===June 7 1996===
A group of dementors flies toward Harry. 'Let me kill them!' Atrunant says.
"Maybe once we're done with the prophecy." Harry replies, not sure how much longer he'll be able to command the demonic blade.
As the dementors approach Harry pulls up the memory of the first time he held one of his daughters as he casts his spell. "Expecto Patronum!" The spectral lion appears and swipes away several of the dementors.
Then the lion roars, shaking the room and knocking dementors down. During this one prophecy falls to the floor and starts to roll away.
'I think that's the one.' Atrunant says, mockingly.
"What was your first clue?" Harry asks with more than a bit of sarcasm as he goes after it.
#####
Sirius and Peter shoot spells back and forth. The two former friends know each other's techniques so well that they are able to move well before a spell hits them.
The spells take chunks out of the walls, floor and even the ceiling as they miss their intended targets. Focused on each other with such a single-minded purpose the dementors fly right past them.
The fight between the once friends works its way further and further through the Hall of Prophecies. Soon they arrive at the literal dead end of the Department of Mysteries. The Death Chamber and the veil. A mystical object that separates the living from the dead.
#####
The killing curse strikes Malachi. His sword hits the ground as his body falls to the floor, his left arm tucked under him and his right arm stretched out towards Voldemort.
Voldemort smirks as he walks over to Malachi's body. "You should have known this was inevitable, Meris." He says as he steps right beside Malachi's outstretched hand. "No one betrays me and lives."
"We'll see about that!" Malachi growls as he very suddenly opens his eyes, grabs Voldemort's foot, and yanks him down.
In his surprise Voldemort falls to the ground, hitting it hard and losing his wand as he does. Voldemort quickly scrambles backward, before getting up. "How are you not dead?"
As Malachi gets up the ruined sleeve of his jacket falls down revealing his prosthetic arm. "Damn, I liked that jacket too." He says as he pulls the jacket off.
#####
Hermione lays on the ground in a fetal position awaiting the pain from the curse. After a few seconds she looks up and sees Dolohov slumped down on the ground. Neville stands there holding his sword.
"Hermione, you okay?" Neville asks as he offers her a hand up with his free hand.
Hermione nods as she gets up with Neville's help all the while keeping an eye on Dolohov.
"He's out, I hit him in the back of the head with the hilt of my sword." Neville says. "He'll have a headache when he wakes up."
"He deserves it." Hermione says.
"What happened?"
"We were battling when I teleported to surprise him. He was expecting that. I suppose the damned rat must have told him I could do it." Hermione explains. "He caught me with a magic binding spell when I appeared. He was just about to start torturing me when you showed up."
"Guess I showed up at the right time then." Neville says.
"How did you get here?" Hermione asks.
"Funny story," Nevile laughs, then all of a sudden dementors flood into the atrium from the Department of Mysteries.
"Save it for later." Hermione says.
Neville nods as he pulls out his wand "Expecto Patronum!"
Much to Hermione's surprise the mist from Neville's patronus begins to take a form. In the air before them is a short animal with a flat, wedge-shaped body and broad feet with long claws. "Is your patronus a badger?" Hermione asks.
"Are you really surprised? I'm in love with a Hufflepuff after all." Neville says.
"I think there's more to it than that." Hermione says. "Badgers look like they'd be easy to defeat, but are vicious when backed into a corner. I think that describes you perfectly."
Neville's badger succeeds in fending off the dementors for a time, but as more and more of the wraiths appear it becomes apparent that it is quickly getting overwhelmed. That's when a silver wolf rushes through the dementors, breaking up the group. A silver jack rabbit follows.
"Professor Lupin!" Hermione calls out.
Remus steps into the room. "I keep telling you I'm no longer your Professor."
"I need someone to unbind my magic." Hermione says
"Tonks can do it." Remus says as Tonks walks behind him.
"No problem at all." Tonks says, as he dismisses the jack rabbit. "Come here."
Hermione goes over to the pink-haired auror. "Where are Fred and George?"
"We left them guarding the corridor where we fought some death eaters." Remus says.
Hermione nods and watches as Tonks finishes unbinding her magic. "That should do it." Tonks says.
"I believe this is yours." Neville says as he hands Hermione her wand.
Hermione turns to the doorway to the Department of Mysteries. The dementors swarm through the doorway and keep filling the room. "I can't keep them away much longer." Remus says.
"No need." Hermione says. "We're going through them." She readies her wand, and once she has the memory casts the spell.
"Expecto Patronum!" The silver mist quickly takes the form of a lioness, instead of her eagle. She rolls her eyes and sighs before using her patronus to blow a hole through the dementors leaving the doorway open.
#####
Harry chases the rolling prophecy until it comes to a stop. "Now."
'Yes!' Atrunant yells. The black blade erupts in black flames.
Harry swings the blade, shattering the prophecy. The dementors swarm him, suddenly the blade jerks in his hand as if it has a mind of its own. The blade slices through a few dementors, the black flame quickly envelopes them and burns them to nothing.
"You've had your fun." Harry says. "Go back to Malachi." He tosses the demonic blade to the ground and runs back the way he came, summoning his sword as he does.
#####
"I had wondered how you survived the ritual." Voldemort says.
"Then I used it to block your killing curse." Malachi says as he moves the arm, articulaing the fingers as he does. "I'm surprised it still works."
"Let's find out how many hits you can take." Voldemort growls as he grabs his wand off the ground.
"It doesn't matter anymore. My job is done here." Malachi says.
"What job?"
"Distraction, while Harry destroys the prophecy." Malachi says as he summons both his swords to emphasize the point. "It's over, you failed."
"Then I have further business here." Voldemort says as he goes to turn himself to smoke.
"Freeze!" A man yells. They both turn to see a group of aurors standing in a semicircle with wands drawn, hoods concealing their features.
"Took you long enough to get here." Malachi says.
"Drop your weapons." The auror at the apex of the semicircle says. "You are both under arrest."
Malachi allows his swords to vanish and puts his hands up. "I surrender. "
All the aurors turn to Voldemort. "We have the building surrounded. Along with anti-apparition, and anti-portkey wards. You are not going anywhere."
"You'll find I go wherever I want." Voldemort says as he turns to smoke and blinds them all with his smokem
Malachi drops to the ground as the aurors fire spells randomly. The smoke then forms into a column and reassembles into Voldemort. As the smoke that was around the aurors clears, only the one that had spoken is left standing. He looks around in shock at his unconscious allies.
"Avada Kadavra!" Voldemort yells, the green spell hits the auror killing him instantly. Then he turns back into smoke and heads further into the Department of Mysteries.
#####
Fred and George are guarding the corridor back from the Department of Mysteries, the Death Eaters long unconscious, when dementors start flying at them. They look at each other nervously as they ready their wands.
"Expecto Patronum!" They say in unison, a pair of silver magpies flitter about trying to keep the dementors at bay.
The twins start backing up when a silver horse bursts through the dementors. Ginny steps up behind her patronus. "What would you two do without me?"
#####
Peter fires a spell at Sirius who dodges it, losing his wand in the process. Sirius quickly shifts into his animagus form and bites Peter's right arm.
Peter flails backwards, nearly falling into the veil. He jerks his arm forward making Sirius lose his bite and go flying across the room hitting a wall, leaving him dazed. "Goodbye, Padfoot."
"Stupefy!" Harry shouts, the red spell just misses the traitor.
"Potter, you and your wife ruined what I had going." Peter says. "I'm going to enjoy killing you." He readies his wand. "Avada.."
Peter is cut off by Sirius tackling him, knocking both of them into the veil. "Sirius!" Harry shouts moments too late as he watches both his Godfather and his parents' betrayer vanish.
The smoke form of Voldemort sweeps around and back out as Hermione comes around. "Harry!" She yells as she runs towards him and hugs him. "What happened?"
"Sirius." Harry says sadly as he drops his sword and hugs her back.
"No," Hermione says sadly.
Harry nods. "He took Pettigrew with him."
Remus, Tonks and Neville come up behind them. "The dementors are retreating." Remus says.
"Did we win?" Neville asks.
"We did, but at what cost?" Harry asks.
"Harry, what are you talking about?" Remus asks.
"Remus, you might want to sit down." Hermione says.
None of them notice the smoke form of Voldemort go through the halls, turning the fallen Death Eaters into smoke as it does.