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

"To me, Potter." The drawling voice of Lucius Malfoy repeated as he held out his hand, palm up. 

"Fuck off, Dad." Draco hissed. 

"Dear Draco." Malfoy said, his face turning towards my friend. "Son... step away now, and you will not be hurt. Do not touch him." He added, presumably to his Death Eater friends. 

"I'm not leaving them." Draco said defiantly. 

"It's your own fault, Malfuck." I said. "You stupid fucks are the ones who lured us here. Draco's my friend. Of course he would come." 

"You made me think my sister was getting tortured." Harry growled. 

Several of the Death Eaters laughed; a harsh female voice from the midst of the shadowy figures to my left said triumphantly, "The Dark Lord always knows!" 

"Always." Malfoy echoed softly. "Now, give me the prophecy, Potter." 

"Uh, no. Why would he?" 

"Why would he?" The woman to my left mimicked.

She and her fellow Death Eaters had closed in so that they were mere feet away from me and the others, the light from their wands dazzling my eyes.

"Why did you make me think my sister was being tortured? What good did that do you?" 

"The little baby woke up fwightened and fort what it dweamed was twoo." The woman said in a horrible, mock baby voice. I felt Kylie stir beside me.

"Don't do anything." I muttered. "Not yet -" 

The woman who had mimicked me 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!" 

"Obviously I'm going to fight you." I said. "I'm not just gonna lie down and take it." 

"Give me the prophecy, or we start using wands." Malfoy said. 

"Go on, then." I said, raising my own wand to chest height. As I did so, the ten wands of Fred, George, Terry, Harry, Kylie, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Draco, and Suzanne rose on either side of me. 

But the Death Eaters did not strike.

"Hand over the prophecy and no one need get hurt." Malfoy said coolly.

It was my turn to laugh.

"Yeah, right!" I said. "Harry gives you this - prophecy, is it? And you'll just let us skip off home, will you?" 

The words were hardly out of my mouth when the female Death Eater shrieked: "Accio proph-" 

Harry was just ready for her: he shouted "Protego" before she had finished her spell, and though the glass sphere slipped to the tips of his fingers he managed to cling on to it.

"Oh, they know how to play, little bitty baby Potters." 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 -!" 

My mind was racing. The Death Eaters wanted this random fucking dusty spun-glass sphere. Cool. I don't want it. They didn't seem to want to do anything that could harm it, though. 

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. I would've thought she was kinda hot if she wasn't a literal psychopath. 

"You need more persuasion?" She said, her chest rising and falling rapidly. "Very well - take the female Potter." She ordered the Death Eaters beside her. "Let the Potter boy watch while we actually torture his sister. I'll do it." 

I felt the others close in around me; Harry stepped sideways so that he was right in front of me, the prophecy held up to his chest.

"You'll have to smash this if you want to attack any of us." He told Bellatrix. "I don't think your boss will be too pleased if you come back without it, will he?" 

She did not move; she merely stared at him, the tip of her tongue moistening her thin mouth.

"So, my Banter Eaters." I said. "What kind of prophecy are we talking about, anyway?" 

I could not think what to do but to keep talking. Draco's arm was pressed against mine, and I could feel him shaking; I could feel one of the others' quickened breath on the back of my head. Fred, George, Kylie, and Terry were pressed in tight to me, their sleeves all rolled up, fists clenched. I was hoping they were all thinking hard about ways to get out of this, because my mind was blank. Please, let Harry have a plan.

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

"Nope, not jesting." I said, my eyes flicking from Death Eater to Death Eater, looking for a weak link, a space through which we could escape. "How come Voldemort wants it?" 

Several of the Death Eaters let out low hisses.

"You dare speak his name?" Bellatrix whispered.

"Yeah, none of us have a problem with saying Vol-" Harry said. 

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

"Did you know he's a half-blood too?" I said recklessly. Draco gave a pained little moan in my ear. "Voldemort? Yeah, his mother was a witch but his dad was a Muggle - or has he been telling you dumb fucks he's pure-blood?" 

"STUPEF-" 

"NO!" 

A jet of red light had shot from the end of Bellatrix Lestrange's wand, but Malfoy had deflected it; his spell caused hers to hit the shelf a foot to the left of us and several of the glass orbs there shattered.

Two figures, pearly-white as ghosts, fluid as smoke, unfurled themselves from the fragments of broken glass upon the floor and each began to speak; their voices vied with each other, so that only fragments of what they were saying could be heard over Malfoy and Bellatrix's shouts.

"... At the solstice will come a new..." The figure of an old, bearded man said.

"DO NOT ATTACK! WE NEED THE PROPHECY!" 

"She dared - they dare -" Bellatrix shrieked incoherently. "They stand there - filthy half-bloods -" 

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

"... And none will come after..." The figure of a young woman said.

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 me an idea.

"Smash the prophecies when I say." I hissed into Fred's ear, and he nodded slightly, turning and whispering into George's ear. 

"I suppose Dumbledore never told you the reason you bear those scars was hidden in the bowels of the Department of Mysteries?" Malfoy sneered. "Well, this explains why you didn't come earlier, Potters, the Dark Lord wondered why you didn't come running when he showed you both the place where it was hidden in your dreams. He thought natural curiosity would make you two want to hear the exact wording..." 

"Did he?" Harry said. 

Behind me I felt rather than heard Fred passing my message to the others and I sought to keep talking, to distract the Death Eaters. "So he wanted us to come and get it, did he? Why?" 

"Why?" Malfoy sounded incredulously delighted. "Because the only people who are permitted to retrieve a prophecy from the Department of Mysteries, Potter, 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 a prophecy about me?" 

"About both of you, Potter, about both of you... haven't you ever wondered why the Dark Lord tried to kill you as babies?" 

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

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

"NOW!" I yelled.

Ten different voices around me bellowed, "REDUCTO!" Ten curses flew in ten different directions and the shelves opposite us 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 amid the torrent of crashing glass and splintered wood now raining down upon the floor - 

"RUN!" I yelled, as the shelves swayed precariously and more glass spheres began to fall from above. I seized a handful of Hermione's robes and dragged her forwards, holding one arm over my head as chunks of shelf and shards of glass thundered down upon us. A Death Eater lunged forwards through the cloud of dust and I elbowed him hard in the dick; we were all yelling, there were cries of pain, and thunderous crashes as the shelves collapsed upon themselves, weirdly echoing fragments of the Seers unleashed from their spheres - 

I found the way ahead clear and saw Fred, George, Ron, Ginny, and Suzanne sprint past us, their arms over their heads; something heavy struck me on the side of the face but I merely ducked my head and sprinted onwards; a hand caught me by the shoulder; I heard Kylie shout, "Stupefy!" The hand released me at once - 

We were at the end of row ninety-seven; I turned right and began to sprint in earnest; I could hear footsteps right behind me and Terry's voice urging Draco on; straight ahead, the door through which we had come was ajar; I could see the glittering light of the bell jar; I pelted through the doorway, and Harry followed, the prophecy still clutched tight and safe in his hand, and we waited for the others to hurtle over the threshold before slamming the door behind them - 

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

"Where - where are the others?" I gasped.

I had thought Fred, George, Ron, Ginny, and Suzanne were ahead of us, that they would be waiting in this room, but there was nobody there.

"They must have gone the wrong way!" Harry whispered, terror in his face. 

"It's okay, Suzanne's alright." I tried to reassure him, but my head was filled with terror about Fred too, and for the life of me I couldn't figure out why just him. Harry collapsed into me, his arms tight around me, his eyes wide. 

"What if all I've done tonight is just lead the two most important girls in my life into danger?" He whispered. 

"Shut up." I told him. "You can't think like that. Not right now, at least. We have to have our heads on." 

"Listen!" Terry whispered.

Footsteps and shouts echoed from behind the door we had just sealed; I put my ear close to the door to listen and heard Lucius Malfoy roar, "Leave Nott, leave him, I say - his injuries will be nothing to the Dark Lord compared to losing that prophecy. Jugson, come back here, we need to organise! We'll split into pairs and search, and don't forget, take the Potter girl at the first opportunity, the Dark Lord wants her in the best condition possible - be gentle with the Potter boy until we've got the prophecy, you can kill the others if necessary -" 

I wrenched my head away, my heart pounding. Take me in the best possible condition? Kill the others if necessary? 

"What do we do?" Hermione asked me, trembling from head to foot.

"We'll need to get as far away as we can." I said, not having the heart to tell the others what I'd just heard. 

We ran as quietly as we could, past the shimmering bell jar where the tiny egg was hatching and unhatching, towards the exit into the circular hallway at the far end of the room. We were almost there when I heard something large and heavy collide with the door Hermione had charmed shut.

"Stand aside!" A rough voice said. "Alohomora!" 

As the door flew open, Harry, Terry, Kylie, Draco, Hermione, and I dived under desks. We could see the bottom of the Death Eaters' robes drawing nearer, their feet moving rapidly.

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

"Check under the desks." Another said.

I saw the knees of the Death Eaters bend; poking my wand out from under the desk, I shouted, "STUPEFY!" 

A jet of red light hit the nearest Death Eater; he fell backwards into a grandfather clock and knocked it over; the second Death Eater, however, had leapt aside to avoid my spell and was pointing his own wand at Draco, who was crawling out from under the desk to get a better aim.

"Avada -" 

I launched myself across the floor and grabbed the Death Eater around the knees, causing him to topple and his aim to go awry. Terry, pointing his wand wildly at us struggling pair, cried:

"EXPELLIARMUS!" 

Both mine and the Death Eater's wands flew out of our hands and soared back towards the entrance to the Hall of Prophecy; both scrambled to our feet and charged after them, the Death Eater in front, me hot on his heels, and Terry bringing up the rear, plainly horrorstruck by what he had done.

"Get out of the way, Softpaw!" He yelled, clearly determined to repair the damage.

I flung myself sideways as Terry took aim again and shouted:

"STUPEFY!" 

The jet of red light hit the Death Eater, and in turn he fell and hit a glass-fronted cabinet on the wall full of variously shaped hour-glasses; the cabinet fell to the floor and burst apart, glass flying everywhere, sprang back up on to the wall, fully mended, then fell down again, and shattered - 

Another Death Eater was taking aim at my friends from beside the glittering bell jar, as Harry, Hermione, and Draco were battling two others. I ducked down behind another desk as the man turned; his mask had slipped so that he couldn't see. He ripped it off with his free hand and shouted: "STUP-" 

"STUPEFY!" Kylie yelled, who had just caught up with us. 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 backwards towards the bell jar. I expected to hear a clunk, for the man to hit solid glass and slide off the jar on to the floor, but instead, his head sank through the surface of the bell jar as though it were 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.

I turned and kissed Kylie, my hands cupping her face as she let out a surprised, "Mm!" She kissed me back, hard, her wand digging into my back as she wound her arms around me. 

"Accio wand!" Hermione cried behind me, and I separated from Kylie, blushing. My wand flew from a dark corner into Hermione's hand and she threw it to me. 

"Thanks." I said. I noticed that the other two Death Eaters were collapsed on the ground. 

"My dad's not going to like that that asshole just tried to kill me." Draco panted. 

"Right," Harry said to me and Kylie, "if you two are done snogging, let's get out of -"

"Look out!" Draco said, horrified. He was staring at the Death Eater's head in the bell jar.

All six of us raised our wands again, but none of us struck: we were all gazing, open-mouthed, 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 becoming 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 we watched, our mouths open, the head began to swell to its previous proportions again; thick black hair was sprouting from the face and chin...

"It's Time." Hermione said in an awestruck voice. "Time..." 

The Death Eater shook his ugly head again, trying to clear it, but before he could pull himself together it began to shrink back to babyhood once more... 

"That's hilarious." I said, and Terry cracked a grin. 

There was a shout from a room nearby, then a crash and a scream.

"FRED?" I yelled, turning quickly from the monstrous transformation taking place before us. "FRED?! GEORGE?" 

"Daisy!" Harry 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 me, who had ducked. I raised my wand but to my amazement Hermione seized my arm.

"You can't hurt a baby!" 

There was no time to argue the point; I could hear more footsteps growing louder from the Hall of Prophecy and knew, too late, that I ought not to have shouted and given away our position.

"Come on!" I said, and leaving the ugly baby-headed Death Eater staggering behind us we took off for the door that stood open at the other end of the room, leading back into the black hallway.

We had run halfway towards it when I saw through the open door four more Death Eaters running across the black room towards us; veering left, I burst instead into a small, dark, cluttered office and slammed the door behind us.

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

With a cry of triumph, all four yelled:

"IMPEDIMENTA!" 

Harry, Kylie, Terry, Draco, Hermione, and I were all knocked backwards off our feet; Terry and Harry were thrown over the desk and disappeared from view; Hermione and Draco smashed into a bookcase and were promptly deluged in a cascade of heavy books; the back of my head slammed into the stone wall behind me, tiny lights burst in front of my eyes and for a moment I was too dizzy and bewildered to react. Kylie was groaning beside me. 

"WE'VE GOT THEM!" The Death Eater nearest me yelled. "IN AN OFFICE OFF -" 

"Silencio!" Kylie cried 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 a fellow Death Eater.

"Petrificus Totalus!" I shouted, as the second Death Eater raised his wand. His arms and legs snapped together and he fell forwards, face down on to the rug at my feet, stiff as a board and unable to move.

Hermione crawled out from under the books with Draco. A Death Eater made a sudden slashing movement with his wand; a streak of what looked like purple flame passed right across Hermione's chest. She gave a tiny "Oh!" as though of surprise and crumpled onto the floor, where she lay motionless.

"MYNEE!" 

I fell to my knees beside her as Draco crawled rapidly towards her, his wand held up in front of him. Another Death Eater kicked out hard at Draco's head as he emerged - his foot connected with his face. Draco collapsed. 

"You fucker!" I roared, as Terry cursed at the Death Eater in rage. Kylie and Harry were sending hexes and jinxes at the other Death Eaters in the room. A whine of panic inside my head was preventing me thinking properly: I had one hand on Hermione's shoulder, which was still warm, yet did not dare look at her properly. Don't let her be dead, don't let her be dead... 

There was a crash outside the door and the Death Eater pointing his wand at me and Terry looked over his shoulder - the baby-headed Death Eater had appeared in the doorway, his head bawling, his great fists still flailing uncontrollably at everything around him. I seized my chance:

"PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!" 

The spell hit him before he could block it and he toppled forwards across his comrade, both of them rigid as boards and unable to move an inch.

"Draco..." I said at once, shaking him then Hermione as the baby-headed Death Eater blundered out of sight again, and my girlfriend and my brother stepped over the Death Eaters they had just defeated. "Hermione... wake up..." 

"What did he do to her?" Kylie said. 

"I dunno..." I said faintly as Terry cradled Draco's unconscious body in his arms, stroking the blond's bloodied hair back from his face. 

Harry groped for Hermione's wrist.

"That's a pulse, Daze, I'm sure it is." 

Such a powerful wave of relief swept through me that for a moment I felt light-headed.

"She's alive?" 

"Yeah, I think so." 

There was a pause in which I listened hard for the sound of more footsteps, but all I could hear were the whimpers and blunderings of the baby-headed Death Eater in the next room.

"We have to take them with us." Terry said, standing up. "I'll carry Draco, and Kylie can carry Hermione - you two are the best at fighting, Softpaw, Harry." 

None of us complained; Harry and I stood up, wands at the ready, and Kylie strode over to Hermione, sweeping her up bridal style, as Terry heaved Draco over his shoulders. 

I stuck my head out of the door and looked 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-fronted cabinet that I now suspected had contained Time-Turners continued to fall, shatter, and repair itself on the wall behind us.

"He's never going to notice us." I whispered. "C'mon... keep close behind me, guys..." 

We crept out of the office and back towards the door into the black hallway, which now seemed completely deserted. We walked a few steps forwards, Terry tottering slightly due to Draco's weight, Kylie not having much trouble due to her massive muscles; the door of the Time Room swung shut behind us and the walls began to rotate once more. The recent blow on the back of my head had unsteadied me; I narrowed my eyes, swaying slightly, until the walls stopped moving again. With a sinking heart, I saw that Terry's fiery crosses had faded from the doors.

"So which way d'you reck-?" 

But before we could make a decision as to which way to try, a door to our right sprang open and five people fell out of it.

"Fred!" I croaked, dashing towards them. "George - are you al-?" 

"Daisy," said Ron, giggling weakly, lurching forwards, seizing my jacket and gazing at me with unfocused eyes, "there you are... ha ha ha... you look funny, Daisy... 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 my jacket, so that I was pulled into a kind of bow.

"Fred? George?" I said fearfully. "What happened?" 

"Er -" Fred and George exchanged a glance. Ginny shook her head and slid down the wall into a sitting position, panting and holding her ankle.

"I think her ankle's broken, I heard something crack." Suzanne whispered, who was bending over her. 

"Six 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 -" George began. 

"Daisy, we saw Uranus up close!" Ron said, still giggling feebly. "Get it, Daisy? We saw Uranus - ha ha ha -" 

Despite myself, I sniggered loudly. Terry grinned, and so did the twins, though they also looked to be restraining themselves from rolling their eyes. 

A bubble of blood grew at the corner of Ron's mouth and burst.

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

"And what about Ron?" Harry said fearfully, as Ron continued to giggle, still hanging off my jacket. 

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

"It is kinda hilarious, though." George said, and Fred nodded. 

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

"Yeah." Suzanne said, putting an arm around Ginny's waist and pulling her up.

"It's only my ankle, I can do it myself!" Ginny said impatiently, but next moment she had collapsed sideways and grabbed Suzanne for support. 

"Oh, come on, Ginny. There's no need to act macho." Fred rolled his eyes. Ginny pulled the finger at him. 

Harry pulled Ron's arm over his shoulder just as, so many months ago, he had pulled Dudley's. I looked around: we had a one in twelve chance of getting the exit right first time - 

Harry heaved Ron towards a door; we were within a few feet of it when another door across the hall burst open and five Death Eaters sped in, led by Bellatrix Lestrange.

"There they are!" She shrieked.

Stunning Spells shot across the room: Harry and I smashed our way through the door ahead, ducking back to help Terry in with Draco: we were all over the threshold just in time to slam the door against Bellatrix.

"Colloportus!" I shouted, and I heard five bodies slam into the door on the other side.

"It doesn't matter!" A man's voice said. "There are other ways in - WE'VE GOT THEM, THEY'RE HERE!" 

I span around; we were back in the Brain Room and, sure enough, there were doors all around the walls. I could hear footsteps in the hall behind us as more Death Eaters came running to join the first.

"Guys - help me!" 

Fred, George, Kylie, Harry, Suzanne, and I tore around the room, sealing the doors as we went; I crashed into a table and rolled over the top of it in my 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 and Suzanne were bewitching the doors along the opposite wall - then, as I reached the very top of the room, I heard Suzanne cry:

"Collo- aaaaaaaaargh..." 

I turned in time to see her flying through the air as Harry yelled; seven Death Eaters were surging into the room through the door she had not reached in time; Suzanne hit a desk, slid over its surface and on to the floor on the other side where she lay sprawled, as still as Hermione and Draco.

"Get the Potters!" Bellatrix shrieked, and she ran at us; I dodged her and sprinted back up the room; Harry and I were safe as long as they thought they might hit the prophecy, or hurt me badly - 

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

"Ron, get out of the way, get down -" 

But Ron had already pointed his wand at the tank.

"Honest, guys, they're brains - look - Accio brain!" 

The scene seemed momentarily frozen. Me, Fred, George, Terry, Harry, Kylie, Ginny, and each of the Death Eaters turned in spite of ourselves 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 towards Ron, spinning as it came, and what looked like ribbons of moving images flew from it, unravelling like rolls of film - 

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

"RON, NO!" 

I didn't know what would happen if Ron touched the tentacles of thought now flying behind the brain, but I was sure it wouldn't be anything good. I darted forwards 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.

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

"Fred, George, it'll suffocate him!" Ginny screamed, immobilised 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.

"STUPEFY!" Fred, George, Terry, and Kylie were shouting, wheeling around and waving their wands at the oncoming Death Eaters. "STUPEFY, STUPEFY!" 

But more kept coming, and the ones already here were dodging and deflecting.

One of the Death Eaters shot their own Stunning Spell at Fred; it missed him by inches. The six of us were now the only ones left fighting the oncoming Death Eaters, two of whom sent off streams of silver light like arrows which missed but left craters in the wall behind us. Harry and I ran for it as Bellatrix Lestrange raced right at us: holding the prophecy high above his head, Harry sprinted back up the room as I followed; hopefully drawing the Death Eaters away from the others.

It seemed to have worked; they streaked after us, knocking chairs and tables flying but not daring to bewitch us in case they hurt the prophecy or really injured me, and we dashed through the only door still open, the one through which the Death Eaters themselves had come; inwardly praying that the other four would stay with Ron and find some way of releasing him. We ran a few feet into the new room and I felt the floor vanish - 

I was 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 my body, I landed flat on my back in the sunken pit where the stone archway stood on its dais. The whole room was ringing with the Death Eater's laughter: I looked up and saw those who had been in the Brain Room descending towards me, while as many more emerged through other doorways and began leaping from bench to bench towards me. I got to my feet though my legs were trembling so badly they barely supported me; Harry got up beside me, probably also having experienced the same thing I just did - the prophecy was still miraculously unbroken in his left hand, his wand clutched tightly in his right. I backed away, looking around, trying to keep all the Death Eaters within my sight. The back of my legs hit something solid: I had reached the dais where the archway stood. I climbed backwards onto it, Harry following suit. 

The Death Eaters all halted, gazing at us. Some were panting as hard as I was. One was bleeding badly; one was leering, his wand pointing straight at my face. Suddenly, I felt a sharp wind behind me, and I was grabbed by the waist, someone yanking me backwards, and a hand covered my mouth as I screamed. I writhed in the Death Eater's grip as Harry blanched, his hand tightening on his wand, his eyes wide. 

"Ah! She fucking bit me!" The Death Eater holding me yelled as his hand flew away from my face, me spitting blood onto the floor. 

"LET ME GO!" I screamed. "LET ME GO, YOU PIECES OF SHIT!" 

"Potter, your race is run." Lucius Malfoy drawled, pulling off his mask. "We are taking your dear sister to the Dark Lord, and you are cornered. Now hand me the prophecy like a good boy." 

"No way." Harry said fiercely. "Let my sister go and I will." 

The sound of several pairs of feet echoed behind us, and I turned my head to see Fred, George, Terry, and Kylie at the doorway. 

"Daisy! Let her go!" Fred yelled, as Kylie shouted, "Let go of her, cunthead!" 

Immediately, the four of them were grabbed by Death Eaters. I struggled even harder against my Death Eater's grip. 

"Potter, we won't be giving your sister back." Bellatrix laughed. "But you will give us the prophecy... or we'll see how long it takes for your little sister to lose her mind..." 

"I - I thought you said Voldy wanted me in good c-condition." I stammered. 

Bellatrix smirked. "PHYSICALLY. He said nothing about your mental condition." 

"Fuck." I said. "Don't give it to them, Harry!" 

Bellatrix raised her wand. "Crucio!" 

I screamed, my legs drawn up to my chest so that the Death Eater holding me was momentarily holding me off the ground. The Death Eater dropped me and I fell to the floor, twitching and screaming in agony. My skin felt like hot knives were slicing into me, like several thousand volts of electricity were surging through me... 

"That was just a taster!" Bellatrix said above the yells of Fred, George, Terry, and Kylie, raising her wand so that my screams stopped and I lay sobbing at her feet. She turned and gazed up at Harry. "Now, Potter, either give us the prophecy, or watch your sister suffer!" 

Harry held out the prophecy before she even finished her sentence. Malfoy jumped forwards to take it. 

"No! Harry!" I yelled, in between whimpers of pain and tiny sobs. "No! Don't give it to the fucktards -" 

Then, high above us, two more doors burst open and six more people sprinted into the room: Sirius, Lupin, Emily, Moody, Tonks, and Kingsley.

Malfoy turned and raised his wand, but Tonks had already sent a Stunning Spell right at him. I didn't wait to see whether it had made contact, but dived away from Bellatrix. 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 towards the sunken floor. Through the darting bodies, the flashes of light, I could see Harry and the others as I crawled along. Harry dodged a jet of red light and flung himself flat on the ground to reach me.

"Are you okay?" He yelled, as another spell soared inches over our heads.

"Yeah." I said, trying to pull myself up.

"Daisy!" 

Fred reached me. His face was panicked, his eyes darting all over my body as his hands ran over it frantically. "Where does it hurt? Where did she get you?" 

"In the stomach, but it's okay, Freddie." I choked out, staggering. 

"Shit - come here, baby." Kylie swept me up into her arms as I turned. Terry and George were nowhere to be seen. 

The stone floor between us exploded as a spell hit it, leaving a crater right where my hand had been only seconds before; we all scrambled away from the spot. I saw Sirius duelling 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 -

"Where's Hopper and Bushy?" I yelled. 

"Dunno!" Fred yelled back, pulling Kylie and me aside as Sirius and his Death Eater lurched past, duelling so fiercely that their wands were blurs; Fred was looking around frantically now for his twin and Terry - 

Several feet away, Moody was lying on his side, bleeding from the head, and his attacker was now bearing down upon Harry, Fred, Kylie, and me, his long pale face twisted with glee.

"Tarantallegra!" He shouted, his wand pointing at the three, all of whose legs went immediately into a kind of frenzied tap-dance, unbalancing me from Kylie's arms and causing me to fall to the floor again. "Now, Potter -" 

He made the same slashing movement with his wand that he had used on Hermione just as I yelled, "Protego!" 

I felt something streak across my face like a blunt knife; the force of it knocked me sideways but the Shield Charm had stopped the worst of the spell.

The Death Eater raised his wand again. "Cruc-" 

Sirius had hurtled out of nowhere, rammed the Death Eater with his shoulder, and sent him flying out of the way. Now Sirius and the man were duelling, their wands flashing like swords, sparks flying from their wand-tips - 

The man drew back his wand to make the same slashing movement he had used on me and Hermione again. Springing up, I yelled, "Petrificus Totalus!" Once again, the Death Eater's arms and legs snapped together and he keeled over backwards, landing with a crash on his back.

"Nice one!" Sirius shouted, forcing my head down as a pair of Stunning Spells flew towards us. "Now, sweetheart, I want you to get out of -" 

We both ducked again; a jet of green light had narrowly missed Sirius. Across the room I saw Tonks fall from halfway up the stone steps, her limp form toppling from stone seat to stone seat and Bellatrix, triumphant, running back towards the fray.

"Daisy, grab Harry and the others, take the prophecy, and run!" Sirius yelled, dashing to meet Bellatrix. I didn't see what happened next: Kingsley swayed across my field of vision, battling with the pockmarked and no longer masked Rookwood; another jet of green light flew over my head as I launched myself towards Harry, Fred, and Kylie. 

The three had managed to put each other right; they were no longer tap-dancing. Out of nowhere, a man lunged at us: Harry and I fell backwards, Harry with his left arm held up in the air to try to save the small glass ball from being smashed.

"Daze!" Harry yelled, and threw the prophecy to me. I caught it. 

"The prophecy, give me the prophecy, Potter!" Lucius Malfoy's voice snarled in my ear, and I felt the tip of Malfoy's wand pressing hard between my ribs.

"No - get - off - me - nonce! ... Kylie - catch it!" 

Too late; Kylie was distracted by helping Fred up after he was knocked onto his back by a rogue spell; the prophecy smashed on the step beneath us. As all of us stared at the place where it had broken, appalled at what had happened, a pearly-white figure with hugely magnified eyes rose into the air, unnoticed by any but us. I could see its mouth moving, but in all the crashes and screams and yells surrounding us, not one word of the prophecy could I hear. The figure stopped speaking and dissolved into nothingness.

"Impedimenta!" 

Malfoy was blasted off my back. As I scrambled up again I looked around and saw Malfoy smash into the dais on which Sirius and Bellatrix were now duelling. Malfoy aimed his wand at me again, but before he could draw breath to strike, Emily had jumped between us.

"Daisy, round up the others and GO!" 

"Dumbledore!" Harry said, staring over my shoulder.

I turned to look where my brother was staring. Directly above us, framed in the doorway from the Brain Room, stood Albus Dumbledore, his wand aloft, his face white and furious. I felt a kind of electric charge surge through every particle of my body - we were saved.

Dumbledore was already at the foot of the steps when the Death Eaters nearest realised he was there and yelled to the others. One of the Death Eaters ran for it, scrabbling like a monkey up the stone steps opposite. Dumbledore's spell pulled him back as easily and effortlessly as though he had hooked him with an invisible line - 

Only one group was still battling, apparently unaware of the new arrival. I saw Terry and George duck Bellatrix's jet of red light: they were laughing at her.

"Come on, you can do better than that!" Terry yelled, his voice echoing around the cavernous room.

"Godric Gryffindor!" I gasped loudly. Why had they not seen Dumbledore? Why were they not fleeing for cover? Why were they TAUNTING her like that? 

Bellatrix's next spell hit Terry right in the chest. It was like thin red ribbons were spreading across his skin; he halted, the laughter having not quite died from his face, but his eyes widened in shock; the ribbons split, and blood seeped fast from each red line. 

Terry collapsed. 

I was jumping down the steps again, pulling out my wand, as Dumbledore, too, turned towards the dais.

I heard Bellatrix Lestrange's triumphant scream. Terry did not stir. George was looking down at him with distinct shock. 

"TERRY!" I yelled. "TERRY!"

But as I reached the ground and sprinted towards the dais, Lupin grabbed me around the chest, holding me back.

"There's nothing you can do, Daisy -"

"Get him, save him, he's only just bleeding!" 

"- It's too late, Daisy -" 

"We can still stop the bleeding -" I struggled hard and viciously, but Lupin would not let go... 

"Let her go." Sirius said beside us. "Remus, let her go." 

I was released; without thinking about anything else, I charged straight at Terry. 

He was laying on the dais, eyes wide open and glassy, staring at the ceiling. His blood was forming a large pool around him. His skin was very pale, almost white, and he was completely motionless. 

I felt dizzy. My best friend... my best friend was dead. I was shaking. Something was rising up inside of me. 

"H-Hopper?" I whispered hoarsely. "Terry?" 

He did not respond. Obviously. I took his hand in mine, my vision shimmering as tears swam in my eyes. His hand was still warm. 

I looked down. He had the Insurgent necklace wrapped around his wrist like a bracelet, and the bunny charm was in the palm of his hand. 

Pain erupted in my heart. I let out a broken sob, and I collapsed forward onto Terry. My friend... my best friend... 

I heard a sea of whispers around me as I sobbed. I grasped Terry's hand tightly in mine. I seemed to be glowing, but I didn't care. Terry was dead. Terry was gone... 

Please. Please, I'd rather it be me. Let me take his place. He shouldn't have died, it should have been me... please, I'd do anything... 

Anything...