Get yourselves some tea or coffee and prepare for a long but epic chapter, guys. We jump straight to the night in the Ministry!
* * *
It was my first vision in months and a terrifying one. Sirius was sweating, bleeding, trembling.
The fireworks kept erupting over our heads in the most magnificent and spontaneous stunt the twins could pull off. In the raging crowd, I saw Harry collapsing to the ground. At once, I knew we had seen the same thing, the same vision.
* * *
As planned, we got into the Room of Prophesies. The large Hall that homed thousands upon thousands of crystal balls, just like the ones we used in Divination, was completely empty. We walked around and could feel the shelves moving around us. If there was anyone here, if Sirius was here, I would have felt it at once.
I knew we were alone but I didn't lose my faith - one of my biggest regrets in life.
"94..." muttered Harry, running down the small corridor. "95..." he went on, looking for the number 97. The number was close.
"He should be here," said Harry.
"Anne..." I heard Ginny's voice and turned around to see her staring at a Prophecy. "It has your name on it," she said. I stepped near her. "This one..." she pointed out. I carefully took the prophecy. It was not very large; in fact, it was much smaller than the others. I approached the spot that Ginny had pointed and with nimble fingers, I took the tiny Prophesy in my hands.
The Lost Daughter is now born. Lady she is meant to be and Lady she will be, and a Dark Lord's daughter. Beware, for only she knows the key to his collapse. Long may she reign and retribution shall be ours.
The voice inside my head was familiar, yet I felt like I'd never heard it before but in a dream. Maybe I'd heard it in a vision of mine.
It was only a few sentences. Nothing more. I looked at the swirling steam with narrow. What did the prophecy mean? Why do I know the key to Voldemort's collapse? And if I know it, then why doesn't anything come up to me?
Long may she reign? Reign?
"What does it say?" said Harry. I didn't want to tell him anything about it, for it was neither the time nor the place to discuss it. I put the prophecy into my pocket and it was so small that it fitted perfectly. Soon, our attention turned to Neville,
"Harry, this one has your name on it," he said. Harry got closer to his own prophecy and took it. His one was twice the size of mine. Harry was now reading the prophecy and all of us stood in silence.
"Harry!" screamed Hermione. When I turned to look at her, I found her pointing her wand to a masked man. He was a Death Eater. And as soon as I saw him, I knew who it was, even though I couldn't see his face. His long blond hair betrayed him. It was Lucius Malfoy. He continued walking with steady steps.
"Where is Sirius?" demanded Harry.
"You know, you should learn to tell the difference between dreams..." he pulled out his black wand and removed the mask revealing the face I already knew was hiding underneath the mask. "And reality," he paused as almost everyone backed off. "You saw only what the Dark Lord wanted you to see."
I was lingering somewhere between the ideas of hiding or running but even in my head, it sounded as impossible as it was immature. Showing my face next to Dumbeldore's Army was a death sentence performed and executed by my own father. Lucius had until then, ignored me, but this was soon to change.
"What do we have here?" he said looking at me. "Your father won't be happy hearing you are fighting on his side after all... Well," he said. "I thought you were better than this, Annalise. Pity... I had made great plans for you and my son. Now, hand me the Prophecy, Harry," he said quickly.
"You do anything to us, I'll break it," answered Harry.
"Hahaha!" We heard a sinister, female laughter. "He knows how to play! Itty, bitty, baby... Potter..." she said walking like she was drunk and making ugly faces. It was the first time I ever saw her. Bellatrix Lestrange was a bit shorter than I thought, with white, pale complex and black, curly hair that stuck out in odd places
"Bellatrix Lestrange..." said Neville making a step.
"Neville Longbottom, is it? How it mom and dad?" she said ironically.
"Better now that they're about to be revenged," he said raising his wand. Bellatrix raised hers too, but both, Harry and Lucius held them back cautiously.
"Let's everybody just calm down. Shall we?" said Lucius. "All we want is that prophecy."
"Why did Voldemort need me to come and get this?" asked Harry.
"You dare speak his name!" hissed Bellatrix opening her eyes enormously. "You filthy halfblood!" she screamed and her voice echoed around the room.
"Prophesies can only be retreated by those about whom they are made. Which is lucky for you..." he went on as the rest of the Army noticed that we were now surrounded by four to six Death Eaters. "Haven't you always wondered what was the reason for the connection between you and the Dark Lord? Why he was unable to kill you when you were just a baby? Don't you want to know the secret of your scar? All the answers are there, Potter, in your hand... All you have to do is give it to me. And I can show you everything." he finished. All I could do is screaming inside my head for Harry not to trust him but Harry seemed to be thinking about it. When I realised how may Death Eaters were surrounding us, I raised my wand.
"I've waited fourteen years," he answered.
"I know..." said Lucius so called kindly.
"I guess I can wait a little longer. NOW!" screamed Harry and our spells echoed around the Hall.
"Stupefy!" I screamed and hexed a Death Eater that was standing in front of me. "Expeliarmus!" I pointed to another one and accidentally breaking a prophecy in the process. The Army started running around the corridors heading to the door where we had come from but Lucius showed up surrounded by a black cloud of mist, spreading his hand in front of Harry to give him the prophecy. We ran again, sometimes I different directions, trying to fight the Death Eaters coming up to us.
"Stupefy!" I bellowed again to an upcoming Death Eater. Then I ran back to the rest of the Army hoping that there was no other Death Eater to fight against. In these moments, the first thought was to protect my friends and I was not going to be stopped by anyone to do so. When I looked up I saw another one quickly approaching us in the same black mist as Lucius had before.
"Reducto!" shouted Ginny. The spell was strong. She didn't think that defeating the Death Eater, might mean that the prophecies could start falling. Soon enough, we were running for our lives again with all the prophecies collapsing behind us. The rest of the events seemed like happened only in a matter of seconds.
When we finally reached the door, the prophecies were falling only a few meters behind us. We opened the door and jumped inside, but didn't reach the room where we had come from. The room was replaced by empty space. We started falling down with no stop and emptiness swallowed us alive. I closed my eyes, screaming and when I dared open them again, I could see the bottom of the room. And then, just a few second before we all fell down, something like a seal stopped us and prevented us from falling. Then, it released us kindly to the ground.
I still hadn't figured out what had just happened. The only thing I knew was that we were no longer in the Room of Prophesies and that there were no Death Eaters where we were. Yet, the feeling of imminent danger hadn't disappeared. I tried to stand up. I looked around. It was a round room that seemed like a large rock. In the centre of the room, I could see an ancient arch. What was inside the arch was even more curious. It was like a very thin veil, moving and swelling making gentle movements that resembled the waves of a quiet sea.
"Department of Mysteries. They got it right, didn't they?" said Ron.
"Who's there?" I said scared when I heard something like a whisper. But there was no one there.
"Voices. Can you tell what they say?" said Harry looking at the arch.
"There aren't any voices, guys," said Hermione. "Let's get out of here," she said looking back to see a dark door that was probably the only way out of the room.
Then came the whispers, the quiet voices that seemed to speak dead languages and songs.
"But I can hear them..." I said.
"I can hear them too," I heard Luna saying but I couldn't take my eyes off the arch. A few silent moments passed.
"Harry... It's just an empty archway," said Hermione. Harry didn't react. "Please, Harry," she insisted.
But it was too late. When he took his eyes off the arch, the Death Eaters were already inside the room. They were coming up to us in a steamy black cloud.
"Get behind me," said Harry raising his wand in the air. The Army did as he said.
It was too late. We found ourselves lost in the steamy cloud. Even opening the eyes didn't help you seeing anything but darkness. Someone pulled me from my hair and made me stand but I still couldn't see anything. Fighting back was useless, but I didn't stop. The person, however, tied my arms behind my back and placed a wand on my neck. I felt that my prophecy was still in my pocket.
When everything cleared up, I opened my eyes. I had been dragged to the corner of the room. The person, who seemed like a woman, was still holding me still, but I couldn't see who it was. I looked around. Each and every one of us was trapped by a Death Eater. Only Harry was still standing free in the middle of the room, still holding the prophecy.
We heard a peal of laughter.
"Did you actually believe, were you truly naive enough to think that children stood a chance against us?" I saw Lucius coming up to Harry. "I'll make this simple for you, Potter," he held out his hand. "Give me the Prophecy now, or watch your friends die."
Harry looked at us.
"Don't give it to him, Harry," said Neville.
"Shh!" said Bellatrix who was holding him with force.
"Don't give it to him! They are bluffing! They can't kill me, Harry! I'm his daughter, they can't kill me!" I screamed.
"Of course, we can, Annalise. Don't be silly. What did you expect? That you are useful after not following him?"
"He has to have an heir," I said with a steady voice.
"He doesn't need an heir. The Dark Lord will live forever. He doesn't need you. As I said, give me the Prophecy otherwise you'll watch everyone die. Everyone," he repeated, turning to Harry.
Just in time, light came from behind him. When I looked, realised it was the same steamy cloud that I had seen before, only this one was light and white, not black like the Death Eater's one.
It was the Order of Phoenix.
I saw Sirius Black, as beautiful as I had seen him in the vision. His blue eyes were not afraid of looking straight to Lucius. He got closer to him. Lucius turned around to face him, with his eyes oddly surprised.
"Get away from my godson!" he said and then punched him right to the face. The prophecy was lifted into the air. Lucius tried to catch it but when it landed into his fist, it had already been broken.
The Order was arriving. One woman and one man I hadn't seen before. Only Alastor Moody and Remus Lupin were the ones that I recognised. The Order flew through the air and stupefied the Death Eaters that were holding us. When I was freed too, I didn't know what I had to do. A Death Eater attacked me.
"Stupefy!" I screamed.
When Bellatrix Lastrange went up to me, I didn't manage to fight back, for Lupin had come up to me and pushed me away from her spell. Then he pushed me to fall down, pulled me behind a rock where Harry was waiting too.
"Annalise!" said Sirius loudly over the sound of spells being cast. "Are you okay are you hurt? Do you have the prophecy with you?"
"How do you know about the prophecy?"
"This is not the point! You have to tell me what it said!"
"The prophecy? I don't think this is the perfect time to talk about a stupid prophecy!"
"Sophie! What are you talking about! The prophecy, tell me what it said! We have been waiting for this all our lives!"
"The Lost Daughter is now born. Lady she is meant to be and Lady she will be, and a Dark Lord's daughter. Beware, for only she knows the key to his collapse. Long may she reign and retribution shall be ours."
Sirius stood motionless and speechless for a moment. He seemed too stunned by what the prophecy said. Another curse flushed above us with a red light and Sirius came back to reality.
"Do the Death Eaters know you have this prophecy?"
"No, I put it in my pocket before they came to us."
"Good. Let's keep it that way. Whatever happens, whatever risk you get into for that, don't ever let Voldemort have it, do you understand?"
"Why shouldn't Voldemort have-"
"Do you trust me, Annalise?" Sirius interrupted me.
"I trust you."
"Good. Because I trust you, too. So don't let Voldemort have this. All we have are now left upon Harry and you. Whatever happens tonight, if you don't ever see me again, do remember that. Our hopes are on Harry. He will be the one to kill Voldemort. But our faith is with you. Take it. Use it. Whatever happens, tonight, don't let your people down."
"I don't understand a single word!"
"Now, Anne. I want you to find the rest of the others and leave the place at once," said Sirius placing his hands on my shoulders.
"No one I'm not. I'm staying here."
"You do as I say. For your own good! Do you hear me Sophie?" he said. I stared.
"Sirius! Don't leave me!" I said when Sirius made to go.
"Retribution shall be ours!" he shouted.
"Sirius!"
"Long may you reign!"
I wasn't able to say anything. By the time I looked up at him, he was gone, fighting a Death Eater. I tried to take a peek to what was happening. Fights continued. The Order was standing strong against the Death Eaters. By the center of the room, Sirius was fighting Lucius and right by him, Harry was fighting another Death Eater. The second Death Eater was stupefied by Sirius. Harry unarmed Lucius.
"Nice one, James!" said Sirius, taking Harry for his father. After that, he stupefied Lucius with a flick of his wand.
"Avada Kedavra!"
A green light flashed right in front of my eyes.
Bellatrix was staring proudly.
Sirius looked at Harry and then lost behind the arch veil.
* * *
"I killed Serious Black! I killed Serious Black! Are you coming to get me?" laughed Bellatrix getting out of the room.
Harry was after her. I was after Harry. Soon enough, we reached the Entrance Hall. I was far behind them, I could barely see them.
"Crucio!" screamed Harry and Lastrange fell down with a cry. Harry's spell didn't last for long. It was just a moment and the red flash vanished. He was still pointing Lastrange who had taken a sad look.
He continued pointing her but he did nothing. No spell could come out of his mouth.
"You've got to mean it, Harry." It was my father's voice that I could hear. "She killed him. She deserves it." Voldemort was trying to tempter him. "You know the spell, Harry." I could see Harry's eyes succumbing to the temptation. He was lowering his wand anyway.
Voldemort appeared from a stream of darkness. He was standing behind Harry. There was no expression on his face. Only Bellatrix was now laughing. Harry hadn't yet realised that he was standing behind him. The only place near me that I could hide was behind the grand fountain in the centre of the Entrance Hall. I ran and fell down with no noise.
"Do it!" said Voldemort as I was trying to sneak a peek while remaining hidden. Harry finally got it. He turned to face him and raised his wand at once, but Voldemort had already made it fall to the floor with a sudden movement of his hand. "So weak," he said with a slight smile on his face. He looked to my direction. I thought he hadn't noticed me yet. I crawled myself even more against the fountain but my father's eyes didn't move from my place. "I know you're here! There is no point hiding, my dear Annalise!" he said. "Come out and face your father!" he said. I didn't move.
How cowardly of me.
"I said come out!" he repeated. I refused. "Imperio!" he pointed me with his wand. I felt myself lifted into the air and then closing up to him without wanting it. He was forcing me to move with the Imperious Curse. After a moment, he let me fell down. I hit my shoulder painfully. When I stood I found myself next to Harry.
"So here I am," I said so-called bravely.
"I can see that. And I can feel you have a prophecy with you..." he said.
"How-"
"You know, I didn't plan this. I thought you wouldn't come to the Ministry tonight. I didn't need the prophecy you are holding, I need Potter's prophecy. I had other plans for you. More... More creative. But why lose the chance now that you give everything to me without me even asking? Now give it to me," he demanded extending his hand in my direction.
"No," I breathed out this simple word but even this, made Voldemort's face go darker than it already was.
"What did you say?" he said like he hadn't heard me clearly.
"You heard me," I said.
He paused. "I see. So you choose to leave me."
"I didn't choose anything. From the first moment, I knew what I wanted. There never was a dilemma. There was nothing to choose," I said. I was waiting for this day for months. I had spent weeks upon weeks torturing myself in the thought of someday facing the choice that I had to make. Lying wouldn't get me far. I would never support him. I knew that, sooner or later, he was going to kill me. Why not now?
"Well, if you want it this way, give me the prophecies and I will let you live." His face was cold calm.
"You'll kill me anyway. You've got nothing to lose, right? Come on. Let's do it right now. Kill me! Kill your daughter, right now!" I sounded braver than I thought. It was the first time I felt that I was practically holding my life in my tiny fingers. He stared at me with the sense of fear hidden behind his cold, blue eyes.
"I'm disappointed, Annalise. I'm most disappointed. You have taken many talents after me. My powers, my gifts... And after all, I risked for you, you're still disloyal!" Voldemort looked upon me with disgust. "I should have guessed. I should have guessed that you'd prefer dying fighting. Just like your filthy mother died to save you. I should have killed her as soon as I found what she was, even if she was carrying my heir, my daughter, inside her. I should have guessed that you'd be as much of a problem as she was. And she regretted it. Just like you will regret it. In fact, I think you have already regretted it, my dear daughter."
"I'm not your daughter.," I smiled. "And you're not my father. My father was killed in a car accident, six years ago. You never had an heir. You will always be alone. And the only person that dared to love you, is now dead because of you. My mother truly loved you. And you killed her. What kind of monster are you? Killing your wife. Now, killing your daughter. Your own blood. I hope you live. I hope you live the way you live right now. Alone, in infinity. Go ahead. Do it. Do it, you coward. It's only one unarmed girl that you'll kill," he was not scared. My words hadn't even entered his brain. A moment passed and he stared laughing like all those things I had said were funny.
"You're wasting your time, Annalise. Now, hand me the prophecy and I'll show you some mercy. Give it to me!" he screamed but the smile hadn't yet moved an inch.
"No."
"I said give it to me!" he screamed even louder.
"I said, no!" I said with the same attitude as before.
"And now, what? I do not wish to kill you. Not yet. So, will we keep saying this over and over?" said Voldemort making a step to come closer to me.
"Or... you could surrender..." I was surprised by the confidence of mine. His smile fainted in these words. I would make him as mad as I could. It was the least I could do if I wanted to end this once and for all – for me at least. There would be no turning back after tonight. After this night I knew he would after me and at some point he would get what he wanted. So why not ending it today? He was now raising his wand. I closed my eyes and waited to hear this mortal spell. The killing curse.
Or... you could surrender... I loved the fact that these would one of my last words.
"Harry, please tell Draco that I'm sorry I messed this up again. Tell him I love him."
Draco, I love you. I thought silently. I hoped that he knew. I hoped he had understood after all these times I had told him. I hoped he did too. I hoped he would remember me for the rest of his life. Remember all the great time we had, everything we said, everything we lived, every touch, every kiss. And I knew that at some point we would meet again in heaven.
If Voldemort was ready to cast his spell, something had stopped him. It was the sound of a fire lighting in a fireplace. Someone was here. I didn't feel any kind of relief, though. Because somehow I knew that this would only delay my death.
"How foolish of you to come here tonight, Tom. The Aurors are on their way." It was a familiar voice that I hadn't heard in reality for months. It was my savior. It was Albus. I opened my eyes to see him.
"By which time I should be gone. And you shall be dead," said Voldemort. Not a moment passed and he had raised his wand to fight Albus. Luckily, Albus had too. His wand was pouring with red light and at the same time, he managed to push me and Harry away. We sat down behind a fireplace as the duel between Albus and Voldemort continued.
"Annalise, you have to leave! Run away! You will be okay," said Harry desperately. But at the same time, the marble above our heads was falling down. Voldemort was braking the wall to hit as while fighting with Albus. Harry's protective arms were around my shoulders hiding me in his chaste.
"I'm not leaving you!" I said.
"You have to. No one else is to be harmed," he said desperately.
"This is not an option and you know it. This is the thing you have been preparing me for all these months." I couldn't hear the sound of my voice because of the echoing noise of the two men fighting.
By the moment I said that we both turned to look at Voldemort creating a huge fire snake. Albus fought against it and when it was disappeared, he pulled all the water from the fountain and made a ball holding Voldemort inside it. The water ball lifted into the air while Voldemort struggled to get out of it but he couldn't. Albus' power was too strong.
"You never give up, do you?" said Harry after a moment of staring. "Just promise me you'll stay here. Okay?"
"Okay."
Harry jumped out ready to fight too but, of course, Albus wouldn't let him. With a sudden movement of his elbow, he though him back near me. Albus suddenly let the water ball fall down. Voldemort needed a moment to stand up again but when he did, he was even angrier. I started unleashing something like a black shadow to our place. Albus protected us under a magnetic field. Voldemort unleashed every least of his power in a black wave that didn't only make Albus fall down, but also made every window of the Ministry break. The little bits of glasses gathered together and then turned in our direction. Now there were more than thousands of sharp shards of glasses pointing us. The shards of glasses passed Voldemort without touching him and headed to our place but by the time they were close enough to touch us, Albus created a seal that turned the glasses into ash as they passed through it. Harry's hand and mine met while we tried to hide our faces behind each other's shoulders. When every single glass had turned into ash, Albus found the strength to get up on his feet. It was impossible what just happened. Albus was old and weak but yet, he managed to defeat Voldemort once again. Voldemort looked upon him not knowing what else to do. Albus' powers overwhelmed him. My coward father had nothing to do but disappear in a cloud of ash.
There was no sign of him for a moment. But he didn't disappear for long. He revealed himself after a moment but he was standing right by me now.
"Give me the prophecy, my girl. Give it to me and I'll let you live," I knew he would do it anyway but I was not able to risk it. But before I was able to even think about it he continued.
It was the moment when you know you're practically holding a life into your tiny fingers.
I looked at Harry and Albus who seemed like they weren't able to do anything. I looked even closer and I saw that there was some sort of ash circle around me and Voldemort, forbidding Harry and Albus to enter.
"Annalise, don't do anything stupid. Just give it to him," said Harry who was now doing nothing but staring. Albus on the other hand said nothing.
I knew Voldemort was not bluffing. I could see it in his eyes. I could feel it in his aura.
Resist much, obey little.
"What's life without a bit of death?" I said. And then, just like that, I left the small prophecy slip through my hands and fall into the ground. I heard the echoing noise of it braking. And when I looked down upon it, the only thing I saw was steam.
I looked back on Voldemort, smiling. He didn't lose time, nor did something to stop me. The only thing that he spelt out was something that sounded like "No!"
"Imperio!" he said lifting me to the air and pushing me away from my place. I felt myself hitting my head to the upper edge of the nearest fireplace. The pain wouldn't be that much if I hadn't hit this particular point before. It was the same place where he had hit me before. Only this time the speed didn't help at all.
I fall into the earth and I hardly saw Voldemort disappearing again, leaving Albus, Harry and me alone. I felt my wound bleeding. I looked down to the floor and saw the blood running fast. I needed a moment to realise that it was my head that hurt so sharply. When I tried to find the wound with my fingers, I saw my whole hand and forearm covered in blood.
I tried to find Albus and Harry but my head was spinning. The only thing I could tell was that they were alone again.
"Ah!" I heard Harry. I looked at his trembling body that was now lying on the floor. Albus kneed slowly by him. Harry was still making jerky movements.
"You've lost old man!" he said to Albus. I knew what was happening. Voldemort was inside Harry. In his effort of trying to resist, Harry took a spooky position. Doing a sudden movement, he flicked his head back still screaming with pain cries. He was trying to breathe. I wanted to help, I crawled myself as near him as possible. It seemed like he was miles away but I was still trying to reach him.
"Harry..." said Albus. "Harry! It isn't how you're alike, it's how you're not." Despite Albus' worlds Harry was still contorting. I crawled faster. I was now touching his hand. Harry looked at me.
"Help me!" he spelled with his green eyes begging. Crawling was getting harder but I was now touching his cold face.
"Come on, Harry. You can defeat him. You're the strong one. Not him!" I said with a trembling voice. His fingers were wrapped around mine, his nails were sinking deep into my skin, scratching me painfully without wanting it. His own hands were wet with my blood. I was now feeling my head heavier and heavier all the time. The dizziness didn't let me help Harry. I couldn't speak anymore. I felt like fainting. I heard footsteps. It was Hermione, Ron, Luna, Neville and Ginny. They stood watching Harry vacillating and me covered with blood. Harry looked at their faces and then mine.
"You are the weak one. And you'll never know love or friendship. And I feel sorry for you," he said, still holding my hand but looking at nowhere. And after a sudden movement that pulled me with him, Voldemort was out of Harry's body. Harry fell in silence. For a moment I thought he was dead but his chast was still moving up and down, breathing heavily. His eyes were fixed on a spot and they were not moving. I followed his look to realise he was looking no other than Voldemort himself who was standing above us. There was an ash circle around us again, forbidding Albus to help us.
"My little traitress. I want you to live and regret your choices," he said looking at me. "You are both fools. And you are both going to lose everything!" he said smiling snootily as always.
"Pity," I said. "Pity. You'll never have anything so that you can lose it," I said.
He was ready to kill us. Harry and I looked at each other like it was the last time we were ever looking at anything at all. We were still holding hands. And just in time we were waiting to hear the Killing Curse, a fireplace behind us erupted with the green fire of the Floo Network.
Voldemort looked at the people coming. The Aurors and the Minister were here. My coward father didn't find the time to kill us. He vanished in a cloud of ash like before.
"He's back," I heard the Minister saying.
All that was left for the papers to see was Harry Potter and the lost daughter, unconscious in front of the Ministry of Magic, holding hands, fighting together, dying together as the world raged in war around us.
* * *
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