Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this chapter other than Ivy Jones, or any of the concepts of ideas from the books, or the quotes borrowed to make this chapter fit in with the book, they all belong to the brilliant JK Rowling.

Chapter three: The Struggle In The Skies.

Ivy

Still a few weeks ago

Harry's Polyjuice Potion tasted of caramel, but not in a way that made the potion thick or sickly, it was just a hint of taste that made the drinking of the potion actually quite pleasant. As the potion travelled down my throat and I handed Moody back the shot glass, I looked around at the others who had also taken it. Fred and George shared a look and shrugged at each other with a chorus of 'not bad', Mundungus was still looking apprehensive and Ron and Hermione looked at me, seeming content but knowing full well what was to come. And then the potion took effect. Suddenly my stomach began to twist and coil as though excited snakes were wriggling through my insides. Several of the other soon-to-be Harry's wrapped their arms around their waists and pulled alarmed expressions. I didn't, I was used to this level of unpleasantness, especially in the pit of my stomach, it had been my constant companion since June, and so I didn't mind it much. However, when my skin began to bubble I did react. Lifting my arms outwards I watched as my skin bubbled like hot wax and began to change, feeling the writhing in my stomach getting even worse and my legs beginning to ache.

"Bloody Hell!" Mundungus exclaimed as his face began to shift and change.

I watched as his sagging features firmed and began to change into Harry's and then all of a sudden I began to shoot upwards, my legs lengthening to Harry's height. Around me Hermione and Mundungus were also growing, while Ron, Fred and George were all shrinking. The pain of the transformation and my gasp joined the groans of agony and discomfort the others were giving off, the ache of my writhing insides making me want to double over myself in an effort to lessen the pain. Feeling extremely uncomfortable I felt the weight of my mahogany hair lessen on my shoulders as it grew shorter and shorter, my scalp burning a little as it did so, and I watched as a brown lock shifted to black before my eyes, as it receded to my head.

One moment I was watching the same thing happen to Hermione and seeing the boys' bright red hair suddenly darken, and then the next everything was just a blur, my eyes strained and then all I could see was the fuzzy coloured shapes of those in front of me. I squinted in an automatic effort to clear things up, only to gasp when the transformation was competed and a quick flash of mild pain spread across my forehead, which I guessed now bore the same lightning shaped scar as Harry's.

"Blimey," I breathed as the bubbling subsided and my eyesight cleared enough for me to see a little better "this is a bit different."

"Just a bit," Harry affirmed from behind me, sounding thoroughly weirded out, which was understandable really, since he was looking at six clones of himself.

"Wow – we're identical!" Said the two blurry Harry's over by the kitchen table, in unison.

"I dunno, though," said Fred, turning and glancing into the kettle behind him "I still think I'm better-looking."

Chuckling I turned as Moody's gravely voice said "those whose clothes are a bit roomy, I've got smaller here," as he gestured towards a sack on the floor "and vice versa. Don't forget the glasses, there's six pairs in the side pocket. And when you're dressed, there's luggage in the other sack."

Making my way carefully towards the sack that held the larger robes, I squinted through Harry's eyes, hoping that I wouldn't fall over anything and that I'd be able to get out of these robes soon, since there were rather tight now. Grabbing a new set of robes from the sack I quickly changed, glad of my… err, Harry's poor eye sight because I was sure that the sight of Harry without his clothes on was, as a friend, a sight I could live quite happily without, even if it was really me and not Harry. Once dressed in more comfortable robes I opened up a pair of glasses that matched Harry's completely and put them on, the relief of being able to see was instant. The room cleared up and once again I could see everyone with crystal clear clarity.

"I knew Ginny was lying about the tattoo," Ron said looking down at his bare chest, which was now identical to Harry's and I grinned when I though of how Ginny had once told the other girls that Harry had a hippogriff tattooed to his chest. It was such a ridiculous notion, but they had believed her.

"Harry," Hermione said as she peered out into the room, struggling before she put on her pair of glasses "your eyesight really is awful."

I grinned at the, slightly red-faced, real Harry, trying to reassure him but also trying not to laugh, as he looked pretty embarrassed, before pulling a rucksack and a cage from the other sack, examining the stuffed snowy owl before setting it down on the floor. Right then, it looked like we were ready.

"Good," Moody said as he inspected the six of us, identical in every visible way to the real Harry. "The pairs will be as follows: Mundungus will be travelling with me, by broom -"

"Why'm I with you?" asked the Harry I took to be Mundungus, looking pretty bothered by Moody's grouping.

"Because you're the one that needs watching," Moody said without hesitation, his voice leaving no room for further argument "Arthur and Fred - " Moody said pointing to another Harry.

"I'm George," said one of the Weasley twins before adding in a shocked voice, "can't you even tell us apart when we're Harry?"

"Sorry George," Moody apologised, looking like he was anxious to continue with the list and head on with the mission.

"I'm only yanking your wand," the twin laughed as the other sniggered "I am Fred really-"

"Enough messing around!" Moody roared "the other one – George or Fred or whoever you are – you're with Remus. Miss Jones is with Bill on Thestral," at that Bill flashed me a smile and a thumbs up which I returned "and Miss Granger is with Kingsley, again by Thestral." Hermione smiled pleasantly at Kingsley, who I knew she felt safe with, and I also knew from our earlier conversation that she was glad not to be going by broom.

"Which leaves you and me, Ron!" Tonks said happily, knocking over a mug-tree in her excitement, laughing at Ron's expression I went to help her righten it. My completely unfazed, pink haired friend winked at me as she picked up a newly chipped mug. Which made me think that she knew Ron was less than comforted by being her partner, and the pair of us grinned as we turned back to the others.

"An' you're with me, Harry," said Hagrid "we'll be on the bike, brooms an' Thestrals can't take me weight, see. 'Not a lot of room on the seat with me on it, though, so you'll be in the sidecar."

"That's great," Harry told an anxious looking Hagrid, who brightened at that, though from the edge to Harry's voice I could tell he wasn't exactly being truthful. He had probably hoped that he would be on a broom.

"We think the Death Eaters will expect you to be on a broom," Moody explained "Snape's had plenty of time to tell them everything about you he's never mentioned before, so if we do run into any Death Eaters, we're betting they'll choose one of the Potters who look at home on a broomstick. All right then," Moody said as he began to tie up the sacks "I make it three minutes until we're supposed to leave. No point locking the back door, it won't keep the Death Eaters out when they come looking…come on…"

Feeling increasingly more anxious I walked by Tonks' side as we headed towards the back door and Harry went to pick up his stuff. I didn't know why I was suddenly worried, I supposed that it was a natural reaction to doing something as important as this; I didn't want to mess up and to let Harry get hurt, so maybe this feeling was nothing. However, by now I knew that these feelings I got were very rarely nothing, and so decided to keep a keen eye on the darkness when we started to fly. Determined that I should do my best here I joined Bill by the side of our Thestral, before accepting a leg up from him and getting on its back. Bill was sat in front of me when Harry came out and we were all ready to go.

Looking to my right I spotted a nervous looking Hermione, whose gaze kept flicking towards Harry, who was now settling himself in the sidecar of Sirius' old motorbike. She met my gaze and asked "have you seen anything?"

I shook my head "No, not since I was with my family."

She nodded but didn't look any more reassured, meanwhile I was wondering. Not only had I not seen anything more about what would happen tonight, I hadn't had a single vision at all since I was at the safe house, not even a trivial one, which was really strange, since I was usually plagued by pointless visions.

"All right then," Moody called pulling me from my thoughts, on an impulse I took my wand from my pocket, just in case. "Everyone ready, please; I want us to leave at exactly the right time or the whole point of the diversion's lost."

"Hold on tight," Bill said and a little cautiously, since he was Fleur's fiancée, I wrapped my left arm firmly around his waist, quelling comparisons between him and the last guy I'd been this close to before they even had the chance to form properly in my mind. My right held my wand and right now I was also holding the ring, which hung from a chain around my neck, tightly in that hand. Subconsciously drawing strength from it and feeling my heart pound anxiously in my chest.

"Good luck, everyone," Moody shouted and I let go of the ring, which landed heavily against my heart, and wrapped my wand arm around Bill's waist as well. "See you all in about an hour at the Burrow."

Feeling increasingly more worried and suddenly not wanting to take flight at all since I now had an unexpected desire for us all to remain on the ground, I looked at my friends. Hermione looked anxious as well, Ron seemed a little awkward with his hands on Tonks' waist and Harry looked thoughtful, however, every single one of them had an expression of determination of their faces. Taking that into me I sat a little straighter on the Thestral and pushed aside all reluctant thoughts, we were doing this. I had to be ready.

"On the count of three." Moody called "one…two…THREE."

The motorbike gave a gigantic roar as it shot upwards; the Thestral I was riding gave a sudden lurch and with a massive beat of its wings, shot upwards. Higher and higher we rose, the others climbing up into the night around us. Frantic I started to look around, trying to appease the sudden fear that consumed me. I was terrified for no obvious reason, my heart was hammering painfully in my chest and my breathing was suddenly erratic. Something was wrong, I was sure of it. Staring out from behind Harry's glasses I scanned the darkness with keen precision, trying to remember, as I did, if I had had any other visions about us evacuating Harry. I needn't have bothered though, for the moment we finished our assent not one of us could miss what was waiting for us there. Death Eaters. There were at least thirty of them forming a loose circle around us, around Harry's old house, waiting for us. Just like in my vision.

I didn't have a chance to think any more than that, because at that moment each Death Eater took aim and red and green jets of light flew through the air towards us all. I felt my newly greened eyes widen in horror, my lips part in shock and my heart plummet as I stared out at the circle of hooded figures. Time seemed to slow down then, only for a moment so that my mind could capture, in perfect clarity, the terror of each detail of their presence here. We were all in serious danger now.

"Hold on!" Bill shouted as time retuned to normal and I had only just the time to tighten my grip around his waist, before the Thestral dived suddenly. Pressing my cheek against Bill's leather jacket clad back, I felt that awful falling sensation and knew my stomach had been left back up with the Death Eaters. Spells were sent after us as we dived and Bill guided the Thestral to fly abruptly right to avoid them, a jet of green light whizzed past my left ear and I turned to look back up at them.

The circle of Death Eaters had split up now, separating so that they could chase after us all, dividing up into groups. Panic flooded through me as I looked back, watching as the murderous monsters chased after my friends, my heart ached with worry for them and I stared in horror as they carried on firing spells at the people I cared about. Bill altered our course so that we were heading back in the direction we were supposed to go, north, avoiding another jet as he did so, and meanwhile I followed my friends with my gaze.

On their brooms Mr. Weasley and Fred were heading east, dodging oncoming spells and sending a few back to their pursuers, Lupin and George meanwhile were heading west and had about five Death Eaters on their tail. Tonks and Ron where heading south, their outlines going fainter and fainter as we sped in the opposite direction. Harry and Hagrid were also zooming off, Hagrid mercifully putting his foot down and trying to get Harry away, though Death Eaters still pursued them. I was sure that I could hear my dark-haired friend shouting over the cries of the others. Oh God. I thought as fear gripped me tight and I started to panic, my wits leaving me as I watched my friends in danger, and then Bill swerved abruptly to avoid another curse, shocking me from my thoughts. I came to my senses then, my head cleared a little and while my fear didn't subside at all, I knew that I needed to focus now. How else could I help anyone?

The Death Eaters weren't leaving Bill and I alone either, there were about a dozen of them flying along after us and I realised that that had to have something to do with the fact that Mad-Eye and Mundungus were flying along with us, also heading north. It was fairly obvious to me why they were following him, as the most experienced and renowned Auror here they would expect Moody to be in charge of guarding the real Harry. This reasoning made perfect sense to me, but didn't do me any favours. The twelve hooded figures followed after us as we left the others behind and followed the plan.

Flying a bit off to our left Moody and Mundungus shot spell after spell into the group of Death Eaters following us, all of which our pursuers managed to dodge until Mad-Eye shot a red jet of light over his shoulder and it hit one square in the chest. I watched, stunned myself for a moment, as the Death Eater jerked as the spell hit him before going still and sliding sideways off his broom, falling to the ground and to his death. None of his fellows made so much as a move to help him, they were too fixed on their mission, so much so that I doubted that they even noticed he had been hit.

Was it wrong of me to feel sorry for him? Surely it was, since they were trying to kill us, but I couldn't help it, I was still horrified to see a man die, no mater what kind of man he was. He will have deserved it, I told myself firmly as my mind started to wander but it was too late, I couldn't deter my thoughts and suddenly I was wondering who it was behind those grotesque Death Eater masks. As I held onto Bill tightly I felt my gaze flit from Death Eater to Death Eater, wondering who they were, feeling my battered heart hammer against my chest as I imagined a pale white face and bond-haired boy underneath one of those hoods. In my mind his bright blue eyes narrowed and his soft lips curled into a cruel and twisted smile, my heart heaved unpleasantly and I shied away from the horrible image. It doesn't matter, I told myself as I blinked profusely to clear the picture from my mind, since I couldn't bear to look at it. It doesn't matter who they are, they were Death Eaters and they would kill us if I didn't try and stop them. It didn't matter to me if he's one of them. Except that it did.

Suddenly furious at the way I was feeling and the direction my thoughts had turned, my head snapped to face the Death Eaters, ready to take my anger at myself out on them.

"Rictusempra!" I cast, putting my thoughts into action and aiming my spell at one of the nearer Death Eaters. He swerved out of the way and avoided the tickling spell, which was tame I had to admit, but I really didn't want to kill any one despite what I thought. However, while I missed my target the spell did do something as it threw him off course for a moment.

I had made my choice in June, I continued to tell myself sternly, and so had he. If Draco Malfoy was hiding behind one of those masks then it was no concern of mine, I would still duel him. I'd do it happily, I thought adamantly, I was desperate to get back at him for all he had done to me and this could be the perfect opportunity. Holding my head a little higher I set my jaw in determination, I had a mission to complete; I had to be a diversion for Harry and if I decommissioned a few Death Eaters along the way then all the better. They were all vile creatures. Bill steered the Thestral to the left suddenly to avoid another jet, and determined to do my part and keep the Death Eaters from getting at us I took aim again at the group following us.

"Rictusempra!" I shouted, gritting my teeth in agitation when the Death Eater I was aiming at swerved and avoid the spell. This was my choice, I continued to tell myself, and I wasn't going to let any sympathetic emotions keep me from fighting against Voldemort. However, dedicated though I was to what I was doing, I wasn't going to lose my morals, I wasn't going to aim to kill anyone.

"Langlock," I muttered, my face set in determination and hoping to take the Death Eaters by surprise since I didn't shout the spell; however my target still saw the silencing charm coming his way and ducked to avoid it. "Langlock!" I repeated, aiming at him again and desperate for this spell to hit, since if it did and he couldn't speak anymore and he couldn't do nonverbal magic, then he wouldn't be much of a threat. However, in my aggravated state I sent the spell wide and he didn't even have to move to miss the spell.

"Rictusempra," I said, now trying to bombard the Death Eaters, who were gaining on us, their own spells only missing us by inches, with Moody and Mundungus, who were still firing spell after spell at the Death Eaters. Our attempts were doing us little good though, so far the only spell that had hit its target had been Moody's and while we were one Death Eater down the others showed no sigh of slowing, they looked ready to chase us the length and breadth of Britain on the off chance one of us was Harry.

"Finite Incantatem!" I cried as one of the nearest Death Eaters, hot on our heels, sent a curse at me that looked as though it would hit. It didn't though and the curse flew wide. Chest heaving I quickly glanced ahead of us, looking in the direction we were going and half hoping to see something that would tell me we were nearly there; I didn't see anything though, so I turned frustrated, back to look at the Death Eaters, feeling my blood run cold in my veins as I did. They were not alone.

"Oh God," I whispered as my eyes went wide and fear gripped my battered heart.

It was no longer only the Death Eaters chasing us through the night, their master had joined the hunt now too, gliding eerily through the open air without anything to hold him up, his cloak billowing behind him like horrible black wings and his pale face twisted in malice. He reminded me of a Dementor, as he glided menacingly towards us and sucked all happy thoughts away. Slowly, anger started to break though my fear at the sight of him, anger at what he had put people through, at how he had wanted to kidnap me and use me to win his war, at the lives he had ruined. However, my hand still trembled as I raised my wand, he was fast heading towards the four of us though, and I had to defend us.

Off to the side I noticed that Mundungus had frozen, fear paralysing him to the spot with a look of absolute terror on his face, Moody on the other hand was now giving it his all, hardly looking where he was going as he shot spell after spell at Voldemort and the Death Eaters. My gaze leaving the others I looked again at Voldemort and took aim as the snake like man deflected another of Moody's spells. However when I felt that I had a good shot Bill suddenly urged the Thestral upwards, jerking with the fast movement I had only just the time to see a spell sail through where my head had been, just second before.

"Keep an eye on them as well." Bill advised as he shot a spell around me and went back to urging the Thestral on.

A little stunned but recovering quickly I felt my gaze flick back to Voldemort, blood boiling I turned away again, I knew I had to leave him to Moody. He was the only one who stood a chance against him anyway. So, gritting my teeth, I took aim at the dozen or so Death Eaters following us instead and shot spell after spell into their midst, keeping the approaching monster in the corner of my eye and trying not to panic as he got closer and closer. From our vantage point higher above and ahead of the Death Eaters, firing spells at them was a lot easier; they were harder pressed to avoid them now even though they still outnumbered us greatly. However, that was where the good news ended.

"Argh!" I heard someone yelped in outright fear and instinctively my head snapped in the direction of Mundungus and Moody, panicked and just in time to see Mundungus disapparate. Growling with fury Moody grabbed out at thin air a split second too late and Mundungus got away, leaving Moody alone. And then I realised why he'd run. Voldemort had caught up with us and had been making a beeline for Moody, since it was most likely that Harry would be with him. However, he wasn't the only thing heading towards Moody.

I cried out as a jet of green light collided with Mad-Eye's face, lighting his whole body momentarily green, making him a stark contrast against the night sky. The most skilled Auror was still as he fell from his broom, Voldemort's curse killing him instantly, and Bill and I watched in shocked horror as Moody disappeared into the darkness below, too high up to swoop down and catch him in time.

Bill and I sat in silence for a moment, hardly able to comprehend what we had just seen and numb with shock. For a moment the steady beat of the Thestral's wings were the only sound that I could hear, not one other noise reached my ears. And then, feeling my numbness begin to crack, I turned, still open mouthed, to look at Voldemort, whose red-eyed gaze was now trained on us. With the spells of Death Eaters still whooshing around me I met Voldemort's gaze, feeling no fear at all as I stared into his evil eyes, only hatred. Hand trembling for an entirely different reason now, I took aim on Voldemort and drew in a breath to fire a spell; however, he had already dismissed me as a potential Harry and was gilding away, towards a new target.

Suddenly fearful I muttered "No," as he sped off and then shouted "Stupefy!" in an attempt to stop him, it failed though as he was already too far away and the spell missed. Trembling I stared after the monster. "Bill," I murmured as my partner manoeuvred us through the night sky "he's going after the others." I said, hysteria leaking into my voice as I thought of Moody and then my friends, how many more people would we lose tonight?

"I know," Bill said, his voice thick with emotion and I knew he was as upset as I was, probably more so because he had been close to Moody and most of his family were out here. "But we've got to keep going, we're almost there now and we've got to stick to the plan." Because that's what Mad-Eye would have wanted, I thought, knowing that Bill was probably thinking that too. And letting the words hang there in my mind for a moment, I turned back to face the Death Eaters who still pursued us.

"Impedimenta!" I roared, tears stinging at my eyes and clouding my vision. I aimed my spell right into the middle of the Death Eater group, since we still flew higher up than they did, so that every single on of them had to scatter to avoid being hit by the spell or one of their fellows.

Regrouping the Death Eaters swept upwards and I aimed spells at them as they did, not one hit target but it slowed them down and gave them something to think about. Meanwhile I was doing my best not to think, not to allow myself to dwell on the fact that we'd never see Moody again, or that my friends were in mortal danger right now, because I needed to be focused, I needed the anger without the worry to be useful here. Feeling the wind blowing through my cropped hair, and the chill of it hitting the tear tracks running down my cheeks, I set my face in a firm line and shot spell after spell at the Death Eaters as Bill tried to get us to safety. Adrenalin and fury pumping through my veins as much as blood I chanced a look over Bill's shoulder in the direction we were heading, but still couldn't see anything I recognised so I returned to the Death Eaters.

However, I thought I must have turned too quickly as when I went to aim another spell my head started to suddenly spin. I chalked it up to stress and fear and tried to ignore it, however when the dizziness only got worse and my eyesight started to blur I knew it was much more than nausea. I was having a vision.

"Bill!" I called as I felt myself slipping into the vision and I grabbed hold of his jacket, terrified that I was going to fall off the Thestral. I had no control over my body once my second sight took over and I wouldn't be able to keep myself up right without help.

"What is it?" Bill shouted in panic as I started to sway and my grip around his waist with my left arm loosened. Knowing of my 'gift' Bill took one look at me over his shoulder and grabbed a hold of me, just in time as an otherworldly breeze drifted across the very front of my brain and the world faded to total blackness.

Numbing I disconnected from the real world, from the cries of the Death Eaters, from Bill telling me I'd be alright, from the night wind blowing through my temporarily cropped hair and the frightened beating of my heart. All my senses were numb until a new scene exploded before my minds eye, filling up my remaining senses and encompassing me in a scenario that wasn't happening yet. After that instant of darkness while my minds eye opened, every sound, smell and feeling that I had had only a second before, returned to me. I was still on the back of the Thestral with Bill and we were still trying desperately to escape the Death Eaters, only now Bill wasn't struggling to keep both off us on the Thestral and steer clear of the monsters following us. Instead I was turning away from him again, different thoughts running through my head, worries about if I was skilled enough to keep us both safe consuming me, I faced the Death Eaters.

I was about to aim my wand at a Death Eater to the right of their group, a burly looking man whose hood had fallen back, when one of the nearer ones shot a spell at Bill and I. He dodged it easily, guiding the Thestral to the side and keeping us both safe, however, exactly as he was doing that another Death Eater aimed a curse at us. I didn't have the time to react, I was too stunned to do anything and for a moment I was sure I was going to die. A jet of green light was speeding towards me with nothing to stop it and I was sure it was going to hit me. My heart froze in my chest, paralyzed by fear just like the rest of me, my eyes widened and I sucked in a painful breath, expecting the curse to hit me any second. It didn't though. The jet of green light sailed straight over my head, rustling my hair it was so close to me.

Relief washed over my in waves and I felt my eyes flutter shut and my breath whoosh out of me, that had been a close one, I thought as I dropped my head back against Bill's back, intending to get back to duelling in a second. However, as soon as my head tapped Bill's back he slumped suddenly forwards. Shock flooding though me as I nearly fell; I turned my wide eyes quickly to see what had happened and what I saw there devastated me. Bill was laying forwards, face against the Thestral's mane, motionless, arms hanging limply either side of the Thestral's neck, dead.

A gasp so sharp that I thought the air was actually being ripped from my lungs, accompanied my return to reality. Sucking in lungfuls of air quickly to replace what I'd lost I was hardly aware of anything for a moment until I got enough oxygen in me. Recovering but still panicky I looked up at a worried Bill, who was looking at me over his shoulder as he gripped at me with his left arm, still trying to keep me from falling.

"You alright?" He asked me over the sound of the whooshing wind. A little dazed, I nodded and he let go of me, looking reluctant to do so since he probably thought the second he did I would fall.

"Bill," I said hoarsely looking between the older Weasley and the Death Eaters behind us, my vision about him branded on my minds eye and filling me with fear. However, my voice was so quiet thanks to my numbness and the sound of the wind so loud that he hadn't heard me.

He needed to know what I had seen though. I had seen Bill dead, because of a spell sent at us here tonight, sometime between now and when we reached our destination and in my vision there had been nothing I could do to stop it and no clue as to when it would happen. I needed to tell him, so that he would be careful, but how do you go about telling someone that you'd had a vision of their death? And what if he reacted badly to it and by telling him I made the event come about? Terrified that I was going to lose another friend, I sat there as the Death Eaters shot spells around us for a moment before mentally slapping myself. What was wrong with me? Why on Earth was I worrying about the what if's when Bill's life was in danger? This wasn't me, I had to act to protect him, I would not let him die.

"Bill," I said louder than before, as I turned to face the Death Eaters, blocking one of their spells and wondering if I would be able to protect the both of us. "Bill, I need to tell you what I saw…" I called over the noise, feeling him turn to look at me. However, I cut off mid sentence and wide eyed as one of the nearer Death Eaters aimed a curse at us and Bill abruptly swerved the Thestral out of its path, seeing it because he was looking at me. We moved exactly the way we had in my vision.

Looking into the crowd of Death Eaters I knew exactly what was coming next as another on raised his wand "Get down!" I yelled just as he sent to spell, spinning back to face Bill and pushing him forwards onto the Thestral.

Face pressed against a shocked Bill's jacket I felt the Killing Curse wiz over my head, rustling my hair, and heaved a sigh of relief. Sitting back up Bill and I shared a look, he had seen the jet of green light shooting off into the distance and must have realised it would have hit him. Bill looked as though he wanted to thank me but didn't have the chance as the Death Eaters were still bombarding us with spells and I returned to duelling them while Bill carried on steering.

Exhausted, worried and slowly losing energy I continued to fire spells at the Death Eaters that were chasing us and block their attacks for another five minutes before they stopped suddenly in mid air, their brooms jerking violently as though they had banged into something. Surprised I looked away from the furious looking Death Eaters to Bill, who smiled at me sadly and said,

"We've just gone through the protective shield, we're safe now."

Sighing in relief I nodded to him as we came to land, however I couldn't seem to calm myself down and still felt very alert and anxious, though I was sure that was because I was still worried about my friends. Turning back to that I was facing the right way I looked down at the Burrow, feeling immense relief at the sight of it and noticing a few figures dotted about the yard. Wondering who was there and what had happened to them I urged the Thestral onwards with my mind, not that it made it go any faster, I just really wanted to see my friends right now. Pulling my once again midlength, brown hair from my damp cheek, I tried to appear strong as me landed in the yard with a thump.

"Bill! Thank God, thank God -" Mrs Weasley cried as we dismounted and she and Fleur both ran forwards to hug Bill.

"Ivy!" Hermione shouted and then she, Ron and Harry were all by my side, giving me hugs that I gratefully accepted, needing them a lot right then.

"Mad-Eye's dead," Bill said gravely, one arm around his fiancée's waist as he looked out at the others, his eyes dark with upset.

Silence fell on the group then, everyone in the yard, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Tonks (who also gave me a comforting hug), Lupin, Mr and Mrs Weasley and Ginny stared in numb shock. Feeling my eyes prickle again but also wondering about the hopefully living, I wondered where Fred, George and Kingsley were. My friends didn't give me a chance to ask though and instead looked at me questioningly, asking me with their eyes to confirm what Bill had said but at the same time not wanting to. I nodded at them sadly.

"We saw it," I confirmed.

"Mad-Eye and Dung were close by us, they were heading north too. Voldemort – he can fly – went straight for them. Dung panicked, I heard him cry out, Mad-Eye tried to stop him, but he disapparated. Voldemort's curse hit Mad-Eye full in the face, he fell backwards off his broom and – there was nothing we could do, nothing, we had half a dozen of them on our tail and we were too high up -" Bill said before cutting off, unable to go on.

"Of course you couldn't have done anything," Lupin told us both as tears started to stream down my face and Hermione rubbed circles on my back.

After that we went inside and I found out what had happened to the others, George had lost an ear because of Snape, which routed him firmly in second place of the Death Eaters I wanted to duel, Tonks had barely gotten away from a crazed Bellatrix alive as the mad woman really wanted my friend dead and Harry had fought Voldemort again and lived. The story sounded strange even to me, alone and clinging to the motorbike as Voldemort descended Harry had found that his wand acted on its own accord and saved him from Voldemort. No one seemed to believe that such a thing was possible, they all said that Harry must just have been acting without really thinking, however I kind of believed him, not because I didn't think he was a skilled dueller, but rather because he seemed so sure about it, and Harry was in the habit of being right about things that seemed impossible. Lest we forget my hard learned lesson of that fact.

The others then began to discus how the Death Eaters had found out about our plans, and like Harry and Bill I didn't believe that Mundungus had betrayed us, or that anyone of a number had. I couldn't make sense of it and neither could anyone, so it was another question left unanswered. Deciding to just be grateful that most of us had made it back here, we moved the conversation onto other things and lifted our glasses in respect for the one who fell in battle.

Author note: as I'm sure you all know, as an author some chapters are easy to write and the words just flow from your fingers like water, while others are harder and drag by letter by letter. This chapter was hard for me for some reason, which is why it is a little later than I would have liked it to be, so I'm sorry for the wait.

Also, while I'm here let me ask you something. I was bored a few weeks ago and had been reading the first Harry Potter book, so I found myself writing Ivy's contribution to one of the key chapters in that book and really enjoyed myself. Here's the question, would any of you be interested in reading that chapter? It doesn't fit into this story but I could make it a one shot, of even a prequel if people are interested and you could suggest other chapters you'd like to see Ivy in, if you wanted. What do you reckon?

Oh, oh, and a big thank you to my anonymous reviewers Maddy and JS as well.