We stepped out of the lift and into a corridor. It was empty with the exception of a few burning torches. Harry instinctively set off toward a large black door. When he reached it, he argued and said a few of us should stay behind as a lookout. After we all assured him we weren't leaving, he opened the door.

Inside was a black, circular room. Several black doors without handles surrounded the place. The only color came from the blue torches on the walls. Neville shut the door; the place went completely black except for the candles. The open door had provided some light, but now we couldn't see. Then, the walls unexpectedly began to spin so rapidly we could only see streaks of blue light from the candles.

We discussed which door to take and Harry mentioned something about a dream. H had visited the Department of Mysteries in his dreams. If it was a dream, Sirius probably wasn't here!

"Harry!" I whispered as we walked toward a door. "Did you say dreams? If you just dreamt that Sirius was here - "

"I didn't dream it," he said furiously.

"Then how - "

"Shhhh!"

He opened the door. Inside this new room there were a few desks and a giant tank of green water that contained several pearly-white objects that drifted around. Hermione realized they were brains.

We walked up to the tank. Upon closer inspection, there was no denying that the floating objects were brains. Feeling rather disgusted, I stepped back just as Harry announced we should try another door. Of course, this whole room was surrounded by more doors. The place was huge. Where was Sirius?

We went back to the first room. Hermione conveniently drew a bright X on the door with her wand before the room spun again. When the walls finished revolving, the fiery mark was still there.

The next room was rectangular and sloped to form a pit in the center. Benches of stone surrounded the middle. Right dead center was a crumbling stone archway with worn curtains. It gave off an eerie air and seemed to sway lightly.

"Who's there?"[1] Harry called.

"Careful!"[1] Hermione warned in a whisper.

Harry walked toward the archway. "Sirius?"[1] he said.

"Let's go," [2] Hermione insisted. "This isn't right, Harry, come on, let's go ... "

But Harry stood, staring at the veil. I felt butterflies in my stomach. There was definitely something odd here: the way Harry was drawn to it, the eerie swaying ... I agreed with Hermione, I wanted to leave.

We went back to the first room after a bit more persuasion. Hermione marked this door with her wand as well. Then the room spun and stopped. Harry went to a new door and tried to open it, but it was locked. Hermione's Alohomora spell wouldn't open it either.

"Let's try the next one; that one won't open!" I tried to tell them as Harry tried to use a knife to unlock the door. I twisted the doorknob of the next door over. To my surprise and horror, a gaping black hole emerged and made the sound of swishing wind. Sharp, sparkling white edges appeared around every side-teeth, maybe? Before I could scream, the air was sucked from my lungs and I was pulled in, scraped by several razor-sharp points.

I was in a different room. Where were the others? I screamed at the top of my lungs, but it got me nowhere. Nobody was here. The room around me was pitch black, my robes were now tattered, and I could feel sharp, stinging scratches against my whole body.

"Lumos!" was the only logical thing to say. I was afraid of what I would see. Those black hole-mouth things with the teeth covered every inch of the wall, and once light shined upon them they made the wind noise again. However, there was a door at the other end. I dashed for it and flung it open without thinking that another black hole could have been lurking in that one. But no, I was in the room with the stone archway again. I sighed with relief. I knew how to get back to the others.

I saw Harry and Hermione bickering as soon as I returned.

"We have to save her, Harry!" Hermione exclaimed.

"We don't have time! Sirius needs us!"

"So does Lindsey! It's not one or the other, Harry, and she's right through there!"

"I'd rather not have my skin sheared off by those teeth, thank you."

"Oh, come on, they were tiny! Sharp, but tiny! We would survive - "

"There she is," Luna told them.

"Harry, I don't want to leave the group, but if I have to in order to save her-oh!" She had noticed me standing there. "There you are. That's a relief. Oh, you're bleeding all over!" She waved her wand. A warm feeling came over my body and just like that, my tiny but awfully painful cuts were healed.

"Thanks," I muttered.

"This is no time for thank yous!" Harry exploded. "This is no time for anyone to leave the group. This is no time to rescue a damsel in distress. If you want to rescue Sirius, you stick with us!"

"Right," I said, trying to keep the hurt out of my voice. "I was just trying to help." And I'm sorry the godson gets to be the leader of the group, as opposed to the blood relative.

"Let's go," Harry growled. Once in the next room, he said, "This is it!" [3] and I felt a small amount of relief. It was a sparkling, glittering room with numerous amounts of clocks. Harry, looking excited, led us through another door at the end.

This room was full of shelves containing glass orbs. They glowed slightly in the blue candlelight.

"You said it was row ninety-seven," [4] Hermione whispered.

Ninety-seven, I thought. Row ninety-seven. We were in fifty-three.

Hermione was the first to find it. This was it. We were going to rescue Sirius. We were going to save him from Voldemort. He was right down this row...

We reached the end, and Harry began to search frantically. There was no sign of anything.

"Harry?" [5] Hermione asked.

"What?" [5] Harry said fiercely.

"I...I don't think Sirius is here." [6]

It had to be true. He wasn't here. Sirius wasn't here. Then where was he? Was he in the Department of Mysteries at all, or was he comfortably at home in Grimmauld Place? Why did Harry lead us here? He'd been so sure that Sirius wasn't at Headquarters.

I couldn't think straight anymore. This could have been a trap. Voldemort had probably led Harry to his death here, somehow, and we'd all be killed in the process. I took deep breaths, trying not to pass out, not now...I didn't even care that the others had found a glass orb that had Harry's name on it.

Harry, curiosity getting the better of him, grabbed the orb off the shelf.

That was a stupid move. A second later, a cold, dark voice said, "Very good, Potter. Now turn around, nice and slowly, and give that to me." [7]

It was Lucius Malfoy. He held out his hand, asking for the glass ball. Several dark shapes were now appearing in front of us. They blocked our path, pointed their wands at us ...

Death Eaters.

I tried to keep my gasps for air as silent as possible in this situation. It wasn't going well. I was feeling faint again.

Harry demanded to know where his godfather was. The Death Eaters laughed; a woman's voice said, "The Dark Lord always knows!" [8]

I couldn't help it. I gasped loudly and clapped my hand over my mouth. I knew that voice. The woman cackled evilly.

"Always," Malfoy said. "Now, give me the prophecy, Potter." [8]

"I want to know where Sirius is!" [8]

"I want to know where Sirius is!" [8] the voice said. I felt my heart racing at top speed. This couldn't be happening. There was no way, no possible way, for me to stay conscious in this situation.

"The little baby woke up fwightened and fort what it dweamed was twoo," [9] my mother mocked.

Mother. Oh, no. This was it, for sure. My identity was most likely about to be spilled. People would find out I was her daughter!

I couldn't hear Harry giving commands to everyone. It took all my strength, willpower, and self-control to keep my rising panic under control. It would be so much easier if I just fainted. I wouldn't have to deal with anything. But I made myself stay awake for Sirius's sake ... I could help save him ... if he was even here ...

When Harry refused to give in to Lucius' demands, it was time to pull out wands.

"Lindsey," Hermione whispered, almost inaudibly. "Ready? Are ... are you okay?"

She must have seen my face, so full of panic. I was sweating and was probably paler than a ghost.

I held up my wand with a shaking hand.

Everything happened so fast in the next second. Harry refused to hand over the orb so Bellatrix tried to Summon it. Harry blocked it and almost dropped it; Lucius screamed in panic at the thought of the precious whatever-it-was being smashed.

Bellatrix removed her hood, and I gasped again without meaning to. I covered my mouth instinctively again. It was uncalled for. I had seen her face before, so why did it matter now?

It probably mattered because now, with her hood removed to reveal her true face, people would probably see it in me now. At least it was dark ...

Harry was able to stall the Death Eaters by threatening to smash the prophecy they were so interested in. He tried to keep them talking about it while the others thought of an escape plan - at least I hoped that's what they were doing, because I couldn't think. Even as he passed on a plan as he tried to stall some more, through my panic I couldn't exactly hear what he was telling us.

"NOW!" [10] he yelled in the middle of Lucius Malfoy's speech.

The other five yelled, "REDUCTO!" [10] and several red curses flew and hit the shelves. The orbs exploded and glass rained down on us.

We all ran.

I lost the others and disappeared behind the first door I approached. The others weren't in here. They must have hid in a different room.

From outside, I heard Lucius Malfoy said, "Leave Nott, leave him, I say, the Dark Lord will not care for Nott's injuries as much as losing that prophecy - Jugson, come back here, we need to organize! We'll split up into pairs and search, and don't forget, be gentle with Potter until we've got the prophecy, you can kill the others if necessary - Bellatrix, Rodolphus, you take the left - " [11]

Where was I, where was I? Left, right, center? I visualized the quick escape in my head. Which door did I take? Oh, no. The left. They were coming. Bellatrix and Rodolphus were coming my way.

"Colloportus," I said as I pointed my wand toward the door. It locked.

I didn't pay attention to whatever was in this room. All I did was find a large black desk. I hid under it just in time; a voice outside screamed, "ALOHOMORA!"

The door flew open and my parents came in. I felt the strangest sensation in the world-here I was, hiding under a desk, seeing my father for the first time ever, but running away and hiding from both my parents.

"There's a child!" Rodolphus exclaimed. "Avada - "

"NO!" Bellatrix screamed, and I heard his wand clatter on the floor. "You heard what Lucius said - if it's Potter, we'll smash the prophecy!"

"I - right," Rodolphus said. "Well, we should have whoever's under there come out. If it's not Potter, we'll kill them."

Bellatrix cackled and said, "Come out, come out! Which little kiddie is hiding under the desk?"

I had no choice but to show myself. I slowly slid out from under the desk feet first. Keeping my panic under control as best I could, I stood up and faced them.

"Ha, ha!" Bellatrix screamed triumphantly, but Rodolphus gasped.

"Bella ... look at her!"

"I know!" Bellatrix exclaimed. "Look who we've caught!"

"No ... don't you realize who she is? Bella, don't you recognize her?"

"Of course I recognize her!" Bellatrix exclaimed madly. "I told you already, I ran into her last February!" She turned to me now, her wand raised. "Look at you," she said, shaking her head. "Shame. You would have made a great Death Eater, if only you'd allowed me to take you. Well, I guess it's over for you."

"Wait!" Rodolphus said, so spontaneously I jumped. "Hold on. Don't kill her."

"Why not?" Bellatrix said furiously. "Look at all the trouble she's caused! She came here with Potter!"

"No," Rodolphus said. He walked closer to me. I had no idea what was coming. What was he doing? Did he want to kill me himself?

"Wow," he said. "You look ... so much like both of us." He sighed. "Well, it's quite a shame you didn't choose the right path. Carry on, Bella." He walked back to his wife's side.

I felt something hot on my face and realized I had started crying. I sobbed, regretting it as soon as the sound came out.

Bellatrix looked at me with that mad face. She smiled slyly and raised her wand. "You do realize why we're doing this, don't you, Lyra?"

I nodded my head and sobbed again.

"Well, this is the end. I'm sorry it had to end up like this. If you want to save yourself, you could change your mind now."

I tried to talk, but my lips moved with no sound.

"What's that?" Bellatrix asked. "What did you say?"

"I said that would be selfish. I wouldn't switch sides just to save my life." My voice was so quiet I was surprised they had even heard.

Bellatrix smiled again and shook her head. "Well, here we go." She pointed her wand directly at me chest. I began to hyperventilate. This wasn't supposed to be painful ... was it?

I nearly fainted from shock when Bellatrix just stood there with her wand pointed. She sighed and sank to her knees with her head in her hands. "I can't do it. I can't kill our daughter. You do it, Rodolphus." For the first time ever, her voice didn't have that insane tone.

My mouth hung open. She wasn't going to kill me? Since when did Bellatrix Lestrange show any mercy?

"Bella, I can't. She's on the wrong side, but she is our daughter." There was so much, so much shining in his brown eyes, but I couldn't name what it was. Nonetheless, I never thought I would see Rodolphus Lestrange with that look in his eyes. It confused me so much that I almost asked what he was thinking. There was definitely sorrow, pain, and pity, but nothing like anger or thirst for vengeance.

I opened my mouth. I wasn't sure what I was about to say, but before I could try to formulate my words, my father spoke again.

"Family," he muttered. "It should mean more than this. Blood shouldn't spill blood."

"You ... you're right," Bellatrix said, with a bewildered look on her face, as if she really couldn't believe she was saying this. Yet I was stunned by the trace of compassion in her voice, however miniscule it was. "Lyra, listen to me. Leave now and we won't let anyone hurt you. Just get away from Potter, because the Dark Lord will kill him. He won't show any mercy for you, even if you are our daughter."

"Go on, Lyra. You can leave now," Rodolphus said. "You should go, before we change our minds." But his mind was made up, regardless of anything.

I nodded, staring at them. "Th - thanks," I muttered. "I - I guess I'll ... go."

Without another word, I left the room and reappeared in the circular room we had first arrived in. I gasped for breath, more from shock and surprise than panic.

That was an unexpected twist.