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The Escapee

"Come out and face me!" yelled Voldemort. Harry glanced at Sarah across from him at the other side of the door. "Or she dies!" Harry peered around the wall and saw Voldemort holding Julie in front of himself for protection. He looked at his sister again. She was shaking her head and mouthing the words 'not yet.' She was also making some weird eye movements, but Harry dismissed them. He had to help Julie. He came out from behind the wall. He was facing Voldemort who grinned darkly. A figure moved to Harry's left; it was Avery and he was pulling his wand. Harry had no time to react. But Sarah grabbed his sleeve and yanked him behind the wall again as Avery's spell missed Harry by inches.

"Geez, Harry! I told you he was there!" she said. "That's what this means," and she moved her eyes again as she had done earlier. Harry shrugged. "Now, we'll wait for the right moment; then you'll take Avery and I'll save Julienne."

"Wait a moment, I'm suppose to save Julie," Harry defended. Sarah gave him a pitying look. "I'm the one that has to kill Voldemort; that's what the prophecy said..."

"You mean, you're going to let a prophecy dictate your life?" Harry didn't reply.

"It's just a stupid prediction; it hasn't happened yet so it can be changed."

"That's not how it works..."

"Well, that's how it's going to be. I'll distract Voldemort, and when you're done with Avery you can help Julie."

"No, you've never been up against Voldemort; I have," he insisted.

"Come out, Potter!" Voldemort yelled again. "Three..."

"All right, we'll switch!" Sarah said.

"Two..." Sarah jumped out and faced Avery as Harry came to Voldemort. Sarah and Avery immediately took on a duel. As much as Harry wished to help he stayed where he was. In the background Sarah was yelling, "Confuticus!" Avery blocked it with Expelliarmus, which threw her back into an adjoining room, and Harry could no longer hear their shouts.

"How foolish you are, Potter," Voldemort said quietly still holding Julie. "You just never learn. You can't defy me forever."

"Well, I'm doing pretty well," Harry replied. Voldemort grinned.

"I remember when I was sixteen; I began to understand what life was - a game. You see, there are those that follow and those that conquer. You've never wanted to mold the world. I want to make it... to rebuild it! A new world that I can control, and I will succeed! I assume by now your worthless sister is dead, just as you will be shortly. This will be a glorious day."

"She's not dead," Harry said. "Even she makes a better Slytherin than you did." Voldemort laughed.

"You think so? Then why is she with you, a muggle-loving Gryffindor?" Voldemort questioned. Harry rubbed the wand in his hand. "Drop your wand. Do it!" he yelled. Harry threw his wand into a corner.

"Well, now that you're here, I don't suppose we need this pathetic muggle." He raised his wand.

"NO!" shouted Harry. Voldemort threw her aside and pointed his wand at her; Harry was to far away to get to her in time, but he ran at them anyway.

"Avada Ked..."

"Fortifius!" someone yelled hoarsely from behind Harry. A brick wall surrounded itself around Voldemort. Harry looked behind him. There stood an exhausted and horribly bruised Sarah. She was breathing hard and looked about ready to faint. Harry took a step toward her. She put her hand up.

"No, I'm fine; see about her," Sarah said pointing at Julie. Sarah was bleeding severely on her right arm, her jacket was torn to shreds, and she had cuts and bruises everywhere. She was, overall, a mess. Harry hesitated before complying. He ran over to Julie who was getting to her feet; she appeared very confused with watering eyes.

"Harry, I don't know what's going on, I..."

"I know, it's okay. It'll be all right," he said putting his arm around her shoulder.

"But who was that, and..."

"Shhhh, relax," he said assuringly.

"No, don't," said Sarah standing upright again. "Don't relax. That wall's only temporary." They could already hear Voldemort's attempts at freeing himself from inside the wall. Despite how torn up she was, Sarah held herself higher than she had before. Julie gasped as Sarah drew herself nearer.

"What happened to you?" Julie asked. Sarah looked to Harry confused.

"I was dueling…" Sarah stopped short. "She doesn't know... about you?" Sarah asked. Harry shook his head knowing that Sarah meant his past and the wizarding world.

"What?" Julie asked watching Harry.

"No time. We have to move now," and Sarah headed down a dark corridor. Harry picked up his wand and he and Julie followed Sarah. "If the others made it, they should be here by now. We must find them." They made their way carefully through many hallways and rooms until at last they heard Dumbledore's voice coming from the room beyond. Upon entering, Dumbledore and the others pointed their wands at them before realizing who they were.

"We were wondering where you've been," said the tall thin wizard, who must have thought it unbelievable that Sarah hadn't died after falling out of the coach..

"I see you've found Miss Waters; good job," said Dumbledore. "We found someone too." Snape, bandaged and limping, stepped out from behind the others. Harry thought he'd never be happy to see Snape but this time he was. Sarah gasped and ran towards him. Snape was a little surprised when she threw herself into a hug, but he did not pull away.

"We found him tied down in a guarded room. We've bandaged him up, but he still needs a hospital," said Lupin. Snape looked down at his daughter.

"What happened?" he said darkly.

"It's nothing," she said looking down. Snape backed away to get a better look of her.

"Nothing? Who did this?" he asked firmly.

"It was Avery; I had to duel with him..." she began.

"You dueled with an adult wizard?" asked the thin man. She nodded.

"He'll pay," Snape said.

"Where is he?" asked Lupin.

"He was knocked out in one of the rooms on the west side of the building," she said.

"Harry, you and Julie go with them," Dumbledore pointed at Lupin, the thin man, Snape and Tonks. "Sarah, you'll come with me and Arthur and show us where Avery is." So they departed.

Sarah tried hard to remember the way she had come, but it was difficult with so many twisting corridors. But after many turns, they did find the room where Avery was still lying unconscious. Dumbledore knelt down beside him. She was fidgeting her fingers hoping Dumbledore had no way of knowing what she had done. He examined Avery for a moment before looking up at her. "You didn't say you'd used Avada Kedavra."

"I'm sorry," she blurted. "I don't know if my spell was powerful enough to kill him; I had to do something..." She was panicking as Dumbledore held up his hand to her.

"He is not dead but severely injured. No one can blame you for defending yourself." She sighed with relief. When she had "killed" Avery, she had been too scared to check if he was dead.

"That's impossible!" said Arthur. "She couldn't possibly perform that spell as well as she did. Few adults can." They didn't say anything to him but let his mouth hang open in awe.

Harry and the others were now wating outside the building for the others. Suddenly, someone yelled, "Crucio!" They all ducked and it missed them. Then, spells started coming from everywhere! It was like an ambush. They found cover behind a worn down garden fence. Occasionally, they would throw a spell out over the top of the fence, but the dueling eventually ceased. Now all they could do was wait. Some fifteen minutes must have past without a sound being heard or a spell being cast. It was all too quiet. Harry began to feel drops of water hit his face. He looked up; there were heavy rain clouds above. The rain never increased beyond a sprinkle, but it was enough to make the ground soggy. Then a door creaked to Harry's left. The door was just beyond the edge of the fence, and out came Sarah first. Harry didn't even have time to open is mouth when a Death Eater yelled, "Incurtis!" She twisted around and fell to the wet ground without a sound. Julie gasped suddenly.

"NOOO!" yelled Harry getting to his feet. Lupin grabbed the back of his shirt. "NO!" He was struggling hard yelling at Lupin to let him go. But even Snape pulled him back.

"They're using her as a trap; they hope one of us will go out to get her," Snape said.

"But she's not dead?" asked Julie hopefully.

"Not yet," Snape said painfully.

"What do you mean?" asked Harry impatiently. Snape didn't answer at first.

"The Incurtis Curse doesn't kill immediately," he said.

"How long does she have?" asked Julie slowly.

"Normally three hours, but in her present state... half that." Harry watched her rain soaked body lying out in the open.

"We've got to do something," said Harry.

"Unfortunately, if Dumbledore has a plan there's no way he can communicate it to us," said the thin man. And then Sarah moved her arm.

"Did you see that?" said Harry.

"I already said she's not dead yet," Snape repeated.

Thud. Harry and the others looked behind themselves. Five wands were pointed at their faces. The Death Eaters had lowered themselves from the roof. They began to push Harry and the others out into the open. Thankfully, Harry didn't see that Dumbledore or Arthur had been caught. Snape, Lupin, the thin man, and Tonks were forced to give up their wands. As Harry and the others were shoved down on their knees, he saw his sister was trying to stand. The Death Eaters suddenly stood straight up; Harry noticed that Voldemort was walking their way. But he stopped in front of Sarah who was standing with gritted teeth.

"You just won't give up," said Voldemort. "Never learned defeat, have you?"

"Never will," she muttered in a whisper. She was staring right into Voldemort's horrid eyes. She would not give in. Her breathing was rapid and choppy. The pain was incredible, but she forced herself to continue standing.

"You are very much like your brother, weak," he said.

"I bet you wouldn't be remotely strong enough to withstand the pain I feel," she said. Voldemort turned from her and faced Snape.

"Do you remember Lily, Snape?" Voldemort asked. Snape looked up threateningly. "You were the only man I knew who could mix those complex potions properly. She'd still be alive had you not left me!"

"LIAR!" yelled Snape. "You would have killed her anyway."

"But you'll never know will you. I warned you that if you ever left me I would kill her. I only fulfill my promises." Harry never thought Snape could hate anyone more than him, but the way Snape was looking at Voldemort was purely frightening. "If you remember, though," Voldemort continued thoughtfully, "I said I would kill your family. I, at the time, had no idea you had a daughter. And now she will die because of you."

"If you touch her, I swear I'll hunt you down and kill you, whatever it takes," said Snape.

"I hardly think so," he laughed. Sarah swung herself around with as much strength as possible and landed her fist into his cheek, mid-laugh. He backed up clutching his jaw.

"I'm going to have the last laugh," she said and Harry saw her reach into her robes; Voldemort was hunched over holding his jaw when Sarah leaned towards him and jabbed her wand up his stomach. She bent to her knees with fatigue still holding the wand. Everyone was too shocked to move. Voldemort's mouth was open as he clutched his middle. His blood was flowing slowly down her arm. She put her mouth close to his ear and whispered with a smile, "Game over." And with that she cried, "Incendio!" A horrific scream came from Voldemort's writhing body, but Sarah held her wand in place. The Death Eaters started moving suddenly. They reached her just as she yanked out her wand. Harry, seeing the Death Eaters distracted and running to Voldemort's aid, Harry pulled his wand out of a Death Eater's robe, and he mustered up all his concentration. He was dead serious. He aimed his wand at Voldemort and yelled, "Avada Kedavra!" The light from the spell was heading for the Dark Lord; Voldemort looked up to see a jet of green light coming for him.

"NOOOOOO…" but his scream was lost in the dark. Harry stood there, transfixed but angry. The light had disappeared; everyone was frozen, staring at him. He had missed. Voldemort had disapparated before the spell could hit him. Harry had let him slip through his fingers. He fell to his knees and hit the ground with his fists. His teeth were gritted, and his eyes had fire. Voldemort had gotten away... to kill more innocent people. And Harry missed... missed revenge on all his friends and family. At that moment, Harry made a vow to kill Voldemort whatever it took and at whatever cost. He would not let him get away the next time they encountered. With Voldemort gone, the Death Eaters were easier to bring down. Harry's side would win this battle. As Harry leaned forward, his hands clenched tight, he heard footsteps approaching. He looked up from the muddy ground. It was Julie.

"Harry, I'm so confused; none of this makes any sense!" she paused. "But I know what you did for me, you saved me," she said. Suddenly, all the anger melted away. He had saved a few lives for the time being.

"It was really Sarah," he said.

"And you. You distracted him long enough, didn't you? But I still don't really know who you are?" she said curiously. He laughed.

"The boy who lived," he said. She knew he couldn't give her an answer, yet.

"Thank you," and she drew him into a light kiss. He stood up holding her hand. As he turned to walk down the path, his sister was standing in the way watching him with a sneaky smile. He waited for a second to see her reaction. But all she did was smile... a truly happy smile. She looked awful, but she was still managing to stand. She walked to Harry and gave him a hug in which he lifted her for a half-swing.

"Sarah, meet Julienne Waters; Julie, this is my sister Sarah," Harry introduced. They shook hands with smiles.

"I thought you turned red when Dumbledore announced her missing," Sarah said to Harry. Harry again turned slightly red; he was thankful it was dark.

"And I thought you didn't have any family left," Julie said nicely suspicious.

"Well, I didn't even know she existed until this year; she's my long lost sister," he replied.

"Then I'm glad you found each other," she said.

"It may be more of a sin than a blessing, but I'll take it anytime," Sarah said laughing.

"What do you mean?" Julie asked.

"In our school, we're sorted into four houses depending on our attitude, you see. And he and I are in opposite houses so we're constantly at war," she said.

"But it balances out the houses," he said.

"But if you're both the best of each house than you can make the rules... like no war," Julie hinted. They looked at her.

"What makes you think we're the best?" he asked.

"Well, I'm not so slow as to realize that professionals..." she nodded to where Dumbledore, Snape, and the others stood, "asked you to help them, obviously." Harry and Sarah nodded with realization.

"I'm going to head home, because I know somebody is waiting for me," Sarah said.

"Who?" asked Harry.

"None of your business," she said with a smile.

"Oh, I think it is; you're my sister remember?" he replied following her.

"Half-sister," she corrected. She closed her eyes for a second, let out a deep breath, and she fell hard to the ground.