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Black shapes were emerging out of thin air all around them, blocking their way left and right; eyes glinted through slits in hoods, a dozen lit wand tips were pointing directly at their hearts. Ginny gave a gasp of horror.

"To me, Potter, Wood," repeated the drawling voice of Lucius Malfoy as he held out his hand, palm up. Blair's insides plummeted sickeningly. They were trapped and outnumbered two to one.

"To me," said Malfoy yet again.

"Where's Sirius?" Blair said.

Several of the Death Eaters laughed. A harsh female voice from the midst of the shadowy figures to Harry's left said triumphantly, "The Dark Lord always knows!"

"Always," echoed Malfoy softly. "Now, give me the prophecies."

"I want to know where Sirius is!" Harry said firmly.

"I want to know where Sirius is!" mimicked the woman to his left. She and her fellow Death Eaters had closed in so that they were mere feet away from Blair and the others, the light from their wands dazzling Blair's eyes. Blair glared at the woman. It was Bellatrix Lestrange.

"You've got him," said Blair, ignoring the rising panic in her chest, the dread she had been fighting since they had first entered the ninety-seventh row. "He's here. I know he is."

"The little babies woke up fwightened and fort what it dweamed was twoo," said Bellatrix in a horrible, mock-baby voice.

Blair felt Ron stir behind her. "Don't do anything," she muttered. "Not yet —"

Bellatrix let out a raucous scream of laughter. "You hear her? You hear her? Giving instructions to the other children as though she thinks of fighting us!"

"Oh, you don't know Potter and Wood as I do, Bellatrix," said Malfoy softly. "They have a great weakness for heroics; the Dark Lord understands this about them. Now give us the prophecies, Potter, Wood."

"I know Sirius is here," said Harry, trying to keep his voice calm. "I know you've got him!" More of the Death Eaters laughed, though Bellatrix Lestrange still laughed loudest of all.

"It's time you learned the difference between life and dreams," said Malfoy. "Now give us the prophecies, or we start using wands."

"Go on, then," said Harry, raising his own wand to chest height while Blair did the same. As they did so, the five wands of Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny, and Luna rose on either side of them. The knot in Blair's stomach tightened. If Sirius really was not here, she had led her friends to their deaths for no reason at all... But the Death Eaters did not strike.

"Hand over the prophecies and no one need get hurt," said Malfoy coolly. It was Blair and Harry's turns to laugh.

"Yeah, right!" Harry said. "We give you these — prophecies, is it? And you'll just let us skip off home, will you?" The words were hardly out of his mouth when Bellatrix shrieked, "Accio Proph —"

Blair and Harry were just ready for her. They shouted "Protego!" before she had finished her spell.

"Oh, they know how to play, little bitty baby Potter and Wood," she said, her mad eyes staring through the slits in her hood. "Very well, then —"

"I TOLD YOU, NO!" Lucius Malfoy roared at the woman. "If you smash it — !" Blair's mind was racing. The Death Eaters wanted the spheres in their hands. She had no interest in it. She just wanted to get them all out of this alive, make sure that none of them paid a terrible price for her stupidity...

The woman stepped forward, away from her fellows, and pulled off her hood. Azkaban had hollowed Bellatrix Lestrange's face, making it gaunt and skull-like, but it was alive with a feverish, fanatical glow. "You need more persuasion?" she said, her chest rising and falling rapidly. "Very well — take the smallest one," she ordered the Death Eaters beside her. "Let them watch while we torture the little girl. I'll do it."

"No," said Neville in a dangerous tone. From the corner of her eye, Blair saw him hold Ginny's hand tight and she saw Ginny smile up at him with adoration. She stepped sideways so that she was right in front of her, the prophecy held up to her chest. "You'll have to smash this if you want to attack any of us," she told Bellatrix. "I don't think your boss will be too pleased if you come back without it, will he?" Bellatrix did not move; she merely stared at her, the tip of her tongue moistening her thin mouth.

"So," said Harry, "what kind of prophecies are we talking about anyway?" Blair nodded subtly. They had to keep them talking. She too racked her brain, thinking hard about ways to get out of this as she felt Neville's arm shaking against hers.

"What kind of prophecies?" repeated Bellatrix, the grin fading from her face. "You jest, Harry Potter."

"Nope, not jesting," said Harry, his eyes flicking from Death Eater to Death Eater. "How come Voldemort wants it?"

Several of the Death Eaters let out low hisses. "You dare speak his name?" whispered Bellatrix.

Blair raised an eyebrow and tightened her grip on the glass ball. "Why? Want me to say it as well? Vol—"

"Shut your mouths!" Bellatrix shrieked. "You dare speak his name with your unworthy lips, you dare besmirch it with your half-blood's tongues, you dare —"

"Did you know he's a half-blood too?" said Blair recklessly. "Voldemort? Yeah, his mother was a witch but his dad was a Muggle — or has he been telling you lot he's pureblood?"

"STUPEF —"

"NO!" A jet of red light had shot from the end of Bellatrix Lestrange's wand, but Malfoy had deflected it just as Blair conjured a big shield around them. His spell caused hers to hit the shelf a foot to the left of Blair and several of the glass orbs there shattered. The Death Eaters looked at Blair surprised while her own friends were still watching them warily.

Two figures, pearly white as ghosts, fluid as smoke, unfurled themselves from the fragments of broken glass upon the floor and each began shouts. "... at the Solstice will come a new..." said the figure of an old, bearded man.

"DO NOT ATTACK! WE NEED THE PROPHECIES!"

"She dared — she dares —" shrieked Bellatrix incoherently. "— She stands there — filthy half-blood —"

"WAIT UNTIL WE'VE GOT THE PROPHECIES!" bawled Malfoy.

"... and none will come after..." said the figure of a young woman. The two figures that had burst from the shattered spheres had melted into thin air. Nothing remained of them or their erstwhile homes but fragments of glass upon the floor. They had, however, given Blair an idea. The problem was going to be conveying it to the others.

Blair nudged Harry's foot while looking at Malfoy. "You haven't told is what's so special about this prophecies we're supposed to be handing over," she said, playing for time. When she saw Harry look down, Blair pointed her foot towards the prophecies. Harry nodded subtly and Blair trusted him to convey the message as she distracted them.

"Do not play games with us, Wood," said Malfoy.

"I'm not playing games," said Blair, half her mind on the conversation, half her mind on Harry. A sharp intake of breath behind Blair told her Harry had found Hermione.

"What?" Hermione whispered.

"Dumbledore never told you that the reason you two bear those scars was hidden in the bowels of the Department of Mysteries? That the reason why the Dark Lord wants you, Wood, is here?" said Malfoy sneeringly.

"I — what?" said Harry. "What about our scars?"

"What?" whispered Hermione more urgently behind them.

"Can this be?" said Malfoy, sounding maliciously delighted; some of the Death Eaters were laughing again, and under cover of their laughter, Blair hissed to Hermione, moving her lips as little as possible, "Smash shelves —"

"Dumbledore never told you?" Malfoy repeated. "Well, this explains why you didn't come earlier, Potter, Wood, the Dark Lord wondered why —"

"— when I say go —"

"— you didn't come running when he showed you two the place where it was hidden in your dreams. He thought natural curiosity would make you want to hear the exact wording..."

"Did he?" said Harry. Behind her, Blair felt rather than heard Hermione passing their message to the others and she sought to keep talking, to distract the Death Eaters.

"So he wanted us to come and get it, did he? Why?" Blair asked.

"Why?" Malfoy sounded incredulously delighted. "Because the only people who are permitted to retrieve a prophecy from the Department of Mysteries, Wood, are those about whom it was made, as the Dark Lord discovered when he attempted to use others to steal it for him."

"And why did he want to steal the prophecies about us?"

"About three of you, Potter, about three of you... Haven't you ever wondered why the Dark Lord tried to kill you as a baby? Haven't you wondered why the Dark Lord wanted you now, Wood?"

Blair stared into the slitted eyeholes through which Malfoy's gray eyes were gleaming. Was this prophecy the reason Blair and Harry's parents had died, the reason they carried their lightning-bolt scars? Was the answer to all of this clutched in their hands?

"Someone made a prophecy about Voldemort, Blair and me?" Harry said quietly, gazing at Lucius Malfoy, his fingers tightening over the warm glass sphere in his hand. "And he's made us come and get it for him? Why couldn't he come and get it himself?"

"Get it himself?" shrieked Bellatrix on a cackle of mad laughter. "The Dark Lord, walk into the Ministry of Magic, when they are so sweetly ignoring his return? The Dark Lord, reveal himself to the Aurors, when at the moment they are wasting their time on my dear cousin?"

"So he's got you doing his dirty work for him, has he?" said Blair. "Like he tried to get Sturgis to steal it — and Bode?"

"Very good, Wood, very good..." said Malfoy slowly. "But the Dark Lord knows you are not unintell —"

"NOW!" yelled Blair.

Six different voices along with hers bellowed "REDUCTO!" Seven curses flew in seven different directions and the shelves opposite them exploded as they hit. The towering structure swayed as a hundred glass spheres burst apart, pearly-white figures unfurled into the air and floated there, their voices echoing from who knew what long-dead past amid the torrent of crashing glass and splintered wood now raining down upon the floor —

"RUN!" Harry yelled, and as the shelves swayed precariously and more glass spheres began to pour from above. Harry gripped her hand tight while Blair seized a handful of Hermione's robes and dragged her forward, one arm over her head as chunks of shelf and shards of glass thundered down upon them.

A Death Eater lunged forward through the cloud of dust and Blair elbowed him hard in the masked face. They were all yelling, there were cries of pain, thunderous crashes as the shelves collapsed upon themselves, weirdly echoing fragments of the Seers unleashed from their spheres —

Blair found the way ahead clear and saw Ron, Ginny, and Luna sprint past her, their arms over their heads. Something heavy struck her on the side of the face but she merely ducked her head and sprinted onward; a hand caught Harry by the shoulder. Blair pointed her wand and with Hermione, she shouted, "Stupefy!" as they stunned the Death Eater.

They were at the end of row ninety-seven; Blair turned right and began to sprint in earnest. She could hear footsteps right behind her and Hermione's voice urging Neville on. The door through which they had come was ajar straight ahead, Blair could see the glittering light of the bell jar, she pelted through it, the prophecy still clutched tight and safe in her hand, waited for the others to hurtle over the threshold before slamming the door behind them —

"Colloportus!" gasped Hermione and the door sealed itself with an odd squelching noise.

"Where — where are the others?" gasped Harry. Blair had thought that Ron, Luna, and Ginny had been ahead of them, that they would be waiting in this room, but there was nobody there.

"They must have gone the wrong way!" whispered Hermione, terror in her face.

"Listen!" whispered Neville.

Footsteps and shouts echoed from behind the door they had just sealed. Blair put her ear close to the door to listen and heard Lucius Malfoy roar: "Leave Nott, leave him, I say, the Dark Lord will not care for Nott's injuries as much as losing those prophecies — Jugson, come back here, we need to organize! We'll split into pairs and search, and don't forget, be gentle with Potter and Wood until we've got the prophecies, you can kill the others if necessary — Bellatrix, Rodolphus, you take the left, Crabbe, Rabastan, go right — Jugson, Dolohov, the door straight ahead — Macnair and Avery, through here — Rookwood, over there — Mulciber, come with me!"

"What do we do?" Hermione asked Blair and Harry, trembling from head to foot.

"Well, we don't stand here waiting for them to find us, for a start," said Blair. "Let's get away from this door..." They ran, quietly as they could, past the shimmering bell jar where the tiny egg was hatching and unhatching, toward the exit into the circular hallway at the far end of the room. They were almost there when Blair heard something large and heavy collide with the door Hermione had charmed shut.

"Stand aside!" said a rough voice. "Alohomora!" As the door flew open, Blair, Harry, Hermione, and Neville dived under desks. They could see the bottom of the two Death Eaters' robes drawing nearer, their feet moving rapidly.

"They might've run straight through to the hall," said the rough voice.

"Check under the desks," said another. 

Blair heard Harry's voice shout, "STUPEFY!"

A jet of red light hit the nearest Death Eater; he fell backward into a grandfather clock and knocked it over. The second Death Eater, however, had leapt aside to avoid Harry's spell and now pointed his own wand at Hermione, who had crawled out from under the desk to get a better aim. "Avada —"

Blair launched herself across the floor and grabbed the Death Eater around the knees, causing him to topple and his aim to go awry. Neville overturned his desk in his anxiety to help; pointing his wand wildly at the struggling pair he cried, "EXPELLIARMUS !"

Both Blair's and the Death Eater's wands flew out of their hands and soared back toward the entrance to the Hall of Prophecy; both scrambled to their feet and charged after them, the Death Eater in front and Blair hot on his heels, Neville bringing up the rear, plainly horrorstruck at what he had done.

"Get out of the way, Blair!" yelled Neville, clearly determined to repair the damage.

Blair flung herself sideways as Neville took aim again and shouted, "STUPEFY !"

The jet of red light flew right over the Death Eater's shoulder and hit a glass-fronted cabinet on the wall full of variously shaped hourglasses. The cabinet fell to the floor and burst apart, glass flying everywhere, then sprang back up onto the wall, fully mended, then fell down again, and shattered —

The Death Eater had snatched up his wand, which lay on the floor beside the glittering bell jar. Blair ducked down behind another desk as the man turned — his mask had slipped so that he could not see, he ripped it off with his free hand and shouted, "STUP —"

"STUPEFY !" screamed Harry and Hermione, who had just caught up with them. The jet of red light hit the Death Eater in the middle of his chest; he froze, his arm still raised, his wand fell to the floor with a clatter and he collapsed backward toward the bell jar.

Blair expected to hear a clunk, for the man to hit solid glass and slide off the jar onto the floor, but instead, his head sank through the surface of the bell jar as though it was nothing but a soap bubble and he came to rest, sprawled on his back on the table, with his head lying inside the jar full of glittering wind.

"Accio Wand!" cried Hermione. Blair's wand flew from a dark corner into her hand and she threw it to her.

"Thanks," Blair said, "right, let's get out of —"

"Look out!" said Neville, horrified, staring at the Death Eater's head in the bell jar. All four of them raised their wands again, but none of them struck. They were all gazing, openmouthed, appalled, at what was happening to the man's head. It was shrinking very fast, growing balder and balder, the black hair and stubble retracting into his skull, his cheeks smooth, his skull round and covered with a peachlike fuzz...

A baby's head now sat grotesquely on top of the thick, muscled neck of the Death Eater as he struggled to get up again. But even as they watched, their mouths open, the head began to swell to its previous proportions again, thick black hair was sprouting from the pate and chin...

"It's time," said Hermione in an awestruck voice. "Time..." The Death Eater shook his ugly head again, trying to clear it, but before he could pull himself together again, it began to shrink back to babyhood once more...

There was a shout from a room nearby, then a crash and a scream. "RON?" Blair yelled, turning quickly from the monstrous transformation taking place before them. "GINNY? LUNA?"

"Blair!" Hermione screamed. The Death Eater had pulled his head out of the bell jar. His appearance was utterly bizarre, his tiny baby's head bawling loudly while his thick arms flailed dangerously in all directions, narrowly missing Blair, who ducked.

Blair raised her wand but to her amazement, Hermione seized her arm. "You can't hurt a baby!" There was no time to argue the point. Blair could hear more footsteps growing louder from the Hall of Prophecy they had just left and knew, too late, that she ought not to have shouted and given away their position.

"Come on!" Harry said again, and leaving the ugly baby-headed Death Eater staggering behind them, they took off for the door that stood ajar at the other end of the room, leading back into the black hallway. They had run halfway toward it when Blair saw through the open door two more Death Eaters running across the black room toward them. Veering left she burst instead into a small, dark, cluttered office and slammed the door behind them.

"Collo —" began Hermione, but before she could complete the spell the door had burst open again and the two Death Eaters had come hurtling inside.

With a cry of triumph, both yelled, "IMPEDIMENTA!"

Blair, Harry, Hermione, and Neville were all knocked backward off their feet. Neville was thrown over the desk and disappeared from view, Hermione smashed into a bookcase and was promptly deluged in a cascade of heavy books; the back of Harry's head slammed into the stone wall behind him while Blair's forehead hid the edge of the desk hard, tiny lights burst in front of her eyes, and for a moment she was too dizzy and bewildered to react.

"WE'VE GOT THEM!" yelled the Death Eater nearest Blair, "IN AN OFFICE OFF —"

"Silencio!" cried Hermione, and the man's voice was extinguished. He continued to mouth through the hole in his mask, but no sound came out; he was thrust aside by his fellow.

"Petrificus Totalus!" shouted Harry, as the second Death Eater raised his wand. His arms and legs snapped together and he fell forward, facedown onto the rug at Harry's feet, stiff as a board and unable to move at all.

"Well done, Ha —"

Blair's eyes widened when she saw the Death Eater Hermione struck raise his wand. Blair pointed her wand at Hermione and thought of making a shield with everything she had. And Blair smiled widely when the purple flame bounced off the shield and hit the wall. 

She then pointed her free hand at the Death Eater, who was still in shock, "Petrificus Totalus!" And he too fell on the floor, petrified. Blair let the shield around Hermione fall and blinked her eyes, rubbing the blood off from her head.

"Are you okay, Mione?" Blair asked worriedly.

"I'm fine, Blair," said Hermione with a shaky smile. Blair walked to the Death Eater and ripped off his mask. It was Antonin Dolohov, the one who had murdered the Prewetts.

"Are you okay, Harry, Gramen?" Blair asked them, and Harry nodded once. Neville though wasn't looking too lucky with a clearly broken nose and blood pouring down his mouth and chin. There was a pause in which Blair listened hard for the sounds of more footsteps, but all she could hear were the whimpers and blunderings of the baby Death Eater in the next room.

"Come on," said Hermione, tugging at them.

"Wait, Mione, Neville, we're not far from the exit," Blair whispered. "We're right next to that circular room... If we can just get you two across it and find the right door before any more Death Eaters come, I'll bet you can get up the corridor and into the lift... Then you could find someone... Raise the alarm..."

"And whad are you do going do do?" said Neville, mopping his bleeding nose with his sleeve and frowning at Blair.

"We've got to find the others," said Harry.

"Blair, Harry," said Hermione firmly. "we're going with you."

"But —" The stern looks from Hermione and Neville made Blair and Harry hesitate at each other before giving in.

"Fine, then," said Blair.

"My gran's going do kill be," said Neville thickly, blood spattering from his nose as he spoke, "dat was by dad's old wand..."

Blair handed him her wand. "Here, I can do without a wand."

Neville looked at her wide-eyed. "Ah you shoe, Blair?"

"Yes, Gramen, now, let's go." Blair said before looking around cautiously. The baby-headed Death Eater was screaming and banging into things, toppling grandfather clocks and overturning desks, bawling and confused, while the glass cabinet that Blair now suspected had contained Time-Turners continued to fall, shatter, and repair itself on the wall behind them.

"He's never going to notice us," Harry whispered. "C'mon... keep close..." They crept out of the office and back toward the door into the black hallway, which now seemed completely deserted. They walked a few steps forward. The door of the Time Room swung shut behind them, and the walls began to rotate once more. The recent blow of Blair's forehead seemed to have unsteadied her; she narrowed her eyes, swaying slightly, until the walls stopped moving again. With a sinking heart, Blair saw that Hermione's fiery crosses had faded from the doors.

Hermione frowned, looking around. "Which way —" But before they could make a decision as to which way to try, a door to their right sprang open and three people fell out of it.

"Ron!" croaked Harry, dashing toward them. "Ginny — are you all — ?"

"Harry," said Ron, giggling weakly, lurching forward, seizing the front of Harry's robes and gazing at him with unfocused eyes. "There you are... Ha ha ha... You look funny, Harry... You're all messed up... Ron's face was very white and something dark was trickling from the corner of his mouth. Next moment his knees had given way, but he still clutched the front of Harry's robes, so that Harry was pulled into a kind of bow. Blair quickly helped them up.

"Gin?" Neville said fearfully. "Whad happened?" Ginny shook her head and slid down the wall into a sitting position, panting and holding her ankle. He ran to her and looked her over in concern. 

Ginny smiled up at him weakly. "I'm fine, Nev."

"I think her ankle's broken, I heard something crack," whispered Luna, who was bending over her and who alone seemed to be unhurt. "Four of them chased us into a dark room full of planets, it was a very odd place, some of the time we were just floating in the dark —"

"Blair, we saw Uranus up close!" said Ron, still giggling feebly. "Get it, Blair? We saw Uranus — ha ha ha —" A bubble of blood grew at the corner of Ron's mouth and burst. Blair helped him wipe it up.

"Anyway, one of them grabbed Ginny's foot, I used the Reductor Curse and blew up Pluto in his face, but..." Luna gestured hopelessly at Ginny, who was breathing in a very shallow way and leaning on Neville, her eyes still closed.

"And what about Ron?" said Harry fearfully, as Ron continued to giggle, now hanging off the front of Blair's robes.

"I don't know what they hit him with," said Luna sadly, "but he's gone a bit funny, I could hardly get him along at all..."

"Blair," said Ron, pulling Blair's ear down to his mouth and still giggling weakly, "you know who this girl is, Blair? She's the one I like... Luna Lovegood... ha ha ha..." Luna blushed lightly at his words.

"We've got to get out of here," said Harry firmly. "Neville, Luna, can you help Ginny?"

"Yes," said Luna, sticking her wand behind her ear for safekeeping. Neville wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her up.

"It's only my ankle, I can do it myself!" said Ginny impatiently, but next moment she had collapsed sideways and grabbed Neville and Luna for support. Blair and Harry pulled Ron's arms over their shoulders. Blair looked around: They had a one-in-twelve chance of getting the exit right the first time —

"This way, Harry," said Blair, pointing toward a door, and they heaved Ron. They were within a few feet of it when another door across the hall burst open and three Death Eaters sped into the hall, led by Bellatrix Lestrange.

"There they are!" she shrieked. Stunning Spells shot across the room: Blair smashed her way through the door ahead, flung Ron unceremoniously from her, and ducked back to help the others. They were all over the threshold just in time to slam the door against Bellatrix.

"Colloportus!" shouted Harry, and Blair heard three bodies slam into the door on the other side.

"It doesn't matter!" said a man's voice. "There are other ways in — WE'VE GOT THEM, THEY'RE HERE!" Blair spun around. They were back in the Brain Room and, sure enough, there were doors all around the walls. She could hear footsteps in the hall behind them as more Death Eaters came running to join the first.

"Harry, Mione, Luna — Neville — help me!"

The five of them tore around the room, sealing the doors as they went: Blair crashed into a table and rolled over the top of it in her haste to reach the next door. "Colloportus!"

There were footsteps running along behind the doors; every now and then another heavy body would launch itself against one, so it creaked and shuddered. Harry, Hermione, Luna and Neville were bewitching the doors along the opposite wall — then, as Blair reached the very top of the room, she heard Luna cry, "Collo — aaaaaaaaargh..."

Blair turned in time to see her flying through the air. Five Death Eaters were surging into the room through the door she had not reached in time; Luna hit a desk, slid over its surface and onto the floor on the other side where she lay sprawled. "Get Potter and Wood!" shrieked Bellatrix, and she ran at them. Blair, Hermione and Harry met each other in the middle and sprinted back up the room.

"Hey!" said Ron, who had staggered to his feet and was now tottering drunkenly toward them, giggling. "Hey, Blair, there are brains in here, ha ha ha, isn't that weird, Blair?"

"Ron, get out of the way, get down —"

But Ron had already pointed his wand at the tank. "Honest, Harry, they're brains — look — Accio Brain!"

The scene seemed momentarily frozen. Blair, Hermione, Harry, Ginny, and Neville and each of the Death Eaters turned in spite of themselves to watch the top of the tank as a brain burst from the green liquid like a leaping fish. For a moment it seemed suspended in midair, then it soared toward Ron, spinning as it came, and what looked like ribbons of moving images flew from it, unraveling like rolls of film —

"Ha ha ha, Harry, look at it —" said Ron, watching it disgorge its gaudy innards. "Harry, come and touch it, bet it's weird —"

"RON, NO!"

Blair did not know what would happen if Ron touched the tentacles of thought now flying behind the brain, but she was sure it would not be anything good. She darted forward but Ron had already caught the brain in his outstretched hands. The moment they made contact with his skin, the tentacles began wrapping themselves around Ron's arms like ropes.

"Blair, look what's happen — no — no, I don't like it — no, stop — stop —" But the thin ribbons were spinning around Ron's chest now. He tugged and tore at them as the brain was pulled tight against him like an octopus's body.

"Diffindo!" yelled Harry, trying to sever the feelers wrapping themselves tightly around Ron before their eyes, but they would not break. Ron fell over, still thrashing against his bonds.

"Harry, it'll suffocate him!" screamed Ginny, immobilized by her broken ankle on the floor — then a jet of red light flew from one of the Death Eater's wands and hit her squarely in the face. She keeled over sideways and lay there unconscious.

"GIN! STUBEFY!" shouted Neville, wheeling around and waving Blair's wand at the oncoming Death Eaters. "STUBEFY, STUBEFY !"

But nothing happened — one of the Death Eaters shot their own Stunning Spell at Neville; it missed him by inches. Blair looked around and saw Hermione fighting as well. Blair, Harry, Hermione and Neville were now the only four left fighting the five Death Eaters, two of whom sent streams of silver light like arrows past them that left craters in the wall behind them.

Blair felt Harry nudge her, and they ran for it as Bellatrix sprinted right at them. Holding the prophecies high above their heads, they sprinted back up the room; all Blair could think of doing was to draw the Death Eaters away from the others. 

It seemed to have worked. They streaked after her and Harry, knocking chairs and tables flying but not daring to bewitch them in case they hurt the prophecies, and they dashed through the only door still open, the one through which the Death Eaters themselves had come. Inwardly praying that Hermione and Neville would stay with Ron — find some way of releasing him — Blair ran a few feet into the new room and felt the floor vanish —

"Harry!" Blair said and they gripped each other as they were falling down steep stone step after steep stone step, bouncing on every tier until at last, with a crash that knocked all the breath out of their bodies, they landed flat on their backs in the sunken pit where the stone archway stood on its dais.

The whole room was ringing with the Death Eaters' laughter. Blair got up and helped Harry. They looked up and saw the five who had been in the Brain Room descending toward them, while as many more emerged through other doorways and began leaping from bench to bench toward them.

Blair held her hand out, the prophecy was still miraculously unbroken in her left hand. She and Harry stood back to back.

"Together, James?"

"Together."

And as they backed away, they tried to fend off against the Death Eaters, firing spell after spell. Blair yelped when the back of her legs hit something solid; she had reached the dais where the archway stood. She climbed backward onto it and pulled Harry up with her. The Death Eaters all halted, gazing at them. Some were panting as hard as they were. One was bleeding badly; Dolohov, freed of the full Body-Bind, was leering, his wand pointing straight at Blair's face.

"Potter, Wood, your race is run," drawled Lucius Malfoy, pulling off his mask. "Now hand me the prophecies like good children..."

"Let — let the others go, and we'll give it to you!" said Harry desperately. A few of the Death Eaters laughed.

"You are not in a position to bargain, Potter," said Lucius Malfoy, his pale face flushed with pleasure. "You see, there are ten of us and only two of you... or hasn't Dumbledore ever taught you how to count?"

"Dey're dot alone!" shouted a voice from above them. "Dey've still god be!"

Blair's heart sank. Neville was scrambling down the stone benches toward them, Blair's wand held fast in his trembling hand. "Neville — no — go back to Ron —"

"STUBEFY !" Neville shouted again, pointing his wand at each Death Eater in turn, "STUBEFY ! STUBE —" One of the largest Death Eaters seized Neville from behind, pinioning his arms to his sides. He struggled and kicked; several of the Death Eaters laughed.

"It's Longbottom, isn't it?" sneered Lucius Malfoy. "Well, your grandmother is used to losing family members to our cause... Your death will not come as a great shock..."

"Longbottom?" repeated Bellatrix, and a truly evil smile lit her gaunt face. "Why, I have had the pleasure of meeting your parents, boy..."

"I DOE YOU HAB!" roared Neville, and he fought so hard against his captor's encircling grip that the Death Eater shouted, "Someone Stun him!"

"No, no, no," said Bellatrix. She looked transported, alive with excitement as she glanced at Harry and Blair, then back at Neville. "No, let's see how long Longbottom lasts before he cracks like his parents... Unless Potter wants to give us the prophecy —"

"DON'D GIB ID DO DEM!" roared Neville, who seemed beside himself, kicking and writhing as Bellatrix drew nearer to him and his captor, her wand raised. "DON'D GIB ID DO DEM, CAELUM, HARRY!"

Bellatrix raised her wand. "Crucio!"

"NO!" Blair shouted, a tear falling from her face when Neville screamed, his legs drawn up to his chest so that the Death Eater holding him was momentarily holding him off the ground. The Death Eater dropped him and he fell to the floor, twitching and screaming in agony.

"That was just a taster!" said Bellatrix, raising her wand so that Neville's screams stopped and he lay sobbing at her feet. She turned and gazed up at Harry and Blair. "Now, Potter, Wood, either give us the prophecies, or watch your little friend die the hard way!"

Blair and Harry did not have to think; there was no choice. The prophecy was hot with the heat from Blair's clutching hand as she held it out. Malfoy jumped forward to take it.

Then, high above them, two more doors burst open and six more people sprinted into the room: Sirius, Lupin, Moody, Tonks, Zoey and Kingsley. Malfoy turned and raised his wand, but Tonks had already sent a Stunning Spell right at him. Blair did not wait to see whether it had made contact, but dived off the dais out of the way, pulling Harry with her.

The Death Eaters were completely distracted by the appearance of the members of the Order, who were now raining spells down upon them as they jumped from step to step toward the sunken floor: Through the darting bodies, the flashes of light, Blair could see Neville crawling along.

"James, Neville," said Blair, pointing to Neville, and they dodged the jets of light to reach Neville. "Oh, Gramen, I'm so sorry," said Blair, tears in her eyes.

Neville just smiled back. "I'm fine."

"How's Ron and the others?" Harry asked him.

"I dink he's all right — Hermione dold me to come and help you." The stone floor between them exploded as a spell hit it, leaving a crater right where Neville's hand had been seconds before. The three of them scrambled away from the spot, then thick arms came out of nowhere, seized Blair and Harry around the necks and pulled them upright, so that their toes were barely touching the floor.

"Give it to me," growled a voice in Blair's ear, "give me the prophecy —"

Neville lunged and hit the man in the eye through his mask. Blair held out her hand and thought. 'Stupefy!' The man flew away and she and Harry fell to the ground, gasping for breath — through watering eyes Blair saw Sirius dueling with a Death Eater some ten feet away. Kingsley was fighting two at once; Tonks, still halfway up the tiered seats, was firing spells down at Bellatrix — The Death Eater keeled over backward and his mask slipped off. It was Macnair, Buckbeak's would-be killer, one of his eyes now swollen and bloodshot.

"Thanks!" Blair said to Neville, pulling him aside as Sirius and his Death Eater lurched past, dueling so fiercely that their wands were blurs. Blair saw Moody's magical eye, spinning away across the floor. Its owner was lying on his side, bleeding from the head, and his attacker was now bearing down upon Harry and Neville: Dolohov, his long pale face twisted with glee.

"Tarantallegra!" Dolohov shouted, his wand pointing at Neville, whose legs went immediately into a kind of frenzied tap dance, unbalancing him and causing him to fall to the floor again.

"Now, Wood —" He made the same slashing movement with his wand that he had almost used on Hermione just as Harry yelled, "Protego!"

Blair saw Harry had fallen down before taking her wand that Neville dropped and pointing it at Dolohov, "Stupefy!"

Dolohov conjured a small shield and pointed his wand once more. "Accio Proph —"

Sirius hurtled out of nowhere, rammed Dolohov with his shoulder, and sent him flying out of the way. The prophecy had again flown to the tips of Blair's fingers but she had managed to cling to it. Now Sirius and Dolohov were dueling, their wands flashing like swords, sparks flying from their wand tips —

Blair handed her prophecy to Neville, "Take care of this, Gramen. Stay here, you two, "

"Aika, no!" Harry shouted and stood up.

Blair pushed him down and smiled, "Harry, take care of Mister Alastor, please?"

Harry hesitated but the determined look in Blair's eyes made him nod. "You'll be fine, right?"

"Of course, James," said Blair before she looked up just in time to see Dolohov drew back his wand to make the same slashing movement he had almost used on Harry and Hermione.

Springing up, Blair yelled, "Petrificus Totalus!" Once again, Dolohov's arms and legs snapped together and he keeled over backward, landing with a crash on his back.

"Nice one!" shouted Sirius, forcing Blair's head down as a pair of Stunning Spells flew toward them. "Now I want you to get out of —" 

They both ducked again. A jet of green light had narrowly missed Sirius; across the room Blair saw Tonks fall from halfway up the stone steps, her limp form toppling from stone seat to stone seat, and Bellatrix, triumphant, running back toward the fray.

"Blair, grab Harry and Neville, and run!" Sirius yelled, dashing to meet Bellatrix. Of course, Blair did not obey as she ran towards Tonks.

"Dora!"

Zoey suddenly appeared in front of Blair, her nose bleeding badly. "Get away, Little B!"

Blair was about to answer when she saw a Death Eater behind Zoey and pointed her wand at him, "Stupefy!" And Zoey looked at her grateful and surprised as the Death Eater flew and hit the wall.

"Go take care of Dora, Zoey. I'll help Uncle Padfoot," said Blair, and Zoey hesitated before nodding and running over to Tonks. Blair now went over to Sirius and Bellatrix who were dueling as Malfoy smashed into the dais.

Sirius looked at her, horrified. "Blair, what-"

"Avada Kedavra!"

"Protego!"

Blair's shield stood strong against Bellatrix's killing curse, and Sirius grinned at Blair. "Let's dance, Little B." Blair grinned even more when she saw that Dumbledore had arrived. While Bellatrix and Sirius dueled, she dueled with Malfoy. They exchanged a quick flourish of the wands and spells.

Blair heard Sirius laugh from a distance. "Come on, you can do better than that."

Blair pointed her hand at him, "Expelliarmus!" Malfoy's wand came flying into hers, and Blair sent a wordless Stunning spell and Malfoy went flying away. She turned to smile at Sirius but a second jet of light hit him squarely on the chest. The laughter had not quite died from his face, but his eyes widened in shock.

'No, no, no! Not him. Don't let me lose anyone else, please let me save him!' Blair ran towards him, her hand grasping his for just one second, trying to pull him back, but the archway was stronger. It seemed to take Sirius an age to fall. His body curved in a graceful arc as he sank backward through the ragged veil hanging from the arch...

Frozen, Blair saw the look of mingled fear and surprise on her godfather's wasted, once-handsome face as he fell through the ancient doorway and disappeared behind the veil, which fluttered for a moment as though in a high wind and then fell back into place. Blair heard Bellatrix Lestrange's triumphant scream, but knew it meant nothing — Sirius had only just fallen through the archway, he would reappear from the other side any second... But Sirius did not reappear.

"SIRIUS!" Blair yelled, "SIRIUS!" She tried running to the archway. Sirius must be just behind the curtain, she, Blair, would pull him back out again... But just as she was a second from jumping into the arch, a pair of arms grabbed her around the waist, holding her back.

Blair heard Harry's pained voice. "Get him, save him, he's only just gone through!"

"There's nothing you can do, Blair, Harry —" It was Lupin's voice as if he was holding in his tears.

"Little B,  he's gone," said a soft voice in her ears. Blair's eyes filled with tears. She struggled hard and viciously, but Zoey would not let go... "There's nothing you can do, Blair... nothing... He's gone."

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