Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Author's Note: If you see any grammar mistakes or anything as such, just tell me in a review and I'll fix them as soon as possible.
Chapter 49
It was gone. The one thing that would have told us all of the secrets of our past had just been smashed into nothingness and now no one would know what it had said.
"Oh no - I'm so sorry," Neville said sounding defeated. "I didn't mean to - "
"It wasn't your fault," I said.
"But it's broken!" Neville said with guilt. "I can't believe - "
Suddenly he went very quiet and his eyes grew wide. What had just happened? Did the spell just have another effect on him or what?
"It's Dumbledore - " he said and pointed behind us.
"What are you talking about?" Harry asked quickly.
We both jerked our heads back and our jaws dropped when I saw Albus Dumbledore walking amongst the Order. It had been a long time since I had last seen him and it shocked me that he had come out of hiding to help us. Where had he been? Who had contacted him about this incident? How did the Order even figure it out?
As soon as the Death Eaters began to notice his presence, they seemed even more shocked than we were. Several of them attempted to retreat from the fight, but with only a single movement of the wand, Dumbledore sent them backward and forced them to stay in the room.
The only two people that didn't seem to notice that Dumbledore had shown up was Sirius and Bellatrix who were still dueling in the corner of the room. As we helped Neville to stand up again, I listened to my godfather as he taunted his cousin for a better fight.
Sirius seemed to be happier than I had ever seen him. Nothing could have made him any more thrilled than to be included in this fight and he was going to make the most of it while he could. I'm sure that Dumbledore wasn't going to be happy that he came out of hiding without his direct order, but it wasn't exactly in Sirius's nature to follow all the rules.
Neville suddenly kicked me in the shin again and I had to grab onto a railing of the steps that we were trying to go up. As soon as I caught my balance, I notices just how quiet it had gotten all of a sudden. When I looked up, the first thing I noticed was a particularly bright green light that erupted through the room. It flew through the air and quickly connected with Sirius's chest.
Everything went silent, everything was still. It couldn't be true, it was some sort of mistake. Every part of my body froze and I felt like I was in a horrible nightmare that I couldn't escape. Sirius's face had grown pale as he began to fall toward the archway that was placed behind him. It seemed like slow motion as he fell through it and my heart seemed to stop beating when he didn't fall through the other side.
He was gone.
Although subconsciously, I knew that I had just allowed Neville to fall to the ground as my body went numb. Nothing felt real and it felt like everything was happening in slow motion. My brother was running at the scene and was screaming horribly enough for me to hear as a pained muffled cry.
Lupin grabbed him before he could get too close to Bellatrix as she laughed victoriously at the death of her cousin and the misery that had just erupted around the room because of her deed. Harry began to yell more, but I couldn't make out the words as I backed into the wall behind me.
It hadn't happened. It wasn't true. Any second from now, Sirius would jump from behind the veil and laugh at us all for this horrible trick. But as the seconds passed, I knew that this wasn't going to happen. Sirius was gone. And it was all her fault.
From having a feeling of complete emptiness, my mood did a complete 360 as I suddenly grew furious. Bellatrix - this was her fault. And I wasn't going to sit here and allow her to take my godfather away - not here, not now. Never before had I wanted to kill someone so badly as I did this woman.
I suddenly broke out into a sprint.
Just as Bellatrix glanced over and saw me chasing her, I suddenly found myself being pulled back. Someone's arms were thrown around me and I couldn't move.
"Let go of me!" I cried.
"He's gone Emily," Dumbledore said softly as he restrained me. "Trying to kill her won't change that."
Bellatrix let out another laugh and then turned on her heels and then took off towards the door that led into the circular room. At that point, I had completely lost myself.
I fell to my knees and covered my face with my hands as I sobbed uncontrollably. Sirius was gone and there wasn't anything that I could do about it. He had fallen through the veil and I would never see him again. He had disappeared just like my parents - fighting a battle that should have been mine.
Flashes flew through my mind of every moment that I had spent with my godfather. When I had first seen him in the Forbidden Forest...the huge smile that lit up us face when Harry and I got to see him this summer at Grimmauld Place...meeting him in the Shrieking Shack during third year so he could tell me about all of his adventures with my dad and I could tell him what it was like being free...him offering for Harry and me to come live with him after we caught Peter Pettigrew...the way that Sirius was willing to do anything to help and protect us with whatever came our way.
And now that was all there was going to be. There would be no more memories made - it was all finished because of me. Sirius was gone because we had been foolish enough to come here because of Voldemort.
It was then that I noticed that Dumbledore was knelt down on the ground with his arms around my shoulders trying to comfort me. I probably would have appreciated this more if I hadn't felt so numb, but at the same time I liked having someone there that cared enough.
"It's not your fault Emily," Dumbledore whispered to me.
"Yes it is," I said through my sobs. "I shouldn't have seen that vision anyway - "
"You cannot control everything," Dumbledore said softly. "I have come to learn that over the years myself."
Feeling like I didn't have the ability to release any more tears, I finally wiped my face clean and Dumbledore helped me to stand up. I looked around at the people around the room and found that someone was missing.
"Where's Harry?" I croaked.
Dumbledore looked around for a moment and then we both started to walk out of the room at once. Some of the members of the Order began to follow, but Dumbledore held up his hand for them to stop.
"Help the others out," he ordered. "Miss Potter, I ask that you don't - "
"I'm not leaving without my brother," I said instantly.
Dumbledore looked hesitant, but nodded as we quickly began to exit the room where we found ourselves in the circular room once more. This time we found that there was another door opened that seemed to lead out towards the Atrium.
"Get your wand ready," Dumbledore ordered. "And stay behind me..."
He trailed off as we stepped through the door and looked around the corner. He motioned for me to follow and we quickly raced down the hallway. It was actually pretty amazing that Dumbledore moved so quickly for his age - whatever that may be.
"Where do you think he went?" I asked quietly.
"After Ms. Lestrange, no doubt," he answered quickly.
When we arrived at the lift, I heard a short-lived scream from below and then some more yelling. I looks over at Dumbledore and he had his eyebrows clenched together - deep in thought from the look of him. I was about to ask him what he was thinking when my scar suddenly felt like it had been set of fire. I let out a groan and my vision blackened for a second. When I began to focus again, Dumbledore didn't look surprised in the least, although there I could see the worry on his face as he helped me back up from where I had fallen to my knees.
"He's here," Dumbledore said gravely. "Try to remember your Occlumency - you're going to need it now that he knows he can use it against you."
Voldemort was in the building and I didn't doubt for a second that he had already found Harry now that he wasn't with anyone who could help protect him. A fear suddenly shot through me - he was going to kill my brother if we couldn't get there fast enough.
When the lift finally stopped and the door flew open, I started to run off, but Dumbledore grabbed my arm and pulled me back so he could walk ahead of me.
"You must not let your emotions cloud your senses," Dumbledore said. "It isn't wise to run out into a fight you aren't prepared for."
I wanted to shout at him that we didn't have time to be careful or patient, but at the same time I had to remind myself that this was Dumbledore that was with me. He would know what to do in this sort of situation - it was just the sort of person that he was.
When we stepped out into the Atrium, we tried to remain out of view as long as possible. The first thing that I noticed, other than the awful pain that was shooting across my forehead, was the three people that were next to the large fountain that was sitting in the middle of the atrium. One of them, Bellatrix, was on the ground with a sickening smile across her face as she looked up at the man that stood across from Harry with his back to us. Voldemort.
"Dumbledore - " I started.
"Stay silent," Dumbledore said under his breath. "Whatever you do, stay out of Voldemort's way, do you understand?"
"Yes sir, but - " I whispered back.
"Emily, listen to me," he spoke over me. "Once I have Voldemort's attention, I want you to get Harry and get out of here."
"But what about you?" I asked.
"Don't worry about me Miss Potter," he said calmly. "This won't be the first duel I've ever been in and it certainly won't be the last. Just get yourselves away - you two are what he really wants here."
I nodded and then turned my attention back to Harry and Voldemort who were both staring coldly at one another. It took a lot of restraint to keep myself from not running over and jumping in front of Harry do I could protect him, but Dumbledore had a plan and I had to stick with it. After all, Dumbledore knew how Voldemort functioned a little bit better than I did.
"You smashed my prophecy?" Voldemort snarled at Harry.
"It wasn't your prophecy," Harry said angrily. "It belonged to me and my sister."
"I don't care who you think it belonged to Potter," Voldemort spat. "That prophecy belonged to me as far as I'm concerned and your ruined it just like you have everything else."
"I tried to - " Bellatrix started.
"Enough!" Voldemort shrieked at Bellatrix and then turned back to Harry. "I've put up with you and your sister long enough and I will put an end to it once and for all. So here's what's going to happen - Bellatrix, I want you to go find the girl."
"She isn't here," Harry said too quickly.
"Don't lie to me boy," Voldemort sneered. "I know that she's here with you - I'm sure of it actually. I want her in here with us so I can have you watch her as I splatter her brains around the room - it'll be your little punishment for breaking my prophecy Potter."
"Stay here until he's occupied," Dumbledore said quietly to me.
I nodded and my eyes widened as he stepped across the floor and walked over towards Voldemort like he was taking a morning stroll. Bellatrix was walking back towards us and her eyes widened when Dumbledore sent a spell towards her and she flew across the atrium.
"I don't think that finding Miss Potter will be necessary Tom," Dumbledore said all to calmly.
For a moment, there was a flash of fear thar flew across Voldemort's face, but then it turned into anger as he pointed his wand at his former teacher.
"Dumbledore, I should have known you would be here," Voldemort said.
"You should have known better than to have come here," Dumbledore said cooly. "I have called the Aurors already and they shall be here soon to collect you."
"They'll only find your dead carcass here old man," Voldemort spat.
Suddenly a green flash went directly towards Dumbledore, but with a quick flick of the wrist, one of the statues from the fountain flew over and took the spell for him. When the gold shattered into pieces around him, Voldemort clenched his teeth angrily. It was then that he began to send several different spells toward his enemy and they both began their duel.
I took a deep breath and edged my way around the room. Harry was up against the wall looking as shocked as I was that Dumbledore was easily blocking every single spell that was thrown his way. Voldemort's fury heightened and he began to yell as he sent a large wall of fire towards the old man he was dueling. But he was only disappointed once more when Dumbledore easily took it down with the water that flowed from the fountain.
That's when I took off from behind Voldemort. I ran as quickly as I could towards my brother and grabbed his arm and began to pull him towards the exit of the atrium, but Harry seemed to be frozen to the spot.
"We need to get out of here," I said urgently.
Harry's eyes were still locked on the duel in front of him. When I only took a moment to glance over at the scene, my scar felt like it went up in flames as my eyes locked with Voldemort's. When he saw me, a cruel smile erupted on his face and he suddenly whirled around and disappeared.
"Harry - come on," I said in a panic. "NOW!"
Harry seemed to have suddenly come back to life when we made a move for the door. My heart was racing a mile a minute and it was then that I heard the frightened cry of Dumbledore that made me stop in my tracks.
"NO!" Dumbledore said sounding terrified.
"What's - " I started.
Suddenly I felt a pain in my head that made me fall to the ground. If it was possible for your brain to split in half, then I was certain that was what was happening. Never in my life had I experienced a pain like this - it made me want to curl up and die without even putting up any more of a fight.
I couldn't see anything around me because I could only pay attention to the sickening crack of my bones as I fell to the ground and felt was my muscles pulled against my bones unnaturally making my arms and legs move in a way that shouldn't have been possible.
"Kill me Professor Dumbledore," a growl erupted from my mouth.
"EMILY!" I heard Harry shout from what seemed like miles away.
Flashes of memories suddenly filled up my mind. Sirius falling into the veil...Voldemort being brought back to life...dementors swarming around Harry at the Quidditch match...Hermione lying in the hospital when she had been petrified...the look in Dudley's eyes when the dementors had attempted to take his soul...Cedric being murdered in front of us...
All of this with the pain surging throughout my body made the whole thing worse than death. There was no relief and I heard a horrid scream erupt from my mouth along with a loud SNAP from my leg.
Then, all at once, the pain suddenly escaped my body and I fell into a blackness. There was a throbbing feeling that came from my head and my leg, but everything else felt numb. That's when I heard my brother's strained voice coming from next to me.
"You're weak," Harry growled. "Just give up old man."
He said more, but I couldn't hear it over the sound of several footsteps racing around me. I tried to open my eyes, but I felt weak and could hardly breath when I attempted to move myself.
Everything was silent for a moment and I wondered if I had finally died, but that was when I heard Dumbledore's voice next to me.
"Are you both all right?" he asked.
"Yes," croaked Harry.
Everyone went silent and I opened my mouth to say something, but my head started to throb again and I winced with the pain of it all. I felt a sudden pressure on my arm that felt like a hand and the last thing I heard before I fell into the blackness was from my brother.
"It's okay now Emily," Harry said with a crack in his voice. "He's gone now...you're safe..."
...
When I saw light again, I winced and looked around the room. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust, but I found myself lying in the hospital wing and surrounded by Harry, Dumbledore, Neville, Luna, Snape, Madam Pomfrey, and some members from the Order.
"She needs to rest Dumbledore," Madam Pomfrey said sounding irritated. "Can this not wait - just look at her!"
"Where are we?" I croaked. "Where's Voldemort - what happened?"
"Just settle down Emily," Dumbledore said. "Everything is fine now."
"Harry - are you okay?" I asked sounding like I was seconds from death.
"It depends on how you look at it," he whispered as he grabbed a hold of my hand.
"Emily - Harry, I'm going to have to ask you to come to my office with me," Dumbledore said looking at the floor.
"Albus - I seriously recommend that you do this later," Madam Pomfrey said. "Neither of them are in any sort of condition to be moving around - "
"It's fine," I said realizing what was going on. "I'd rather get it over with now. Harry, can you help me?"
"You're leg is still repairing itself - it'll be another hour before you should move it - " Madam Pomfrey said and then shook her head. "Oh, fine. It isn't like anyone listens to me anyway."
Harry and Dumbledore helped me walk out of the room and the others sat behind looking bewildered and confused. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Dumbledore wanted us to talk about what happened. It wasn't something that I wanted to do, but I knew that it would be best to do this now rather than to wait until the next day. I was already in pain now, both physically and mentally, and putting off telling him what happened would only worsen the whole situation.
"EMILY!"
My head turned slowly and I winced as I felt some skin feel like it had stretched when I did. It was George and he looked paler than I was used to seeing him. Not far behind him was Fred who expression was identical to his brother's. When they saw my face, their eyes widened and George nearly looked like he was going to cry while Fred seemed to be at a loss for words.
"We're fine George, don't worry," I said softly. "I need to go speak with Dumbledore right now, could you wait for me?"
"But - " George started.
"I only ask for patience Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore said. "She will be returned to your care momentarily, but we have something that we need to get out of the way."
They both nodded and I gave them a weak smile that turned into a wince as we walked off into another corridor. When we past by a mirror on the wall, I suddenly realized what they had found to be so frightening. Across the middle of my face there was a large gash that stretched from the right side of my forehead, over top of my eye, down my nose, and finally stopping at the edge of my mouth.
"What happened?" I asked.
"It was Voldemort's work," Dumbledore said darkly. "He seemed to have been trying to rip your body apart when he had control over you."
"I guess that's what he did to my leg too..." I murmured.
"Madam Pomfrey said that it seemed to be a clean break at the knee, so it should be able to heal well," Dumbledore said. "We aren't sure if the mark on your face will be permanent. Only time will tell with that."
I nodded and we remained silent for the remainder of the trip to his office. The thought that we were going to have to repeat everything made me ill and I suddenly wondered if I should have acted like I was unconscious to avoid this, but I couldn't have left Harry alone in this. We only had each other at this point.
We stepped into Dumbledore's office and they helped me sit down before they found seats of their own. Dumbledore sat behind the desk and looked grave as he looked into our eyes. He knew this wasn't going to be easy for us and it pained him to say what he had to, but we all knew that this discussion had to happen.
"I believe that I owe you two an explanation," he sighed miserably. "There is a lot that I haven't told you..."
It wasn't shocking, but I found myself fearing what he was going to say. Whatever it was, I knew that it would change our lives forever.
There would be no going back from this point.
...
Thanks for reading - I hope you liked it! I'm not going to say a definite day for the next chapter, but I'll tell you all that I plan to have the Order of the Phoenix finished by Saturday. I'm going to be leaving the following day for a week and I'll be out of state, just a forewarning. I will continue the series when I return with The Potter Twins and the Half-Blood Prince. I hope you enjoyed this story so far and I hope that you continue to read it!
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