A/N: I read the reviews, and a guest asked for a Ranger's Apprentice story. I'm not really familiar with that series (I HAVE read a few books, but it's been years, so I'd have to refresh my memory a bit). Maybe I'll write a short story in a future chapter or something. I'll look into it :D

And I am so, so, so sorry for taking so long. I've been very busy this week (lame, lame and lame, I know). Between school, exercising (ugghhh) and docter visits (double ughh), I haven't had time for anything! Also, I'm not sure if any of you could tell (lol), but I'm literally writing this story out off the top of my head. So yeah. I apologize for the grammar mistakes, (not really), I didn't take much time on it. At all.

On to the chapter!

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

PIPER

The plan was simple: we meet up in front of the Headmaster's office, sneak in before the password changed, use the Floo and somehow end up in the Department of Mysteries, so we could save Sirius Black, who was being kept in the Death Chamber. It looked nicer on paper than being acted out in reality. There were so many things that could go wrong with it, I wasn't even sure where to start. The password could have been changed immediately, for one. Umbridge was a busy-body, so it wouldn't surprise me. The Ministry Officials (cough, Percy Weasley, cough) could get overly-suspicious and wonder what over a dozen students were doing out of bed. The Floo could break. Filch could catch us. Or, gods forbid, Umbridge could catch us.

I stood outside the Headmaster's office, waiting for Nico, Sadie, Thalia and the other Slytherins invited along (the twins and Beth) to make an appearance. Theon had begged and begged to come, but we out-right refused. Clever as he was, he was only a first year and barely eleven. We didn't want him to get hurt somehow. Annabeth, Carter and Zia were there, along with Harry, Hermione and Ron. Neville and Luna had volunteered to come, and the rest of us lions were already present. Now we were waiting for the snakes.

The shadows suddenly darkened, and Nico stepped out. He looked a little disoriented from shadow-travelling, but otherwise well-rested. Just then, Sadie and Thalia barreled around the corner from a hall, looking winded and alarmed. Ivan, Aiden and Beth were right behind them, panting heavily as though they had ran the whole way.

"She's right behind us!" Thalia hissed. "Umbridge."

Harry scowled and said to the gargoyle, "lemon drop."

The gargoyle stepped aside, allowing for the stairs to spiral up to the Headmaster's office. We piled up the steps and crowded around the Floo, taking stock and making sure we had everything and everyone was there. Luna had taken to using a odd type of dagger, too long for a knife, but too short for a short sword. I supposed it fit her personality. Neville had a long Celestial bronze sword, that he had trained with day and night. It actually could cut him, so we guessed he was a Legacy. Beth loved her bow and arrows - which seemed to irk Nico - and the twins still had their identical Stygian Iron ring-swords.

"Alright," Harry said, sounding slightly pensive, "we walk into the Floo, shout out the Ministry of Magic, and make our way to the Department of Mysteries. Understood?"

There was a chorus of affirmatives from the small crowd of demigods, magicians and wizards.

Harry gave a small grin. "Good. Here goes nothing." He stepped into the Floo, holding up a handful of white powder. "Ministry of Magic!" He threw down the powder and green fire roared up. He disappeared, hopefully to the Ministry.

I went next, and scowled at the powder as I walked into the fireplace. "You better not kill me," I said. I wondered if charmspeak would convince the fireplace to work better. "The Ministry of Magic!" I shouted as I flung the powder at my feet.

I closed my eyes, and felt myself thrown forward from the fireplace. When I opened them, I was standing in the Ministry, the tall vaulted ceiling rising up and, despite being black, shining brightly. Fire roared in the fireplace, and Percy was dumped unceremoniously on the obsidian floor. He picked himself up from the ground, trying in vain to brush off the soot that clung to his clothes and skin.

"I hate the Floo," he muttered to himself.

"Me too," Harry said in agreement as he examined his blackened clothes.

My own clothes were perfectly fine. "I wasn't affected by it."

The fire flared again, and Leo fell out of the Floo. He grinned wildly and flashed a peace sigh. "I love the Floo."

"You're covered in soot," I pointed out. I wasn't trying to sound like a daughter of Aphrodite, but what can I say? I have my girl moments, too.

"Geez, Beauty Queen." Leo said sarcastically. "Try not to get too judgmental of us lowly mortals."

"You're hair is on fire," I pointed out dryly. His hair was smoking slightly, and faint tongues of flames flicked up from under his unkempt hair.

He let out a yelp and ducked his head, the smoke dying and flames disappearing. We had had to make several excuses to the teachers and curious students about Leo's savvy with pyrotechnics. He had burned down many of desks in his time at Hogwarts so far. We had hoped that his control would get better, but ever since we came to the magical school, it only seemed to get worse. Something about the magic mixing with the godly genes of a demigod was somewhat like throwing dynamite in fire.

Both sides exploded.

Leo's fire had gotten stronger, my charmspeak had gotten harder to control, Jason was zapping more and more people, Nico had taken to shadow-traveling everywhere and barely even tried to hide it. Oh, and don't get Annabeth started about the unexplained Bathroom Incident with Percy. Throw together an ADHD son of Poseidon and an irate ferret, and you get flooded bathrooms. We were sure that explained why Theon was unnaturally hyper, and why Ivan and Aiden seemed to be geniuses at everything they put their minds to. (Or 'genii', as they insisted.)

Once everyone had passed through the Floo, we headed down to the elevator things that the wizards used to get around. We piled on one - easier said than done when there's over a dozen kids - and waited impatiently until the lift stopped at the Department of Mysteries. It was cramped, and Leo couldn't stop moving as his ADHD got the best of him. On the plus side, I was pressed up against Jason. I could easily picture his sky-blue eyes, tanned skin and corn-silk blonde hair from spending weeks with the South Wind during out quest with Gaea. He trained all the time, so he was toned and -

Focus, Piper, I scolded myself.

"Next stop: the Department of Mysteries, Level Five."

The grate safety door slid open, leaving us exposed to a silent corridor lined with shelves of cloudy white orbs. Voices whispered through the corridors, rustling, and a draining feeling that was all too familiar. I shoved my doom and gloom thoughts into the back of my mind. Hopefully we were only dealing with some evil Death Eaters, not a major god. The breeze slipped by, making Jason shiver behind me. It looked like I wasn't the only one creeped out by this place.

Percy was the first one to push out, cautiously inspecting the area for threats. "It's clear," he said in a hushed voice. He held Riptide securely in the palm of his hand. "But I don't know for how long."

Jason, Harry and Carter pushed through, and the rest of us filed out. It was quiet, except for the slight padding sound of several teenager's shoes moving along the black floors. I squinted in the gloom, wondering how wizards managed to live without going blind. Then Harry raised his wand and said, "lumos," and the tip of his wand lit up with a bright white light. Percy quickly did the same, remembering that he was supposed to be a wizard, not a demigod used to traversing dark areas.

The rest of the wizards and witches followed suit, adopting Harry and Percy as the leaders of this expedition. Harry had said that he saw his godfather being held in the Death Chamber via nightmare vision, where the Veil was hidden away. As we walked past a particular shelf of orbs, Harry came to an abrupt stop. He stared at a certain orb, seemingly transfixed by it. A rasping voice rose from the orb, speaking slowly and deliberately, as if the words were pushed out by a supernatural force.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches . . . Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies . . . And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not . . . And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives . . . The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies . . ."

Percy shuddered. "What was up with that lady's voice?"

"What was wrong with it?" Neville asked.

"The voice!" Percy said. "The prophecy . . . They aren't usually like that."

Neville looked confused, but said nothing.

Harry exclaimed, "that was a prophecy! The one that he's after! You know, Volde -"

There was a loud cackle, and whooshing sound as several dark ropy-looking balls flew around. They stopped, and transformed into masked people. One of them standing in the front of the group had tell-tale long blonde hair. Gee, I thought. Wonder who that is.

"Hand of over the prophecy, children." Blondie said in a cold drawl. "And no one will get hurt."

"Where is Sirius?" Harry demanded, ignoring Lucius Malfoy's request.

"The dog is fine," Lucius snapped. "The prophecy."

"What, this?" Harry asked, holding up the prophecy. "Fat chance."

I could hear Nico mutter sarcastically next to me, "way to slip out of a situation. Why not just tell him we're demigods, too?"

Lucius's hard aristocratic features hardened even more. "One last chance," he hissed lethally.

One Death Eater, a woman with crazy curly black hair piled around her head, pasty white skin and heavily-lidded dark eyes grinned impishly. "Come on, ikle children. Give us the prophecy!" She spoke in a sing-song babyish voice that grated on my nerves.

"As soon as you send yourself to a psych ward," Percy blurted.

Annabeth closed her eyes, and I could hear what she was thinking quite easily: there goes Percy, keeping up with his tick-off-the-bad-guys talents.

The woman's eyes narrowed, and I suddenly recognized her from the papers: Bellatrix Lestrange. She hissed, "crucio!"

And from then on, it dissolved into chaos. I wasn't sure how this might have ended up if us demigods weren't there, but I was fairly sure we made the full-on combat come a bit sooner. I darted to the side, narrowly missing the Unforgivable torture curse and unsheathed Katoptris. Hopefully some of the Death Eaters had enough Hecate blood in them to be effected by Celestial bronze.

A tall wiry Death Eater shot a curse at me, and dodged it, testing out my wand in real combat for the first time, "stupefy!" The Death Eater batted aside the curse with an almost causal swipe of his wand. He raised his wand to say a spell - which was no doubt nasty and not good for my health - but a sharp call of a bird startled him. An eagle swept down and snatched the Death Eater's wand from him and perched on a shelf. The eagle transformed into Jason, and I felt a wide smile break over my face.

On the other hand, I was fairly sure the Death Eater was sneering behind his mask. Jason held up the wand and inspected it, and then snapped it over his knee. The Death Eater flinched slightly, but Jason ignored it as he jumped down. "I find my gladius much more reliable."

Confusion was the last thing the Death Eater felt before the pommel of Jason's sword slammed into his forehead, knocking him out cold. I grinned and gave him a swift peck on his cheek. He flushed red, and said, "Death Chamber. Harry and Nico and the others are trying to make their way there."

"Okay." I said as we rushed down the corridors.

When we joined the others in the mad rush to the Death Chamber, I realized how much better they had gotten at fighting. Ginny's killer stupefy was proven to be truly killer indeed when five Death Eaters ganged up on her. She threw the spell, and they went flying back down a corridor, unconscious, before hitting the wall on the other side. Neville mastered the expelliarmus spell from all of his practice, and judging by the amount of Death Eater wands stashed away in his pockets, he was starting a collection of wands.

Nico and Percy caused the most mayhem. At one point, Nico purposefully allowed himself to get cornered. While the Death Eater was crowing in his victory, Nico shadow-traveled behind him. Terror and confusion were the last things written on his face as he saw Nico's wicked grin, followed by the pommel of Tenebris. Percy found out that the orbs were full of a strange type of liquid. Strange, but controllable. He levitated several of them, startling a Death Eater, before smashing them into said Death Eater's face.

Leo entertained himself by bursting into flames, screaming, "I'm meeelting!"

Percy had corrected him on the fact that with Wicked Witch of the West had melt from water, not burned to death fire. Leo had abruptly changed his yells to, "I'm buuuuuurning!"

Ivan and Aiden were down-right cruel. They were identical, except for minor things here and there that would take a critical eye to find, so they enjoyed tricking the Death Eaters. They did what they called a 'Voldemort imitation' that freaked the Death Eaters out to no end as they shadow-traveled back and forth, switching their names around and causing general confusion. Worse was that, since they had seen Voldemort and had absolutely no fear of him, they could change their features to him. Even though they still had hair, they changed it to white, and two Voldemorts caused double to chaos.

They were having just a little too much fun.

My charmspeak came in useful. Several of the Death Eaters suddenly found themselves with the most burning, irresistible urge to find the nearest auror and turn himself in with the parting message of "there's Death Eaters attacking the Department of Mysteries and trying to kill innocent kids. Send backup immediately." I was sure that little stunt would put them on the Dark Lord's hit-list.

Finally we stopped outside double-doors, which were partially open. The sounds of fighting drifted out, accompanied by a chill breeze that struck me to the bone. There was something wrong with this chamber. It made a small voice in the back of my head scream, danger! Turn back, or face certain death! Luckily, I'd had plenty of practice with ignoring this voice, although it was usually always right. I felt like a stranger. A great part of me said that I didn't belong here. This was enemy territory. I wondered if this was what Jason felt like when he first came to camp. Poor Jason.

Percy, Annabeth, Nico and Jason hesitated next to me. I guessed they were feeling the same foreboding, subconscious warning coming from the chamber. Annabeth fingered her Celestial bronze dagger thoughtfully. "Something is wrong with that chamber," she mused. "It's not natural. Death was never supposed to be linked so directly to the mortal world."

Percy chuckled dryly. "Since when has anyone listen to Death's rules?"

Jason coughed, "Sisyphus," into his fist.

"The Veil is an insult to my father's realm." Nico glowered, insulted on Hades' behalf. "If Dad knew this thing existed, he's -"

"Do nothing," Percy interrupted. "Because that would be interfering with the mortal world, and that's not 'allowed'" He did air quotations with his fingers and scoffed the word in the a tone that said, right, like that rule's never broken. He cheered up suddenly, and beamed. "So, anyone ready for an evening stroll through the chamber of certain death?"

He was rewarded by the replies of "yes!" and "bring it on!"

"Death?" Leo said, walking up from behind us. His hair stuck up in several places, and his eyes had a mad glint to them as he flipped a screw driver through is fingers. "I was born ready."

Jason rolled his eyes. "What happened to your creativity, Leo?"

Leo waved him away. "I can make any cliche saying sound as awesome as the day it was created."

"Like a thousand years ago," Percy muttered as he threw open the doors of the Death Chamber.

The breeze turned into a torrent, which blew my snowboard jacket back. I rubbed my hands on the cold material of my jeans, trying to shake away the cold, foreboding feeling that had returned with vengeance. The wizards didn't seem to be so bothered by it, and out of all of us, Nico and the twins seemed the most effected. Nico had paled, staring at the Veil with a kind of anger, and the twins with despair. Beth was standing, transfixed, a few feet away. She was muttering things under her breath, "statue . . . a land without rain . . . lightning . . ."

None of it made any sense to me, but Percy gaped at her, his features paling dramatically. "Where did she hear that?" He hissed.

"I have no idea." Nico muttered.

Then I got a full view of the Death Chamber. It was immense.

The circular walls rose up into a high, domed ceiling. A small mountain of rocks piled up in the center of the room lifted up a black archway, filled with mysterious shifting mist. Whispers came from the Veil, low and rhythmic, overlapping so it made it impossible for me make any sense out of it. I did a quick head count, and frowned. There were two people missing. I counted again, but came to the same conclusion. The only two people that weren't there were the Kanes. Carter and Sadie were missing.

"Hey," I called. "Where is Carter and Sadie?"

"Where's Sirius?" Harry echoed, as he fought off a Death Eater. "He was supposed to be here . . ."

That's when I felt a cold hand clamp over my mouth. Suddenly Death Eaters were flooding into the Death Chamber, and taking students hostage. I thrashed out with Katoptris, until I felt a cold blade against my throat. I was behind the others, off to the side, so none of the other Death Eaters would notice a bit of demigod-style cheating . . . Time to bend the rules a bit. "Put me down." I commanded, by voice layered with charmspeak.

The Death Eater dropped the knife and let me go. I faced him, smiling falsely. "Good boy. Now go to sleep." He crumpled on the spot, falling asleep.

As if it couldn't get more chaotic, a dozen Order members suddenly burst into the Death Chamber, wands at the ready. I barely could hold back a smile as Poseidon stepped in. He winked at Percy, who had blanched and had his jaw hung open loosely. What name was Poseidon going by? Hippocampus? No, Mr. Hippacampite. At least we now know where Percy got his sense of humor from.

"Uh, Da - um. Mr. Hippocampitus." Percy spluttered.

Leo snorted, despite being held with a knife to his neck. "Um, Kelp Head. It's Hippacampite. Not a weird fish disease."

"Shut up!" The Death Eater holding him snarled, pressing the knife deeper into his neck.

Leo rolled his eyes. "Look, when Leo wants to escape, Leo escapes. 'Cause that's just part of being the awesome Leo Valdez, bad-boy supre -"

The Death Eater knocked him in the back of the head. "Talk again, and it'll be the last thing you do."

That's when Leo burst into flames, making the Death Eater screech in shock and jump back, flailing and jumping around as he tried to put out the fire. Leo cheered and yelled, "That's it! Run, Jump and Scream! You're doing it right!

Bellatrix let out an insane laugh, and threw a curse at Harry. Sirius stepped in front of the curse, blocking it. They went back and forth as the Death Eaters attacked the Order members, and vice versa. Suddenly Harry winced, gripping his scar in pain. I jumped and blocked another curse that was sent his way. "You okay?" I yelled over the turmoil.

"Yes. Fine!" He called back. He sliced his wand through the air, yelling an incantation. A Death Eater was sent flying against the walls of the Death Chamber, bound in ropes.

I found Walt, who was finishing off a Death Eater with his boomerang shaped Egyptian wand expertly. I almost felt sorry for the Death Eater, who was wrapped up in white linen like a mummy and letting out muffled complaints. "Mmph mmghh!"

"Sorry, I don't speak Mummy," I said. I directed my next question at Walt. "Have you seen Carter or Sadie?"

Walt frowned worriedly, and for a second he flashed between his human form, and the pale-skinned thin form of Anubis. "No."

"We need to find them," I said. "They might have gotten lost back in the Department of Mysteries."

"Or worse," Walt muttered. He didn't need to clarify; my imagination did that for him.

Then there was shout, and I turned in time to see Harry throw prophecy orb, knowing full well that no one would be able to catch it. Lucius lunged for it, but missed. The prophecy smashed to pieces on the obsidian rocks holding the Veil up. Lucius lied there a few seconds, shock and disbelief spreading across his pale face. I could the color drain from his face as he stared at the shards of the orb. I could only imagine the fit of anger his master was going throw himself into when he heard about Albino Ferret Senior's failure.

Again.

There was shout, and I saw Sirius push Harry away from the Veil as he dueled another Death Eater. He overpowered the Death Eater, but as he turned back to Harry, another insane shriek rang out, "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

A sickly green electric ribbon of light shot through the air, and everything seemed to slow down. It was headed straight at Sirius, who was frozen in his spot. Harry watched the scene in horror, also paralyzed. Then a flash of sandy curly hair and bright blue eyes darted in front of the curse, yanking Sirius out of the way just in time. Any second later, and Harry's godfather would have been dead.

I recognized Sirius's savior with a shock: Theon.

Then another shout startled the still air: "Aiden!"

The Avada curse didn't just stop when Sirius was pulled out of the way. Instead, it hit the person who stood next in its path: Aiden. He crumpled to the ground with Beth, who had gripped his arm in an attempt to pull him out of the way too late. Bellatrix's expression, which had previously looked miffed about missing Sirius, morphed into insane glee. Harry, Sirius and Ivan reacted at once, throwing two different curses. Harry and Ivan cast the Cruciatus, and Sirius cast a spell that sounded equally nasty.

Bellatrix just laughed and ran away, with the three following in fury. She yelled in a sing-song voice over her shoulder, "I killed the traitor! I killed the traitor!"

I ran toward Beth and Ivan, who laid motionless. Aiden's face looked much younger, his eyes were closed as if he was sleeping. Beth looked more troubled, as if she was caught in a nightmare. Nico stood over them, horror and grief struck on his face. "I - I didn't think - I though -" He spluttered. "I though the Avada didn't work on children of Hades."

"What?" I asked.

Then Beth let out a gasp, her eyes flying open. I rushed by her side, accompanied by Nico. "Beth!" I gasped. "How - you're alive!"

She frowned at me, blinking repeadedly, as though she didn't understand. I wondered if death had wiped her memory.

"Beth?" I asked again. "Are you okay?"

"Why do you keep calling me Beth?" She asked.

Nico sucked in a breath, a look of understanding passing over his face, with excitement. Beth continued, gazing at Nico with awe. "Nicky," she whispered. "You're all grown up!"

"Beth?" I said cautiously. I was becoming less and less sure that that was her name.

"My name's not Beth," she insisted. "My name is Bianca. Bianca di Angelo."

A/N: Once again, I'm sorry for taking so long. And I don't know if the DoM has levels (don't kill me, I still haven't read the books - this is all from the movie), but in this fiction it does. So there. :D

I know, Sirius is supposed to die. Sigh. I just couldn't do it! Sirius is my favorite character in the whole Harry Potter universe, with the exception of the Weasley twins and Snape. If any of you guys really want Sirius to die, well . . . I could do something. What do you feel about Bianca? Did you see that coming? I had it planned since Beth was introduced - so she wasn't an OC from the very beginning.

Review and tell me what you think! Hopefully I won't take so long next time. I'm making no promises. School sucks. (School for us homeschoolers is never out. We suffer year-round.)