Reviewers:

Dragonfirechick: Yes, the Imperious curse is indeed evil. LOL

Architect04: (rolling over laughing) Oh...my...GOD! I never thought of that! EAT IT!!! (laughs hysterically)

WildWolf15: Thank you for the grammar comment. Yes, I agree that Haylie has become more MS. But, I promise you, I have everything under control. I made Haylie a werewolf for flaws, I assure you. I added her killing off her friend for both flaw and angst, however. I hope that doesn't make her a full-fledged Mary-Sue, right? Anyway, all of Haylie's past will be explained in later chapters, alright? Oh, one more thing...Harry isn't falling in love with her. I swear he isn't. Yes, there was some chemistry during the dance and afterwards, but Harry isn't falling head-over-heels in love. Just trust me on this, okay?

Secrets in the Shadows

Chapter 12: Rescue

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Haylie was locked up in the dungeon for three days; each was as torturous as the last, as Voldemort came to 'interrogate' her. The last day was the one when the Dark Lord ruined her life.

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"Natasha..." the cold, merciless voice said as he entered the room and stood in front of her. Haylie's aching head rose to meet his eyes. Although the Death Eaters brought her one meal everyday, she began to thin worst then ever, seeing that the full moon was approaching in two days.

As her dead-looking, empty eyes met Voldemort's, he smirked cruelly.

"How long are you going to wait until I die?" she said, her voice cracking.

"Oh, Miss Damon, you may not give me the information I need..." He took her chin in his white, spidery hand. "But you are much too valuable to get rid of...yet."

"What are you talking about?" she asked dryly, wrenching her chin from his cold grasp. "What else do you want?"

"The death of Harry Potter," Voldemort hissed. Haylie just stared, shocked.

"Why do you need me, then?" she said cautiously. "What, as bait or something?"

"Very close, my dear, very close," he said, slightly amused. "But, Americans know everything, am I right?"

Haylie didn't waste her energy to glare at him.

"Then why do you need me?" she asked.

"You, Miss Natasha, are the perfect weapon." Seeing Haylie's confused stare, he continued.

"In two days, the full moon appears, am I right?" Haylie said nothing. "Well, I'm arranging it so that Mr. Potter may see you in your true form..."

Like a blow to the face, Haylie realized what was going on.

"No...no, you can't," she begged. "No, please don't..."

"Oh, I will, Miss Damon, I will," he said triumphantly, backing away to leave.

"NO! I can't...not again! Not again!" she screamed after him, tears running down her face. "Please, you don't understand! I can't! NOT AGAIN!"

But Voldemort ignored her, only stopping to say a few words to one of the dementors guarding the door. The dementor nodded slowly, and the Dark Lord left.

Haylie's heart was pounding. Flashes of that horrible night seven years ago ran through her mind, as it did every time the dementors entered the room. But now this time it was more vivid, more sickening. Now she will have to relive it once again.

Seconds later, the door opened again. Two dementor swept silently across the room toward Haylie. The restraints holding her vanished, and she fell in a heap onto the floor. She felt the dementor's clammy hands hoist her onto her feet and drag her out of the prison room. She frantically looked around, wondering where they were taking her. They ascended a few stairs until they came to an open doorway that seemingly opened into a large room. The dementors pushed her forcefully through it, letting her land painfully on her knees. She heard an unfamiliar voice say "Cast the spell", and instantly saw the doorway flash white. The light subsided, but nothing seemed to be different about the door.

The same voice filled the room once again, saying, "Don't try to escape, Miss Damon. The doorway doesn't seem as open as it seems..." The person laughed, and then appeared to leave.

Haylie surveyed her new prison. It was huge, and had a vast, glass, dome ceiling. The sun shone brightly through the glass. But Haylie knew better...the moon wound be in full view. The person was right. There was no escape.

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Hogwarts

"Where could she be?" Harry said, angrily pacing in the common room. "It's been six days! They must have found something out by now!"

"Harry, get a hold of yourself!" Ron said. "I'm sure Dumbledore is doing the best he can..."

"OH YEAH? WELL MAYBE HE SHOULD TRY HARDER!" Harry yelled for the tenth time that week. Harry regained his composure, looking embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, guys. I'm just...How could this happen?" he asked to no one in particular. Then something hit him. He froze.

"'She knows too much...'" he mumbled. "That's it!"

"What's 'it'?" Hermione asked, startled. (A/N: Kudos to anyone who instantly remembered that!)

"Remember in the beginning of the year, when we were on the train?" he asked, looking excited.

"Er...no. But since it seems important...sure!" Ron said.

"Ron, remember I told you about that dream that I had with Voldemort saying 'She knows too much. She'll be a significant aid to find a way to kill Potter...'?"

"Now that I think about it...no. Still not ringing a bell," Ron said.

"'She knows too much'..." Hermione said thoughtfully. "What might she be talking about?"

"I think I know," Harry said a little cautiously. "But you don't need to know. It's better that you don't know."

"Harry..."

"No, Hermione," Harry said firmly. Just then, the common room door opened. The person that came through was Professor McGonagall.

"Mr. Potter..." she said. Harry stood up instantly. "You are to come with me."

Harry turned to Ron and Hermione with a mournful look in his eye.

"I'm going," he said. "Good-bye."

"Harry...you...you're coming back, right?" Hermione said, her voice wavering. But Harry said nothing more. He just turned and followed the Professor out the common room door without a backwards glance.

When the two reached Dumbledore's office, they heard multiple voices coming from inside. Professor McGonagall knocked on the door three times. The voices were silenced.

"Come in," Harry heard the Headmaster say. McGonagall opened the huge oak door. As the two entered, Harry recognized many of the faces of the people crowded in the room, which were about ten people from the Order, including Tonks, Mad-Eye, and Kingsley Shacklebolt. As Harry's eyes wandered over the crowd, he found that one face he was expecting to be there, Lupin's, wasn't. He then remembered that the full moon was coming out that night, so it was a little disappointing.

"Harry," Dumbledore said suddenly. "We know where Miss Damon is. We are going to order a rescue to be sent out tonight." Harry just nodded. "Mad-Eye, Tonks, and Mr. Diggle here have volunteered to escort you by broom to the place where your friend is being held. The rest will Apperate." Harry nodded again.

"Alright," Dumbledore said, almost cheerfully. "Since we have that cleared up..." He Dissapperated. Getting the message, the rest of the rescuers (except the three that were escorting Harry) Dissapperated also.

"Wotcher Harry," Tonks said, smiling. "Well, let's get to it. Dumbledore already brought your broom up here..." She pointed to four brooms in the corner that included Harry's prized Firebolt.

The four mounted the brooms (Diggle with some difficulty) and took off out of the open window.

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It was nightfall when the small group finally landed on an open field near an abandoned farmhouse. The rest of the group was waiting patiently a few hundred meters away.

"Now, keep quiet," Mad-Eye hissed. "Some of the Death Eaters might be waiting for us..."

"Chill out Mad-Eye," Tonks said in a low voice, rolling her eyes.

"Well...if you want to be killed, that's not my problem," Mad-Eye growled.

"Alastor, if you don't mind, we will begin the break-in," Dumbledore said. He turned to Harry.

"When we get inside, I want you and Miss Tonks to try to find Haylie," he said. "I trust you can handle it by yourselves."

"Yes sir," Harry muttered, though generally happy that the Headmaster finally trusted him.

The group silently crept toward the house. Dumbledore was first to open the door, his wand at ready.

As soon as the old, rotten door opened, the entire rescue group pointed their wands inside the farmhouse. When nothing happened, they all piled warily inside.

To Harry's surprise, the inside of the farmhouse didn't look like, well, the inside of a farmhouse! It had a huge stone room with two staircases leading downstairs in opposite directions. Dumbledore turned to the group, which was already waiting for his orders.

"We are going to split up," he said. "Harry, Tonks, Mad-Eye, Newton..."

Just then, a red jet of light shot over their heads. About twenty Death Eaters swarmed from the right staircase, wands pointed at the group, sending curses in every direction. The rescue group did the same, sending many of the Death Eaters on their backs, unconscious.

"Tonks!" Mad-Eye said, while sending a blue curse toward the group of Death Eaters. "Get Harry away from here!"

Tonks looked like she was about to protest, but rolled her eyes and took Harry's arm, dragging him down the left staircase, the one staircase that Death Eaters weren't coming out of.

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Author's Note: If you looked into the Mirror of Erised, what would you see?