Chapter Forty: Nightmare

Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K. Rowling. The underlined portions are taken directly from the novel; I do not own those parts. They belong to J.K. Rowling.

Author's Note: This fanfiction is going to be different from my other stories. This picks up where "The Heart of Everything" and "The Heart of Everything: Shallow Bay" left off. The time in the books also changes. So, pay attention the time, so you don't get confused. Some of the chapters are other Marcus Flint/Katie Bell stories, just with more changes and deleted scenes added.

Time: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Genre: Romance, Drama, and Friendship

Rating: PG-13

Marcus crammed his neck over Haley's shoulder. The safe was lined with papers.

Haley shifted through some. "All the good stuff is probably in the bottom." She handed Marcus an armful of papers. "Here."

Marcus took them and struggled to read Nathanial's awful handwriting.

"Got it!" Haley exclaimed. She turned back to Marcus with a small sheet of paper. "Put those back."
Marcus rolled his eyes. Since when did his sister get to be so bossy? He did as he was told and joined his sister at the desk.

Haley's eyes were narrowed.

"What is it?" Marcus asked.

"It explains Horcrux magic. It's like ripping a part of your soul out and placing it in an object. It makes you somewhat immortal." Haley frowned. "This is not something they teach us at Hogwarts."
Marcus nodded. "I think I've heard the name, but never knew what it was." He paused. "Anyway, it'd probably be in the Restricted Section of the library."
Haley sighed. "And neither of us has spent that much time them."

Marcus shook his head. "I only had a couple of assignments seventh year that required it."
Haley looked back at the paper. "In order to divide the soul, you must take a life. Each Horcrux you makes requires the lost of one life. However, if the object that your soul is in is destroyed, that part of your soul dies along with the object." She paused. "Nathanial's a very wordy note taker."
Marcus nodded. "Is there more?"
Haley shook her head.

"I bet that you that's what Potter's after," Marcus muttered. "He is holding the biggest secret from us."

Haley sighed and threw the paper back into the safe. "Yeah, had he told someone, we could have ended this a long time ago." She carefully shut the safe door. "I really don't think he wants the Order's help anymore."

"He can't win this thing on his own," Marcus said. "I really don't know what he's thinking if he believes that."
Haley smirked. "Maybe he is buying into that Chosen One business."
Marcus just snorted.

Haley started toward the door. "Come on, we'd better get out here before they catch us."
Marcus slowly followed his sister out the door, wondering what other secrets the Order was keeping. Secrets were not the answer to their problem and he only hoped that the doors were opened before it was too late.

Katie held her wand high. The Death Eater ripped off his mask and pointed his wand directly at them. His long, pale, twisted face could be recognized from almost anywhere: Antonin Dolohov.

He grinned at them. "Looks, like you are in a bit of a bind."

Out of the corner of her eye, Katie could see that Brad was shifting around.

Dolohov pointed his wand at Katie's chest. "It's such a shame really. You are pretty easy on the eyes."

"PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!" Brad roared.

The spell struck Dolohov in the chest before he even got the chance to block it. He fell over backwards, unable to move.

"Let's go," Brad muttered.

Katie stepped over the limp Death Eater and followed Brad down the long, dark hallway. It was a rather long walk, even though they did not walk all that far. Brad and Katie were still bruised from the earlier attack and they had to somehow carry Demi. Katie could not take her eyes off Demi.

Brad paused. "I don't hear anything."

"We either," Katie whispered back. "Where are we?"

"I don't know."

Katie lead the way down a hall that had a series of doors on either side of it. This was not a good place to be. Anything or anyone could jump out from them.

"Stop," Brad muttered.

Katie froze.

Brad nodded toward the door to his right.

Katie listened in. There was something there. She caught Brad's eye, who nodded. Taking a deep breath, Katie whipped open the door, causing three people to tumble out.

"DON'T!" Remus exclaimed.

Katie lowered her wand and watched as Remus, Kingsley, and George slowly made their way to their feet.

"Are the others with you?" Kingsley muttered.

"No, we got separated during a blast," Brad said. "It knocked Demi out."
Kingsley took Demi from Brad. "There's more Death Eaters here than I thought there would be. It's like they were expecting us."
Remus pushed open a door at the end of the hall. "We really don't have time to worry about that now."

Kingsley walked through with Demi in his arms. Brad, George, and Katie were right behind him. Katie kept looking over her shoulder for any signs of Death Eaters, but there was none. It really didn't bother her, but it did kind of make her nervous.

Kingsley heaved Demi toward another door. They were within a few metres, when the door burst open and three Death Eaters stepped out.

"THERE THEY ARE!" Dolohov roared.

Katie fought the urge to groan. Why did the Death Eaters have to unfreeze him?

Stunning spells raced across the room. Remus ran across it, leading the rest of them safety. They made it himself just in time to slam the door in the Death Eater's faces.

"Colloportus!" George wheezed.

"There are other ways in," Dolohov was muttering on the other side. "Move out."
Katie looked over at George. "Well, this is fun."
"I'm the one who is supposed to provide the humour," George muttered.

Katie was about to say something back to him when she heard the sounds of running feet on the other side of the door. They all exchanged looks and took off running down the other side of the hall. Behind them, Katie could hear bodies ramming into the door. The door was threatening to give way.

She urged her body to move faster, but the will was not there. The bangs of the Death Eaters were getting louder, as was the creaking of the door. She looked over her shoulder and saw that five Death Eaters, led by Dolohov, had managed to break down the door.

"FASTER!" Katie screamed.

Kinglsey looked back and sent a jinx down the long hall. It struck one of the Death Eaters, but the other four charged forward.

One of the Death Eaters shot a Stunning Spell at them; it barely missed Remus. The other three Death Eaters were sending silver lights toward them that left craters were it struck.

"Charge forward," Remus muttered to Katie. "It may be our only chance."
Katie nodded.

With their wands out, the Order members charged forward. The Death Eaters did not have time to react and the Order was almost out before the spells starting flying again. Katie ran behind Kingsley down at step of steep steps, each one threatening to send her falling down them.

The stone walls exploded as a one of the Death Eaters sent a spell down at them. Brad and Demi reached the bottom of the stairs right behind Katie.

"Move and cover your head!" Kingsley yelled. He pointed his wand up the stairs. "CONFRINGO!"

A loud boom filled the air. Katie could faintly make out the stairs falling into a massive crater. Over the roar, she could hear the sounds of the Death Eaters as they hopefully fell to their deaths.

"Let's go," Remus muttered.

As they walked away, Katie could have sworn that she heard the groans of someone below the rumble. She froze as a streak of light that resembled a purple flame shot out of the dust. She dodged it and took off running down the hall.

Behind them, she could the groans of a human as he got to his feet. "AVADA KEDAVRA!"
Katie gasped as she saw a flash of green light whip pass her. Her heart was in her throat. She had never had the Killing Curse directed at her.

Remus reached back and pulled her in front of him as other green light went over their heads.

"We have to get out of here!" Brad snapped.

Kingsley nodded and lead them up another set of steps. "I'm trying, but he simply will not die!"
"He's a cat, who just hasn't used up his nine lives," George said. He paused. "Wow, that was really bad. I am losing my touch."
Below them, Katie could see that more green light was being sent down the hall. She only hoped that the person sending them did not look up.

At the end of the hall, Remus was holding a door open and motioning for them to hurry up. Behind them, movements were growing louder and occurring more often. She gulped and darted into the door.

Remus turned in the door frame and flicked his wand. The spell generated such a force that Katie fought to stand upright. The Death Eater screamed as Remus slammed the door behind them.

Katie stared down the hall, which was lined with cells. Terrified Muggles peered at them from behind the bars. She looked at their sad faces, reminding of her of victims from the Holocaust. Their hallowed out faces and haunted eyes made them look more ghost-like than human. The way the Muggles stared at Katie made her feel terrible. Their eyes showed no signs of life, only defeat. They were slave until the end of time and stuck in this nightmare.

She wanted to free them all and let them see that there was hope in the world, but now was not the time. To let them go now would only kill them. There was no way they could fight their way out of this.

Katie followed Kingsley and others into a small room with a back door. She was beginning to see why no one ever escaped Azkaban. This place was too much of a maze to possibly get out of here.

Kingsley had his wand out, pointing around each turn in the rather curvy hall that they were making their way down now. Katie's ears were alert, but the roar of Fairyland prevented her from hearing anything.

Remus walked her with a shield protection spell up. He caught Katie's eye and gave her a small smile.

Katie returned it, thankful that no Muggles were in this hall. She wasn't sure if she could walk past them again and leave them. She had always known that there was a price of evil, but hated to witnessed it. They were all people too.

A jet of green light flew down the hall in front of them. Katie flung herself against the wall as the light hit Remus's shield and balanced back down the hall. She hoped that it hit whoever had sent it.

Kingsley sent a jinx down the hall and was returned with a crater curse. Katie stared wide-eyed as the curse hit the wall across from her. There was no time to move as rock made its way toward her. She gulped, knowing what was coming next.

Jenna greeted Marcus and Haley at the foot of the stairs. "They're on their way back and we need to be ready to attend to the wounded."
Marcus nodded. "Did they say if they got it?"

"No."

Marcus looked at Haley, both of them were thinking the same thing: Was it worth it?

"Did anyone die?" Haley asked in a soft voice.

Jenna turned and looked them both in the eye. "They didn't have to. I could hear it in their voices."

New chapters out in January or possibly February! January is also my last semester of university and I am also student teaching. So, the final ten chapters may not be up weekly. We'll just have to see! I can't believe it's almost over. I've been working on this series for close to four years and just can't believe the end is almost here. Thanks for reading!