Harry'sPointofView

I rushed past offices and hallways in search of a hiding spot. The game Hide-And-Seek took on a whole new meaning now. No longer would I be hiding to win some child's game; I was now hiding for my life.

My mind returned to last year, running through that blasted maze. The ever winding twists and turns made it impossible for me to remember which direction I was going in; I only hoped that it was in the opposite direction of where Voldemort was. With any luck, the Order would be able to handle all those Death Eaters.

Merlin's Beard! I almost forgot about Hermione! Last time I saw her she was being pulled along by Bellatrix Lestrange! I don't even want to think of what could have happened to Annabelle and Cho by now. Their fates, along with the rest of the Order, would have to remain a mystery for now.

And then it hit me; I knew exactly where to hide.

Hermione'sPointofView

"Ohmygodohmygodohmygod what do we do? We can't just let them kill Harry! That would make two of my boyfriends murdered by the same guy within one year!" Cho whined from her spot on the floor. Sweat and tears were pouring down her face from nerves and anxiety.

"Oh, shut it will you?" I called back, struggling with the ropes around my body. "I can't hear myself think with you crying over there!"

Now if I could just focus my mind enough I could use wandless magic to cut the ropes.

Focus. Focus. Focus...

"What do you think they're going to do with us?" Cho whispered.

I sighed. "I don't know. Torture us for information is my guess."

Cho gasped. "But why US? We're just kids!"

I stared at her, completely shocked. "You know, for a Ravenclaw, you are pretty daft, aren't you?"

"What's THAT supposed to mean?" Cho shrieked. "You think you're better than me, is that it? Well in case you forgot, Harry chose ME over YOU so-"

"I HAVE BOYFRIEND!" I shouted back. "I AM NOT IN LOVE WITH HARRY! I LOVE DRACO! UNDERSTAND? And what I meant when I said you were not showing Ravenclaw qualities is that apparently you forgot Voldemort tried to murder Harry when he was only a baby! Voldemort will stop at nothing to get to him, and if torturing and killing us will get him closer to Harry, then I'm positive he will do that. And to answer your question to 'why us,' we are the three most important females in Harry's life: his best friend, his girlfriend and his sister! Now if you don't mind, I'm trying to concentrate!"

Cho huffed in defeat and turned toward the wall.

"Well," Annabelle said, interrupting my concentration. "If you two are done arguing then maybe I will release you. " She smiled as she stood, her destroyed ropes falling down to her ankles.

"But- how- I-you-" I stuttered.

"First of all," Annabelle said while dusting of her clothes. "I am a year older than you, and have much more experience with wandless magic than you do, despite all the adventures you go on."

I stared unbelievably at her. Had I finally met my match?

"Secondly," Annabelle said with a smirk. "I always keep a Swiss army knife on me." She flipped out the blade and started working on Cho's ropes.

I had to smile despite my personal failure. Leave it to Annabelle to find a Muggle way out of a situation I was so focused on using magic on. "How very Slytherin of you," I said to Annabelle as she sawed at Cho's ropes.

"Thanks," she smiled. "I actually learned that bit from Draco: never be defenseless. I'm surprised you haven't picked up a few Slytherin traits of your own from spending so much time with him."

I shrugged my shoulders as she cut through the final strands of the ropes on Cho and then started on mine.

"I think I'm having a bigger effect on him then he is on me," I commented as she dug into my ropes.

She stopped for a second to think before resuming to saw. "You know, you're absolutely right!"

I smirked. "I usually am..."

"He hasn't stole anything since you two started dating!" Annabelle exclaimed as she cut through the final strand. "You are changing him into a Gryffindor! He's softening up!"

"I told him he had to change if he wanted to be with me," I said as Annabelle lifted me to my feet. "So he changed and here we are today."

"Well let's hope I'm not rubbing off on my boyfriend the way you are," Annabelle said as I dusted off my clothing. "The last thing we need is a Weasley twin thinking and acting like a Slytherin..."

"Oi!" Cho cried. "We have a situation on our hands!"

"Right," I shook my head. "Sorry."

"This way, my dears!" Annabelle drawled with a bow as she extended her arm towards the door.

Cho rushed out the door ahead of me and I followed immediately after with Annabelle close on my heels.

We raced down the corridor and stopped at the scene before us.

"Shit," Annabelle muttered.

Annabelle'sPointofView

Streaks of light shot out of wands faster than a hair appointment with Voldemort. Many members of the Order were dueling what I could only imagine would be Death Eaters.

"Where's Voldemort?" Hermione loudly asked over the noise.

"More importantly, where's Harry?" Cho shouted back.

My eyes scanned the crowd for my brother, only to be disappointed.

"He's not here!" I yelled to the two girls. "We need to keep looking!"

Suddenly, a shrill cackle cut through the battle noise.

"Well, well, well," a familiar- looking black haired witch said while slowly approaching us. "Look what we have here. It's the filthy mudblood again!" Hermione tensed slightly at my side upon hearing this said. "Oh, and it looks like she managed to snag a few friends along the way!"

The witch began to circle us. Cho, Hermione and I formed a tight triangle with our backs to each other, hoping to keep our eyes on both the witch and the other duels.

"Well," the familiar woman said with her eyes scanning my body. "If I didn't know any better, I would say the Mudblood befriended another of her kind: Lily Potter!" I sucked my breath in sharply, taken off guard by the sudden mention of my deceased mother.

The witch smirked at my discomfort. "However, I do know better so I can only assume you are one of her spawn," she stepped forward, twirling my hair around her finger. I froze under her spinning finger, hoping she would release my scarlet locks. "And obviously you're not itty-bitty Harry, so you must be," the witch paused, dropping my hair from her fingers. "Abigail, is it?"

"Annabelle," I spat out, not looking her in the eye.

"Ahhhh, yes, do forgive me, deary," the familiar woman said while stepping back a few feet, twirling her wand in her hand. "You see, when the Dark Lord referred to you in his plan, he simply called you the Potter bitch..."

I felt Cho's hands grasp my forearms as I lunged towards the witch. I struggled against Cho for a moment longer before I settled back down.

The familiar witch laughed at my attempt to assault her. "Do it again!" she screeched in glee. "I dare you!"

"Belle," Hermione whispered in my ear. "She's not worth it! Bellatrix is just looking for any excuse to-"

"Bellatrix?" I shouted at the black haired witch. "Bellatrix Lestrange? You're related to Sirius aren't you?"

"Ha!" Bellatrix burst out. "The Noble House of Black disowned that mutt the second he stepped into Gryffindor!"

"Yes," I said calmly back to Bellatrix. "I had an impulse to do the same when young Harry was sorted in Gryffindor... Such a stupid house if you ask me..."

Bellatrix stopped mid-cackle, choking on her spit. I patiently waited for her to settle down as the information sunk in. "You're not a Gryffindor?" she asked in disbelief.

"Of course I'm not," I said while examining my nails. "A house based purely on bravery? What good is that?" I felt Hermione tense beside me so I patted her arm to comfort her.

"Now, now Hermione," I said with fake concern dripping off my voice. "You may be smart, but it's how you use your knowledge that really counts. Bravery isn't always the wise answer in difficult situation..."

Bellatrix stared at me, as though trying to piece together my story. "Then you're a Ravenclaw, correct? Surely the way you boast, you couldn't possibly be a Hufflepuff..."

"I'm a Slytherin," I stated firmly. "The best house there is. If I'm the best in the school, which I am, don't I deserve the best?"

"A Potter," Bellatrix said unbelievingly, "was placed in Slytherin?" She laughed. "Ha! Unlikely! You're only a half- blood! Slytherin would never-"

"And yet," I cut in, "Severus Snape, the head of Slytherin, is also a half-blood! As is another powerful wizard, the Dark Lord I believe is what you call him?"

"Crucio!" Bellatrix screeched, her wand pointing directly at my chest.

I immediately dropped to the ground. An iron claw was clenched around my heart and knives drove through my limbs. My head was spinning as axes sliced through my skull. Nails were dragging across chalkboards as millions of alarms screamed in my head.

"STOP IT! ENOUGH!" Cho shouted over the excruciating noise.

Seconds that felt like minutes later, the curse was lifted. I sucked in gulps of air, shaking slightly as I rose to my feet.

"You kn-know," I stuttered, still trying to catch my breath. "They teach valuable lessons in Slytherin, as I'm sure you remember."

"Get to the point, deary."

"One lesson I distinctly remember is..." I said to Bellatrix.

"...Never be defenseless."