Happy Long Weekend, everyone! So this chapter is really intense. Really, really intense. As in this will either have an "I hate what you've done" reaction or "I love what you've done" reaction. I doubt there will be an in-between. That's all I'm giving you for this chapter, friends.

Enjoy.


Chapter 54 – Beyond the Veil


I was right. It was a trap.

Around us, dozens of black figures were emerging from the shadows as if they were one with the shadows themselves. They were in a strategic formation, one which blocked each direction and each way of escape. They were wearing the same disturbing silver masks I remembered and though I could not see them, I happened to know that those masks happened to match their Dark Marks burnt into their forearms. Each Death Eater was also equipped with a wand and every single tip was aimed at each of our hearts.

"To me, Potter," the voice would have been impossible not to recognize and even though he was wearing a hood, it was quite clear who it was.

"Don't give Malevolent Malfoy anything, Harry. That's our ticket out," I whispered to my brother, my eyes raking over the dark formation around us. We were easily outnumbered two to one and considering I couldn't vouch for how well some of those in our group were with a wand, I was thinking that we were also mercilessly outgunned.

"To me," Malfoy said again, his voice lower.

"Where's Sirius?" Harry asked, trying to keep his voice strong but I watched as his expression wavered under the scrutiny and peeling laughter from the Death Eaters that surrounded us.

"The Dark Lord always knows!" A high, cackling voice said proudly from the center of the crowd. Instinctively, I took a step back – I had heard that mad cackle before and all that it meant was danger for me.

"Always," Malfoy echoed. "Now, give me the prophecy, Potter."

"I want to know where Sirius is!"

"I want to know where Sirius is!" The cackling witch mimicked in the most condescending voice she could manage. The sound of her voice made me hiss and step back again, it was hard not to notice that the Death Eaters had closed in nearly silently which made her voice much closer.

"He's not here, Harry," I whispered to him. "We're here for that orb, not Sirius."

"They've got him," Harry said, his teeth gritted. "He's here. I know he is."

"The little baby woke up fwightened and fort what it dweamed was twoo," the mad and wild witch giggled again – I had never imagined that a giggle could sound so similar to a cackle – but somehow it did and it held itself dangerously.

"Don't do anything," Harry whispered. "Not yet-"

"You hear him?" The wild-eyed woman screamed in laughter. "You hear him? Giving instructions to the other children as though he thinks of fighting us!"

"Oh, you don't know Potter as I do, Bellatrix," Malfoy drawled slowly. I could hear the smirk on his voice. "He has a great weakness for heroics; the Dark Lord understands this about him. Now give me the prophecy, Potter."

"He's not giving you anything," I hissed, taking a small step forward so I could be seen over my brother's shoulder. "Smash it, Harry."

"But if they want it shouldn't we-"

"They want us dead, too," I hissed, my eyes raking over the crowd of black hoods around us. "Do you think we should just lay down and let them."

"That would not be wise, Potter," Malfoy sneered to me. "Without that prophecy, you have nothing to barter with for your lives."

"If your Lord knows that Harry favours heroics, he should know that I favour common sense. You'll kill us the moment you have that memory." I frowned at him. Lucius Malfoy did not move or disagree with me – not that I expected him to.

"And I know Sirius is here," Harry shook his head looking to Malfoy with a sneer. "This isn't heroics: I know you've got him!"

"It's time you learned the difference between life and dreams, Potter," Malfoy said, turning his masked face slightly toward me. "Your sister tried to help you, but you would trust your enemy before her. Pity. It may have done you some good...now, give me the prophecy, or we start using wands."

I guess it didn't matter which Malfoy happened to be fighting for me at the time – it was still weird. And I didn't like it. Then again, I wasn't much a fan of Lucius to begin with.

"Go on, then," Harry growled, raising his own wand. Around me, everyone else did the same so I raised both hands: one with my wand and the other with my real store of magic. Malfoy's hand, the one wielding his wand, twitched infinitesimally toward the Death Eaters...who did not strike.

"Hand over the prophecy and no one need get hurt," Malfoy said again.

I let out a cold laugh. "You really expect us to believe that?"

"Yeah, right," Harry agreed bitterly. "I give you this – prophecy, is it? And you'll just let us skip off home, will you?"

But the cackling witch in the crowd had ideas of her own. "Accio proph-"

"No!" I screamed, flinging my hand out for the prophecy. Harry was faster, of course, and threw up a shield around us to block the prophecy from leaving his hand while I instinctively grabbed onto it as a lifeline.

"Oh, he knows how to play, little bitty, baby Potter," the witch said, taking a step toward me. I took one back instinctively, her mad eyes were terrifying and I held the prophecy to my chest. "Very well, then. I'm sure your sister will see sense after I-"

"I told you, no!" Malfoy roared to Lestrange, turning around as if to glare at her through her mask. "If you smash it-"

"If she smashes it?" I repeated skeptically. "One more move from any of you and I'll smash it!"

It only made sense that if they didn't want it smashed, this thing would have to be smashed once we had our way out. Whatever this prophecy – if it really was a prophecy – held was important to these Death Eaters...and common sense dictated that this was just bad news for the entirety of the wizarding world.

"That would be a bad idea, Potter," Malfoy warned me, his teeth clenching through his anxiety. "We all want what is in that prophecy. Losing it would be unfortunate for you and your friends."

"Audrey," Harry whispered, holding his hand out and placing it over my hand, trying to take hold of the prophecy from me again. I looked at him as meaningfully as I could, my fingers clenching around the glass.

"I should hold it," I told him strongly, because that's the only thing that would have made sense; I should hold it because I knew that if anyone would hold strong for our freedom and wouldn't fall for some ridiculous proposition, it would be me.

"Yeah, but if you get angry for one second your Magnuse could shatter it," he hissed back. "This is our lifeline."

"Then I don't trust you to hold it," I mumbled back at him.

"And I don't trust your temper," he hissed back before he took it from between my fingers. I'm pretty sure the pot just called the kettle black, but maybe it would be best if I tried negotiating – or at least analyzing what they were doing. I knew how this lot thought, I'd heard all of their stories from their children and I could analyze some of their children's behaviour if I had to...I just needed some reassurance that we could make it out of the Ministry alive.

"Cute little twins, still trying to win," the witch rhymed while she stepped forward and took off her hood. The horrid, gaunt face of Bellatrix Lestrange stared at the group of us, her eyes taking us in one by one. "You need more persuasion? Very well – take the smallest one. Let him watch while we torture the little girl – I'll do it."

I took my hand and tugged hold of Ginny, pulling her closer behind me. I could almost feel everyone fall in line behind me to protect her.

"You're not touching her," I hissed.

"You'll have to smash this if you want to attack any of us," Harry explained, holding the prophecy in front of him to display it to the crowd of captors. "I don't think your boss will be too pleased if you come back without it, will he?"

Bellatrix did not move.

"Looks like someone's got a fear of snakes," I smirked at her. "You look positively terrified, Lestrange."

"We're all snakes here, little girl," she smirked, it distorted her face in a strange way that somehow looked even more threatening. "I've heard you have a particularly nasty bite."

"Did your friend Barty tell you that?" I asked as I tauntingly raised my eyebrows. Bellatrix's face moulded into something far more foul before she began to cackle.

"The little tart is everything the Dark Lord said!" she nearly giggled. "Oh, I'm excited to gut her."

"I already know what you get to do to me, Lestrange," I called back to her threateningly. "And it is nothing compared to how I finish you."

"You lie!"

Of course I was. I'd only seen her torture me – but she didn't need to know that. Instead, she just watched me, her beady eyes concentrating on me as I dragged Ginny even farther behind me.

"My visions don't lie," I said back as calmly as I could, Ginny's hand gripped my warningly and I squeezed it back, glad for the distraction.

"So," Harry asked, looking back to Malfoy. "All this talk of visions and prophecies...what kind of prophecy are we talking about now, anyway?"

"What kind of prophecy?" Bellatrix repeated, her eyes snapping over to my brother. "You jest, Harry Potter."

"Nope, not jesting," Harry said honestly, his eyes carefully examining the crowd. "How come Voldemort wants it?"

The Death Eaters hissed as if he had burnt them.

"You dare speak his name?" Bellatrix whispered.

"Technically that's not his name," I informed with a smirk. "Technically his name is Tom Marvolo Riddle. You know, after his dad-"

"Shut your mouth!" Bellatrix shrieked. "You dare speak his name with your unworthy lips, you dare besmirch it with your halfblood's tongue, you dare-"

"Did you know that he's a halfblood too?" Harry asked loudly, "Voldemort? Yeah, his mother was a witch but his dad was a Muggle – or has he been telling you lot he's a pureblood?"

"STUPEF-"

"NO!" Malfoy deflected the red light that shot towards us from the tip of Bellatrix's wand. It hit above our heads, off to the side where it smashed off a few of the little orbs nearly identical to the one in my brother's hand. Two figures, neither solid nor opaque, rose from the shattered glass on the floor and began to speak. Their hollow-sounding voices battled to be heard over one another, but the Death Eaters broke their easy voices with their bellows.

"...at the solstice will come a new..."

"Do not attack! We need the prophecy!"

"He dares – he dares-" Bellatrix was nearly mad with rage, "he stands there – filthy halfblood!"

"Wait until we have the prophecy!"

"...and none will come after..."

"Yeah, that makes us trust you!" I shouted at them.

The two ghostly figures dissipated like they were being drowned by the air in the room. All that was left of their existence was the shards of the glass spheres that lay scattered on the floor. Someone behind me let out a little whimper that I wanted to copy, but I tried to hold myself strong – these Death Eaters would thrive off that show of fear.

"You haven't told us what's so special about this prophecy I'm supposed to be handing over-"

"Yeah, the one that will let you leave us alive even though you plan to kill us, anyway." I added on with a glare over to Malfoy, almost imagining that I could see his silver eyes through his mask.

"Do not play games with us, Potter," Malfoy said sternly.

"Us, play games?" I asked with a blink. "Whatever would have given you that idea?"

"Oh, I know all about you, Audrey Potter," Malfoy hissed to me, his wand aimed at my chest now. "I know all about the games you play – with teachers, with friends and with men, alike."

I smirked. "If you're talking about those articles about your son and I, I would hardly consider him a teacher, friend, or a man."

"Audrey doesn't play games with your son," my brother said firmly and I prayed that Ron wouldn't make any further statements in this current situation. I don't think it would help Lucius Malfoy's patience any if he found out his son and I regularly snogged. "And I'm not playing games with you."

"What?" Hermione hissed from behind us, very quietly.

"Dumbledore never told you the reason you bear that scar was hidden in the bowels of the Department of Mysteries?" Malfoy sneered.

"I – what?" Harry stuttered, looking flummoxed for a moment. I looked at Harry, trying to catch his eyes and order him not to listen, but he was so amazed he didn't even look. "What about my scar?"

"What?" Hermione asked again, but I couldn't tell who she was trying to get the attention of.

"Don't you dare listen to him," I hissed to Harry. "There are more important things to consider than idle dinner conversation and pathological lies."

"Can this be?" Malfoy had the nerve to nearly sound like he was chuckling. Some of the Death Eaters around us actually did. My brother hissed something quietly under his breath, possibly to Hermione, but I couldn't hear what it was. "Dumbledore never told you...well, this explains why you didn't come earlier, Potter. The Dark Lord wondered why you didn't come running when he showed you the place where it was hidden in your dreams. He thought natural curiosity would make you want to hear the exact wording..."

"Oh God," I moaned. Were I not so intent on watching the insane woman in front of me, I would have thrown my head back and started ripping my brother a new arsehole. People really had to start just trusting that I was always right and my brother was always wrong. I don't know why, after so much proof, they still doubted that fact.

"Did he?" Harry asked slowly; he sounded like he wasn't even paying attention to the dangers all around us and I wanted to hit him for it. "So he wanted me to come and get it, did he? Why?"

"Why?" Malfoy actually didchuckle this time. "Because the only people who are permitted to retrieve a prophecy from the Department of Mysteries, Potter, are those about whom it was made, as the Dark Lord discovered when he attempted to use others to steal it for him."

"And why did he want to steal a prophecy about me?"

"About both of you, Potter," Malfoy explained slowly, as if he were speaking to an infant. "About both of you...haven't you ever wondered why the Dark Lord tried to kill you as a baby?"

Harry was falling for this, I could see it. But I wasn't about to let him act stupidly on it.

"Harry, don't be as stupid as he's trying to make you out to be," I whispered viciously to him. "He just wants that prophecy and he's playing on your weaknesses."

"Why would someone have made a prophecy about Voldemort and me?" he tried to ask it in a way that sounded like he was putting down the idea, but the curiosity in his voice rang through the group of us as it did through the Death Eaters who started to chuckle. "And he's made me come and get it for him? Why couldn't he come and get it himself?"

"Get it himself?" Bellatrix cackled. "The Dark Lord, walk into the Ministry of magic, when they are so sweetly ignoring his return? The Dark Lord, reveal himself to the Aurors, when at the moment they are wasting their time on my dear cousin?"

"I told you so," I hissed to him, feeling myself snarl as she said close to my exact words from back at the castle. "I told you, I told you!"

"So, he's got you doing his dirty work for him, has he?" Harry asked, elbowing me lightly in the ribs. "Like he tried to get Sturgis to steal it – and Bode?"

"Very good, Potter, very good..." I closed my eyes, feeling the guilt begin to envelop me. No, Voldemort had not made Sturgis try to retrieve the prophecy – Dumbledore had. And Dumbledore had gotten him to look for it after I had told him just what Voldemort was looking for. "But the Dark Lord knows you are not unintell-"

"Now!"

"REDUCTO!" A chorus of voices sounded from behind me so suddenly that I ducked in cover – which was a good instinct considering that all around me the shelves began pouring down glass orbs. Ghostly memories of unrecognizable people began to encase the giant room, their voices echoing through each other and weaving over each other as they screamed their messages for everyone to hear.

"Run!" Harry yelled, grabbing my arm and dragging me along with him, Hermione's robes in his other hand. Shards of glass were showering down on us, scraping at my face and my arms. But I didn't have time to be vain now, all I had time to do was run and be forced not to trip by my brother's faster pace.

Death Eaters surged toward us, becoming one with the shadows again as they seemed to appear out of nowhere. I elbowed one that had gotten to close hard in the masked face, it was nice to watch his head snap back and him sputter into the glass shards. Everyone was yelling out now – whether in pain, fury, or fear – and overtop of the screaming were the sounds of more voices as more shelves began to topple.

My wand arm, jiggling thanks to Harry's firm grip, was yanked free as a Death Eater tried to stop and seize me. I aimed my wand and briefly wondered how far I could blast him back with a stunner – I don't really know how, but he flew backward from the force of the thought. Harry didn't waste any time congratulating me but instead grabbed my arm again and made us continue sprinting. He had let go of Hermione at some point, I could hear her behind us as she urged Neville to run faster. I'd lost sight of Ron, Ginny and Loony – they had been in front of us just moments before but had disappeared from my sight. I could only hope it was of their own accord and not some Death Eaters'.

We ran through the room with the bell jar, watching the hummingbird transform from egg to the end of its life – again and again and again – while we ran forward. I tried to keep an ear on the Death Eaters shouting behind us, just so I could try to keep tabs on how close they were. As soon as we had crossed over to the doorway, Hermione slammed it shut.

"Colloportus!" She screamed, sealing the door on our pursuers. I dared to take the time for a deep, shaky breath.

"Where – where are the others?" Harry asked, looking around fearfully.

"I lost sight of them when we were running," I panted, "I just thought they were faster."

"They must have gone the wrong way!" Hermione whispered in terror.

"It's okay," I said quickly. "There are loads of doors in that room, they'll find another and meet us at the rotating room so we can get out-"

"Listen!" Neville shushed us while we heard footsteps echo behind the door we'd sealed. Lucius Malfoy's voice, behind it, was the one to answer just how safe we really were.

"Leave Nott, he'll wake up on his own. Leave him, I say – his injuries will be nothing to the Dark Lord compared to losing that prophecy. Jugson, come back here, we need to organize! We'll split into pairs and search, and don't forget, be gentle with Potter until we've got the prophecy – you can kill the others if necessary, even the girl. Bellatrix, Rodolphus, you take the left; Crabbe, Rabastan, go right – Jugson, Dolohov, the door straight ahead – Macnair and Avery, here – Rookwood, over there – Mulciber, come with me!"

"What do we do?" Hermione asked as footsteps ran away from behind the door.

"Well, we don't stand here waiting for them to find us, for a start. Let's get away from this door," Harry said quickly. I was in no place to disagree, no matter how much my lungs were burning.

We tried to keep our footsteps quiet as we ran toward the rotating room at the far end of this chamber. Behind us I could hear people attempting to burst through the door we had sealed and just as it flew open, I pushed Hermione under some of the desks lining the room – Harry did the same for Neville across from us.

I watched in horror while two Death Eaters walked nearer, their robes covering their shoes but not their heavy footsteps. I tried to keep my breathing as quiet as I could, but if Hermione's panting was any indication – we were not doing well at it.

"They might've run straight through to the hall," a rough voice grumbled.

"Check under the desks," said another. Hermione positioned herself to attack the man slowly making his way over to us. I took her arm in my hand, giving it a harsh tug.

"No!" I whispered. "You can't attack his legs."

For the first time in her life, Hermione decided to take my advice – right when I didn't want her to. Considering she decided not to attack the Death Eater's legs, she started to crawl from under the desk to get a better position on the man nearest to us. It didn't take a genius to know that he spotted the movement, swinging his wand toward Hermione and I.

"Avada-"

Harry tackled the Death Eater to the ground, the spell unfinished while the two fell onto the stone flooring. Hermione didn't give me the time to help me up, but instead went to examine the second Death Eater – who the boys must have knocked unconscious before my brother had tackled the second. Hermione took the time to confiscate his wand while Neville screamed to try and disarm the Death Eater grappling with my brother.

Of course, this is Neville Longbottom we're talking about, so things did not go as planned. As if I had done the spell myself, both Harry and the Death Eater's wands flew from their hands toward the door the masked men had just broken down. Both boys scrambled to get their wands before the other...

"Get out of the way, Harry!" Neville yelled, waiting until Harry dove to the side. "STUPEFY!"

Neville was better this time than the last, even though his aim was off. Instead of hitting the Death Eater as planned, the jet of red light flew past the Death Eater to the glass face of a grandfather clock. It gave the Death Eater the time he needed to snatch his own wand, which now lay beside the bell jar and immortal life-cycled hummingbird. Harry ducked down behind a desk while I grabbed my own wand, praying it would help me this once.

"STUPEFY!" I yelled, at the same time that Hermione yelled the same incantation. I couldn't tell whether or not it was my spell or hers that was off-aim, but one hit the bell jar and the other hit the Death Eater – the Death Eater froze and collapsed backward into the pile shattered glass at the bottom of the bell jar from the other stunner.

But that was not the worst of his punishment. Instead of being knocked plainly unconscious by the stunner he'd received, we were all forced to watch in horror while the man began balding and his cheeks began to turn pink. It was as if his skin were being peeled off and revealing some innocent looking man...no, not a man. A child – an infant. The Death Eater was turning into an infant before our very eyes – and then, slowly, he began to age once again, just like the hummingbird above him.

"Accio wand!" I shouted, pointing towards Harry's wand. Horrifyingly, it skittered farther away from me – dear Salazar, one day I was going to snap my blasted wand out of spite – but Harry was close enough now that he could grab onto it himself.

"It's Time," Hermione whispered in awe as we watched the Death Eater's head – and only his head – age again. "Time..."

There was a shout from a room somewhere close. Then a crash and a horrible scream.

"RON? GINNY? LUNA?" Harry yelled.

"Shut it!" I hissed.

The Death Eater pulled his head from the bell jar at last, now back to the age of an infant on top of a muscled neck and body; the Death Eater's arms were flailing, the baby's head sobbing loudly. I raised my wand to him, my eyes narrowed.

"You can't hurt a baby!" Hermione cried, grabbing hold of my arm.

"I'm putting him out of his damned misery!" I argued, but there was no time to for that. Harry grabbed me and dragged me forward, Hermione and Neville followed bravely – and much more quickly than I could have – while we heard Death Eaters start to race from the prophecy room we'd just escaped.

Two Death Eaters came close from the side and tried to stun us – shattering more glass around the grandfather clocks. I screamed when I saw just how close to Hermione they were.

"We've got him!" Yelled one. "Near the Office off-"

"Silencio!" Hermione shrieked, the man suddenly quiet. The other man shoved him aside only to have my wand shoved in his face.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Of course, my wand did not want to hurt this man as badly as I did and while he wasn't going to land face first in shattered glass as I'd hoped, he was blasted away in another direction. At least he was far away.

"Well done, Drea, you-"

Hermione never got to finish because the Death Eater she had just silenced seemed to be out of his stupor and he wanted revenge. Moving close to us again, he made a slashing movement with his wand – silently, as Hermione had made him, so that I could not hear the incantation. A streak of purple leaked from the tip of his wand and passed over Hermione's chest – she barely had time to gasp before she crumpled to the floor.

"HERMIONE!" Harry fell to his knees beside her while Neville went to go and attack the Death Eater who had hurt her. I grabbed onto Harry's sleeve, yanking him up.

"We have to go, Harry. We have to go-"

"I'm not just leaving her!" He yelled back to me.

"We're no good to anyone if we're dead!" I yelled back to him. "Look, she's still breathing!"

"I'm not-"

But suddenly there was a yell from Neville – he backed away from a desk yowling, his mouth and nose flowing with blood. The silent Death Eater tore off his mask – it was Antonin Dolohov, the man who had murdered the Prewetts. He made a motion to the prophecy in my brother's hand...and then pointed threateningly to Hermione.

"Like you won't kill us all anyway, the moment I hand it over!" Harry bellowed.

"Waddever you do, Harry, don'd gib it to hib!" Neville said fiercely. His nose was clearly broken and I would not be surprised if a few teeth had been knocked loose by whatever the Death Eater had done to him.

A loud crash outside the door made Dolohov look over his shoulder to see the baby-headed Death Eater that had appeared in the doorway – still flailing and crying. I seized my chance and ran forward, using all my nervous energy while I grabbed hold of his neck, wrestling with the idea of killing him or incapacitating him. Realizing killing him would take a lot of time and a lot of energy, I turned my attention to imagining every detail of the large oafs spinal cord: each vertebrae, each joint, each weakness in his bones...it only took a moment for him to collapse to the floor as Hermione had.

"What did you do?" Harry gasped.

"Paralyzed him," I gasped, shaking out my hand while Dolohov screamed silently, thrashing his head from side to side. "He can't speak and he can't move from the neck down – he's no threat now."

"Is id perbanent?" Neville asked, moving closer while Harry dove back toward Hermione.

I sneered down at the Death Eater, who was watching me with terrified eyes – I won't deny the thrill it gave me to have done the damage that scared him so badly. "I certainly hope so."

"Hermione, Hermione, wake up..."

"Whaddid he do to her?" Neville asked, while we both moved over to Hermione as well. Neville fumbled for her wrist.

"She's breathing, she's alive – she's probably just been knocked unconscious..." I said nervously, listening for more footsteps. "We have to leave."

"You don't know if she's okay," Harry argued. "We're not just leaving her!"

"Dat's a pulse, Harry, I'b sure id is," Neville said with relief, nodding as if to agree with me.

"She's alive?"

"That's what I said, isn't it?" I hissed out.

There was a long moment where we all just took time to catch our breath – something that we probably shouldn't be taking the time to do, but something that suddenly seemed very necessary. I couldn't believe that this night had devolved into this after everything I had warned my brother about...and that everything I had warned him about was exactly what was happening, now.

"Neville, we're not far from the exit," Harry suddenly whispered. "We're right next to that circular room...if we can just get you across it and find the right door before any more Death Eaters come, I'll bet you can get Hermione up the corridor and into the lift – then you could find someone, raise the alarm..."

"And whad are you going do do?" Neville asked while he used his sleeve to wipe up some of the blood from his nose and looked pathetically at his wand which had at some point been snapped in two.

"I've got to find the others."

"The others will find us," I argued. "They know the only way out is at that circular room."

"I'm not just leaving them to find it themselves!"

"So what, you're going to go find them and then find the room again?" I sneered. "Can you just try common sense, for once? You're being ridiculous-"

"And you're being a coward!" Harry yelled back. I narrowed my eyes, sneering. I was used to being called a coward and I didn't like it at the best of times – but I particularly didn't like it when I was being logical. What I was proposing had nothing to do with fear, it had everything to do with my enhanced sense of self-preservation. Really, my brother needed to take some lessons from me if he continued to keep getting into these messes.

"Well, I'b going to find dem wid Harry," Neville said a little nervously as he looked between us. Harry looked at him for a moment, shaking his head.

"But Hermione-"

"I'll watch over her," I told him with a frown. "We smart-ones can stay together in the logical places."

"I don't really know if I trust you not to leave her," Harry said back. I scoffed before I went over to her and started picking her up from her position on the floor. It's not like I was going to look after her here – where the Death Eaters had a clear view of us. It seemed that Harry and Neville at least agreed with that because they said nothing while Neville and I put Hermione's arms around us and helped get her up before we started dragging her toward the door.

"Wait," Harry shoved Hermione's wand into Neville's hand. "You'd better take this."

Neville didn't even blink before he kicked his broken wand to the side, even though a frown marred his already bloody expressions.

"My gran's going do kill be, dat was my dad's old wand." Neville said quietly. I tried not to waste my time on pity for him, we had more important things to worry about than lost mementos of parents at the moment.

"Wait," I said in the same way Harry had just done, giving him a glare. "I think you should give me the prophecy."

"What?" Harry asked, immediately. "Why? The Death Eaters-"

"Will still think you have it," I told him sternly. "One thing you can't deny is that they were right about you and your love of heroics. They'll know that you'll want to keep hold of it – which is why no one would think about you handing it off. If you really think that they shouldn't have it, then you should give it to someone else. They'll be chasing you the whole time looking for it – I'm the best person for it."

"Why? It just puts you in harms way...besides, it's our bargaining tool. If the Death Eaters realize I don't have it-"

"I won't let you be alone for that long," I told him confidently. "And I'm the best to have it because everyone underestimates me. I'd say give it to Longbottom, but he's still likely to play hero and save the others – for once my own selfishness will come in handy."

Harry looked unsure for a long moment, but my words about my own selfishness must have comforted him. At least he knew that I was stubborn enough not to hand it over to them – and I wasn't planning to. Not unless it got everyone out safely.

So he handed it over.

It was warm, which I hadn't expected and also more lightweight than I would have thought. I placed it in my pocket and just as Harry was about to complain about where I was stowing it, I motioned to the fact I was currently holding Hermione on my shoulder. He seemed to understand before leading us on again.

By the time we reached the door, it was swinging shut behind us and we were once again in the center of the rotating room. There were no longer X's left burning in the doors to signify which rooms were which and now the four of us we were alone.

"So which way d'you reckon-"

A door to our right slammed open loudly and three people fell over themselves as they came out of it. I didn't even need to think twice upon seeing the flash of red in my peripheral to question it.

"Ron! Ginny – are you all-"

"Harry," Ron giggled – actually giggled – and grabbed onto Harry's robes. "There you are – ha ha ha – you look funny, Harry...you're all messed up..."

"Oh Godric, no," I gasped, letting go of Hermione to go over to him and look him over.

"Ginny?" Harry asked nervously. "What happened?"

Ginny slid down the wall to sit and only shook her head in response. She took hold of her ankle.

"I think her ankle's broken, I heard something crack," Luna informed us all. "Four of them chased us into a dark room full of planets; it was a very odd place, some of the time we were just floating in the dark-"

"Harry, we saw Uranus up close!" Ron interrupted. "Get it, Harry? We saw Uranus – ha ha ha-"

"And?" I asked, turning to Lovegood to continue.

"-anyway, one of them grabbed Ginny's foot, I used the Reductor Curse and blew up Pluto in his face, but..." Luna gestured toward Ginny, who looked to be in a lot of pain. I went over to her, knowing just how well she was with curses, this was one girl we could not lose on our team.

"Hey," I said, crouching down opposite her. "Do you really think it's broken?"

"I have no doubts," she said through gritted teeth. "I can still walk, though..."

"Will you let me try to fix it?" I asked, looking at her carefully. Perhaps I should also offer to fix Neville's nose that we all had some downtime, but right now I was more nervous about someone's ability to walk than their ability to say certain consonants. The ginger looked at me suspiciously. "To be honest, I don't think I've ever tried healing something but I've been able to hurt people – I figure it's the same idea but backwards."

"And if I end up paralyzed?"

"Then I'll have to carry you on my back," I smirked. "Don't worry, I'm fixing your ankle. I won't need to focus at all on your spinal cord – there's no risk of that."

"Then take a shot," I leaned down, laying my hand on her foot and trying to focus my energy on her ankle. I tried to imagine the bone and just how broken it could be, and I tried imagining the worst scenario – a clean break – just in case that was what I was healing. I took my time trying to focus on imagining calcification of the bone and a slow, knitting healing. I pulled my hand away and opened my eyes.

"Well?"

"Still twinges," she said with a wince. "But I'd wager I can walk on it."

"Do you think I was able to un-break it?"

"I think so," she nodded slowly. "It just feels sprained now – probably from the way it bent and that's what made it snap. It's probably the muscles that hurt now."

"Better than before," I acknowledged and she nodded in agreement. Harry let out a little sound to grab our attention and I helped the young Gryffindor up – we were just starting to move Hermione when across the rotating room, three Death Eaters spilled in through one of the doors.

"There they are!" Bellatrix Lestrange shrieked pointing at us, leading the pack of them. They shot stunning spells all the way across the room – Harry slammed into the door ahead of us, moving to the door and waiting until we were all through before slamming the door in her face.

"Colloportus!" Harry shouted, hearing the three bodies slam against the door.

"It doesn't matter! There are other ways in," a Death Eater announced. "WE'VE GOT THEM, THEY'RE HERE!"

I turned around, examining which room we had just locked ourselves in: we were in the Brain Room. Harry, Neville and Luna went around sealing all the doors in sight before the Death Eaters could try to find us while I tried using my Magnuse to wake up Hermione – but it was no use. No matter what I did, I couldn't figure out what I was healing. If I couldn't imagine it then I was no hope and as much as I continued to imagine Hermione's eyes opening, I didn't know what it was which had made them close.

Luna's scream indicated that not all of the doors had been gotten in time. By the time I opened my eyes and stood with Hermione on my shoulder again, I couldn't see where she had gone. The heavy footsteps of multiple Death Eaters moving into the room, however, let me know that we should no longer be here.

"Get Potter!" Lestrange bellowed as she ran toward my brother. He dodged her easily as he moved around the room – I knew that he would be safe so long as they thought he had the prophecy but I was the one taking care of Hermione...and there was a shameful part of me that desperately wanted to leave her. I mean, she wasn't my responsibility – Hell, we shouldn't have been here in the first place. Harry was foolish to have brought so many people, particularly when he didn't know whether or not this was a real threat. Now that we had too many of them – and far too many unconscious ones at that – they were slowing us down...

"Hey!" Ron said suddenly, grabbing onto Harry's shoulders. "Hey, Harry, there are brains in here – ha ha ha – isn't that weird, Harry?"

"Ron, get a hold of yourself!" I snapped at him. He just giggled more.

"Get out of the way, get down," Harry tried to urge him down, but Ron's arm shot up over his shoulder.

"Honest, Harry, they're brains – look: accio brain!"

There was one terrifying moment where Hogwarts students and Death Eaters alike paused to watch while a white, enlarged brain burst from the green slime at the top of the tank with incredible force and soared towards Ron – somehow the brain seemed to acquire some kind of tentacles out of the water. These tentacles flailed morosely as they moved through the air toward Ron.

"Ha ha ha, Harry look at it – c'mon Drea, you love stuff like this-" Ron took a step toward it as more tentacles began to suck themselves from inside the brain itself and grow in length. "Come and touch it; bet it's weird-"

"RON, NO!"

But the Gryffindor – still high off of some curse – didn't find us important enough to listen to as he stretched out his hand and was instantly entangled in the brain's slimy tentacles. They began circling up his arm and around his torso, drawing the brain itself closer to him.

"Harry, look what's happen-" he paused, looking at the thing more closely. "No, no – I don't like it – no, stop – stop!"

But the tentacles were tightening around Ron's chest now. I let go of Hermione's limp body and I think I recall yelling something about watching her toward Harry while I ran as quickly as I could toward Ron, building up energy in my itching palms as I did.

I pressed both palms harshly against the brain that was now nearly parallel to Ron's face and a sickening stench emanated from under my fingertips, followed by a high squeal that was not from any human or animal I had ever heard. Behind me, I could hear Neville and Harry trying to stun the oncoming Death Eaters and I could hear Ginny screaming for me to save her brother – no, stop listening to them. You have to focus for Magnuse. You have to focus, Drea.

I felt the slime heat up under my hands and the brain started to quiver as it unwrapped it's tentacles from around Ron and fell to the floor with another agonizing squeal. It looked almost like a spider, it's tentacles curled in on itself as it laid exposing the brain stem to us – it was the most disturbing thing I had ever seen.

I looked up for a moment, noticing that there was only one Death Eater left in the room with us – he was still masked and holding his wand to Hermione's throat to threaten me. I moved to my pocket to grab my wand but he let out a sound of warning and I stopped dead in my tracks. As much as I had wanted to leave her because she was dead weight, I wasn't ready to sacrifice her.

"STUPEFY!" I gasped when the Death Eater flew eight feet into the air and was thrown farther away from us all. I looked to the side only to smile at Ginny, who was standing upright on her own and even though she was limping a little and had a bloody lip, she still looked strong. I turned around again, looking for the Death Eaters and the others, counting each before I realized something horrifying.

"Where's Harry?" I asked immediately, my heart sinking.

"He ran through that door to lead the Death Eaters away from us," Ginny explained as she went over to where Luna must have been. "We need to go and-"

"Meet me there," I told her seriously. "They're going to realize he doesn't have the prophecy."

"He doesn't have the prophecy?" Ginny repeated with wide eyes.

I pulled the warm orb from my pocket to show it to her before I took my wand in my other and dashed through the door that the Death Eaters had been able to find their way through before Luna could seal it.

The urgency in my sprint only quickened when I realized that I was now running down the pit in a room and toward the stone archway that put my body on high alert – even before I saw that all the Death Eaters had my brother cornered on the top stair of the pit which created something like a stage for the horrifying veil that he had turned his back on.

"You are in no position to bargain, Potter," Malfoy's voice leered, his wand pointing up at my brother from the stair below him. "You see, there are ten of us and only one of you...or hasn't Dumbledore ever taught you how to count?"

"He's dot alone!" Neville shouted from behind me. I tried to withhold my groan that he had given away where we were standing, halfway up the stairs and looking down on them all. "He's still god be!"

"Neville, no – go back to Ron – Audrey, take him and-"

"STUBEFY!" Neville shouted, pointing his wand toward each Death Eater in turn as he scrambled past me to go farther down into the pit with the masked wizards. "STUBEFY!"

It didn't take a Seer to expect how quickly they were able to grab him and hold him at wand-point. I think the Death Eaters were trying to display how easily they could capture us, but that wasn't quite so worrying to me. What was worrying to me was that I was so far from my brother and they could kill him before I had a chance to get any closer. Still, I hesitated where I was, ready to go down another stair. I pointed my wand at Malfoy – the Death Eater closest to my brother – even as another pointed his wand to Neville's neck.

"It's Longbottom, isn't it?" Malfoy sneered, turning his back on my brother – none of the other Death Eaters did – so that he could look at me. "Well, his grandmother is used to losing family members to our cause...your death will not come as a great shock."

"Longbottom?" Bellatrix gave a peel of insane giggling which was somehow even more terrifying than Ron's had been. "Why, I have had the pleasure of meeting your parents, boy."

"I DOE YOU HAB!"

"You won't kill him," I told Malfoy confidently. "Let Harry and Longbottom go."

"We won't kill him?" Bellatrix cackled agian. "Oh, Lucius – please, let me-"

"I wouldn't," I said, holding my hand forward and holding it over the stone pit where they all stood below my position on a higher stair. I shook the prophecy tauntingly in my hand and smirked proudly at the group of wide eyes. "Or else this will meet a more life shattering end than he or my brother will."

"The prophecy!" Bellatrix gasped. "The little tart has it!"

"It's a fake," another Death Eater proposed gruffly. I laughed.

"Are you willing to bet your future on that?"

Lucius spun back to my brother who held his hands up with an innocent, condescending shrug. Malfoy immediately raised his wand to him again so I let out a bellow to grab his attention.

"Oi!" I shouted, grabbing his attention again. I threw the glass prophecy up in the air – listening to all the gasps of the Death Eaters before I took hold of it again, glad that it was such an ungraceful catch for the effect. "I wouldn't do that. You see, if I keep taunting you like this I'm bound to drop it – I'm not on the Quidditch team like my brother. I'm terribly uncoordinated."

"So, we can't kill your brother or Longbottom?" Bellatrix asked through gritted teeth. "Fine. Let's see how long Longbottom lasts before he cracks like his parents...unless Potter wants to give us the prophecy."

"DON'D GIB ID DO DEM!" Neville cried, thrashing against Dolohov. "DON'D GIB ID DO DEM, AUDDEY!"

Bellatrix looked at me with a raised eyebrow before she violently whipped her wand to the side and screamed, "crucio" as loud as her lungs allowed.

Neville screamed and his knees buckled, but the Death Eater restraining him was kind enough to force him to stand despite it. When the spell was lifted and he was done twitching and screaming in agony, the Death Eater dropped him to the ground while he panted.

Bellatrix looked at me, watching for signs of weakness and I just smiled tauntingly.

"I've spent the last five years enveloped in Slytherin culture thanks to your relatives, Death Eaters – I'm afraid you'll have to do better than that."

"That was just a taster!" Bellatrix cried, sounding nearly panicked by the coolness in my voice. I was pleased she was taking me so seriously. "So, Potter, either give us the prophecy, or watch your little friend die the hard way!"

"The hard way of dying would not be you torturing him," I said, keeping my calm much better than the wild woman displaying her own insanity. "The hard way of dying will be what happens if you piss me off enough to make me drop this. Because then you'll have to go tell Ol' Snake Face what you did."

"You will not drop that prophecy!" Malfoy took a step forward, stepping in front of Bellatrix and overtop of Neville's still twitching, panting body. "I've heard all about you, Audrey Potter. You're smarter than your brother and his little friends..."

"With pride," I said with a smile. "But flattery will get you nowhere, Snowflake."

"There must be something you want...something that you would want in exchange..." he urged, taking another step forward. I jerked my hand to the side quickly, watching his eyes widen and watching him stop instinctively. I smirked again.

"My life, for one," I told him honestly. "And since you're being so accommodating, the other's lives as well."

"That is not something I can guarantee, if I don't have that prophecy, child." Malfoy told me darkly. "But I can tell you what you want to know: have you never questioned the secrets of you and your brother – of the night your parents died?"

"Don't bluff, it clashes with your hair," I sneered.

"You don't wonder why your brother was marked for greatness and you were marked of spite? Don't you wonder why he is the Wizarding World's hero and you are hardly remembered?"

"Don't listen to him, Audrey!" Harry yelled from his place, shaking his head encouragingly. And I tried, I tried to ignore him like harry said – as I'd told Harry to do just minutes before...but for the first time I was being told the truth. I felt like I was being given answers to something that I needed to hear...

Why was Harry famous? Why was Harry famous when I was just as powerful, when I was just as talented? Why was he placed in Gryffindor and I placed in Slytherin, why was he given a lightning bolt scar and I was given a death-sentence by a knife?

What were the secrets?

"The secret," I said slowly, clenching my jaw. "Is that I don't actually care anymore."

"If you didn't care you wouldn't be so torn," Malfoy disagreed. I sneered.

"Let my brother go or I'm dropping this on your head, Malfoy. This prophecy won't survive that hair," I told him, gripping the prophecy more tightly.

"I wouldn't push your luck, Potter," he said a little more sternly. I laughed darkly.

"Luck? Oh no, Malfoy," I shook the prophecy tauntingly again. "I have a little more than luck on my side, wouldn't you say?"

Bellatrix seethed, nearly drowning out the sound of rushing footsteps coming near me. There were multiple pairs: Ginny had woken up Hermione and Luna, they must have been on their way to help. Maybe it was time to up my bluff a little. "She's being condescending to a Pureblood! You need to learn your place, Audrey Pott-"

"I know my name, thank you, and I also happen to know my place – which is a lot more beneficial than yours at the moment," I displayed the prophecy again for emphasis. "To be honest, I want to be rid of this thing. I was telling Harry to smash it as soon as you showed interest in it...but what do you want to bet that I can smash this and get my friends before you can stop me?"

"And just how would you do that?" Malfoy laughed, gesturing around to all the Death Eaters below me for emphasis. But there was no denying that his laugh wasn't as strong a laugh as before and he wasn't confident as he was earlier on. Maybe it was because he knew of the things I had done in the Triwizard tournament – maybe it was because he saw how close I was standing to the edge of the stair – but either way, he positively paled when I smiled at him.

"With Magic."

The doors burst open as if I had timed it, but who came rushing through them was not who I had expected. It was not only Ginny who came to our rescue, but figures so intimidating for a moment I believed they weren't real: Lupin, Moody, Tonks, Kingsly...and Sirius. Sirius had come to the rescue. He was alive and he was coming to make sure that we were, too.

No, not only Sirius – Snape had come to the rescue, too. Though he was not here, ready to fight with the members of the Order, I knew that it was because of him – because of the note I had sent him – that they knew to come to our aid.

All hell broke loose in seconds.

Instinctively each Death Eater seemed to pick a duelling partner and they shot spells from a distance. Harry automatically ducked to the side, trying to get away from the spells that Tonks and Malfoy were spewing from across the room to one another. My brother landed on the bottom of the stone dais, where all the Death Eaters stood and shouted hexes before he surged his way through the bodies and spells, trying hard to get to Neville.

"PROTEGO!" I screamed, pointing my wand toward a spell headed toward the pair of them. It created a shield – not quite as strong as what someone else could have, but enough to do the job – before it disappeared into mist as the spell fizzled through it and disintegrated the defence I had made. I was proud to see that neither Neville nor my brother had been hit thanks to my efforts.

Suddenly a Death Eater grabbed my brother, pulling him up harshly by the throat as his thick arm wrapped around him in a choke hold. I aimed my wand but knew, instinctively, that I was not a good enough shot to save him and I was certainly not consistent enough to keep my brother safe during my try. Swallowing whatever fear I had, I thundered down the stone stairs and into the thick of the battle, rushing toward my brother and through the Death Eaters who were all paired off and too busy to notice the little redhead darting between them.

"Thanks!" I heard my brother say and when I got up to him, I wrapped my arms around him. He held me for a moment before looking at me.

"Since when are you so brave?" He asked me breathlessly. I couldn't tell in the heat of the moment whether it was a genuine question or whether he was making fun of my bluffing with the prophecy, but I managed a coarse laugh in response.

"It's good to know you think so highly of me."

"Sirius!" Harry gasped, watching as Sirius ran past us, duelling a masked Death Eater and hardly having the time to spot whether or not we were both okay. I wanted to tell him not to worry with us, but I was more distracted by the familiar body on the ground – the body whose eye was spinning franticly across the stone while Dolohov, still bloody-faced and merciless, drew closer to Moody's limp form with his wand drawn.

"No!" Harry shouted, gartering Dolohov's attention for long enough that Dolohov smiled sinisterly and diverted attention from the fallen auror to point his wand at Neville.

"Tarantallegra!" he shouted. Neville's legs immediately began to flail, his feet in some kind of mixture between river-dancing, tap-dancing, and a mimicking of the road runner. He fell to the floor from the force of it, his legs still moving as if he were still standing upright.

"Now Potter-" the Death Eater began, looking at me with a horrid sneer. He made the same slashing movement with his wand which he had used on Hermione earlier and I let out a scream, clutching so hard to the prophecy that I thought it might shatter-

"Protego!" Harry cried, moving his wand in a motion that would protect the both of us from the strength of the spell. I still was knocked back from it, over Neville's jumbled and uncontrolled legs where I then had to crawl backwards as Dolohov advanced on me until I hit the stone stairs leading up toward the veil.

"Accio proph-"

Sirius came to my rescue, hurtling into Dolohov and sending them both crashing to the floor. I dragged myself up from the ground, the prophecy still tight in my hand while Sirius battled with the Death Eater, Harry helped me up when he reached me.

"Get out of here!" Sirius screamed to us. I crawled up the stone stairs, up to the pedestal which held the stone archway, if I could get around it and head to the other end where I could see Ginny, I might be able to sneak around and grab her before she was lost to all of the chaos.

"Petrificus totalus!" Harry screamed from behind me. I stopped mid stride, right by the archway, to spin around and see that Harry had attacked Dolohov to help Sirius.

"Nice one!" My Godfather cried. "Now I want you to get your sister and get out of-"

"AHH!" I barely registered the scream before I realized that it had come from myself. Something strong had latched onto my arm and began pulling me away from my brother and my godfather – it was when I turned to look at what grabbed me that I was confused. My arm, which must have broken the black, cool veil of the archway, was stuck between the folds of the sheet and though I could almost see my own hand and see that nothing was latched onto it, I was being pulled into the stone archway.

"Audrey?" Harry and Sirius both yelled back. I screamed again, gripping my wand hard as I tried to think of any spell that could blast out of it – Reducto! Stupefy! Impedimenta! – but nothing was working. No spell I tried to utter, to think of...my wand wasn't reacting to my demands at all.

"Audrey...Audrey...Audrey, come..."

I could hear the voices again, even above the fray that was exploding all around me. They were begging me again, begging me for something that I knew I couldn't give them – even though I had no idea what they were asking of me, I knew I couldn't give it to them. I nearly let go of the prophecy just to grip onto my arm and try to use the strength and my own body weight to throw myself away from the arch...but whatever had hold of me kept on pulling me.

"Come back, Audrey...come with us..."

"Sirius!" I screamed, "Harry, help me!"

"I'll help you," a gruff voice said from the side. I turned to see an unmasked Death Eater, one with a great gash over the side of his head and other injuries I could sense from the pain he was obviously in, but could not see from his billowing robes.

What I did see were horribly familiar attributes: slightly curled brown hair, light brown eyes – this was a man I both hated and hated the thought of fighting...it was Theodore's father.

"Get away from me," I warned him, gritting my teeth and feeling myself yanked farther up my bicep toward the veil. I let out a whine, unable to stop it from crawling up my throat when I was taken so off-guard. The Death Eater, my best friend's father, merely laughed at my troubles.

"The Dark Lord will forgive my injuries when I bring him the prophecy," he said darkly. "Hand it over, Potter. I'll kill you quickly if you do."

"I'll smash it if you take a step closer," I hissed out.

"Audrey!" I couldn't look over my shoulder far enough to see my brother attack, but I heard him try to stun Nott. The spell came in front of him and I had to duck when he blocked it, letting whatever was pulling me into the veil catch me off-guard again and drag me in all the way to my shoulder. I screamed as I thrashed even more to pull myself from its grip. "Get away from her!"

"Audrey...Audrey...Audrey, come..."

"Give me the prophecy, Potter, or I'll kill your brother!"

"Harry, run!" I screamed at him, "run!"

"Not without you," he said back, grabbing onto my waist and starting to pull against the hold the veil had on my arm. The voices, which somehow must have been linked to what was pulling me, were infuriated by the help I was getting.

"Don't leave us, Audrey...come back...you cannot leave us..."

Nott laughed at our predicament, Harry pulling me while I was stuck like a fly on flypaper to an average veil with invisible voices. He must have thought that we were foolish, that we had gotten stuck there by some hex and now he had his chance to do away with us.

He raised his wand to us, lax in his stance. "Last chance..."

"Harry, leave!"

"Not without you," he repeated, moving to point his wand at Nott again. It was too late, my brother was not fast enough to attack Nott after he'd had his arms wrapped around my torso. Nott had already begun his incantation before Harry's wand was even raised.

"Avada Ke-"

"NO!" I screamed and as powerfully as I could, I took my free, left hand and slammed the prophecy onto the stone at my feet. A ghostly apparition appeared from the shards instantly, floating from the shattered pieces of glass between Nott and my brother. I elbowed my brother in the gut so hard that he fell and gasped for the breath I had knocked out of him – but at least he was away from me for whenever Nott would finish his spell. The ghostly voice was whispered through the room in all the chaos, the other voices rising above it as I felt myself scream from the sudden pain as if her voice – the apparition's voice – was stabbing me through my eardrums, through my eyes, and straight into my mind...

"...who have thrice defied him, born as..."

"Audrey, you cannot leave! You cannot leave us!"

Who was speaking? Which voice was which? My mind felt like it was being stabbed, like the words I were hearing came from the blade of a dagger that was constantly digging into my skull. What was hurting me? What was attacking me?

"...for neither can live while..."

"Look out, Audrey...look out!"

"...as the seventh month dies..."

"He is coming...he is coming..."

"Potter!" Nott laughed as he stepped through the woman who slowly dissipated into nothing as if the air had drowned her words and her body in turn. "I have seen the prophecy, Potter, you have failed!"

"Expelliarmus!" A voice cried out, nearly knocking Nott's wand from his hand. I watched while the Death Eater laughed, pointing his wand to my throat and turning me to face his attacker – my arm bent at an odd angle, feeling like it was about to snap.

"Yes...yes...come to us, Audrey. Don't leave us, Audrey..."

"Aim again, Black – if your aim gets any better, you may just hit your goddaughter."

"Get away from her, Nott," Sirius hissed, I could nearly hear his footsteps on the concrete as he walked toward me. His voice sounded strong but there was no mistaking the fear in his eyes while they flickered from Nott to myself. "Your battle is not a battle with her."

"She smashed the prophecy, it is all because of her!" Nott roared, jabbing his wand into my neck. I let out a hiss, feeling it digging into the already scarred skin. He was pointing it right over the X at my throat, as if it was a target he would not miss. Then again, who did miss at point-blank range? "I'll kill her as she deserves!"

"You can't even kill me like a man!" I hissed back at him, thrashing a little in his hold and trying hard not to cry out when a red-hot pain shot through my arm as I bent too far to the side.

"Audrey, don't," Sirius said warningly.

"Yes, Audrey...come to us, Audrey..."

"No," I gritted out, narrowing my eyes on the Death Eater in front of me. "If you're going to kill your son's best friend, do it like a man!"

"Sirius," a voice sang before a cackle followed. "Sirius Black!"

Bellatrix took steps closer onto the stone platform, watching me with wary eyes – she did not yet seem to notice that I was no longer someone she should be handling delicately. It was a good thing, I could only imagine the torture I would endure if she knew that I had smashed her beloved prophecy – being at the mercy of two Death Eaters did not sound pretty.

And then strangely there was a moment, a single moment, where the world seemed to stop.

"DUBBLEDORE!"

It was as if everyone was distracted by the cry – Albus Dumbledore had entered the battle. His wand held aloft and his face more furious than I had ever seen it, he looked like an avenging warrior from the depths of Merlin's own imagination. He glided down the stone stairs so quickly, I never would have been able to guess just how old he really was and each duelling pair seemed to stop fighting instinctively – knowing the battle was no longer theirs to fight.

Every pair, save one.

Bellatrix turned to Sirius once more, a curse already on her lips. Sirius deflected the spell easily and it took that moment before everyone was knocked from their stupor and the fighting commenced. Screams of warning began again: Death Eaters trying to fall back, Order members calling out to Harry and Neville who were still so close to the archway, or to Sirius and I who were still in the middle of the battlefield.

Nott, knocked out of his daze, seemed to realize again just how helpless I was as he stepped toward me, wand held high. I don't remember when I had fallen out of his grasp, but instead of holding his wand to my neck, he was now in front of me where I could see him leer.

"I'll kill you as everyone watches..." he whispered. "Everyone will know I killed the great-"

"Come on, you can do better than that!" Sirius yelled to Bellatrix while a light hurled past me.

"No one will even miss you," Nott continued stalking forward, almost to the rhythm of the voices who were whispering fervently behind me as they tugged more harshly on my arm to draw me behind the black, tattered curtain.

"Yes...yes...you belong with us, Audrey...come to us, Audrey..."

"No one," Nott repeated, raising his wand to press against my heart.

"NO!" I screamed, finally able to lash out; Nott had stepped too close. He had stepped too close to a coiled snake and I felt myself shake as I turned on him and pounced. I was still held nearly immobile from my arm held by the veil – which had sunken in all the way to the shoulder – but I was not held completely still. My left arm slapped hard against his face and it was the heat from my fingertips and palms that grabbed hold of him. The heat and the feeling passing between the skin beneath my fingers started to burn as the man in my grips began to howl.

If this was all I could do thanks to my wand arm being held, I was going to do as much damage as I could. I was going to burn off every resemblance that man had to his son; this man who was nothing like his son, who had hurt his son, who had undervalued his son. Theodore wouldn't blame me – Theodore hated his father...and so did I. So I was going to hurt him. I was going to hurt him as he planned to hurt me, I was going to burn him from the outside in, until there was nothing left but the charred ashes of a wasted wizard...

I don't know how it happened, but through his pain Nott tried to find the strength to pull away from me. As he attempted ripping himself to the side, Nott stepped right in the way of Bellatrix's oncoming spell to Sirius. My hand, still attached to Nott's melting flesh, felt the reverberation of the spell as the poison and the pain leaked through his blood and into my hand like some sort of electric current passing through the both of us. We were a circuit of pain and power, the spell bouncing between us by our connected tissue. It seemed to knock the veil out of my way, the voices screaming in sync with me while they let go and threw me away from them as if the circuit continued through to them as well.

I screamed while Nott fell, his body stumbled forward and fell on top of me, knocking the air out of my lungs. He was heavy, the fact that he wasn't moving signified that he was at least unconscious – but the blood pouring from his face that began to drown me made me think it might have been more grim.

"Audrey!" Sirius cried, moving toward me and crouching while he helped me roll the man off of me. I took a moment to catch my breath, trying hard to breathe in deeply though my lungs were crushed into my spine. "Drea, are you alright?"

"No! No! No, Audrey, come back!"

I rolled over, ignoring the pleading voices to try and catch my breath again. Above us I heard Bellatrix start to cackle from her placement up the stone stairs, laughing loudly. Swivelling my eyes to her I noticed that my vision was more blurry than normal – I didn't have the time to wonder why. Instead, I focused on how she kept cackling and pointing down at us as if the pain which had just flowed through us was funny. It wasn't funny, it was terrifying...and when I looked down, I was even more confused by her laughter.

Looking down at the Death Eater I had rolled off me, I saw that his eyes were open, open and lifeless. I could hardly tell it was Nott now, his face was distorted by the branding of my hand and his eyes, dull and fogged, had burns in one and a melted eyelid to help conceal his identity.

I moved slowly toward him, checking quickly for a pulse and pulling back when I realized that there wasn't one. On my hands, as it had begun to flow down his neck, was more blood from the disfiguration I had caused. And I could do nothing but stare at my work, amazed that I could do so much damage...

And then came the panic. The realization of what had happened, of what I had done.

I looked down at my hands, still stained in his blood, and I watched as his life drained from between my fingers and fell onto the floor like angry tear-drops from a sorrow that I did not feel. I felt guilt, yes, but I did not feel sorrow that I had caused the death of this man, of this human, of my best friends last living parent...

My eyes looked up, angrily, to the cackling witch who was climbing the stairs. She looked back at me before she made her exit; her wild eyes were gleeful, she was howling with more laughter now that she was seeing my panic. And then, not caring at all for her fallen comrade, she ran.

I had to wonder, is that what I would have done? I'd done it before, with Barty Crouch JR, that I knew. Had I not tried to leave Hermione today, had I not threatened to leave them all behind if they fell behind? I'd almost let my brother be tortured, I had let Neville be tortured. Bellatrix had tortured him. And now, after she had tried to kill so many tonight – she had killed her own companion.

Didn't she? Was it her spell that had killed him? I didn't see a green spell, in fact, I thought it had been red. Was she trying to stun or torture? Had she even tried to kill? Or was that something else I had to attest to: was it my own magic, my own need to hurt him, which had caused his death?

Who had killed Theodore's father, Bellatrix or I?

What kind of monster did it make me if I had? Was I more of a monster for not caring of his death, or was she for being the one to deal the final blow? Had she dealt the final blow? I had wanted to kill him myself...hadn't I? Could I have done it?

Did I kill him?

"Audrey..." I cried out at the sound of my name, my eyes tearing from Bellatrix's retreating form as I heard Nott's voice again. He wasn't dead at all, he was going to kill me now that he had woken – I instinctively scrambled away from his voice – but when I looked down his eyes were still aimless, still frozen as he stared into the oblivion he was lost to.

"Audrey?" Sirius asked, I looked back up to see that Bellatrix had run. I looked back down with wide, terrified eyes at the dead man at my feet...the dead man who had just spoken to me, I was sure of it. "Audrey, are you all right?"

"Audrey..." there it was, Nott's voice again. But Nott did not move. In fact, the voice wasn't coming from near his body at all – but I did know where it was coming from. Sirius must have thought I was insane as I ignored him and my eyes travelled to the veil, still floating in the non-existent breeze. "Come to us, Audrey..."

"I can hear him," I whispered to my Godfather, who had taken to trying to lift me by the waist. "Sirius, he's speaking to me..."

"Who's speaking to you, Drea?" He asked me, his voice quiet.

"Audrey," his voice said again. "You killed me, Audrey...you hurt him, Audrey..."

"Nott...I can hear his voice..."

"You belong with us, Audrey...don't leave us, Audrey..."

I couldn't see how Sirius reacted to it, but he was quick to drag me away from the curtain. As soon as I was down the steps it was as if someone had turned up the volume once again – people were still battling, I could hear them. I could see the flashes of their wands, hear all of their curses and spells, I could see Dumbledore having herded the Death Eaters into a circle in the middle of the room.

I tried pushing back my horror at what had happened, at what I had done as I realized that the woman who had the answers was not in that circle. She was gone. And she wasn't the only one missing.

"Where's Harry?" I asked, trying to keep my voice strong. It still wavered, so I tried again. "Where is Harry?"

"He's..." Sirius stopped, looking around, his eyes wide. "Where's Harry? Where's Harry?"

He was repeating my own words and he sounded more panicked than I had. This was a bad thing. Kingsley was screaming, screaming something about Bellatrix – about Harry...

I was running before I could stop myself. I heard Sirius screaming after me, but now that I had the adrenaline coursing through my body again, there was no stopping me. I jumped the stairs two at a time, knowing that where I had seen Bellatrix exit, Harry would be close by.

"Harry!" I screamed, not caring at all about how subtle I should have been. "Harry, come back!"

The voices in my head seemed to echo the idea, calling for both my brother and I, as if I could still hear them while I left the room with the archway. I silenced myself just so I wouldn't repeat the things that they had said to me.

I ran past the room with the brains where Ron was still on the ground, marked by the tentacles and giggling pathetically. Hermione was on the ground, unconscious and was now laid beside Luna – Ginny was standing over them her wand drawn.

"That way, he went that way!" She yelled at me, pointing her wand toward the rotating room. I followed her direction without a word, continuing my running as if my life depended on it; or worse, as if Harry's did.

The door to the exit, with the elevator, was left open as if someone knew I would be hunting them. I followed the sound of the lifts that had already begun to move. I didn't question why there was another one, as if it was waiting for me: empty and lit. I ran forward and took it, pressing my hand to the elevator and praying that I could convey to the piece of machinery to follow the one above it. After a moment when I couldn't calm myself enough to imagine the magic or technology powering it, I settled to press the button for the Atrium – it was the only way out, so I could only hope it was where they would run now.

The lift worked slowly and I was jittering with nervous energy – energy that I wanted nothing more than to use on Bellatrix Lestrange. I wanted to use this energy and hurt her with it as I had hurt Nott, hurt her with it as she had tried to hurt my Godfather. Then I would know who was a murderer...and then I might not feel so guilty about the life I had taken.

Bellatrix Lestrange's death would be justified. I would have no reason to feel guilty were it her blood on my hands instead of Nott's.

The lift came to a rattling stop at the Atrium which was empty and silent. I opened the gold gates, the very noisy gold gates, and saw ahead of me that my brother was hidden behind the statues of the fountain. As I stepped out of the lift a jet of red light whizzed past my head so close that I let out a yelp and fell back into the grate of the elevator.

"My, my, my, you really must be lucky, little Potter!" Bellatrix nearly sang. I could not tell where she was, but she was farther away down the Atrium from where I could hear her voice. I nearly growled at the sound of it.

"My, my, my," I mimicked, my voice lower than I would have expected. "You have horrible aim, you loon."

"Crucio!" I ducked the jet of light again and had to crash onto the floor, on my tender arm, to avoid being hit. "Were your mudblood mother alive, she would have taught you better manners, Potter!"

"Shame I was raised with your lot, then," I yelled back, standing again. "Come out and fight me, or are you afraid of me, Bellatrix?"

"Not at all, I just want to find your brother!" She giggled maniacally. "Come out, come out, little Harry! What did you come after me for, if it wasn't to take revenge on what we've done?"

"I will!" Harry shouted back from behind the fountain, letting the Atrium carry the echo all the way to her ears and saying nothing more.

"But you didn't care for Nott, did you Potter? Aren't you glad he's dead?" She giggled insanely once again. "I know your sister is."

"I am not," I bellowed back. "I attacked him to survive!"

"You held him until you killed him," she nearly scoffed.

"You killed him!" I screamed back, stepping out into the open.

"Audrey, get down!" Harry whispered from his position behind the fountain.

"If you want to kill me, come out where I can see you! We'll finish this: wand to wand."

Bellatrix giggled again, she seemed to think the idea was as preposterous as it probably was. She seemed to think that I would not stand a chance – but that giggle was a mistake. It let both Harry and I know exactly where she was. And Harry, his eyes more vicious than I had ever seen them, stood from behind the fountain.

"Crucio!" he bellowed, slashing his wand in the direction of Bellatrix. She screamed – now that we knew where she was it was easier to see her, even though she was closer to a blur. I could see that the spell had knocked her off her feet, but she didn't writhe as I wanted to see. Bellatrix didn't scream and cry or beg for mercy as I wanted, as I expected, to hear – she was already up again and she was no longer full of scathing smiles.

"Never used an Unforgivable Curse before, have you, boy?" She growled at him, watching but not moving while he made his way over to me. Her giggly, baby voice was now abandoned. "You need to mean them, Potter! You need to really want to cause pain – to enjoy it. Righteous vengeance for your sister will only fuel you when she's not here to appreciate it. I'll show you how it is done, shall I? I'll give you a lesson-"

"Let me," I snarled back to her. "Crucio!"

Everyone seemed to pause and wait for something to happen to Bellatrix, but no spell came from my wand. I wanted to scream at it, I wanted to smash it against the stone at my feet and throw a fit – I did want to hurt Bellatrix Lestrange. I did want her to feel the pain I had made Nott feel...

So why wasn't it working?

"Pathetic!" She rejoiced, nearly embodying her baby voice again. "Neither of you can win against me!"

"I can!" I screamed back, infuriated by my own lack of ability. I whipped out my left hand and cried out when it collided with Harry's wand – it was a sharp, instant pain. It felt like when I had been touching Nott and he had been cursed, but much less severe. I gripped Harry's wand with my left and shoved my own wand into his hand with my right. I took the quick second to hold Harry's wand in my right hand – ignoring the sting it sent into that palm, as well. I could feel the blood dripping on the floor from the shallow cuts that now decorated both my palms, but the warm hilt of Harry's wand felt good in my hand despite the pain.

"Audrey, no, stop!"

"CRUCIO!" I screamed, slicing the air with the holly wand as violently as I had seen her do it – and I smiled despite all my own pain – because Bellatrix fell to her knees. She screamed and panted, she twitched and clawed at her skin as the pain overtook her and she fell onto her side. I watched and smiled, nearly euphoric as I watched her writhe under myspell.

It was an amazing feeling, to give her what she deserved. It was amazing to feel so powerful, instead of powerless. To know that after everything that had happened in the past few hours, that I was still strong. That I could ruin her, drive her insane, take her life if I wanted to...and I did want to. Like she had taken Nott's, like I could have taken Nott's...

"Audrey, stop!"

Harry grabbed his wand from me and as soon as he did, the spell broke. Bellatrix panted from the exertion of her body fighting against the pain, rolling over so that she could cough and bring the air back into her raspy throat. I looked down at her, unable to hide my pride.

"I mean it, can you tell?" I asked her darkly. "I do want to hurt you...and I will do it again."

"I was and am the Dark Lord's most loyal servant," she hissed, standing shakily while she got a firm grip on her wand. "I learned the Dark Arts from him, and I know spells of such power that you, you pathetic little children, can never hope to compete-"

"Stupefy!" Harry yelled, now holding both wands – my own wand in his right hand. As always, my wand yielded to him easily and performed the spell as it was meant to. I looked at it with a bit of a sneer, my short fingernails biting into the already cut skin of my palms. I hated that my wand behaved better for my brother than it did for me. Still, I couldn't be shocked for long when she deflected his spell right back at me and I ducked and felt it skim past my hair.

"I'm going to give you two one chance," she shouted. "Give me the prophecy – roll it out towards me now – and I may spare your life!"

I laughed aloud. "You'll have to kill us!"

"Don't think I won't!" She said darkly. I laughed harder.

"I've already gotten rid of it!"

"It's gone and he knows!" Harry said with his own mad laugh, remembering just how I had smashed it and elbowed him hard to try and save him. "Your dear old mate Voldemort knows it's gone! He's not going to be happy with you, is he?"

"What? What do you mean?" her voice quivered in fear. It made my heart beat quickly as if it were a gift I was excited to open and finally get to use.

"I smashed the prophecy," I told her with a smile. "I smashed it right in Nott's face – he was the only one who heard it...and you killed him!"

"What will Voldemort say about that, then?" Harry asked loudly. "Since you killed the only one who knew what it said?"

"Liars!" She shrieked. "You've got it! One of you has it and you will give it to me! Accio prophecy! ACCIO PROPHECY!"

"I told you I smashed it," I laughed. "You have nothing for him now!"

"No!" She screamed, falling to her knees as if she was hit with a curse. "It isn't true, you're lying!"

"Give me your wand, Harry," I hissed, not bothering to look while I held out my bloodied hand to him. "I want to curse her again..."

"Master, I tried, I tried! Do not punish me-"

"Don't waste your breath!" Harry yelled, nearly smirking at her pathetic display. "He can't hear you from here!"

"Can't I, Potter?"

The high, cold voice broke our battle and all three of us in the Atrium swerved to the right to see the newest member of the fight; he was tall and he was also black-hooded. His face was terribly thin and flat, it was plastered with white skin and fitted with scarlet, slit-pupilled eyes that were narrowed on both my brother and I.

"No..." Harry whispered in shock.

"Hello, Harry," the high, slithering voice greeted politely. "And Audrey, so nice to meet you at last."

Lord Voldemort was here.

Lord Voldemort was furious.

And somehow I knew that Lord Voldemort blamed me.


Wow. So, where to start? Um. There was a death in this chapter, I'm sure most noticed. But I'm sure it's not what you expected. And there was a lot going on with Audrey and that veil. Then Audrey and her own little fight with Nott. And, of course, Audrey's strange situation with her wand... I can't wait to hear your opinions. But first, let me write back to those who shared their opinions last chapter:

anna: Thank you, hopefully you liked this newest chapter as well :)

VanillaSnowdrops: Draco definitely did kiss Audrey in front of everyone. We'll get to see more of the Gryffindors' reactions when they get back to Hogwarts, don't worry. I tried to make the veil part eerie in the last chapter – did it still work for this chapter as well? Because I tried to make it really creepy. And good catch on the thestrals and the veil, I'm glad you caught on before all the stuff that happened in this chapter. Did you catch what did, or rather didn't, happen with Sirius?

Jordan Lynn 7: Sometimes I want to slap some sense into Harry too – but it's good that you feel that way. I constantly try to show how impulsive Harry is (hence Gryffindor) while Audrey is calculating (hence Slytherin) :)

Nicky-Maree: Ha, I'm glad that you liked the last chapter so much. That one was really fun to write...this one, for the most part, was not – but that's because it was so emotionally taxing. I'm glad I make you feel like rereading the book! Did you actually do it? I reread GOF and OOTP before I started writing about them and I've started HBP again. HBP is my favourite of the seven, so hopefully I do it justice. What did you think about the veil in this chapter...more importantly, what did you think of what happened with Sirius?

Colette Hyuga: I agree, I think Audrey should be listened to more. Hopefully she will be next book now that she's proven herself in this segment. I'm glad that you're liking the story so much and I hope that you enjoyed what happened in this chapter.

Punk Rocker Fairy: I'd say he'd think exactly what Audrey did: it's a trap! ;)

OddPotato: Procrastination, what is that? You know, I'll look it up tomorrow. Haha, hope you liked the chapter.

kaaayyytteee: I'm glad that you liked the last chapter, hopefully you liked this one as well. Thanks for the review!

DGfleetfox: Hopefully you still like the story enough to make it to this point, but I'm glad that you liked the little Draco and Audrey scenes. I'm also glad that you're seeing the parallel between James/Lily. Thank you for reviewing!

Bitterglass: I agree. I think Audrey should get a medal for her patience. I mean, sure, she blows up at them every now and then but there are a hell of a lot of reasons why, haha.

Guest (1): I'm glad you liked Harry's reaction, you'll get another one later.

Guest (2): Please don't kill who? Sorry, I didn't catch that ;)

Apple: I remember first reading when Harry touches the orb in the book and I put the book down to have a little "stupidity break" where I just kept repeating, "he did it. Oh my god, what an idiot. He actually touched the – didn't he – doesn't he? Ugh! What an idiot!" I'm glad I kept that feeling in the last chapter. I'm glad you liked Draco's sneak-attack kiss on her, and the creepiness of the veil that carried through to this chapter – hopefully it was still creepy. Voldemort made his entrance – we'll see more on his reactions to the twins in the next chapter. Audrey kicked ass. Sirius didn't die. And we have yet to know Malfoy's reaction, but I assure you there will be drama when they go back to Hogwarts. Thanks for the review and I hope you liked the chapter :)

Mischief and Magic: It's alright, you reviewed now and you used the term 'Siriusly', so you gained my respect. Hopefully you liked this chapter and what did, or didn't, happen during it. I will tell you now that Audrey is not going to take Harry's upcoming potions abilities well at all, and there are some parallels between Regulus. She will definitely have a lot to think about in this upcoming book. Hopefully you liked the chapter and thank you for reviewing!

RoseyPoseyPie: Don't worry about it, I get what you mean about being busy. I'm glad that you liked the last chapter and hope that you liked this one as well :)

BOOMitsMegan: Yes, the Gryffindors are privy to the Dreaco. Kind of. It will be mentioned before the end of OotP again. The next book will be a lot of fun to write and being "team Audrey" will definitely be harder after HBP. Hopefully you liked this chapter, thanks for the review and thoughts on the next book!

Blue Luver5000: Since you asked so nicely ;)

loveactuallyy: Aw, thank you! I also enjoy giving out the sneak-peaks on Twitter. It always makes me giddy to give out those parts and hear what people are most excited for. I definitely wanted to keep Draco as in character as possible, it's half the reason Audrey's as "Audrey" as she is. Audrey and Draco definitely have more time together in the next book – I'm getting excited even thinking about it. Hope you liked this newest chapter and thank you so much for the review.

Guest (3): Harry is very impulsive, but hopefully you still like the story and the better parts of him!

Lizzy B: Ha, I think you've mentioned that once or twice. But yes, Draco has out-ed their 'relationship'. It will be fun to see how Audrey reacts to that later on. Hopefully you liked this chapter, thanks for the review!

WORMoverBOOK: I'm glad that you're liking it so much. Hopefully this chapter was exciting for you and that you liked the way it turned out. Thanks for the review :)

Shiningheart of ThunderClan: No kidding, Audrey really doesn't get just how much Malfoy actually spoils her in his own way. Don't worry, next year they'll be square. You're going to have to wait to see how he reacts to the news of his father's imprisonment, but as you can see Audrey has a lot more on her mind than what happens to Malfoy SR. Hope that you liked the chapter, thank you for reviewing :)

Angel of the Night Watchers: Yes, I definitely have a timeline, it's half the reason I'm so frustrated as I write each chapter because I just want to skip and get to the good parts, haha. Hopefully the emotional trauma that's started from Nott's death. Hopefully it's not too jumbled. I am also supposed to be on a diet – alright, technically it's supposed to be a 'lifestyle change', but it's a bit too drastic of a change to be anything BUT a diet. As for the arts, I'm more of a 'performing arts' type, but when it comes to visual art the only thing I can do well is sketch. As soon as paint comes into it, I tend to get really frustrated because it doesn't translate properly. Anyway, I'd love to hear what you thought of this chapter :)

Little Old Anonymous Me: I'm glad that his kiss came as a surprise. It kind of came as a surprise to me, too. I expected to do it differently but...sometimes my characters (and my fingers) surprise even me. Yes, Audrey is definitely hearing voices behind the veil. And she was hearing many of them. Ron will be a more amiable character in the next book, they all will :) Hope that you liked the chapter and thank you for the review!

Guest (4) for chapter 43: Thank you, I'm so glad that you've been liking it. Hopefully you've continued on to this far and hopefully you've enjoyed what you've read :)

xXMizz Alec VolturiXx: You're on vacation and you took the time to review? You didn't have to! Enjoy yourself! I'm glad that you liked the last chapter and hopefully you like all the twists that this chapter had as well. I'm glad you like Audrey's calculating nature vs Harry's impulsiveness – I will do HBP and DH and I am doing clips from the books beforehand in Audrey Potter's Prelude :) Thank you for the review!

StealthElf23: Hello! Thank you for starting to read this and congratulations on getting this far, I know it's a lot of words to swallow. I'm glad that you like it and the differences from most other stories out there and, of course, I'm glad you like Draco more :) As for Harry Potter Puppet Pals, I've seen every one! They're brilliant. Hopefully you liked this chapter and thank you so much for your review.

AllTimeLol: *Virtual hug back* Thank you! I'm glad you like it. I like your review :)

SarcasticRaven: I wish I had a project about Etiquette and manners, that sounds like a lot of fun. Not as much that you HAVE to do a project, but that you get to research it. That's pretty interesting to me. The next Harry Potter story I'm thinking of writing will have a lot of that kind of stuff in it...if I write it. I haven't decided if it's good enough to start. Anyway, back to this story! I'm glad you liked the last chapter, there are a lot of feels in this chapter so hopefully it was interesting...thanks as always :)

SwiftAlice: Wow, first off let me thank you! Your review was spectacular, I'm truly honoured; it's not often I get such in-depth responses to my chapters.
I'm glad that you think I keep the characters as they were depicted in JKR's original. I try to keep the characters within themselves as much as I can. Even Harry, who is seen as a much more selfish character in this story, will end up being resolved a little in the next book. I really pushed it to the extreme for the confusion that Audrey had to and will go through. I'm also touched that you could think of what Audrey would do as you watched the film, that's awesome!
It's alright. Sometimes I go back to check on things in the early chapters and I sneer at them. I definitely could have done the first few better and I have often thought of going back to rewrite a few of them, so don't apologize. You continued and pushed through your worries and that is all that matters :)
I'm glad you like my technical writing abilities. You can thank my grammar-Nazi mother who either made me write essays or read a passage aloud from Shakespeare instead of grounding me like a normal parent from the age of 6. I guess in the long-haul it paid off, but at the time all I wanted was to be sent to my room without dinner, let me tell you. I'm also glad that you don't think it's just a one-track story in the way of the emotions it evokes – I'm actually really glad to hear it. Next book will be less angst, so I hope, but I could tell this one was on the precipice of too much angst and drama. And thank you, I'm glad that you believe my writing is growing. I think it has as well and I'm glad that other people are noticing – it means that I'm not crazy, haha!
Also, just since you mentioned you didn't know, I have a timeline written out for the entire story. From there, I try writing chapters in clumps at the beginning of each book so that I can update more regularly, but I ended up falling behind this time. Next time I hope that it will be better. Still, it is chapter by chapter even though I follow the timeline I wrote down when I first began the story. As for answering reviews, I'm glad that you think I do so and I hope you don't mind how I'm answering every little part of yours. I'm so touched by it there is no way I couldn't!
So what did you think of this chapter? I know that it was dramatic and very heavy, it was very hard to write because it was nearly emotionally crippling at some points. Draco will make an appearance in the next two chapters (as OotP will finish in two chapters) and that kiss is certainly coming up in conversation again. Hopefully you liked this chapter and the changes that happened with Audrey's interference. And never worry about long reviews, it just means it's more in-depth and I love hearing what people are thinking. Thank you for the phenomenal review and enjoy the chapter!

wemaketheperfectteam: I'm glad you liked Draco's surprise-kiss, it was fun to write. She certainly seems to have lost it while talking to that veil, but why do you think? Hope you liked the chapter and thanks for reviewing :)

MKhigh-865: Aw, thank you! I'm so glad that you like Audrey and her storyline. I'm glad that I've made you yell at your screen and stay at the edge of your seat – it means I'm doing my job right! I try very hard to keep her from Mary-Sue tendencies, even though there are of course some forms of it in here, but hopefully not enough for it to be annoying. I am proud of this story but it is always nice to hear how much readers like you enjoy it – I feel really honoured, thank you.

klara: Thank you for the review, I hope you liked the chapter!

vampiremuggle: Thank you, I'm glad you like the story. Hopefully you liked this chapter as well :)


Thank you everyone for your amazing reviews. I hope that you liked this chapter, I know it was very dense and thick with emotion – but hopefully it was worth it. Have a Easter weekend, or long weekend. I know my family is already here and I've already begun cooking...little do you know, but I pretty much come from a family of Weasleys, haha!

Please REVIEW!

-Egypt

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