WE'LL TAKE ON THE WORLD ; h.j.p.

34 | Beyond The Veil

"Tell me, did you actually believe...now, were you truly...naive enough to think that you stood a chance...against us?"

A harsh jab into her ribs made her jump; Allison thought she would fall over, but someone had an arm wound tightly around her chest, a wand pointed to her temple. Her elbow was stinging with pain. Blinking, her eyes adjusted to the light, and she saw that she was back in the room with the strange archway. And not only she was back, but the others were, too:

Death Eaters, holding the others in a similar hurtful way like Allison was held, all standing around the archway in the middle, always fifty feet between them and the next person. Hermione and Luna both looked more or less conscious again; Ginny was balancing on her unhurt ankle, fighting against the grip of the man behind her; Ron's arms were shining scarlet red even in the dim light; and Neville, whose face was smeared with blood still trickling down from his nose, was held by none other than Bellatrix Lestrange, maddly giggling into his ear.

Only Harry stood alone next to the swaying veil, clutching his wand and the prophecy as Lucius Malfoy strode up to him. The blond man held out his hand.

"I am going to make this...simple for you, Potter," He said. "Give me the prophecy...or watch your friends die."

"DON'D GIB ID DO DEM!" roared Neville, more blood splattering down his chin.

Bellatrix, who was having a hard time restraining Neville, grabbed him harsher by his hair and said loudly, "Let's see if you can last longer than mummy and daddy - Crucio!"

Neville was screaming in agony, barely able to hold himself upright, and Hermione, who stood closest to Allison on her left, sobbed. Then, Bellatrix raised her wand and his screaming stopped as she whispered something into his ear, boring her wand into his neck.

"Give it to me," Lucius Malfoy repeated, stepping closer to Harry.

"Stop hurting them or I'll kill you," Harry said threateningly.

Malfoy laughed. "We'll let them go...if you give us the prophecy."

Harry looked around the room at each and every one of them, and knew at once: It was over. There was no chance of getting all of them out here alive, except if he followed Malfoy's order. The look of his friends, blood-soaked, beaten, bruised, was enough for him to make his decision.

Slowly, he raised his hand with the prophecy and placed the dusty, white glass ball into the hands of the Death Eater.

Suddenly, the amphitheatre was flooded with brightly gleaming, white light overcoming the black shadows of the Death Eaters with such an intensity that Allison could barely keep her eyes open. For a moment, she thought that this was the prophecy's work, but the light vanished as quickly as it had come and, having appeared seemingly out of nowhere next to Lucius Malfoy and Harry, stood Sirius, healthy and well.

"Get away from my godson."

Sirius' fist hit Malfoy so hard in the face that the blond man fell backwards and, slipping from his hands, the prophecy hit the stone floor, breaking into a billion pieces, two white, figurless shapes emerging from it.

And he was not the only one who had come: Half the Order of the Phoenix seemed to appear out of every corner of the room, attacking the Death Eaters. Remus, Kingsley, yes, even Moody clambered down the steps to come to their rescue.

A purple-coloured curse struck the Death Eater that had held Allison and he dropped unconscious, almost pulling her down with him.

"Allison!"

Her eyes grew wider. "Mum? What are you doing here?"

Her mother's face was pale as she ripped Allison away from the man and dragged her behind a pillar, pressing her against it.