The End

Chapter 20: Against One Another

Tommy sat in front of the fire in an armchair. It was 2:44 in the morning and he was close to falling asleep. He stared into the fire, wondering what "joyous" news his father was going to bestow upon him tonight. The fire roared and his father's face appeared in it. He looked rather happy with himself.

"You look like hell, Tomás," he said. Tommy grumbled something underneath his breath and rolled his eyes. "How are you?"

"Shut up. What have you done to Ava? Did you put her under a spell?" Tommy asked in a low voice. Voldemort raised an eyebrow and just stared at him with a blank expression on her face.

"She is under a spell, but I did not put her in that state," Voldemort said. Tommy just raised an eyebrow. For a split moment, Voldemort thought he was looking at his 17-year-old self in the mirror. Shaking off is shock at Tommy's likeness of him, he sighed deeply.

"What do you mean you didn't put her under one?"

"I called for the spell to be done, but I did not execute it."

"That's just as good as putting her under one. Why did you do it?" Tommy said in a hushed voice. He was trying his hardest not to wake up the entire Gryffindor house. Voldemort smirked.

"Avarielle knew about you. It was quite obvious. Your sister is also a very powerful Telepath. She will be of use to me in her catatonic state," he said.

On Voldemort's end, Nicola was listening idly to the conversation. Giovanna hadn't made an appearance for quite some time. She'd locked herself in the master bedroom and hadn't been seen since she threatened Jada's life. Nicola looked up at the sound of Voldemort's plans for Ava.
"What are you planning to do?" Tommy asked through clenched teeth.

"Ava has the ability to cast illusions in the mind. I plan on using this technique in order to carry out a plan for four of your friends."

"Ava's out. You can't use her," Tommy said.

"Au contraire, Tomás. She is under a very powerful spell that leaves her under our control. We have free reign over her mind and her powers."

"Your plan won't work. Their friendships are more powerful than anything you can say," Tommy argued. Voldemort just shook his head.

"We shall see," he said in a deadly tone. With that, he disappeared. Tommy squeezed the edge of his chair. After staring at the fire a while longer, he finally headed upstairs to get some much needed rest.

Voldemort stared at the fire. Nicola walked around the chair to face him. She kneeled before him and looked him in the eyes. Her red hair fell over her left shoulder. He glared right back down at her.

"Say your piece, Nicola," Voldemort said in a low voice.

"You are going to turn them against each other? That's pretty low, Tom. Even for you," Nicola said. Voldemort narrowed his snakelike eyes.

"I'll do what I please, Nicola. Do not make me have to end your life any sooner than it should," he said. Nicola frowned.

"You really are a snake, Tom," she said. Voldemort smirked and stood abruptly, knocking Nicola back on the floor. She landed hard on her back and sat up quickly, looking maliciously at Voldemort.

"I know," he said.

"Wait until Vanna hears about this," Nicola said. Before she could take another breath, she found long fingers holding her neck in a tight grasp. Nicola smiled as she looked Voldemort in the eyes. "It seems that I have struck a nerve," she said in a strangled voice.

"You will not tell her anything or I WILL kill you, Nicola. Do I make myself clear?"

"Do you really think that I am afraid of you, Tom? If you haven't noticed, I'm as powerful as you are when I try. If you were really going to kill me, you would've done it already. But, I think the reason you refrain from doing so is that it will be awfully noticeable if I am not here. I AM the talkative one. My presence would be missed. Plus, I doubt you'd want to deal with the wrath of Giovanna Zaviera," Nicola said. Voldemort did not loosen his grip on Nicola. She just stood there with a smug look on her face, truly unafraid of the powerful being before her. He stared intently at her a moment longer, then released her.

"Say NOTHING, Nicola," Voldemort said with as much emphasis as he could muster between clenched teeth. Nicola inclined her head slightly and walked away as Jada walked in. Voldemort sat back down. "Ah, Jada. Just the witch I wanted to see," he said. Jada walked over and stood in front of him.

"Yes?" she asked.

"I need you to do something through Avarielle for me."

"Anything," Jada said, smiling.

Harry and Ginny were in the common room playing chess when Ron walked over to them. Harry looked up at his best friend and smiled weakly.

"All right there, Ron?" he said. Ron just stared at him. Finally, he sat down quietly. "You're pretty pissed with me, aren't you?" Harry asked. Ron nodded stoically.

"Very," he muttered.

"Would it help if I was to apologize?" Harry asked. Ron shook his head.

"I wouldn't know. That was pretty mean, Harry. Besides, I'm not the one you should be apologizing to." As Ron finished that sentence, Harry felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned his head only to get a fist to his face. Ron smirked as he heard the satisfying sound of Harry moaning in pain. Harry removed his glasses and looked over at the culprit. Hermione stood behind him, rubbing her knuckles and obviously trying very hard not to cry from the pain in her hand.

"What the bloody hell did you do that for?" Ginny whispered loudly. Hermione snapped her head in Ginny's direction.

"That was for putting me through that torture. I didn't put your greatest fear on you," Hermione said in an accusing tone. Harry raised an eyebrow, rubbing his jaw.

"You didn't exactly go 'easy' on me either, Hermione," Harry argued. Hermione crossed her arms, trying to hide her swollen hand. "You did some pretty evil spells on me, too."

"It doesn't matter, Harry. What you did was dirty; you weren't dueling fair," she said in a calm tone. Harry was starting to get a little angry at her.

"Hermione, do you think that if I was a Death Eater that I would go 'easy' on you? You were just so angry at not having to take that damn potion because you're addicted to it!" he yelled. The room got really quiet. Hermione's mouth hung open. Ron squeezed his fists together.

"You're addicted to something?" he asked Hermione. Hermione tore her glance away from Harry. She looked sheepishly at Ron. She really didn't know what to say.

"I wasn't addicted to it," Hermione said. Ron narrowed his eyes and looked at Ginny. Ginny looked down over into the fire. Harry was still mad.

"Yes, you were addicted to it. Why do you think she's been all mad and sour about everything lately, Ron? She's been hacking into all of us just like she was when she was..." That was when Ginny hit Harry in the back of his head. He turned to look at her, rubbing the spot where she'd hit him. Ginny was looking almost as angry as Ron.

Hermione just stood there mortified. She knew what Harry was going to say. Ron was still looking very confused.

"Will someone please inform me what the fuck is going on! What were you supposedly addicted to?" Ron asked, glaring at Hermione. Hermione looked at him and immediately went on the defensive.

"I wasn't addicted to ANYTHING, Ron!" she yelled back at him. Ginny shook her head.

"Hermione, listen to yourself. You were addicted to that potion," Harry said. Hermione glared at Harry. It was like her friends were turning on her. She didn't understand what was happening. She turned her rage towards Ginny.

"Ginny, you told?"

"I had to, Hermione," Ginny said. Hermione shook her head.

"You weren't supposed to tell. You promised that you wouldn't tell," Hermione said, her eyes watering. Ginny shook her head.

"I said I wouldn't tell Ron. I never said anything about the rest of them," Ginny said calmly. Hermione just stared at her friend.

"You were trying to keep something ELSE away from me again, Mione?" Ron asked, sounding a bit hurt.

"I didn't want you to worry about me," she said quietly. She looked backed down at Harry and slapped him. Harry's head snapped to the side once more. He turned back to see Hermione retreating to her room.

"Would someone please tell me why she hit me?" Harry asked.

"I don't know. She was only supposed to punch you. Did you understand anything she was saying after she told you why she hit you?" Ron asked, watching Hermione walk away. Ginny and Harry both shook their heads. Ron sighed. " If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times. The girl is mental. I truly don't understand Mione at all," he said, looking down at the chessboard. "Queen to E-five," he said. Harry watched as the queen waltzed across the board to face the opposing king.

"Checkmate," Harry said, still rubbing his cheek. Ginny didn't seem to notice. Something about what had just happened bewildered her. Hermione didn't seem to be all there. It was like she wasn't even in the same room with them, yet she was.

The next day was a visit to Hogsmeade. Hermione had opted not to come. Everyone else went along. Neve, Aurora, and Draco were in Honeydukes, looking at some new type of lollipop.

"Neve, I would advise against eating that candy. You'll rot your teeth," Draco said, watching Neve devour some chocolate while examining the lollipop. She glared at Draco.

"Shove it, Draco," she said through a mouthful of chocolate. Before Draco could retaliate, Aurora sighed loudly.

"Before you two even get started, stop it now. I am in no mood for listening to you two argue over candy. I wish you would stop being so damn childish," Aurora said. Then a thought occurred to her. She looked over at Draco. "Since when are you so fucking concerned about Neve's teeth?" she asked.

"I was just saying that it is unhealthy to eat all of that chocolate at once," he said, thinking nothing of it. Aurora nodded and walked over to the jellybeans across the store. Filling three bags with different jellybeans, she headed over to pay for them. After she paid, she went over to the two. What she saw stopped her dead in her tracks.

Draco and Neve were kissing. It wasn't just any kiss, either. If Aurora could see the way that she kissed Draco, it would look exactly like how they were kissing now. She stormed over to them and pushed them both into the wall. She rounded on her sister.

"Just what the hell do you think you are doing?" she yelled. Neve looked at her sister with a questioning look on her face.

"Aurora, what are you talking about? Why did you push us?" she asked. Aurora's grayish-green eyes narrowed.

"Stavate baciandolo! Come potreste (You were kissing him! How could you)?" she yelled. Aurora then rounded on Draco, almost knocking him down. "Come potreste, Draco? Vi odio entrambi e non desidero mai vederlo ancora (How could you, Draco? I hate both of you and I never want to see you again)!" she yelled. Draco just looked at her like she was crazy. Aurora slapped him and ran off.

"What did she just say? She was talking so fast I couldn't understand her," Draco said. Neve shrugged.

"I didn't understand her either. I don't think she was speaking Italian or English. It all sounded jumbled up to me," Neve said, watching her sister. "Did you get the feeling like she was seeing something we didn't?"

"Yeah. She didn't even seem to be looking directly at me. It was more or less like she was looking through me," Draco said. That was when Tommy ran up to them.

"I just saw Aurora. What happened?" he asked. Draco looked at him with disgust. Tommy decided that he wasn't going to get an answer out of Draco, so he looked down at Neve. She just shrugged.

"I don't know. Draco and I were just standing here looking at these new lollipops when she went ballistic. I have no idea what her problem is," Neve said. "Let's go regroup with the others."

Back at Hogwarts, the group sat outside, admiring their new buys.

"Has anyone seen Hermione or Aurora?" Luna asked. Everyone shook their heads.

"Aurora ran away from us. We still don't know what her problem was. All we were doing was looking at that new candy at Honeydukes," Draco said.

"See? Now they've both gone mental," Ron muttered. Harry nodded. He looked towards the castle, trying to feel for Aurora. He got nothing but what seemed like mind static. Flinching, he shook off his feeling of discomfort. Ginny looked up at him.

"Is something wrong, Harry?" she asked. Harry shook his head again.

"No. I'm fine. I'm just a little worried about those two. They've been acting all strange lately. I know about Hermione, but Aurora is a totally different story. I can't even feel what she's feeling right now. Normally, I would be able to tell just by concentrating," he said quietly. Ginny nodded. She felt something was wrong.

Late that night, Harry and Ron sat in the common room, trying to study. It was becoming very hard to do, considering the time. Harry's eyes began slowly closing. Before long, both boys were sleeping on the table. Neither saw the two figures lurking behind them before they went to sleep.

Ginny's eyes snapped open. She sat up and realized that she was in a cold sweat. Something was not right. Looking around her room, everyone was asleep. Neve was snoring loudly on her side. Ginny grabbed her wand from underneath her pillow. Slipping silently out of her bed, she hurried across the floor. She went upstairs to Hermione and Aurora's dormitory. Their beds were empty. Next, she went to Harry and Ron's dormitory. Every bed was occupied except Harry and Ron's.

"This is getting kind of weird now. Where did I leave Harry?" she whispered to herself. She saw Harry's books were gone from his desk. She then realized something. "Oh no..." she whispered.

Ginny ran downstairs and saw that Aurora and Hermione were standing over the two sleeping boys. Each was holding something sharp and shiny. They raised them higher. Ginny opened her mouth to scream. A hand clamped over her mouth. She was pulled around the corner. Ginny stepped on her assailant's foot and threw her head back. She heard the sound of a nose breaking. The mystery person's grip loosened on her. Ginny turned around and her eyes widened. Before she could say anything she heard two different screams. Running around the corner, Ginny gasped at what she saw.

Harry and Ron had blood all over them. Knives were in sticking out of the backs of their necks. Ava and Hermione were standing there, looking horrified at their handiwork. Ginny ran over to the table where her brother and boyfriend were. Their bodies were lifeless.

Ginny sat up, breathing very hard. She took only a second to recollect her thoughts. She grabbed her wand and immediately. She shook Neve awake.

"Mmmm...Desidero più biscotti, madre. Perchè faAurora ottengami più biscotti (I want more cookies, mom. Why does Lucy get more cookies than me)?" she moaned. Ginny sighed and hit her hard on the head. Neve sat up, glaring at Ginny. "What the hell is your prob..."

"Just get your wand and follow me," Ginny said. Neve obeyed without question. Whenever Ginny had hunches, she was usually right. They hurried to the common room and saw Harry and Ron sleeping. Behind them, Hermione and Aurora had knives raised. Both looked like they weren't all there. Their faces were emotionless. Neve gasped. She slide down the railing of the stairs and tackled her sister. Ginny tackled Hermione.

Harry was jolted awake from the noise going on behind him. Ron sat up and saw the four girls wrestling on the floor behind them. He looked at Harry who shrugged. A gleam of silver caught Harry's eye and he noticed that both Hermione and Aurora were holding weapons.

"Oh shit!" Harry joined in the good fight. Both Ron and Harry managed to get the weapons away from the two girls. Ginny and Neve stood, pulling their wands. Before they could say the spells, both Hermione and Aurora blinked.

"What's going on?" Hermione asked. Ginny sighed.

"I'll explain later. We need to see Dumbledore now," Ginny said, helping Hermione up. Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Aurora all looked a little bewildered. They began walking to Dumbledore's office. When they got to the gargoyle, Ginny raised an eyebrow.

"Where's the gargoyle?" Harry asked. Sure enough, the gargoyle was gone and the staircase was there.

"Come on," Ginny said. She went up the stairs. When they got to the door, they heard stopped as Madam Pomfrey walked out.

"Why are you six not asleep? You should not be wandering about the school at this time of night," she said in her reprimanding tone. Ginny sighed.

"Something happened. We need to speak to Professor Dumbledore," she said. Madam Pomfrey just looked at her.

"It is quite all right, Poppy. Send them in,"a jovial voice said from behind her. Madam Pomfrey stepped aside to let them in. Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk. "What seems to be the trouble? I trust you would have a good reason for being here so late."

"We do, sir. I had another vision," Ginny said. Dumbledore nodded.

"Go on."

"Well, this one is quite weird. In it, I woke up in my bed. I checked on Hermione and Aurora and saw that they weren't in the dormitory. Then I checked on Harry and Ron. They weren't there either. I went to the common room and saw that Hermione and Aurora were..." Ginny paused and looked at Aurora and Hermione.

"They were what, Ginevra?" Dumbledore asked. Ginny took a deep breath.

"They were about to murder Harry and Ron with daggers or knives or whatever." A collective gasp was heard around the room. Madam Pomfrey was still standing at the door. Ginny decided to continue. "I tried to scream, but before I could, someone grabbed me from behind. I got a look at his face, but it was blurred out for some reason. I got away then went to Harry and Ron, but...but...but I was too late. That was when I woke up. I got Neve up and we went to the common room. Those two were trying to kill Harry and Ron just like in my vision. We stopped them," Ginny said. Dumbledore nodded. Hermione and Aurora looked horrified, but it was nothing compared to what Ron and Harry looked like.

"Do you two recall any of this?" he asked, looking at Hermione and Aurora. They shook their heads slowly. "You two were being controlled."

"By who? No one was here to put them under the Imperius curse," Ron blurted out. Dumbledore nodded.

"That is true, Ronald. But, there are other ways of controlling a person without the use of an Unforgivable Curse. Madam Pomfrey, tell them what you have just told me," Dumbledore said. The six students turned to look at the woman. Madam Pomfrey nodded.

"Avarielle Zaviera was running a very high fever and talking. She was squeezing the sheets on the bed and her eyes were glowing red. She looked like she was fighting an internal battle. I couldn't tell what was wrong with her. It stopped immediately and then I came to see Professor Dumbledore here," she said.

"Ava was controlling us? How is that possible? She is under a spell. She cannot use her mental abilities," Aurora said.

"Ava was not controlling you, Aurora. It was her mind that was. Someone was using it against her will. Whoever put her in that state put her powerful mind to work on controlling you two. Has anything strange happened lately?"

"Besides them trying to kill us?" Harry asked sarcastically. Dumbledore nodded, overlooking his tone. "Well, the other day, Hermione went ballistic for no reason at all. She slapped me and she was talking, but we couldn't understand her," he said. Ron nodded. Hermione looked confused.

"Aurora did the same thing with Draco and I. We couldn't understand anything she was saying. She seemed pretty angry, though."

"I remember that. You two were..."

"No, they weren't," Ginny whispered. Everyone looked at her. She took a deep breath. "A while ago, Ava told me she had the power to control what a person sees. That means she..."

"...can cast illusions on us. She can make us see what she wants us to see. So, none of what Aurora and I saw was real?" Hermione asked, looking at Dumbledore. The old man nodded.

"Is there any way that we can prevent that from happening again?" Harry asked. Dumbledore nodded again.

"What is it?" Ron asked.

"We can bind her mind," Dumbledore said. Madam Pomfrey and Hermione gasped.

"What is that?" Harry asked.

"It is just that. You put a spell over her so that she cannot use her Telepathic powers. The problem with that is that sometimes it can become permanent. I don't think Ava will be happy when she comes out of that and discovers that she can no longer use her Telepathy," Hermione said. They all nodded.

"There is a way to get around that," Dumbledore said.

"How?" Ginny asked.

"We simply use a Telepath to do it," he said, looking at Aurora. Aurora raised an eyebrow.

"Me? I don't know how to bind anyone."

"You won't be doing it. Fionnula will, but you will watch. A different Telepath will be the one to revive her from the bind. That Telepath will e you," Dumbledore said. Aurora nodded. "We will do the binding tomorrow. You all may return to your house quietly."

Back in Voldemort's camp, Jada looked furious.

"Damn that stupid redhead wench! Damn her straight to hell!" she yelled, slamming her fist down on the ground in front of where she sat on the floor. Nicola smirked.

"Language, Jada."

"Piss off, Nicola."

"That's Lady Feleti to you, bitch. Now, Tom, what are you going to do now? They'll probably put Avarielle in a bind," Nicola said, looking over at Voldemort. She hadn't realized that Giovanna had just walked in the room.

"Dumbledore is going to bind my baby's mind?" she asked, her eyes narrowing. Nicola turned her head to see Giovanna standing there, looking quite like a mass murderer.

"Yes," Voldemort stated simply. Giovanna stalked across the room to him.

"Why are they binding her, Tom?"

"We used her Telepathic powers against her friends and it went wrong because of that stupid Weasley girl," he said as calm as ever. Nicola looked amazed at his cool expression. Giovanna crossed her arms. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She released it slowly.

"You better pray that her powers are able to come back or I will personally use my bare hands to tear you apart, limb from limb," she said in a deadly tone. Then she walked out, her curly hair bouncing behind her. Nicola laughed to herself.

"Shut up, Nicola," Voldemort said. Nicola continued to laugh.

AN: I know that this chapter was a bit confusing. I confused myself while writing it. I'll try to have the next chapter out by the end of this week...or month...