Diana couldn't hear anything. She couldn't move. The world moved in slow motion. She vaguely watched Kingsley continue the fight with Bellatrix, but she couldn't look away from the spot where Sirius Black stood only moments ago. There were no tears, but there was an empty hole in her chest that had been ripped apart, compressing her lungs until she couldn't breathe and pushing her heart until she could only hear the fast rhythm thumping in her ears.

She stood for what felt like years until she saw Kingsley get thrown backward by a spell cast by Bellatrix. She could hear everything now and everything moved fast and normal and she was running, running so fast the wind whipped her hair and people shouted at her to stop but she didn't, and she ran after Bellatrix who was already nearly to the top of the steps.

"BELLATRIX!" she yelled, but Bellatrix just cackled in response and disappeared into the Brain Room. Diana followed her, pumping her arms as she ran, and a wave of the disgusting liquid from the tank spilled out and doused her, and brains were getting thrown at her but with a flick of her wand they were easily sent away. She could hear footsteps behind her, and she immediately knew it was Harry. They ran past Ginny then Luna then Ron then Hermione, who was still unconscious. Bellatrix was already past the circular room and into the corridor to the lifts. By the time they entered the circular room, Bellatrix had shut the door, and the walls were spinning.

"Which one is the way out?" Harry yelled once the walls were still, and as if it was waiting for the question, a door to their right opened, and they ran out into the black-tiled corridor. Diana heard the lift clattering ahead, which meant Bellatrix was already on her way to the Atrium. They burst into one of the lifts and Diana repeatedly pushed the button marked 'Atrium' and the lift closed and they were rising.

They forced themselves out before the grilles were fully open. Bellatrix was already near the telephone booth now and she looked back, and when she saw them, she laughed and threw a spell toward them. They took cover behind the Fountain of Magical Brethren.

"Come out, come out, little children!" she mocked. "What did you come here for? I thought you were here to avenge my dear cousin!"

"I am!" shouted Harry.

"Aaaaaaaah. . .did you love him, little baby Potter?"

Harry was furious, and Diana watched him spring up and yell, "Crucio!"

Bellatrix screamed and was thrown to the ground, but she was not in pain. She scrambled off of the floor immediately.

"Never used an Unforgiveable Curse, have you, Potter?" said Bellatrix. "You need to mean them! You need to really want to cause pain---to enjoy it---righteous hatred won't hurt me for long---"

"CRUCIO!" Diana screamed, and the force knocked Bellatrix a few feet backward before she started screaming in pain, writhing on the floor. The screams echoed through the room and it gave Diana a savage satisfaction to watch her struggle against the pain. She liked it. After a few moments, Diana relented, and Bellatrix cried on the floor.

"Get up!" Diana yelled, fury emanating off of her in waves. "You're weak! GET UP!"

Bellatrix stood up slowly, but her face showed no pain anymore: she was furious, and her eyes were dark and angry.

"GIVE ME THE PROPHECY!" she snarled, her body rigid and her eyes evil.

"You didn't see my little show?" Diana taunted. By the time she had smashed it, Bellatrix was already preoccupied with Neville and then Tonks. She must not have seen it. "It's gone! I smashed it!"

Diana heard Harry take a sharp breath a close his eyes tightly. He was in pain. "And he knows!" Harry yelled. "He knows you've failed him!"

"What? What do you mean?" Bellatrix cried with evident fear.

Diana laughed a nasty, maniacally gleeful laugh. "I smashed it! It's gone! He'll kill you for being so irresponsible!"

"LIAR!" Bellatrix screamed. She tried to Summon it, but nothing happened. "No! MASTER, I TRIED---PLEASE DON'T PUNISH ME!"

"Don't waste your breath!" Harry yelled. He was clutching his head in pain. "He can't hear you from here!"

"Can't I?"

It felt like the wind had been knocked out of Diana. She paled and took a step back, nearly stumbling before she was able to catch herself.

Voldemort, his face white and snake-like, eyes a scarlet red, stood in the middle of the Atrium, his long black robes billowing. His wand was pointed toward Harry and Diana, and he had an evil little smirk plastered onto his face. He stood with a powerful confidence, and Diana matched his stance and squared her shoulders.

"So, you smashed my prophecy?" Voldemort asked, his voice low and quiet, looking directly into Diana's narrowed eyes. "She is not lying, Bella. . .always so reckless, my daughter," he spit out the last word in disgust. "And my Death Eaters have let Harry Potter thwart me again. . ."

"Master, I am sorry, I was fighting the Animagus Black!" sobbed Bellatrix, flinging herself toward Voldemort's feet. "Master, you should know---"

"Be quiet Bella, I shall deal with you in a moment," Voldemort said. "Do you think I have entered the Ministry of Magic to hear your sniveling apologies?"

There was a silence as Diana stared at Voldemort with burning hatred. "You're weak," Diana said, her voice echoing bouncing off the walls and reverberating in her eardrums. "You won't win. I'll kill you before you have the chance."

Voldemort laughed. It was low and dangerous and completely devoid of humor, but it was taunting. It was condescending. "You cannot kill me, Diana. No one can kill me."

She moved closer to him. Before, they were maybe ten feet away from each other, but now, they were only five.

"I will find them," she whispered dangerously. Her eyes were dark with an unrecognizable anger, swirling with a fury she had never felt before. She was taunting him, getting under his skin to unnerve him. Only he could hear her now. "I will find the Horcruxes you so recklessly hid, and I will kill you, Tom Riddle."

She laughed lowly, and he raised his wand in blind fury. She did nothing to stop what was next---he yelled, "AVADA KEDAVRA!" and a jet of green light shot from his wand.

The golden statue of the wizard from the fountain sprang alive and jumped in front of her and it flung its arms out. The spell bounced off of it and Diana was safe and alive.

"What?" cried Voldemort, looking around. "Dumbledore!"

Diana looked behind her. Dumbledore was standing in front of the lifts, his wand held steadily in front of him. Voldemort raised his wand and sent a jet of green light in his direction, but Dumbledore turned and disappeared. He reappeared behind Voldemort and waved his wand toward the statue, causing all of them to spring to life. The statue of the witch ran after Bellatrix, who screamed and uselessly sent spells. It dived and pinned Bellatrix to the floor. The goblin and the house-elf scuttled toward the fireplaces set along the wall, and the centaur galloped toward Voldemort who disappeared and appeared near the pool. The wizard statue protecting Diana pushed her backward toward Harry, and it shielded the both of them . Dumbledore advanced on Voldemort.

"It was foolish to come here tonight, Tom," Dumbledore commented. "The Aurors are on their way---"

"By which time I shall be gone, and you will be dead!" spat Voldemort. He sent another killing curse toward Dumbledore, but it missed and hit the security guard's desk, which burst into flame.

Dumbledore flicked his own wand and a powerful force that made Diana's hair stand on end passed them on its way to Voldemort who was forced to conjure a gleaming silver shield. There was no visible damage to the shield, but a loud, reverberating sound like a gong rang through the room.

"You do not seek to kill me, Dumbledore?" called Voldemort over the shield. "Above such brutality, are you?"

"We both know there are other ways of destroying a man, Tom," Dumbledore said calmly, walking toward Voldemort without a care. "Merely taking your life would not satisfy me, I admit---"

"There is nothing worse than death, Dumbledore!" snarled Voldemort.

"You are quite wrong," said Dumbledore, still walking toward him. "Indeed, your failure to understand that there are things much worse than death has always been your greatest weakness---"

Voldemort sent another jet of green light from behind the shield, but the centaur galloped in front of Dumbledore and was hit instead and shattered. Dumbledore flicked his wand like he was brandishing a whip, and a long, thin flame shot from the tip and wrapped itself around Voldemort and his shield. All of sudden, the fire became a serpent and it relinquished its hold on Voldemort and turned to face Dumbledore.

Voldemort vanished and the snake reared, ready to strike.

There was a burst of flame above Dumbledore just as Voldemort reappeared where the statues normally stood in the middle of the fountain.

The snake struck just as Voldemort sent another jet of green light, but Fawkes swooped in front of him and swallowed the green light whole. He burst into flames and fell to the ground, small and wrinkled and flightless. Dumbledore waved his wand at the snake and it disappeared into a wisp of dark smoke; the water in the fountain rose up and encased Voldemort like a cocoon of glass.

"MASTER!" screamed Bellatrix, still pinned under the statue.

In a commotion of noise, Voldemort disappeared and the water crashed back to the ground. Dumbledore yelled something at Diana and Harry, but she didn't hear it. The last thing she saw was Harry falling to the floor, screaming in pain---

The world went black. No pain, no emotion; she couldn't see or hear or feel anything other than emptiness. She stood in an endless black room, with no walls or floor or ceiling; just an infinite expanse of nothing.

There was a window a little ways away. In the black expanse of nothing, a rectangle of light floated in midair. She walked toward it, her steps echoing like droplets of water in a cave. She reached the rectangle. She could not put her hand through, like there was glass that prevented it, but it was invisible.

She could see a girl on the other side, like she watching a movie on a screen. The background inside of the window morphed, and it looked like the main street of Hogsmeade. The ground was covered in snow and there were students milling about, streaming in and out of shops and up and down the lane with their friends. The girl was alone, with her back toward Diana, but she turned her head to look behind her and Diana got a good look at her face.

Her mother. Vera Beauregard. Her dark, nearly onyx hair shined in glaring winter light, her cheeks flushed pink in the cold and eyes a warm brown that reminded Diana of hot coffee. She was beautiful; much more beautiful than any other girl on the street around her and the head of every boy on the lane turned as Vera passed, catching their attention. Vera was either completely oblivious or completely devoid of any care in the world because she walked, her head forward, until she reached the Hog's Head. She went inside, and Diana followed her through the rotting wooden door.

Inside, Abraxas Malfoy stood proudly with his wand pointed at Aberforth Dumbledore. Aberforth looked completely bored, continuing to clean his glass idly. "Put that wand down, boy, before you poke an eye out."

"What is going on?" Vera demanded. Her voice was clear and powerful and demanded the attention of everyone in the pub. Diana saw a few boys with Slytherin robes at a corner table grinning at the Malfoy boy. Diana recognized him from his pointed chin and white-blond hair, and it wasn't the right time for it to be Lucius.

"Leave," Abraxas snapped as if he owned the place. He stood with an air of arrogant confidence, like he was superior.

Vera retrieved her wand in a flash. She flicked it and Malfoy's wand flew out of his hand all the way to the other side of the room near the restrooms. "Leave," she said. "All of you."

"It's okay, Vera," said Aberforth. "They just wanted a shot of Firewhiskey, and I told them no. Apparently, little Malfoy here doesn't understand the meaning of the word no." He gave a shrug and continued cleaning the glass.

"Why would we listen to you?" said one of the Slytherin boys to Vera. Just then, the restroom door opened and Tom Riddle strode out. His eyes landed on Vera, then her wand, then a furious Malfoy, then Malfoy's wand next to his feet.

"Is this yours?" Tom said smoothly and tossed it to Malfoy. "What is going on here?"

Malfoy was furious, but embarrassed to reveal he had been disarmed by Vera.

"Leave. All of you. Now," she repeated again.

The Slytherin boys laughed, but the moment Tom spoke they fell silent. "Well, boys, you heard the woman. Let's go."

Malfoy gaped at him, but Tom shot him a look and he closed his mouth. Malfoy shouldered past her and shoved the door open and he was gone; the other boys filed out, and it was only Tom left.

"I wouldn't do that again if I were you," he suggested after a moment, but it sounded more like a warning. "I would...hate for something to happen..."

To Diana's surprise, Vera smiled. "You really aren't as scary as you'd like to think, Tom."

His eyes flashed, but Vera's smile never faltered. "You don't know what I'm capable of," he said lowly.

"You underestimate me, Tom."

Tom stepped forward on his way to leave. He stopped when he was standing right next to her, shoulders pressed together. He leaned down from his considerable height until his mouth was closer to her ear. "I definitely don't underestimate you. Be careful, Vera. You're treading on thin ice," he warned, yet there was something playful in his voice, a ghost of a smirk playing on his lips. The next moment, he was gone, and the door was just swinging shut.

Everything went black again. This time there was no window, but she did hear voices, garbled and muddled like they were miles away.

Just like that, Diana's eyes snapped open. First she saw the Dumbledore's eyes peering down at her, then Harry's worried ones, his glasses sliding down his nose.

"How long was I gone?" she asked, scrambling unsteadily to stand.

"It's only been a few seconds," Dumbledore said after a moment.

The Atrium was filling with people, fireplaces growing green with people appearing and streaming out of them, witches and wizards with robes and pajamas of various colors crowded around the Atrium, mouths agape at the damage that had been inflicted on the fountain. The floor reflected the green flame ominously, giving the room an eerie emerald glow.

"He was there!" shouted a scarlet-robed man pointing to the ruined fountain. "I saw him, Mr. Fudge, I swear it was You-Know-Who, he grabbed a woman and Disapparated!"

"I know, Williamson, I know, I saw him too," said Fudge incredulously. "Merlin's beard---here---here!---in the Ministry of Magic---great heavens above---it doesn't seem possible---"

"If you proceed downstairs to the Department of Mysteries," said Dumbledore once he had gotten Diana to her feet. "You will find several escaped Death Eaters contained in the Death Chamber, bound by an Anti-Disapparation Jinx and awaiting your decision as to what to do with them."

"Dumbledore!" gasped Fudge. "You---here---I---"

Fudge looked around at the Aurors and had half a mind to cry, "Seize him!"

"Cornelius, I am ready to fight your men---and win, again! But a few moments ago you saw proof, with your own eyes, that I have been telling you the truth about for a year. Lord Voldemort has returned, you have been chasing the wrong man for twelve months, and it is time you listened to sense!"

"I---don't---well---," blustered Fudge hopelessly. "Very well---Dawlish! Williamson! Go down to the Department of Mysteries and see. . .Dumbledore---you---you will need to tell me exactly---the Fountain of Magical Brethren---what happened?" he added in a sort of pained whimper, gazing at the ruins of the fountain.

"We can discuss this after I have sent Harry and Diana where they need to go," said Dumbledore calmly.

"Harry---Harry Potter? Diana?" Fudge spluttered. He finally looked in their direction and noticed them beside the fallen statue of the wizard.

"He---here? Why---what's all this about?"

"I shall explain everything," Dumbledore repeated, "when they are back at school."

Dumbledore turned the golden head of the wizard statue into a Portkey, and when Fudge had the wits to call him out for it, he was quickly shut up by a look from Dumbledore.

"You will give the order to remove Dolores Umbridge from Hogwarts," said Dumbledore. "You will tell your Aurors to stop searching for my Care of Magical Creatures teacher so that he can return to work. I will give you. . ." Dumbledore looked at his watch ". . .half an hour of my time tonight, in which I think we shall be more than able to cover the important points of what has happened here. After that, I shall need to return to my school. If you need more help from me you are, of course, more than welcome to contact me at Hogwarts. Letters addressed to the Headmaster will find me."

"I---you---"

"Please, for once in your miserable, pathetic life, will you just shut up? I have had to deal with quite enough tonight, and the last thing I want to do is listen to your complete lunacy!" Diana shouted, throwing her hands up in anger, nearly ready to throttle the man. She was exhausted and she had lost a dear friend and seen her mother. She was just so tired.

First, Dumbledore turned to Diana. "Go to Aberforth, at the Hog's Head. Tell him what has happened, tell him that this is the only thing I will ask him for: tell him to send a message to everyone in the Order--the Weasleys, Hagrid, and everyone that wasn't here tonight--tell Aberforth what happened and tell him to get word out."

She nodded, and the last thing she saw before she turned on the spot and was whisked away into darkness was Harry's eyes. She wondered if this was what Sirius felt when he fell through the veil. Dark and empty.