CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

As always, Jisoo was running out of time.

She could not wait any longer until dawn as what Seulgi had promised, but she cannot entirely blame the other girl for her decisions at this time. The Ministry had been severely compromised: Taehyung had almost escaped and Jinyoung was recovering from poison. Nobody can be certain that all the moles the Death Eaters had planted were captured. Incidents like these slowed down their momentum. There was just one final horcrux left and they are so close to defeating the Dark Lord. All that had happened so far was delaying them, and maybe that was what the Death Eaters wanted. 

Jisoo is not going to give them what they want. 

As soon as her team leader had dismissed her, she turned her heel the other way and the plan had spawned in her mind before she could even steady her heartbeats or wait for the adrenaline rush of the chase to wear off. 

She spots Jungkook at the other side of the aftermath, treating one of the injured Ministry employees that had been caught in between the scuffle earlier on. She scans her surroundings, but it seems nobody pays her much attention as everyone in the lobby was either tending to the wounded or were helping discard and clean up the mess she made. 

She lowers her head. When she's by Jungkook's side, she drops her voice to a whisper and the sensation of her so close behind him sends shivers down his spine. He almost jumps in his own skin when whispers in a lowered, brassy voice. "Meet me at the hall near the Office of Magical Transportation when you're done." Her words fly out of her lips. As soon as she's said them, she stands and walks away quickly without looking back at him. 

Jisoo hides in the shadows of a small hallway that connected the Office of Magical Transportation to a small crossing that led to several other offices. Nobody would be passing by down here at this time where everyone was preoccupied up in the lobby and the rest of the Ministry was combing the background of employees for potential breaches in security. But just as an extra precaution, she flicks her wrist to dim down the flames of the torches.

Footsteps echo through the hallway not long after she had settled in the darkness and ambiguity of this area in the Ministry. Jungkook almost misses her when he passes by where she hides, but she grabs onto his arm and pulls him aside. 

Startled, Jungkook raises his wand to her face, which irks her. "Put that away." She swats his arm to the side. 

"So - sorry," Jungkook stammers, looking away from her steely gaze. 

Jisoo rolls her eyes. "You know where the exact location for the next horcrux is, don't you?"

Jungkook remains stubborn in avoiding her eyes. But even as his face is partly covered in the shadows of the dimly-lit hallway, Jisoo can see and feel his hesitance. He lets out an unsure, "Yes?"

"Tell me where it is." Jisoo says, or more like, demands of him. To say that she was desperate at this point would be an understatement. 

Jungkook glances at her, his hesitation turning into unease. But he still can't meet her eyes. "Why?" 

The lie easily rolls out of her. "I want to know in advance so I can prepare for tomorrow. We have to strategize and think of the best way to handle the situation. Seulgi's out of sorts at the moment, and I haven't seen Jennie and Hoseok since earlier." She says in the most compelling voice she could muster. It wasn't all a lie, the bit about their other team mates were true. Seulgi was in no state to handle another hrocrux operation and the other two have been MIA since earlier. 

But Jungkook is not the least bit convinced. "No, you won't." 

"Won't what?" Jisoo asks, feigning innocence. 

"'Prepare for tomorrow,'" he says while using his fingers to mimic air quotations around the phrase. He's finally looking at her, reading her, and trying to find what she has up her sleeve. Before Jisoo could strengthen her excuse, Jungkook speaks again. "You're going to go now." 

Merlin, this boy was good. Jisoo acts unfazed. "So?" There is no point in hiding anymore when her cards are slowly being laid out in the open. 

"So, I'm going to inform Seulgi of your rogue plans." He says matter-of-factly.

Jisoo can't help but snort. "You sound like a bloody first year." She shakes her head, wondering why it was taking so long for her to weasel out the information from him. They could be discovered by any of the Aurors at any moment, worse if it were someone from their own team. They kept their voices lowered, but Jisoo shouldn't be taking any chances by dragging this conversation on. 

"Seulgi is not going to be happy with you if I told her," he points out. "You're going to break her trust." 

She tilts her head to the side and stares blankly at him. 'You won't tell her because I'll knock you unconscious and lock in you a broom closet until I get back." To make a point, Jisoo lifts her wand threateningly. 

Jungkook's eyes widen in bewilderment. "W - what? You can't do that!" He protests loudly, making Jisoo glare at him. "You can't do that because I have the exact location and nobody else is going to disclose it to you. Not Jennie, not Hoseok, and certainly not Seulgi."

"But you will?" Jisoo places a hand on his shoulder, steeling her gaze once more.

He shakes off her hand and she rolls her eyes at him. "No, stop that."

He makes a move to walk past her but she blocks his way. "Fine," she says, obviously annoyed beyond measure. His ears seem to perk up, but the light in his face dies down instantly as Jisoo rummages for something in her pouch. "I didn't want to do this you know, but I think I have a few drops of veritaserum somewhere in my bag -"

"I'll go with you."

"What?" His sudden offer momentarily catches her off-guard. When she sees the determined look on his face, she scowls. This had not been a part of her plan. Her plan consisted of getting the information out from him and to go to the location alone and destroy the horcrux herself. It was supposed to be easy peasy.

Going alone wasn't because so Jisoo could take all the credit for what Seulgi and her team had worked for, and it wasn't even so that she could extract revenge on the Dark Lord.

Well, that was one reason but it was also because she didn't want anyone else to get into deep trouble because of her, because of what she was about to do. 

It's true that everyone had been somewhat rattled by the events that transpired just mere hours ago, Jisoo included. Nayeon's betrayal stung, but she had to put it aside for now because they were wasting precious time yet again. Amid the height of the war, she simply does not have the time nor luxury to process her emotions. Seulgi and even Jinyoung would undoubtedly be pissed at her but at least, she would get the job done even at the cost of their trust or her own life. 

"I said, I'll go with you." Jungkook repeats, as if Jisoo hadn't heard him the first time. "You can't do it alone and you need me, I already fashioned a portkey earlier before this whole mess took place." 

Jisoo narrows her eyes at him. "Just tell me where it is, Jungkook." 

He lets out a sigh, and something in his gaze shifts dramatically as he takes a step closer towards her. He takes another, which forces Jisoo to step back to keep the distance between them respectable. "Jisoo," he says her name like a sigh is released from his lips. "Why don't I just show the location to you instead?" 

Jisoo's back has hit the cold wall of the hallway and her eyes scan the area, but nobody is around. "No." At least she was able to keep her voice strong and firm. She's looking at him with narrowed eyes, her stomach churning as the gears in her head turn. "Why do you want to go with me in the first place?"