But it wasn't fair. I couldn't leave the others behind. If I escaped and they all died, I would never forgive myself.

For a long minute, I stood there with my head in my hands. I had to go back. I didn't know where the action was now, though. I leaned against the wall for another minute, thinking. There were so many rooms here. It was impossible to predict which one everyone was in.

I didn't have to wait long. Without warning the doors to the circular room opened and five people rushed in - Lupin, Mad-Eye, Dora, Kingsley, and Sirius.

Sirius. He was here! Voldemort had never held him hostage at all!

They each illuminated their wands and a moment later I heard the surprised scream - "LINDS!"

Dora ran toward me, her wand shining in my face.

"You - what are you doing here?" Both amazement and rage made her voice sound different.

"I - I came - "

"Tonks, there's no time!" Sirius said. "We have to capture the others before the Death Eaters - "

As if those words were enough, the Death Eaters walked through a door. It was the room with the veil.

"Linds, you should go back," Dora whispered to me as we were right at the doorway. "I don't want you to get hurt."

"No," I said. "I want to fight."

"Please, Lindsey! Please, just ... "

"I'm not leaving alone!"

She sighed in defeat and we walked into the room.

It was chaos. Death Eaters shot spells everywhere. Dora immediately stunned Lucius Malfoy and moved on to Bellatrix. Kingsley was fighting two Death Eaters at once, and it seemed that Harry and Neville were the last of our party left. The others hadn't been ... killed, had they? Where were Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Luna?

A Death Eater approached me and yelled, "Stupefy!"

"Protego!" I yelled back, blocking the spell, and then, "Petrificus Totalus!"

His body froze up and he fell. I was slightly surprised by my own strength and quick thinking. I paused for a second to stare at his petrified body and then walked off. There wasn't any time to waste.

Bellatrix was dueling with Dora. Dora was hit by a jet of light and she fell, unconscious. Her body began to roll down the stone steps. Bellatrix screamed in triumph and began to run off.

"Oh, no ... Dora, no ... please be okay ... " I muttered as I headed toward my cousin's limp body. She was knocked out and unmoving, but I could tell she was breathing. Thinking about whether I should move her or not, I heard that voice scream, "I thought I told you to leave!"

Bellatrix was coming at me, her wand raised.

"Well ... I didn't!" I said. "I wanted to fight! Don't you understand I couldn't leave?"

"You - well then, this is certainly your end. However, it would satisfy me greatly if I could play with you before I finished you off. Cruc - "

"Don't - touch - her."

Sirius had faced Bellatrix with his wand pointed at her heart. He wore a look to kill on his face. She turned and laughed.

"Sirius, my dear cousin. It's been way too long."

"Sure has," he growled.

"I guess you know my daughter, then?"

"I sure do. And I'm about to fight for her. Don't you realized what you've put her through, being locked in Azkaban all these years?"

She glared at him with pure hatred. "She's my daughter. I'm perfectly aware of what she's been through - "

"Or so you think?" Sirius snarled. "You've been in her life for what - one year? One year she can't even remember?"

"You - Crucio!"

"Stupefy!"

Sirius's red light knocked Bellatrix back, but her curse had caused him to fall to the ground in pain. He was up in a second, and the two faced each other, sending spells of different colors in every direction. I was rooted in place, watching the duel. Bellatrix, with an intense expression on her face, yelled, "Avada Kedavra!"

I gasped, but Sirius managed to dodge it by ducking and moving backwards. The two were near the veil now ...

I was so petrified by this scene that I missed the moment the prophecy smashed as well as the one where Dumbledore - Dumbledore, the only one Voldemort had ever feared - appeared in the room! He easily cast several fighting Death Eaters aside. Only a few were still in the battle. Sirius and Bellatrix, so wrapped up in their duel, did not realize Dumbledore was there.

Bellatrix sent a red spell at Sirius; he dodged and laughed.

"Come on, you can do better than that!" [*] he yelled at her.

She sent another jet of light at him, which hit him right in the chest. His eyes widened. I gasped again. "Sirius ... no ... no ... "

He looked afraid as he slowly fell. His body disappeared into the veil. The drapes fluttered for a moment, and he was gone. Bellatrix cried out triumphantly.

"Sirius," I whispered. "Where are you? It's just a veil ... just a stone archway ... " He should have reappeared. Where was he?

I heard Harry yell from above me. "SIRIUS! SIRIUS!" [**] He dashed toward the veil, wondering where his godfather had gone. I wondered the same thing. He couldn't be ... dead ... the spell was red, not green! Killing Curses were green ... so he would come back.

"He'll come back," I mouthed soundlessly as Harry continued to run to the veil. Lupin ran over and grabbed him tightly. He began to tell him something, words I couldn't hear.

I ran to Bellatrix. She was still standing by the archway.

"What did you do to him?" I yelled. "Where is he? Bring him back; tell me where he's gone!"

She laughed viciously again, and this time the most evil smile of all spread across her face. "Don't you get it, Lyra?" she whispered. "He's gone. I knocked him through the veil. I can't bring him back because he won't come back. He's dead. I killed him!"

"NO!" I screamed. "YOU DIDN'T KILL HIM! HE HAS TO BE ALIVE! SIRIUS!" I ran toward the veil as well, about to pull apart the drapes with my hands when I felt a firm hand around my waist.

"Don't," said the voice of Mad-Eye Moody. "You can't save him now. He's dead."

"NO!" I screamed again with pain in my voice. And Bellatrix dashed off.

My grief was so strong I couldn't hear Harry's struggle with Lupin. Mad-Eye held me firmly against him. I tried to escape, but he was too strong.

"Lindsey, you can't do anything!" he said harshly.

"YES, I CAN! I'LL GET HER BACK! I'LL KILL HER!"

"You can't kill her! You don't know who you're dealing with!"

"I KNOW VERY WELL WHO I'M DEALING WITH! NOW LET ME GO!"

"No!"

"Crucio!"

I couldn't believe I had done it again, but Mad-Eye fell in pain. Lupin, from the tiny glimpse I caught of his face, looked completely surprised. I didn't care. I ran out of the room, wanting nothing more than revenge.

I was in the Atrium in a matter of minute. Surprisingly, I didn't feel faint at all. Instead I was so wrathful that I was shaking with burning rage.

I found her by the fountain. She was walking ... no, she was skipping with joy at her accomplishment.

"YOU!" I bellowed. "YOU KILLED HIM!"

She turned around and laughed. "Yes, I did, Lyra. Yes, I did."

"You - I can't - how could - "

"You honestly think I would spare him just because I was his cousin?"

"No! But ... you ... you ... "

‘You' was about all I could say as I heard footsteps coming. Harry. He was coming to avenge Sirius as well. He hid behind the statue without seeming to notice me.

"Come out, come out, little Harry!" [***] Bellatrix mocked. "What did you come after me for, then? I thought you were here to avenge my dear cousin!"

"I am!" [***] Harry shouted.

"Aaaaaah...did you love him, little baby Potter?" [***]

Then Harry - quite unexpectedly - did the same thing I had done. "Crucio!" [***]

She screamed and fell but didn't show any signs of pain. She was on her feet seconds later.

"Never used an Unforgivable Curse before, have you, boy? You need to mean them, Potter! You need to really want to cause pain - to enjoy it - righteous anger won't hurt me for long - I'll show you how it is done, shall I? I'll give you a lesson - Crucio!" [***]

He ducked and dodged. She began to move toward him, seeming to forget I was there. I seized the moment. The worst I could do was torture her, and I really wanted it. Like she had just said, you had to want to cause pain ...

"Crucio!" came from my mouth, and she fell again with a scream. Only this time, it lasted a few seconds longer than when Harry had used it.

"Lindsey, what the - ?" Harry began, but stopped.

Bellatrix glared at me, clearly surprised that someone my age could perform such a powerful Cruciatus Curse.

"Yes!" I yelled at her. "I can do it!"

She smiled. "Well, Lyra, you seem to have picked up something from me - "

I saw Harry's expression and he looked as confused as ever. Comprehension seemed to appear on his face for a second and he said quietly, "Oh, yeah ... she's your aunt, isn't she!"

"No!" I yelled, my wand pointed at Bellatrix. "She's not my aunt, she's my mother! And she killed her own cousin! She's the next to die!"

"Your ... ?"

"My mother, that's right!" I yelled. Everything was coming out now. Not once did the fact that the Ministry was keeping this quiet cross my mind, because all I cared about was attacking Bellatrix. "She left me when I was a year old because she got arrested!" This caused enough anger to crash down on me that I yelled "Crucio!" again. Bellatrix fell, but it still didn't last long.

Bellatrix eventually seemed to think my curses were nothing more than the equivalent a paper cut, and she turned to Harry again.

"Potter, I am going to give you one chance! Give me the prophecy - roll it out toward me now - and I may spare your life!" [****]

"Well, you're going to have to kill me, because it's gone! And he knows! You dear old Voldemort knows it's gone! He's not going to be happy with you, is he?" [****]

"What? What do you mean?" [****] For the first time ever, I heard a hint of fear.

I stood there through the screaming, wishing I could summon the strength to curse her again. She was right there, just a target in plain view. I think she had forgotten I was there once again (what else was new?). I raised a shaky hand as I prepared to execute my final revengeful curse, but I stopped, frozen with fear, when an all-new voice entered the conversation.

It was cold and high-pitched. I turned and saw a snakelike man with pale, white skin and red cat eyes. For the first time in my life, I was looking straight at Lord Voldemort.

This was too much to handle. I knew it was coming now, and I accepted it as I blacked out and hit the stone floor.