In front of her, Harriet could hear voices whispering to her from beyond a ragged veil dangling from a stone archway. Something about it was entrancing yet simultaneously repulsive.
Suddenly, a door slammed open from above them and five figures sprinted into the room.
Sirius hurtled out of nowhere ramming Lucius so he released his grip on Harriet and fell to the ground. "Get your filthy hands off my godbaby."
Lucius raised his wand towards Sirius, but was taken out by a stunning spell from Tonks.
As Harriet glanced around she saw Sirius, Tonks, Moody, and Shaklebolt taking on the death eaters. By now Neville was on the ground writhing with the effects of some spell. The death eaters were completely distracted by the appearance of Order members who were now raining spells upon them.
Through the darting bodies and flashes of light, Harriet could make out Neville crawling along the ground towards her.
He was mouthing something at Harriet now, that she could not quite catch amidst the din.
"Dumbledore" Neville repeated aloud.
Harriet glanced up, and there he was.
Upon noticing Dumbledore's arrival, several death eaters ran for the door. Only one couple remained locked in battle, apparently unaware of the new arrival.
Harriet watched as her godfather ducked Bellatrix's jet of red light. Sirius was laughing at her. "Come on, you can do better than that!" He yelled. His warm voice that Harriet knew so well echoed ominously in the cavernous space.
A jet of green light hit him square in the chest. The laughter had still not died from his eyes. Even now, a roguish grin lit up his handsome face, dimples creasing his cheeks.
Harriet ran towards him.
It seemed to take Sirius an age to fall. His body curved in a graceful arc as he sank backwards through the ragged veil.
The veil fluttered for a moment before falling back into place.
Bellatrix crowed in triumph but Harriet knew that meant nothing, that Sirius was about to step out of the other side of the archway grinning.
But Sirius did not reappear.
"Sirius!" Harriet yelled "SIRIUS!"
She ran towards the curtain, determined to pull Sirius back out, but Lupin held her back. "Harriet, stop there's nothing you can do."
Harriet struggled viciously her vision blurring "Please let me get him back."
"There's nothing you can do" Lupin repeated. "It's too late. He's dead, Harriet."
——————-
As Harriet waited for Dumbledore in his office, she paced restlessly, unable to be still.
It was her fault that Sirius had died.
If she hadn't believed that dream-
If she hadn't fallen for Voldemort's trick-
If she hadn't turned up at the ministry-
If she had been focusing on learning occlumency like she was supposed to-
She had promised Severus that she wouldn't be reckless and would not run headfirst into danger.
If she had just kept her promise to Severus-
Harriet's chest clenched with pain. She had led her friends into danger for nothing and now Sirius was -
The fireplace burst into life and Dumbledore stepped out of it, looking worn.
Something erupted in Harriet's chest, a need to justify herself, her reckless actions that had needlessly put so many people into danger. "I checked if he'd really taken Sirius before I went and Kreacher said-"
"Kreacher lied. He sent you there on purpose. Luckily you were able to pass on a mental message to Professor Snape and he was able to alert the order."
Harriet's stomach lurched as she thought about Severus.
"After interrogating Malfoy about the events that occurred in Professor Umbridge's office, he searched for you in the forbidden forest. When Professor Snape was unable to locate you, he was able to guess with uncanny insight, where we would be able to find you and your fellow pupils."
Harriet's heart sank. Was her tendency to run headfirst into danger really so predictable? Why, oh why hadn't she just waited for Severus?
Throughout Dumbledore's explanation, Harriet's restlessness grew. She couldn't sit here and listen to this right now. Sirius had died because of her and there was only one person who would understand how she felt.
When Dumbledore finally concluded his spiel, Harriet hurried down the spiral staircase, walking past the corridor leading to Gryffindor tower and instead taking the hallway leading down to the dungeons.