A/N: Thanks to Moon Lantern for reviewing the last chapter! Again, I can only apologise for the delay. However, I have good news and bad news for you all. The good news is that I have the next few chapters written. The bad news is that they need rewriting as they are absolutely terrible! Hopefully, this shouldn't take as long as writing a new chapter from scratch though!
As always, I love to hear your comments and please don't forget to cast your vote in the poll on my profile. I've only had one person voting so far! Thanks again for all your support! Enjoy! :)

There, a few metres in front of them, stood the grinning Bellatrix Lestrange, her wild curls emphasising the madness in her eyes as she eyed the two girls wickedly.

"A little bit lost, are we?" she asked, twirling her crooked wand as if debating which spell to use on them.

Ariella heard Lottie moan quietly.

"Now, I wonder how much you two are worth to our heroic Potter, hmm?"

Still, neither of the girls spoke, their wands shakily pointing at the Death Eater.

"Cat got your tongue?" Bellatrix continued to taunt, smirking as she took a step towards them.

It was at that point Ariella noticed something behind the dark witch, moving steadily closer. As it got nearer, the wand pointed at Bellatrix's back became clearer and clearer until –

"Stupefy!"

There was a bright flash of red before Bellatrix crumpled to the ground, unconscious. The two girls stared at her, mouths agape.

"Quick, it won't be long before she's up and running again. My spell probably wasn't particularly powerful. We need to move."

At the sound of the familiar voice, the two friends finally looked up, and when they did, it didn't take a second before Lottie ran squealing over to Archie, enveloping him in a tight hug.

"You saved us! You saved us. I thought we were dead for sure!"

"We're not quite out of the woods yet. Come on." He yanked Lottie's arm and started pulling her back down the aisle. Ariella followed after them, nervously stepping over the still form of Bellatrix. "We need to find the others. We're safer together."

That part didn't take long, for as soon as they reached the gap in the aisle, they collided head on with Harry, Hermione and Ron.

"Thank God you're alright!" Hermione exclaimed, squeezing her sister tight as the others joined them.

"We're not safe yet," Neville commented, pointing at the swirl of smoke heading straight for them. One of the group was a lot quicker than the rest.

"Reducto!"

There was a shot of white light as Ginny's spell hit the Death Eater and then a moment's silence. Then, a crash. And another. And another.

"Run!" Harry shouted as the crashes became more and more frequent, the prophecies slipping off the destroyed shelves and sounding like a melody not far off the sound of a cascading waterfall.

The group fled for the sliver of light at the end of the aisle, the sound of the falling prophecies coming ever closer. Ariella, having the smallest legs, was nearly being dragged as Hermione pulled her towards safety. And then they were there, through the door. Safe. Or so they thought.

The group screamed as they fell, the room they had escaped into having no floor. When they finally hit solid ground, there was nothing but the sound of heavy breaths as everyone tried to get their bearings, the realisation that they had made it finally dawning on them. Harry was the first to get up.

"The voices, can you hear what they're saying?" he said. Ariella looked up to see the boy wandering slowly towards a stone archway stood on its dais, a thin, wispy veil floating from it.

"There aren't any voices, Harry," Hermione said, sounding worried. "Let's get out of here."

Ariella was worried too, but not because of Harry. Instead, she was watching Archie, who was also staring at the veil, an expression on his face that looked as though he could hear these voices too.

"I hear them." Now Luna had joined Harry, both of them staring at the arch in wonder.

"I don't hear it, it's just an empty archway," Hermione entered the conversation once again. "Please Harry!"

At these words, Harry suddenly turned, wand out. For one crazy moment, Ariella thought he was going to hex her, but then he yelled:

"Get behind me!"

Ariella turned to see the horribly familiar twists of black smoke heading towards them and scrambled to her feet, yanked behind Harry by her sister. She didn't even get a chance to pull her wand out before they struck.

Someone screamed and another gasped as hands grappled at them. Ariella wasn't sure who had done what, but she had little time to think about it as she felt two hands take a hold of her arms and lift her from the group. She didn't even have the time to struggle as the world suddenly twisted and distorted in front of her eyes. Slamming them shut, she only opened them again when she felt the hard point of a wand under her chin, an arm wrapped tightly around her waist to stop her from moving.

She whimpered slightly as her captor shifted, tightening their grasp round the girl's middle. A few locks of dark curly hair fell across Ariella's face and she stiffened. No, not her. Please not her! She prayed silently. Of course, her prayers went unanswered.

"Hello again," a somewhat amused voice murmured into her ear. A female voice.

Ariella tried to ignore her, swallowing down the rising panic as she looked around the room. A small whimper came from beside her, but due to the position of the wand against her throat, she couldn't tell who it was. There was silence apart from the slight scuffle of someone scrambling up against a rock. Harry. He gazed around at them all, worry in his eyes as kept a tight grip on the misty orb in his hand. Then a voice spoke, loud and clear in the echoing hall they were in.

"Did you actually believe… or were you truly naïve enough to think that children stood a chance against us?" It was Lucius. His cane clicking on the rocks as he picked his way towards the bemused Harry.

Ariella heard Bellatrix snigger behind her, the wand loosening slightly against her throat. Despite this, the girl's unease didn't lessen at all.

"I'll make this simple for you, Potter," Lucius continued. "Give me the prophecy now… or watch your friends die."

There was silence as Harry looked around the room once more. Ariella felt Bellatrix shift restlessly behind her and flinched, half expecting her to fire a curse then and there.

"Don't give it to him, Harry!" she heard Neville yell, followed by a quick hiss that was clearly meant to shut him up.

The girl could see Harry deliberating, glancing at Lucius's outstretched hand and then back at the prophecy. She didn't know what she wanted him to do. Part of her, the moral part of her wanted Harry to take the prophecy and run, but another part of her didn't want to die. And that part was silently screaming and pleading at Harry to save them. However, as soon as the wizard reached out to place the glass ball into Lucius's grasp, that voice fell silent. He'd given in. He'd surrendered to the Death Eaters.

It was as Lucius lifted the prophecy up that the first flash of white appeared, temporarily stopping Ariella from seeing what was happening. However, when it faded, she felt a warmth spread through her chest. Hope. For, behind Lucius Malfoy stood Sirius, Harry's Godfather.

"Get away from my Godson," he all but growled as the blond man spun round in surprise. There was a thud as Sirius's hand shot out and connected harshly with Lucius's face, sending him sprawling on the ground.

However, Ariella didn't see what happened next as more beams of white filled the room. It was so bright that she could barely see, but she felt it as Bellatrix was pulled away from her, giving her the chance to run, to escape. She caught a slight glimpse at the face of Tonks before the white mist that had saved her shot away, landing a few feet further on, the witch ready, wand out. It was soon clear that nearly all the members of the Order of the Phoenix had arrived. However, that was when the chaos broke out.

As soon as the Death Eaters realised they were no longer fighting children, the spells started. Beams of red, green and blue shot across the room, exploding rocks apart as the spells fell inches from their moving targets. Screaming, Ariella ducked down behind one of these rocks as a red spell hit the other side, sending sharp splinters in all directions.

Peering out, she spotted Lottie one rock across from her, Tonks covering her briefly as a Death Eater found its way behind her. She looked terrified, her eyes wide as she cowered behind the rock. Ariella knew that she needed help. Now all she had to do was get across and dodge the flying spells.

That was when a particularly nasty spell hit. The rock Lottie was hiding behind splintered, shards of rock flying through the air. Ariella watched in horror as her friend was blown backwards, landing a few feet back on the floor, seemingly unconscious. The blood from her injuries was obvious, even amongst the chaos surrounding them. She had to act. And now.

Shooting a stunning spell in the direction of the approaching Death Eater, the young witch went to run for it when something stopped her, a slight hesitation that lost her her chance. The cold high-pitched cackling seemed to reverberate around her head as her brain fought to catch up with her surroundings. Only one person had that cackle. Bellatrix Lestrange.