It was exhilarating flying into London. I only willed myself not to think too carefully about the fact that I couldn't see the creature I was inevitably allowing to safeguard my life.

When we landed back on the ground in the middle of the city, Ron vowed he would never be doing that again. But Harry's anger snapped everyone's attention and we hastily made our way to he Ministry for Magic.

"Harry, shouldn't there be some sort of security?" I asked once we cleared the telephone booth lift and crossed through the atrium of the Ministry.

"Right," Harry's voice told me that he had been thinking the same thing. "Maybe some of you should stay to keep watch."

"Don't be stupid Harry, we're all coming with you," I bit back a little harshly.

As much as I didn't exactly like the idea of Luna, Neville and Ginny coming on this mission to rescue Sirius, I knew they were just as invested as the rest of us. And before he could suggest that I stay behind, I met Harry's eyes, knowing he knew how much Sirius was like family to me as well.

"Right, let's go," he nodded as we all rushed after him towards the lifts to the Department of Mysteries. Once we arrived on the right floor we all filed out and immediately entered through a very grand looking door. Neville shut it behind us at Harry's instruction but the walls around the circular room immediately started spinning around in a dizzying manner until we didn't know which way we had possibly come through.

"So, what now? What was in your dream Harry?" I asked, wanting to avoid us losing anymore nerve than we all probably had already.

"Straight," Harry stated confidently.

We all nodded although no one else said anything else as we stayed tightly in formation and headed for the door directly in front of us. It opened into another sparsely decorated room that only had one great fish tank in the middle. I looked over to see Harry's frown and figured this didn't match the description in his head as to where we would supposedly find Sirius.

"What are they?" Ginny asked once we all turned our attention to the bright green water with white creatures floating in it.

"They don't look much like fish," Ron observed.

I looked more closely and agreed that they definitely weren't regular aquatic creatures.

"They're brains!" Hermione exclaimed frantically, although still rather quietly since no one wanted to draw too much attention to ourselves.

"Are you sure?" I asked before realising that Hermione was right.

The strange white objects in the tank did look like brains which made the room feel even more ominous than it did a moment ago.

"Is this right, Harry?" Ginny asked and Harry shook his head frustratedly.

"No, we should go back and try a different door," the seven of us agreed before filing back.

Hermione craftily put an X on the door before it shut and the room's walls spun around again.

Harry tried the door that landed in front of us and I peered over his shoulder to see a daunting dais in the center of a much darker room.

"Sirius?" Harry called out like he had heard someone speaking and I strained to pick up on whatever it was Harry heard.

"Come on, Harry!" Hermione whispered forcefully a few moments later and I realised that I was transfixed on the dais whereas Harry had ventured in like he wanted to approach it.

Hermione's voice broke whatever trance we were in and I stepped forward to grab Harry's shoulder and pulled him back so Hermione could mark and close the door.

The next door Harry used was locked but Harry still used the knife he got from Sirius to open it. This seemed to be the right choice since he became elated and burst out saying this was the correct room.

"They're crystal balls aren't they? Like prophecies?" I asked, remembering at least this much from my five years of Divination.

The room was filled with shelves that ran all the way up to the ceiling. And the only thing filling them was dimly glowing orbs that each had murky smoke inside, much like the ones we used at school.

"Come on, this way. We need to get to row ninety-seven," Harry ordered before I fell into step beside him with Ron and Hermione directly behind us, closely followed by the other three.

At some point Harry grabbed onto my hand like he was leading me even though I was walking right beside him. But I didn't mind since the ominous feeling of the hair on the back of my neck standing up was increasing as we purposefully approached the correct row.

"Keep your eyes out for anything," Harry stated without turning around to look at the others since we were quickly approaching our destination and the lighting remained dimmed.

Once we arrived at the right location the seven of us fanned out, Harry releasing my hand so we could both focus.

"Sirius?" I whispered, looking at the ground for any evidence that anyone had been here.

"Sirius!" Harry's voice sounded more loudly than mine but still no one replied to our desperate calls.

My focus turned to the shelves around us, still looking for any clues, especially when Hermione stated she felt Sirius wasn't actually here.

However, I gasped when I saw my brother's name written on one of the prophecies and pointed when Harry looked sharply over at me. "Why is your name on one of these? Here of all places?"

My mind quickly changed tracks, not taking lightly the coincidence that Sirius was not here and instead there was a prophecy regarding Harry at the very place we had been led to.

"I don't think you should touch it," Hermione warned but of course Harry stepped forward and grabbed it before anyone of us could stop him.

That's when whoever had been hiding in the shadows stepped forward.

At the sight of Bellatrix Lestrange my hand found Harry's out of instinct and he squeezed it tightly before reluctantly dropping it so he would have enough hands to carry his wand and the prophecy separately.

Lucius Malfoy was also there, approaching Harry with an outstretched hand like Harry was willingly going to hand over the glass orb.

But it wasn't until Harry's sharp foot stomped on mine that I refocused and heard Harry whisper through his stalling conversation with the Death Eaters.

"Smash shelves—" Harry's whisper was almost imperceptible but I nodded slightly in response. "When I say now."

Bellatrix's imfamous temper flared and I grasped my wand tighter instead of reaching for Harry and waited with bated breath before Harry's shout rang out.

"NOW!"

"Bombarda!" I raised my wand instantly and felt the shelf beside us explode and tip over, falling on the one adjacent.

Hermione, Ron and Ginny caught on to Harry's plan quickly and aimed similar attacks to a few other shelves before we were sprinting through the narrow aisles between exploding glass balls.

"Stupefy!" I cast the spell when I noticed someone coming towards me from one of the other aisles before I turned around to help out Ginny, Luna, and Ron.

We were able to ward off three Death Eaters before we were finally given a chance to get away.

"Come on!" Ginny shouted, pulling my hand before I could direct her towards the direction I had seen Harry and Hermione run off to.

However that pathway was blocked by fallen shelves now, so I let Ginny lead and was thankful when we came to a door.

"Alohomora!" I cast the charm while still running so we only slowed to a jog before bursting through the door instead of having to stop all together.

The room we ran into looked like it might be the filing room for the Department of Mysteries which seemed too banal to be true, but we didn't stop to contemplate this since two more Death Eaters had followed us in and continued with their attacks.

"Inebrio!" I heard one of them cast an unusual attack only to turn back and see Ron get hit square in the chest.

My panic welled up when I immediately noticed that despite the fact that Ron was still standing upright, he was no longer running as the Death Eaters closed in.

"Stupefy!" Ginny and Luna covered me while I went back and grabbed onto Ron's arm to drag him along.

"Marnie—" his pronunciation of the 'e' was elongated on his tongue before he started giggling. "You're so pretty Marnie."

"Petrificus Totalus!" Ginny kept up her slew of spells while I coaxed Ron along.

"Oh Merlin, you're drunk Ron," I shook my head in annoyance but was happy Ginny and Luna were also here since Ron was significantly slowing us down.

I had to keep dragging him along since Ron wanted to stop and look at everything we passed.

"Come on, Ron!" Ginny pleaded when she doubled back and Luna continued leading us towards the next door at the other end of the room.

This room seemed to have jars of substances that looked foul and deadly just looking at them. I suspected I might have seen movement in one of them but didn't want to give it much thought since we were now running for our lives.

Wanting to keep putting distance between us and the Death Eaters we kept running to another door, Ginny being the first one through and onto the uneven ground. This room surprisingly had some sort of rocky terrain and Ginny rolled over her ankle before we all came in and tumbled over her.

"Gin, can you move?" I asked once I had Ron up off the ground who was laughing incessantly. "Luna, can you help her?"

Luna, who had been pretty quiet this entire time nodded, although Ginny shook her off and instead hobbled as we now very slowly crossed the room.

"In here!" I heard more Death Eaters behind us and cursed under my breath since Ginny and Ron were no longer in any fit state to fight.

"Here!" Luna called out as she and Ginny found yet another door.

I could hear Ginny's laboured breathing from here, even when Ron was incessantly laughing beside me. He even stopped to pick up a rock from the ground and said it looked like Fred's head. In response I swatted it out of his grip before lugging him along with limited patience.

"Ron, we're going to find Harry," I tried coaxing him, hoping we would find the others since I felt I couldn't leave Ron alone to be able to defend our group when we were found in the next couple minutes.

Thankfully, I did hear Harry's voice once we opened the next door but paled when I saw that Hermione was unconscious and Neville was carrying her; although he also looked pretty banged up with a limp and bloodied nose.

"What happened to him?" Harry asked in greeting when Ron approached him and started giggling again.

We were standing in the aquarium room again with all the brains and I could hear Death Eaters coming from the various entrances of the room. We were surrounded.

Matters only got worse when Ron took this exact moment to dig his hand into the aquarium and came over to show off the brain in his hand.

"Bollocks Ron!" I shouted when the tentacles started ensnaring him and travelling to be around his neck.

Harry and Neville tried a few spells but Harry's seemed to be the wrong one and Neville's swollen face disallowed him from being able to say the words to any spells properly. Instinctually, I stepped forward but immediately turned my attention to the five Death Eaters now entering the room.

Suddenly Harry was sprinting off and my feet followed him without my mind giving it a second thought. Ginny, Ron and Hermione were out of the fight while Neville seemed to be unable to cast any spells at all. This left me hoping that Luna would be able to save Ron and protect the others since the Death Eaters were all chasing Harry with the prophecy audaciously raised above his head.

When I followed after Harry, who had disappeared through the door the Death Eaters entered from, my feet were immediately airborne when the floor immediately dropped. My adrenaline suppressed my initial scream and then my subsequent yells were squelched out when I landed hard on the ground.

I had to push my lungs to inhale and exhale before I stood up and joined Harry. He was facing off against Bellatrix and the rest of them which made my already wheezing breaths harder to conjure.

"Those eyes…" Bellatrix's dilated black irises turned to bore into mine once I came to stand beside Harry. "I've seen them before."

"I know," I gripped my wand so tightly I felt a blister pop between my thumb and finger. "I have the same eyes as my mother."

"Ooooh," this seemed to please Bellatrix and her sick mind. "And how is mummy dearest? Does mummy recognise her precious little baby anymore?" Bellatrix's voice taunted in a whiny voice that sent chills up my spine.

My stomach roiled with bile that I swallowed back down.

Instead I stepped forward, wanting to wipe the malicious look off her face. In turn, this caused Bellatrix to come forward as well, ignoring Malfoy's pleas to stand down until they secured the prophecy.

"Let's see if you can last as long as she did, shall we?" Bellatrix raised her wand, just like she had as my boggart.

It was shockingly exactly like my memory of that day and I couldn't prepare myself for what came next.

"Crucio!"

Instantly I felt my mouth widen as far as it would stretch to elicit the shattering screams that escaped my body. It felt like the pain started from my toes and erupted through my core and extremities as my screams tried to get it out. But it didn't stop until Bellatrix lowered her wand.

I gasped for breath and didn't initially notice that both sides were halted from our standoff at the sudden arrival of several unexpected individuals. When I was able to lift my head I immediately recognised them as Remus, Sirius, Tonks, Moody and Kingsley.

"Harry, get Marnie out of here!" I heard Sirius shout but I couldn't focus my attention as I tried to pry myself up from the ground.

Harry was at my side in an instant, helping me the rest of the way up. But our progress was short lived when a masked Death Eater appeared and put Harry in a stronghold around his neck. He pushed me down again and my head smashed on the ground, making the world spin around me.

I couldn't get my body to cooperate but managed to look over only to see Harry being strangled while all the other Order members were occupied fighting the remaining Death Eaters. I managed to keep my grip on my wand and raised it only to see Neville come out of no where and stab a wand into the Death Eater's eye.

"Good one, Neville!" I managed to exclaim before both boys returned to my side and grabbed me to stand up.

"Harry, Marnie. GO! Get the others and go!" Sirius's voice sounded again and this time I turned to see him fighting against Antonin Dolohov before landing a stunner on him.

"Cumb on Marnie," Neville's voice was still hindered by his swollen face.

I nodded and found that most of my joints didn't want to cooperate to follow Harry and Neville with their hasty retreat. Since I was still facing Sirius, I saw that now he was facing off against Bellatrix. Harry had gone forward to help him, but he was too late. Sirius was looking in my direction when Bellatrix's green spell hit him right in the chest.

"Lena," I heard my mother's name spoken through all the chaos. I was taken with how soft it sounded only to see Sirius's unfocused eyes looking back at me. I couldn't move watching as Sirius's last breath had spoken my mother's name while he looked right at me.

I could hear sudden screaming and didn't know if it was mine or someone else's as it set in Sirius had just died. Hundreds of thought flooded my mind, remembering the sad gray eyes from my dreams that were somehow my mother's memories. As much as those eyes had haunted me, it was nothing compared to the hollow eyes I had just seen. I couldn't fathom that Sirius was now crumpled on the floor, so I forced myself to look away and focused on the cackling laugh that filled my mind with rage. My newfound adrenaline rush caused me to take off running towards it, running past Remus who was holding Harry and ignoring their shouts. Luckily Remus was too focused on keeping Harry back and Harry was hindered enough that I made it by them without being stopped.

I kept focused on the head of curled black hair and heard her gloating that she had just killed the man who had once loved with my mother with all his heart. I couldn't think about how that might have still been true since I was already hovering on the edge of breaking down in my mind.

"Here to avenge my disgrace of a cousin?" her cackles gave out to an angry sounding voice but I only focused on my wand that pointed to her chest.

"Crucio!" I screamed, feeling infinitely more angry than I had when I tried the Unforgiveable Curse on Sirius in my fifth year.

I watched as Bellatrix's eyes stilled and widened in surprise but her smile only grew into a crazed expression.

"Tut tut, little girl. You have to mean it," she giggled maniacally back at me.

I froze in shock, furious that my spell hadn't work.

"But I do mean it!" I screamed back, feeling myself losing control. I couldn't understand after feeling this much resentment and burning rage that my spell still hadn't worked on Bellatrix; when all I did was hate her.

"Marnie!" I didn't look back at Harry since I didn't want Bellatrix to turn her attention onto him. I could tell though he sounded as angry as I felt.

But everything turned in an instant when Voldemort suddenly appeared at the end of the hallway we were standing in. Everything else happened equally as quick; me reluctantly turning towards Harry who collapsed to the ground, the feeling of someone appearing behind my back and the pair of cold arms wrap around me to drag me towards the fireplaces. Bellatrix managed to get my wand away from me and used the newest arrival of Dumbledore as a distraction. I didn't so much as a have a moment to call out since my mind felt like it was coming undone and Bellatrix had cast a muting spell for good measure.

"MARNIE!" Remus was the last person I saw looking horror struck before I disappeared into the Floo Network and arrived moments later in a very ornate looking fireplace.

I was no longer at the Department of Mysteries and was somehow now the captive of Bellatrix Lestrange.

XXX

So, I've had bits of this chapter ready to go since I started the OofP arc. I decided at the beginning of writing Marnie's last year that she was going to be kidnapped. It seems a little darker than I might have been going for when I started this story over a year ago but I've been realising that Marnie's life has been harder since Cedric died.

So there's another book done and the adventure continues!