Broken Fate

Chapter Thirty-One ~ Azkaban

The familiar feel of Harry's Firebolt beneath him, the cold wind blowing through his hair, and Ginny beside him on her own broomstick brought a sense of normality and comfort to a strange and horrible situation. Harry had so many thoughts running through his mind, and so many feelings muddled inside. He was happy that Ginny was awake, scared for Jamie, and worried for the members of the Coalition that were heading toward Azkaban. There were so many things to process. Several things were foremost on his mind--one being Ginny. Yes, she was awake, but what affects had the sleeping spell had on her? How had she known that Jamie was in Azkaban? Harry could have guessed that Jamie was there, but Ginny had said she knew. Did it have something to do with the spell Dumbledore had done on Ginny and Harry?

And then there was Gabrielle. Hermione had only had a chance to briefly tell him and Ginny what had gone on between Gabrielle and Will, and what they had said about Gabrielle being able to control people. "Do you have any idea how completely crazy this sounds?" Hermione had asked, her forehead creased. "When Will left to get you, Gabrielle told Ron and me that it's something all part-veela witches and wizards can do. If people who are part-veela can actually control people just by...well, I don't know what Gabrielle meant by 'changing her voice;' I assume it's something similar to the way veela can influence men. I don't know. I've never heard anything like this before."

"I couldn't believe it when I heard it..." Neville said, shaking his head. "The very idea that anyone could control Voldemort...or Dumbledore... it's just...

Hermione nodded emphatically. "It would be...heavens, do you know what it would mean? If it's possible to control Dumbledore and Voldemort...can you imagine how dangerous that could be? Can you imagine the consequences? I don't know the extent of this...I don't know how it works. I'm still trying to absorb the information that any of this could be possible. I mean, I know that part-veela are rare...and they only started intermarrying with witches and wizards within the last century--there was a huge uprising about it in 1910--"

"Hermione," Ron said exasperatedly.

"My point is--how could we not have known about this?" Hermione wondered.

Ron shrugged. "I dunno, but what if Gabrielle can't do...well, whatever it is Will thinks she might be able to do? Back at Fred and Angelina's, Will seemed a bit worried about Gabrielle's capabilities," he said, furrowing his brow.

"We might not understand it," Ginny spoke up, "But what choice do we have? If Will thinks it's even possible, then we have to trust that. We can worry about the details later."

Harry glanced over his shoulder at Gabrielle. The small blonde girl was flying between Will and Ron on a borrowed school broom. Will had definitely made it sound like a lot was resting on Gabrielle's shoulders. He hated going into something feeling like he was still in the dark, but what choice did he have? Ginny was right; he was going to have to trust Will in this. Trust...it seemed this whole year had been a lesson in trust.

He was startled out of his thoughts when Ginny gave a sudden cry, and dropped out of his line of sight. Harry whirled his broom around and saw her taking a dive straight toward the ocean.

"Ginny!" Harry leaned forward, urging his broom toward her, but Neville reached her first. He caught the front of her broomstick on his, halting its fall toward the water, then held Ginny's broom steady with his hands.

Harry held up a hand, bringing everyone to a halt, and then zoomed down beside Ginny and Neville. Ginny was leaning forward on her broom, her palm pressed against her forehead. "Ginny? What's wrong? What happened?"

Ginny looked up, and Harry was struck full-force with a sudden rush of pure elation. It was a feeling he recognized...it was the same way he had felt whenever Voldemort was happy about something. He couldn't be feeling Voldemort's feelings, though; he had learned to block them out!

"Harry..." Ginny clenched her hand into a fist and kept it pressed into her forehead. "He's...happy, Harry. Voldemort is happy. I can feel it...he has Jamie...I saw her! I saw her through Voldemort's eyes...I know exactly where she is in Azkaban! She looked... What is he doing to her?"

Harry stared at her for a long moment, Dumbledore's earlier words echoing in his mind. "This is all about connections, Harry."

He was connected to Voldemort...but he had Occlumency lessons to keep that link at bay. Ginny was connected to Voldemort...and now, thanks to the spell used to wake her, she was connected to Harry as well. But Ginny's bond to Voldemort was never like this...she could never feel what he was feeling! That was what my connection...

Understanding dawned, and Harry stared at Ginny in disbelief for a long moment. Somehow, she was feeling what Harry had once felt from Voldemort. In turn, Harry was also experiencing Voldemort's feelings, through his link with Ginny.

What did Dumbledore do to us?

"Ginny?" Ron pushed his way through the crowd of students. "Are you all right?"

"Yes."

"Can you fly?" Harry asked concernedly.

"Yes." Ginny straightened determinedly, though he saw her wince when she thought he wasn't watching.

"Come on. Fly between Neville and I." Harry nodded at Neville, and the two of them took positions on either side of Ginny. They started forward again, and the Coalition followed suit.

It wasn't long before the huge fortress of Azkaban appeared. Harry brought everyone to a stop again, and stared at the prison for a long moment. It was made completely of black stone, dull obsidian that didn't seem to attract any light, and it rose several stories high. As cold as the air already was, the temperature seemed to drop as they neared the vicinity.

Several huge figures towered beside the prison, as tall as Azkaban. Giants, Harry thought. He counted three of them, one in back and two on either side of the prison. It would have been difficult to fit any more on the rock that held the Azkaban, because they were so huge, and the island was barely big enough to hold the prison.

The entrance looked unguarded, but Harry wasn't gullible enough to believe that it actually was unprotected. There were still some dementors somewhere around the prison, and there were Death Eaters...and Voldemort.

Getting past the giants was going to be the first problem, though. It would be nothing for one of them to take several steps forward and block the front entrance. Will had taken this into account when he had been telling them his plan. Harry turned to face his classmates. "All right. There are three giants. That means three teams that will be responsible for keeping them distracted so a fourth team can get through the entrance. We need to decide on groups now. I'm going into Azkaban. So are Will and Gabrielle--" He hesitated. It still felt wrong to be bringing a little girl who hadn't even started school along on this.

"And me," Ginny put in. She stared at Harry determinedly before he could open his mouth to argue. "This is my fight, too, remember," she whispered.

"If Ginny's going, so am I," Ron said.

Harry had expected that, and he looked at Hermione, who raised her eyebrows. "Do you even have to ask?"

"I'm coming too, Harry," Neville said. He looked at Harry for a long moment, the same determined expression on his face, and Harry nodded.

"Look, that will make it about even," Blaise said. "That'll be seven of you going in, and we can make three groups of around the same number. We'll take care of the giants and anything else that comes out of the prison. Right?" he asked the rest of the group.

Numerous voices answered, "Right!"

Blaise turned back to Harry. "We'll get organized, and I'll give you a signal when we're ready. We'll lure them to the back of the island, and you can land at the front and make your way in from there. We'll try to incapacitate them so we can come help you. All right?" He held out his hand.

Harry shook it firmly. "All right."

~*~

Hermione waited with Ron, Neville, Harry, Ginny, Will, and Gabrielle at the front of Azkaban. The island sort of sloped upward, and if they stayed at the bottom next to the ocean, they were out of sight of the prison--and anyone watching.

The rest of the students circled around back, headed by Blaise. Everything had happened so quickly; she hadn't even had time to tell Harry and Ginny that Narcissa Malfoy was the spy, and of the memories had been hidden in Molly. She hoped Molly was all right; they had left her in the care of some of the younger members of the Hogwarts Coalition. Colin Creevey and Luna Lovegood had agreed to keep an eye on her. Luna knew who she was because her father was part of the Order. Colin had been curious but hadn't pressed the issue when Hermione said, "It's a long story and I don't have time to tell it right now!"

This close to Azkaban, Hermione would readily admit that she was terrified, but that wasn't going to stop her. She was sure she wasn't the only one who was scared, though most everyone else was doing a good job of hiding it. Gabrielle was possibly the only exception. She was very valiantly trying to look brave, but Hermione noticed that her face was completely pale and she was sweating. She walked forward, broom still in hand, until she was level with the girl. "Gabrielle?" she asked softly.

"Yes?"

"Are you all right?" Will might have meant it when he said that Gabrielle was their chance of rescuing Jamie, but it how could it be right that they were doing this? If something happened to Gabrielle, how were they supposed to explain that they had dragged an eleven-year-old child off on a life-or-death mission? What would they tell Fleur? What would they tell Shay? Yes, Harry had faced Voldemort when he was eleven, but that didn't make it right. He had lost so much of his childhood. Now it seemed like the more that happened, the more childhood Gabrielle was losing.

Gabrielle's jaw tightened, and her eyes roved over Azkaban for a long moment. "This is a very dark place," she whispered.

"Yes, it is," Hermione said quietly, a little thrill of dread running down her spine. She wanted very, very much to be somewhere else--anywhere else. She remembered the haunted look that she had only just seen in Tonks's eyes in the image from Molly's memory. It had been the same look that had been in Sirius's eyes when he had escaped. She didn't know how anyone could have spent years in this place and still been whole.

Gabrielle shivered and averted her eyes. "I am frightened." She swallowed and met Hermione's gaze. "But Jamie is inside. She must be so much more scared than I." She set her small shoulders and took a deep breath. "Will you be near?"

"Of course I will. We all will."

"They'll be signaling soon," Harry said over his shoulder. "Let's get ready."

Hermione dug into her robes and pulled out the invisibility cloak she had collected back at Hogwarts. She had only been able to get a hold of Harry's; Jamie's cloak had been in Shay's possession, and Blaise had been unable to find it in their dormitory. She held it out to Will, who took it and passed it to Gabrielle.

"You're to wear this, Gabrielle. We need to keep you unseen for as long as possible. That will give us the advantage. I'm going to have to stay close to you so you can signal when you're going to voice-change, all right? And by close, I mean I need you to stay right beside me. Also, remember that the invisibility cloak is fireproof."

"It is?" Harry said.

"Yes," Will replied.

Gabrielle nodded, clenching her hands into fists.

"Wait, Will, what does that have to do with anything?" Hermione asked.

In response, Gabrielle held out her hands, palms up. Her brow creased in concentration, and a moment later, a small ball of fire formed above each hand. They grew in size, until Gabrielle clenched her hands into fists, and the fire vanished.

"Er...it's the other part to her part-veela abilities," Will said.

Hermione stared at Gabrielle in astonishment, then turned on Will. "Will!" she exclaimed. "Just how many of these abilities are there?"

"Three," Gabrielle answered. She spoke carefully, as if quoting something she had learned--which, Hermione thought, she had. "Forming fire, changing my voice, and seeing false faces."

Will nodded in agreement. "That's pretty much all there is to it."

Pretty much. Right. Although now that Hermione thought about it, the fire part of it shouldn't have surprised her that much. She had seen full veela at the Quidditch World Cup, and they had been throwing handfuls of fire across the stadium.

"Will," Ginny said slowly. "That's how Jamie got her hair burned off, wasn't it? You once told me that Shay 'accidentally' burned off most of Jamie's hair. I thought you sounded like you were hiding something at the time, but I never thought..."

"I'm sorry we didn't tell you about it," Will said. "It was Shay's prerogative. Right now, I need to tell you what to do when Gabrielle is using her controlling abilities." He looked at them carefully. "All of us are going to have to cover our ears. When she's controlling someone, she has to focus on that person, so they'll get the full blast of it. Even so, anyone within earshot will be affected if it works properly. You'll probably just get a bit dazed or confused, but the best thing to do is avoid it completely--all you have to do is cover your ears."

Hermione had so many more questions brought up by Will's statement, but he was right--now was not the time to ask. She simply nodded with everyone else.

"Ginny? Are you all right?" Harry's asked.

Hermione turned to see Ginny wincing and pressing her fingertips against her forehead. She held her hand there for a long moment, then slowly straightened. "I can feel my connection to him, Harry. More strongly than I've ever felt it in the four years since I was possessed. And it's like nothing I've ever...felt..." she trailed off, grimacing again.

Hermione stared back and forth between Harry and Ginny. Something had gone on in St. Mungo's, but that was another thing that hadn't been discussed yet. She had only a brief idea how Ginny had awakened--something about Harry's connection to Voldemort. Ginny had been acting rather strangely, though, and Hermione wished she had time to discuss everything that had happened to all of them over the past few hours.

"Maybe you should--" Harry began.

"I'm going in," Ginny said firmly. "I'm fine. I just hurt for a moment."

Harry and Ginny locked gazes for a moment, and then Harry nodded and squeezed Ginny's hand.

"This place is huge," Ron said. "How are we supposed to find Jamie once we get inside?"

Ginny shifted slightly. "I...know where she is. I saw her."

Ron narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean, you saw her?"

"I saw her through Voldemort's eyes," Ginny whispered. She held up her hand before anyone could speak. "I can't explain now. Please...I don't know how to explain. But I know where she is. She's on the first floor, in the back of the building. I...I can find it."

"Ginny--" Ron began.

Ginny shook her head. "No, Ron." She took his hands in hers and looked at him seriously. "A lot happened to me. I'll do my best to tell you everything--later."

Ron still didn't look happy, but he didn't say anything else. He glanced at Harry, then back at his sister.

Will pulled Gabrielle close and spoke with her quietly for a long moment. Gabrielle nodded, and Will tucked the invisibility cloak around her. Her body disappeared, but her head still floated in midair.

"There. Now we just have to wait on Blaise and the others," Will said.

Hermione turned to Harry, finally speaking a huge worry that had been on her mind from the beginning of this mission. "Harry, what are you going to do if we run into Voldemort?" she whispered. "It's more than likely."

Harry stared at her, then looked down. "What I have to do."

"Harry..." What was she supposed to say? He had fought Voldemort before. He had come out alive on all of those occasions. She just couldn't help thinking that in Will's future, he had fought Voldemort and lost, and he had been an older and much more experienced wizard. It couldn't be impossible, though. There had to be some way Voldemort could be defeated, but how? Voldemort was far more learned.

"Dumbledore..." Harry sighed, then began again. "Dumbledore told me something at the end of last year, just after Sirius died. To tell you the truth, it's not something I've thought of a whole lot this year. I think I put it at the back of my mind once Dumbledore said it. My mind's been distracted by other things."

Hermione nodded in understanding.

"He said I have something Voldemort doesn't. It's a power that is studied in the Department of Mysteries, and he said it was more wonderful and terrible than death, or something of the sort. It's a force so powerful that Voldemort couldn't stand to possess me. He said it was my heart that saved me."

"Love," Hermione said with a nod. "It's something you're full of, something that has left a mark on you--something that has saved you before. Love is a very, very powerful thing--you know that as well as I do--and it's something that Voldemort can't stand. I don't think he has a drop of love in him." She bit her lip. "I just don't know how that's going to help you defeat him."

~*~

A flash of blue sparks shone in the air from the rear of the island, closely followed by a shower of yellow and a flare of red from either side. Only moments later, humongous footsteps echoed in their ears, the very ground trembling like an earthquake. "That's the signal." Harry stood up and peered up the slope. "The giants are moving. Let's go."

Will threw up the hood on the invisibility cloak, and Gabrielle's head disappeared. "Stay right beside me," he whispered to her.

They left their broomsticks at the bottom of the slope, and Harry took the lead. Ginny fell into step just behind him. She was trying to keep focused on the mission at hand, because trying to process anything else was very difficult, and she couldn't risk having her mind wandering. She was anxious by the turn of events, and especially by the uncanny feelings she had experienced from Voldemort. How could she possibly have known that Voldemort was happy? How could she have seen Jamie?

Ginny clenched her hands into fists. She had only seen Jamie for a brief moment, but it had been enough to see that she was being tortured.

She was positive this had something to do with Harry waking her. She had seen Harry's memories; was it such a stretch to think it could have gone beyond that? Had she somehow tapped into his link to Voldemort? She wished she had time to figure this out, but she didn't have that luxury right now.

Ginny, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Will climbed the slope of the island. Ginny knew Gabrielle was beside Will, though she couldn't see her. As they neared the top of the slope, Harry waved them to a halt and peered cautiously over the rise. "I don't see anyone at the entrance," he whispered.

Ginny rose onto her knees and looked for herself. The door to Azkaban appeared deceptively normal. It was the size of a regular door and it had a handle to open it. As Harry had said, no one stood guard at the door, but Ginny wasn't fooled. Voldemort wouldn't have left it unprotected. She could see the heads of the three giants behind Azkaban, and she also saw several figures high on broomsticks, distracting the giants.

"We don't have a choice," Harry said, as if reading her mind. "We have to go. Wands out. Let's cross."

Ginny felt completely exposed as they rose the rest of the way and crossed the open ground toward Azkaban. The darkness that hung in the air grew stronger as they neared the entrance. Ginny could almost feel the light being sucked out of the air around her.

Surprisingly enough, they reached the entrance without meeting any resistance. When they reached the door, Harry touched his wand to the lock. "Alohomora!" Something clicked, and Harry cautiously turned the handle. The door opened several centimeters.

They exchanged glances, and Hermione resorted to using sign language. 'Is it just me, or is this a little too easy?'

'We're walking into Azkaban,' Harry pointed out, also using his hands to speak. 'You can't get a much bigger trap than this.'

Ginny had learned enough sign language to understand what they were saying, but she was a bit surprised that they were using it so fluently, until she realized they must have practiced during the months she had been asleep.

As soon as they had stepped through the door, it closed behind them and the lock clicked shut. Ginny jumped and glanced over her shoulder, wondering if 'Alohomora' would work if they wanted to leave the prison. Now that they were actually in Azkaban, the stifling, invisible blackness that seemed to surround the prison weighed all the more heavily. Cold fingers gripped her heart, and for a moment, she could have sworn she heard voices whispering in her ear. Terror and despair were thick here. It was enough to suck the breath out of her. From the expression on her friends' faces, she was positive she wasn't the only one who was sensing all of this.

There was one long hallway heading straight toward the back of the prison. It was very dimly lit, and the shadows that filled the corridor left plenty of room for people to be waiting...or dementors.

Ginny swallowed in an attempt to wet her dry throat, but didn't have much success. She tapped Harry on the shoulder, and signed slowly. 'All the way down, then turn left.'

Harry nodded and started forward, treading as quietly as possible. They went by several hallways veering off to the right or left. They were lined with cells, and simply went for a short way and then dead-ended. They were just passing another one when Hermione let out a strangled cry. Ginny whirled around just in time to see her hit the ground face-first. Stepping out of one of the corridors they had just passed was a group of four Death Eaters. She saw movement out of the corner of her eye, and realized that another four Death Eaters had appeared in the hallway ahead, effectively trapping them.

"Move!" Harry snapped. He shoved Ginny into the corridor beside them. Ron and Neville grabbed Hermione and pulled her in as well, closely followed by Will, and presumably Gabrielle.

"Hermione?" Ron grabbed her shoulders, a frantic note in his voice.

"She's still breathing," Neville said. He pointed his wand at her. "Ennervate."

Hermione's eyes fluttered open, and she groped for her wand. "Ouch."

"Just Stunned," Neville said, relieved.

"Come out, come out, little Potter," a singsong voice rang through the air, and chills ran up Ginny's spine. It was a voice she had heard before, and it was not one she had ever wanted to hear again. It belonged to Bellatrix Lestrange--the woman responsible for putting Neville's parents in St. Mungo's, and the woman responsible for Sirius's death. "You don't think you can hide down there, do you?"

Another familiar voice, this one belonging to Lucius Malfoy, said, "You didn't just think we would let you walk in and out that easily, did you? Oh, you might have had help drawing off the giants, but you still have us to contend with."

Gabrielle's small voice spoke quietly from somewhere to Ginny's right. "My turn."

"There were at least eight of them, Gabrielle. Can you handle that?" Will whispered.

"I will."

"Don't be ridiculous," Lucius's called. "You can't go anywhere down that corridor. It's a dead end. I thought Gryffindor was supposed to house the brave. Come out and face us, if you have the courage."

"Oh, yes!" Hermione called in a shrill voice. "You have so much courage cornering and attacking students!"

"Hermione!" Ron hissed.

A high, almost hysterical laugh was the response. "Awww! The poor babies are trying to be brave!"

"Will!" Gabrielle whispered urgently.

"All right." Will said. He whirled on everyone else. "Cover your ears, and don't uncover them until I do."

Ginny didn't question; she simply clapped her hands over her ears and waited. Within moments, Gabrielle's hand suddenly appeared mid-air in the main hallway, and she waved at them. Will peered cautiously into the corridor, and then stepped fully out. Ginny and Harry exchanged glances, but quickly followed. What met Ginny's eyes was one of the strangest sights she had ever seen. About five yards to both her right and left were the eight Death Eaters, but all of them were just standing there, wands limp at their sides. Their eyes were completely blank as they stared at nothing.

Will kept one hand over his left ear, but quickly pressed his right ear against his shoulder to free up his wand hand. He pointed his wand quickly at the Death Eaters, and one by one, all of the Death Eaters were Stunned and hit the ground. When all eight were down, Will straightened his head and lowered his hand from his ear. Everyone else followed suit. "We should put a Full-Body Bind on them, too," he said quickly. "The Stunning won't last that long."

Neville, Harry, and Hermione immediately set to work cursing the already Stunned Death Eaters, while Ron collected their wands and stuffed dropped them through the bars on one of the cell doors. "Don't want to carry them around," Ron said with a shudder. "They might have weird curses that will go off or something."

"Good thinking," Harry said.

"Gabrielle?" Will asked.

Gabrielle's head appeared, much closer to the ground than Ginny had expected, and she realized Gabrielle was sitting. Her face was dripping with sweat, and she was trembling. "Are you all right?" Ginny asked, kneeling swiftly beside her.

"That was...very hard," Gabrielle said weakly.

"We'll try not to let you do that again," Will said, looking very concerned.

"I can do it," Gabrielle replied, but her voice sounded very small.

"We have to keep moving," Harry snapped. "Come on."

Gabrielle's head suddenly rose higher as she stood, and Will lifted the cloak hood back over her head. They stepped over the fallen Death Eaters, and if Ginny stepped on Lucius Malfoy's face, all the better. They continued cautiously down the hallway, and didn't meet any more resistance. Ginny felt increasingly that she was walking into a trap--Voldemort would have had a failsafe in case his Death Eaters didn't capture them.

They came to the end of the corridor, and Ginny pointed to the left. The side hallway wasn't lined with any cell doors as the others had been. There was only one door at the end, and in her mind's eye, she saw a large room. Harry stopped beside her, his eyes locked on the doorway.

"In there," Ginny murmured, a stab of fear striking her heart. "That's where we have to go. I'm sure of it." Voldemort was in there. She was positive about it. They were about to walk straight into his waiting hand.

Harry clenched his jaw and tore his eyes away from the door. "Let's go. Put up Extended Shields before we go in."

"Extended what?" Ginny whispered.

"It's something Will and Jamie taught us during Easter holidays. It'll last about thirty seconds. Just stay completely behind me and don't move away when we go in, all right?" Harry replied.

Ginny nodded, and they led everyone else forward toward the door. Harry held up his wand and whispered, "Protego Prolongus!" She heard the others whispering the same thing, and then Harry grabbed the door handle. It moved, and the door opened smoothly. Harry pushed it open and stepped through. Ginny stayed directly behind him. She expected the door to slam shut behind them as the front entrance had, but Will stood in the doorway, preventing it from closing.

The glimpse of what was actually in the room would have been enough to make any decent witch or wizard collapse in fright. At least thirty hooded figures stood in a semicircle towards the back of the room. Voldemort's Death Eater ranks had definitely grown.

In the middle of this semicircle were two figures. Jamie was the one curled into a little ball on the floor, her long black hair dirty and tangled. Even from the doorway, Ginny could see that Jamie was shaking all over.

The other figure stood over Jamie. It was someone that Ginny had long seen in her nightmares. The pale skin, the slitted red eyes, the distinct snake-like look to his mouth and nose...here stood the man responsible for more pain, suffering, and terror in the past, present, and future than Ginny could even begin to count.

Voldemort turned slowly at their entrance, and a chilling smile touched his lips. "Well," he said, in a high voice that made Ginny's skin crawl, "I was beginning to wonder if you would show up." His red eyes roved over them, lingering for a long moment on Ginny, who was peering over Harry's shoulder. A pain more intense than any she had yet felt stabbed through her head, and an involuntary cry of pain came out of her mouth. Her knees buckled and she nearly threw Harry off-balance as she grabbed his robes to keep from falling.

Jamie didn't even move, and Ginny wondered how long she had been tortured, that she couldn't even make a motion in her own defense.

"Ginevra," Voldemort hissed. "How lovely to see you...awake. And how unfortunate that you've arrived just in time to watch as I procure more information from your charming daughter."

"Leave her alone," Harry said. "It's me you want." Under his breath, he again muttered, "Protego Prolongus," and Ginny heard her friends echoing the spell quietly.

"Of course it is, and I knew you would come." Voldemort fingered his wand. "You haven't learned at all. No, noble Harry Potter cannot leave anyone behind, much to his failing. You have come to your death, Harry Potter, once and for all. And your friends will die with you!" He aimed his wand at Harry and yelled, "Avada Kedavra!"

Ginny could feel how tense Harry was, but he stood and didn't move as the jet of green light flew toward him. It struck the shield and slid off. Voldemort narrowed his eyes. "Clever, Potter, but you are far outmatched and outnumbered. Why don't you surrender now, and I'll kill your daughter quickly--once I've finished extracting information from her, of course. Otherwise...I'll take her apart one piece at a time."

"Let's try--expelliarmus!" Harry shouted.

"Protego!" Voldemort quickly countered. "Enough of this nonsense! Why skirt around the inevitable, Harry? You will die by my hand--tonight!"

"We--" Harry began, but Will cut him off.

"Get ready to run out the door!" Will said. He pointed his wand directly at Jamie. "Accio Jamie!"

To Ginny's astonishment, Jamie's entire body was suddenly lifted off the ground and flew across the air. She had never thought of summoning a person with that spell. By the time Voldemort and the Death Eaters realized what was happening, it was too late. She smacked straight into Will, and he went sprawling backward, halfway in the door, with Jamie on top of him. "Go, go!" Will grunted. "Get her out!"

Neville and Ron hoisted Jamie off of Will and turned, tumbling over him out the door. Will rolled to his feet, but in doing so, stepped out of the doorway. It seemed he really had been keeping the door open, because it slammed shut, just as Hermione was about to go through. She yanked on the handle, but nothing happened. "Alohomora!" she said, tapping the lock with her wand. Again, nothing.

Ginny slowly turned. Voldemort's face was white with a mixture of fury and amusement. "Don't believe for one moment that she'll get very far," he hissed. "Getting out will be much more difficult than getting in, I assure you." He nodded at his Death Eaters. "Take Harry and Ginevra. Kill the other."

Harry immediately stepped in front of Hermione. The Death Eaters immediately advanced, and Ginny fought back a wave of panic. There was no way she, Harry, and Hermione could curse thirty Death Eaters. They might take out some of them, but in the end, they would be overpowered.

That wasn't going to stop Ginny from trying. Harry and Hermione obviously felt the same way, as both instantly pointed their wands at the oncoming Death Eaters. "If either of you have any brilliant ideas, now would be the time to share," Harry said through gritted teeth.

As if in response, two fireballs came soaring from the left. They smacked into two Death Eaters, whose cloaks immediately went up in flames. Ginny's head snapped around, and she caught sight of two more fireballs flying toward the Death Eaters. Gabrielle. So she was stuck in the room too. She must have been sending the fire through the open folds of the cloak, since her hands weren't showing.

Some of the Death Eaters were thrown into confusion, trying to figure out where the fire was coming from. They sent curses speeding in the direction of the attack. Several were busy putting out the fires. The others ignored the distraction and continued to advance on Harry, Ginny, and Hermione.

Two more fireballs went sailing, closer to Hermione, Harry, and Ginny, indicating that Gabrielle was moving. The next moment, Hermione vanished. Ginny blinked, then realized that Gabrielle must have shared the invisibility cloak with her, which was a small relief in this situation. It would be more difficult for the Death Eaters to kill Hermione if they couldn't see her.

The Death Eaters finally surrounded Harry and Ginny. Harry and Ginny managed to curse several of them, but it wasn't nearly enough. Ginny lashed out at the Death Eaters grabbing at her, aiming kicks, punches, and anything else she could manage at them. So did Harry--but it wasn't enough. They were physically grabbed and their wands were taken, and then they were dragged in front of Voldemort.

"Find the others. They can't get out of this room," Voldemort snapped at several of his Death Eaters.

As Ginny was shoved down onto her knees beside Harry, words that Jamie had spoken back in September rang through her mind. "My parents died fighting side-by-side."

Were she and Harry about to repeat the future, ten years early? Was the world about to be set into a cataclysmic chain of events that would lead to Voldemort ruling the future?

No. She couldn't think that way. Things might look hopeless, but she had been in hopeless situations before. Dumbledore was still alive. The Coalition was here; they might be able to do something. Jamie had at least been taken away from Voldemort, and hopefully Will, Ron, and Neville would be able to get her completely away from Azkaban. Hermione and Gabrielle were still loose. They still had several advantages, and maybe, just maybe, it would be enough to save them all.