The minister’s office was dark these days. Each report came with an ink that leaked down the parchment like spilled wine. It gathered on the desk, staining it black. The dust of the papers always rose to cover the scarce light that was there. It was difficult and gripping, almost suffocating, whenever Lily attempted to take a breath. 

But most terrifying was the shadow that seemed to loom over the entire building. Rufus was always with her, fetching papers when he was not standing guard. His eyes darted at every corner of the office, looking for death eaters in the footsteps left by stray rats. 

Lily rubbed her eyes. Even the words in front of her seemed to blur, and not from her lack of sleep. She had been drinking potion after potion these days, with little time to even breathe. How she wished James was here! He could stay up all day and night studying a spell to cast on Severus on their next encounter. Or maybe just flash one of his winning smiles and earn himself another companion to do all his work as he chatted about Quidditch. No! She needed to focus. 

The words took shape before her eyes. Lily gasped. “Three hundred? How?” 

“This wasn’t the only location. All the places we have set up for training the drafted wizards have been hexed or jinxed. Boggarts in the walls, banshees in the basement. It’s chaos, Lily. The death eaters have prepared traps. As for the aurors there, we haven’t found them.” He said, his voice growing quiet. 

Lily’s blood ran cold. “Do their families know?” 

She saw him grow pale. “Lily, you can’t be serious, if word got out there would be a pan-” 

“Do their families know?” She repeated. 

His silence was enough of an answer for her. “We can’t cover up our failings, Rufus. They may be dead and nobody else knows what happened. We cannot continue like this.” 

“We must! For the greater good, Lily. They believed Fudge because he didn’t make mistakes. If they see you doing worse-” Lily stood up. 

“Fudge covered up his innumerable mistakes, I will not! I will not be like a child hiding from the headmaster’s ire. If my orders are flawed then they deserve to know. The last thing we need is two tyrants warring for dominance!” She shouted. 

He seemed cowed, if that was possible. “What do we do then?” 

Lily tapped her head. “Find a place, a hidden place. Connect it to the ministry building’s floo network and have the recruits meet here. Regroup all aurors into two groups, one for investigating the death eater’s movements, and another for defending the ministry building. Gather all of our wizards for a meeting and have them searched for the dark mark at once. Any who attempt to escape, will be assumed to be death eaters.” She said. 

Rufus frowned. “Surely you cannot suspect spies among us?” 

“If we do not do this, the ministry may be full of them. To search one but not all would be unfair. Keep reporters at the event, and require every wizard to attend, all of them! Every one of us who works at the ministry must be cleared of suspicion. Have the potioneers prepare veritaserum, we will need it. Any who fail to attend are to be arrested.” Lily said. 

“These are drastic measures, Lily. Even Crouch would-” 

She cut him off. “I am not Crouch. But we must do this if the war could ever end. We will also need a way of removing the Imperius curse. Magical disenchanting devices are difficult to find. Normally I would never suggest such a thing, but this is not normal. Contact the goblins.” 

Rufus’ eyes widened. “The thief’s downfall? They will never agree! It’s not meant to be a detector for magical influence.”

“It will be. Have our wizards pass through every day to ensure they are not under the influence of the Imperius curse, and be sure to have their families as witnesses to ensure that they are not using the polyjuice potion. Have the aurors utilize the Fidelius charm, with Dumbledore or I as witness.” Lily ordered. 

Rufus gaped. “This has never-” 

“We are at war!” Lily snapped. “Am I the minister or not? Follow your orders!” 

Rufus sighed. “There will be backlash.” He warned. 

Lily’s back straightened, and her eyes became steel. “But it will be done.”