The End

Chapter 23: The Power of One's Mind

Harry and Draco were still staring at the twins. They stared right back at them with no emotion in their eyes.

"We're waiting," Draco said. Rina looked at her sister.

"For what? We weren't about to let you blast a whole through our sister," Lina said. Rina nodded. Harry crossed his arms.

"She was going to kill Tommy or Aurora. You guys just let her take Aurora!" Harry said. Rina frowned.

"What were we supposed to do? I'd LOVE to see you try and shoot your own flesh and blood. No matter how evil she has become, she is still our sister and we're not going to be responsible for hurting her," she said.

"I don't think she would've hesitated if it was one of you she was holding," Tommy said under his breath. It was loud enough for everyone to hear. Tommy looked up when he noticed the silence that hung in the air. They were all looking at him with wide eyes. Lina stalked over to him and slapped him.

"You'll never be in that position, Tommy. So just stay out of it." She turned and walked off with Rina following her. Tommy rubbed his face. She hit pretty hard. He watched the twins walk away.

'I'm already in that position more than you know,' he thought.

The next morning, Draco sat in the Great Hall with a sullen look on his face. Harry sighed. He couldn't believe that someone had walked right up to Hogwarts and abducted Aurora, just like that. With almost no resistance. But, she had Tommy at wand-point, then Aurora's life was put in danger. That was when Hermione ran up to the table, waving the Daily Prophet in her hand like mad.

"Look at this!" she yelled, slapping the paper down on the table in front of Harry and Draco. Draco's eyes widened. He picked up, reading the headline over and over again.

"What does it say, Draco?" Neve asked. She looked as if she'd been up all night. Draco's mouth just hung open. "DRACO!" she yelled. Draco blinked and looked at her. "Well?" she asked. Draco sat the paper down for all to see.

5 Assante Family Members Go Missing Yesterday

The Italian and British Ministries in Utter Hysteria

Yesterday, Giuliana Assante, wife of Alfonso Assante, head of the Department of International Affairs at the Ministry of Magic, was reported missing around midday. The last person to see her was her youngest son, Santino, age 2 and his caretaker.

Only two hours later was it reported that Jolie Tucci, 23, eldest daughter of Giuliana and Alfonso Assante, was abducted from her villa in Palermo. Her husband, famed writer Luigi Tucci, reported his wife missing. Foul play was suspected, as her home was in utter disarray.

Around the same time as Mrs. Tucci's abduction, her elder brother, Gianni Assante, 25, was abducted from his home in Palermo as well.

Aurora Assante, 17, was abducted from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry yesterday afternoon. Professor Minerva McGonagall was powerless to stop the abduction, as the kidnapper had another student at wand-point. The kidnapper's identity is known, but it is not to be revealed.

Lastly, the youngest son, Santino Assante, 2, was reported missing by his grandmother, Meloni headmistress Vittoria Assante, when she went to retrieve him from his caretaker's home. His caretaker, Aurelia Marceline, was found dead. It appeared as though she was trying to protect the child from his kidnapper.

There have been no suspects apprehended in all of the kidnappings. Neveah Assante is still safely at Hogwarts. Donatello and Benicio Assante are still at Meloni. They are being put under heavy guard in light of all the kidnappings.

Neve just stared with disbelieving. What she was reading could not be true. It was not possible that more than half of her family had gone missing all at once. Her friends were talking amongst themselves, but it all sounded faint and fizzled to Neve. She just kept reading the article over and over. Even her baby brother was gone.

"Neve?" Lina asked slowly. Neve did not look up from the paper.

"Neve?" Rina said a little more forcefully. There was still no response from Neve.

"NEVE!" Draco hit her in the arm. This got a response. Neve slugged him in the jaw and stalked off.

"Well, I think that I got her attention," Hermione said under her breath. Harry heard her and nodded. "I wonder where she's going."

"Probably to let off some steam," Ron said.

Aurora shifted, feeling a funny heat on her face. With her ear against the floor, she heard something moving slowly past her. Heat from something was toasting her face. Taking a deep breath, Aurora opened her eyes. What she saw almost made her scream.

Aurora was sitting in front of a fireplace. The fire was crackling smoothly and everything looked normal. That was the least of Aurora's troubles, though. The problem was she was surrounded by two gigantic serpents that were looking at her like they had missed lunch. They just slithered in a circle around her.

"It is good to see that you have awakened,"a voice came from behind her. Aurora, moving very slowly, turned around and saw the source. Chaylse was leaning against a wall. She looked remarkably placid.

"Why am I here?" Aurora asked. Chaylse shrugged.

"Apparently, they want something out of you. I couldn't tell you what it is, though. You'll just have to wait and see," Chaylse said. Aurora nodded then looked back down at the two snakes. She shivered noticeably.

"Can you call them off?" she asked shakily. Chaylse shook her head.

"They each obey one of two people. I am neither of those, so I cannot help you. I must go. The Dark Lord will be joining you shortly." Chaylse walked out of the room.

Aurora watched her go. She turned her attention back to the snakes. She tried to reach over them. In an instant, they were hissing in her face. Aurora quickly withdrew her hand. The snakes went back to circling her. Aurora put her knees up to her chest and squeezed. She felt like crying.

'Per l'amore di Dio (For the love of God),' she thought to herself. She heard the door open and looked up. Nicola Feleti and Voldemort walked in. Nicola wore dark green robes and her hair was thrown over her left shoulder. She smiled at Aurora and took a seat in an armchair. Voldemort followed suit.

"Hello, Aurora," he said rather jovially. Aurora did not respond. She was still staring down at the snakes. "You are probably wondering why you are here," he said. Aurora looked up at him slowly.

"Why am I here?" she asked. Voldemort intertwined his fingers.

"You are a very powerful Telepath, Aurora. You can be of some use to us."

"I will never help you," Aurora said in a deadly tone. Voldemort nodded and looked over at Nicola. Nicola grinned evilly and looked at Aurora.

"You WILL help us, and you WILL do it to the best of your ability," Nicola said. Aurora smirked.

"You really expect me to help you just like that? Come on. I would need a little incentive. If not, then you might as well forget it," Aurora said, crossing her arms. Nicola nodded. Aurora raised an eyebrow. The woman seemed even happier that Aurora had answered her that way.

"You need a little incentive, eh? Well, I think we've just the thing to get you working. Jada!" Nicola yelled. Another woman walked in. She was holding on to someone by the hand. Aurora's eyes widened when she realized who it was.

"Santino?" she whispered. Sure enough, Santino Assante was standing there, lollipop in hand and looking as happy as ever. He saw his older sister and smiled openly. He let go of Jada's hand and ran to her, hopping delightfully over the snakes into her arms.

"Luci! La signora piacevole mi ha dato la caramella (The nice lady gave me candy)!" the little boy yelled happily. Aurora cradled her baby brother in her arms. She turned her head and glared at Voldemort and Nicola.

"Why do you have him?"

"Oh, you haven't read the headline today, have you? Well, in addition to you and your youngest brother, we also have your oldest brother, sister, and your mother. Your other two brothers, Donatello and Benicio, are still safely at Meloni. We couldn't risk taking them while your grandmother was there. Vittoria Assante is very headstrong, like you sister."

"What did you do to them?" Aurora asked, her voice deathly low. Santino was still licking his candy happily, unaware of the danger around him.

"Oh, they're fine and dandy. They are in three different locations, blindfolded and bound. You have a rather large family, Aurora. It would've been entirely too hard to kidnap you all. So, we just took the three you'd most likely do anything for. Santino was a must. It is obvious that you no doubt are practically in love with him."

"What about Aurelia?"

"Aurelia?" Nicola looked confused. Aurora sighed.

"When you kidnapped Santino, he was most likely with his caretaker. What did you do to her?" she asked, glaring at Nicola. Nicola shrugged and looked at Jada.

"Well, Aurelia, you say her name is, was determined to fight for the boy. So, I had to kill the old bat, plain and simple," Jada said as easily as stating that she brushed her teeth. Aurora felt her eyes watering. Aurelia Marceline was a family friend and had been caretaker to all of the Assante children at one point in all of their lives.

"You monster," Aurora whispered. Santino squirmed in Aurora's grasp.

"Luci, state comprimendolo(Luci, you are squeezing me)!" Santino yelled. Aurora blinked and realized that she was practically cutting off her baby brother's air supply. She loosened her grasp on him. He turned around and sat in her lap, still sucking on his lollipop without a care in the world.

'To be two,' Aurora thought, watching him with loving eyes. She looked back over at Voldemort and Nicola.

"Why does he call you Lucy?" Nicola asked. Aurora shook her head.

"It is not 'Lucy.' It is 'Luchee.' My middle name is Luciana and he has trouble saying Aurora. So he just shortens my middle name."

"Does the little brat speak no English?" Jada asked. Aurora turned her evil glare on her. Jada seemed unaffected by it at first. Then for some reason, she felt a sort of shockwave coming from Aurora with all the hate she was emitting.

"No, he does not. He only understands Italian."

"Well, you are going to have to control him. I don't necessarily like the sound of a crying child, so keep the snot-nosed kid quiet," Jada said. Aurora nodded.

"So what is it that you want me to do?" Aurora asked. Nicola grinned.

"Oh, it is really simple. You are going to help us kill the Weasley girl," Voldemort said. His voice made Aurora jump. She looked at him.

"Che (What)?" she croaked out. Voldemort looked over at Nicola. Being the only other person who understood Italian in the room, she spoke.

"She said what, Tom. I think you heard him correctly Miss Assante. This is exactly how you are going to do it. You are going to..." Nicola was cut off.

"You cannot make me do any such thing," Aurora said. Nicola raised an eyebrow. Before she could say anything, Voldemort spoke.

"Oh, you won't? We'll see about that," Voldemort said. His words were simple, but Aurora knew they held a lot of meaning. Voldemort looked at one of the snakes. He began speaking to it. Aurora watched Nagini nod its head, then slither around Aurora. Somehow, it managed to pry Santino out of her arms and wrap tightly around him.

"Let him go!" Aurora yelled. Santino dropped the lollipop. His big brown eyes began watering up. Aurora looked into them and felt her heart break.

"Luci, aiutilo (help me)!" he cried. Aurora reached for him, but Nyoka snapped at her instantly. Aurora scooted back. Santino was crying now. Nagini just kept squeezing. Aurora watched. She squeezed her eyes shut. The fire behind Aurora went out and the air became cold. Then something happened that shocked everyone in the room.

Nagini's body went lax and the snake loosened its hold on Santino. The little boy looked around him, and then scampered quickly over to his sister. Aurora held him tightly, as if determined never to let him go again. Voldemort looked at Nagini. The serpent was not moving. Nicola and Jada just stared blankly at the snake, wondering if they had missed something. They all looked at Aurora.

Aurora was staring at the floor, still holding Santino. The two-year-old was whimpering on the inside of her robes, no doubt slowly falling asleep. Her hair covered her face. The only eye that Voldemort could see was still staring at the floor.

"You killed Nagini," Nicola whispered. Aurora looked up and at the snake. Sure enough, the serpent was giving no signs of life at all. Voldemort literally could not speak. His mouth just hung open in shock. For the first time since Harry had somehow deflected the Killing Curse, he felt utter confusion. He shook his head, anger filling him now.

"Jada, get the child," he growled. Jada looked at him, then immediately did as she was told. She snatched Santino away from Aurora. He began screaming maniacally. Aurora stood as Jada took out her wand.

"Dormez," she said. Santino instantly fell asleep. Jada held him better and carried him over to the couch with her. Aurora sat back down as Nyoka snapped at her feet.

"Now, you will do this, or I will tell Jada to kill the child," Nicola said, seeing that Voldemort was much too angry to speak. Aurora nodded slowly. "You are going to put the Nami Curse on the Weasley child. You are going to do it now. You will do it right, or Santino and the rest of your missing family members will die. I know you don't want that. So please, just do as we ask," Nicola said. Aurora just stared blankly at her.

"I need eye contact in order to do the curse," she said, her voice even and flat. She sounded very different from before. Nicola noticed this. She raised an eyebrow and looked at Voldemort. He was still seething, so she decided not to say anything to him.

"No you don't. You are a Telepath. So is Ginny Weasley. Lock onto her mind and say the curse. It will work," Jada said from her corner. Aurora cut her eyes toward her, then sighed and looked down again.

"You are making me kill one of my best friends."

"You are doing it in order to save your family," Nicola said. Aurora shook her head and looked through her hair at Nicola.

"She IS family," she said, her voice very low. Nicola felt a chill in the room again. Aurora closed her eyes and did was she was told. She found out that Ginny was still not awake from the snake bite.

'Forgive me, Ginny. Namishi,' she thought.

Ava was gathering her things from her bed in the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey had finally decided to let her go back to her dorm. Ginny was still next to her. She saw Harry and Ron come inside. Hermione was following them. Ava smiled.

"Well, if it isn't the Terrific Trio," she said dryly. Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Where did you get that from?" he asked. Ava laughed.

"That is what I have dubbed you three. Remember, you three are the most strategic of us all and have definitely been through mo..." Ava stopped talking, her eyes widening. Hermione stepped towards her.

"Ava, is something wrong?" Hermione asked. Ava did not say anything. The words were just not coming. Hermione just stared at her when they heard something else.

"GINNY!" Harry yelled. Ron, Hermione, and Ava ran over to her bed. Ginny's eyes were open and she seemed to be gasping for breath. Madam Pomfrey came running, almost tripping over her skirt.

"What's happening to her!" Ron yelled. Madam Pomfrey ignored him and put her hand to Ginny's chest. Her eyes widened. All at once, it became clear to Hermione what was happening.

"She's drowning," she stated quietly. Harry looked at her.

"Drowning? How could she be drowning?"

"The Nami Curse, Harry."

"You need eye contact to do a Kana-Kaori Curse," Madam Pomfrey said. Hermione's heart sunk. Even if it was that curse, how would someone put it on her? Her eyes were closed.

"It IS the Nami Curse," Ava said from behind them. Ron turned to her.

"What? That's impossible."

"Yes, to someone who is not Telepathic, it is impossible." Ava unceremoniously shoved Madam Pomfrey out of the way. The woman opened her mouth to reprimand her, but stopped when she noticed Ava's face.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked, watching Ava closely.

"I can help her."

"Avarielle, you're mind is bound," Madam Pomfrey said.

"Aurora did the unbinding after Ginny was brought in here. That is why I paused. I felt another mind in the room besides our own. Aurora is doing this. I'm more powerful than she is. I can help Ginny. Now, be quiet and move." Ava put her hand on Ginny's forehead.

Aurora felt another mind present. Her eyebrows furrowed.

'Ava?'

'Aurora, what are you doing? You will kill her,' Ava thought to her. Aurora sighed.

'I have no choice. They will kill my family,' she responded.

'Then I have no choice. I'm sorry, Aurora. Tell them that I am more powerful,' Ava said.

'Okay. You are anyway.'

'No, we are now equal. I felt your little outburst earlier. Appear to be fighting me off.' Ava finished the transmission. After that, Aurora fell backwards onto the dusty floor. Her eyes popped open. She was breathing very hard.

"Well?" Nicola asked. Aurora sat up.

"Ava was there. She is more powerful than me and made me lift the curse," Aurora lied. She put up her mind walls so that they could not tell she was lying. Nicola raised an eyebrow. That was when Voldemort finally said something.

"CRUCIO!" He whipped his wand out and pointed it at Aurora. The curse hit Aurora full force. All she could feel was excruciating pain.

Harry dropped to the floor, holding his head. His scar felt as thought it was about to rip open and start gushing blood. Hermione fell next to him. Harry was just trying to suck in all the pain.

"Harry?" she asked. Then, the screaming came. Harry couldn't tell what hurt worse: his body or his scar. Then he realized that Voldemort must be pretty pissed at Aurora and that he was probably cursing her now. He snapped his eyes shut and stopped screaming.

'Aurora, the pain is not real! It is all in your mind! Tell yourself that the pain is not real and look Voldemort in the eye!' Harry thought forcefully.

Aurora stopped screaming. She rolled over on her stomach, telling herself the pain was only her imagination. It was like a chant. She looked up at Voldemort. Holding her hand up weakly, Aurora pointed at his wand. A powerful jet of air was released and Voldemort's wand flew from his fingers. He stood, shocked. Nicola and Jada's mouths were hanging open. Voldemort frowned and looked at her. Aurora was breathing hard. Her arm was still extended.

"It is not real," she whispered. The next thing she remembered was the blackness that welcomed her so nicely.

The pain stopped. Harry sat up and looked around. He touched his forehead and gasped at what he felt. He looked at his fingers and saw blood. His scar had actually opened back up. Madam Pomfrey went to get some bandages.

"That was pretty weird," Ron said.

"Tell me about it,"a new voice said. They all turned and saw Ginny awake and rubbing her head. Harry smiled, still holding his head. "What happened?"

"Well, you were..."

"No, with you, Harry. What just happened with you?" she asked. Harry stopped smiling.

"Aurora was being cursed by Voldemort and Voldemort was really pissed at the same time. So, that is twice the pain. I think Aurora did something more than just foul up an assassination attempt," Harry said. Ginny nodded.

"I can't imagine him losing his temper like that," Hermione said. "He's always so composed."

"Aurora killed his snake," Ava said calmly. They all gasped.

"How?" Harry croaked.

"The same way I killed Tommy's dog. She wanted it dead and she got her wish. Ah...the power of one's mind," Ava said. The other three just kept staring at her with unbelieving eyes.

"Indeed. We've got to find her and find her quickly," Hermione whispered.

"I know where she is..." Ava said. A thick silence hung in the air.