Briar's heart was pounding. Her father just showed up at the department of mysteries behind Lucius, and she shivered at the thought of him discovering she was there. He wouldn't have any mercy for his only child in that case, and she felt as though she was going to be sick at the thought.

It became chaotic quickly, and Briar was sprinting around the prophecy room, blocking curses that her father was sending her way. She couldn't bring herself to send any at him because she could barely focus on the defensive spells she needed to use to survive. Her whole body was shaking, and she couldn't breathe because she realized that in one horrible moment, her life had become what she always feared.

She was going to suffer the same fate as her mother, except that she wasn't going to survive to graduation.

Briar just barely managed to escape with the others, and she was hyperventilating by the time she collected herself in the unfamiliar room. Neville immediately scrambled across the few steps to get to her and questioned, "Are you okay?"

Everyone knew that her father was just trying to kill them, and no one seemed to know what to say or do about it.

Briar couldn't breathe.

She rasped to Harry, "We need to leave. Now."

Neville reached up to touch her hair and hissed, "Oh no. Your hair is starting to change colors. It's getting darker."

Wrapping her arms around herself, Briar pleaded, "We have to leave. This isn't safe. Please, Harry, come on. We could die."

Harry was ignoring her pleas as he edged closer to the contraption in the middle of the room. Moments later, Harry yelled for the group to get behind him, and Briar felt as if she was dissociating. She couldn't feel her body as she knew that she was beginning to look more like herself, and the death eaters had found them in the strange room.

In the whirlwind of activity, Briar was scooped up by Bellatrix, and she wanted to cry out of happiness that her father wasn't the one holding her. She didn't want to be that close to him when he realized his daughter betrayed him. Briar's eyes drifted over to find her father holding Neville tightly with his wand aimed at the boy's head.

Briar almost cried out. She wanted to scream at her father and tell him to get away from Neville, but her words were lodged in her throat. If she brought attention to herself, her father might figure it out, and she wouldn't be able to do a thing to help Neville.

Briar blinked back her terrified tears and felt the convulsive shakes rake through her body. She tried to block out the horrendous images from that day that kept flashing through her mind, but the chaos of his situation reminded her of the helpless feeling she had after realizing that her mother was gone, and she couldn't do a thing about it.

Just when Briar felt as though she wouldn't be able to keep her panic at bay any longer, Sirius apparated into the room and marched up to Lucius. He snarled, "Get away from my godson." Sirius threw a beautiful punch into Lucius' face, and Briar recognized his form as identical to her own. This brought a small smile onto her face.

Without warning, the other members of the Order landed about the room, and chaos erupted immediately. Lupin tore Bellatrix away from Briar, and she noticed that Tonks was helping Neville just steps away. The scene was difficult to process, but Briar grabbed her wand and then ran to hide behind some of the large boulders at the edge of the room. She crouched there and tried to catch her breath, but then she noticed that her hair had almost returned to its normal raven color, and she became immobilized with the fear of what her face looked like.

She almost certainly looked like herself again. Briar couldn't breathe, and she could feel her lungs scraping as she desperately tried to bring air into them, but she needed something to cling onto. The chaotic sounds of the fight and the knowledge that she was still in considerable danger being in the same room as her father left her feeling utterly lost as to what to do. She couldn't move or think, and she needed something. Anything to cling to.

She peeked around the boulder and finally caught a breath when her eyes settled on Neville's safe form on the other side of the room. He was starting to be ushered from the room, but no one seemed to notice Briar crouching alone in her corner. Her eyes drifted over to Harry and Sirius in the center of the room, and a sick feeling settled over her body as she watched Bellatrix start to climb up the rocks to where the two of them were.

Briar watched with a gaping mouth and ragged breaths as Bellatrix lifted her wand at them. Sirius wasn't paying attention.

No.

Briar darted from behind the rock and screamed to Sirius, "Dad, look out!" He whipped around, but Bellatrix glanced at her and started to chant the most despicable curse possible, but Briar screamed the spell she had seen Potter use countless times. She mimicked the wand motion she'd seen him use as she screamed, "Expelliarmus!"

The wand flung from Bellatrix's grasp as both Sirius and Harry let out a breath. Briar felt relieved for a moment and smiled at her success, but then her eyes drifted over to the death eater that she feared the most.

The man she had falsely called "father" for 15 years.

He was glaring at her and starting to cross the room, and a tremble started in her bones. She shakily lifted her wand as an attempt to make him back off, but he could see the fear in her eyes and wasn't deterred. Lupin and Sirius both raced towards Briar, but Gideon used the stupefy spell on both of them without even looking.

Briar flinched at each thud, knowing that her body was next, but she wouldn't ever wake up again like they would.

Her breaths came out as shaky puffs as her father reached her and roughly ripped the wand from her hand. He leaned down to get into her face as he snarled, "You worthless traitor of a daughter."

Briar foolishly whispered, "I'm not your daughter, and I never was."

He slapped her across the face at her words, and Briar gasped, dropping to her knees to hold her face as a searing pain overwhelmed her senses. She held her breath and tried to hold back her tears. It was always worse when she cried, and she knew that he was already far too angry for her to provoke him further.

He pointed his wand at her, putting the end into her hair, and growled, "I should have known that that despicable woman had already poisoned that mind of yours. She ruined you."

She was trying so hard to hold back the sobs that wanted to break free from her chest that she had stopped breathing altogether, and she felt as though she would pass out at any moment. It had gone quiet in the room at the moment, and Briar wondered if they all knew. If everyone in the room knew what was coming.

Briar was about to face the same fate as her mother at the same filthy hands. Her worst nightmare come to fruition.

But just then, someone new entered the room, and the pressure on her head disappeared. Briar slowly looked up and saw that her father and the other death eaters were gone. In their place was Lord Voldemort. He scanned the room and smiled when he saw Briar on the floor. He carefully crossed the room as she scrambled to her feet.

He stepped up to her and ran his long, bony finger along her chin. His disgusting and grimy nail slid against her jawline, and Briar felt as though she would be sick. He slowly trailed, "What are you doing here, little one? I haven't had the chance to meet you yet, but your father has said only ravishing things about how helpful you'll be to my movement."

Briar didn't move or say a word as she stared into his empty, sunken eyes.

He prodded, "Cat got your tongue, little one? Why haven't you addressed me?"

She couldn't speak, so she just stared at him, using all of the occlumency skills she could muster in that state to stop him from being able to sense the full force of her fear.

Voldemort quickly got bored of her lack of response, stepping over Sirius and Lupin's bodies to reach Harry. Briar couldn't even move. She didn't know where the others went, but she soon realized that they were gone. It was her, Harry, and Voldemort in that room alone.

Someone else stepped into the room, and Briar felt herself suck in a breath. It was Dumbledore. He could help. Harry abruptly dropped to the floor and screamed in pain. Dumbledore and Voldemort saw one another face to face for the first time, and Briar knew that she needed to do something, even if it was just to run, but she couldn't even move.

Briar slowly sank to her knees and began to quietly cry as Harry screamed in pain and Dumbledore battled Voldemort in front of her. She wished she were stronger than this. She was supposed to be fearless and fierce, but all she felt in that moment was the overwhelming fear that she felt every day as a child. It all came crashing back into her like a tidal wave, and getting through the moment was all she could do. The battle cries, the electric buzz of their magic, and Harry's screaming all faded away into an all-consuming silence as Briar choked on the air that she so desperately wanted to breathe.

———