door, Dorcas and Gideon had been blasted by a flying bit of stairwell that had knocked them both to the floor, and Dorcas had let out a shriek as her back slammed into a couch. Bellatrix Lestrange cackled and danced about, one of the only recognizable death eaters - even with her mask, there was no hiding her voice, energy, and outrageous hair. There were spells exchanged between both sides as the fighting wore on. But the loosing side was clear rather quickly and the Death Eaters scattered when they saw Albus Dumbledore burst through the front door of the residence, the house elves taken to hiding long before that point, scared of the fighting. The fight had simmered from a full blown battle into a clean up of the captured fighters and taking inventory on the Order members injured within minutes after Dumbledore set a spell that blew a burst of power so strong it knocked the wands out of every hand around him - including Moody's and Remus's who were arguably the strongest two wizards present, besides Dumbledore himself, that is.

Sirius was limping, and Remus was watching him concerned. Jasper had run to Meg Johnson's side and found she'd been hexed badly and her leg bore a large gash that ran from the outside of her left knee around to the right side of her left ankle in a curling fashion as though she'd been struck by a jagged whip. Jasper and Marlene together took Meg to Mungo's. Dorcas and Gideon were trying to rouse Edgar Bones, who lay on the floor where Thorfinn Rowle had flattened him in the first moments of the battle beginning. He didn't wake with the ennervate, but Dorcas had found a pulse relatively strong, so there was no telling what sort of injury Bones had suffered.

"You ougth to be checked, too," Remus told Sirius as Sirius winced and limped about.

"You can check on me later," Sirius said, trying to turn his wince into a smirk, though not entirely successfully. Remus wondered if it was his imagination that Sirius's voice might be a couple octaves higher than usual. "Or perhaps maybe give me a day or two before you check, huh?"

Remus shook his head. "You're ridiculous."

"No, I'm Sirius."

Moody marched about, looking over the others carefully. "I'd call this a success," he declared.

Tina Scamander raised an eyebrow. "A success? We haven't captured You Know Who... and this clearly isn't his headquarters, it's just an ambush -- they knew we were coming, just like Gideon said they would."

"No but we got a couple of his men -" Moody waved a palm at Rowle and four other masked figures that had been neutralized during the fight - three of which were Remus Lupin's work. "And we can dragnet a bit of information from them back at the Ministry before we send them to Azkaban to rot under the dementor's feedings."

Sirius felt a chill travel down his spine and imagined Achlys billowing about in the cavity around his heart ominously.

"Sirius!" He looked about for who was calling his name, half thinking it had been Achlys, but nobody was looking at him - Remus was looking about, too, for the source of the voice when it called again, "SIRIUS!"

"Isn't that James?" Remus asked, confused.

Sirius lit up and reached into his leather jacket's pocket, removing the bit of mirror. James stared out from the reflection, a panicked look in his eyes, Lily right beside him, their faces pressed together to both peer through. "Oh my stars, you're alright!" Lily gasped, seeing him.

"Yes, I'm alright!" Sirius announced.

"Lily thought you might've been hurt."

"Not badly - just down for a minute!"

"I told him he should go to Mungo's," Remus input.

Sirius looked up at Remus. "And tell them what? That I've suffered an injury in my ---"

"Sirius!" Remus cut him off. "And yes, you should tell them that, perhaps in nicer terms but yes."

Lily looked at James, "I told you that's what happened!"

James shook his head, then laughed, "Ah Padfoot, they say that it's best to spay and neuter your pets." Sirius opened his mouth to respond, but James said, "Oi, speaking of pets --"

"YOUR DAMN CAT IS FINE!" Sirius interrupted before the rest of the sentence could be said. "Now excuse me, my darlings, but we're rather busy picking up after a battle that you lot were too busy to attend. I shall speak to you later." Then, remembering suddenly, "ACTUALLY EVANS I HAVE SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO TELL YOU ABOUT LATER, OKAY? SO I REALLY SHALL SPEAK TO YOU LATER!" and before they could say more, Sirius had shoved the mirror back into his pocket.

At Mungo's, Meg was healed up with some liquid skin and a replenishing potion to make up for the blood she'd lost. Jasper stayed right by her side and listened as Marlene grilled Meg for all the details about her and Jasper's engagement, much like Sirius had done to Jasper himself. The difference being that Meg and Marlene had chatted many times about Jasper Odair and the level of appreciation that Meg had for the boy. It was no surprise to Marlene that they'd become engaged quickly because Marlene had always wanted them to end up together anyway. "Ever since you started at Hogwarts," Marlene said. "I mean, I supported you when you were going out with other boys of course, but I just always thought you'd end up with Jasper."

"It took some time," Jasper input, "But eventually we found each other."

Meg smirked, "Odair you are."

"That is only acceptable from Sirius Black," Jasper said, shaking his head.

"Oh gods," Meg gasped suddenly. "He's going to start doing that to me now, isn't he?"

"Probably."

Meg shook her head, "I'll have to hex him if he does!"

"I reckon he would find that funny," Jasper murmured, and Marlene guffawed loudly as Meg gave him a beady eye.

Edgar Bones lay in his hospital bed, Gideon and Dorcas waiting alongside him while the mediwitches tried to solve the puzzle what he'd been hit with, why the ennervate wasn't working, and what to do next. Testing had been suspended, so there was little investigation that could be done once they'd gone past doing scans on his brain and nervous system to see if there was physical damages done, but whatever it was seemed to be a magical cause and they were struggling to determine exactly what it could be.

"I won't give up until I've solved it, though," the mediwitch on the case promised. She had long black hair and her name was Abigail Jones.

"Jones will fix Bones," Gideon murmured, thinking if he were more in the mood this would certainly be something to make jokes about, but honestly he was too worried.

"It'll be alright," Dorcas said, seeing the upset expression on Gideon's face. "Honestly, it will." She leaned over and kissed his cheek, running her hand over his hair gently.

Gideon nodded.

Dorcas sat nervously, and Gideon held her hand. She glanced at the clock on the wall as it ticked loudly, and drew a deep breath, running her hand down the front of her blouse, which was dirty from the fight. Her back ached ominously and she bit her lip, thinking of how hard she'd hit the floor back at the Rowle residence. She glanced at Gideon, who was half nodding off, his expression tired and weary.

"I could really use some coffee, and a quick walk," she said. "I think I'll go down to the cafe for a moment, just to get some air..."

"You get me one, too?" Gideon asked, looking up.

"Of course," Dorcas nodded. "I'll be right back."

She got up and slipped out of the room, checking her watch and hurrying down stairs. She passed the floor that Meg Johnson and the others were on and arrived at a counter in the lobby. She leaned close to the witch at the check-in station, who looked up and smiled welcomingly. "Hi," Dorcas said quietly, "Can I make an appointment?"

"Absolutely. Name?"

"Dorcas Meadowes."

"And who are you needing to see, Miss. Meadowes?"

"Dr. Harriet Linderberg," Dorcas whispered. She hesitated, "She's an obstetrician... I - I've had a bit of a fall and I just need to check on - on my baby."

The witch nodded, "Any particular date?"

"As soon as possible."

"Yes, miss... Hmm.. is Thursday okay? We've had a cancellation, I can get you in around two."

"Yes, perfect." Dorcas nodded, "Perfect. Put me down. Also, can you point me in the direction of where I can get a couple cups of coffee?"

"Just down the hall is the refreshments room."

"Thank you."

Dorcas hurried to get the coffee, her face burning and one hand on her belly, sure that all the world had overheard her.

The last thing she wanted was for Gideon Prewett to hear about it.