Dumbledore had most of the remaining Death Eaters grouped in the middle of the room, seemingly immobilized by invisible ropes. Mad-Eye Moody had crawled across the room to where Tonks lay and was attempting to revive her. Behind the dais there were still flashes of light, grunts, and cries - Kingsley had run forward to continue Sirius's duel with Bellatrix. But Amber didn't care, all she cared about was Sirius.
Sirius...
Sirius was gone...
"Harry?" Neville had slid down the stone benches one by one to the place where Harry stood. Harry was no longer struggling against Lupin, who maintained a precautionary grip on his arm nevertheless. "Harry...I'b really sorry..." Said Neville. His legs were still dancing uncontrollably. "Was dat man - was Sirius Black a - a friend of yours?"
Harry nodded.
"Here." Said Lupin quietly, and pointing his wand at Neville's legs he said. "Finite." The spell was lifted. Neville's legs fell back onto the floor and remained still. Lupin's face was pale.
"Let's - let's find the others. Where are they all, Neville?" Lupin turned away from the archway as he spoke. It sounded as though every word was causing him pain.
"Dey're all back dere." Said Neville. "A brain addacked Ron bud I dink he's all righd - and Herbione's unconscious, bud we could feel a bulse -"
There was a loud bang and a yell from behind the dais. Amber saw Kingsley, yelling in pain, hit the ground. Bellatrix Lestrange turned tail and ran as Dumbledore whipped around. He aimed a spell at her but she deflected it. She was halfway up the steps now -
"Harry - no!" Cried Lupin, but Harry had already ripped his arm from Lupin's slackened grip.
Surely Harry couldn't be stupid enough to go after Bellatrix, Amber though, shaking her head as much as she possibly could with Bellatrix's spell limiting her movement. She had to stop him, she had to stop him for Sirius. She knew that Sirius wouldn't want Harry to die because of him. It didn't mater that Harry probably hared her now, she had to stop him.
"SHE KILLED SIRIUS!" Bellowed Harry. "SHE KILLED HIM - I'LL KILL HER!"
And he was off, scrambling up the stone benches. People were shouting behind him but Harry obviously didn't care. The hem of Bellatrix's robes whipped out of sight ahead and Harry was now back in the room where the brains were swimming.
Bellatrix aimed a curse over her shoulder.
The tank rose into the air and tipped. Harry was deluged in the foul-smelling potion within. The brains slipped and slid over him and began spinning their long, colored tentacles, but he shouted. "Wingardium Leviosa!" And they flew into the air away from him.
Slipping and sliding he ran on toward the door. He leapt over Luna, who was groaning on the floor, past Ginny, past Ashely, who said. "Harry - what -" Past Ron, who giggled feebly, and Hermione, who was still unconscious.
He wrenched open the door into the circular black hall and Amber saw Bellatrix disappearing through a door on the other side of the room - she couldn't see anymore as Neville had given up on following Harry it seemed.
Amber had to stop Harry, she had to save him, if she didn't he would surely die. Moving her arm towards her wand, which Bellatrix had purposely placed only a few feet away from where Amber was trapped to tease her, she gritted her teeth through the pain. Holding her wand in her hand, she cast a spell to free her from Bellatrix's curse.
She made sure to run to the area she knew that Harry had headed into, she couldn't leave him to die, not matter that he'd left her with Bellatrix. As she ran to help Harry, she passed an injured Luna, a confused Ron, Ginny with a black eye, Ashley with a broken leg it seemed and an unconscious Hermione. Any of them that were conscious enough to know what they were doing seemed to glare at her, but Amber just ignored it and focused on saving Harry.
There was only one door that was open in the room she was currently in, so she went on the logic that it surely had to be the one Harry had gone through. She went though it to find herself in a lift.
She forced her way out of the lift before the grilles were fully open and looked around. Bellatrix was almost at the telephone lift at the other end of the hall, but she was dueling Harry, and aimed another spell at him.
He dodged behind the Fountain of Magical Brethren; the spell zoomed past him and hit the wrought gold gates at the other end of the Atrium so that they rang like bells. She had stopped running.
Amber crouched behind the statues, listening.
"Come out, come out, little Harry!" Bellatrix called in her mock-baby voice, which echoed off the polished wooden floors. "What did you come after me for, then? I thought you were here to avenge my dear cousin!"
"I am!" Shouted Harry, and a score of ghostly Harry's seemed to chorus I am! I am! I am! all around the room.
"Aaaaaah...did you love him, little baby Potter?"
Hatred rose in Amber such as since the day she had caught Lucius cheating on her with Narcissa. How dare Bellatrix mock Sirius when she had been the one to kill him in the first place. Bellatrix had killed her own cousin. It infuriated Amber to new extremes.
She flung herself out from behind the fountain and pointed her wand towards Bellatrix. "Crucio!"
Bellatrix screamed.
The spell had knocked her off her feet, but she did not writhe and shriek with pain as Neville had - she was already on her feet again, breathless, no longer laughing. Amber dodged behind the golden fountain again only to find Harry there with her
"Never used an Unforgivable Curse before, have you, Lupin?" Bellatrix yelled. She had abandoned her baby voice now. -"You need to mean them, Lupin! You need to really want to cause pain - to enjoy it — righteous anger won't hurt me for long - I'll show you how it is done, shall I? I'll give you a lesson -"
Harry had been edging around the fountain on the other side to where Amber was hiding.
Bellatrix screamed. "Crucio!" And he was forced to duck down again as the centaur's arm, holding its bow, spun off and landed with a crash on the floor.
"Potter, Lupin, you cannot win against me!" Bellatrix cried. Amber could hear her moving to the right, trying to get a clear shot of them.
Harry backed around the statue away from her, crouching behind the centaur's legs, his head level with the house-elf's.
"I was and am the Dark Lord's most loyal servant, I learned the Dark Arts from him, and I know spells of such power that you, pathetic little children, can never hope to compete -"
"Stupefy!" Yelled Amber. She had edged right around to where the goblin stood beaming up at the now headless wizard and taken aim at Bellatrix's back as she peered around the fountain for Harry.
Bellatrix reacted so fast Amber barely had time to duck. "Protego!"
The jet of red light, her own Stunning Spell, bounced back at them. They scrambled back behind the fountain, and one of the goblin's ears went flying across the room.
"Potter, I am going to give you one chance!" Shouted Bellatrix. "Give me the prophecy - roll it out toward me now - and I may spare your life! I can't make any promises about Lupin, she's the Dark Lord's!"
Well, you're going to have to kill me, because it's gone!" Harry roared, much to Amber's surprise. "And he knows!" Said Harry with a mad laugh to match Bellatrix's own. "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?" Bellatrix cried, and for the first time there was fear in her voice.
"The prophecy smashed when I was trying to get Neville up the steps! What do you think Voldemort'll say about that, then?" Harry mocked Bellatrix, as he nodded quickly at Amber as if to say attack now.
"LIAR!" Bellatrix shrieked, but Amber could hear the terror behind the anger now. "YOU'VE GOT IT, POTTER, AND YOU WILL GIVE IT TO ME - Accio Prophecy! ACCIO PROPHECY!"
Harry laughed again. He waved his empty hand from behind the one-eared goblin and withdrew it quickly as she sent another jet of green light flying at him. "Nothing there!" He shouted. "Nothing to summon! It smashed and nobody heard what it said, tell your boss that -"
"No!" Bellatrix screamed. "It isn't true, you're lying -"
Amber smirked as she pointed her wand towards Bellatrix, who was currently frozen in shock. "Confringo!" The floor around Bellatrix was currently immersed in flames, but Amber knew that they wouldn't keep the witch down for long. She grabbed Harry's arm and started to pull him towards the exit.
"What are you doing?" Harry yelled at her.
"Getting you to safety." Amber shot back, still tugging on his arm, desperate to get him to safety.
Huffing, Harry said. "She needs to pay, Sirius needs to be avenged."
"Harry." Amber murmured carefully. "We need to go, Sirius wouldn't want you to die avenging him."
"Really? How would you know?" Harry yelled, his words full of the same sass James's used to be full of.
"Right! How would I know?" Amber yelled sarcastically. "It's not like I went to school with him! It's not like I grew up with him! It's not like he was my best friend since we met at the age of eleven! It's not like I was the one that helped him escape from Grimmauld Place each summer before his family finally disowned him! It's not like I was the one that was there for him each time he was crying because Regulus, the brother he loved so much, was turning in their parents! Oh wait, that was me!"
"I-" Harry started.
"That's right Potter, but we need to go. NOW!" Amber turned her head to the right, to see how much time they had left before they were dead. Not long at all. Bellatrix was free and she had her wand point at Harry.
"Avada Kedavra!" Bellatrix yelled and a green jet of light shot from her wand, heading straight towards Harry.
"No!" Amber cried, pushing him aside and getting hit with the killing curse herself...
Her vision turned black as she fell towards the floor. This was it, this was her death. She had always imagined being older when she died, but this was war. As her body hit the floor, Amber felt herself, her spirit, leave her body as she entered the afterlife.
She saw a familiar hand being held out for her. She smiled gratefully and took it as they lead her to heaven where all her friends would be waiting for her. She saw Sirius waiting for her, she saw James and Lily waiting for her, she saw Mary waiting for her, she saw Fabian and Gideon waiting for her.
She smiled once again. "Hi..."