If Only

If Only

Chapter One: Sirius!

They passed row eighty-four . . . eighty-five . . . Harry was listening for the slightest sound of movement, but Sirius might be gagged not, or else unconscious . . . or, said an unbidden voice inside his head, he might already be dead. . . .

Just as Harry tried to tell himself that he would have felt it, he became are of a soft, rhythmic sound. He raised his wand. It was ragged . . . and vaguely familiar. He would have recognized it if he hadn't been so terrified of loosing his godfather. . . .

"Ninety-seven!" whispered Hermione.

The group peeked around the edge of the row. They could see something that was black and motionless on the floor . . .

"SIRIUS!" he screamed.

Harry felt himself running and heard Hermione, Ron, Luna, Ginny and Neville following him. But he hardly cared. Sirius wasn't moving . . . not at all . . . He reached the spot where his godfather lay.

Sirius was curled on the ground, unbound. Harry's heart was beating so fast that he thought that it might burst out of his chest. He dropped to his knees. He could hear footsteps around him and heard Hermione say, "Neville, Luna, Ginny keep a lookout! He could be anywhere. . . ."

Sirius' face was bloodstained and white. He had a bleeding cut above his brow and blood was dripping from the corner of his mouth. His wand arm was at a wrong angle and his left leg seemed to be crumpled. When Harry touched his shoulder, he could feel him shaking.

"Sirius," he breathed. "Please, Sirius . . . wake up!"

His godfather twitched. At least he was alive . . . he shook Sirius' shoulder and got a moan in response. Harry repeated Sirius' name over and over again.

"Is that Sirius Black?" asked Neville. "Didn't he murder thirteen people?"

"Yes," said Harry distractedly, slapping Sirius' face lightly. "But no, he never killed anyone. He was framed. I found out in our third year."

"How is he?" asked Ginny over her shoulder.

As though to answer her question, Sirius coughed and dark liquid spilled from his mouth. Harry gulped.

"Harry," Hermione whimpered. "Hurry, please . . ."

"I'm trying," said Harry, feeling too weak with worry to be irritated.

"Harry?" said Ron; his voice was shaking. "Harry, I really think you should look at this . . ."

Harry stood up slowly; Ron was staring at one of the dusty glass spheres on the shelves.

"What?" said Harry, his voice unsteady. He looked down at Sirius, who lay at his feet.

"It's--it's got your name on," said Ron.

Harry moved a little closer. Ron was pointing at one of the small glass spheres that glowed with a dull inner light, though it was very dusty and appeared not to have been touched for many years.

"My name?" said Harry blankly. He really wanted to get back to Sirius. He couldn't think very well until he knew that he was all right, or at least conscious.

He stepped forward. Not as tall as Ron, he head to crane his neck to read the yellowish label affixed to the shelf right beneath the dusty glass ball. In spidery writing was written a date of some sixteen years previously, and below that:

S.P.T. to A.P.W.B.D

Dark Lord

and (?) Harry Potter

Harry stared at it, thoughts of Sirius fading from his mind ever so slightly.

"What is it?" asked Ron, sounding unnerved. "What's your name doing down here?"

He glanced along at the other labels on that stretch of shelf.

"I'm not here," he said, sounding perplexed. "None of the rest of us are here. . . ."

"Harry, I don't think you should touch it," said Hermione sharply, as he stretched his out his hand.

"Why not?" he said. "It's something to do with me, isn't it?"

"Don't, Harry," said Neville suddenly. Harry looked around at him. Neville's round face was shining slightly with sweat. He looked as though he could not take much more suspense.

"It's got my name on," said Harry.

And feeling slightly reckless, he closed his fingers around the dusty ball's surface. He had expected it to feel cold, but it did not. On the contrary, it felt as though it had been lying in the sun for hours, as though the glow of light within was warming it. He lifted the glass ball down and stared at. Nothing whatsoever happened. The others moved in closer around Harry, gazing at the orb as he brushed it free of clogging dust.

"Harry," said Hermione, as though coming to her senses. "Harry--Sirius!"

Harry jumped and looked down at his godfather. He attempted to put the sphere back on the shelf, but it just flew back into his hand. Confused, Harry just held it back to his chest and dropped to his knees, the others resuming their positions, giving each other meaningful glances. Harry felt guilty. Sirius was lying here unconscious and wounded and he was inspecting a little ball.

"Sirius," he said, weakly, his voice cracking. "Sirius, it's me, Harry . . . Padfoot, please . . ."

Sirius opened his eyes at long last. He coughed again. His eyes were glassy and pained. When he gazed up Harry, he appeared not to recognize him.

"Harry?"

"Yeah," Harry breathed. He gulped back a wave of emotion that threatened to overcome him. "I'm here, Sirius. I've come to save you!"

"No!" Sirius coughed hoarsely, his voice barely above a whisper. "You have to get out of here! He's figured out about what you--" his eyes fell upon the sphere clutched to Harry's chest. "Harry . . ." he moaned. "You . . . no . . ."

Hermione shrieked.

Sirius looked toward the end of row, craning his head, with difficulty, in the direction that Hermione was gazing, horror stuck. Harry automatically, leaned over to protect him. He raised his wand high and felt pain shoot up through is scar as he looked into the face of Lucius Malfoy, a troop of a dozen Death Eaters in his wake. He was smiling.

"Very good, Potter," he said, "Now stand up, nice and slowly, and give that to me."

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

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

Harry's insides plummeted sickeningly. They were trapped and outnumbered almost two to one.

"To me," said Malfoy yet again.

"Let Sirius go. . . ." said Harry, almost helplessly.

Sirius growled slightly, very much like a dog, but he couldn't turn into one as the Death Eaters still had their wands on him. Several of the Death Eaters laughed. A harsh female voice from the midst of the shadow figures to Harry's left said triumphantly, "The Dark Lord always knows!"

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

"Let Sirius and my friends go!"

"Let Sirius and my friends go!" mimicked the woman to his left. She and her fellow Death Eater had closed in so that they were mere feet away from Harry and the others, the light from their wands dazzling Harry's eyes.

Harry felt Ron stir beside him.

"Don't do anything," he muttered. "Not yet--"

The woman who had mimicked him let out a raucous scream of laughter.

"You hear him? You hear him? Giving instructions to the other children as though he thinks of fighting us!"

"Oh, you don't know Potter as I do, Bellatrix," said Malfoy softly. "He has a great weakness of heroics; the Dark Lord understands this about him. Now give me the prophecy, Potter."

"No!" cried Harry, desperate to find a way to get away.

More of the Death Eaters laughed, though the woman still laughed the loudest of all.

"Very funny, Potter." said Malfoy. "Now give me the prophecy, or we start using wands."

"Go on, then," said Harry, raising his own wand to chest height. As he did so, the five wands of Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny and Luna rose on either side of him. The knot in Harry's stomach tightened. If they lost this, he will have led his friends to save Sirius for nothing. . . .

But the Death Eaters did not strike.

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

It was Harry's turn to laugh. He felt Sirius look at him.

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

The words were hardly out of his mouth when the female Death Eater shrieked, "Accio Proph--"

Harry was just ready for her. Sirius tensed and tried to do something, but 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 to it.

"Oh, he knows how to play, little bitty baby Potter," 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--!"

Harry's mind was racing. The Death Eaters wanted this dusty spun-glass sphere. He had no interest in it; he just wanted to get them all out of this alive.

"Harry . . ." breathed Sirius tugging at his shirt. Harry leaned closer. "Don't give it to them, you don't understand how important--"

He was cut off as the woman stepped forward, away from her fellows, and pulled off her hood. Azkaban had hollowed out Bellatrix Lestrange's face, making it gaunt and skull-like, but it was alive with a feverish, fanatical glow.

"You need more persuasion?" she said, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Harry felt Sirius tense further at his side. "Very well--take Black," she ordered the Death Eaters beside her. "Let him watch while we torture his godfather. I'll do it."

Harry felt the others close in around Sirius. It struck him as true loyalty from Luna and Neville, because it was his word alone that was proof of Sirius' innocence. He stood up quickly so that he was right in front of him, 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 two 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," said Harry, "what kind of prophecy are we talking about anyway?"

Sirius looked at him. Harry could feel his head turning against his leg. He could not think what to do but to keep talking. Neville's arm pressed against his, and he could feel him shaking. He could feel one of the other's quickened breaths on the back of his head. He was hoping that they were all thinking hard about ways to get out of this, because his mind was blank.

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

"Nope, not jesting," said Harry, his eyes flickering from Death Eater to Death Eater, looking for a weak link, a space through which they could escape. "How come Voldemort wants it?"

"Several of the Death Eaters let out low hisses.

"You dare speak his name?" whispered Bellatrix.

"Yeah," said Harry, maintaining a tight grip on the glass ball, expecting another attempt to bewitch it from him. "Yeah, I've no problem saying Vol--"

"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?" asked Harry recklessly. Hermione and Sirius gave little moans, Hermione's in his ear. "Voldemort? Yeah, his mother was a witch and his dad was a Muggle--or has he been telling you lot he's pureblood?"

"STUPEF--"

"NO!"

A jet of red light had shot from the end of Bellatrix Lestrange's wand, but Malfoy had deflected it. His spell caused hers to hit the shelf a foot to the left of Harry 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 Bellatix's shouts.

". . . at the Solstice will come a new . . ." said the figure of an old bearded man. Sirius watched him in aw, transfixed.

"DO NOT ATTACK! WE NEED THE PROPHECY!"

"He dared--he dares--" shrieked Bellatrix incoherently. "--He stands there--filthy half-blood--"

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

". . . and none will come after . . ." said the figure of a young woman.

The two figures that had burst from the shattered spheres had melted into thin air. Nothing remained of them or their erstwhile homes but fragments of glass upon the floor. They had, however, given Harry an idea. The problem was conveying it to the others.

"You've haven't told me what's so special about this prophecy I'm supposed to be handing over" he said, playing for time. He felt Sirius rustle at his feet. He moved his foot slowly sideways, feeling around for someone else's, knowing that Sirius was watching him out of the corner of his eye.

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

"I'm not playing games," said Harry, half his mind on the conversation, half on his wandering foot. And then he found someone's toes and pressed down upon them. A sharp intake of breath behind him told him that they were Hermione's.

"What?" she whispered.

"Dumbledore never told you that the reason you bear that scar was hidden in the bowels of the Department of Mysteries?" asked Malfoy sneeringly.

"I--what?" said Harry, and for a moment he quite forgot his plan. "What about my scar?"

"What?" whispered Hermione more urgently behind him.

Sirius growled again.

"Shut up, Black!" said Malfoy. "Can this be?" he sounded maliciously delighted; some of the Death Eaters were laughing again, and under cover of their laughter, Harry hissed to Hermione, moving his lips as little as possible, "Smash shelves--"

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

"--when I say go--"

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

"Did he?" said Harry. Behind him he felt rather than heard Hermione passing is message to the others and he sought to keep talking, to distract the Death Eaters. "So he wanted me 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 only hours ago when he attempted to use others to steal it for him, including your godfather here."

Sirius shifted ever so slightly and Harry knew that he wanted nothing more than the chance to strangle Malfoy.

"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 a baby?"

Harry stared into the slitted eyeholes through which Malfoy's gray eyes were gleaming. Was this prophecy the reason Harry's parents had died, the reason he carried his lightning-bolt scar? Was the answer to all of this clutched in his hand?

"Someone made a prophecy about Voldemort and me?" he said quietly, gazing at Lucius Malfoy, his fingers tightening over the warm glass sphere in his hand. It was hardly larger than a Snitch and still gritty with dust. "And he's made me come and get it for him? Why couldn't he come and get it himself?"

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

She smiled nastily down at Sirius, who bared his teeth and gave a feeble attempt to rise, giving a faint yelp of pain as he fell back.

"So he's got you doing his dirty work for him, has he?" said Harry, covering up the gale of laughter that had met Sirius' failed try at getting up. "Like he tried to get Sturgis to steal it--and Bode?"

Sirius looked up at him in obvious surprise.

"Very good, Potter, very good . . . Looks like your godson has some brains, Black!" said Malfoy slowly. "But the Dark Lord knows you are not unintell--"

"NOW!" yelled Harry.

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

"RUN!" Harry yelled, and as the shelves swayed precariously and more glass spheres began to pour from above, he seized a handful of Sirius' robes, helped by Hermione and dragged him upward, one arm over his head as chunks of shelf and shards of glass thundered down upon them. A Death Eater lunged forward through the cloud of dust and Harry elbowed him hard in the masked face. Sirius made a grab for something. They were all yelling, there were cries of pain, thunderous crashes as the shelves collapsed upon them, weirdly echoing fragments of the Seers unleashed from their spheres--

Harry found the way ahead clear and saw Ron, Ginny and Luna sprint past him, their arms over their heads. Something heavy struck him on the side of the face but he merely ducked his head and sprinted onward, Sirius slung over his and Hermione's backs. A hand caught him by the shoulder; he heard Hermione shout "Stupefy!" and the hand released him at once.

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

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

"Where--are the others?" gasped Harry.

He had thought that Ron, Luna and Ginny had been ahead of them, that they would be waiting in this room, but there was nobody there.

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

Sirius had slid down the wall, clutching his leg with one arm, the right hanging oddly at his side. He swore.

"Listen!" whispered Neville.

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

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

"We've got to get out this room!" gasped Sirius hoarsely, gritting his teeth in pain. "They know we're here!"

"What about the others?" asked Neville.

Sirius looked at him and something flicked across his face too fast for Harry to read. The wounded man bit his lip. Hermione was watching him intensely.

"We're going to have to go on," he said softly. "We can search for them, but they're likely all right. The Death Eaters are looking for you lot, not them. They have nothing of importance."

He looked down at his wounded leg, and using his left arm, pointed a Death Eater's stolen wand at it and muttered "Ferula!" He then did the same to his arm. Bandages sprung up and around his leg, tying it to a splint. The same went for his shoulder and arm, only it was now strapped in sling. He put the wand in his right hand, looked up at them watching him and hissed, "Let's go!"

Harry heaved him to his feet and they ran, as quietly as they could, past the shimmering bell jar where the tiny egg was hatching and unhatching, toward the exit into the circular hallway at the far end of the room. They were the almost there when Harry heard something large and heavy collide with the door Hermione had charmed shut.

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

As the door flew open, Harry, Hermione, Neville, and Sirius dived under the desks. They could see the bottom of the two Death Eaters' robes drawing nearing, their feet moving rapidly.

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

"Check under the desks," said another.

Harry saw the knees of the Death Eaters bend. He poked his wand out from under the desk but before he could make a sound, he heard Sirius' voice cry, "STUPEFY!"

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

"Avada--"

Sirius gave a yell of warning as Harry launched himself across the floor and grabbed the Death Eater around the knees, causing him to topple and his aim to go awry. Neville overturned his desk in his anxiety to help; pointing his wand wildly at the struggling pair he cried, "EXPELLIARMUS!"

Both Harry's and the Death Eater's wands flew out of their hands and soared back toward the entrance to the Hall of Prophecy; both scrambled to their feet and charged after them, the death Eater in front and Harry hot on his heals, Neville bringing up the rear, plainly horrorstruck at what he had done. Sirius yelled something at Hermione, but none heard.

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

Harry flung himself sideways as Neville took aim again and shouted, "STUPEFY!"

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

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

"STUPEFY!" screamed Hermione, who had just caught up with them, Sirius limping at her heals. The jet of red light hit the Death Eater in the middle of the chest; he froze, his arm still raised, his wand fell to the floor with a clatter and he collapsed backward toward the bell jar. Harry expected to hear a clunk, for the man to hit solid glass and slide off the jar onto the floor, but instead, his head sank through the surface of the bell jar as though it was nothing but a soap bubble and he came to rest sprawled on his back on the table, with his head lying inside the jar full of glittering wind.

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

"Thanks," he said, "right, let's get out of--"

"Look out!" said Neville, horrified, staring at the Death Eater's head in the bell jar. Sirius had his wand raised and staring at the Death Eater too, his hand on Neville's shoulder.

All three of them raised their wands again, but none of them struck. They were all gazing, openmouthed, appalled, at was happening to the man's head.

It was shrinking very fast, growing balder and balder, the black hair and stubble retracting into his skull, his cheeks smooth, his skull round and covered with a peach-like fuzz. . . .

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

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

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

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

"RON!" Harry yelled, turning quickly from the monstrous transformation taking place before them. Sirius was moving forward with the wand held high. "GINNY? LUNA--"

"Harry," hissed Sirius. "Be quiet!"

"Harry!" Hermione screamed. "Sirius!"

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 thick arms flailed dangerously in all directions, narrowly missing Harry, who ducked. He raised his wand but to his amazement, Hermione seized his arm.

"You can't hurt a baby!"

There was no time to argue the point. Harry could hear more footsteps growing louder from the Hall of Prophecy they had just left and knew, too late, that ought not to have shouted and given away their position. Sirius swore again.

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

They had run halfway toward it when Harry saw through the open door two more Death Eaters running across the black room toward them. Veering left, he burst instead into a small, dark, cluttered office and slammed the door behind them.

"Collo--" began Hermione, but before she could complete the spell the door had burst open again and the two Death Eaters had come hurtling inside. Both cried triumphantly and opened their mouths to utter an incantation but Sirius yelled, "Stupefy!" and one dropped to the ground.

The second Death Eater was quicker and deflected his curse. A moment later, Lucius Malfoy appeared in the doorway.

"Well, well, well." he said. He had his wand pointing at Sirius. "Give me the prophecy, Potter." Something beyond recognition crossed Sirius as he looked at Malfoy. Something beyond pain, beyond anger. "Or your god-daddy gets it!"

Malfoy looked him in the eye and grinned slightly. Sirius snarled and stood up straighter. Something of that recognition had changed him somehow. Harry could still feel his shoulder shaking against his own, but he knew that some kind of pain and anger was coursing through Sirius' veins.

"Harry, don't give it to them," said Sirius, more quickly than Malfoy could react. "No matter what they--"

"Shut up!" shouted Malfoy.

Harry could feel the hand clutching the little sphere shaking. He'd come all this way to save Sirius. Was he just going to let Malfoy end it all now? Just for a little glass spun ball?

"Crucio!"

Sirius collapsed and began to scream and convulse. The Death Eaters were laughing. Neville eyes widened in horror and Hermione's eyes began to fill with tears. Sirius's writhing, bloody and yelling form was at Harry's feet. He clutched the prophecy and dropped to his knees, unsure whether to touch him or not, knowing that there was nothing he could do to comfort his godfather. If he didn't give them the prophecy, Sirius would eventually be killed. Don't give to them, no matter what they do. That was what Sirius had meant to say to Harry before Malfoy had silenced him. No matter what they do to me. Harry intended with all his heart to obey his godfather, but if he did . . . he would loose him. . . .

"STOP!" he bellowed. "ALL RIGHT! ALL RIGHT!"

Malfoy's nostrils flared with excitement. He removed the curse and Hermione fell to her knees and turned Sirius over. He lay with his eyes closed, his chest moving rapidly up and down unevenly. Malfoy kept his wand on him and extended his hand.

"Give it to me, Potter!"

"NO!" screamed Sirius, his eyes flying open and he tried to sit up. "Harry! It's more important than you know--"

Malfoy shot a curse at Sirius but missed because Neville shot a Stunning Spell at him. It hit him full in face and he toppled over, out cold as his gray eyes.

But the Death Eater started forward. He rose his wand, ready to deliver a deadly curse when Hermione cried, "Silencio!" and the Death Eater was silent, obviously angered by his dumbness. However, he sent a jet of fiery white light at Sirius. Harry's godfather deflected it.

"Good one, Si--" said Hermione, but the Death Eater made a sudden slashing movement with his wand from which flew a streak of what looked like purple flame. It passed right across Hermione's chest; she gave a tiny "oh!" as though of surprise and then crumpled onto the floor where she lay motionless.

"HERMIONE!" yelled Sirius, Harry and Neville at the same time.

Neville crawled rapidly toward her from under the desk, his wand held up in front of him. The Death Eater kicked his nose hard. Neville gave a howl of pain and recoiled, clutching his mouth and nose and snapped his wand. The Death Eater ripped off his mask and was pointing directly at Harry, who recognized the long, pale, twisted face from the Daily Prophet: Antonin Dolohov, the wizard who had murdered the Prewetts.

Sirius, recognizing him too, roared, "STUPEFY!"

And Dolohov keeled over backward and lay motionless. Harry's mind was spinning. Don't let her be dead, don't let her be dead, it's my fault if she's dead. . . .

Neville was already at her side, clutching her wrists and searching for a pulse. His nose was bleeding and it was clearly broken, but he didn't seem to care about it at the moment.

"Is she--" Sirius began.

"Dat's a pulse, Harry, I'b sure id is. . . ."

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

"Whaddid he do to her?"

"It's a curse," said Sirius weakly from a few feet away on the ground, turning awkwardly to look at them. "She's lucky Dolohov couldn't talk, or it would have been much worse." He glimpsed the horrified expressions on their faces and said quickly, "But I know that Pomfrey will be able to heal her up in no time!"

There was a short silence. Harry went to help him, pulling Sirius' good arm around his shoulders again.

Sirius said, "We're not far from the exit. . . . We're right next to the Spinning Hall. . . . If we can just get you across it and . . . find the right door before any more Death Eater come . . . I'll bet you two can get Hermione up the corridor and into the lift. . . . Then you could find someone. . . . Raise the alarm . . ."

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

"I'm going to find the others," said Sirius.

"Sirius, you're hurt--" Harry began. He set his jaw. "I'm not leaving you. Not for anything!"

"Well, I'b going do find dem wid you," said Neville firmly.

"But Hermione--"

"We'll dake her wid us," said Neville resolutely. "I'll carry her--you two are bedder at fighding dem dan I ab--"

He stood up and seized one of Hermione's arms, glared at Harry, who hesitated, then darted out from under Sirius, grabbed the other and helped hoist Hermione's limp form over Neville's shoulders. Sirius was leaning against the wall.

"Wait," said Harry, snatching up Hermione's wand from the floor and shoving it into Neville's hand, "you'd better take this. . . ."

+Neville kicked aside the broken fragments of his own wand as they walked slowly toward the door.

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

Sirius shot him an odd, pained glance. Harry pulled Sirius arm around him once again and stuck his head out of the door, looking around cautiously. The baby-headed Death Eater was screaming and banging into things, toppling grandfather clocks and overturning desks, bawling and confused, while the class cabinet that Harry now suspected had contained Time-Turners continued to fall, shatter, and repair itself on the wall behind them.

"He's never going to notice us," he whispered. "C'mon . . . keep close behind us, Neville. . . ."

They crept out of the office and back toward the door into the black hallway, which now seemed completely deserted. They walked a few steps forward, Neville tottering slightly due to Hermione's weight. The door of the Time Room swung shut behind them, and the walls began to rotate once more. Sirius swayed slightly, even though the ground wasn't moving. Harry put a hand on his chest, but he said that he was all right (which Harry doubted). With a sinking heart, Harry saw that Hermione's fiery crosses had faded from the doors.

"So which way d'you reck--?"

But before they could make a decision as to which way to try, a door to their right sprang open and three people fell out of it.

"Ron!" croaked Harry, dashing toward them, Neville heaving Hermione and Sirius hobbling after him. "Ginny--are you all--?"

"Harry," said Ron, giggling weakly, lurching forward, seizing the front of Harry's robes and gazing at him with unfocused eyes. "There you are. . . . Ha ha ha . . . You look funny, Harry. . . . You're all messed up. . . ."

Ron's face was very white and something dark was trickling from the corner of his mouth. Next moment, his knees had given way, but he still clutched the front of Harry's robes, so that Harry pulled into a kind of bow.

"Ginny?" said Harry fearfully. "What happened?"

But 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," whispered Luna, who was bending over her and who alone seemed to be unhurt. "Four of them chased us into a dark room full of planets, it was a very odd place, and some of the time we were just floating in the dark--"

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

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 . . ."

Luna gestured hopelessly at Ginny, who was breathing in a very shallow way, her eyes still closed. Sirius was kneeling the best he could next to her, though it looked like it hurt him a lot.

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

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

"Harry," said Ron, pulling Harry's ear down to his mouth and still giggling weakly, you know who this girl is, Harry? She's Loony . . . Loony Lovegood . . . ha ha ha . . ."

Sirius got up with difficulty and inspected Ron. His face went pale.

"Will he be okay?" asked Ginny.

"Yes," said Sirius. "But . . ." he swore. "This is going to be difficult. . . ."

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

"Yes," said Luna, sticking her wand behind her ear for safekeeping, and putting an arm around Ginny's waist and pulling her up.

"It's only my ankle, I can do it myself!" said Ginny impatiently, but next moment she had collapsed sideways and grabbed Luna for support. Harry pulled Ron's arm over his shoulder like he had done for Sirius. He looked around: They had a one-in-twelve chance of getting the exit right he first time--

He heaved Ron toward a door; they were within a few feet of it when another door across the hall burst open and three Death Eaters spend into the hall, led by Bellatrix Lestrange.

"There they are!" she shrieked.

Stunning Spells shot across the room: Harry smashed his way through the door ahead, flung Ron unceremoniously from him, ducked back to help Neville with Hermione, and pulled Sirius in and threw him inside, hearing him yell in pain and feeling slightly guilty. They were all over the threshold just in time to slam the door on Bellatrix.

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

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

Harry spun around, said a hurried apology to Sirius, who was struggling to get up. They were back in the Brain Room and, sure enough, there doors all around the walls. He could hear footsteps in the hall behind them as more Death Eaters came running to join the first.

"Luna--Neville--help me!"

The three of them tore around the room, sealing the doors as they went, Harry crashing into a table and rolled over the top of it in his haste to reach the next door.

"Colloportus!"

There footsteps running along behind the doors; every no and then another heavy body would launch itself against one, so it creaked and shuddered. Luna and Neville were bewitching the doors along the opposite wall--then, as Harry reached the very top of the room, he heard Luna cry, "Collo--aaaaaaaaargh . . ."

He turned in time to see her flying through the air. Five Death Eaters were surging into the room through the door she had not reached in time; Luna hit the desk, slid over its surface and onto the floor on the other side where she lay sprawled, as still as Hermione.

"Get Potter!" shrieked Bellatrix, and she ran at him. He dodged her and sprinted back up the room; he was safe as long as they thought they might hit the prophecy--

"Hey!" said Ron, who had staggered to his feet and was now tottering drunkenly toward 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, Harry, they're brains--look--Accio Brain!"

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

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

"RON, NO!"

Harry did not know what would happen if Ron touched the tentacles of thought now flying behind the brain, but he was sure it would not be anything good. He darted forward but Ron had already caught the brain in his outstretched hands.

The moment they made contact with his skin, the tentacles began wrapping themselves around Ron's arms like ropes.

"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' body.

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

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

"Harry, get out of here!" said Sirius. "Go! I'll care for Ron!"
He pointed his wand at Ron, but Bellatrix yelled the Reductor Curse and Sirius flew a few feet, yelling. He hit the wall with such tremendous force that it left a dent and some of it crumbled to the ground. Sirius slid down the wall and lay with his eyes open a fraction of an inch, glassy and unfocused.

"SIRIUS!"

Harry felt the pit of his stomach fall as he tried feebly to free Ron.

"Sirius! . . ."

TO BE CONTINUED. . . .

Author's Note: I haven't decided if I'm going to kill Sirius or not. I'll have to see. I have a Live Journal now, and I'll be posting some fiction and updates there. You can get a look at other fiction that I'm going to write. The full story as to how I got the name If Only is here. Quite interesting really. If you want to ask any questions about this fic, go to Questions about If Only? Thank you for reading. Stay tuned and please REVIEW! because I love them.