/

Chapter eighteen

Point of no return

/

"What did they do to him?" Harry whispered in horror.

"I don´t think we want to know…" Angela reacted almost inaudibly.

She casted a simple diagnostic spell, while keeping her wand close to Lupin´s chest. Still uncertain, since it was not exactly her magical specialization, she also checked the unconscious man´s pulse, and opened his eyelids to see the reaction of his pupils.

"How is he?" Harry asked hoarsely.

"He´s alive, but exhausted. I can't tell what exactly he had been through," his girlfriend answered quietly, and began searching for something in the small bag she had over her shoulder. Then she pulled out a small vial filled with bright orange liquid. Harry eyed it suspiciously. He did not like that colour. "He's going to be sick after this, but we need him to be conscious," Angela reacted to his look. "After this he'll definitely wake up and it will also take the pain away. Help me, Harry."

Joining forces, they opened Lupin's mouth and forced almost the entire bottle into him. Nothing happened for what seemed to be an eternity.

"You'd better hurry!" Bill's voice called from the corridor.

At that moment, Lupin began to cough and opened his eyes slowly.

"Remus!" Harry exclaimed with immense relief.

The werewolf looked at him in disbelief: "Harry… What the hell are you doing here?" he muttered hoarsely.

"Don't worry, we'll get you out of here," Harry encouraged him.

"It seems you'll have to support him on the way," Angela said, eyeing their former professor worriedly. "It's worse than I thought..."

Harry rather pretended not hearing her last comment. Angela got up and went for Bill to urge him inside. The two young wizards then supported Lupin under his shoulders and pulled him up to his feet.

"How did you find me here?" Remus asked, staggering heavily.

"There´ll be enough time for explanations later," Bill assured him.

"Keep a close eye on him," Angela warned them. "That potion may have various side effects."

"What side effects?" Harry asked with a frown as they already led Lupin out of his dungeon.

"That's individual! We´ve got no time for this, Harry!" she snapped nervously. "We need to get out!"

Harry did not deserve it. Under normal circumstances, she would not have lashed out at him like that, but she was afraid. She could not take back what she had just done. She chose one path and closed the door to the other. And she feared how those who remained behind them on the other side would react on this… Nevertheless, getting everyone out mattered the most now, if possible in one piece.

She walked briskly in the lead, Harry and Bill with Lupin between them moving as fast as they could behind her. They turned the corner of the corridor. The door behind which was the staircase to the top was still quite far from them, when it suddenly flew open and five Death Eaters rushed into the corridor. They stopped in mid-stride. The masked wizards stared at their limp colleagues for a moment.

"Damn it," Bill muttered.

"Back! Quickly!" Angela shouted as the Death Eaters noticed them and raised their wands.

"But we're going to be trapped!" Harry retorted, as they were already stumbling back down the hall as Angela covered them.

They almost skidded back into the cross passage just as one of the torches exploded overhead. Angela urged them forward. "To the very end! I think there's a secret exit!" she explained hastily.

Behind them came a stampede of feet and confused shouts.

"That was Rosier!"

"Did she go crazy or what?"

"Forget it now! Potter and the bloody werewolf are with her!"

With that last sentence, the Death Eaters appeared around the bend in the corridor just as Harry and Bill stopped at the end of it.

"Alahomora!" Angela blurted breathlessly, pointing her wand at the hard wall in front of her.

"Expelliarmus!" both Bill and Harry sent disarming curses at the attacking Death Eaters in the same moment.

However, there were too many opponents. One of the curses hit Angela, threw with her against the wall by a door that suddenly appeared, and her wand fell out of her hand.

Harry forcefully stopped himself from freaking out and pressed on to fend off the Death Eaters, even though he had to support Lupin with one hand just like Bill. Angela did hit her head, but fortunately, not too hard, so she managed to brush it off and still on her knees reached for her wand.

However, in the meantime, two red beams hit Bill and he fell to the ground. Harry was now holding Lupin up by himself and already saw himself on the floor as Angela finally raised her wand behind him.

Just as all the Death Eaters sent curses at them, she created a shining protective shield in front of them that looked remarkably similar to the one from the Leaky Cauldron. The charms flew away with a clang and Angela jumped to her feet.

"Up, quickly!" she yelled at Harry, who had just now noticed that the door was already open, revealing a steep staircase. "Go ahead!" she urged them impatiently as she kept her shield against the oncoming Death Eaters and leaned down to Bill.

After giving them a worried glance, Harry dragged Lupin to the door as fast as he could and started climbing their way up. Angela awoke Bill, handed him his wand, and helped him up. He nodded that he was fine and rushed after Harry. She shuddered as the two Death Eaters crashed into her shield and backed into the door.

"You won´t make it!" one of them yelled at her. She recognized Lucius Malfoy by the voice.

"You're going to regret this bloodily, stupid girl!" Angela heard Bellatrix Lestrange´s shriek before lowering her shield and closing the door.

"COLLOPORTUS!" she yelled just a second before the hollow impacts on the wood from the other side.

Then she turned around stumbling as her head began to spin and laboriously made her way up the stairs behind Harry and Bill who were supporting Lupin as best they only could.

"Run all the way up!" she called. "Ignore the other doors!"

"Okay!" Harry answered her from somewhere above. "But hurry after us!"

"Easy to say for you," Angela muttered to herself, concentrating on every step. After all, she probably hit her head a little harder than she originally thought. Behind her, there were coming regular bangs on the door and the wood on them was starting to crack…

/

Draco appeared at the Apparition area outside the Dark Castle rather louder than usually. He was quite close to freaking out. He and Claire Nott had been waiting for Angela for a quarter of an hour, then gave up. They figured she might already be in the Castle, because Claire did not find her in the bedroom. However, Draco had a bad feeling; he was nervous and angry.

Claire appeared beside him and they both made their way to the gate. But then they stopped on the spot when they realized they weren't being checked by a patrol. Already grumpy enough, the young Malfoy headed toward a figure standing by the wall with a lit wand.

"Are you napping here or something?!" he barked and then his eyes widened.

The Death Eater's eyes were closed and he looked like a statue. He did not even respond to his voice.

"Draco, what's that supposed to mean?" Claire called from the other Death Eater.

"I don't know, but it won't be anything good," Draco growled, pointing his wand at Claire's father.

"Enervate," he muttered and the Death Eater opened his eye, but still, it seemed he could not move.

"What's going on?" Draco asked again, but Nott just rolled his eyes. Then he realized what was wrong and he released the immobilizing charm that was casted on the wizard. The Death Eater's face immediately contorted in fury.

"You! Are you out of your mind or what?"

"What are you talking about?" Draco scowled.

Meanwhile, Claire was getting Goyle to his senses.

"Whom did you bring here? Why did you stun us?" screamed Nott.

"Who damn it?" Draco still did not understand.

"You and young Rosier!"

Draco paled more than usual, but otherwise kept his composure.

"I just arrived with Claire!" he protested loudly.

"It's true, Dad," confirmed the blonde witch.

"But that…" the Death Eater shook his head.

Just then, a scream was heard from the Castle. Everyone flinched and looked at the dark outline where the lights were gradually coming on from below.

"Something's up," Claire decided.

Draco gulped down some snide remark.

"We should find out what it is. Let's go!" her father ordered and they ran across the courtyard to the other gate.

/

Sweaty and out of breath, Harry looked up when he suddenly registered a wall in front of him. The stairs finally ended. To his left, there was a small door. Lupin mumbled something, making Bill observe him concerned. Harry looked back to see Angela scrambling after them, her face red and contorted in effort. A narrow trickle of blood dripped along her temple from the spot where her hair started.

"Are you all right, Angie?" he asked worried.

"I´ll… manage… Check if… the corridor behind those… is clear," Angela blurted out between sharp inhales.

"I'll take a look," Bill Weasley decided briskly, and slipped around Harry with his wand drawn. "Alahomora," he mumbled softly and the door creaked open. Bill walked out and Angela took the last two steps up to look at Lupin.

"He did go up the stairs, when I asked him, but I'm worried about him," Harry whispered. "He looks drugged up," he added gloomily.

"He is, actually," Angela agreed and Harry's eyes widened. "Look, I had to drug him so he wouldn't feel the pain," she defended the strong potion. "We wouldn't be able to move with him otherwise."

Bill appeared in the doorway so suddenly that they both flinched.

"There's a corridor with a lots of doors," he announced as quietly as possible, but with a scowl. "It seems too peaceful here."

"Good. I'll go first again," Angela said, taking a few deep breaths to calm her pounding heart a little. She walked out into the dimly lit corridor and Bill, who had re-joined Harry in supporting Lupin, followed her.

Angela went down the corridor to the right, and at this moment, she was quite grateful that Death Eater training included a perfect knowledge of the entire Castle. She just hoped they would get to where she wanted before the Death Eaters. She passed a set of different doors until she reached a large oak one and pressed her ear to it. It seemed to be quiet there. These should be possible to get open normally if she remembered correctly, but the other ones…

Her thoughts were interrupted by muffled voices from somewhere at the other end of the corridor. Without thinking, she opened the door and flashed her gaze around the great hall with the help of her fully lit wand. It was a dark green plastered, cold room with old gloomy paintings and a few black armchairs. Some old furniture was piling up in the corners. She did not see anyone, so she was already urging Harry to go inside. He and Bill also lit their wands and saw three doors on the opposite side of the room.

Unfortunately, just as Angela was closing the wing of the door they had entered through, she heard the sound of some other opening and knew it was too late.

"Over there!" shouted someone who saw a gap between the doors of the hall.

Angela locked and turned to Harry.

"It´s the one in the middle!" she shouted as the doors to the left and right of the ones Angela had designated flew open and a good dozen of Death Eaters trotted into the room.

"Stupefy!" about half of them blurted out, but their curses bounced off the shield that Angela and Harry had created at the last second.

The Death Eaters lowered their wands when they heard a bang on the door behind them as did Harry and the others. Mischievous smiles appeared on their faces. One of them swung his wand and all the old torches in the hall lit up.

"Haven't you had enough of the game of chase?" spoke Lucius Malfoy coldly.

Angela motioned for Harry to maintain the shield and reinforced the door behind them as quickly and as best she could. Harry, meanwhile, was staring intently at the two Death Eaters standing in the front of the group, using all his willpower to control the rage that was rising within him.

"That won't help you!" Bellatrix Lestrange giggled as she saw what Angela was trying to do. "You're in a nice trap, our little mice!"

"Bill, move Lupin behind that chair," Angela whispered, nodding her head to a place that was under the protection of their shield and out of sight of the Death Eaters, before standing next to Harry.

Lucius threw his hood off and glared at her. "Our dear Angela probably forgot how our Lord treats the traitors," he snapped icily.

"You've messed this up, little girl," added Bellatrix, also revealing her face. "Your mummy won't be happy with you."

Angela remained stubbornly silent.

"And Mr Potter," Malfoy looked at Harry. "We have not seen each other for a long time. How is your aunt doing?"

Harry froze but said nothing.

"You don´t know how to talk?" snapped Lestrange.

Harry's eyes darkened with rage. These two… these two… almost killed his entire family off! Bill stood behind them, half facing the Death Eaters, half facing the shaking door.

The Death Eaters present could have helped their colleagues open the door right away, but that would have forced them to break through the shield Harry was creating in front of them. That would have been a wasted effort since all they had to do was to wait for other Death Eaters to distract them.

"Perhaps your mother is behind that door," Bellatrix continued sarcastically. "And she still doesn't know who´s betrayed us all. Don't you think it's cruel to hurt her like that, darling?"

Angela just pressed her lips, but Harry noticed that her hand holding the wand was shaking. From this, he knew that his girlfriend was just barely keeping her nerves in check and was probably no longer able to come up with anything. Lupin, who was squinting around from behind the chair as a night owl awakened at noon, was not capable of anything either, so his only certain option was Bill. But what chance did they have against such odds? Especially, when he had to deal with himself. All this time, he kept resisting the urge to lunge at Lestrange or Malfoy and jab his wand into their mocking eyes until they screamed in pain.

Angela was starting to feel helpless. It did not seem they would get out of there in the end. She brought them all to misery – Harry, Bill, and with them also herself.

As a desperate thought flashed through Harry's mind, the double doors behind them slammed open. Bill and Angela turned to the newly arrived Death Eaters, knowing that now it was question of who was faster.

"EXPELLIARMUS!" a panoply of voices exclaimed, the spells clashing in the air with a crash and flying to all sides of the room. Pieces of plaster flew from the wall and ceiling along with a lot of dust, which for a moment misted the entire room.

Harry immediately took advantage of this. Releasing his protective shield almost against his will and lunging to the side, he threw his Cloak, which he pulled out of his pocket at almost light speed, over Lupin.

"Impedimenta!" several Death Eaters snapped as they noticed the missing shield. Angela and Bill turned around too late from defending the door and the spells threw them each to one side of the room. Bill rolled among the old chairs and tables somewhere in the corner, which fell on top of him with a crash. Angela, hit by two spells, slammed into the wall again and fell so miserably that she sprained her right ankle. At the same time, the wand fell out of her hand and quickly rolled away somewhere.

Harry managed to get Nott out of the way and immobilize a Death Eater on the other side. But as he turned to face another slender person coming down the hall, who didn't have a Death Eater mask and only a hood was covering his face, Lucius Malfoy lazily sent a disarming charm and his wand flew smoothly into his palm.

The four hooded figures rushed into the corner, after a while they fished out shaken Bill Weasley from under the pieces of chairs and after a little struggle, they also took his wand from him.

Harry threw himself behind the nearest sturdy armchair as Bellatrix sent a deadly beam of green light at him, shattering his flimsy defence to pieces.

"No!" Malfoy yelled angrily. "No killing!"

Bellatrix grimaced in displeasure. Angela was sitting on the floor by the wall breathing heavily, and she just managed to catch a glimpse of someone's hand grabbing her wand, which was lying under the chair nearby. Lucius Malfoy and two of the incoming Death Eaters held her at bay.

The young wizard without the mask threw the hood off his head and looked around in disbelief.

"Just in time, Draco!" his father called mischievously. "You will certainly be happy to see your fiancée! Who will be an ex-one as soon as possible, of course," he added with a smirk.

Without saying a word, Draco glanced at Angela, who was staring intently at the floor, carefully holding her ankle. Three Death Eaters were holding Bill firmly, and four more approached Harry, who had slowly stood up in the meantime, with their wands raised.

Everyone forgot about Lupin for that moment.

"Unfortunately, your mummy hasn't arrived yet, that's a shame," Bellatrix drawled regretfully as she scanned the faces of the incomers. "I'd really love to see the look on her face if she saw this with her own eyes."

Leaning against the wall, Angela staggered to her feet and hissed in pain as she shifted her weight onto her injured leg. She raised her head proudly. Lucius Malfoy stepped up to within a meter of her and pointed his wand directly in her face. She registered another pale face behind his shoulder, but she would not look at Draco at any cost. She did not have the courage to.

"And I wanted to adopt you into my family as my own daughter," Lucius stated coldly.

"I'd rather marry a Squib than be related to you!" Angela hissed, unable to contain herself any longer.

Lucius' expression literally froze. Lowering his wand, he walked up to her and slapped her so hard that she fell to the ground again. Harry winced and Bellatrix giggled in satisfaction. Draco watched the scene with an expressionless look.

"You will talk only politely about the Malfoy family, girl," Malfoy Sr. snapped, raising his wand toward lying Angela.

"You dare not touch her again, bastard!" Harry's angry voice came out unexpectedly. He was quite fed up already. They did not have a rosy outlook for the immediate future, and he was starting to seriously doubt they would get out of there somehow, but he could not bear that slimy man hurt Angela.

Lucius Malfoy was so shocked that he stopped mid-movement with his wand and turned his head at the voice. Bellatrix also looked at Harry surprised. He glared at them, completely oblivious to the six wands aimed at him. They stared at him in silence for a moment, and then Lucius realized what his words could mean.

"Potter, are you telling me that you care about this little whore?" Malfoy asked in disbelief.

Harry saw Angela shake her head slightly on the ground, gesturing him to keep silent, but he did not care. Bellatrix was looking from Harry to Angela and back again, when she suddenly figured it out.

"You've got to be kidding! You and… and… and him!" Bellatrix began to stutter in a fit of laughter. "That's incredible!" she screamed madly. "They're so into each other, hah, I can't take it!"

She really looked like she was about to collapse laughing. Harry was shaking with rage, Angela was staring at Bella with a strange expression, and the anger of Draco's father was just growing. Bill stopped resisting his captors and began to watch the conversation a bit stunned.

"What nonsense are you blabbering about, Bellatrix?" Malfoy Sr. snapped at the still grinning Death Eater.

"Just… just look at them!" Bella blurted out between two sharp breaths.

Lucius realized that she was probably right, but he certainly was not amused as Bellatrix was. "That can't be true," he gasped in disbelief.

"But, Lucius, don't take it so personally," Bellatrix comforted him, still holding back the laughter in her throat. "It's normal for two young people to..."

"Shut up, you goose!" Malfoy Sr. snapped at Lestrange. "This is… this is an insult!" he glared at Angela. "I wanted to give you my son and you've been seeing this mangy half-Muggle dog the whole time?"

"Yes!" Angela confirmed fiercely, even though at first, she did not really want to say anything at all. It just flew out of her. "And don't you dare insult him with you obsessive pure-blood attitude, you selfish and incompetent…!"

"I wouldn't advise you to finish that sentence, Angela," Draco cut her off harshly, speaking up for the first time.

His father turned to him slowly. Only then, Angela also looked at her classmate and friend and remained speechless. She could not tell from the tone of Draco´s voice what he was feeling. His expression was stiff and unreachable. Yet, in that moment, she fully realized the impact of what she had done, and it did not exactly make her feel better. In other words, she felt like throwing up again. She was sick of herself…

Harry noticed some movement behind the chair where they had left Lupin. For an incredibly brief moment, he caught Remus' gaze as he raised the Cloak of Invisibility and his anger suddenly vanished.

"Draco, I'm terribly sorry about whom I forced you to betroth," Lucius stated in a noticeably calmer voice. "As soon as possible, you…"

Angela did not hear his next words because Harry's voice shouted inside her head.

Stay grounded!

She did not think about it at all and pressed her whole body to the ground just as Harry fell to the floor as well. Almost at the same time, the flash of silver light shot through the room, there was a thud like a gunshot and the floor shook slightly below them.

Angela raised her head uncertainly. All the furniture was in pieces, dust was falling from the ceiling and in the middle of the Death Eaters lying scattered on the ground, Lupin appeared, standing rather stiffly, as he threw off the precious Cloak.

"Dumbledore taught me this," he smiled faintly. "I knew it would come in handy."

Harry jumped off the ground, yanked his wand out of Lucius´ pocket and rushed to Bill, who was unfortunately also unconscious like all Death Eaters. He had no way to warn him in advance.

Lupin stuffed the Cloak into his tattered robes.

"Hurry up. I'm not as powerful as Dumbledore. They'll wake up in a moment," he stated warningly.

Angela stood up carefully, minding her injured ankle. She looked up the motionless body with fair blonde hair with her eyes, feeling hard lump in her throat.

Remus approached her with wand in hand. "That potion of yours finally started to work, Angela," he said, handing it back to her.

She eyed him warily: "When its effect passes over, you'll feel awful, believe me," she muttered gloomily.

"What the hell was that?" they heard someone's voice and footsteps coming from the corridor. "It went from there!"

The Death Eaters in the room were beginning to fidget.

Bill and Lupin did not wait any longer and rushed to the middle door without a word. Harry followed them, supporting Angela, who was limping heavily. Bill opened the door without difficulty and they entered a short but disproportionately wide corridor lit by several torches, on the other side of which was a massive grate through which they could see another narrower corridor that ended with a red glowing door.

They only took a few steps and stopped in shock. They recognized from what the light of torches was casting strange shadows everywhere. On both sides of the corridor, sharp spikes about thirty centimetres long were sticking out of the walls.

"That doesn't look good," Harry commented.

Angela was surprised by the spikes as well: "Those shouldn't be here..."

"What?" Remus turned to her.

The young witch sighed: "Damn… Don't bother with it. Let's go!"

"Are you sure?" Bill asked.

"No," Angela denied it immediately. "But it's better than going back."

So, they hastily made their way down the corridor. They were barely halfway to the door when a suspicious screeching sound was heard and spiked walls began to move toward them.

"Fuck…" Bill Weasley commented, literally sprinting towards the bars.

New reinforcements ran into the room where the stunned Death Eaters were struggling to rise from the ground and spotted the refugees.

"Follow them!" someone barked.

"Harry, the door," Angela breathed out heavily, because the pace they were going through was definitely not doing her any good. She let go of him, Harry turned sharply and closed the door behind them at the last moment against some suspicious curse.

Bill tried a few spells on the grate in front of them, but it still did not open it. Angela could not bear his attempts anymore. The spikes were moving slowly, but surely. She limped over to them.

"Get out of the way," she snapped, waiting for Bill and Lupin to step back hastily. Then she took a deep breath: "BOMBARDA!" she shouted with all her might and the whole grate tore out from the wall, flew to the side and crashed into the glistening spikes.

"Quite a dangerous way to open it," Bill noted with raised brows. "You´ve got some new lesson plans at Hogwarts, right?"

"It worked, didn´t it?" Angela hissed and anxiously turned to the door beyond which the attempts for getting through them could be heard.

"They are persistent," Harry growled.

"Just go," she urged them impatiently, keeping her eyes on the door. "Behind that red door is the Apparition room," she informed them as Bill and Lupin walked through the opening into the next corridor. Harry was still standing by her side. "Only Voldemort is using it. You unlock it with…"

Her words were interrupted by a sharp click and the door flew open.

"Stupefy!" Harry and Angela blurted out at the same time and the first Death Eater collapsed next to the door.

"Colloportus Esto!" Angela barked quickly and the door closed again, but one more Death Eater ran through them in the meantime. Lupin and Bill wanted to go back to help them, but Angela screamed at them: "No! Run!"

Meanwhile, Harry deflected the Death Eater's stunning curses aside.

"Get out!" she shouted once more, turning to face their opponent. She conjured up one of her effective shields again and looked at Harry. The spikes were already less than two meters away from them. "You have to say Alahomora backwards, too."

"What?" Harry did not understand.

"Alahomora aromohala. Use this spell to unlock that door. Now go!"

"Forget it! I'm not leaving you here!" Harry protested.

The shield rattled under another curse. Realizing that curses would not penetrate the shield, the Death Eater turned to the door behind which their colleagues were cursing, but they were unable to unlock it. Bill and Lupin were slowly heading towards the red door, since Remus was starting to feel sick again and Bill had to support him.

"But you will! You must help Bill with Lupin, that potion cannot do miracles. I can handle it, Harry. Get out!" Angela stated firmly.

"But…" he began again.

"You promised! Go!" she cried imploringly. "I will follow you!"

Harry gave up and said nothing more. He just gave her one last look and ran after Lupin and Bill. He saw that Angela was right; Remus was almost falling to the ground.

Angela made her shield disappear. At that moment, the Death Eater turned to her from the door as if she sensed it and cast a disarming spell.

"Impedimenta!" Angela blurted out as she dodged it hastily, feeling sharp pain in her leg again.

Her attacking spell affected the hooded figure perhaps even more than she had intended. The Death Eater´s body flew to the side and stopped only thanks to four ugly spikes. They impaled their body with a sickening sound and the wand fell from their hand.

Angela flinched in fright when she heard a painful moan. She did not want to kill anyone... And that female voice... It reminded her of someone.

To her surprise, the walls stopped moving toward each other. The ends of their spikes were now barely two meters apart. The pounding on the door continued. Harry had already unlocked the red one and helped Bill and Lupin inside the Apparition room.

"Bill! Can you handle it yourself?"

Weasley nodded and tossed nearly unconscious Lupin onto his back. They were gone in a split second.

Harry turned and peered through the open door to where he had left Angela. She stood like a statue in the corridor with spikes, which fortunately were no longer moving.

"Angela!" he called to her, but as if she had not heard him, she limped off in the opposite direction, towards the shaking door. "Angela, come back!" he yelled in terror.

As she did not respond to his calls at all, he rushed back cursing between his teeth.

Meanwhile, Angela hastily secured the door with an additional protective shield, the best she could think of, and cautiously approached the moaning figure, which slowly raised her head. With a trembling hand, Angela pulled her hood and mask off, and froze in shock. She was looking at her mother's face.

There was a hurried tramp of feet behind her, but she did not hear it at all, just like the banging on the door.

"Mum…" Angela rasped through a tightened throat. "I… I didn't know…" she stared helplessly at the spikes sticking out of her mother's chest and stomach.

Mary Rosier breathed out shakily and looked at her daughter. To Angela´s bewilderment, it was a kind look for the first time ever since her mother´s return to England.

Harry stood behind his stiffened girlfriend and wanted to grab her and drag her away, even by force, but on the other hand, he did not feel like doing it at that moment at all.

"Angela, my daughter…" Mary sighed. "Don't blame yourself..."

"What?" Angela did not understand, helplessly fighting back the tears that welled up in her eyes with all her might.

"I … I knew," Mary wheezed heavily. "That this will happen..."

"But how—"

"You're not the only one… who has… certain dreams…" her mother interrupted with a fleeting smile. "I'm not as gifted as you, but…" Mary coughed hard. A trickle of blood began to flow from the corner of her mouth.

"Mum, don't strain yourself," Angela pleaded, shaking. "I'll try something, just wait a bit..."

"No, let me… talk. Listen," Mary countered with surprising urgency, reaching up and grabbing her daughter's arm by the elbow. "In my room… the picture… The scene from Salem… There's a letter, read it…"

"Okay, Mum, but…" Angela was desperate.

Mary shot a glance at the door. "Now… go. They must not… catch you. Just go…"

"No, I won't leave you here!" Angela shouted.

"I love you, my dear, even though…" Mary coughed again, her last words barely audible. "… sometimes it didn't look like it…"

Harry put a hand on Angela's shoulder and frowned at the door. With tears streaming down her cheeks, Angela reached out and gently stroked her mother's hair.

"Don´t leave me, Mum," she whispered. "Not you too…"

She did not get an answer. Mary Rosier Black breathed out for the last time, with her eyes locked on her only daughter.

"No… No! Not like this! After all, I need you! You know that!" Angela shouted and feebly struggled with Harry, who was already pulling her with all his strength down the corridor away from the lifeless body. "Mum! You cannot do this to me…!"

Abruptly and a little harshly, Harry turned her to face him.

"Angela, we must get out of here!" he snapped at her.

She finally looked into his eyes, stopped resisting him and managed to exhale. Harry gripped her hand firmly and ran back to the open red door, trying to take her ankle into account.

Already inside the Apparition room, Angela looked back once more. The door finally gave up and the Death Eaters poured into the hallway. Someone's female voice cried out in horror as they noticed her mother´s body on spikes.

"There they are!" Nott barked furiously.

Harry shook with Angela almost violently. She just nodded absently. They both apparated just a moment before several, this time deadly, curses flew through the place where they were standing.

"Damn it!" Lucius Malfoy yelled, not only out of rage, but also in fear of the Dark Lord´s reaction.

His son Draco stood not far behind, in a room full of destroyed furniture, with nothing but cold detachment in his eyes.