A Different Beginning

Chapter XLV - The Department of Mysteries

"It's time," the voice murmured as Harry made his way down the boys' dormitory one evening. He looked around, wondering where the voice was coming from and at the same time a weird sensation had formed in the pit of his stomach because he thought that the voice came from within his own mind. He wondered if maybe he was going a little crazy, after all, this wasn't the first time that that particular phrase had jumped into his mind.

"It's time. The truth must be revealed. Don't you want to know?" The voice came again.

Harry glanced around the room again, afraid of what he might see. The voice sounded so familiar, almost like one of those weird dreams that you had but couldn't remember until an overwhelming sense of déjà vu approached you. This weirdness had started two days earlier and at first Harry had simply chalked it up to exam stress. With O.W.L.s coming up soon he had thought that it was a good enough excuse. But what did it mean? How could this voice be coming from within his own mind when the thoughts weren't even his? Was it really coming from his mind? Was it even possible to do so? He wasn't sure and he didn't know what he was more afraid of, the idea that the voice might be real or the idea that it wasn't.

He also wasn't sure if he should tell anyone about it. He remembered how in his second year Hermione had told him that hearing voices wasn't a good sign, not even in the wizarding world. But that voice had come from within the walls of the school and he had heard it because he happened to understand Parseltongue. He decided on the spot that he couldn't put off his meeting with Snape any longer. The voice was worrying him too much and maybe Occulmency lessons would make it go away or help him determine if he was going insane.

He stumbled as he walked down the hallway and gasped when the image appeared in his mind.

The huge house was crumbling down, the stone and the cute cottage-like home, destroyed. The cobblestone walk cracked under the pressure and the jet of green light that glowed from the house shattered the windows. The trees blew restlessly in the wind and the cries of the baby echoed in the still of the night.

The street was deserted and only the screams of a child could be heard.

Harry gasped as he pulled himself out of the image of a destroyed Godric's Hollow. He had never seen the house before. How did he remember a house that he had only spent the first year of his life in, a house that he couldn't ever remember seeing? It didn't make any sense for that image to come up into his mind. It only made him more nervous. The truth about what? Where was this voice coming from and why was he seeing things in his mind that he didn't remember?

He wondered if maybe it had something to do with his elemental powers. After all, he remembered James mentioning something about possible psychic abilities but he didn't think that that was his problem. He was positive that he wasn't a seer in anyway but that still didn't help him out with the mysterious voice.

"It's time. You know what you must do, it's your destiny."

Harry pulled himself out of his thoughts and banged on the door to Snape's office, determined to ignore the voice. All he could do was gulp when he saw the eyes of his professor narrow dangerously at the sight of him.

"Hello, sir."

"Potter, what was the last thing that I said to you?"

Harry gulped. He had never seen Snape look so angry. He was tempted to leave but the idea of that voice made him speak anyway. And what he spoke was probably not the smartest thing. "Sir, I know what you said, but really, don't you think that you're being a little irrational?"

"Irrational?" Snape snapped, grabbing Harry's arm and yanking him into his office. He slammed the door shut behind him. "You expect me to be rational when you invaded my own personal thoughts? Did it ever occur to you that I placed those memories in the pensive because they were private and that I didn't want anyone else viewing them?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, it did occur to me and I know that I was wrong but I was curious. And I'm sorry that I viewed them! But did it ever occur to you that I was shocked and appalled by what I saw?" Harry exclaimed. "I love my Da and I love the stories that I grew up listening to about their adventures. But I never knew that my Da could be so cruel! I've always been proud to be compared to him and I always ignored you when you told me that I was arrogant and conceited just like my father because I didn't believe you! I'm not arrogant or conceited and you would know that if you took the time for even a second to realize that I AM NOT MY FATHER! I am my own person! I'm nothing like my father other then by physical appearances, some Quidditch skills and maybe a few personality traits! I'm sorry that my Da treated you so badly when you were at Hogwarts but GET OVER IT! He says that he regrets his actions and I believe him. He even offered to come over here himself and officially apologize to you! But I told him not to because I figured that you would end up killing each other knowing how safe and sound both of your tempers are! Dumbledore asked you to teach me Occulmency but because of one stupid thing that I happened to see in a memory of what my father did to you when you were fifteen you get all bloody bent out of shape and refuse to teach me anymore! How bloody old are you? I can be more mature then that! GET OVER IT! And I need you to teach me Occulmency and you WILL continue to do so or I will go to Dumbledore and tell him about what an insufferable prat you are!"

Snape sneered. "You are extraordinarily like your father, Potter! How dare you talk to me that way?"

"I'll talk to you any bloody damn well I like! I'm tired of your petty insults and your attitude! And you will teach me Occulmency again!" Harry demanded, his eyes flashing in his anger.

Snape smirked. "Fine." Then before Harry could blink he had whipped out his wand and had it pointed at Harry. "Legilimens!"

Harry felt the instant pushing into his mind and he silently called forth his elementals, asking them to help keep his walls strong and to work on building a new one. He had never attempted that before. He felt the invasion pushing harder, trying to get in and he attacked. Harry wasn't sure if he had planned it or not but by using his mind he willed a hand to push Snape away and with a loud bang he felt Snape leave his mind and watched as he flew across the room, slamming back into a shelf full of jars that crashed open all over his office floor.

Snape stood up, his breathing heavy and his wand at his side. "Well, Potter, I'd say that our lessons have concluded. You've just mastered Occulmency."

"What?" Harry asked.

"You heard me. I attacked you and you were completely unprepared yet you pushed me out within seconds. There's nothing else that I can teach you. All you have left to do is practice. Now get the hell out of my office."

"I - really?" Harry asked, completely bewildered by the sudden change of events.

"Yes. Now get out of my office!" Snape demanded.

Harry nodded as he quietly stepped back out in the hall. He wasn't sure how to react. He had definitely thrown Snape from his mind almost on first contact. He had never done that before, at least not so quickly. He tried to think about what he had done differently and then he grinned. He had subconsciously called upon his elementals and had them not only protecting his mind but also working on building walls in his mind at the same time. Apparently that had made a difference. He grinned to himself as he realized that he had had his elementals doing two separate jobs in his mind at the same time, something that he had never accomplished before and he wondered just how his Da was going to react to that news. After all, James hadn't wanted him to start doing that until at least September. He hadn't thought that he was advanced enough.

With that on his mind, Harry pulled out his mirror and slid into a nearby broom closet. "Da."

A few seconds later James' face appeared in the mirror. "Hi, Harry, what's going on?"

Harry grinned. "I just talked to Snape."

"And?"

Harry's grin widened as he began to explain exactly what had happened in Snape's office. Once he was finished he chewed his bottom lip nervously for a moment. "So I sort of moved a little faster on the whole elemental magic thing."

James nodded. "Yeah, you really did. I think that I forgot how much more powerful you are then me. I never managed to do anything like that until I was seventeen. It's one of the reasons why I never thought of using my elementals against Voldemort because I hadn't really accomplished that magic yet."

"How old were you when you did fully accomplish the wandless and elemental skills?" Harry asked.

"Twenty-one, maybe twenty-two. I didn't practice too much though as I was busy caring for your mother which might be a reason why it took me so much longer. You're only fifteen and you're already almost two years ahead of me. That's amazing, Harry!" James replied.

Harry grinned. "So now what?"

"Now we up your lessons."

"Meaning?"

"Your elemental magic lessons are going to be a lot more intense."

"How intense?"

"Well, we're going to have you using all of your elementals at once. We'll start with bringing forth two like you used today and then we'll move on from there. Let's see how well you manage during Sunday's lesson and we'll go from there."

Harry nodded. "Sounds good. So I guess I'll see you on Sunday?"

James nodded. "Yeah. One more thing Harry, go talk to Dumbledore."

"About what?"

James sighed. "Let him test your mind just to see if Snape is positive that there's nothing left for him to teach you. I don't want you to get gypped."

"Alright, I'll see what I can do but wait - how am I supposed to do that? He's not even here anymore."

James sighed. "Damn, I forgot. Alright, never mind that, we'll work that out later."

Harry nodded. "Okay."

He smiled. "Good, see you later."

Harry watched as his father's face disappeared from the mirror before he shoved it back into his pocket and stepped out of the closet. He was just closing the door behind him when he heard a voice behind him call out his name. He turned around to see Neville coming towards him. "Hey, Nev."

Neville nodded. "Hi, Harry, why were you in a broom closet?"

Harry grinned. "I was er - thinking."

Neville nodded but he didn't look convinced. "Okay, anyway I was on my way to the library but I thought I'd tell you that Ginny's looking for you."

"Thanks."

He waved goodbye and headed up to the common room. Ginny met him at the door with a huge grin on her face. "Harry, you're never going to believe it! Well, you might considering it's the twins but you get my point!"

"Believe what?" He asked as he pulled her over to his favourite armchair and snuggled her down into his lap.

"Gred and Forge. They have some type of evil plot planned for Umbitch tomorrow and they plan on leaving Hogwarts."

"Leaving?"

Ginny nodded. "They won't tell me what it is but they said that they've had enough of Umbitch's crap and that they were only staying because of Dumbledore anyway. They bought a store in Diagon Alley to sell WWW products and they plan on just opening shop. Mum's going to have a fit!"

Harry stared down at Ginny in shock. "So they're just going to drop out? Your mum is going to have a fit!"

"Did you say that Fred and George are leaving?" Angelina asked from behind them.

Ginny turned around to look over at her captain and nodded. "Yes, they plan too."

Angelina nodded. "Nice of them to tell me."

Harry gave Ginny a puzzled look as Angelina stomped off. "What was that about?"

Ginny sighed. "Fred and Angelina have sort of been dating off and on since the Yule Ball. I hope Fred smartens up. Angie's in love with him and I know he loves her. He'll be the world's biggest idiot if he blows it." She explained. "I'm so curious now about tomorrow. And it turns out that Lee is the culprit for the nifflers in Umbitch's office."

"Ah, good idea really. They attack her so bloody badly because of those ugly rings she wears on her pudgy little fingers." Harry replied.

Ginny laughed and kissed his cheek. "And I don't feel even a little bit sorry for her."

Harry nodded and was just about to tell her about his meeting with Snape when the voice came again. "It's time. Why aren't you curious? Don't you want to know? It is your destiny to die. It was prophesized so."

"Harry?" Ginny asked, waving her hand in front of his face. His face had hardened at the first sound of the voice and he was now staring into space with a weird look on his face. "Are you alright?"

He shook his head and smiled at her, wondering briefly why the voice was still there. "Yeah, I'm fine, sorry. Hey, I don't have to take Occulmency anymore."

She glanced at him with a disbelieving look on her face but she obviously decided not to comment. "Why not?"

He explained to her about everything that happened, including his elementals. "So now my lessons are supposed to get a bit better or more intense according to Da."

She grinned. "That is so neat. I'm so proud of you." She kissed him softly and he grinned.

"Well, I'm proud of you too."

She laughed as she slipped her arms around his neck. "Oh what for?"

He shrugged. "For being you." He leaned down to capture her lips in his just as Ron called his name. "Mate, your killing me here."

Ron rolled his eyes. "You can stop snogging my sister for two bloody seconds. I was wondering if you wanted to work on the animagus tonight. Hermione and I are kind of in the mood."

Harry shrugged and glanced at Ginny. "What do you think?"

"I think it's a good idea. Let's go!"

*********

The animagus lessons did go very well. Ginny managed to get a bit of reddish gold tint around her neck and Ron and Hermione managed to change their right hands. The three of them were progressing very well.

Fred and George's surprise turned out to be quite a surprise. They had made a portable swamp and dropped it into the corridor with the statue of Gregory the Smarmy. Umbridge completely flipped out and started yelling at them and telling them that they would be expelled. The two of them had just grinned at each other, summoned their brooms and asked Peeves to give her hell from them. The poltergeist, for the first time in history, bowed to them and promised to do as they asked. Then they had flown out of the school without turning back.

Everyone in school was talking about their great escape. People were constantly wishing that they could do the same thing. Peeves took their advice to heart and was constantly causing trouble for Umbridge and Filch. And the best part was that Umbridge couldn't get rid of the swamp. Harry figured Flitwick could do it in a second but the teachers were enjoying watching her squirm just as much as the students were. It was turning out to be quite an interesting year.

The last Quidditch match of the year turned out to be Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw and they were dreading it. But it turned out that Harry and Hermione never got to watch what happened to be a really good game. Hagrid had approached them and finally revealed his secret over why he had been so late coming back and why he was always injured. His secret was named Grawp and he was apparently his baby brother - though a fully grown giant. Being Hagrid he had decided to try to teach him English and he was positive that he was a very friendly guy. Harry and Hermione were forced to disagree. The situation turned out to be a bit worse when the centaurs showed up and told them that they were no longer welcome in the forest. Hagrid was on their bad side for saving Firenze's life.

When they returned to the common room they were surprised to learn that Gryffindor had won the match and that Ron had been amazing. He was being viewed as a kind of hero. Once the celebrations died down, they told Ron and Ginny all about Grawp. Ron was horrified and couldn't quite get past the idea that there was giant who was Hagrid's little brother living in the Forbidden Forest.

Harry's elemental lessons picked up quickly as James had him experimenting with using all of his elementals at once and having them do completely different tasks. At first he had only been able to control two at a time but as the weeks wore on he was able to add to it and his control increased on them. His powers were growing and James was thoroughly impressed with him. Lessons were over now until the summer because James wanted him to study for his O.W.L.s.

O.W.L.s were fast approaching and when they finally did arrive, people were getting pretty stressed out. Harry's first exam was Charms and it started out pretty well. In fact, he thought that he was doing pretty well until the Astronomy part of his Divination exam. The exam was interrupted by Umbridge and some ministry officials going down to Hagrid's cabin to try to arrest him. Hagrid fought them off and when McGonagall tried to help she took four stunners to the chest and had to be brought to St. Mungo's. Hagrid escaped and Harry assumed that he went to join Dumbledore somewhere.

The school was very subdued after the attack and Harry buried himself in studying to try to keep his mind off of everything. His last exam was History of Magic and he had just finished his exam when he found himself getting drowsy and he drifted off. He was suddenly walking in the corridor again, doors were opening and he was running now, through the circular room, the long rectangular room full of an odd mechanical clicking, through the cathedral-sized Hall full off shelves with glass spheres and then he was at row number ninety-seven and turning left. At the end of the row there was shadowy image of a man and as Harry moved closer he pointed his wand at the shelf and the voice came again:

"Choose! It's time for the truth! Don't you want to know why?"

The man disappeared and an image of Godric's Hollow destroyed appeared in his mind and then he could see himself standing in a broken crib crying as Lily Potter lay like death on the floor beside him. He woke up, gasping awake and causing the examiner to come over and see if he was alright. He merely nodded, handed in his exam and asked to go to the hospital wing. But he didn't go to the hospital wing; instead he headed into Umbridge's office, not caring if she was in there or not. He needed to make a floo call immediately and he didn't care what the consequences were.

Harry fell to his knees in front of her fire and threw the powder in before calling out Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. He felt the familiar spinning sensation before he found his head in the kitchen and facing Dobby.

"Dobby, where's Dumbledore?"

Dobby nodded. "He is here in the living room, si,r in a meeting."

"I need to talk to him, now!" Harry demanded, figuring that it was blind luck that Dumbledore just happened to be there.

Dobby nodded and hurried out of the room. A few minutes later, Dumbledore came in behind him.

"Harry, this is an odd surprise. What can I do for you and how did you know I would be here?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry shrugged. "I didn't know I just took a wild guess and I have something to ask of you. What's in the Department of Mysteries and how does it relate to how I got my scar?"

Dumbledore looked quite taken aback by the question. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me, sir. I want to know."

Dumbledore sighed. "Harry, there's nothing and even if there was you're still too young to understand. I'm sorry."

"You're not sorry! And what are you keeping from me? The truth about what?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "Now, is not the time, Harry."

"Yeah well I think now is the time! These dreams about that corridor are getting stronger. There's something there that will tell me the truth and I know that you know what that truth is!"

"Harry, this isn't the time to go into this. You're too young to understand the truth and I want you to forget about that corridor."

Harry glared at Dumbledore. "I can't just forget the corridor when it haunts me every damn minute. There's a voice in my head ... it's telling me to go there and I know it's a trap but ... I want to know the truth! I want to know, why did Voldemort try to kill me as a baby?"

Dumbledore's eyes looked sad for a minute. "Harry, forget the corridor. Don't listen to the voice. You're too young to know the truth."

Harry could feel the anger welling up inside of him. "Why won't you tell me the truth? I want to know why -"

His speech was interrupted by someone pulling on his shoulders and yanking him back to Umbridge's office. He turned around and found himself face to face with the toad herself.

"And just what do you think you're doing, Mr. Potter?" She asked in her falsely sweet voice.

"Using your floo and I wasn't finished."

She glared at him. "Oh, I think that you were more then finished. What right do you have to break into my office like that?"

He shrugged. "Well, since you've made it so that we can't use our own flooes I wasn't exactly left with choices now, was I?"

Her eyes narrowed and she snapped her fingers impatiently. The door opened and her Inquisitorial Squad came in each holding someone that Harry didn't expect. Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna, and Neville were all being held tightly in their grasps.

"What are you doing with them?"

Umbridge smiled. "Well, funny thing, you see. I noticed them walking the halls and I have Sensory charms in my office to know who comes in now and I knew it was you. So I thought, what better way to make my point then to keep someone you hold dear, close by, and lookie lookie what I found."

Harry glared at her. "Let them go! They weren't doing anything! They didn't even know that I was coming here."

Umbridge grinned. "Oh, I don't think so. Now, why don't you tell me who you were talking to in that fire?"

"That's none of your business, it was a private call."

She smirked and turned to Malfoy. "Draco, kindly go get Professor Snape for me." Malfoy nodded and hurried out of the room and Umbridge turned back to Harry. "I have ways of getting you to talk, you know."

"I'd like to see you try."

They stayed there, glaring at each other until Snape came in a few minutes later.

"Yes, Dolores?"

Umbridge smiled sweetly. "Severus, kindly fetch me your strongest truth potion."

Snape shook his head. "You didn't use all of the bottle that I gave you, did you? You only needed a few drops."

"Yes, well, I need more."

Snape nodded. "Alright, well I can make more, it'll take about a month and -"

"A month! You stupid man! Can't you see that I need it right now! I just caught Potter using my fire to speak to someone!"

Snape smirked. "Oh really? Potter breaking the rules, now that's a surprise."

Harry sneered. "I needed to know the truth about the dream with the doors but some people don't find it fit to tell me." He replied, hoping Snape would remember his reoccurring dream about the corridor and understand who he had been trying to reach.

Snape shrugged. "Not my problem, Potter." He turned on his heel and left and Umbridge let out a little shrieking noise of frustration.

"Fine! I'll do this my own way!" She pulled out her wand, which was surprisingly short, and pointed it at Harry. "You tell me what I want to know or I'll use the Cruciatus on you."

"NO!" Hermione screamed. "You can't! That's against the law!"

Umbridge shrugged. "Well, I won't be caught now, will I?" She turned back to Harry. "Are you going to tell me?"

"Nope."

Umbridge glared at him and raised her wand. "Cru -"

"WAIT!" Hermione shrieked. "I'll tell you!"

Umbridge grinned. "Good girl."

The next thing that came out of Hermione's mouth surprised Harry to no end. She made up this cock and bull story about Dumbledore having them make some type of weapon and that it was now finished and it was Harry's job to try to contact Dumbledore but they didn't know where he was. The sad part was that Umbitch bought it.

The next thing he knew, Harry found himself heading into the Forbidden Forest with Hermione and Umbitch. He had no idea where he was going but apparently Hermione knew because she kept going deeper and deeper. Then the centaurs came along with Grawp. It was a hectic moment but basically, Umbitch was carried away by centaurs as Grawp chased the centaurs away and Harry and Hermione managed to escape to the edge of the forest where they found some Thestrals sniffing them with excitement as they were covered in blood because of Grawp.

Hermione grabbed him and shoved him back against a tree. "Now what the hell is really going on, Harry?"

Harry sighed. "I have to go to the Department of Mysteries."

"Why?"

"Because the truth about everything is there, about my scar, about why I have it, it's there and since Dumbledore doesn't feel it's fit to tell me anything then I'll go to the ministry and find out myself. Dumbledore knows but he won't tell me." He explained.

Hermione stared at him surprise. "Harry, how do you know that this is there?"

"Because a voice in my head told me so Hermione and I just realized who that voice is." Harry replied, almost to himself.

"Who? A voice in your head, Harry? I highly doubt that that's the best thing to listen to."

"It's Voldemort! He can talk in my mind and I can't block him out because he's connected through my scar! He knows the truth! And I'm going to find out what it is." Harry replied stubbornly.

Hermione shook her head, biting her lip nervously. "You can't, Harry! Can't you see; you'll be walking right into a trap?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't care anymore, Hermione. No one wants to tell the truth and there's something big there, something that explains everything. Like why he wanted to kill me as a baby? And why I didn't die? I need to know and I'm going and there's nothing that you can do to stop me."

"But I suppose that you could use back up." Ron replied casually as he leaned back against a tree nearby.

"Ron! How did you guys get down here?" Harry asked as he looked from Ron to Ginny to Neville to Luna.

Ron grinned. "Well, Ginny elbowed Draco in the gut and then used her bat bogeys and the next thing I knew we were cursing everyone and we decided to follow you two. So, you're going to find out the truth, Harry, and I'm coming with you."

Harry shook his head. "I don't think so. Like Hermione said, I'm walking into a trap and I know it! But I am not going to bring others into it with me! It's me that Voldemort wants!"

Ginny grabbed his hand. "I'd like to see you stop us from going. We'll just follow you. There's no way that were letting you do this by yourself."

Harry smirked. "And there's no way that I'm letting you come."

"What was the DA then?" Neville asked. "Some kind of joke?"

"No, of course not!"

"Then why teach us how to defend ourselves and then not allow us to use our skills?" Luna asked.

Harry groaned. "This is not the time! Voldemort wants to kill me! And he - ahh!" He moaned, slamming his hand over his scar. An image flashed through his brain of the Marauders, the three of them were chained to the wall and Voldemort was torturing them with the Cruciatus. Harry paled as he came back to himself and even as he spoke he knew it was a trap, a mirage that hadn't been real. "He has the Marauders."

"What?" Hermione asked.

"There's no time to talk. I have to go and you five are not coming. End of story."

Ginny smirked. "Whatever, we'll just wait for more Thestrals; after all, Hagrid said that they give awesome directions."

Neville nodded. "Yeah and we'll just tell them to find you."

Harry ignored them as he climbed onto the back of a nearby Thestral. "I said no. You're not risking you life. I need to save my da and my uncles and I need to know the truth."

He took off into the air without a backwards glance at his friends. He arrived at the ministry quickly and when he landed he groaned out loud when he saw Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Luna land beside him.

"What did I say? This is a trap! A life or death situation! What part of that don't you understand?" He demanded.

Ginny grabbed his hand in hers. "What part of we're your friends and we're not letting you do this alone don't you understand?" She stood on her toes and kissed him softly. "I love you and I'm not going to let you walk in there alone. Now let's go."

Harry sighed and as he led them into the ministry he felt like he was leading them towards death. Even as they found their way into the Department of Mysteries Harry had a feeling that the last image he had saw was a fake but his fear that it wasn't was stronger then his logic at the moment. They found the room exactly like in Harry's dream and after a few mishaps they managed to get to the end of row ninety-seven and the voice returned.

"Learn the truth!"

"There's nothing here, Harry." Hermione replied.

Harry nodded. "There is, we just have to find it."

"Hey, there's something here with your name on it," Ron replied as he pointed up at the shelf above Harry's head.

Harry glanced up to where Ron was pointing and found the small orb that read:

S.P.T. to A.P.W.B.D.
Dark Lord
and
Harry Potter (?)

He reached up to touch it and Hermione shook her head furiously. "Harry, I don't think that you should touch that!"

Harry shrugged. "It has my name on it."

He picked the orb up and it felt warm in his hands. He wondered if it really contained the truth that he was desperate to hear. Loud popping noises surrounded them and when they turned around they found themselves face to face with some Death Eaters that conveniently held Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange.

Malfoy smirked. "Well, well, well, the Dark Lord's always right."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"That he knew you would come and retrieve the prophecy for him."

"Prophecy?" Harry asked. "Is that what this is? So why does he want it?"

Bellatrix let out a fake laugh. "Please, tell me you're jesting!"

"Nope, why does he want it?"

"That Potter, is none of your business!" Malfoy sneered.

The next bit happened so quickly that it was an escape and nothing more. Harry urged his friends to break the orbs around them as they made a run for it after Ginny was threatened. The Death Eaters - Malfoy, Bellatrix, Nott, Rudolphus, Jugson, Crabbe, Goyle, Rabastan, Dolohov, Macnair, Avery, Rookwood, and Mulciber split up around them as the six of them tried to make a run for it.

Spells were flying all over the place as they tried to run and escape from the Death Eaters' grasp and to escape before anyone got seriously hurt. Hermione was injured and knocked unconscious and Neville's wand broke and Harry began to panic. He had led his friends into this trap because of his own stupid need to know the truth. Curiousity killed the cat so the muggles always said. He stunned the Death Eaters coming at him and made a run for it, holding the prophecy tightly in his hands with Neville on his heels. Then Bellatrix grabbed Neville by the robes.

"Give me the prophecy, Potter, or I'll torture your friend here."

Harry gulped as she kept her wand pointed at his neck. He couldn't risk his friend and he knew it.

"Don't do it, Harry!" Neville exclaimed. "I'm not worth it!"

Harry shook his head. He slowly began to hand over the prophecy when the door burst open and Order members barged in - Kingsley, Tonks, Moody, Sirius, Remus, James, and Lexy. They began to stun Death Eaters at random and Neville managed to escape in the chaos. Duels erupted all over the place between the adults as Harry held the prophecy closer.

James turned to look at him when he stunned Malfoy. "Run! Get out of here, Harry!"

Harry nodded and he turned to escape. Spells flew his way and he dodged and ducked out of the way. Malfoy charged at him and Harry tossed the prophecy to Neville as Sirius came and rammed into Dolohov, finding himself involved in another full out duel. Harry hurried over to Neville and tried to pull him away from the battle. Neville slipped the prophecy into his pocket just as his robes broke open. He let out a gasp as it fell to ground, shattering into hundreds of pieces as a shadowy figure in flowing robes rose from the pieces, but what she said they didn't know as it was too loud.

"Harry, I'm so sorry."

Harry shook his head. "No Nev, it's alright. It was stupid to come here anyway. Come on, let's go!"

Just as they were heading towards the door, it flew open and Dumbledore stepped into the room, power was radiating from his body and as soon as the Death Eaters saw him they began to run. Dumbledore used a spell to hold them all in one circle so that they couldn't apparate. Only Bellatrix was still there, she was duelling heavily with Sirius as he laughed and dodged her curses. Harry watched, as she became more and more angry because she wasn't hitting him and then a jet of purple light shot out of her wand and smacked him in the chest. He looked surprised for a moment and then he stumbled back. Lexy jumped to her feet.

"Sirius!"

He grinned at her and then he stumbled and fell behind into the black veil as Lexy jumped towards him, grabbing his arm, a jet of red light hitting her leg as the two of them tangled together and fell into the veil.

Harry watched, his eyes darting back and forth as he waited for them to come out. But minutes passed and there was nothing.

"Sirius!" Harry yelled.

James and Remus both grabbed Harry's arm. "They're gone, Harry."

"NO!"

James nodded, tears in his eyes. "That's the Veil of Death and when you fall into it, you pass into the underworld and once you're there, you don't come back. They're gone."

"I don't believe you! Sirius and Lexy aren't dead! No!"

Remus nodded as he too wiped tears from his eyes. "They're gone. We were too late. Sirius and Lexy are dead."