We must unite so we can fight!

Turn the battle around.

Time's running out,

It's time to shout

'Voldemort is going down!'

-Voldemort is Going Down by Starkid Company

Izzy's POV:

"Come on, Roxy. Mum and Dad will be fine!"

I looked over to where Fred was trying to calm his terrified sister. It was pitiful. Fred couldn't help a child if the world depended on it.

"Merlin's pants, Fred!" I cried. He, James, Al, Rose, Hugo, Lily, and Celeste looked up at me, shocked. "What?" I asked, then made my way to the small, huddled, crying figure of Roxanne. "Hey, love." She looked up at me with big, watery brown eyes. "Dear, your parents will be just fine, you know. You've heard about the warat Hogwarts? The one your parents and aunts and uncles fought in?" The little girl sniffled and nodded, clambering onto my lap. "They all fought so bravely in that, and they all made it through. In that battle, there were also a lot more Death Eaters. Now, they have even more experience and they're even more intelligent. If they made it through that fight when they were teenagers, your family can pull through now. I'm sure of it."

"Yeah…I guess so," Roxy mumbled, but I could hear the distress leaving her voice. "You really think so?"

"Yeah. I really do, Roxy." I gave her a tight squeeze and a reassuring smile, and she grinned back widely.

"You're much better at this than Freddy."

"Hey!" Fred called indignantly while we laughed at him.

"Izzy," Al called quietly to me. I looked over to see him looking out the window, so I released myself from Roxanne and made my way to him.

"Hm?"

"This isn't looking too good…"

As I examined the small battle outside, I realized he was right. The men in black cloaks had Al's family backed up to the house. It was about 4 to 1, and the odds were definitely against us.

"Al, they can't make it. We've got to get down there." I looked into his eyes, and we held the gaze for a moment.

"Izzy, no. I won't let you," Al said decisively. "It's too dangerous."

"Al. Listen to me." I grabbed his shoulders. "The man that killed my sister is out there. He's hurting your family, and I'm not about to sit around and let him take someone else I care about." I pulled my wand out from my pocket. "We're fighting. I'm fighting."

Albus sighed, looking at me as if trying to analyze my features. "Isabelle." He was using my whole name. He meant this. "This is exactly why you can't go. You'll get caught up in revenge, and that never turns out well."

"No. Albus, this isn't just revenge. This is for Marie's memory. Look at your father. He lost practically everyone he cared about, everyone he loved. Who do you think he was thinking of when he took down Voldemort? I promise you, he was remembering all of the lives that were taken by that one man. Now, I'm not saying I'm going to go out there and take down that sorry son of a bitch single-handedly; I'm not stupid, but I will fight."

"Sounds good to me," came Fred's cheery yet determined voice. I glanced around the room and realized that everyone was listening.

"I think that we're all willing to fight." Celeste took a step forward as she spoke. "I believe I speak for all of us when I say that we know the risks. These men could be fighting to the death." She glanced around the room, her short brown hair bobbing as she did so. We all nodded in agreement.

"Right," I exclaimed, "well then let's go kick some dark wizard ass!"

It was then that I remembered Hugo and Roxy. No way were they fighting.

I pulled Al and Fred towards me. "Roxy and Hugo. We'll…we can lock the door so they won't try to come follow us." I felt bad just leaving them there, but they honestly couldn't come with us.

The two boys nodded sharply, then turned away.

"Roxy, Hugo, c'mere," I said, pulling the two young children towards me. "We need you to stay here. I'm really sorry to leave you, but," I looked at the two sets of terrified eyes staring back at me, "you two just aren't old enough. You don't know enough spells to protect yourselves. We're going to lock the door so that no one else can come in," or get out, "and you have to promise us to stay quiet, okay?"

The two small kids mumbled their agreement, and the rest of us got prepared for battle.

As I was walking out the door, Roxy flung herself at my legs, holding onto me while gazing up with her beautiful eyes. "You'll be back? You're all going to be all right, won't you?"

How could I lie to her? I had no way of knowing if we'd be okay. "Yeah," I managed to choke out, then, closing the door behind me, I performed a quick spell to lock them in. So much for underage magic. I guess if your life depends on it, they could make an exception.

I turned to face everyone. "Let's do this!" I yelled.

Albus and James looked around, then said, in unison, "For Marie!"

Their cousins echoed the cry, but I stood in silence, shell shocked. We continued down to the front door as tears threatened at my eyes. I couldn't, I wouldn't cry before going to fight. Al found his way to me and engulfed me in a hug.

"We're fighting this one for her," he whispered into my ear.

I pulled away, took a deep breath, then blasted the front door off of the Potters' house.

Remember your manners, my mother's words echoed in my head. I wondered if blowing someone's door to shreds constituted as impolite.

We all rushed outside, curses flying all around. Both sides seemed shocked by the reinforcements, but no one stopped sending spells. A few of the parents yelled at us to get to safety, but they were ignored. Soon, we were all caught in battle, each of us fighting off two or more of the masked figures. We were obviously helping, but we by no means had the advantage.

I was dueling a short, plump figure and a slightly taller yet bulky man. I kept up a steady stream of hexes, but I was slowly losing energy. I was beginning to become unsure of how long I could keep this up.

"Expelliarmus!" I yelled. Fortunately, my spell hit its target. The taller man's wand flew from his grasp, rendering him helpless. The stout man seemed shocked for a moment, so I took advantage. "Incarcerous!" I shrieked, and the tall man was immediately bound by thick ropes.

My remaining opponent jerked back towards me, now fighting with renewed vigor. Suddenly, I heard a bloodcurdling scream. There was a moment's break in the battle, giving me enough time to realize that a couple of those masked blokes had infiltrated the house and were attempting to get into the upstairs room.

The locked upstairs room.

The locked room with Roxy and Hugo.

Roxy and Hugo, who had no way to escape, no way to defend themselves other than first-year enchantments.

I sprinted across the yard, Fred on my heels.

"Roxy!" I screamed, shooting spells every direction to defend myself.

Then, as soon as I realized my mistake, it was too late. I'd turned my back on my challenger. He had evidently seen his opportunity, because I heard his raspy voice, felt an abrupt impact on my back, and collapsed forwards. There was a sharp stinging in my head, and I felt the warm stickiness of blood on my forehead. Glancing around, I realized I had landed on the front steps. My breaths became heavy and painful, and then I heard loud footsteps and labored breathing behind me.

"Crucio!" Came the voice that I recognized as my short opponent. Apparently, I'd really pissed this guy off. A terrible pain shot through my whole body, and I was writhing on the ground. I felt myself losing my grip on consciousness, only wishing to be dead. I figured I would be, too, because this pain was too much. I couldn't handle this much longer…

"Izzy!" I thought I caught Al's voice in the distance, then the pain stopped. The curse was gone, but I lost hold. I let the blackness engulf me, and I was ready to welcome it to take away my pain.

Hopefully, to take everything away forever.

Oh no! Is she gonna make it? I can't decide which direction to go with this…I hate being too cliché…so, I'll sleep on it.

AAAHHHH! Ok, so pretty much right after I updated the last chapter, I got a really sweet reviews from LillyOfTheField and AliS256. They were very inspiring. So inspiring, in fact, that I terrified my dog (who was asleep on my bed) with my muffled shrieks of joy and ridiculous smiling, and then I started right up on this new chapter at 10 pm in my bed. And, much to my own surprise, finished it an hour later :) AND I now have up to chapter 18 written and about be edited! So, to all of you lovely readers who were getting ready to wait a really long time for an update, thank those two wonderful reviewers.

And in response:

LillyOfTheField: Glad you liked the song! Tis one of my favorites :) And yeah, my username is an AVPM thing!

AliS256: Cliffhangers are very evil indeed…and I was feeling malicious. Thanks for the input on the story, I was thinking the same thing!

Incredibly enough, I'm gonna start on the next chapter right now. Two whole chapters in one night, and one more on the way! Amazing! I won't, of course, post all at once. Must build up tension, you see. Keep you all interested.

I really don't know what to do about Izzy. Honestly. 'Cause when you think about it, there really are a lot of paths to take with this. Ah, well.

REVIEW PLEASE! And sorry for all the long authors notes lately…I've just got a lot to say, I s'pose.

REVIEW! I LOVE YOU ALL!