Derailed

Derailed, I'm afraid I failed to keep you by my side.

The mistakes we made will keep us drifting farther apart.

What a way to go out...

Jenny

"What do you want me to say?" I asked bitterly, keeping my voice icy. His hand vanished from my thigh.

"Tell me your secrets. You have great potential, Jennifer. I believe that you deserve a category all your own. You are not a Muggle, not to me, but you aren't a witch either. You're different then the rest. So tell me your secrets, Jennifer, for you are inbetween the two categories known to wizards."

"I don't have any secrets." I heard myself say, and he chuckled.

"We all have secrets." He whispered, and I felt my teeth clench.

"Fine. I have a penis." I snapped, feeling oddly uncaring. Voldemort was silent, however, so on our non-existent scoreboard, I gave myself a point.

"No, no…something real. Something deep. I want a conversation." Voldemort said, his long fingernails trailing down my arm. When I didn't say anything more, he moved away, when he came back, I could suddenly see my reflection in the cold steel of a knife blade above me. I heard him inhale to say something when there was a knock on the door. "Enter," Voldemort said calmly, with just a hint of irritation. The door opened, and I barely detected a fast intake of breath.

"I have made progress on the potion, my Lord." I heard Snape say, and I had to work hard to keep my face neutral. Anxiety was now spiking through me. Would this work? Could I go home, escape from here?

"What progress would that be, Severus?" Voldemort said, still not moving, so that meant he was probably watching me. Lovely.

"It appears to be the same as what I could decipher from her mind, my Lord. But she would have to try it on her to see if we are on the right track."

"You were instructed to make a potion to bring her soul here. You have constructed a potion that sent her here. I am displeased, Severus." Voldemort said, obviously impatient.

"It is the same concept, my Lord. If she is already here, all that would come here would be her soul."

"And why couldn't we just kill her, Severus?" Voldemort said quietly, bringing the knife down and putting it under my chin. There was a pause. I closed my eyes as the sharpness of the blade stung slightly on my skin, my pulse beating frantically beneath it.

"Because she would choose to move on fully, my Lord." Snape said calmly.

"You are right, of course. I wouldn't kill my Jennifer anyway," Voldemort said softly, bringing the sword lightly up around my jawline and away. I barely resisted shuddering. His Jennifer? I wasn't anybody's anything. "Very well, proceed-" A loud bang drowned out his voice and it shook the whole room. After a moment of silence, Death Eaters started shouting, but were drowned out as the whole room shook again. "It seems," Voldemort said, his voice filling with cold fury, "that the Order decided to follow us after all. How disappointing." He suddenly bent back down to me, knife still in hand. He put his face right next to mine. "Don't worry, Jennifer. I'll be gone for awhile, just to kill some blood-traitors and fools…but then I'll return-" A huge blast suddenly rocked the room, and he was thrown backwards, his knife clattering to the ground. The whole room had filled with dust, and I saw people moving, but barely. Then a face appeared above me, and I could have laughed with relief.

"Fred!" I gasped, and he gave me a quick smile before stooping for the knife and starting to saw through the tough leather. I could feel Snape on the other side, working quickly. When I turned my head, I could see that he did have a flask-shaped object in his robe pocket, which lifted my spirits considerably.

"It's going to be alright now, Jenny. I promise." Fred said firmly, finishing his work on my leg, freeing it. He continued to work upwards as he spoke, his hands hurried but his voice calm. "Snape left a trail here. We just had to organize and prepare. Then we waited until the opportune moment. Even Dumbledore is here somewhere. But it's my job to make sure that you get out." His fingers freed my wrist, and then my arm. Then he touched my neck and stopped up short.

"What?" I asked as I saw him frown.

"It's locked." He said, his face contorting to anger. Snape swore.

"What?" I gasped, bringing a hand up and feeling along the leather strap. There was a chain in it, and it must go through the table, because I could also feel a tiny little lock on it. "That…" I struggled for words to sum up my disgust and failed. Snape vanished as Fred took a closer look at it. "Are you alright, is everyone alright at the Order?" I asked, and he shrugged, his face focused on the lock.

"Nobody was hurt when you left, but I can't speak for anyone now." His fingers shifted and grabbed my shoulder for support as the whole room rocked again.

"Here," Snape was back, and this time his cold fingers were light around my throat, and after a moment, I heard a tiny click. "He had the key on him," He explained as Fred quickly cut through the leather. I sat up fast and took a minute to dispel the black spots across my vision.

"Thank you both," I said gratefully as Fred literally lifted me off of the table and to the floor, where I stood on my own. Then we were off, Fred, for all acting purposes, led Snape at knife point past Death Eaters, to help keep up his 'Death Eater' identity. Unfortunately, when the Death Eaters saw me, they all tried to shift their fights after us. We ducked and sneaked through the fight, flat out running when we could. When we were somewhat alone, Fred skidded to a halt by one of the large windows that showed the writhing grey sea below it. Then, without warning, he yanked a good chunk of hair out of my head. I nearly kicked his ass then if he hadn't gone and thrown a piece of rubble through the window and draped my hair through the broken shards. "I never thought I'd say it, but thanks," I said, rubbing the spot on my head.

"Don't mention it," Fred said quickly as another blast rocked the walls, pulling me along. "We all took a page out of your book, you know. Got a hold of some Muggle weapons to help us along," he shouted over the noise, and I could help but smile. Then we skidded to a halt again, this time by the window I had punched a hole through. The door was completely obliterated, and we ran through the larger gap. Fred turned and pulled what looked like a bomb out from under his coat, and lit the fuse.

"What is that?" I asked, backing away. Snape, seeing what I did, backed away too, a hand unconsciously moving downward to rest on the vial in his pocket.

"Smoke bomb," Fred said nonchalantly. "It's the signal to let everyone inside know that you are out safe." He threw it down the shaft, and I heard the boom it made. "Now come on," he said, whipping out a bag and sprinkling the green dust on his arm.

"Oh, no, you aren't going anywhere," a voice I knew all too well hissed in my ear. Kingsley suddenly sprung up behind me, wrapping a firm arm around my neck, and I could feel the sharp point of a knife in my hair. Fred immediately raised his knife to Snape's neck. For a moment Kingsley watched them, and then laughed. "Kill Snape, then. He doesn't mean anything here." He laughed, tightening his grip, forcing me to stand on my tippy-toes with a gasp, trying to breathe. He chuckled, petting my hair with the flat blade of the knife. "Don't worry, Quinty. I won't kill you. That's the right of the Dark Lord." As he said it, I snapped somewhere deep inside. I stomped down hard on his instep as simultaneously I jammed my elbow into his gut. With a whoosh of air, he let go. I turned on the spot, and brought down my hand hard on the back of his neck, then kneed him in the groin. With a tiny whine, he fell over. Lastly, I picked up his head and smashed my knee into his jaw.

"Never touch me again." I said quietly by his ear, then turned back to Fred and Snape, both watching me with slightly scared expressions. Fred had the glitter on his arm, so I looped my arm through his, and Snape rested a light hand on my shoulder. "Let's go," I said quietly, and Fred pressed a pattern into the dust. In the blink of an eye, we were suddenly in what appeared to be the same forest I had arrived in. But I was wrong. Sandy's cottage was nowhere in sight. Instead, there was just a tiny, dirty stump in a clearing full of dead growth. Fred stomped on the stump with his foot three times, and to my shock, it vanished. In its place was a nice wide hole with a slide in it.

"Down you go," Fred said, and I slowly unhooked arms with him and sat on the edge of the hole. I heard the pop of more members appearing as I slid into the blackness. Randomly along the way there were a few colored lanterns, but other than that, there was only darkness. The slide spit me out and I rolled several times before sitting up. I was in a large dirt room, but it was brightly lit, with furniture and everything. As I blinked dirt out of my eyes, standing up, I heard a gasp, then someone was helping me up, brushing dirt off of me. As I rubbed the last bit of dirt away, I thought I was face to face with Harry for a second. With another blink, I finally recognized James Potter.

"You're safe now, Jenny. We're glad to have you back. Lily will be so happy…Lily!" He called, bringing me over to a couch while checking out my bruises with a frown. Fred and Snape came down the tunnel as Lily came in, saw me, and then rushed over, a bag in hand.

"Oh, Jenny. I'm so glad you escaped." She exclaimed, rummaging through the bag and pulling out a round jar. "I've been so worried, as have your parents. They went to help get you out, they'll be back. Everyone's been worried, and ashamed that they captured you. Oh, I'm just so glad you're safe!" She stressed, hugging me tight, and I returned it, feeling a deep pang for Harry, wishing that he could have had his mother. "Here, this is a poultice of sorts; it will help ease the bruises." She said, picking up my hand and glaring at the ligature mark. With her free hand she scooped some of the ointment out and started to rub it in, noticing when I winced and lightened her touch.

"I can't thank all of you enough for what you've done for me." I said, looking up at Fred and Snape, both whom were only a few feet away.

"There is no need, Jenny, not after what you've done for everyone that's alive." Fred said, and another person whooshed down the slide, then another. I recognized Hestia Jones and Sirius Black before Snape spoke to me.

"Speaking of the living, I wasn't lying to Voldemort about the potion." Snape pulled out the flask, gently setting it down. "I sent Sandy away, and she has more of it. She's waiting for more instructions as to how to edit said potion."

"If you've got it wrong…what would the side-effects be?" I asked, then winced again as Lilly started on my arm with the balm. She apologized quietly as more wizards whizzed down the slide.

"A bad taste and possibly throwing up. And of course the regrets as to how it didn't work." Snape said with some humor, and it made me almost gaze at him in wonder. Who knew that this guy was so witty?

"Then I'll try it right now." I said, and he handed it to me. I uncorked it and gave it a sniff, pulling a face. "Well," I started, "it smells right, and it looks right. Let's give it a try," I raised the bottle to my lips and drank.