A/N: I knew I would be getting death threats the second I published that chapter. You did not disappoint me. But guess what, everyone? I will be updating today (Friday) and I will not have a cliffhanger this time! The action is in this chapter. We will be finding out if I decide to kill anyone or not, or if I do, then who would it be. So, enough talk. Let's get to the chapter! Thank you to everyone who reviewed! I enjoyed every one, including the threats. It shows that you guys care.

--------------

Chapter Twenty-Five: Department of Mysteries Part Three

--------------

"Don't give it to them, Harry!" the mysterious woman cried.

"Shut up, Price!" a Death Eater snarled and he unleashed some sparks from his wand. Sirius stepped in front of Price protectively.

"Don't listen to them, Potter," Malfoy said smoothly. He held out his hand, though Harry doubted it was to help him to stand up. "Hand over the prophecy and we won't hurt them." He inclined his head toward the Order.

Harry forced himself to stand up, ignoring his protesting legs. He clutched the glass ball in his hand, not willing to hand it over. He knew that this was very important, to both sides of this war. This was the item the Order was protecting, the reason Mr. Weasley had gotten hurt.

Listen to Alex, cub, Remus' voice sounded in his mind. Do not give the prophecy up, no matter what. We can take care of the Death Eaters.

Why didn't you ever tell me about the prophecy, Papa? Harry asked, sounding hurt.

It wasn't something you should be burdened with, Sirius replied, his voice pleading. You are too young to have something like that on your shoulders.

Harry stared down at the glass ball that held the reason why Voldemort had attacked him, why his father, James, and mother were murdered. No matter what anyone said, he should have known the contents of the prophecy. It was his right.

"Give it over, Potter, or they die," Malfoy snarled, his gray eyes like icicles.

"Never," Harry replied, meeting the older man's eyes defiantly.

"So be it." Malfoy slipped his wand out from his cane. "ATTACK THEM! LEAVE NO ONE ALIVE!"

Harry never knew who fired the first curse. The large room was suddenly filled with colorful spells and several cries.

Run, Harry, Remus' voice called out to him, sounding exhausted. Run while you can. Take the prophecy and get out of here. We will meet up with you at Headquarters.

You promise? Harry asked, already moving towards the door.

I promise, cub. Go.

He forced his legs to move faster. He kept glancing back to make sure no one was following him. When the door was within sight, Harry let out a breath and he went through the door, only to find that the floor suddenly vanished. He fell and landed within a second later. Harry cried out. He glanced back up at the door. That was the door I had gone through earlier, he thought to himself.

"Welcome, Harry. I was wondering when you would be getting here."

Harry froze and turned his gaze toward where the voice was. He saw Voldemort leaning up against a tall arch in the middle of the room. A single drape hung in the archway and it was fluttering in a makeshift breeze.

"Why didn't you hand over the prophecy like Lucius asked you to?" Voldemort asked. "All this could have prevented." He walked toward Harry, his crimson eyes on the younger boy.

Harry gripped the glass ball tighter in his hand. He had no intention to hand it over, even to Voldemort.

"Now, I will ask you once to hand over the prophecy. I will spare you this one time if you do." Voldemort stopped a few feet from him. "Hand me the prophecy, Potter."

"Never," Harry snapped.

Voldemort's eyes narrowed. "Hand it over."

"NEVER!"

"You are a fool. You will give me the prophecy, one way or another. Prepare to die."

Harry reached for his wand but never got time to draw it. Voldemort unleashed a curse and it hit Harry, sending severe pain throughout his entire body. He refused to cry out, knowing it would only please the Dark Lord. He silently convulsed on the hard ground but never released his grip on the prophecy.

Give him the prophecy, a voice told him in his mind. You will not be in pain. You will save yourself. You will see your fathers again.

Harry frowned. Where was the voice coming from? It wasn't from Sirius or Remus. It couldn't be from himself. He would never tell himself to give up.

You will give it over, the voice persisted.

Never, he thought. Whoever this is, I will never give it over. Even if I suffer death, I will not give it over.

You are stronger than I thought. Then the voice vanished.

Harry gasped as the curse ended. He lay there, panting and glaring up at the older wizard in front of him. Voldemort had an expression of anger and disappointment on his face.

"Why are you so against giving over the prophecy? Is it because you want to hear the contents for yourself? If that is why, then smash it here. We will both hear the prophecy. You can tell the Order that you didn't exactly hand over the prophecy. While we were dueling, it slipped from your hand and it smashed, revealing the entirety of the prophecy."

Don't do it, another voice sounded. It was different from the others. It's what he wants, Harry.

Who are you?

My name is Alexandra Price. I'm a friend of your mother. The reason I can talk to you right now is because I was born a telepath. I am begging you, Harry, don't do what he says. He is trying to get you to reveal the prophecy, even if it means you will hear it as well. He's desperate.

Harry gripped the ball in his hand. Alexandra was right. Voldemort wanted to hear the contents, trying to trick him into revealing it.

"No," he hissed. "I will not break it. You will have to pry it from my dead body."

You shouldn't have said that, Harry, Alexandra replied, letting out a sigh. Try to distract him. We are all fine up here. We are almost finished with taking them all down. No one is dead, except for some Death Eaters, anyway.

"And I will, Potter. You can be guaranteed of that."

Voldemort cast a curse but this time, Harry was ready for him. He rolled out of the way, drawing his wand at the same time. He threw his own curse and dodged another. As the duel continued, Harry saw that Voldemort was getting frustrated easily. The spells grew in intensity and his accuracy was also getting better. It was getting harder for Harry to avoid the spells. A few had hit but he tried to not let Voldemort see that he almost had him.

Just as Harry was readying another spell, Voldemort flung a Cruciatus at him. It hit and he went down on the floor again, convulsing in silent agony.

"Your stubbornness will be your downfall, Potter," Voldemort responded, gliding over to him. "Once I have the prophecy in hand, no one, not even you, will be able to stop me. You will be the first to die. I will let the world destroy itself once they hear of your death, and I will make my move. It will be an easy take-over. And it will all because of you."

Voldemort leveled his wand with Harry's forehead. Harry stared up at the older wizard, green eyes piercing.

"Stop this at once, Tom."

Both wizards turned toward the sound of the voice. Albus Dumbledore strode up toward them, the Order right behind him. Harry's heart soared once he saw his fathers and godmother were fine as well as Alexandra. They all smiled at him briefly.

"Dumbledore," Voldemort hissed. "I am glad that you are here, old man. You can watch me kill young Harry and take the prophecy from his cold hands."

Dumbledore raised his wand and Harry felt something tug at the glass ball in his hands. He tightened his grip.

Let it go, Harry, Alexandra called out to him. Dumbledore is Summoning it from you. Let it go.

Harry closed his eyes and he relaxed his hand, letting the glass ball be pulled from him. He opened them again to see Dumbledore catching the prophecy in his other hand.

Voldemort roared and he cast another Cruciatus at Harry, who convulsed yet again on the floor. Harry could feel bruises forming on his back from the rough floor. His mind screamed in pain, feeling as though it were on fire. If he cast another one, he might go mad, just like the Longbottoms. The curse grew in intensity, feeding upon Voldemort's rage. Harry let out a whimper, unable to control himself anymore.

"Let him go!" Dumbledore bellowed, his voice terrible and unlike himself.

At once the pain stopped and Harry nearly allowed himself to pass out as he fell limp. He almost couldn't feel the arms surrounding him nor hear the sound of the duel somewhere in the room. All he knew was the familiar feel of a Portkey. He allowed himself, then, to succumb to darkness.

----------------

Ainsley dropped Harry down onto the bed. His limbs fell over the sides of the bed and his head rolled a little. She cast aside her anxiousness and went right away to healing her godson's body. She sighed with relief when his injuries weren't life-threatening. The only concerning injury was his mind.

"Is he okay?" Remus asked from her side. Alex and Sirius took up the other side of the bed, both staring down at the young man with concern.

"Physically, he is fine. He had some internal bleeding from all of the Cruciatus curses and his legs and back were bruised. The only concerning issue here is his mental state. From all of the Cruciatus curse victims I've studied, the mind is the only thing truly affected. If you are under it long enough, your mind cannot take the strain and it gives out. He basically becomes a vegetable, a phrase coined from Muggles. It means that the victim is brain dead."

"And you don't know his mental state?" Sirius asked.

Ainsley shook her head. She glanced toward her old friend. "Alex, can you sense anything from him? Any thoughts?"

Alex shook her head as well. "His mind is quiet. I cannot get anything from him."

"Then we will just have to wait until he comes out of this state," the Healer replied, leaning back into her chair.

She felt arms wrap around her and she gave in, letting herself be comforted. Ainsley saw that Sirius was doing the same for Alex and she smirked, sending a thought to her best friend. Alex moved her head a little so Ainsley could see the glare her friend sent.

"Harry will be fine," Remus whispered against her cheek, sending shivers down her spine.

"I know he will be, Remus. I have seen how strong that boy is. He will never give up."

"But yet you are worried. I can tell."

Ainsley moved away a little so she faced him. "You are worried as well. You love him just as much as we all do."

Remus smiled. "Yes, I do." Then he dropped his smile. "Ainsley. There's something I wanted to tell you."

Her heart in her throat, she inclined her head to let him know to continue.

"I still love you. I have never stopped loving you, even that night after your accident. I was just so scared. I might have lost you then and it was because of me that you almost died."

"But you didn't have to tell me that you didn't love me," Ainsley whispered. "I would have understood if you only told me what you were going through. You have no idea what I went through after you left. That night, I was going to tell you something and you left before I could say anything."

"What were you going to say?" Remus asked.

She locked eyes with him. "Remus, I was going to tell you that you were going to be a father. I was pregnant at the time. But because of the accident and you leaving, the child miscarried."

She watched all the expressions that appeared on Remus' face. Shock, excitement, then grief.

"Wh…what…"

"It would have been a boy," she answered, knowing what he was asking. "I named him Daniel, in my mind. Daniel Remus Lupin would have been his name."

Now it was Ainsley's turn to embrace Remus as the werewolf cried. She glanced over to Sirius and Alex, who watched them with concern and pity.

"You never told me you were pregnant," Alex said.

"You weren't around at that time, Alex. You vanished. It took me awhile to find you."

Alex hung her head. "I wanted to do some traveling. You knew that. Only Lily and you knew that I wanted to travel. I came back because I missed you and I heard that Lily had given birth to Harry."

"How far along were you?" Sirius asked.

"Long enough that they were able to tell me what the gender of the baby would have been," Ainsley replied, wiping her eyes.

"Do you think you would have had him if I didn't leave?" Remus asked, his voice breaking.

Ainsley shook her head. "The injuries I sustained were the reason for the miscarriage. You were just the catalyst."

Remus cleared his throat and wiped his eyes. "Ainsley, honey, there's something else I wanted to tell you, and since Alex is here as well, she should hear this too."

Alex raised an eyebrow at Sirius, who was still holding her. He gulped.

Why now, Brother? Sirius asked.

They need to know, Padfoot. If Ainsley shared with me that she was pregnant those years ago and Alex told us that she was traveling, we should tell them the truth about Harry. It would only be fair.

-------------------

Wow…. This was seven pages long! Go me! I almost left another cliffhanger with you guys, right after Harry passed out, but I figured that this conversation between these four was long overdue. There was too much tension between the four characters and I wanted it out in the open, so they could learn to heal and maybe start over.

Again, thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, though there weren't many of you. I hope this chapter is a peace offering for all the ruffled feathers I have caused over the past few chapters.

Next Chapter: Sirius and Remus reveal their unique bond to the loves of their lives and Harry wakes up. Will Harry be okay or will there be some trouble? And will Harry finally learn the true contents of the prophecy? Find out in Aftermath: Healing.