Upon arriving to London, Nic changed back and they entered the visitor's entrance. The Ministry was eerily quiet and empty when they stepped inside. "Everyone stay behind me," Harry ordered. Nic stayed very close behind him, watching carefully for any sign of trouble. They went down the lift to the Department of Mysteries and Nic clutched her wand tightly. Something was wrong about this, very very wrong.
Soon they entered a large, circular room with a series of doors along the sides. "Someone shut the door," Harry muttered. The moment Neville did so, the room spun and they could not tell which door they had come from. The others began searching the rooms while Nic stayed as lookout in the circular room, telling them, "Let me know when you find the right room." Harry nodded and rushed off. When they had tried at least three rooms, Harry shouted, "This is it! This way!"
Nic ran into the room after them where they stood by another door. Harry pushed on the door and it swung open. Nic's heart was pounding as they entered the room full of glass orbs. They went along until row ninety-seven. The moment Nic looked down the row, her heart sank. Her ears rang as Harry went towards the end. "Harry," Nic said sharply. "We need to go, now."
"I...I don't think Sirius is here," Hermione added.
"Harry?" Ron called.
"What?" he called back.
"Have you seen this?" Ron asked.
"What?" he asked, turning to see what they were talking about.
"It's - it's got your name on-" Ron explained, pointing at one of the orbs.
"Harry, don't touch it," Nic urged.
"What is it?" Ron asked. "What's your name doing down here?"
"We don't have time for this!" Nic shouted desperately. "We need to go before it's too late!" Harry reached forward to pick it up. "Harry, don't!" Nic shouted again, but it was too late. His fingers clasped around the cool sphere. Instantly black shapes emerged around them, masked figures. A dozen wands were pointed at them threateningly.
"To me, Potter," Lucius drawled. When Harry did nothing, he said again, "To me."
"Where's Sirius?" Harry asked, causing Nic to roll her eyes in irritation. Discreetly, she pressed her thumb to the silver ring around her pointer finger. It instantly began to lightly burn, sending the message she wanted. It wasn't enough to hurt, but enough to catch one's attention.
A harsh female voice cackled, "The Dark Lord always knows!"
"Always," Malfoy repeated. "Now, give me the prophecy, Potter."
"I want to know where Sirius is!"
"I want to know where Sirius is!" the female voice mimicked, ending with a cruel laugh.
"You've got him!" Harry shouted. "He's here. I know he is!"
"The widdle baby woke up fwightened and fort what it dweamed was twoo," the woman cooed mockingly.
"Harry, stop!" Nic shouted, sending a glare at him. "Isn't it obvious? The bastard lured you here. He knew that you'd come to save him! This was all a trap!"
"Right you are, Potter," Lucius drawled, causing the woman to suddenly get excited.
"Can it be," she cackled. "Little baby Potter, number two. The one who's Daddy can running once widdle fwightening Bewatwix arrived!" Another cackling laugh left her lips gleefully.
Nic set her jaw as Harry whispered to the others, "Don't do anything. Not yet."
"You hear him?" Bellatrix cackled. "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," Lucius replied. "He has a great weakness for heroics; the Dark Lord understands this about him. Now give me the prophecy, Potter."
"I know Sirius is here-" Harry began.
"Drop it, Harry!" Nic shouted in irritation. "Siri isn't here, he never was!"
Smirking, Lucius drawled, "It's time you learn the difference between life and dreams, Potter. Now give me the prophecy or we start using wands."
"Go on then," Harry taunted, raising his own wand.
"Hand over the prophecy and no one need get hurt," Lucius said coolly.
"Yeah right," Harry laughed. "I give you this, prophecy, is it? And you'll just let us skip off home, will you?"
As soon as he finished, Bellatrix shrieked, "Accio Proph-" Before she finished, Nic deflected her spell on instinct without a word.
"You wanna play, Bella?" Nic taunted with a raised eyebrow. "Try harder."
"Cru-" she began, but Nic was too quick for her. Before she'd finished the spell, Nic shot a bolt of lightning from her wand and hit the shelves behind her.
"Next time, I won't miss," Nic threatened. Bellatrix's skull-like face turned into pleased smirk. She seemed to like the idea of a challenge.
"You need more persuasion?" Bellatrix threatened, her chest rising and falling rapidly. "Take the blue-haired one." It was a small move, but Nic smirked as she changed her hair from midnight-blue to white.
"Sorry, but, it seems like none of us have blue hair," Ginny said coldly. Harry staled as Nic looked around, trying to think of a way out.
"Harry," Nic whispered as Lucius and and Bellatrix argued back and forth. "If we can smash shelves we may be able to create enough of a distraction to get away."
"Okay," he replied and began to pass on the message. Bellatrix has begun eyeing Nic with a sick, twisted smile. Nic watched her cautiously before Harry shouted, "NOW!"
"REDUCTO!" everyone shouted. The glass shattered, causing a sea of misty figures to arise around them. Nic pushed the others to the front, shooting spells at the Death Eaters behind them. The door was shut in her face, leaving her alone with the Death Eaters.
"You lot go on," Bellatrix shouted gleefully. "I'll handle her."
"Bring it," Nic hissed, raising her wand. Spells flashed and bounced around the room as the two witches dueled. "THAT THE BEST YOU GOT?!" Nic taunted, throwing a stream of golden fire at her.
She blocked before screaming, "CRUCIO!" Nic wasn't quick enough that time. Her screams echoed through the room as she fell to the ground.
"STUPIFY!" Nic shouted weakly.
"Progto!" Bellatrix shrieked.
"Expelliarmus!" Nic countered. The two wand beams connected and the two witches were flung back. Nic was quicker getting on her feet before firing another spell. Her legs twitched with stabs of pain as Bellatrix's wand flashed across her face and Nic couldn't move. Smirking, Bellatrix grabbed hold of her wrist and dragged her across the room to the door until she reached the room the other Death Eaters were in.
"Look what I found!" she sang. Harry's jaw clenched as Bellatrix undid the spell and pointed her wand at her instead.
"Good," Lucius replied, smirking. "Torture her until Potter gives up the prophecy."
"No!" Harry shouted.
"Harry!" Nic shouted sharply. He turned to face her. "I will be fine. Protect the prophecy."
"Nic-"
"Harry, listen to me!" Nic retorted, losing her temper. "Leave it alone."
"Crucio!" Bellatrix shouted. Instantly she fell to the ground and curled in on herself with a scream, twitching and writhing in the ground. When her screams died down, Bellatrix cackled, "That was just a taster. Now, Potter, either give us the prophecy, or watch your sister die the hard way!"
"Harry, don't!" Nic shouted weakly. "Harry, I swear to god if you give it over I will murder you!" Harry hesitated and Bellatrix raised her wand again. Her screams filled the entire room and echoed around as they mixed with her sobs. It was like white fire in her veins that curled around her every cell. It was so much worse than it had been in the maze. The pain finally went away, leaving Nic a sobbing, shaky mess on the floor. When she was finally able to look up, she saw other members of the Order running around. Her entire body hurt and stabs of pain shot up every time she tried to move.
Next moment, Bellatrix was looming over her. Nic reached for her wand as pain shot up her arm, but she wasn't quick enough. Bellatrix had drawn a knife from her robes and had pressed the tip into her cheek. "I'm going to kill you, Potter," she whispered. "And I won't make it quick." She was ripped off Nic just as she pressed the blade fully into her flesh. A small wince left Nic's lips as she felt it cut across her cheek. Shaking, she got to her feet and made her way over to where Sirius was dueling Bellatrix, ignoring the pain in her legs.
She joined in the fray, shooting spell after spell at the witch. "Get with the others, Nic!" Sirius shouted.
"I'm not leaving you, Siri!" Nic retorted.
He knocked Bellatrix back, giving him time to turn and order, "GO!"
Without turning from him, she shot Bellatrix back again and retorted, "I'm a member of the Order too!"
"Go!" he urged, looking at her desperately. "I promised James I'd protect you. Don't make me break my promise, little phoenix." Nic finally agreed and rushed towards the others only to be cut off by Lucius. They dueled harshly, spell after spell shooting towards the other. Lucius, she could tell, was shocked to see that she was matching and even overpowering his spells on occasion despite the fact that she was about to collapse. She was currently sending a harsh stream of purple fire towards him which he was barely blocking.
Next moment, Nic glanced around the room and saw a blinding green flash hit Sirius. She went pale and the spell stopped. Lucius, who hadn't noticed what had happened, sent another spell at her which flung what looked like a blade towards her. She tried to duck, but the blade grazed her, cutting from just above her eye to her hairline. Nic stumbled back in shock before running towards her godfather. "Nicole!" Dumbledore cried, stopping her. "You can't save him now. He's gone."