Susan and I sit down at our table, tired out of our minds, as the crowd continues to dance in front of us.

"I've never danced for so long," I murmur.

The pace of music switched at least ten times, and so we went from waltzing to jumping up and down like it was a concert. But it was fun.

"I don't regret it," Susan says, beads of sweat on her forehead. "I'm glad I wore flats."

"Me too," I say, but the reasoning for that isn't because I would get tired, but because of safety concerns. I can't run in heels if a Death Eater were to attack. "I had fun."

"So did I, Potter," she adds.

I frown at her. "Isn't it about time that you start calling me by my first name?"

"Didn't think we were close enough for that," Susan says, smirking, and I laugh.

"How much closer do we have to be?" I scoot closer to nudge her shoulder. From the corner of my eyes, I see her ears turn bright red.

"I suppose you're right. Maybe I will call you ━━━"

"What the hell is that?" I gape, interrupting her as a silver lynx falls through the canopy and lands in the middle of the dancers.

"A Patronus," Susan says dryly, but her smile fades when the low, yet familiar voice of an Auror rings:

"The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming."

My stomach falls as I pale. But it's as if my body's learned from all those days of training; my hand removes my wand that was strapped to my thigh, under my long dress.

"We should go," Susan says grimly.

"I need to find my family and help," I huff out, but Susan grabs my hand and shakes her head.

Somebody screams, and the guests begin to run, Disapparating. My left fist clenches as my right, the one with a wand, holds steadily.

Loud voices grate my brain as Susan looks right into my eyes.

"Hold on," she commands, but I shake my head.

"You go. I can't leave my family behind."

I toss my flats, running towards the panicked crowd. Susan follows me as she pants, her hand still gripping mine, our fingers entwined.

"Shit, Potter, we need to go ━━━"

"No," I say, turning to her, my eyes blazing. "I can't."

And with that, I let go of her hand, my wand ready. It's time to make a difference, even if it may be my swan song.

. . .

Susan decides to join me, her jaw clenched.

We weave our way through the remaining people, shooting spells at masked Death Eaters that make their way inside, cloaks swishing. Susan disappears to save a screaming girl, and I watch her leave, worry etched into my heart.

One of them, tall and bulky, saunters towards me, cackling. "We meet again, little Potter."

I lift my chin up, my stomach surprisingly still. "Hello, Rosier."

He throws down his mask, perhaps to be dramatic, before making his way towards me, wand in hand. I point it towards him, gritting my teeth.

"Don't move one centimeter."

All the other Death Eaters seem to be occupied with Order members (Remus and Tonks and Emmeline and Mary and Ginny and Harry and Susan, my brain taunts), leaving me for him. Only this time, he'll be trapped with me. Not the other way around.

"This is war, Anne," Emmeline said, like she does all the time. "You aim to murder. Kill or be killed; only then can you live."

I narrow my eyes. Even if I do murder him, I'll be freeing his family from him, anyway. If he even does have a family.

He laughs. "Are you going to kill me, little girl?"

I tilt my head. "Perhaps. If you step closer."

He takes a small step forward and then cackles. "Where's your Killing Curse, Potter? Like your parents, you have no guts ━━━"

"Avada Kedavra."

The green light snakes from my wand. He dodges, eyes widening as the spell hits a round table instead, breaking it in half.

I narrow my eyes. "Next time, I won't miss."

He laughs, again, a rough and loud laugh that makes my skin crawl. "I'll give it to you. You've got guts, little Potter. But you don't have what it takes."

With lightning speed, he pins me to the wall, his breath reeking of onions and wet dirt. "You're not as fast. Or strong."

I knee him in the balls, grinning like a madman as he cries out in pain, before aiming another kick at his stomach. He falls down to the floor, groaning as I kick him again. And again.

I want to torture him until he breaks, but a scream cuts of my horrifying thoughts.

I quickly stun him nonverbally, not wanting to test my chances of having to use a Killing Curse again. I have to say it; I haven't trained enough to use it non-verbally like I have with regular spells.

He falls to the floor stunned, and I immediately start running towards the source, my wand out and eyes narrowed.

There's a girl hugging a young child, cowering on the ground as three Death Eaters flank her, cackling. She's crying, her long dress dirtied, her brown eyes wide and teary.

The light of the Cruciatus Curse tears the room apart, and their screams grow louder.

I resist the urge to run away and sob and cry and fling myself to the floor like when Rosier tore me apart. God, I hate those Death Eaters so much. How dare they.

What are the others doing to my family? Is Susan okay? My stomach is a boulder on a hill, tumbling, unstoppable, and hurt.

"Avada Kedavra!" I shout, and one of them drops dead, to the floor. The other two turn around, murderous. The green light bathes us, now, the Dark Mark right above us.

I am not afraid to kill them, even if their mark is bathing me, even if someone with their mark couldn't kill someone.

Non-verbal hexes shoot towards me.

"You need to learn how to dodge," Emmeline had instructed me, eyes crinkled in a grin. "So I'll shoot spells at you. Dodge, Anne."

"Shit!" I'd practically screamed as an array of jinxes and charms were flung my way.

I dodge every single one of them, moving my body left and right as I draw closer to them, charms said in my mind and launched before my mouth can say a word.

The tables around the Death Eaters catch on fire as I grab the two girls, my eyes hard, watching as they scream and flail and try to run away.

"You alright?" I ask them, and they tremble in my arms.

"I'm okay," the older girl says, who could not be more than fourteen.

I nod. "Let's go, then."

I usher them out of the house, not knowing how to Apparate. God, I need to find Susan, right her and right now, before I keel over ━━━

"There you are," a warm voice says, and it's Mary, worry etched onto her face. Emmeline's right behind her, her usual cool and apathetic face now looking concerned.

"Thank God," I exclaim, relief flooding all of my features. "I should head back ━━━"

"I'll take the girls," Emmeline murmurs, and the older girl steadies the younger one.

"C'mon, Camellia," she begs the child, who's in the middle of sobbing.

My heart twists as I knit my fingers together. Where are Remus and Tonks and Susan? And these poor girls ... and those Death Eaters that I just murdered with no remorse.

God, I'm not supposed to feel guilty. Yet here I am, shaking and completely fucking useless in the face of adversity.

"I need to go," I start, but Mary shakes her head.

Camellia slowly dries her tears, sniffling, before reluctantly taking Emmeline's hand. "Okay, Carmen," she says, voice shaking. "I'm ready to go."

Emmeline and the girls Disapparate. Mary gazes at me, eyebrows knit and face splattered with blood and ashes.

"It's okay," she tells me as she brushes my hair out of my face. "You did well."

"I hope they're okay," is all I say, and she nods at me, somber. "But I need to go back in. There's more of them and maybe more people and Susan ━━━"

"Remus and Tonks will be fine," Mary assures. "And as for your girlfriend, she's running out of the house right now."

I whirl around, tears of joy pooling in my eyes. "Susan?"

The said girl is running, her hair wild behind her and her dress torn and burnt, as she smiles, her grin lighting up her whole face.

I frown, Mary's words fully registering. "Wait, she's not my ━━━"

Susan tackles me in a hug, startling me. "Merlin, I thought you were dead!"

I sink into her. "I was so worried about you."

"I'm okay," Susan says, voice dripping with tiredness. "And all the guests have been evacuated, but your brother and his friends are nowhere to be seen. Everyone is accounted for, besides Professor Lupin, his wife, and the Weasleys ━━━"

I immediately stiffen, pulling away as my eyes widen with terror. "Are they okay?"

At least I know Harry and his friends are okay. They're on their mission, and I have to trust that they know what they're doing. As for Remus, Tonks, Ginny, and her family ━━━ I have no idea.

"We need to go," Mary interrupts. "They'll be fine. But it won't do them any favors if we're caught with them."

"I passed my Apparition test," Susan says, "so I'll meet you at your house?"

Mary nods. "I'll take Anne."

I frown. With the government slowly being overthrown by You-Know-Who, I might not be able to pass the test in September, for the rest of the students in my year who didn't turn seventeen in time. Or maybe I will, but being Harry Potter's sister probably comes with some repercussions.

My stomach swirls. And to think that this is the new normal.

"Right," I manage, gripping Mary's hand. "See you there, Susan."

She nods, her face tight. "I'll see you."

Mary focuses, closing her eyes, before the world whirls around us.