“You think I’m giving up that easily?” Bellatrix cackled. Snape’s eyes narrowed in hatred.

“If you’re wise, you will, Bella,” he replied, and he began to draw his wand. She was too fast for him. Raising her wand up, she uttered “ Lacarnum Inflamara!”

Within an instant, the entire prison was aflame. The beams above were burning hot, crackling and engulfed by fire. Dementors let out shrieks, and the Death Eaters inside shouted insults at Bellatrix as they made for the exits. She began to follow them, but Harry moved faster than she could. He pounced on her back and brought her down, holding her hands back against the stone floor. She gazed at him with a defiant sneer, the flames closing the doorway off to her. She struggled against him, but somehow, his strength was greater than hers.

“You haven’t got it in you, Potter,” she said, and he raised his wand to her face.

“Where do you think Malfoy went to?” he asked her, “Who do you think attacked that camp?”

“HARRY!” shouted Mrs. Weasley, and he whipped around. Their cell was aflame, the fire coming closer and closer to the family. Luna was coughing, having already inhaled enough smoke to make it difficult for her lungs to function. With a final glare at Bellatrix, he released her.

“ Bombarda!” he shouted, and the door of the cell flung open. Looking around, he saw that Snape was frantically freeing others trapped within the prison. They were all unarmed, unable to put out the fire or assist in any way. Harry helped Luna while Mr.and Mrs. Weasley and the rest of the family struggled to make it out of the cell.

“We’ll never make it out!” Mr. Weasley called. Harry ignored him. Pulling out his wand, he made his way to the doorway.

“Aguamenti!” he bellowed. A small hole formed in the flames as water rushed over and stifled them. Still, he couldn’t do this alone. Looking around for Snape, he couldn’t see. The smoke had begun to grow thick. Coughing and sputtering, he uttered the spell again and again. He heard a thud behind him. From the shouts of Mrs. Weasley, he could tell that Luna had collapsed. Working as quickly as he could, the flames began to decrease. However, the more he opened and closed his mouth, the more smoke entered his body and delved into his lungs. He cast another look around for Snape, and now his vision was completely obscured. Not only had Snape disappeared, but he had lost sight of Bellatrix as well. There was no telling where she had gone, and he now realized that he had left her armed. Cursing himself, he spun around and looked back up at the door.

It would be no use. The flames that he had put out had been reborn from the remaining fire in the room, and now took the place of their deceased brothers and sisters. Coughing roughly, Harry called out as loudly as he could.

“SNAPE!” he yelled, “SNAPE, THE DOOR IS COVERED! SNAPE! WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!”

“POTTER!” he heard the old Potions Master reply, “POTTER, USE YOUR POWER! USE IT TO SAVE US!”

“WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?” Harry said, searching the smoke for any signs of the man. He could hear him shout something, but it wasn’t audible anymore. The smoke had begun to burn his eyes, his throat. It was beginning to cloud his mind, making his senses numb. What power is he talking about? Harry thought frantically to himself, What power have I got?

“Harry!” Fred called out from behind him, “The beams! We’ve got to get out from underneath them! I can hear them beginning to give way!”

I love you, Ginny, Harry thought, as he felt Mr. Weasley grab his hand, and they moved through the smoke.

“THE PRISON’S ON FIRE, HAGRID!” Ginny uttered, and Hagrid sat up in a flash. He had been dozing off, his head resting on the tree that he and Ginny had found. Ginny jumped up from her resting spot and made a motion of running toward Azkaban. Hagrid held her back.

“No, Ginny!” he said.

“My family is IN there!” she screamed, fighting his resistance, “Harry is IN there! They need help!”

“Snape’s got it under control! They’ll be out in no time!”

“NO THEY WON’T!” Ginny raged, “HE NEEDS MY HELP! I HAVE TO HELP HIM!”

“How’d y’know?”

“I CAN FEEL IT!” she shouted, her voice now hoarse, “HE NEEDS HELP, HE’S TELLING ME SO!”

“GINNY! HAGRID!” came a voice from the field. Moving through the trees, they saw Hermione, her eyes wide with fear.

“They’ve killed Moody!” she said, “They’ve killed Moody, and I can’t find Ron!”

“Harry needs help, Hermione!” Ginny said. Could none of them understand?

“Everyone needs help, Ginny!” the girl replied.

“We’ve got ter calm down, girls,” Hagrid said, “We’re not gonna git anywhere wit’ all this panickin’.”

“Where do we start, Hagrid?!?” Hermione asked, “There’s three of us, twenty Death Eaters, and a burning prison!”

“The two of you, make a break fer the prison. I’ll take care o’ the Death Eaters.”

“But…Hagrid, what if they…”

“GO NOW!” the giant grumbled, and they didn’t need telling twice. Leaping up, they hid behind the nearest tree. All of the Death Eaters seemed to have moved away from the doorway to the prison, which was now completely covered in flame. Checking a final time, the two girls made a break for the door. Summoning up as much power as possible, the girls muttered the Aguamenti charm. After another incantation, the flames had disappeared. Kicking the door open, Ginny and Hermione turned away as a wall of fire hit them. Escaping from it with only a few singed hairs, they began to trudge through the burning prison. Stumbling over a few bodies, one that they recognized as little Professor Flitwick, they began to call out the names of those they loved.

”HARRY!”

“LUNA!”

“MUM!”

“FRED!”

“DAD!”

”GEORGE!”

Ginny’s foot hit something. She looked down, and let out a shriek. It was Luna, coughing but not completely conscious, her life being sucked away from her slowly. She was near a wall, and Ginny squinted. There were three figures braced up against it.

“Harry?” she called out. She was answered with a cough. Then, stumbling toward her, he appeared.

“Ginny,” he coughed, “We’ve got to get out of here. Bellatrix surprised us…she…”

“Save it for later, Harry,” she said, and she took his hand. Then, rushing over to the wall, she grabbed her mother’s hand and then her father’s.

“Where are the twins?” she asked frantically.

“THEY’RE HERE!” called Hermione from behind her. She was supporting Fred on her left shoulder and George on her right. Ginny felt Harry’s hand slip out from her grasp. He leaned over and gathered Luna up in his arms, coughing as he did so.

“Let’s go,” he replied, and began to follow them out the opening that the girls had created.

“IF THERE ARE ANY SURVIVORS,” Hermione bellowed over the roar of the fire, “THERE IS AN OPENING NEAR THE FRONT DOOR! GET OUT IF YOU CAN!”

Keeping their heads low, the group made its way to the front door and out into the night air. Those that had been trapped inside collapsed onto the grass, coughing and sputtering, gasping for air. Harry clutched his chest in pain. Ginny offered her hand to him, and helped him to his feet. He kissed her on the lips, and then turned away to cough again.

“Are you alright?” she asked.

“Snape was right about that power,” Harry said, “It comes in pretty useful.”

“Where is he, anyway?”

“I’m right here.”

Ginny and Harry turned around, and the rest of the Weasley family and Hermione looked up. Snape was marching toward them, coughing and limping. Blood was oozing down his leg as he reached them. Hagrid followed closely behind.

“I stumbled on my way out,” Snape said, “Scraped it on the stone walkway.”

“Did anyone else come out with you?” Harry asked. Snape nodded.

“Mr. Longbottom managed to escape with me,” he said, “along with many others who rushed out in a panic. I’m fairly sure I saw Miss Brown and Miss Patil, among many.”

“Good,” Harry replied, “That’s good. Where’d they go?”

“Into the trees, I suppose,” he told him firmly.

“Good.”

”Perhaps it’s time the good news ceased,” came a cold voice from behind them, and Harry felt that a wand was pointing at the back of his head. Turning slowly, he found himself once again staring at Bellatrix Lestrange, but she was not alone. There were at least fifteen Death Eaters behind her, each with their wands raised.

“We’ve already been through this, Bella,” Harry told her, “Voldemort won’t be pleased when he learns that you killed me.”

“I’m not going to kill you,” she said, “I’m not going to kill any of you, right now. At least, I don’t think so.”

“Then what do you intend to do?” Ginny asked. Bellatrix laughed, and the Death Eaters behind her inched up a bit. Then, she moved so quickly that Harry didn’t have time to react. She seized Ginny and pulled her into the crowd, her wand pointing at her. She yanked her head back, and Ginny let out a gasp of pain. She didn’t whimper, though, nor did she cry. She merely stood, grunting but still. Harry whipped his wand out.

“Go ahead,” Bellatrix said, “See if you’re faster than I am. By the time your curse hits me, your little girlfriend here will be dead as well.”

“Let her go!” Harry demanded, but Bellatrix merely laughed.

“Please,” Mrs. Weasley begged, “Please, let her go, Bellatrix! Please…take me instead! Please!”

“Let her go, Bella,” Snape said, and Bellatrix cackled again.

“Make me,” she said. Harry heard the two Weasley parents whimper, another plea came from Fred. Hermione’s head dropped, even though her eyes continued to scan the crowd for any sign of Ron.

“Take me,” he uttered, and Bellatrix smiled.

“No, Harry!” Ginny replied, and Bellatrix stuck her wand to her throat as though she would puncture it.

“Let them all go, let them all walk away, and you can take me to him,” Harry said, “You’ll be honored for eternity as his greatest servant. He’ll reward you for it. Let her go, and take me to him.”

“Don’ t do this,” Ginny told him, but Bellatrix had already flung the girl at him. He caught her in his arms, and then kissed her quickly. The Death Eater moved forward and seized his arm, yanking him away. He heard them laugh as she summoned ropes from her wand and bound Harry’s hands. Then, she pulled him into her and brought her mouth to his ear.

“You’re a fool, you know,” she said, and she gave him an evil chuckle, “Did you honestly think that I would put much store in your promise? You don’t know me very well, Potter.”

And she raised her wand. Harry struggled and shouted, but there was nothing he could do. The Killing Curse shot through the air, aimed directly at Ginny. Yet it wouldn’t hit the girl. Instead, someone else would rush in and stop it with his own body. Hermione screamed as Severus Snape’s body fell to the ground, his eyes open and unseeing. Bellatrix, taken aback by the heroic effort but pleased with the outcome nonetheless, leaned her head back and laughed.

“NO!” Harry screamed, but she had him bound and pulled him back into the crowd. Handing him over to Dolohov, she placed her hands on her hips. Then, she turned around and began to walk away.

“Oh,” she said, and she turned around, “I believe this is also yours.”

She snapped her fingers, and a Death Eater came forward, Ron held in his hands. He shoved him at Hermione, and the boy fell at her feet. His skin was as pale as death, with a slight blue tinge in his cheeks. Blood trickled down his mouth, and there was a large bruise forming around his left eye. He had been beaten, his body abused by multiple Death Eaters. Yet, Hermione saw his chest move up and down, and it was shallow, but she could hear him breathing. The same could not be said for Snape. She looked back up, searching for Harry. Ginny did the same, but they were both too late. In the time that it had taken Ron to hit the ground, Bellatrix had given an order. The group, along with their captive, had vanished into thin air. He was gone, taken away to face the destiny that had been set down for him since his first year of birth.

The rain hit his face and splashed onto his glasses, soaking his clothes. He began to shiver from the cold. He could feel Bellatrix pulling him along, and he had to obey her shoving and pushing.

“I can always go back and finish the job,” she told him when he showed signs of pulling away. He looked up. The landscape was familiar to him, though he hadn’t been there for at least three years. The graveyard, in which Cedric had been killed and his life permanently changed, was still as horrible as it had been when he was fourteen. He looked up to see the old Riddle house on the hill, a light on in the upstairs window. It seemed to take an eternity to get up to the front steps, but he felt himself go through the door and into the house.

There were no lights or candles, making it difficult to see. Bellatrix led him up the stairs, her wand digging into his backbone. She turned him to the right, where a closed door stood mocking him, the light leaking out from the bottom crack. Bellatrix shoved it open with her hand, and pushed him in.

“What is it now, Bellatrix?” called that familiar, high-pitched voice.

“I have brought Potter, my Lord,” she said, “We found him alive with his friends in Azkaban. He tried to thwart our plans, but we stopped him. He is here now. I, your most loyal and faithful servant, have brought him to you”

Harry watched as the figure in front of the fire turned around. He saw the white fingers, long, slender, and spindly like spiders. He saw the black robe that covered the ghostly white body, and looked into the red eyes for a few moments before snapping his eyes to the floor.

“Well done, Bellatrix,” Voldemort uttered in the high-pitched voice that had haunted him for years.

“Thank you sir,” she cooed, “Thank you.”

“So,” he hissed, “The Boy Who Lived is resurrected again.”

His wand was raised, and Harry felt himself scream as the Cruciatus Curse hit his body yet again.

“I hope you’re ready, Harry,” his tormentor muttered as Harry thrashed around on the floor, “I intend to have my fun before I send you on to meet your parents. Enjoy the treat that have in store for you. And no, do not expect to escape this time. I am through watching you come back from the dead.”

From outside, the Death Eaters could hear Harry’s screams as he was hit again with the torture curse. The ravens that had stopped to rest in the trees took to the skies, one landing on the windowsill. It was, again, another omen. The bird cawed loudly as the screaming ceased for a moment. Then, without even allowing the creature to take a single breath, it began again. And it continued on…and on…and on.