It was pitch black inside the large room.

"Lumos," Kim murmured and lit her wand. Everyone copied her except for Serelina, who didn't have a wand.

"Let's go," Kim said, choosing the path that rose up to the top of the castle. They all lined up behind her and followed her higher and higher and higher and higher, still. Finally, they all reached the very top and came to a large stone wall. A Dead End.

"Oh, great, now what do we do?" Susan asked hopelessly and sat down on the stairs where she sat.

Lance, who was at the very back of the line, yelled, "Oi! What's going on up there?"

"We met a solid wall," Ginny replied glumly, also sitting on the stairs with her face in her hands.

"We'll be locked in here forever!" Neville said shakily, fearing the worst.

"No, of course we won't," Kim scoffed. "There's probably a way to make this wall move or something..."

She began pressing her body against the wall, but it didn't budge. She tried several more times in vain, but gave up after fifteen minutes and slouched down onto the stair, herself, burying her face into her knees, which she held close to her body.

"You tried at least. Maybe there's another way out," Orlando said hopefully.

"It's no use," Kim replied sadly. "Everything I do always goes wrong!" she shouting, banging a fist against the wall and hitting something pointy. The contact with her hand and the pointy object made the wall slide open a crack, revealing a tiny sliver of light.

"Hey! I see light!" Eric cried happily.

"Shhh," Kim hushed and began playing with the pointy object a bit more. The wall slid open a bit farther. "Okay, everyone file through, after I go check to see what's out there.

She slid through the opening and found herself on the very top level - the eleventh floor. It was completely deserted in the corridor that she had entered, but she could hear voices and the familiar high-pitched cackle of Voldemort in what seemed like only one room over.

"Stay where you are, I don't think it's safe," Kim whispered into the space in the wall. "I'll be right back. Close the door for a moment."

The wall slid back and she practically tiptoed down one corridor and into a room where she heard some voices. She peeked through and saw the Dark Lord, himself, watching seven members of the Order of the Phoenix battle with his Death Eaters. She saw Moody, Fleur Delacour, Mr. Weasley, Tonks, Emmeline Vance, a man she did not recognize, and Ginny's eldest brother, Bill. They were battling relentlessly against a group of ten Death Eaters. Moody spotted her with his magical eye and clubbed the Death Eater he was fighting long enough to give the simple message of 'UNAUTHORIZED PORTKEY!' without uttering so much as a sound.

She slipped away and ripped off a piece of her cloak. Only four people maximum could go on one Portkey like the ones she could make. She had made Portkeys on occasion before, but sometimes the users turned up in a place she'd been previously thinking about, or a couple hundred feet away from their intended destination. Anywhere would be better than here, though. She murmured "Portus" under her breath and hurried quickly over to the hidden passage, realizing that if the Ministry could track her, she'd be expelled for sure, or possibly worse...

Down it, she yelled through the crack, "Lance, Ethan, and Eric get up here quickly, and bring Natalie!"

The four she'd called for rushed forward as best they could in the cramped space.

"Grab onto this, it's a Portkey," she rushed. "It'll take you to Grimmauld Place. I want you three to leave Natalie in the woods nearby and stupefy her again, understand? Good. It should be leaving any second..."

With a whoosh, she suddenly felt them leave and hoped that they ended up where they should. She ripped off another piece of cloak and again whispered, "Portus." She turned wildly, "Fern, Susan, Serelina, Orlando, you four'll take this one. Everyone get out here now!"

The four rushed out first and had barely grabbed onto it before they were whisked away. The other six of her friends also filed out, their Disillusionment Charm had worn off.

"Portus. Come on Ron, Ginny, Neville, Luna!"

They waited several seconds before they were whisked off and Kim had ripped the last bit of cloak apart and revealed her robes, which had the sleeves torn off. This exposed the Dark Mark on her arm. She glanced that the last two people there: Harry and Hermione.

"Portus. Come on Harry, Hermione."

"I'm not leaving you here," Harry said as Hermione gripped the cloak. Before Kim could persuade Harry to grab it, Hermione disappeared.

"Oh, look what you've done now, Harry! I've got no more cloak left!"

"I'm coming with you."

"No, you're not! You can't get killed. It won't matter if I go in there, because I'm a Death Eater, you dolt!" She sighed, "You'll have to use my necklace."

She fumbled with the chain of a small necklace that she wore and began to persuade him to use it.

"You're taking it!" she said dangerously. "I can't leave. If I do, then they'll get suspicious. Go! Come on!"

"But, I-"

"No. I don't care! You need to leave! Portus."

"But, I needed to say-"

"Harry, you need to leave," she sighed rationally and running her hands through her hair. She shoved the necklace into his hands.

"Fine. But there's something I need to say."

"WHAT?" she cried exasperatedly.

His expression softened, "I wanted you to know that I think I lo-"

With a small whooshing noise, he was gone before he could finish his sentence. Kim shook her head, wondering what he'd been planning on saying. Perhaps he's lost something. It didn't matter.

She scurried into the room.

"Pettigrew!" Voldemort hissed at her. "Where have you been?" He was holding the torch in his hand and seemed to be enjoying the hate that rushed through his body. There had been no love... ever.

"Looking for the escaped captives," she said loudly, so Moody could hear her. "The last thing I saw, there were four left and they all disappeared very suddenly, holding a cloak."

Voldemort uttered swears, hexes, curses, and jinxes all in a jumble before his wand obeyed and spewed out a bad mixture of evil spells at one of his own Death Eaters. Moody's eyes rolled out of its socket and stopped near Kim's feet. She kicked it lightly back to its owner.

With a satisfied look, Emmeline Vance Disapparated, having heard Kim. The man Kim didn't recognize followed in suit before Fleur and Bill followed. Tonks followed and so did Mr. Weasley. Moody used his wand to bring the torch to him and shoved it roughly into his pocket, while his cloak caught flame and Disapparated.

"NOOOOO!" Voldemort yelled. He turned to Kim, "You shouldn't say things so loudly! Crucio!"

Kim endured the white-hot pain that she'd been through when she was younger. It stabbed at her like knives and seared through her body like a consuming flame. She screamed. She screamed so loudly, she was surprised that the castle didn't crumble down from the noise.

Then the curse stopped and she lay in a heap on the floor, too weak to do anything. She felt herself being slung over someone's shoulder roughly and carried away. Her head flopped around and she opened her eyes slowly. Her father was carrying her. But to where? she wondered. She also began to wonder why she hadn't gone insane from a long exposure to the curse. Her explanation was that she was partly used to it. Down another flight and halfway along another corridor, her father stopped and her head lolled around.

"I can take her from you now, Wormtail."

It was Karl. Kim felt her father hesitate, but then she felt herself being slung over Karl's shoulder and he walked on, bouncing her unnecessarily.

No, no, no! Dad! Come back! Don't leave me with him! She wanted to call after her father, but she was too weak. She felt like a nothing. She felt as though she'd been betrayed, but couldn't do a thing about it. No, she'd rather have died than have to deal with Karl after a quarter of an hour with the Cruciatus Curse.

"I know you're conscious, Kimberly," she said softly as he carried her down a flight of stairs.

Kim groaned in her pain, hoping that somehow, Karl's thick head would convince himself to leave her alone right now.

"Ah, yes, so you can hear me," he said silkily. "I know that little trick you played on me. Yes, yes, it was very clever... very clever of you. It won't work this time, though, oh, no, no, no... This time, you're already too tired to resist. I saw you cracking back there. You were almost ripe for the picking. Now, though..." he laughed softly, "now's the time, Kimberly. It'll be a long night, I can promise you that..." He began to laugh. Kim began to feel sick and almost puked all down his back just trying to Disapparate without any strength.

Karl stopped abruptly, then turned the knob of a door. Just before he entered the room, Kim caught sight of Nassandra shaking her head sadly and trying to stop her lip from bleeding.

Then the door closed behind her and Kim was shoved roughly onto something soft. A bed. She began to cower in fear, realizing what was at stake now.

Karl locked the door and threw the room into blackness. She was helpless; Karl was in control. His spindly fingers were cold against her sweating skin. His naked body pressing against hers caused her to writhe in mental agony…

0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0

She Disapparated back to school the next day as evening fell, limping up the path from Hogsmeade into the castle. She was met at the doors by none other than Professor Dumbledore, himself. He looked her up and down, taking in the bloody gash on her leg, her black eye that was swollen shut, bloody nose, and torn robes.

"I think," he said gravely, "it is time for you to go up to the Hospital Wing, Ms. Pettigrew."

He accompanied her up to the Hospital Wing and asked Madame Pomfrey not to ask questions, of which Kim was grateful. When the nurse got her first look at her, however, she gasped and rushed her over to a bed next to a very familiar-looking someone.

"I don't think it's very serious, Headmaster," the nurse said worriedly a little ways away, "it looks worse than it is. I'll just need some new robes for her, but I can fix that limp and that broken nose."

"I know, Poppy," Dumbledore replied. "She'll be better in a few hours. She needs sleep, but I'll expect her to return to her Dormitory whenever she feels she wants to."

"Yes, Headmaster," the nurse said as Dumbledore left. She bustled over to Kim and began cleaning her cuts with a stinging potion. Kim didn't flinch, as most would have. The nurse looked at her sadly, and flicked her wand at Kim's cuts. They mended instantly but Kim just lay there for awhile, not moving.

It was long after the nurse had moved away that the someone next to Kim spoke in a very familiar voice. He said, "What happened?"

Kim turned to the boy next to her and looked. It was Lance Vance.

"I didn't know you came to Hogwarts," Kim said dully.

"Yeah, I'm a fourth-year Hufflepuff," he replied. "So what did happen after we were whisked off?"

"Everyone left and Moody took the torch. It was a lot simpler than I would've expected." Kim didn't really want to divulge the reason that she'd come in all scratched and beat-up. Madame Pomfrey couldn't get rid of the bruises: she still had a rather dark black eye and thumb-print bruises everywhere.

"No, I mean, why're you all beat-up and bruised?" Lance wondered.

"I'm rather tired, Lance. I think I'm going to go to sleep, all right?" she said with a sigh. It was true, she'd spent the whole of the previous night trying to fend off Karl after he'd tossed her wand in the corner. They'd gotten into a meager fist fight, which was unfair, since Kim had been physically and emotionally unstable.

"I just want to know, Kim," Lance said quietly, looking at her in a serious way.

"It's a bit personal, Lance, I'm sorry," replied Kim with another long sigh at the painful memory when she'd given up warding off Karl and he'd finally gotten what he had wanted.

"Oh," Lance's expression darkened, "the Barkley twins told me about that."

Kim's expression didn't change, but she made a mental note to make Ethan and Eric suffer if they'd told anyone else.

"I was put under the Cruciatus Curse," Kim said vaguely, staring out the window.

"But-" Lance said, surprised, "Doesn't You-Know-Who think you're on his side, still?"

"Yeah, but I failed him," Kim replied weakly and turning over to look at Lance. He looked worried. "You know, Lance, you're a nice person to talk to."

"Yeah, that's what Luna said," Lance replied. He was glowing happily and blushing as Luna's name popped up into the conversation.

Kim looked at the ceiling. She knew what that smile meant - Lance liked Luna. They seemed all right for each other, too, with those talks about the Crumple-Horned Snorkacks and such. She got a comical image of Lance and Luna in twenty years: they were married and both ran The Quibbler together with two kids running around and jabbering about heliopaths while wearing kilts and togas and orange radishes for earrings. She giggled very slightly and Lance looked at her questioningly.

"Nothing," Kim muttered.

Lance was silent for a moment before he finally spoke something that was on his mind: "When you saw the Order members there, did you see my Mum there at all?"

"Yeah, she was fighting off two Death Eaters... why?"

"I was just wondering," Lance answered thoughtfully. "With twelve sisters, Mum doesn't have much time for me. In fact, sometimes I think she forgets I'm there."

"No, she doesn't, Lance," Kim replied firmly.

"I should probably feel lucky: your Mum probably isn't allowed to show she loves you, right? Being a Death Eater?" Lance looked at her for an answer.

Kim said nothing, but pursed her lips into a straight line. Finally she answered, "My mother died... a long time ago."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Lance said quickly, looking as though he'd like to slap himself.

"It's late, Lance, we need to sleep." Kim turned over and faced the window again, willing sleep to overcome her mind.

0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0

Kim awoke the next morning bright and early and Lance was still snoring. She got out of bed and willed herself to walk around a bit. She looked in the mirror, however, and nearly screamed at the tangle that was her hair and the black eye that made her look like a pirate with an eye patch. She glanced at her arms and cursed as she spotted the thumbprint bruises that Karl had left.

"Do you want to go back to your Dormitory, dear?" Madame Pomfrey asked, walking into the room with a tray of breakfast for her and one for Lance.

Kim nodded and then wondered why Lance was here in the first place.

"Why don't you eat breakfast first?" the nurse said, "and Miss Weasley dropped off your robes."

"Thank you," Kim replied and sat down to eat breakfast. She shoveled it down and dressed quickly into her robes all before Lance woke up. "Morning," she greeted and began brushing her hair with the brush Ginny had brought.

Lance looked sleepily around. Then he spotted his breakfast, his face lit up, and he began to stuff his face full of pancakes.

"Hungry?" Kim asked, raising her eyebrows.

Lance nodded, face full of porridge. "Starved," he replied when he'd swallowed.

"Why are you here, anyway?" she asked.

"Er, well, I had fainted because Natalie transformed… she was still out of it, but transformed, anyway. Did you know that your Portkey sent us to Hogwarts instead of the Headquarters?"

"Oh, no!" Kim moaned.

"It's okay," Lance replied. The group after us went back to Hogwarts, too, and so did Hermione. Harry, Ron, Luna, Neville, and Ginny all ended up in Grimmauld Place, though. From what I heard, they came back last night and Natalie's currently lost in the Forbidden Forest. Serelina and that Fern girl got shipped off to the Headquarters with Moody when he took the other five here."

"Oh, good," Kim sighed and sat on her bed, making sure her hair was smooth and shining.

Lance eyed her, "You went through more than I did - a lot more. Are you going to be okay?"

Kim sighed, "I'm never going to be okay, Lance. I'm going to have to go back to that place over summer. While I'm there, I'll be punished some more, and if I don't die, I'll be forced to-" She choked, but refused to cry. She managed the word, "Karl."

Lance looked at his empty food tray sadly. "I know. I'm sorry, Kim. Maybe you could ask Dumbledore if you could come to the Headquarters for summer?"

"No, I have a job and that's to spy. So spy, I will, Lance," she replied firmly. "I hope you have a lovely day and I hope you feel better and I'll see you soon." She got up and walked out of the Hospital Wing, telling Madame Pomfrey that she was leaving and headed to Gryffindor Tower, trying to keep her face down, so no one would see her black eye.

0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0

She met very few people that early in the morning and whispered the password so dejectedly ("Ceretonia"), that the Fat Lady asked her what was the matter.

Instead of answering, Kim just walked inside and closed the Portrait Hole behind her. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw that Harry, Ron, and Hermione occupied the Common Room.

"Hey, Kim, come here a moment," Hermione invited.

Kim kept looking at her feet and sat down so no one would notice her black eye.

"Do you mind telling us what happened last night after we left?" Ron asked curiously.

Kim stared at her feet, and whispered in a dejected voice, as she remembered last night's events, "Well you three left and I told the Dark Lord so in a loud voice, so Moody summoned the torch and caught fire of himself before Disapparating with the others. Is he all right?"

"Yeah, the torch's power didn't get him: he didn't even touch the handle. He did have a really burnt cloak afterwards, though," Ron replied with a bit of a laugh.

"How did Voldemort react?" Harry asked, worried at her lack of expression.

Kim cringed and twitched once, but not at the name, "He wasn't happy."

"What did he do to you?" Harry asked at once.

"Cruciatus Curse," Kim murmured and stared more closely at the floor.

"He didn't!" Hermione gasped.

"Why are you hiding your face from us? We're not angry at you or afraid of you and there's no reason for you to be afraid of us," Ron wondered.

Kim raised her head slowly and pitifully.

"Woah! That didn't come from any Cruciatus Curse," Ron gasped.

Kim simply looked at him with an expression that made him know that he had just stated the obvious. Without another word, she walked up to her dormitory and went to bed.