A Birth day

Yu continued to fire with Bubbles and his wand taking down men he watched as Angus dove into the thick of it then took off he glanced at Michael before firing again at another man. Aria looked to Marcus as he ahd spoken to her then to Evan nodding she understood " god his back" she said moving to his side as she fired quickly, one spell brushed past her arm she felt the burn but sisn't flintch insiead threw a knife at the man sending him dead tumbling into the fountain.

Yu had seen Angus take off and looked to Michael " one of us should go after him" he said firing behind Michael as a nman ran shouting at him. " will they ever give up" he said softly as he froze a second man in the water of the fountain.

"Marcus is with him," Evan said, "but I'd like to know what is so important about that one. He saw something that, clearly, I didn't." Just then someone hit his right arm with a blast of wand fire and causing him to fumble and drop his wand, his sleeve on fire. He used a nonverbal accio to summon his wand and began again to fire.

Angus had not wanted her to get out of the atrium, but she had, and she was racing down the hallway, and Marcus was wondering if, in the midst of the firing, he was hearing sneezing. Then he slipped on the floor and righted himself and saw a couple flobberworms on the floor. Could it be? He wondered. Was this short person in the death eater's costume really Suzanne in disguise? Was that who Angus was after? What in the world...? Marcus was puzzling. And then it made complete sense to him.

Marcus remembered hearing that Tom had apparently tried to find Robert at St. Mungos and hadn't been successful. Was this honestly all about getting Robert's attention to try to get him to heal Suzanne? If that was the case, this surely was not going to appeal to Robert's more merciful side--if Angus didn't off the hussy first.

Yu heard Even and nodded glad some one was backing him up. As he listened he saw the spell catch Evens arm and cast a jet of water to exstingush it before blacting several men into a far wall " there can't be many more" he said but glancing over at Aria he saw her fir and trow bubbles at men freezing them and sticking them with what looked like bright pink gum to the walls and floor along with several dead deatheaters that lay there too.

Aria transphigured into her dove form and flew over the top of a large group dropping bubbles as she went they stuck froze or floated up to the roof befoe she transphigured back into her human form beside Even " how you hanging in the?" she asked him glancing around to se Marcus gone and so was Angus.

"I'm fine," Evan said. "I was hoping I could keep track of Angus, but he took off after one of them. They went in one of those doors on the other side of the room. I presume that goes to some of the offices or something."

Upstairs, Marcus dashed into one of the offices that overlooked the atrium and blasted out a window.

"Hey, we got flobberworms up here," Marcus shouted to Aria. "Evan, watch your six!" He turned right away and dashed right back out to continue to try to follow Angus. He knew the mention of flobberworms would tell Aria all she needed to know.

"What?" Evan frowned, out of the loop entirely about Suzanne and the hex and the flobberworms. "I don't have a six, do I?" he asked Aria.

Aria looked at Yu then looked at Even with a chuckle "Oh great flobberworms, there" she pointed right behind Even. " its Auror talk for check your ass." she clarafied as she nodded watching Marcus take off " I think there going for Roberts office " she said and Yu agred " but untill we know for sure we stay put taking care of these men, Yu twelve oclock" she called and he fired off abouve him taking down a man who was about to drop right on top of him.

"thanks" he said as Aria returned to taking down the deatheaters as they both waited knowing if the were needed they would be sommoned or they could find them once the main fighting had died down.

Marcus ran back out into the hallway and tried to find Angus, but Angus was nowhere in sight. How could he have disappeared that fast. A wave of panic ran through Marcus. He had hoped to be able to send Aria a clue, with the flobberworms, that they were in pursuit of Suzanne since Suzanne had been sneezing and vomiting flobberworms. Thinking about it now, though, that didn't appear to be changing anything. Marcus ran as fast as he could go, looking for any sign of Angus, but it was as if Angus had just completely vanished.

Minutes ticked by, and in the atrium they were still fighting, although the death eaters were getting fewer. Evan ran over and ripped the masks off a couple of the death eaters who had fallen. He'd seen these faces before.

"We know these people from somewhere," Evan said, thinking. "Paris. I've seen them in Paris. They work for Gelding, I'm sure of it. And I bet you Angus is after either Tom or Suzanne. I bet that's who he ran after."

Aria watched as Even ran over and take a mask off a man as she walked over and nodded seeing the mans face. "We guessed as much when Marcus called flobberworms, only one person has those right now " she said and looked to Yu and Evan as he joined them " Suzzane so it must be Tom gelding" she said firing to take down another man " these men aren't that good for death eaters" she added.

" Probably from Toms less elite group, expendable to Tom." Yu said taking own two more men until there were only a few men left that the Aurors quickly took down. Now they looked around for Angus or Marcus but didn't move from the atrium .

Evan was clock watching now. It had been close to fifteen minutes, and still there was no word on Angus and Marcus. The Atrium was quieting now because there werent' enough of Tom's men left to keep it going, and some of the ones who were left appeared to be abandoning ship, either apparating out or dashing off to other parts of the ministry.

And then, there was breaking glass from some of the windows on the highest level above the atrium floor. Tom came to the window, and he used a sonorus spell.

"Lupin, come out and play!" Tom said loudly. "I've got your boy right here." He motioned, and his top two enforcers came forward. These were men who were close to Jack's size and muscle, and between them, they held up Angus's limp frame. Angus appeared to be knocked out. Evan froze, wide eyed. Angus had been overpowered? That just rarely happened. "Come out and play, Lupin, before my boys try to see just how well your lad here does a swan dive right out this window. If they don't practice their killing curse on him first."

"If they lay one hand on him..." Evan began softly, furious. He knew they needed to give Robert a moment to respond.

Aria and Yu stood looking up as glass showered down from above them. each listening and wanting to head up and beat Tom to a bloodie stain on the ground for harming Angus but at the same time nether wanted to do anything that would harm Angus " hes not here" Aria shouted " let Angus go" she finished " Robert isn't here, he was injured , why would he be here , hes not even minister any more thanks to that twerp whos taken his place" she called out hoping what ever Marcus was doing this would distract Tom long enough. A low growl from her riht informed her Jack had some how arrived but not been seen by Tom.

"Now listen very carefully, Tom," Robert's voice spoke through a sonorus spell. "I am giving you absolutely nothing while you have him, and if you hurt him, I will make sure you and Suzanne and your entire crew don't leave here until your ashes are swept up and chucked in the dustbin. You let him go--very, very gently---and then I might consider listening to you."

"You don't seem to understand, Lupin. I have the cards this time, not you. I have your boy, and I can take him out in a mere moment."

"I heard you the first time," Robert said. "If you harm him, you get absolutely nothing. You're going to have to let him go before you get anything. And every minute you stall means one of your men is going to be secured and taken into custody." Evan looked at Aria.

"We're supposed to start securing them, I take it?" Evan knew that if they secured all of Gelding's fighters down here, that wasn't leaving Tom much bargaining power at all. "Oh, and by the way, you might be interested in queen in my hand tonight."

A flash of magic swept around the atrium, and all the flags changed to what really was a beautiful photo of Robert holding a baby girl in a pink blanket with a golden script G monogram in the corner. Tom's face paled, seeing the image of Robert holding Diamond in his arms.

"Oh, and now Robert's playing a rather fierce game of chess," Evan said quietly to Aria.

"Don't you hurt her!" Tom shouted.

"You let him go first," Robert insisted calmly. Marcus apparated in behind Aria.

"Robert knows where Suzanne is trying to hide upstairs, I think," Marcus said softly to Aria and Evan. "Nice of you to join us, Jack. Suppose you and I can apparate up there and take out those two big gorillas of Tom's before they could off Angus? Is it worth the risk to try it?"