GEMINI ROOKWOOD

Seeing Thestrals wasn't out of place for me. I'd witnessed death, and I'd witnessed quite a lot of it too, and so I was used to the horse-like creatures. They radiated comfort to me for they were pure of intent, just like death. Libra, however, had not witnessed death, but something told me that was about to change very soon.

"Gem, I just want my broomstick-" she began.

"Libra, you and I both know there isn't time to get your broomstick."

"But I-I can't see the Thestrals! What if- what if only those who can see them are allowed to sit on them? What if the Thestral vanishes when I touch it and you fall? What if it casts me to my death? What if-"

I took Libra's hands, looking down at the brunette, Slowly, I eased myself onto the Thestral's back, the Thestral aflight next to the bridge, and looked up at my girlfriend, careful not to break eye contact.

Not that it was hard.

Taking a deep breath, I let go of Libra's hands, only to offer her my arm.

"Do you trust me?" I asked.

"Always," she replied, taking my arm without a moment's hesitation.

We sped off, following Harry, and as I felt the wind in my hair, I felt the last shred of happiness I would feel in a long, long time, for even the Devil himself would not have been cruel enough to write of what happened next.

.....

The Thestrals made for a timely mode of transport and we were at the Ministry fairly soon. "Where to now, Harry?" asked Ginny, on his arm.

"We need to go to the Department of Mysteries," he replied. "That's where Sirius is. That's where he has to be."

Harry rounded a corner, opening the doors to a room chock full with gleaming glass orbs, cloudy and clear at the same time. I stared at the orbs, confused. What could the Ministry want with these? Were they paperweights of some strange fashion? "I recognise these," Taurus mumbled, all but whispering.

"What are they?" Aries hissed.

"Prophecies," came an all-too-familiar voice. Scorpio. Out of the shadows stepped Scorpio Rosier, Leo Snyde, Pisces Shacklebolt, Capricorn Delacour, Virgo Selwyn and Aquarius Patil. Even though they wore those all-too-famous masks, I could recognise them by the way they held themselves. I had been part of their ranks not so long ago.

Scorpio removed her mask, wearing that signature Slytherin sneer, arms crossed smugly across her chest. I turned to look back at my comrades only to find Harry gone, along with several others. Only Aries, Taurus, Cancer, Libra, Sagittarius and I remained. Six against six, and yet I did not like our odds.

Scorpio's face fell once she noticed her sister. "Libra?" she gasped, sisterly concern breaking whatever anger she had channelled toward the encounter as she took Libra's hand. "You were not supposed to be he-"

"Then where was I supposed to be?" Libra cried, wringing her hand free of Scorpio's grasp. "You can't have it both ways, big sister. Stick to your side or come to ours."

"You can't have it both ways either-"

"How have I had it both ways? I chose my side a long time ago, and I am strongly on the side of good. Of justice. Of equality for us all." Libra took a step toward me, her eyes meeting mine in the darkness of the corridor. "I am on the side of love."

"I am too," Aries declared.

"As am I." I announced.

"Me too." Taurus said.

"And us." Cancer and Sagittarius chorused.

"And me."

I turned, astonished to find Pisces step over to our side. "I've made more friends in the past two days than I have in all my years of working for you, Scorpio."

"It was you?" Leo all but choked on her spit getting out her question.

"Yes, Leo, it was me. I provided you information for money, but even monetised knowledge should not be mistreated. On your side of the coin, I saw deceit. I saw you, Scorpio, a tyrant against your own will, you, Leo, a heartbreaker with a broken heart, you, Virgo and Capricorn, stuck in pursuit of those who will never return your affections and finally you, Aquarius. so heartless you cannot fathom anyone having a heart.

"You all live on foundations of hate, spite and jealousy and I want no part in it."

I stepped forward, face to face with Scorpio. "You're at a disadvantage, Scorpio. Step down."

Scorpio took a step forward, taunting me. "And what if I don't?"

Before I could even react, a beam of light hit me square in the chest and I found myself falling into darkness...

.....

LEO SNYDE

"No!" Libra rushed forward, tears in her eyes as I pulled my wand back. It had been me. I'd fired a Stun spell and Scorpio the Cruciatus Curse, and they had hit Gemini at similar times. "Gemini, Gemini..."

Libra looked up from Gemini's unmoving body, tears in her eyes. "You're going to pay," she said, calmly but angrily. "INCENDIA MAXIMA!"

Taurus and Aries hurried to flank Libra, firing spells in every direction. Prophecies fell and shattered and voices filled the corridor, hard to discern, harder to ignore.

"BOMBARDA MAXIMA!"

"IMPEDIMENTA!"

"LEVICORPUS!"

I watched, hidden behind a column, as all my comrades dropped like fleas until only I remained. Only Libra remained standing from her side, and I thought it fitting. We weren't so different. For one thing, we both fancied the same boy (even though Libra was the one dating him) and we'd both been immature little children until this very moment. "Come on, Leo," Libra called. "Let's end this."

I smirked, pulling out my wand. "Let's end this indeed."

"BOMBARDA!"

"STUPEFY!"

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Libra's eyes widened as the stroke hit her square in the chest and she fell, dead, next to Gemini. "No- I-" I rushed forward, stammering, confused. I'd only fired a Stunning Spell. It was then that I saw Scorpio gasp, shaking, Virgo's blood on her hands. Virgo lay on the floor, unconscious. "She killed my sister," Scorpio gasped. "I saw her do it. She killed Libra!"

Harry Potter came rushing into the room, sobbing. "It's Sirius. He's-" Harry's eyes widened when he saw Libra's unmoving body on the floor. "No."

Gemini stirred, breathing deeply. "What is- whose body is that?"

Scorpio rushed in front of Gemini, ushering him back. "Not now, Gemini-"

"NO! NO!" Gemini threw himself at Libra's dead body, shaking her, imploring her to wake up. "Libra, no..."

It was then that Dumbledore himself came into the room, his silvery beard in disarray. "It appears that Voldemort has made his ret- What has happened here, Leo?"

I stepped forward, blinking furiously to stop the tears. "It's Libra, Professor. She was killed by Virgo Selwyn."

"And where might Ms Selwyn be?"

"She's-she's unconscious, Professor."

"We will take Ms Selwyn to St Mungo's. As for Ms Rosier-"

Professor Dumbledore flicked his wand, wrapping Libra Rosier in fine silk so that her beautiful, lively face, the face I had been envious of but weeks ago, remained seen.

"We will bury Libra Rosier as a hero. We will remember her as we remember Sirius Black and Cedric Diggory. Virgo Selwyn will be punished for her crimes by the Ministry.

"We will fight this battle for all that we have lost."