I'm doing the Q&A in the beginning this time because SHIT HITS THE FAN IN THIS CHAPTER!

Firaenial says, "Peter who declares the life of Sirius is not ruined because he can always count on him...I know what the author is trying to do here, and it hurts!"

Lol, YEP! I'll be honest, as much as I have concrete plans on how much of the series will operate in terms of deviating from canon...I still can't decide whether or not I want Peter to betray the Potters or not. I have really good reasons for and against it. If you guys want to share your opinion on whether you think he should still betray them or not, feel free to let me know!

Alright, onto the chapter...here we go, strap yourselves in!

Also, there's a Princess Bride reference in this chapter, whoever finds it first gets a special prize! They get to be a background character in year 2!

Today, Sirius was antsy all through classes, keeping his eye on the movement of the sun across the grounds. I picked up on his anxiety and kept looking at him sideways in Potions.

But as worked up as Sirius was, his nerves couldn't hold a candle to Peter's. Remus was clearly trying to maintain his patience with Peter as they worked, but Peter kept knocking over vials and spilling various ingredients across the table and onto Remus' lap.

That night, during dinner, Lily sat down next to me at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. The four boys looked at her, raised eyebrows. "Yes?" asked James pointedly, "Can we help you?"

Lily's eyes darted from Peter to Sirius. "It's tonight, isn't it?"

Sirius swallowed back the nerves that seemed to have swelled up in his throat. "Maybe. Maybe not."

"What's it to you?" Demanded James.

Lily leaned forward and lowered her voice, "You shouldn't do it. Please, don't do it."

I leaned back with my napkin and swept it over my mouth, not wanting to take part in the conversation. The others knew my opinion, but I'd committed to helping out either way. A part of me wanted Lily to talk sense into the others. I looked down at my plate.

"I don't think it's a good idea and...and I just really wish you wouldn't do it. Give the mirror to Dumbledore. Tell him why you're nervous about it." She was especially looking at Sirius with pleading eyes. "He can help."

Sirius frowned. "He can but he won't. We've told Dumbledore about the mirror and it didn't do any good. He didn't do anything about it. So we will. And then he'll have to do something about it. When...when You-Know-Who is here, all bound up with stunners, Dumbledore won't be able to overlook that."

Lily sighed. "I'm just really worried about you is all. I don't want anything bad to happen to you lot."

"Why, Lily Evans, do you give a damn about us, then?" James chortled.

Lily turned red. "Well, perhaps not you," she replied sassily.

I couldn't help but smirk down at my roast beef at the tone of her voice and the look on James' face.

"You could come with us," piped up Peter from the other side of Remus. "You're so good...surely he couldn't best all of us if you were there, too." he looked at Lily with the most desperate expression he could muster.

Lily looked torn.

"He's right, Lil...we could really use your help," said Sirius.

"Would be nice to have a third level head around," added Remus, "Right now it's just Sabrina and I." He rolled his eyes.

I shrugged, not saying anything. The truth is, I didn't want Lily to be there. I wanted her safe, in bed, tucked up in Gryffindor tower, where whatever happened out there in the woods...it wouldn't affect her.

Lily seemed to be thinking along the same lines. She shook her head, "No...no I'm not going out there, I'm not mad, like you lot are." she stood up, "Just...just think on it. Please."

"You won't tell, will you?" Sirius asked.

"I should..." she replied, then she shrugged, "But I told you I wouldn't...so I won't. But I should."

"Thanks, Evans," Sirius said.

Lily shook her head, "Don't thank me. It's probably going to be the death of you all and I'll be guilty for the rest of my life for it." With that, she turned and went down the other end of the table, where Alice Bell greeted her excitedly, glancing toward us, asking what she'd needed with us.

I chewed a carrot thoughtfully as the boys ate in silence for a moment, then I said, "I'll only say it once more, and then I'll go along with everything from here on out without another word on it, but...I think Lily's right, for the record."

Sirius and James ignored this statement altogether. Remus gave me a hopeful look and a weak smile, and Peter concentrated very, very hard on spearing his peas with the prongs of his fork (haha prongs) to keep from saying anything himself.

The moonlight was pale. The common room was still. Bilius and his girlfriend had been the last two to vacate the couches by the fire. But once the door had closed on the sixth year's dorm room door, Sirius was up and out of bed. "Okay," he hissed across the room.

We'd all been laying in silence, supposedly napping so that we could be well-rested when we went out into the forest, but none of us had been able to sleep. We got up, all still dressed and James tied his trainers as Sirius and I dug the mirror out of the trunk and wrapped it carefully in a sheet, hoping to muffle any sound that the Dark Lord may be able to hear through the glass. I slipped the mirror into Sirius' bookbag and he slung it over his shoulders. Remus tore the page with the map of the forest out of Hogwarts: A History, and tucked it into his pocket and each of us grabbed our wands, James sweeping the invisibility cloak around us.

Downstairs in the common room, we made sure that everything was still and the seats all empty, the fire dying in the hearth, before we walked to the portrait hole. Making our way through the castle, I felt the bubbling of adrenaline in my veins and stomach, my heart vibrating fiercely in my chest. We were at the Entrance Hall before long and looking up at the looming wood doors.

We stood quite still in the front of the door, listening hard for any signs of life from elsewhere in the castle. We'd been lucky so far, having not seen nor heard any signs of Filch or Mrs. Norris or anyone else that may have been up and about...but that didn't mean that they weren't there. We listened carefully. "I think we're good," whispered Peter.

Remus lifted one finger to quiet him. "Shh," he said, straining his ears.

It took a moment, but finally we heard what Remus had… and then, within a moment, there was Lily, careening around the corner of the staircase, running down the stairs, her trainers echoing off the stone walls, her ginger hair flying behind her, green eyes wide.

"What're you doing?" I snapped as she reached the bottom of the stairs, "Trying to get us all caught?"

Lily came up short, surprise on her face and she looked around, "Sabrina? Where are you?" she hissed.

I ducked out from beneath the invisibility cloak, "Here I am," I said.

Lily ran across the hall, "I thought I'd missed you."

"Missed us?" James held up the cloak so that she could see the cluster of people beneath it.

"I'm coming along," she whispered.

"Oh thank Merlin," sighed Peter.

Sirius grinned, "Alright then." his eyes twinkled.

I sighed in frustration.

We shuffled about to make room for Lily to squeeze under the cloak, too, but no matter how we worked it we couldn't all six fit under without our ankles showing. But this didn't worry Sirius much. "Once we're on the grounds, nobody will see our ankles. From the castle it would look like a cat or something. We should be fine," he pointed out.

And so, sufficiently covered, us Gryffindor first years carefully pushed open the Entrance Hall doors, which creaked and groaned loudly, echoing off the walls, and slipped out onto the steps. We ran as fast we could from the front stairs and down the pathway, across the grounds, afraid that Filch might investigate the creaking doorway before we'd gotten far enough.

When we were nearly to the edge of the forest, we slowed to a walk, moving along until we reached the spot where the grass tapered off into the mulchy underbed of the forest. Here, in the shadow of the trees, we pulled off the invisibility cloak, having agreed that it would be far more a hindrance among the trees and undergrowth of the forest than it would be a help.

We stood side-by-side, staring up at the looming black forest.

"Are you lot ready?" James asked thickly.

"No," squeaked Peter.

"Okay," said James, "Let's go, then." And with that, we took our first steps into the Forbidden Forest.

The forest was still. Little moonlight filtered through the trees, the darkness seemed to swallow up the air beneath us. We stuck to the path as much as possible, but much of it was overgrown by brush and travelling vines. "Lumos," whispered Remus, holding his wand aloft so the light glowed around the six of us as we moved through the dark, illuminating exposed roots and large dips in the ground so that we could make our way forward without falling down. Besides the sound of our footsteps and nervous breathing, the only sound was Peter's muttered counting of steps, so that we would know when we had gone far enough to be officially off the grounds of Hogwarts.

We had gone about fifty-seven paces, by Peter's count, when James had made the mistake of saying, "Blimey, I don't understand why it's forbidden, there hasn't been a blasted thing worth forbidding it over." He no sooner had spoken those words when we heard an ominous crack in the woods to our right. All six of our heads turned to peer into the dark.

"We're all going to die," trembled Peter.

"Shut it," Sirius snapped, "And keep counting your steps." Though his voice shook ever so slightly, too.

I inched closer to Remus in the darkness, keen to stay in the circle of light that his wand gave off.

There was another crack from deep in the trees.

"Perhaps we should, er, turn off the light in a mo'," Sirius suggested. He reached for James' arm and Lily's wrist and nodded for Remus to grab hold onto Peter and I. I took hold of Lily, forming a chain. "Nox," whispered Remus, and the light extinguished, throwing us all into utter darkness.

The cracking became slowly louder and we clutched onto one another in the dark. As it became louder, it also echoed off itself, throwing the sound off various trees around us, making it sound as though it were coming from every direction at exactly the same time. None of us knew which way to look, which way to expect an attack from. But then, as suddenly as the cracking had started, it faded off, the noise getting further and further away until we couldn't hear it at all any longer.

"What do you think that was?" I hissed.

"Dunno," replied Sirius.

"No do I," added Remus. "But we'll have to listen closely for it to come back, just in case… Lumos." The little area we'd been standing in lit up once more, only to reveal Peter cowering behind Remus, whimpering in fear.

We turned and continued on. We'd been walking for some time, though everything looked precisely the same as it had before, dark and gloomy and outlined by spindly fingers of tree branches reaching across the path. The only thing that marked the distance we'd passed, besides the ache in our legs was the sound of Peter's breathy mutterings. "161, 162, 163, 164," counted Peter, his voice low, "165, 166…"

"It's not that bad here," Sirius said, "I'm not saying I'd like to build a summer home here, but the trees are actually quite lovely."

"Peaceful," agreed James sarcastically, "I should like it a great deal better in the day."

"I wonder how old these trees are," said Lily.

"I expect as old as the castle," replied Remus. "The forest was much larger before Hogwarts was built, you know, they had to cut much of it in order to build the castle. They preserved this portion of it as part of a treaty with the centaurs."

"There are centaurs in this wood?" Peter squeaked. "But Fantastic Beasts gave them an extremely dangerous rating and-"

"We'll be fine, Peter, for crying out loud, they're only centaurs!" James said, exasperated. "Keep. Counting."

"They're given an XXXX rating, but only because they have to be respected," I mumbled.

"100...er...70, I s'pose…" Peter muttered, moving away from James to the other side of Remus, glaring at him through the darkness.

Lily's voice was laced with curiosity. "What are centaurs like, anyway? Are they really part man, part horse?" She asked. "I should like to see one, I imagine they're very…"

"Shhh," Remus cut in suddenly. "Nox."

All of us came to an instant halt and clustered back-to-back quickly, looking about the dark forest. Remus had the best ears, probably because of his wolfish tendencies, I thought. He could hear things far sooner than the rest of us could. We stood, waiting, our palms sweaty. There was indeed something in the forest once again, not very far from us. Branches were cracking as they had been before. Then they stopped. Silence fell over the path as far as I could tell. But Remus must've still heard something, as he hadn't relaxed in the least.

After a long pause that felt like eternity, there was more cracking and crunching in the forest when a voice called out, "Is that you, Nerimai?"

"Yes," said a voice closer to us, only a metre away in the dark. I felt Lily clutch my hand behind our backs and I felt warmth tingle up my arm, even though her hands were rather clammy. I could feel every muscle in my legs tense, ready to bolt should we need to run.

There was a crunching and I saw, very faintly, a dark black shape move onto the path...tall and looming overhead...a centaur. I held my breath as the creature passed by, stepping over a large log and disappearing among the trees. "I've been looking at the stars."

"Yes?" Nerimai asked, "And what do you see, Bane?"

"The First of Thrice," Bane replied. "It begins tonight."

Nerimai's voice was low, "You read correctly."

"You have taught me well," Bane said. He paused. "Should we not look into stopping-"

"No," snapped Nerimai. "We do not interfere. We know, we observe, but we do not interfere."

"Even when-"

"No matter what," Nerimai interrupted.

Both were so quiet for a long moment that I wondered if they hadn't snuck off into the darkness, unheard.

"Come," Nerimai said lowly. "Let us go. This place is not ours alone." There was the sound of his hooves cracking twigs and leaves beneath him, and then the echo of Bane's steps following along through the trees.

The cluster of us Gryffindor first years waited until the sound of their hooves had faded off, and even then did not relax until Remus muttered, "Lumos," and we once more had a small circle of light to stand in.

"That," said James, "Is what a centaur is like. Are you quite happy now?"

"Well I didn't see them, did I?" Lily asked snappily.

"What do you think they were talking about? The First of Thrice?" asked Remus as we started walking again.

"Dunno," I replied, "Sounds like some sort of weird holiday."

Peter was muttering numbers again, though he'd completely lost count somewhere along the way, so he simply started counting, where he could last recall having been, "166…"

Lily said, "How much further do we have to go?"

"237 paces by Peter's count," replied Sirius. "Plus an extra dozen or so to be sure we've cleared the limits of the grounds."

Lily sighed and I felt her give a small shiver. She wrapped her arms around herself and rubbed her shoulders, before a jumper was laid across her. She looked up and saw James, now jumperless himself, as he jumped back to his own side of the path. "Thanks," she said.

"You're welcome," he replied.

"I'll bet it's some sort of centaur version of Chanukah," I said, going back to the previous topic. "The First of Thrice begins tonight. Something to do with the stars. They worship the stars, you know, centaurs."

"They can tell the future by them, I've heard," James said, "Like divination...you know, crystal balls and all that hoo-ha."

Remus replied, "Fairly accurately, usually. Of the last twenty-two centaur predictions, twenty-one have been correct, and the last has yet to happen, according to Binns."

"Maybe we should've asked that lot to read our fortunes and tell Peter here to stop being such a baby," James suggested with a snicker.

"I'm not a bloody baby," Peter interrupted his tremulous counting.

When we'd walked the 237 paces (plus a dozen...or more given the number of times Peter had lost count), we finally came to a stop and looked around ourselves. "I see a clearing," said Sirius, and he pointed and we walked the little ways through the woods to the place where a small circular space let the moonlight flood down the way to the floor of the forest. We stopped on the very edge of the light, not quite daring to step into it just yet. Remus extinguished his wand light, and I surveyed the space. "I'd say this looks good," I said.

Lily swallowed loudly. "So...so what now? You're going to...to call him and when he appears, then we...we stun him?"

"Yep," Sirius said, "That's the plan."

James said, "All at once."

"What if we do that...and it doesn't work? What's the back-up plan?" Asked Lily, who hadn't been present for all the preparatory conversations.

"Then Peter is going to run to get Dumbledore and we're going to do our damndest to distract Voldemort until he gets here. If we can, we lure him back over onto the Hogwarts grounds so he can't disapparate away once Dumbledore arrives," replied James.

"Alright," she replied shakily.

I could feel my heart thumping in my chest like a jackhammer. Sirius took a deep breath. "You lot find hiding places," Sirius said. "Once you have, shout so I know where abouts you are and then...well, you know."

We divided up, each of us walking around in a circle. Peter took a bush closest to the path back to Hogwarts, since he was the one that would have to run back to Dumbledore should things go sour, and the rest of us ducked behind trees and brush all around a circle. "Here!" shouted Peter.

James nudged Lily as she ducked toward a log to hide, "Take the invisibility cloak," he told her.

"What for?"

"So you can hide better," James replied, holding out the silvery cloak to her.

Lily eyed the cloak for a moment, "Why don't you use it?" she asked.

"Because…" James said, "You need it more than I do."

"Here!" came Remus' voice from opposite the clearing.

James thrust it at her. "Just in case."

"Because I'm a girl?" Lily asked, "You think I need extra help because I'm not as fast or as good as you?" Her eyebrow raised, and she put a hand on her hip.

"It's not that," I called, from behind a tree "Just take the damn cloak, it's cos you didn't spend weeks preparing for this like we did. Here!"

"No, I'd like to know what James is saying here," Lily demanded.

"Blimey," James snapped, rolling his eyes, "Forget about it. I was just trying to help. Don't have to bite my bloody head off. And for that matter, I'd like my jumper back."

Lily took the jumper off and chucked it. It landed just inside the circle of moonlight. "There. Have it. Go away." she disappeared into the darkness. "Here!" she yelled a moment later.

James grumbled as he grabbed his jumper and pulled it on quickly, angrily, and then dodged off behind a tree. "Here!"

Sirius took a deep breath, hands trembling, and pulled the mirror out of his bag and carried it out into the clearing so that the moonlight hit the glass and looked down into the eerily reflection-less frame. "Hullo?" he called, "Um...your um...Lordship?" He cleared his throat, "Lord Voldemort...sir?"

Was there a magic word? I thought, A phrase which would call the Dark Lord to the mirror?

"My name is Sirius Black and, er, I'd rather fancy a talk with you."

From about three metres away, my heart stopped when I saw it. Something moved in the mirror...and then there he was...the Dark Lord...staring back at Sirius where his reflection ought to have been.

"Ah...Sirius Black…" The Dark Lord cooed, a smile spreading across his face, bending his rather nice features into a wicked grin which held more evil than humour. "I wondered when I would be hearing from you."

Sirius mustered every ounce of courage he had within him, and said, "You were expecting me, then?"

"But of course," the Dark Lord said, his high voice raspy and quiet, demanding attention. "It was only a matter of time before you returned...the prodigal son."

"Um, yes, yes, exactly," Sirius replied, nodding, "I've been just waiting for the right moment. Biding my time, see, until I could get to talk to you myself about it. That's why I stole the mirror from Lucius Malfoy. I knew he knew how to talk to you and I found out and stole it so I could tell you myself not to think less of me."

The Dark Lord smirked, staring through the glass with eyes that seemed to sparkle with...was that pride? I felt my stomach churn at the thought of it. "I could never think less of you," said Voldemort slowly, "I knew the day would come when you would reach out to me."

Sirius took a deep breath. "I've snuck off the grounds, sir," he said. "I was hoping that we could speak...in person. And...I know you've been trying to take the castle. I know that's what Malfoy's been working on. He...he told me. I'm his cousin, you see, so he confides in me. And I know about Tutman being imperiused. But I could bring you back up to the castle and we could take it over. Together. You and me and Lucius."

Voldemort smiled, his lips slowly curling. "And is Lucius there with you?"

"No sir," Sirius replied.

"So you are alone, then?

Sirius nodded.

Voldemort's eyes twinkled. "Well then," he said thickly, "As you wish."

My heart jumped so loudly I could feel it fighting to get out of my chest. This was the moment. This was it. It was coming. The mirror went suddenly dark and Sirius dropped it onto the grass. There was a flash of light and a great POP and several things happened at once.

Our six voices shouted "Stupefy!" at exactly the same time from five different angles. Red sparks flew from our six wands, shooting directly to the centre of the clearing at the spot where Lord Voldemort suddenly apparated, arms raised in a V as he cast his own spell. "Protego!" and the red sparks hit the shield he'd just created around himself, bouncing off, deflected, and shooting back into the trees. Sirius' spell rebounded on himself, hitting hims squarely in the chest and he fell down while the rest of us had enough warning to duck out of the way of our spells, which flew through the woods before fizzing out or striking a tree. Peter scrambled away from his bush, feet flying across the stoney path, tripping over tree roots, hitting the ground and scraping his knees and the heels of his hands, heading toward the castle.

The Dark Lord laughed, "Did you really think I would apparate without protecting myself?" He loomed, lean and tall over Sirius' stupefied body, a grin twisting in his features. "That I didn't know what you were up to long ago? I could hear every word you were saying. All this time." he shook his head, "Although I will say, it is too bad that you couldn't have truly turned to join me, you've got a certain… inhibition… that is quite impressive." Voldemort stared down at Sirius. "It really is a shame, wasting all the talent you have for mischief." he chuckled, "Oh well…"

"Stupefy!" shouted James as Voldemort raised his wand. The spell shot across the clearing from his hiding place and Voldemort had to dodge it to avoid being hit. But, having missed the spell, he now knew where James was, and he turned to move in the direction the spell had come from.

""Look, Sirius, your friends want to come out and play along, too," Voldemort said darkly, grinning. He peered into the forest, his eyes squinting against the darkness, moving slowly toward the place where James had shot the spell from. "Come out, come out, wherever you are," he called in a sinister tone as he moved closer to the tree behind which James had taken refuge.

James quickly moved from his place, as quietly as he could possibly move through the trees. His robes caught on a branch's outstretched limbs and he tugged them free, dropping and rolling behind a rock to the right of where he'd been as Voldemort's hand wrapped gently 'round the trunk of the tree he'd just been behind moments before.

"Come now," he said, sniffing the air by the tree, "Don't be hiding. I'm not going to hurt you… much."

The Dark Lord was following the curve of the clearing, peering into the trees, surveying the dark. "I know you're here," he said thickly, "Don't be shy. Come out and save your little friend."

I knew James had to move. He shot from where he was to the next best place to hide: back to another tree trunk.

There was a tiny little squeaking sound before me, and I saw Lily, hiding behind a fallen tree, looking quite afraid. Her green eyes were wide and filled with tears.

I began working on getting closer to where Sirius lay on the grass, intent on waking him up. We needed full manpower if we were to have any hope at all of getting out of there alive. I made a point that, from now on, I wouldn't listen to Sirius' persistent claims that everything would be fine. Everything was not bloody fine, despite how many times Sirius had insisted it would be. The Dark Lord was slowly stalking around the edge of the clearing, staring into the trees, his back to Sirius Black. It was now or never. I darted out from between a couple trees and snagged Sirius' ankle, quickly pulling him across the grass and back into the darkness of the trees.

"Wake up," I whispered, "Wake up, Sirius. Bloody hell."

Across the clearing, Voldemort was getting closer. The forest was quite still, but he knew we were there. His eyes were narrowed to nearly slits. "Come on, little ones," he said, "Come and face the Dark Lord you were so eager to defeat."

It seemed that all sensible thought left James. He turned, pushing himself 'round the trunk of the tree he'd been hiding behind. He launched himself out into the circle of moonlight that filled the clearing, ejecting himself from the protection of the dark and the forest, into the direct line of the Dark Lord.

I nearly gasped, but put my hands over my mouth to silence myself. The Dark Lord's eyes swept over James Potter, and he grinned evilly. "Ah, yes. Potter, isn't it? You look extraordinarily like your grandfather. I went to school with him… he was a prat, your grandfather." The Dark Lord moved toward James, voice low. "Accused me of causing some trouble 'round the castle, nearly got me expelled before I managed to prove it wasn't me who was causing the trouble."

James stood still and tall, eyes locked on the Dark Lord's. I wish I had even a smidgen of his bravery in that moment. I was a Gryffindor, yes, but James was on a whole other plane. He clenched his fists as Voldemort stepped nearer and nearer. Surely by now Peter had gotten to the castle, surely by now he had altered Dumbledore and Moody. Surely they would come quickly…

The Dark Lord smiled coldly. "You're a good friend," he said, "Stepping out here where I could see you, just to defend your little friend. It's nice having friends like that...isn't it?" He paused as James took several paces backwards, away from him, toward the grounds of the school. "Would you like to meet them?"

"Meet them?" James asked.

Voldemort smiled and reached for his sleeve, pulling it up enough to reveal the skin of his forearm and a terrible black branding that seemed to have seared the skin. "Watch this." He pressed his wand to the mark and it seemed to glow red-hot, his smile only widening. At first, nothing seemed to happen. I was starting to wonder what exactly I was supposed to be seeing, but then several pops and cracks broke the night air, and one by one Voldemort's friends arrived.

They were all in long robes with the hoods pulled high up on their heads, their faces hidden in shadow, except for one. A woman, whose long black hair was curly and thick and her eyes wide. She danced excitedly from foot to foot, as though she were a child arriving at a carnival, and her eyes looked upon the Dark Lord in pure adoration. "We're here, my Lord," she said in a husky, almost seductive tone, "I was the first to apparate!"

Voldemort didn't turn, but said, "Yes Bellatrix… thank you." He stared down at James, "I'm afraid, Mister Potter, that you may now be quite outnumbered."

We were, indeed, quite outnumbered. Nearly three to one.

I wondered if Peter had yet convinced Dumbledore and Moody, and if they were, even now, running back through the forest...I think we certainly needed them to come bursting out of the line of trees now, that was for sure.

Voldemort raised his arms, pointing in various directions in the woods, and several of his "friends" moved between the trees, including the black haired woman, who grabbed me. They returned moments later, each clutching one of us by the arms: Me, Sirius, Remus, Lily, and...my heart nearly stopped at the implications of it...Peter. Peter shook so hard that his teeth audibly chattered.

Despair bloomed in me. There was no Dumbledore or Moody coming to save us.

"I now have a proposition to make," Lord Voldemort said, walking slowly closer to James, who backed up once more. "And I extend this offer to each of your little friends as well," he added, turning and waving his palms at us. Sirius struggled against the tight grip of one of the hooded figures. I kicked against the black-haired woman, whose cackling laughter only added to her frightening demeanour. "Join me," Voldemort said, quietly, "And I shall guarantee your safety...I shall personally escort you through this forest, back to the castle. I will make sure that you are safe throughout the battle that shall take place tonight. You...and your little friends." Voldemort moved closer still, like a cat surveying prey.

"And if I don't?" James asked, stalling. I was trying to think of some other plan, some other way out of this mess that we'd got ourselves into, but I didn't know what to do. My magic alone was mediocre at best and there was no way any of us could defeat over fifteen qualified wizards, one of which was none other than the Dark Lord himself. None of us even had our wands in our hands, save for James. Bellatrix had mine, as well as her own stuck up in her messy hair, and the others' wands were clutched in the teeth of their captors. Peter was crying and would be utterly useless by this point even if the man holding him steady were to let go.

Peter had been right all along. We're going to die.

"If you don't…" Lord Voldemort's voice was cold and hardened as he spoke, "Then I am afraid that we shall have to kill you. Which is most unfortunate, given the amount of magical blood that would be spilled...two pure bloodlines broken, no less...precious blood…" he turned and looked at Sirius, Peter and Remus, before sneering at Lily and I, "Although, I must say, I wouldn't mind killing the nasty little Mudbloods."

The word Mudblood, when spoken by Lord Voldemort, seemed the most vulgar, dirty, disgusting word that had ever been spoken. I felt like I had died right there and then.

James was furious and the words came erupting from him like fire, roaring out of him in a passionate heat, "You're vile! You are evil, and you won't win! You won't win because good always triumphs in the end. Always. Maybe not right now, maybe not tonight, but eventually goodness will defeat you and you'll be nothing, remembered only as a foolish old man who tried to take over the world and failed. Join you? No. Do you hear me? NO! I won't ever join you...you prejudiced old wanker!"

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, James' face flushed as hot as the sun, his cheeks burning.

Sirius crowed, "Nice once, James!"

Voldemort's eyes were narrowed to slits. The Dark Lord was no longer playing games - his voice tight with hatred. "You defiant little fool," he snarled. "Now. You'll pay." He raised his wand and shouted, "Crucio!"

James fell to the ground, every muscle in his body spasming. He shuddered and trembled, quaking on the grass in the moonlight. Voldemort laughed, his laugh echoing in my ears terrible and full.

I felt my throat tighten. My friends were now suffering. I could barely stand it.

"Stop it," I cried from Bellatrix's arms. "Stop it. Please stop hurting him!" I was shrieking, my voice echoing off the trees. "PLEASE!"

Voldemort lowered his wand and James instantly stopped convulsing on the ground, though he lay quite still, panting, tears in his eyes, shaking still from the aftermath of the pain. Voldemort stepped toward me quickly, advancing like a dark wind, and clutched my chin, turning my head to look up at him. Bellatix's laughter pitched. The Dark Lord glowered into my eyes. Anger flashed in them so brilliantly that I felt as though I might just burn up and turn to ash in how they stared into my soul. "Would you rather it be you instead?" he hissed.

"Yes," I said without so much as a stammer. "Don't waste your energy on the pureblood."

"Sabrina, no," Sirius choked. "No, you don't know what it's-"

"QUIET!" Snarled Voldemort. He looked at me curiously, his eyes wide in surprise. He tilted his head, like a dog. "The Cruciatus Curse is extremely painful," he told me, "They say...if it is held long enough… that one would lose their minds completely."

I kept my face quite straight, though tears poured over my cheeks. "I. Don't. Care." I choked.

"I think you would care once you felt its effects," Voldemort hissed, putting his face even closer to my own.

I shook my head as best I could.

"In that case," whispered the Dark Lord, and he raised his wand…

"Crucio!"