Two Souls

Chapter Fifty Nine

"Take it for me. . . . Lift it down, now. . . . I cannot touch it . . . but you can. . . ."

The black shape upon the floor shifted a little. Harry saw a long- fingered white hand clutching a wand rise on the end of his own arm . . . heard the high, cold voice say, "Crucio!"

The man on the floor let out a scream of pain, attempted to stand but fell back, writhing. He raised his wand, the curse lifted, and the figure groaned and became motionless.

"Lord Voldemort is waiting. . . ."

Very slowly, his arms trembling, the man on the ground raised his shoulders a few inches and lifted his head. His face was bloodstained and gaunt, twisted in pain yet rigid with defiance. . . .

"You'll have to kill me," whispered Sirius.

"Undoubtedly I shall in the end," said the cold voice. "But you will fetch it for me first, Black. . . . You think you have felt pain thus far?

Think again. . . . We have hours ahead of us and nobody to hear you scream. . . ."

I wake up with a jerk, my face covered in tears. My body aches everywhere and I could barely move without wincing. A fifth year Ravenclaw whose name I don't know holds me up, preventing me from collapsing to the ground.

"It's the pressure of examinations!" One of the Professors who was judging the OWLs states. Today is the morning of the written section of my History of Magic exam — the last exam I needed to take before I would be sent home.

"Are you alright?" The Ravenclaw boy asks me.

I nod, wriggling out of his grip. "Where's Harry?"

"He's taking his exam — why?" The boy responds.

I don't answer — instead I sprint across the Great Hall where I see Harry taking his exam with Professor Tofty. "Harry!" I cry.

Both Harry and the Professor turn to me. "It's Sirius —" I start.

Harry instantly stands up, seeing my tear streaked face. "I've got to go. Score my exam without the final question," Harry tells the Professor who huffs.

He grabs my hand and pulls me into the boy's bathroom. I'm too busy trying to control my emotions that I don't even comment about the bathroom.

"Harry — Voldemort is — Sirius — I!" I break. "Where's McGonagall?" I ask him desperately.

Harry sighs. "She's in St. Mungo's. Had four stunning spells to her chest last night after something with Hagrid. And Dumbledore isn't here either . . .," He says panicked.

"They're in row ninety seven . . .," I say, remembering the surroundings of my vision.

"The Department of Mysteries!" Harry says. "We've got to get Ron and Hermione now!"

The two of us sprint down the corridor and burst into the Gryffindor common room. "Voldemort's got Sirius," I tell them urgently. From the look on their faces, they believe me from the tears on my face.

"What? How d'you —"

"I saw it. Just now. During the exam," I say hastily. "We've got to help him, now! He's in the Department of Mysteries! How are we going to get there?"

"G-Get there?" Hermione asks.

"To the Department of Mysteries, so we can rescue Sirius!" I tell Hermione and Ron.

"Amelia. . . think about this. The Ministry of Magic must be full of workers . . . How would Voldemort and Sirius have got in without being seen? Amelia . . . they're probably the two most wanted wizards in the world. . . You think they could get into a building full of Aurors undetected?" Ron asks me gently, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Maybe he used an Invisibility Cloak," Harry says.

"The Department of Mysteries have always been empty when I —"

"You've never actually been there, Amelia," Hermione says softly. "It's a dream."

"It's not a dream!" I argue. "How do you explain how I knew about Ron's dad? I'm not lying!"

"She has a point," Ron says, paling.

"What if he's just trying to lure you and Harry?" Hermione asks. "She knows how close you two are with Sirius," She says. I don't really think I'm super close with Sirius, but we definitely have built a relationship.

"I'VE SEEN IT!" I yell.

"What's going on?" Ginny asks curiously, followed by Luna. "Everyone can hear you yelling."

"Never you mind," Harry says roughly.

"I was only wondering whether I could help, no need to take that tone with me," Ginny says.

"Well, you can't," Harry says shortly.

"You're being rather rude," Luna says serenely.

"Wait . . . Harry they can help," I say. "We can check if Sirius is at home before we go charging off to London! Remember that night when I walked in on you using the fire to contact Sirius? Let's do that again. Only this time, we can have Ginny and Luna distract Umbridge," I say quickly.

"Sirius is being tortured NOW!" Harry argues. "We haven't got time to waste —"

"But if this is a trick of V-Voldemort's," Ron starts, "Harry you know we have to!"

"Right . . .," Hermione says. "What if Luna and Ginny fetch Umbridge and send her in the wrong direction? You two can say Peeves is up to something awful as usual," She says.

"I'll do it," Ron volunteers. "I'll tell her Peeves is smashing up the Transfiguration department or something, it's miles away from her office. Come to think of it, I could probably persuade Peeves to do it if he's on the way . . . "

"Luna and I can stand at either end of the corridor," Ginny says. "We can warn people not to go down there because someone's let off a load of Garroting Gas," She says.

Hermione nods. "Harry and I can go under the invisibility cloak and talk to Sirius . . . er — Amelia, I don't think there's room for the three of us," She adds, looking a bit guilty in the face.

"You two can do that, don't worry," I order. "Er — I have some unfinished business to take care of. Let's all meet back here in ten minutes, okay?"

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Luna, and Ginny nod tentatively, accepting their mission. I, however, sprint down the corridor and towards the dungeons determined to find a specific blonde haired Slytherin.

I need to tell Draco about the prophecy.

—

:O DRACO IS FINDING OUT ABOUT THE PROPHECY NEXT CHAPTER !!!!!!