"Where's Sirius?" Harry demanded as he stepped in front of you and Hermione, and a chorus of cruel laughter erupted from the hooded figures, one of them cackled wildly as she mocked Harry. The Death Eater who stood in front of the rest approached you slowly, "you know, you should really learn to tell the difference between dreams...and reality."
He waved his wand and his mask vanished, revealing the sneering face of Lucius Malfoy. You took a step closer to Harry and tightened your grip on your wand as you raised it, Lucius' eyes flickered to you in disdain and then he looked at Harry once again.
"Don't do anything, not yet," Harry said to the rest of the group as they, too, raised their wands.
The Death Eater beside Lucius cackled manically again, "do you hear him? Giving instructions to the other children as though he is thinking of fighting us!"
Lucius looked down at her, "oh, you don't know Potter as I do, Bellatrix," you heard Neville take a sharp intake of breath as he stiffened in shock, "he has a great weakness for heroics. Now give me the prophecy, Potter."
Harry stepped back on your toes but not with enough pressure for it to hurt, you tried to pull your shoe from under his but he wouldn't budge, "what?" you asked him subtly, not looking away from the Death Eaters in front of you.
"If you do anything to us, I'll break it" Harry told Lucius, and as the man walked slowly forward as Bellatrix followed, "oh he knows how to play!" she mocked, "itty, bitty, baby Potter."
Harry raised his wand and pointed it at her and she did the same. Lucius held up his hands, "let's all calm down now, shall we? Potter, hand over the prophecy."
Harry stepped on your foot again, you glanced at him and he tilted his head slightly so you could see his face, "the shelves, my signal," he murmured without moving his lips, and then he looked at Lucius, "the prophecy?" He asked, clearly trying to stall and distract the man.
You gave Harry a minute nod to show you understood and he stepped off your foot and continued stalling. You looked at Hermione and her frightened eyes flickered to yours, "shelves," you whispered and she nodded, then tugged on Ron's sleeve and passed on the message. Then you heard her whisper very subtly to Ginny, who nodded once and then told Luna and Neville while Harry kept Lucius distracted.
In that moment you were so terrified, and you wanted nothing more than to have Fred next to you with his comforting presence, but you were also beyond grateful that neither he nor George weren't in this dangerous situation with you.
You tuned into the conversation just in time to hear Bellatrix screaming at Harry for using Voldemort's name, calling him a 'filthy half-blood' and Harry taunted her, "did you know he's a half-blood too? Voldemort? Yeah, his mother was a witch but his dad was a Muggle - or has he been telling you lot he's a Pureblood?"
Bellatrix screamed in rage and then Harry turned to you, "NOW!" and the seven of you pointed your wands at the surrounding shelves, "Reducto!"
The contents of the towering shelves instantly shattered and they buckled as a result of the impact. You all fled and you felt Ron grab your arm just as a shelf collapsed beside you and he pulled you out of the way just in time. You followed Luna and Ginny towards the door and blasted spells over your shoulder as a number of Death Eaters chased you. You assumed that Harry, Hermione and Neville were ahead of you as you burst through the door and into the entrance room, but there was no time to look around for them as you followed Ginny into the first door she opened, throwing yourselves through.
None of you could spare a second to lock the door behind you as your oppressors gained on you. You were immediately disorientated by the new chamber and a large solar system replica was the primary focus of the room; large planets floated around and you had to swerve and duck as you made your way across the room. Ginny and Luna ran along the other side of the large planets while you ran after Ron, and the sound of spells being blasted in your wake warned you of the dangerously close proximity of the Death Eaters. Ron stopped suddenly as a spell hit the floor where he was just about to step and you ran right into his back, but you steadied yourself just as Ron was hit by another one.
"Ron!" you yelled as he collapsed in front of you, and you turned to the Death Eater who'd hit him. "Levicorpus!" you cast, which caused him to fly upside down by his feet, and then you dropped him hard on his head, knocking him out cold. A spell hit the wall right above your head, and you silently stunned your attacker and sent them crumpling to the ground as you fell to your knees beside Ron.
He immediately sat up and grinned at you, blood covering his teeth and lips, "Y/N!" He yelled and he threw his arms around you. "Ron? You're alright?" you pulled back to look at him and he had a dazed, almost drunk look on his face.
He reached up and patted your head, "I'm very okay! I'm bloody fantastic! But Y/N, you should be a Weasley. Marry Freddie and you WILL be!" he burst into a fit of giggles, "you'll be my big sister! Oh look- we're in space, Y/N! BLOODY SPACE!" Your brain couldn't even comprehend what he was talking about as he sent a rapid stream of conversation your way and then pointed at the rotating planets like an excited child.
"Come on Ron, we've got to find Ginny and Luna!" you told him while you hauled him to his feet and he grinned stupidly at you again, "ha, Loony Lovegood." You ignored him and pulled him in the general direction you saw the other two running in.
You heard a scream and saw Ginny fall as a Death Eater gained on her, "Reducto!" you yelled, pointing at one of the planet replicas floating beside her attacker. It exploded and sent him flying hard into the wall, and fortunately Luna was at Ginny's side as you pulled Ron over, "I heard a crack," Luna said, biting her lip, "I think it's broken." Ginny groaned and her face was pale, a sheen of sweat was gathering on her forehead, matting her red hair to it.
"Why are you on the floor, you silly billy!" Ron said, grinning wildly at his sister as he plopped down on the floor beside her, peering right into her face. She glared at him and then looked at you, "what's wrong with him? Apart from the usual stuff, that is."
"I think it was a powerful Confundus Charm, but I don't know," you told her and she hissed in pain as she tried to get up. Luna caught her under the arm and helped her up, "I think we should try to find the others," she said as she stuck her wand behind her ear, tucking it into her curly blonde hair, using both hands to hold a limping Ginny upright.
You nodded and you dragged Ron off the ground. He skipped beside you like a small child and held your hand and swung it between you as he did so, and you decided right then that if you got out of there alive, you were never going to let him forget this. You stepped over the four fallen Death Eaters as you reached the door, and then you all pushed through it and into the entrance room and you sighed in relief when you saw the familiar shapes of your three other friends.
"Ron, Y/N! Ginny, Luna are you-"
"HARRY!" Ron said and he let go of your hand and flung his arms around Harry. "We were in space, Harry! We saw Uranus up close! Get it? URANUS!" He burst into another fit of giggles and fell to the floor in hysterics. Harry looked at you with wide eyes and then saw Luna setting a very pale Ginny to sit down against the wall.
"What happened?" he asked you and you exhaled heavily and told him, "four of them chased us into that space room, Ron was hit with some sort of Confundus Charm, and I think Ginny's ankle is broken. We just about- wait, what's wrong with Hermione?"
Your heart leaped to your throat as you looked over at the other two and saw Neville supporting an unconscious Hermione in his arms. You ran over and gripped her pale face in your hands, but she was out cold.
"She was hit with a curse of some sort, but we don't know what it was," Neville told you as he hoisted her up higher in his arms, "she's alive but won't wake up."
"We really need to get out of here," you said desperately to Harry and he looked around at your group. Only four of you were left standing.
Harry grabbed Ron's arm and shoved him in front of him as Neville carried Hermione to the nearest door, and you helped Luna to help a limping Ginny through. You were back in the room with the brains and a wall of doors immediately caught your attention.
"Quick! Lock the doors!" you yelled and you all pointed your wands at them, even Ginny though she looked like she was about to pass out from the pain she was clearly in.
"Colloportus!" you said, pointing at one door, and just as you turned to another door, it burst open and black-clad figures stormed through. You were instantly hit square in the chest with a spell before you could even raise your own wand, and you went flying backwards through the air. You slammed painfully against a bookshelf and fell heavily onto a nearby desk, toppling it over as you fell to the floor.
Everything went black for a moment and then you gasped as searing pain ran up your arm. You choked back cries of pain and felt around for your wand which was on the floor beside you. Your vision came back into focus, though it still swam with the pain on your non-dominant side, which was fortunate, and you rolled over on your front to get your bearings.
Holding your wand, you wiped what you thought was sweat from your hairline but blood smeared the back of your hand. You winced and using your fingers, you felt a small but painful gash just above your eyebrow. You attempted to push yourself up but immediately collapsed and gasped with the pain as you put weight on your arm, and you immediately knew that it was sprained, if not broken.
Shouting from nearby caught your attention and you pushed yourself to your knees with your good arm and shakily stood up, gripping the edge of the toppled desk to steady yourself. You saw Harry and Neville standing back to back, fighting against two Death Eaters. Luna stood, trying to defend herself, Ron and Ginny, so you immediately ran over to help her, clutching your injured arm to your chest.
Luna was relieved to see you as you stood back to back with her and tried to defend both yourselves, and the debilitated Weasley siblings. Ginny sat weakly against the wall and tried to hold onto Ron who kept trying to wander away towards the large tank with the floating brains.
You just barely managed to avoid being stunned but another charm was immediately sent straight afterwards, and it flew right past your head and hit Ginny square in the face. She was instantly knocked unconscious and you turned around just in time to see Luna being blasted back into the wall that Ginny was slumped against, and she immediately collapsed, knocked out as well.
You tried to grab Ron as he got up when Ginny's limp grip released him, and he ran over to the large tank and pointed his wand at it. You were too preoccupied with blocking spells, from both your own Death Eater opponent and Luna's, to stop him. You could hear Harry shouting at Ron as he summoned one of the brains from the tank, and he touched it before Harry could stop him, and the thing immediately grew tentacles and wrapped itself around Ron like a python.
You desperately wanted to help but you couldn't, but you managed to get the upper hand and stunned Luna's Death Eater and then you blasted your own adversary through a bookshelf, leaving him motionless on the floor.
"No, no, no, I don't like this!" Ron yelled deliriously as he fought to get out of his tightening bindings. You ran over to him just in time to see Harry being chased out of the room with the orb in his hands by Lucius Malfoy. Neville stunned his Death Eater opponent and then looked between Harry's retreating form and you and Ron.
Before you could tell him to go he ran up to you and tried to prise the tentacles from Ron who was gasping for breath.
"Wait, Neville, stand back!" you shouted and he did, you pointed your wand at Ron's bindings, "Difindo!" you said and the tentacles sliced open with a sickly wet noise and then Ron fell to the floor.
"Go to Harry, Neville! I'll catch up!" He nodded and ran after Harry who you could hear out in the entrance room fending off Lucius.
You hauled Ron off the floor and sat him down on the floor beside Hermione who lay motionless where Neville had hidden her behind a table.
"Ron, stay with Hermione, okay? Don't move," you instructed him firmly. He smiled at you and then looked at Hermione, "HerMIONE!" he exclaimed cheerfully and he started petting her curly hair. You ran out of the door just as Neville ran into the room with the stone arch, and you held your throbbing arm close to you and burst through the door after him.
"Stupify!" Neville yelled as blood poured down his face, you noticed he was using Hermione's wand and you felt saddened for him when you realised that his own one was likely broken just like his nose undoubtedly was.
"Petrificus Totalus!" you flicked your wand at an approaching Death Eater, who you recognised as being the one who tried to grab Ginny after she broke her ankle, and you ran down the stone benches to where Harry was with Lucius near the stone arch. You were immediately pulled back by your hair by someone else, and you gave them a swift elbow in the groin, making them let go of your hair. But before you could move away, you felt a fist hitting you in the face and bursting open your lip, and you cried out and fell backwards down the steps, landing hard on your back.
The Death Eater who you'd sent through a bookcase in the room with the brains just minutes beforehand glared down at you with blood oozing down the side of his bearded face, "not getting away from me again, you Mudblood bitch." He grabbed your hair again and pulled you to your feet, and you cried at the pain you felt in your scalp as he gripped you tightly and pressed his wand to your exposed neck.
Neville was being held beside you by another bloodied Death Eater, and Bellatrix approached you both with a cruel smirk on her face. Lucius walked over, leaving Harry standing at the foot of the stone platform with the arch.
"Ah if it isn't Y/L/N and Longbottom," he said with an eerily calm voice. Bellatrix looked from him to Neville and then she smiled with rotten teeth, "Longbottom, is it? How's Mum and Dad?"
Neville roared at her as furious tears spilled down his face. Lucius approached you slowly and then looked back at Harry, "let's see how long it takes before Longbottom cracks like his parents...unless Potter hands over the prophecy."
Harry's eyes widened at his words and then you saw him glance up over your heads in horror. You angled your head against the grip of your captor to see the rest of your friends being dragged into the chamber.
"Don't give it to him, Harry!" Neville yelled and Bellatrix pointed her wand at him, "Crucio!"
You gasped as Neville cried out in pain and his knees buckled beneath him as he writhed.
"Leave him alone, you crazy bitch!" you screamed at Bellatrix and she broke her curse on Neville as he panted and curled up on the floor. Bellatrix approached you slowly as Lucius watched, "maybe Y/L/N losing her mind to pain will be enough to incentivise you, hm, Potter?" he bargained cruelly.
You gave Harry a small shake of your head, as much as you could manage with your hair being held tightly by the Death Eater. Your eyes flickered to Bellatrix as she looked at you with a feral look in her eyes and she raised her wand, but before the words could even leave her mouth she was disarmed. You glanced up to see who had done it and you nearly cried with relief when you saw Remus, Sirius, Mad-Eye, Tonks and Kingsley storming into the room, wands at the ready as they blasted Death Eaters away. Remus stunned the man who had been holding you and ran to you and Neville as Mad-Eye and Tonks took on Bellatrix and Lucius.
"Y/N, Neville, are you alright?" he asked as he gripped your shoulder, concern etched across his features.
"I'm okay but Neville-" you said hoarsely but Neville cut you off, "I'm alright! But we have to help Harry."
Remus helped you both to your feet and then he and Neville took off in Harry's direction while you turned around just as Bellatrix sent Tonks crashing down the steps of the chamber.
"Flipendo!" you roared as she laughed in glee over Tonks' unconscious form, you caught her off guard and she flew back a couple of feet and knocked over another Death Eater. You saw Mad-Eye being knocked unconscious as you ran over to Tonks, you turned her over and her eyes were closed, blood dripping from her nose.
"Tonks? Tonks, can you hear me?" you tried to lift her to pull her to safety, and you looked up to make sure no one was about to get the jump on you. You saw Sirius engaged in a duel with Bellatrix near the stone arch, and Kingsley was fighting two Death Eaters at once while Remus was fighting off another one nearby. Harry and Neville were running up the steps with the prophecy while Lucius Malfoy pursued them.
Biting back gasps of pain from your arm, you dragged Tonks up the steps and across the bench, out of range from possible wayward spells, and laid her down. You kneeled beside her and raised your wand in case you had to shield yourself and her against any attackers. The door at the top of the steps suddenly blasted open again and you sagged in relief as Dumbledore stormed through, his wand raised and his robes billowing behind him with his speed, pure fury was written across his face.
Your eyes flicked down to Harry just as the orb smashed to the ground, but the duelling around you halted once the Death Eaters caught sight of Dumbledore. Many of them fled out of fear of facing such a powerful wizard, while Dumbledore captured another few and Mad-Eye, who had regained consciousness, helped to tie them up with invisible binds.
Only one pair continued duelling, and that was Sirius and Bellatrix at the bottom of the ampitheatre. Bellatrix hissed and jumped up on the stone podium and Sirius followed her as she blasted spell after spell at him, "you can do better than that!" He yelled at her and then you heard yourself scream out in terror as a blast of light hit him in the chest. He looked down in faint surprise and then slowly fell backwards and through the rippling veil of the stone arch, disappearing from view.
You knew right away that he was gone, and hot tears spilled down your face as you heard Harry screaming and sobbing while Remus restrained him. Mad-Eye approached you and gestured silently to Tonks, sadness etched in his scarred features. You nodded at him and stood up as he pointed his wand at her, attempting to revive her. You backed away slowly and shakily walked over to your friends while Harry's screams echoed in your mind, and you looked over as Harry had stopped struggling but was still being held up by Remus, who himself looked completely distraught.
You approached your friends and saw that Hermione, Ginny and Luna were still out cold but Ron was returning to consciousness, clearly having been knocked out before being dragged into the chamber, and he was tied up by what you assumed was the Incarcerous Charm. He blinked sleepily at you while you pointed your wand at the ropes wrapped around him, "Relashio," you whispered croakily.
He sat up slowly and rubbed a hand down his face, "Y/N? What's going on?" You were grateful that his curse had worn off because if it hadn't, you would've jinxed him unconscious yourself rather than deal with his confused state after what had just happened.
You sat down beside him with your back resting against the front of a stone bench, "Sirius is dead," you said brokenly and his face fell as he looked at the scene below where Harry was crying in Remus' arms.
"He- what? He can't..." Ron murmured, his face white with shock. You burst into fresh tears and cried into your hands, as Ron wrapped an arm around your shoulder, a tear slipping down his cheek too. While you appreciated his attempt at comforting you, all you really wanted was for it to be Fred who was holding you while you cried. You wanted Fred to press comforting kisses to your hair while he rubbed your back and told you that everything was going to be okay and that you weren't going to lose anyone else, even if you both knew it likely wasn't true.
But still, Ron comforted you and you rubbed his arm to console him back. You both jumped as you heard Harry yelling down below, Bellatrix had just knocked Kingsley back onto the ground and she was taunting Harry as she ran out of another door, cackling.
"SHE KILLED SIRIUS! SHE KILLED HIM - I'LL KILL HER!" he screamed as he chased her, you and Ron looked at each other and both got up and ran down to go after him but Remus immediately stopped you.
"Don't. Dumbledore is going after him," he told you quietly, his face was pale and drawn but he wasn't looking at you or Ron, he was looking at the stone arch.
"Remus," you said quietly, trying to stop your voice from trembling, and he looked at you, "I'm so sorry about...about Sirius." He let out a shaky exhale and you could see he was trying to hide how devastated he truly was. You pulled the man into a tight hug with one arm and Ron patted him comfortingly on the back, he hugged you back gratefully and then pulled back after a long moment.
"Thank you, Y/N, Ron," he said to you and then he looked around with wide eyes, "where's Dora?"
"Dora?" Ron asked, puzzled, but you understood. "She was knocked out but Mad-Eye is with her now. I pulled her out of harm's way but there wasn't anything else I could do." He swallowed heavily and squeezed your shoulder as he walked quickly over to where Mad-Eye was crouched over Tonks and you watched as he knelt down and took her hand in his.
You and Ron walked back over to the others and you were relieved to see Ginny and Luna were awake and sitting up while talking to Neville. Ron told them what had happened while you checked on Hermione, she was still unconscious but her pulse was normal and her face was still warm. You sat back against the benches again and pulled Hermione up from the cold stone floor and cradled her across your lap and held her head against her chest, absently brushing her curls. You desperately hoped she'd get to a Healer soon and they could fix whatever curse had been put on her.
Ron sat on her other side while Ginny cried onto his shoulder and Luna rubbed her friend's back sadly and she took Neville's hand in hers, making the boy relax slightly after the events of the evening, though his face still showed shock at what happened to Sirius, though he hadn't known him.
While you held Hermione against you, Ron rested his hand on her ankle, seemingly unknowingly as he comforted his sister. While you didn't think he realised he was doing it, the gesture lifted your spirits slightly as you sat waiting for the Order to come back to get you. As you sat you watched the stone arch, the irrationally hopeful part of you waiting for Sirius to walk through, but he never did. He was gone.