Dark Daughter

Chapter 7: The Chaos of Rescue

(January 31^st)

Harry woke. His head ached, and his scar burned. He groaned. Pulling himself into a sitting position, he realized that he was in a dark and dingy room that probably belonged to an old house. The ground was spotted with blood and he shivered as his eyes wondered around, taking in the detail. Voldemort had imprisoned him, he just knew it. There were sounds of people talking from the other room.

How am I going to get out of this one alive? Harry thought. Before he could think anything else, however, the door creaked open slowly and spookily. Lucius Malfoy stood on the threshold.

He raised his wand without even a slimy comment and yelled, "Crucio!"

Harry tried not to scream, he didn't want to give Malfoy the satisfaction, but the pain was consuming his mind. He screamed. The pain was burning every nerve in his body. Harry just lay there, jerking and shrieking on the ground.

* * *

"Amilia," said Voldemort. "You have a chance to practice the Cruciatus Curse on a human. We have captured Harry Potter."

"Thank you, My Lord," said Amy. Why did Voldemort keep calling her Amilia? That wasn't even her real name! But she dared not correct him. "I knew that you would catch Potter. You are so powerful and he is so helpless without Dumbledore. The Order of the Fatigue will be most distressed."

Amy chuckled, though laughter was not a proper display of her feelings. She felt more like puking.

"Go in," said Voldemort. "Wormtail will have finished tying him up."

Amy nodded, "Yes, Master."

Amy entered the room in which Harry was being kept. Lucius Malfoy was kicking him insanely. His body was completely bound and he could do nothing to defend himself from Malfoy's blows.

"I think I'll take it from here, Malfoy," said Amy quietly, leaning against the doorframe and trying to look as relaxed as possible.

"Of course," said Malfoy silkily.

"Thank you," said Amy politely.

Malfoy left and Amy closed the door behind him.

"Remove his gag, Amilia," called Voldemort in his chilling voice. "I want to hear the wailing."

"Yes, Master," Amy called back.

Amy helped Harry sit upright on his knees. She removed the gag.

"You!" Harry croaked.

"Shhh," Amy whispered. "Quiet. I'll explain later, just do what I say, I'm going to get you out of here."

Harry looked surprised.

"Master," said Amy. She rose to her feet. "Master, his binds are weak, would you like me to retie them?"

"Yes," said Voldemort. "Stun him while you work, we don't want him to escape, do we?"

"No, My Lord," said Amy.

Harry didn't have a clue what was happening. His head was aching worst then ever, due to a large bruise on his brow, where Mr. Malfoy had kicked him. However, he was happy--no, grateful--that his scar was not hurting so bad. Amy untied the ropes that bound him.

Harry stared up at her. "What are you doing?" he asked as she wrapped them around him once more. He felt her shove the end of the rope in his hand.

"Let go of this rope when I leave," she breathed. "You're not really tied up. But when I open the door it will look like you're bound. Do you understand?"

Harry nodded, even though he didn't know what was going on. This kid--a spy?

"Now," Amy murmured. "I need to set some things up for you to escape. I'm supposed to be doing the Cruciatus Curse on you. But I'm not really going to. Just scream when I say the words and stop when I do this--" drew her hand swiftly across her throat. "You understand?"

Harry nodded again. He waited for moment and then--

"Now," Amy breathed and then she yelled. "Crucio!"

Harry did not feel the curse being cast upon him but he began to scream, as Amy had told him to. She jumped and fell backwards. She hadn't expected him to scream so loudly. Recovering herself, Amy conjured some ropes from thin air. Harry would just have to take his with him, so it wouldn't look suspicious with more rope than they'd started from.

She went over to Harry and gave the signal for him to stop. He stopped and was silent, taking deep breaths. His throat was very sore.

"Good," said Voldemort through the door. "Continue, Amilia, the sound of Potter screaming is wonderful."

"Yes, Master," said Amy and then she lowered her voice to breathe in Harry's ear, "You can really scream!"

Harry gave a small grin. Again, Amy gave him the cue to shriek and said the words to the curse but did nothing to him. Harry felt her pull off his shoe, he wanted to ask what on earth she was doing, but knew better than to stop yelling. He knew that she was casting spells on it and over his screaming, he could hear the distinct sounds of an object being transfigured.

Finally Amy gave the sign for him to stop screaming.

"Alright, Harry," she whispered. "Your shoe is a portkey. When I close the door, you let go of that rope and reach for the portkey. Don't waste time. Do it right after the door closes. You got that?"

"Yeah," Harry whispered.

Amy called through the door, "Master, may I stop? Performing this curse is making me so exhausted."

"Yes," said Voldemort. "Replace the gag and leave him. I will kill him in a minute or so."

Amy put the gag on hurriedly, whispering to him, "Don't even bother taking it off, just make sure you touch the portkey as soon as possible. Voldemort can't know that you got away on a portkey. There's a rope slung out of the window; it makes it look like you freed yourself and climbed down it. We're not far from Mundungus Fletcher's house. They'll think that you just went to his house. But he's not home. So just let go of the rope in your hand and touch your shoe, okay?"

Harry nodded one last time. "Good luck," Amy muttered as she stood up.

She left, closing the door behind her. Harry let go of the rope and felt his bindings loosen. Then he threw himself on the ground next to his shoe and reached out a hand to touch it. In a rush of dull color, Harry left the dingy old room and was heading for Hogwarts.

* * *

Harry's feet slammed into the ground and he fell backwards, hitting the ground with a thud. He closed his eyes. The pain from the curses and the beating that Lucius Malfoy had subjected him to was beginning to kick in. He heard loud footsteps coming rapidly towards him.

"HARRY!" shouted the familiar voice of Sirius.

Harry was far too exhausted to open his eyes. If it had been on normal terms, he would have sat up and shouted at Sirius for being so careless (Sirius had been very thoughtless in the past months and seemed to forget that almost the whole world thought he was a ruthless criminal). Harry felt Sirius' shaking hands lifting his head into his arms. He removed the ropes from his body tenderly. Harry's body was limp; he wanted nothing more than to loose complete consciousness in his godfather's arms. But Sirius was shaking him gently.

"Harry," he said softly. "It's all right Harry, it's me, Sirius. Harry, open your eyes!"

Harry opened his eyes. He just couldn't bear to hear the concern in Sirius' voice.

"Oh, Harry," said another voice. It was Dumbledore. Sirius helped him sit up halfway and Harry stared into his eyes.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I heard from Ron that Remus was in the hospital wing. I went to Hagrid--I thought he'd tell me. And . . ."

"It's all right, Harry," said Sirius soothingly. "It's all right. Are you hurt?"

"Malfoy--Lucius Malfoy was beating me up," Harry said, wincing as Sirius shifted his shoulders a little to inspect a gash on one of them.

Sirius conjured a stretcher and used magic to get Harry onto it.

"Did you see Amy Evans?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes," said Harry, suddenly sitting up. "She's a Death Eater, but she saved me. Professor--"

"Harry, lay back," said Dumbledore putting a hand on his good shoulder and pushing him back down. "She is not a true Death Eater. She is my spy. And . . . she saved you?"

"Yes," said Harry. "She turned my shoe into a portkey and pretended to put the Cruciatus Curse on me so that Voldemort would let her be alone in the room with me."

"You screamed to make it convincing?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yeah," said Harry. "Has she gotten back yet?"

"No," said Dumbledore, looking concerned. "Harry, I want you to go to the hospital wing while I sort this out. Sirius, will you take him?"

"Of course I will," said Sirius automatically.

Dumbledore nodded to them and walked a way. Harry laid back, so tired that he fell asleep before they'd even reached the infirmary door.

* * *

Amy was having far less luck. She was facing Voldemort, who was furious. Finding that Harry was gone seemed to be driving him mad. Amy wanted to smile and the ends of her mouth kept twitching. Mission accomplished!

However, Voldemort was not pleased.

"Your blunder has cost me my revenge and serious damage to my plan! Crucio!"

Amy collapsed. She screamed even louder than Harry had. She wanted everything to end; she wanted the pain to go, even if it meant dying. Finally, Voldemort removed the curse.

"What was the reason for your blunder?" he asked venomously.

"Master," Amy said. "Master, I'm so sorry. I think that when I retied Potter's ropes I might have tied them too loose. I'm so sorry!"

Voldemort was so angry that he cast the Cruciatus Curse on Amy without saying anything to her. The pain was so intense that she didn't even scream, she only whimpered. She didn't know how long she was writhing on the floor but when she was relieved of the curse, she had to force herself not to slide into blackness.

"You stupid child," he spat. "Your arrogance has led to think to highly of yourself!"

"I'm sorry," Amy breathed. For once, she truly was. Why had she made it look like it was her fault? Or maybe she could have gotten away with Harry. She was going to die--she knew it.

Voldemort was silent for a long time. Amy's hopes rose, but then fell when her father spoke in a deadly voice that was barely audible.

"Your foolish mistake has ruined my plan for a battle in which we would be invincible. You will be punished!"

"Master," Amy whispered. "I am so sorry."

"Sorry," Voldemort repeated softly. "You are not sorry--not yet."

And the Dark Lord cast the Cruciatus Curse upon Amy for the third time that night.

* * *

Snape was watching. He would rather Amy scream and ruin his eardrums than hear her whimper that way. He watched in horror as her twitches turned into wild jerking motions. Once every few minutes, Voldemort lifted the torture curse to perform a strange new curse that Severus had rarely heard before, then he place the Cruciatus Curse on her again.

Finally, after almost twenty minutes, the Dark Lord lifted Amy into the air with magic and jerked his wand to the side, throwing her through the window and shattering the glass. She landed with a soft thud and Voldemort removed the curse.

"Go back to Hogwarts," he told Snape. "Put a memory charm on Potter so that he doesn't remember anything that happened tonight. Don't recapture him--it's too risky. Take Amilia with you and leave her in the hospital wing. Say that you found her out on the grounds. She can find a way to explain the rest. Now go!"

Snape nodded and ran from the room. He caught a glimpse of Voldemort using magic to move the portkey that would take them back to Hogwarts out the window. He ran down the stairs and out the back door. He looked to his right; there was a small cottage at the far end of the grounds. He looked to his left and saw a crumpled heap of robes lying in the dirt not far from where he was standing. Snape ran as fast as he could towards the figure that was Amy.

"Evans," he hissed urgently. "Evans, wake up!"

Snape turned her over. She had many deep, bleeding cuts on her face, some of which had pieces of glass sticking out of them. He pulled a particularly large shard out of her cheek and pushed the sleeve of his robe against the gash to shop the sudden gush of blood. She gave no response. He felt in her neck for a pulse. After a moment he felt the faint beat of her heart. Picking up her broken glasses from the ground and stuffing them into his pocket, Snape took her wrist and reached out his hand. He touched the portkey and left the grassy field.

Snape hit the stone floor of the dungeon with such tremendous force that he fell forward. But he quickly recovered himself.

"Evans!" he cried. "Evans, wake up!"

To Snape's surprise, Amy opened her eyes a fraction of an inch. She whimpered at him. Snape pulled the young girl into his arms and shook her slightly, trying to bring her around.

"Come on, Evans," he said softly. "Wake up! It's all right, now, we're away from Voldemort. Wake up!"

Amy whimpered again and breathed, "P-Professor Snape?"

"Yes, it's me," said Snape. He couldn't remember ever treating another human like this before. "Hold on. You'll be all right again soon."

He wrapped his cloak around Amy and hoisted her up, off the ground and ran out of the dungeons. Snape wasn't sure why he cared so much about her. She was, after all, a little third year, prankster and Gryffindor, but he cared about her just the same. She was different from the other students somehow.

"Severus," said a voice--Dumbledore.

Snape hurried over to Dumbledore, still carrying Amy. Dumbledore looked down at her in alarm.

"What happened?" he demanded.

"The Dark Lord tortured her, Headmaster," Snape told him, panting. "She saved Potter from certain death. Whatever he said--he wouldn't understand--"

"Harry has the same story, Severus," said Dumbledore. "Let me see her."

The old man held out his arms, indicating that he wanted to hold Amy.

"Are you sure you can--"

"Yes, Severus," said Dumbledore impatiently. "I am stronger than I seem."

Reluctantly, Snape slid Amy into Dumbledore's arms. The headmaster stared down at Amy through his half-moon glasses with a grave expression.

"She's very light," he said after a while. "Poor child has no doubt been loosing weight."

Amy opened her eyes a little and gazed fixedly at her headmaster. Dumbledore stared into her face just as steadily. Her eyes were unfocused and glazed with pain. They had seen terrible things. Amy moaned faintly.

"Shhh," said Dumbledore soothingly. "It's all right. Relax."

Amy moaned again, her head lurched forward, and she coughed up a great amount of blood. Horrified, Snape stared forward. Amy whimpered yet again.

"Shhh," Dumbledore said again in an unnaturally calm voice. "You'll be all right. Shhh."

Amy coughed weakly once more and her eyes rolled into her head as she fainted. Dumbledore put Amy back in Snape's arms and without a word, Snape ran to the infirmary. He had a horrible feeling that Amy was dying in his arms!

* * *

"Professor Snape!" said Madam Pomfrey, who was standing above Harry.

Harry and the dog that was Sirius looked up. Snape was holding a bundle of robes in his arms. The nurse walked over to the Potions Master. She gasped.

"What happened?" she asked, leading Snape over to a bed.

Snape muttered something to her as he laid the figure he'd been carrying on the bed. With a horrible sinking feeling, Harry realized that it was Amy Evans.

"Tortured?" Madam Pomfrey cried. "Why?"

Snape mumbled more. The ward was completely quiet and Harry heard him say, "Saved Potter" and, "punished for it."

Harry knew what had happened. Amy was punished because Harry had escaped. She had made it look like his getaway was her fault and that it had been a mistake. Harry gazed blankly at her face. She appeared to be unconscious, Harry noticed that she had many apparently deep cuts on her face and if his eyes weren't deceiving him, some of the cuts had fragments of glass in them! But, as terrible as Harry felt about Amy's injuries, he couldn't help but feel suspicious towards her. She had somehow gotten into the ranks of Voldemort, who seemed to like her, and that was always worth suspicion.

Romulus Lupin had betrayed Dumbledore and tricked everyone into trusting him. Harry thought that it was highly possible that Amy had done the same. Madam Pomfrey pulled curtains around Evans' bed to hide her from his view.

* * *

Amy was whimpering, coughing blood, and twitching on the bed.

"Shhh," the nurse cooed. "Shhh. You'll be all right, honey. Shhh."

"Do you need me to help?" asked Snape feeling it was unnecessary to even ask. He didn't often volunteer to help with caring for an injured student, but this was Amy Evans and, by all accounts, she was his partner.

"Yes, Severus," said Madam Pomfrey distractedly as she tried to make Amy lie still; she had gone into a state of delirium.

"No," Amy muttered, trying to roll over but she cried out in pain. "No, please."

Madam Pomfrey was feeling her forehead frantically and said, "She has no fever, quite the contrary, but she is delirious," she turned to Snape. "Severus, will you get me an anesthetic. The purple one, please!" Then she turned back to Amy. "Shhh, Amy, dear. Shhh, it's all right. Severus--hurry!"

Snape turned around and headed for the medicine cabinet. With only one thought in his head, "Amy!"

* * *

Albus Dumbledore was striding down the Charms Corridor. The boy called Jason Black was approaching him.

"Professor," the boy said. "Mr. Fletcher and Mr. Percy Weasley have left to investigate the house on the edge of Mr. Fletcher's village. They left about five minutes ago."

"Good, Jason," said Albus. "Thank you, you've been a great help tonight."

"Thank you for trusting me to help you, Sir," said Jason. He paused for a moment and then said, "Um . . . Professor, may I go to Gryffindor tower and leave a note for my friends, please. If they wake up and don't know where Amy and I are, they'll panic. I'll just say that we got caught and we're doing out detentions right away. I'll explain best I can later--that is--if I'm allowed to."

"Yes," said Albus. "Do that, Jason, and then come back to my office."

Albus had been using the boy as his messenger. Albus was thinking of telling Jason what had happened to Amy but decided that he didn't want his messenger troubled--not until morning, when he wouldn't be his messenger anymore.

Everything seems to be happening tonight, thought Albus. Remus was shot with a sliver arrow and within thirty minutes, there was a meeting of the Order of the Phoenix, and Sirius and Arthur had returned informing them that Romulus had truly betrayed them. Harry had been kidnapped and rescued within one hour. It was amazing. He would have to explain a lot to Harry in the morning--that was for sure. As much as Albus thought about Harry and what he would have to explain, his mind wandered to Amy.

Albus never wanted to admit it to himself; but he did have a touch of favoritism for Harry. But these days he worried more about Amy. He cared for her. And now she was almost dead because she had saved Harry.

Minerva McGonagall was walking briskly toward him.

"What's happened to Evans?" she hissed, stopping in front of him.

"She's ill and injured," said Albus simply. He sorely felt like leaving it at that.

"How?" McGonagall asked impatiently. "She was half dead when I went to check on Potter and Remus."

"She was tortured by Voldemort," said Albus heavily. "Severus says it was terrible, and he has higher views about what is terrible."

McGonagall gasped but recovered herself quickly. "Albus, Bl--Sirius wants to know if there's anything he can do."

"Tell him to stay with Harry," said Albus. "Harry's in better shape than Amy but he didn't come out of that hell unscathed. Oh, and by the way--don't tell Jason Black about Amy. Make sure that he doesn't go into the infirmary. I don't want him to know until morning."

"I won't," said McGonagall and she walked away.

Albus had almost made it to his office when Jason popped up through a secret passage. It was Jason's knowledge of the school that had gotten him a job as a messenger that night.

"Professor," he said. "Where's Amy? Do Death Eater meetings usually take so long?"

"Yes," lied Albus. "She'll probably be all night."

Jason was silent for a time.

"Professor," he said finally. "Amy told me that my uncle--Sirius Black, is innocent. She said that she sees Pettigrew working for You-Know-Who all the time and that it was Pettigrew that did the crimes my uncle was accused of. And she says that you told her all of this stuff. It's true, isn't it?"

"Yes," said Albus. "Did she tell anyone else?"

"No," said Jason. "Well, no one but David, Joanne, and Derek. We're her best friends, she wouldn't tell anyone else--not even Fred and George Weasley."

"All of the Weasleys already know," said Albus. "As you might have heard, your Uncle Sirius is godfather to Harry Potter."

"And Potter's best friend is Ron Weasley," said Jason knowingly.

It felt strange for Albus to hear a student call Harry by his last name. But then, not everyone knew Harry well. He also knew that it wasn't abnormal for Amy to tell her friends. She would need to share her thoughts with someone.

They reached his office.

"Jelly slugs," Albus said and then he turned to Jason. "Jason, I need you to go and get these people," he gave him a list of people and their locations within the castle. "Tell them that they are summoned to another meeting of the Order of the Phoenix, then go and wait in the north end of Tapestry Tunnel, make sure to be silent and I'd advise that you use the Invisibility Cloak that you've been hiding under your robes."

Albus smiled and Jason asked, "Is it that obvious?"

"No," said the headmaster. "But I have my own ways of finding out what's going on throughout the castle."

Jason went pink and hurried away.

* * *

Jason hated nights in which everything happened at once. It was very chaotic. But he was glad to be included. He supposed that Dumbledore was not the kind of adult who "believed that adolescents couldn't do anything maturely and therefore should be excluded" in the way David put it. He was grateful for this. A twinge of fear dropped like liquid into Jason's stomach as he approached the first door where five of the people on the list were staying. He knocked.

"What?" said a sharp voice as the person talking opened the door.

"I--I'm sup-p-posed t-to--" Jason stammered but the old woman who stood in the doorframe interrupted him.

"Boy, you must have the wrong room!"

"A-are you part of the Order of the Phoenix?" Jason asked hurriedly, knowing that if she wasn't, he'd be in for it.

"Yes. What do you want, Boy?"

"Professor Dumbledore said to get you and some other people who are supposed to be staying here with you," said Jason, steadying his voice.

"Oh," said the woman, her annoyed expression fading. "I'm sorry, Boy, I thought you were looking for trouble."

"It's all right," Jason muttered.

"Algie, Enid, Doris, Dedalus--Dumbledore wants us, C'mon, he won't mind if we're wearing our night clothes underneath our robes--will he, Boy?"

"N-no, I don't think so," Jason said, he had no memory of ever feeling so nervous (with the exception of his sorting ceremony).

"Good," said the woman.

"Dear me, Arabella," said a second, younger, kind faced woman, probably in her mid-forties, who had just come to join the lady, presumably Arabella. "Poor child looks scared enough, you're just making it worse. Stop calling him 'Boy,' will you? What's your name dear?"

"Jason," he hesitated, " . . . Black."

"Nice to meet you Jason," said the woman. "I'm Doris Crockford, but you can call me Ms. Crockford."

Jason grinned and said that he had to tell more people to come to Dumbledore's meeting. He heard them (and the people with the other two) debating about whether Dumbledore's using kids to help in the war against Voldemort was wise. The woman called Arabella was against it while Crockford was all for it, saying that it was them that they were protecting and that children should be given a chance.

The next door was in sight. Jason gulped, but he wasn't as extremely nervous as he was last time. He knocked, as he had with the last group of people. Five people were staying here, but these people knew him--well, they knew that he was playing Dumbledore's messenger for the night, anyway. It was the Weasleys (the adults, of course, and Percy was on the mission for Dumbledore). Jason was fond of the Weasley family, not only because Fred and George were related to them; but also because they were so welcoming, with the exception of Percy.

"Jason, dear," said Mrs. Weasley when she opened the door. "What is it?"

"Dumbledore wants you," Jason said.

"Does he? All right, thank you, dear. Arthur, Bill, Charlie--Dumbledore needs us!"
"Coming, Molly!"

Jason left and headed for Mad-Eye Moody's room. Moody was the one who frightened him the most. Probably gonna blast me through his door if I knock too loud, he thought. He took a deep breath and let his knuckles collide a few times with the wood of the door.

He heard loud clunking. The door swung open and there was blast. Jason yelled and fell backwards he made to get up but--

"NOT SO FAST, LADDIE!" Moody roared pointing his wand straight at Jason's heart.

They were frozen for a second.

"What were you doing?" Moody snarled.

"P-Professor Dumbledore wan-wanted me t-to come and g-get you and the pe-people who're staying w-with you, Sir," said Jason, who was shaking from head to toe.

"Why did he ask you to do it?" asked the old, ex-Auror.

"By some--some strange cir-circumstances, I'm h-his messenger for the night, Sir," answered Jason.

"You're nervous," growled Moody. He still hadn't lowered his wand.

"You're--you're p-pointing a wand at my heart, Sir," said Jason, trying his best not to sound like he was smarting off.

Moody grinned a little and lowered his wand.

"You'll be the Black boy, won't you? Sirius Black's nephew?" he asked and his voice was much more calm.

"Y-Yes, Sir," said Jason, and, guessing that he probably shouldn't act like he was proud of being related to a man that almost the whole world thought was a dangerous criminal, he added, "But I'm nothing like him at all, Sir, I assure you!"

Moody's face split in to real smile. Jason had seen the impersonator Moody smile, it looked the same--just plain eerie--like a gash in his head curving and getting wider. But Jason tried not to look alarmed. Moody extended a hand to help him to his feet and he took it.

"You can go get whoever else you need to, Black." Moody said. "I can find my way to Dumbledore's office."

Jason nodded and hurried off. Telling the others to go to Dumbledore wasn't nearly as hard. He managed to escape without many questions about why he was out of bed, why Dumbledore had chosen him, or what he wanted. Finally, it was time for Jason to wait at the north end of Tapestry tunnel. He entered through the south end after putting on the cloak behind a statue of a strange looking warlock.

As he neared the other end, Jason heard voices coming from the corridor out side. The tapestry that covered the end of the passage was in sight. He extinguished the light at the end of his wand and used the sounds of the people talking to each other to find his way, shuffling his feet.

"Harry should have been back by now," the voice of Hermione Granger muttered.

"I know," said the voice of Ron Weasley tensely. "He's probably down at Hagrid's. Lets go check!"

Was this what Dumbledore wanted him to wait for? He wanted Jason to stop Weasley and Granger from going down to Hagrid's? Jason couldn't take the risk of revealing himself. He stayed put. He waited for at least an hour and a half. He slid down the wall and closed his eyes, so exhausted that almost immediately, he drifted of in a doze.

* * *

"Dumbledore will be having a meeting with the Order of the Flimsy and Potter will be unguarded in the hospital wing--like a sitting duck," said a sinister voice.

"Yes," said a second timid voice. "But if Black is with him . . . and Pomfrey--the nurse. I don't know if this is a very good idea."

Jason opened his eyes. What time is it? He looked at his watch.

5:42 a.m.

"Wormtail . . . " said the first, sinister voice.

"The Dark Lord didn't want Potter to remember," said the man named Wormtail.

Jason realized what was going on. There was another pair of Death Eaters in the castle! They were going to attack the hospital wing in order to get to Potter. He knew that his uncle was in the hospital wing with Potter. Oh God, he thought. He was beginning to think of taking drastic actions.

He ran back down the passage, to head them off, still invisible. His breathing was growing heavy; he was not out of breath but more scared. Finally he reached the other end of Tapestry Tunnel.

He could hear the Death Eaters walking towards him. He would head them off near the infirmary--that was a good place to stun them. He hurried down a passage of stairs but was stopped by Peeves the poltergeist near the end. He was floating in midair, apparently very pleased about something. What was making him so happy became clear within about a minute. There was loud blast from the direction of the hospital wing and Jason fell backwards. Hearing Peeves swoop away, cackling. Jason sat up and ran towards the end of the secret staircase.

He coughed as he breathed in a lot of dust and smoke, and then realized that some of the infirmary wall was missing. The two Death Eaters were advancing upon an unconscious Uncle Sirius and Harry Potter. Jason gave an angered cry and charged forward. He stunned one of the Death Eaters but Wormtail gave a frightened squeak, transformed into the rat that he was and scampered down the ward, between the beds and out the window.

Madam Pomfrey hurried to examine Potter. He groaned faintly and sat up.

"What happened?" he asked, staring around.

"I don't know," said Madam Pomfrey, now bending over Uncle Sirius.

"You're you?" Potter now asked Jason.

Jason didn't answer; he was inspecting the man he had stunned. He recognized him, but couldn't give him a name. He had been on the list of pictures of people who'd escaped Azkaban. He had a long, thin mustache that was curled at the ends. He had thin, dark hair that was parted neatly. He looked perfectly normal and was barely distinguishable from the ratty haired man in the Daily Prophet. Who was he?

"Who are you?" Potter repeated impatiently.

Bastard, Jason thought bitterly. He was not at all in the mood to have an arrogant, ungrateful, celebrity interrogate him at the moment.

"Jason," he muttered loud enough for Potter and Uncle Sirius (who had just come around) to hear him. "Jason Black."

"What are you doing here?" asked Potter.

"Why are you asking?" said Jason irritably.

"Because it is suspicious that you should appear seconds after a Death Eater attack," said Snape, who had just come around a curtain.

"I was following them," said Jason simply. "Dumbledore sent me to do something in Tapestry Tunnel and I heard them talking about attacking the hospital wing. I tried to follow them with out being seen or heard by going down secret passage ways, but they beat me here."

Everyone was silent as they listened to hurried footsteps approach the hospital wing. McGonagall stopped in the doorway and clutched her chest.

"What happened?" she demanded.

"We were attacked," said Snape. "They were, no doubt, after Potter."

"Is anyone hurt . . . Er . . . anymore than they were before the attack?" asked the lady named Arabella.

"No," said Madam Pomfrey. "No, I don't think so."

"How's Evans?" asked McGonagall, but she immediately looked as if she wished that she hadn't said anything at all.

"She's doing better," said Pomfrey, but she was looking at Jason out of the corner of her eye. "Young Jason here stunned one the Death Eaters and drove the other away before they could do anymore damage."

Jason found himself going red as half of the Order of the Phoenix stared at him. He wanted to avoid the sharp-eyed, sharp-voiced Arabella in particular as she stared him suspiciously. A man Jason recognized as Mundungus Fletcher was inspecting the Death Eater.

"Lars Lestrange," he said knowledgably. "Well, Jason, m'boy you've done a good job on 'im!"

"Th-thank you, Sir," Jason muttered.

He glanced to his left. His uncle was no longer standing there; instead, an enormous, shaggy, black dog took his place.

Jason stared at the person that Madam Pomfrey was now bending over: it was Amy Evans.

* * *

Snape tried to cover her face but was unsuccessful. Jason gaped at her.

"What happened?" he asked, hurrying over to his friend's side. "Is it serious? Why didn't anyone tell me?"

The room was entirely silent. Everyone was staring at Jason and Amy. Dumbledore was standing at the front of the crowd.

"Come with me, Jason," said Albus quietly.

Jason looked reluctant to leave his friend but left obediently with the headmaster.

Arabella Figg felt horrible. She hated when friends saw each other ill or in pain. Dumbledore led Jason aside. The Order didn't follow; they stayed behind to help Mundungus bind Lestrange. Arabella heard Dumbledore talking to Jason and Jason asking questions. The black dog listened to Jason and Arabella knew that he was wondering about his nephew.

After a long time, the whole Order was back in Dumbledore's elongated office, continuing their meeting and Jason Black was back in bed. Arabella, and the whole Order was staring at Amy's empty seat.

Dumbledore, noticing this, said, "I am sure you are all wondering what has happened to Amy." There were many nods, so Dumbledore continued. "Well, I'm afraid that I cannot--I will not--tell you. It is her business, and I would be violating her trust if told you. I also forbid you to ask her, because," Dumbledore spoke more loudly, "She has seen things, as I know some of you here to have seen, but, as a child, it will be extremely difficult to forget.

"Harry knows the plan. Voldemort said that Harry's memory was to be modified, and of course, that is out of the question. Harry will pretend not to remember, he will tell no one, except for his close friends." The edges of Dumbledore's mouth twitched. "You are to act the same. Is that understood?"

Everyone nodded and Dumbledore told everyone that they could go, but called Arabella to him.

"Arabella," he said. "Madam Pomfrey and Severus are having trouble curing Amy of curses that they have never seen before. I am asking you to go down and help them, as you were a magical nurse once."

Arabella nodded and left.

The infirmary was already magically repaired. She opened the door. Potter was to her right. He was apparently in a deep sleep and Sirius, in his dog form, was sleeping at his bedside. He opened his eyes and looked up when Arabella hissed, "Poppy?"

"Arabella?" said the nurse's voice as she emerged from a curtained area.

"I've come to help you treat Evans," said Arabella.

"Oh, good," said Madam Pomfrey. "Severus has just gone for some potions; I need you."

Arabella came into the curtain room and gasped. Amy Evans lay on the bed, her face green, her breathing ragged, shivering. Snape arrived with and armful of potions. Arabella laid a hand on the girl's forehead. It was cold and clammy. Evans opened her eyes.

"Mmmph," was a that she could manage. She tried to move but Pomfrey put a hand on her shoulder.

"Amy, dear," said Poppy. "Could you tell us how to cure the Enico Curse?"

Evans whimpered and whispered, "Medicor," then passed out again.

They all looked at one another. Wondering if they should try it. If it was wrong and Amy had been talking about something else, then they could kill her.

"She's going to die if we don't try," said Poppy, she raised her wand and said the words, pointing it at Evans.

Instantly, Amy's face was no longer green, her breathing even, but not entirely normal, and her shivering stopped considerably. Everyone let out a long, relieved sigh, even Snape.

Arabella looked at Pomfrey, "Is that all that you needed?"

"I could use some help healing these cuts," said the nurse. "There are quite a few deep ones."

So Arabella helped heal all of the cuts in Evans's body--about forty! Severus had told her that Voldemort threw her out of a window. Well, then it wasn't at all surprising that Arabella pulled several shards of glass out of the gashes.

Finally, Evans doing better, Arabella was able to leave.

"How's Remus?" she asked before she left.

"The silver is gone," said Pomfrey, "the wound is healed, and he will be able to leave in a day or so."

"And Potter?"

"Sleeping," the nurse told her. She didn't seem as concerned about Potter. "He might be suffering from some bad nightmares for a little while, but that will be about it."

She sighed heavily, thanked Arabella, and went back to work on cleaning up Evans' bed area. Arabella left. She, like the rest of the Order of the Phoenix, was ready for a good, long sleep.