"He's back!" Cornelius Fudge appeared with his army of Aurors, just a little too late for my taste. I felt sour hatred for the man, but it was a feeble emotion compared to everything else I was feeling.

"Jenny, take Harry back to my office. I will meet you there momentarily"

"Sir-"

"Everyone from the DA is alive"

"The DA?" I asked, wondering why he was being so specific. Was someone else- dead?

I didn't have the chance to ask further, for Dumbledore handed me a portkey and I was expunged from the Ministry involuntarily.

The thrill of travelling by portkey must have awoken Harry, because he was awake when I looked at him.

I fell against the stone wall of Dumbledore's office, sliding until I hit the ground. Harry didn't speak, so I decided to go first.

"I met my father tonight. I wish I hadn't. It's funny, how I've spent so many years hoping, waiting, searching- only to find what I did" when I finally looked at Harry, he didn't seem surprised.

"I knew… Your father was one of the death eaters in the graveyard last year"

He was waiting for my response, but I didn't get mad. I might have before tonight- but not now. I had learned too much.

The Weasleys had lied to me about Karen, but they did it out of love- to protect me. Harry had done the same. I almost lost Mr. Weasley before and tonight I almost lost Harry.

"You asked me to kill you, you know" I looked up, "do you remember?"

Harry shook his head.

"It was Voldemort hoping you'd take revenge on Harry for your mother's death. Trying to fool you into thinking you could kill him by killing Harry," Dumbledore walked over to us. I hadn't noticed him arrive. We looked up at him, but didn't speak.

"I should have told you, Harry. I hoped that by distancing myself from you, as I have done this year, that Voldemort would be less tempted to make the connection between you"

"The prophecy said neither one can live while the other survives. That means one of us is going to have to kill the other in the end," Harry waited for confirmation.

"Yes"

Only one of them is going to make it through the war. This thought had occurred to me, and didn't surprise me- but it felt like it was happening so quickly.

"Sir, our prophecies turned purple when they were near each other" Harry asked. Dumbledore's head snapped up. He must have been thinking, but not revealing everything to us.

"Iunctus Oraculum. There are, though extremely rare, cases where one prophecy affects another. Connected prophecies. You see, there was not only one prophecy Voldemort wanted in his possession. Voldemort wanted those prophecies because he only heard the first part of the prophecy all those years ago. He believes the rest could tell him how to be victorious"

Tell him how to kill Harry

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"For the same reason you tried to save Jenny, and she tried to protect you. After all these years, after all you've suffered; I didn't want to cause you any more pain. I care too much about you"

I guess I cared too much.

"That's the distinguishing power you have that he doesn't, Harry- love."

Can love really make Harry win?

"On the night you saw Mr. Weasley attacked, Voldemort figured out that your scar allowed you to be privy to Voldemort's thoughts and actions. Assuming this connection must work both ways, Voldemort began forcing his way into your thoughts, which is why I ordered Snape to give you Occlumency lessons," he turned to me, "Voldemort knew that you would go to great lengths to save you, Jenny, so he projected the image of your capture into Harry's mind"

I looked down, ashamed that I had caused all this. I was foolish and naïve to think my father wanted to meet me. Nothing was keeping him from seeing me all these years. The only reason I met him was because he needed me to do his dirty work.

"Don't blame yourself, Jenny. No one blames you for what has happened."

I do.

"I think I need to go to the hospital wing," I stood and left without more than a glance towards them.

I did go to the hospital wing, although you may have thought I was lying to avoid the situation. I didn't go to the Hospital Wing to rest, though. I wanted to see for myself that my friends were safe.

They weren't in much better condition than before, since they had just arrived, but I could see that they were alive and would recover. I hoped, at least.

"Ron!" I rushed to the first bed. He was the one I worried about the most, for he was injured mentally.

He grinned madly when he saw me. "Ha ha... Jenny, look at this...Brains! I touched a brain..." He held up his arms, which were covered in purple marks. His grin faded and became an expression of fear and pain. "Make them go away! Jenny, the brains!"

"Miss Bennett, out of the way!" Madame Pomfrey rushed past me to tend to Ron. I stepped back, making my way to Luna and Hermione, who were unconscious still. I walked to Neville, then, who's worst injury seemed to be a broken nose.

"Hey Neville… doing okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be alright," he tried to smile, but held sincerity.

"I'm sorry I left you," I said to both him and Ginny, although she didn't seem to be paying too much attention. She didn't seem a bit better than when I first saw her in the room with the brains. I looked away and began to leave the room.

"Jenny," I turned back when I was called, "will you be alright?"

"I'm fine," I assured him, although I hadn't directly addressed his question, nor had I told him the truth.

I was not fine.

I went to the girls' bathroom, trying not to let Moaning Myrtle's wailing upset me, and splashed my face with cool water. When I looked up, I saw my father's face staring back at me. We really did look alike. Enraged, I pulled out my wand and cut off the rest of my hair. I had already had a nice chunk missing from when Mr. Malfoy grabbed me. Now, my entire head of hair was chopped to that length. It wasn't pretty, but it was better than walking around with a random chunk of hair ripped out. It also made me feel a little better.