"So this is it, then." 

Harry, Dudley, Megan, Hannah, Sasha, Piers, and I were gathered in the Dursleys' living room while the two Order members were debriefing Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon in the kitchen. In five minutes, they were to all be transported ten miles away where they would Disapparate to a safe house. My friends' families had all been told that they had been selected for overseas internships which were very exclusive and paid lots - and of course none of the families would say no to this once my friends begged. 

"I can understand why your Thomas guy -" 

"Tom Riddle." 

"Right, Tommy - would go after Dudley and all." Piers said, and I sniggered. "But we're just your Moggle friends. Why would he care about us?" 

"Because I do." I said. "I care about my 'Moggle' friends. I love you guys. You're in as much danger as Dudley, he'd be just as likely to kidnap you guys to torture you on my whereabouts, or hold you hostage to see if I'll come and rescue you." 

"Which she absolutely would, the mad lad." Dudley said. "But you really shouldn't, Daze - if Piddle kidnaps me, I'll beat him to a pulp, don't worry." 

And Dudley gave the armchair next to him the one-two. 

I sighed. "You guys... it's serious. He's dangerous. There's no guarantee Harry and I'll even come back alive after this." 

The room went quiet. The sound of footsteps in the hall a minute later broke the silence, and I turned tearfully to my friends again. 

"I love you guys. All I want is for you to stay safe." 

"We want the same for you, Daisy." Hannah said quietly. 

"Yeah, stay alive, alright?" Megan smiled tearfully. 

"Please don't die, I don't know who I'd gossip to about Piers and that hot girl who works at the Little Whinging black market if you were gone." Sasha grinned. 

I laughed as Piers said, "Don't listen to her. But I don't know what I'd do without one of my closest friends either." 

With a small sob, I reached out and gathered the four of them into a group hug. Dedalus Diggle appeared at the doorway, and after a ten-second long hug, we all separated and Hannah, Megan, Sasha, and Piers joined him. They all walked out to the cars in the driveway, and Harry and I watched sadly as the car doors all shut behind them. 

"Oh, Daisy!" Aunt Petunia sobbed behind us, and I was attacked by her arms. She hugged me tightly as Uncle Vernon shook Harry's hand. I hugged back, but not too tight; I didn't want to break her bony body. 

Then we separated and Uncle Vernon was hugging me; I couldn't see the interaction between my aunt and my brother due to Uncle V's huge mass blocking my vision. I slapped at him after a few seconds, because while I wasn't exactly the skinniest myself, I was still much smaller than him, and I was being suffocated. We all separated, and there was an awkward, tense silence. 

"We'll... we'll leave you three to say your goodbyes." Aunt Petunia said, making her way towards the door. 

"Goodbye, kiddo. Stay safe." Uncle Vernon told me as he lumbered towards the door and, with a last look back at me, disappeared through it. 

Aunt Petunia paused at the door, also looking back at me. She smiled a wavering, worried smile, and said softly, "Goodbye." 

Then she was gone too. "Godric, it's like they're never going to see me again." I said loudly into the room, and Harry and Dudley laughed. 

"Listen, Dudders." I said, turning to him. "We're going to be gone for a while, but it won't be forever. We'll be back. I promise." 

"You better." Dudley said jokingly, punching me softly on the shoulder. 

"We will." I said firmly. "We'll be okay. You better stay in your safe house and don't come out for any reason at all, you hear me?" 

"Alright." Dudley said, his smile now faded. "And you two better stay safe too. I don't want you hurt, you hear ME?" 

"Yeah." I laughed as Harry grinned. "Yeah, we hear you, Dudders." 

"Time to go!" Dedalus called from outside. We all jumped, and I turned to Dudley again quickly. He had an urgent sort of look on his face now, and he reached out for me and Harry. We all hugged, tight, like we'd never let go. But we did, and Dudley lumbered to the door as his dad had done, turning to take one last look at us too. 

"Bye, Harry. Bye, Daze." 

"Bye, Dud." 

"Bye, Big D." 

Dudley grinned at my nickname, and he was gone. 

~~~ 

There was a sudden, deafening roar from somewhere nearby as my twin and I lounged in the living room, waiting. Harry and I jumped up from the sofa together. Pausing only to exchange a glance, we hurried into the kitchen, staring out of the window into the back garden.

The darkness seemed to be rippling, the air itself quivering. Then, one by one, figures began to pop into sight as their Disillusionment Charms lifted. Dominating the scene was Hagrid, wearing a helmet and goggles and sitting astride an enormous motorbike with a black sidecar attached. All around him other people were dismounting from brooms and, in two cases, skeletal, black winged horses.

Wrenching open the back door, I hurtled into their midst, Harry hot on my heels. There was a general cry of greeting as Fred flung his arms around me, Terry clapped me on the back, and Hagrid said, "All righ', Daisy, Harry? Ready fer the off?"

"Definitely!" I said, beaming around at them all after pulling my lips from Fred's. "But we weren't expecting this many of you!"

"Change of plan." Mad-Eye growled, who was holding two enormous bulging sacks, and whose magical eye was spinning from darkening sky to house to garden with dizzying rapidity. "Let's get undercover before we talk you through it."

I led them all back into the kitchen where, laughing and chattering, they settled on chairs, sat themselves upon Aunt Petunia's gleaming work surfaces, or leaned up against her spotless appliances; Fred and George, grinning identically; Terry and Draco, holding hands; Sirius, his laughs sounding like loud barks as Emily, pretty and tall, chatted to him; Ron, long and lanky; Hermione, her bushy hair tied back in a long plait; Bill, badly scarred and longhaired; Mr Weasley, kind-faced, balding, his spectacles a little awry; Mad-Eye, battle-worn, one-legged, his bright blue magical eye whizzing in its socket; Tonks, whose hair was her favourite shade of bright pink; Lupin, grayer, more lined; Cynthia Malfoy, her mature, serious face contrasted by the smile she gave me; Kingsley, bald and broad-shouldered; and Hagrid, with his wild hair and beard, standing hunchbacked to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling. My heart expanded and glowed at the sight: I felt incredibly fond of all of them. 

"Kingsley, my man, I thought you were looking after the Muggle Prime Minister?" I called across the room.

"He can get along without me for one night." Kingsley said. "You're more important."

"Damn right I am." I tossed my hair over my shoulder, grinning, and everyone laughed. 

"Daisy, guess what?" Tonks said from her perch on top of the washing machine, and she wiggled her left hand at me; a ring glistened there.

"You fucking got married?" I yelped, looking from her to Lupin.

"I'm sorry you couldn't be there, Daisy, it was very quiet."

"Aw, c'mon, I would've made the best bridesmaid!" I pouted, then grinned again. "It's brilliant, congrat-" 

"All right, all right, we'll have time for a cozy catch-up later." Moody roared over the hubbub, and silence fell in the kitchen. Moody dropped his sacks at his feet and turned to me. "As Dedalus probably told you, we had to abandon Plan A. Pius Thicknesse has gone over, which gives us a big problem. He's made it an imprisonable offence to connect this house to the Floo Network, place a Portkey here, or Apparate in or out. All done in the name of your protection, to prevent You-Know-Who getting in at you. Absolutely pointless, seeing as your mother's charm does that already. What he's really done is to stop you getting out of here safely. 

"Second problem: You're underage, which means you've both still got the Trace on you."

"I don't -" Harry started. 

"The Trace, the Trace!" Mad-Eye said impatiently. "The charm that detects magical activity around under-seventeens, the way the Ministry finds out about underage magic! If you, or anyone around you, casts a spell to get you out of here, Thicknesse is going to know about it, and so will the Death Eaters. 

"We can't wait for the Trace to break, because the moment you turn seventeen both of you'll lose all the protection your mother gave you. In short, Pius Thicknesse thinks he's got you cornered good and proper."

I could not help but agree with the unknown Thicknesse.

"So what are we going to do?" Harry asked. 

"We're going to use the only means of transport left to us, the only ones the Trace can't detect, because we don't need to cast spells to use them: brooms, thestrals, and the motorbike."

I could see flaws in this plan; however, I held my tongue to give Mad-Eye the chance to address them.

"Now, your mother's charm will only break under two conditions: when you two come of age, or -" Moody gestured around the pristine kitchen, "- you no longer call this place home. You and your aunt and uncle are going your separate ways tonight, in the full understanding that you're never going to live together again, correct?"

Harry and I nodded.

"So this time, when you leave, there'll be no going back, and the charm will break the moment you both get outside its range. We're choosing to break it early, because the alternative is waiting for You-Know-Who to come and seize Daisy the moment she turns seventeen. 

"The one thing we've got on our side is that You-Know-Who doesn't know we're moving you tonight. We've leaked a fake trail to the Ministry: they think you're not leaving until the thirtieth. However, this is You-Know-Who we're dealing with, so we can't rely on him getting the date wrong; he's bound to have a couple of Death Eaters patrolling the skies in this general area, just in case. So, we've given a dozen different houses every protection we can throw at them. They all look like they could be the place we're going to hide you, they've all got some connection with the Order: my house, Kingsley's place, Molly's Auntie Muriel's - you get the idea."

"I guess." I said, not entirely truthfully, because I could still spot a gaping hole in the plan.

"You'll be going to Tonks's parents. Once you're within the boundaries of the protective enchantments we've put on their house you'll be able to use a Portkey to the Burrow. Any questions?"

"Er - yeah." I said. "Maybe the Banter Eaters won't know which of your twelve houses I'm heading for at first, but won't it be sort of obvious once, like -" I performed a quick headcount, "- eighteen of us fly off toward Tonks's parents?"

"Ah." Moody said. "I forgot to mention the key point. Eighteen of us won't be flying to Tonks's parents. There will be nine Daisy Potters moving through the skies tonight, each of them with a companion, each pair heading for a different safe house."

From inside his cloak Moody now withdrew a flask of what looked like mud. There was no need for him to say another word; I understood the rest of the plan immediately.

"No!" I said loudly, my voice ringing through the kitchen. "No fucking way!"

"I told them you'd take it like this." Terry said, rolling his eyes. 

"If you guys think I'm going to let eight people risk their lives -!" 

"- Because it's the first time for all of us." Terry said.

"This is different, pretending to be me -" 

"Well, none of us really fancy it, Softpaw." Fred said earnestly. "Imagine if something went wrong and we were stuck as incredibly sexy ladies with legs for days forever." 

I did not smile.

"You can't do it if I don't cooperate, you need me to give you some hair."

"Well, that's the plan scuppered." George said. "Obviously there's no chance at all of us getting a bit of your hair unless you cooperate."

"Yeah, seventeen of us against one pretty girl who's not allowed to use magic; we've got no chance." Fred said.

"Yeah, what are you gonna do, huh?" I shot at my smirking boyfriend. "Pin me down?" 

"Maybe." Fred said casually, his smirk widening. My face started to heat up. 

Harry looked between us, glaring at Fred as Terry, George, and Ron sniggered. 

"If it has to come to force, then it will." Moody growled, his magical eye now quivering a little in its socket as he glared at me. "Everyone here's overage, Miss Potter, and they're all prepared to take the risk. And Harry, if he's -?" 

"I'm doing it." Harry said immediately. 

"Seriously, Harry?" I groaned, face-palming. 

"Let's have no more arguments. Time's wearing on. I want a few of your hairs, girl, now."

"But this is mad, there's no need -" 

"No need!" Moody snarled. "With You-Know-Who out there and half the Ministry on his side? Miss Potter, if we're lucky he'll have swallowed the fake bait and he'll be planning to ambush you on the thirtieth, but he'd be mad not to have a Death Eater or two keeping an eye out, it's what I'd do. They might not be able to get at you or this house while your mother's charm holds, but it's about to break and they know the rough position of the place. Our only chance is to use decoys. Even You-Know-Who can't split himself into multiple parts."

I caught Harry's eye and looked away at once. Like... er... yes he can bro. 

"So, Potter - some of your hair, if you please."

I glanced at Draco, who grimaced at me in a just-do-it sort of way.

"Now!" Moody barked.

With all of their eyes upon me, I tugged at the ends of my black curls. 

"Good." Moody said, limping forward as he pulled the stopper out of the flask of potion. "Straight in here, if you please."

I dropped the hair into the mud-like liquid. The moment it made contact with its surface, the potion began to froth and smoke, then, all at once, it turned a clear, bright gold.

"Ooh, you look much tastier than Dumbledore, Daisy-flower." Draco said, before catching sight of Terry's raised eyebrows, blushing slightly, and saying, "Oh, you know what I mean - remember when we all transformed into Dumbledore to harass Umbridge? His potion tasted like bogies."

"Right then, fake Potters line up over here, please." Moody said as I heaved with silent laughter.

Terry, George, Draco, Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Bill lined up in front of Aunt Petunia's gleaming sink. 

Fred had paused. He glanced around at me before looking back at Moody. 

"Can't I take Daisy? I want to protect her myself -"  

"No." Moody said gruffly, pointing him into the line. "As her boyfriend, you'd be more focused on trying to protect her than flying properly. We need someone with his eyes on the skies to be able to take Miss Potter safely to where she needs to go." 

Fred looked like he was going to argue, before he sighed deeply and moved to stand between George and Terry. 

"Now, any Death Eaters we run into will be aiming to capture Miss Potter, not kill her. We all know now why that is. It'll be the protectors who have got the most to worry about, the Death Eaters want to kill them."

Moody was pulling several eggcup-sized glasses from inside his cloak, which he handed out, before pouring a little Polyjuice Potion into each one.

"Altogether, then..."

Fred, George, Terry, Draco, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Bill drank. All of them gasped and grimaced as the potion hit their throats; at once, their features began to bubble and distort like hot wax. Hermione was shooting upward; Fred, George, Terry, Draco, Harry, Ron, and Bill were shrinking; everyone's hair except Harry's was darkening, all the boys' hair except Bill's appearing to sprout. 

Moody, quite unconcerned, was now loosening the ties of the large sacks he had brought with him. When he straightened up again, there were eight Daisy Potters gasping and panting in front of him.

Fred and George turned to each other and said together, "Wow - we're identical!"

"I dunno, though, I think I'm still better-looking." Fred said, examining his reflection in the kettle. "Mmm... I could get used to this view..." 

"Don't make it weird, Red." Terry clapped him on the shoulder. 

"So this is what it feels like to have boobs." Draco said, twisting his body from side to side as Ron looked down at his chest, eyes wide. 

"Makes me wish you picked us to Polyjuice into you to terrorise Snap, Softpaw." Terry sighed. "Why'd you have to pick Ginny and Colin's class? We could've had a lot more banter." 

"Because of that." I said, pointing at the twins. They were shamelessly checking each other out. 

"Guys, you know you're still twins, right?" Terry called to them, and the two jumped, looking at each other awkwardly as the realisation set in. 

"This is just weird, man." Fred muttered, shaking his head as George faced the wall, his eyes widening. 

"Those whose clothes are a bit roomy, I've got smaller here," said Moody, indicating the first sack, "and vice versa. And when you're dressed, there's luggage in the other sack."

The real me thought that this might just be the most bizarre thing I had ever seen, and I had seen some extremely odd things. I watched as my eight doppelgangers rummaged in the sacks, pulling out sets of clothes, stuffing their own things away. I felt like asking them to show a little more respect for my privacy as they all began stripping off with impunity, clearly more at ease with displaying my body than they would have been with their own.

"I knew Ginny was lying about that tattoo." Ron said, looking down. 

"Woah, the things this is doing to my head right now..." Fred murmured as he, very slowly, slid into the strawberry-patterned skirt identical to what I was currently wearing. 

Once dressed, the fake Daisys took rucksacks and owl cages, each containing a stuffed black owl, from the second sack.

"Good." Moody said, as at last nine dressed and luggage-laden Daisys faced him. "The pairs will be as follows: Bill will be traveling with me, by broom - Arthur and Terry, also by broom - Emily and Fred -" 

"I'm George." The twin at whom Moody was pointing said. "Can't you even tell us apart when we're Daisy?"

"Sorry, George -" 

"I'm only yanking your wand, I'm Fred really -" 

"Enough messing around!" Moody snarled as Terry and I cackled. "The other one - George or Fred or whoever you are - you're with Remus. Cynthia and Draco, on a thestral. Miss Granger with Kingsley, again by thestral -" 

Hermione looked reassured as she answered Kingsley's smile; I knew that Hermione lacked confidence on a broomstick. I also noticed Draco exchanging a smile with his aunt. 

"Which leaves you and me, Ron!" Tonks said brightly, knocking over a mug tree as she waved at him.

Ron did not look quite as pleased as Draco and Hermione.

"An' you're with me, Harry. That all righ'?" Hagrid said, looking a little anxious. "We'll be on the bike, brooms an' thestrals can't take me weight, see. Not a lot o' room on the seat with me on it, though, so you'll be in the sidecar."

"That's great." Harry said, not sounding altogether truthful. I smirked at him. 

"And you're with me, sweetheart." Sirius grinned down at me, holding up my Firebolt. "Hope you don't mind." 

"Not at all." I grinned back up at him. 

"All right then." Moody said, tying up the sack with the fake Potters' clothes in it and leading the way back to the door. "I make it three minutes until we're supposed to leave. No point locking the back door, it won't keep the Death Eaters out when they come looking. Come on..."

I hurried to gather my rucksack and Snidget's cage and followed the group to the dark back garden.

On every side broomsticks were leaping into hands; Hermione had already been helped up onto a great black thestral by Kingsley, Draco onto the other by Cynthia Malfoy. Hagrid was standing ready beside the motorbike, goggles on. Harry had wedged his stuff into the sidecar along with Hedwig. Sirius swung his leg over the Firebolt, and I got on behind him, winding my arms tight around his waist, Moody helping to tie my luggage on beneath us. 

The sidecar placed Harry several feet below everybody else: I smirked at the sight of him sitting there like a child in a bumper car. He threw a rude hand gesture at me. 

"All right, then." Moody said. "Everyone ready, please. I want us all to leave at exactly the same time or the whole point of the diversion's lost."

Everybody motioned their heads. "Hold tight now, Fred." Emily said, and I saw Fred throw a forcing, guilty look at Sirius before placing his hands on each side of her waist. I sent a gang sign with my hand at Terry, who threw his head back with a cackle as Mr Weasley turned to look at him in confusion. Hagrid kicked the motorbike into life: it roared like a dragon. 

"I loved that motorbike." Sirius sighed. "I'll have to get another one; that one's honorarily Hagrid's now." 

"Good luck, everyone." Moody shouted. "See you all in about an hour at the Burrow. On the count of three. One... two... THREE."

There was a great roar from the motorbike, and I felt the broom rise beneath me. We were rising through the air fast, my eyes watering slightly, hair whipped back off my face. Around me other brooms were soaring upward too, the long black tail of a thestral flicking past. I almost forgot to take a last glimpse of number four Privet Drive, and by the time I looked down I could no longer tell which one it was.

And then, out of nowhere, out of nothing, we were surrounded. At least thirty hooded figures, suspended in midair, formed a vast circle in the middle of which the Order members had risen, oblivious screams, a blaze of green light on every side. Sirius gave a yell and the broom rolled over. I lost any sense of where we were. Streetlights above me, yells around me, I was clinging to Sirius for dear life. Suddenly, the broom swung the right way up again. A second's relief, and then another burst of green light. I ducked, panting. 

Sirius zoomed forward; I glimpsed hooded Death Eaters scattering as Sirius blasted through their circle. My terror for the others was paramount; what was happening to them behind us? I glanced over my shoulder and saw a mass of people moving, flares of green light, two pairs of people on brooms soaring off into the distance, but I could not tell who they were - 

"Sirius, we've got to go back, we've got to go back, the others need us!" I yelled, pulling out my wand. "Sirius, TURN AROUND!"

"Yeah, okay - hold on tight, sweetheart!" Sirius shouted, but as I looked back again two jets of green light flew past my left ear: four Death Eaters had broken away from the circle and were pursuing us, aiming for Sirius. He swerved, but the Death Eaters were keeping up with us; more curses shot after us, and I had to sink low into Sirius's back to avoid them. Turning, I cried, "Stupefy!" and a red bolt of light shot from my own wand, cleaving a gap between the four pursuing Death Eaters as they scattered to avoid it.

"Reducto!" Sirius yelled, thrusting his wand over his shoulder. Three of the Death Eaters swerved and avoided the spell, but the fourth was not so lucky; he vanished from view and then dropped like a boulder, his broomstick broken into pieces. One of his fellows slowed up to save him, but they were swallowed by darkness as Sirius leaned low over the broom and sped up.

More Killing Curses flew past my head from the two remaining Death Eaters' wands; they were still aiming for Sirius. I responded with further Stunning Spells: red and green collided in midair in a shower of multicoloured sparks, and I thought wildly of fireworks, and the Muggles below who would have no idea what was happening - 

"We have to keep going forward, for fuck sake, Daisy!" Sirius yelled. "We can't go back if they're trying to kill us - they're going to end up killing you in the process - hold on!" 

The Death Eater who had slowed to save their unconscious friend had caught up. He bloomed suddenly out of the darkness and now three of them were pursuing us, all shooting curses after us.

"Stupefy!" Sirius aimed his wand back over his shoulder. I saw the Death Eaters swerve out of sight to avoid the spell. More curses streaked past me: the three Death Eaters were closing in.

Bowing as low as I could, I pointed my wand at the middle of the oncoming figures and yelled, "Impedimenta!"

The jinx hit the middle Death Eater in the chest; for a moment the man was absurdly spread-eagled in midair as though he had hit an invisible barrier: one of his fellows almost collided with him. Then the remaining Death Eater shot a curse so close to me that I had to slam myself into Sirius's back. Another curse came at me almost immediately after that one, hitting me in the leg; I felt a searing pain slice through my skin, and I cried out, slumping against Sirius; he turned, his face full of fury, and yelled, "Confringo!" 

A Death Eater was blasted off his broom and fell from sight; his companion fell back and vanished.

"Daisy, sweetheart, are you alright?" 

"It's not a problem, just keep flying!" I shouted back, my voice strained in pain, as two more Death Eaters emerged out of the darkness, drawing closer.

As the curses came shooting across the intervening space again, Sirius swerved and zigzagged; I knew he was focusing on getting us out of this situation. I sent Stunning Spell after Stunning Spell back at our pursuers, barely holding them off. I shot another blocking jinx at them: the closest Death Eater swerved to avoid it and his hood slipped, and by the red light of my next Stunning Spell, I saw the strangely blank face of Stanley Shunpike - Stan - 

"Expelliarmus!" I yelled.

"That's her, it's her, it's the real one!"

The hooded Death Eater's shout reached me: next moment, both pursuers had fallen back and disappeared from view.

"Daisy, what's happened?" Sirius bellowed. "Where've they gone?"

"I don't know!"

But I was afraid: the hooded Death Eater had shouted, "It's the real one!"; how'd he known? I gazed around at the apparently empty darkness and felt its menace. Where were we?

Fear lapped at me as I looked left and right for pursuers I was sure would come... Why had they fallen back? One of them had still had a wand... 'It's her... it's the real one...' They had said it right after I had Disarmed Stan...

"We're nearly there, sweetheart, we've nearly made it!" Sirius shouted.

I felt the broom drop a little, though the lights down on the ground still seemed remote as stars.

Then the scar on my forehead burned like fire: as a Death Eater appeared on either side of the Firebolt, two Stunning Spells missed me by millimetres, cast from behind. And then I saw him. Riddle was flying like smoke on the wind, without broomstick or thestral to hold him, his ridiculously handsome face gleaming out of the blackness, his white fingers raising his wand again - 

Sirius let out a roar of anger and steered the broom into a vertical dive. Clinging on for dear life, I sent Stunning Spells flying at random into the whirling night. I saw a body fly past me and knew I had hit one of them, at least - 

Red jets of light shot past us again. I had no idea which way was up, which down: my scar was still burning; I expected to be caught by Riddle's Stunning Spell and lose consciousness at any second. Numbly, briefly, I wished I could feel like when I was under the love potion when I was near Riddle; the potion had clouded my brain and I couldn't feel the scar pain when I was under its effects. 

A hooded figure on a broomstick was feet from me, I saw it raise its arm - 

"NO!"

With a shout of fury Sirius launched himself off the broom at the Death Eater; to my horror, I saw both Sirius and the Death Eater falling out of sight, the Death Eater's broomstick falling with them... 

Barely gripping the broom with my knees, my chest thrumming in fear for my godfather, I heard Riddle scream, "Mine!"

It was over: I could not see or hear where Riddle was; I glimpsed another Death Eater swooping out of the way and heard, "Stupe-" 

As the pain from my scar forced my eyes shut, my wand acted of its own accord. I felt it drag my hand around like some great magnet, saw a spurt of golden fire through my half-closed eyelids, heard a crack and a scream of fury. The remaining Death Eater yelled; Riddle screamed, "NO!" I leaned forward over my broom, hurtling straight toward the ground.

"Sirius!" I called, holding onto the bike for dear life. "Sirius - Accio Sirius!"

Face level with the wood, I could see nothing but distant lights growing nearer and nearer. Behind me came another scream, "Your wand, Selwyn, give me your wand!"

I felt Riddle before I saw him. Looking sideways, I stared into the red eyes and was sure they would be the last thing I ever saw before I was Stunned and woke up as a mindless, loving slave to Riddle yet again... 

And then he vanished. I looked down and saw Sirius landing on the Death Eater's broom below me. I pulled hard on the handle of my broom to avoid hitting him, and landed with a jolt next to my godfather. Sirius turned and opened his mouth but, the red eyes and handsome face still swimming in my mind and the pain still searing through my leg, my knees crumpled and everything went black.