Suddenly, out of nowhere, a man lunged at them.
They both fell on their backs, Neville flailing his legs like a beetle on all fours. Harry's left hand was held high in the air to keep the orb from shattering.
"Orb of prophecy, give me the orb, Potter!"
Lucius Malfoy roared in Harry's ear, and Harry felt his wand hit him hard between the ribs.
"No, let go of me, Neville. Catch!"
Harry rolled the orb across the floor, and Neville spun on his back and caught it in his arms.
Malfoy pointed his wand at Neville, and Harry jerked his wand back over his shoulder and shouted, "Obstructions!"
Malfoy was knocked away.
When Harry got up again, he looked around and saw that Malfoy had bumped violently against the table. On the platform, Sirius and Béla Trix were fighting.
Malfoy pointed his wand at Harry and Neville again, and before he could take a breath and say the words, Lupin jumped between them.
"Harry, gather the others and go!"
Harry grabbed Neville by the shoulders of his robe and dragged him up the first stone step; Neville's legs were still twitching and flailing, and he could not get up.
Harry tried again to drag Neville with all his strength, and they climbed another stair — and a spell hit the stone bench, just beside Harry's heel.
The stone shattered, and Harry fell on his back on the next step.
Neville fell to the ground, his legs still flailing and flailing, and shoved the orb into his pocket.
"Come on!" Harry said desperately, tugging at Neville's robe. "Kick with your legs and see —"
He tugged again, and the left side of Neville's robe tore open at the seams.
The orb fell out of the pocket, and before they could grab it, Neville kicked it with his trembling foot.
It flew to their right, about ten feet away, and shattered on the bottom step.
They stared at the place where it had been smashed, stunned by what had just happened. Only the two of them noticed that a pearl colored figure with huge eyes rose into the air.
Harry could see its mouth opening and closing, but there was so much crashing and shrieking and shouting all around them that he could not hear a word of prophecy.
After the figure finished speaking, it disappeared without a trace.
"Harry, I'm sorry!"
Cried Neville, his face contorted in pain, his legs still swinging. 'I'm so sorry, Harry, I didn't mean -'
"It doesn't matter!"
Harry shouted. 'Try to get up, let's get out of here -'
"Dumbledore!"
Neville gave a cry and looked over Harry's shoulder, his sweaty face excited.
"What?"
"Dumbledore!"
Harry turned and followed Neville's gaze.
Directly above them was the door leading to the Cerebrum, where Albus Dumbledore stood, his wand raised high above his head, his pale face full of anger.
Harry felt a surge of electricity coursing through his body - they were saved.
Dumbledore quickly walked down the steps and passed by Neville and Harry, who no longer had any thoughts of leaving.
Dumbledore walked to the bottom of the steps, and the Death Eater closest to him noticed him and shouted to inform the others.
One of the Death Eater ran and climbed the stone steps on the opposite side like a monkey, but Dumbledore's spell easily dragged him back, as if he was hooked by an invisible string. Now only two of them were still fighting, and it was obvious that neither of them noticed Dumbledore's arrival.
Harry saw Sirius's short body flash past Béla Trix's red light: he was laughing at her.
"Come on, you can do better!"
He shouted loudly, his voice echoing throughout the cave-like room.
The second beam hit him right in the chest.
The smile on his face had not completely disappeared, but his eyes widened in horror, and Harry instinctively let go of Neville.
He jumped down the steps again and pulled out his wand, and Dumbledore also turned toward the platform.
It seemed to take a long time for Sirius to fall: his body bent backward in a graceful bow, and he fell through the tattered drapery hanging over the arch.
Harry saw the look of horror and wonder on the thin, once-handsome face of his Godfather as he fell, and he fell through the ancient archway and disappeared behind the drapery.
The drapery fluttered for a moment, as if there had been a gust of wind, and then returned to its original state.
Harry heard Béla Trix Lestrange screaming triumphantly, but he knew that it meant nothing - Sirius had just fallen through the arch, and he could come out the other side at any time... but Sirius did not appear.
"Sirius!"
Harry shouted, "Sirius!"
He was on the floor, his breath a hot gasp.
Sirius must be behind the drapery, he would drag him out... but as he reached the stone pit and rushed toward the platform, Lupin caught him around the waist and dragged him back.
"There's nothing to be done, Harry -"
"Hold him, help him, he's only just gone in!"
"It's too late, Harry -"
"We can still hold him -"
Harry struggled, but Lupin would not let him go. "There's nothing to be done, Harry, there's nothing to be done, he's gone."
"No, he's not!"
Harry shouted.
He did not believe it, could not believe it; he was still struggling against Lupin's hold: Lupin did not know that there was someone behind the drapery;
When he had first entered the room, he had heard them talking in low voices. Sirius was hiding, but he was hiding where no one could see him.
He shouted, "Sirius!"
"He can't come back, Harry."
Lupin held Harry in his arms as best he could, his voice breaking. "He can't come back, he's dead -"
"He's - not - dead!"
Harry roared wildly.
Around them, the Death Eaters were still fighting, bustling, and casting spells.
It was meaningless noise to Harry, and the spells that whispered past them had no effect on him. He was indifferent to it all, unless Lupin would not lie to him that Sirius would not appear again, and that Sirius was standing behind the tattered drapery, tossing back his black hair and eager to join the fray again.
Unfortunately, his wish was certainly not going to come true anytime soon.
Dumbledore glanced over to make sure that Sirius was fine, and turned back to the battle.
As for Harry... people always need to grow, and hopefully he can learn a lot.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
