The End

Chapter 27: Letter of Redemption

Time seemed to freeze as Ava continued to stare at her brother in confusion. Hermione was the only one who knew for certain what had just been said and she looked as if she had seen a ghost. The wind made a whistling sound as it blew through the trees around them.

"C'est impossible (That's impossible)," Ava whispered. Tommy shook his head. Ava pushed her wand harder into Voldemort's head, making him wince a little. "Ce n'est pas vrai (It's not true)."

"You know it is true, Ava," Tommy spoke in English. Ava looked as though she was about to start crying. Tears were welling up in her eyes. Nicola sighed heavily, bringing everyone around out of their stupor.

"Well, I think we've worn out our welcome. Wouldn't you agree, Tom?" Nicola said. Voldemort smirked.

"You could not be more right, Nicola." In one swift motion, Voldemort had taken Ava's wand from her and had it pointed at her heart. Ava did not move. She just stood there, staring into his eyes. "Let them go or I will kill her," he said, trying to avoid looking into her eyes.

"Vous tueriez réellement votre propre fille (You would actually kill your own daughter)?" Ava whispered. Voldemort just stared at her. She looked so much like Giovanna, but she had his narrow eyes and piercing stare. From the way they were looking at each other, Harry could only imagine what thoughts could be going through their minds.

Hermione looked at Ron, who nodded. They both lowered their wands. Draco seemed to be coming around slowly. He started moaning in pain.

"Come, Tomás," Nicola said. She turned and started to walk away into the forest. Tommy nodded and started to follow after her. He noticed that Neve had yet to move. She had not said anything for at least twenty minutes. He paused momentarily as he passed her.

"Neve," he said. Neve turned her head slowly. She stared Tommy in his eyes. There was still no readable emotion on her face. This was so uncharacteristic from Neve that Tommy had to look confused. By now, he was sure that by now she would have blackened his eye. Instead, she just looked at him, her mouth slightly open.

"I love you," she whispered. Tommy looked shocked at her words. He just stared at her.

"I love you, too," he said, barely audible. He continued his walk past her. Neve turned and watched him disappear. A bright light and an explosion knocked them all to the ground.

Harry opened his eyes. Everything was blurry and bright where he was.

"I must be dead," he whispered.

"Not quite, Mr. Potter,"a female voice said. Harry turned his head slowly and saw Madam Pomfrey standing over him. She was mixing something in a glass. From what Harry could make out, it was lime green and bubbling. He tried to sit up properly. He winced at the pain in his back. Madam Pomfrey pushed him back down. "Don't move, Potter. You took quite a blow from that explosion in the forest."

"Explosion?" Harry asked, relaxing back into the pillow. Madam Pomfrey nodded and handed him his glasses. Harry put them on, mumbling his gratitude. He looked around the hospital wing and saw his friends, also laid up in bed. They all appeared to still be out of it.

"Yes. The explosion knocked you all into trees and such. The headmaster and Professor Shamus were alerted by Cytheria Tremaine and Aiko Shang that you all were in trouble. I suspect they will soon get word of you being awake and want some answers. The first being why were you all in the FORBIDDEN Forest in the first place." Madam Pomfrey handed him the green substance. Harry looked down into the glass and immediately pulled his nose away.

"It's rancid!" he said. Madam Pomfrey just stared at him. Harry held his nose and drank the horribly thick liquid. He swallowed and looked genuinely sick as the liquid seemed to coat his entire mouth and throat.

"Well, I am sorry that it could not taste more like strawberry preserves, Potter. Wait here and try not to make too much noise. I will be back with the headmaster." Madam Pomfrey took the glass from Harry. Harry nodded, looking as if he was about to throw everything he had just consumed up. Next him, he heard a loud groan.

Ron sat up slowly, rubbing his head. He turned his head and squinted at his best friend. Harry tried to smile, although the taste in his mouth would not allow him to do so. Across from them, the girls began waking also.

"What happened, Harry?" Ron asked, rubbing his head. Harry shrugged.

"Apparently, there was this explosion when Voldemort and friends left. We must have blacked out, because I don't remember anything else," Harry said. He looked over at Hermione. Her hand was wrapped up. She was staring down at it.

"What happened to your wrist, Mione?" Ron asked. He had a nasty cut on his face.

"Well, I'm not quite sure about that myself. It appears to be twisted or something. Madam Pomfrey sure wrapped it tight, though. I can barely feel my fingers," Hermione said, trying to wiggle them. She winced as a sharp pain shot up her arm.

"Where is that old bat anyway?" another voice asked. This one sounded very pissed off. Harry turned to his right and saw Draco sitting up. It took Harry a moment to realize that this young man before him was Draco. Hermione, Ginny, and Lina were all staring at him with wide eyes.

Draco was staring down at his bare chest, trying to move his arm around. He was rotating his shoulder slowly. No one could honestly say that they had seen Draco without a shirt on before, unless of course you were Aurora. Draco still had not noticed the eyes staring at him. Ron sighed.

"Damnit! Snap out of it, will you?" he yelled at the girls. Hermione and Ginny blinked as Draco looked over at him.

"What are you yelling for, Weasley?" Draco said. Ron glared at him.

"You're sitting over there giving the girls a bloody peep show. Put a fucking shirt on, you douche-bag!" Ron yelled back at him. Draco smirked at him.

"Douche-bag? That's a new one. Jealous, Weasley?" he asked. Ron crossed his arms and scoffed.

"As if anyone wants to look at you, Malfoy. Not all of us can be a pretty boy," Ron said, crossing his arms.

"He's right, Draco," Hermione said, discreetly wiping the drool from around her mouth. "You aren't THAT good-looking." Hermione said. Lina chuckled.

"Hmmm, I beg to differ," she said absent-mindedly. Everyone looked in her direction. She noticed all the eyes on her and blushed.

"I wish Aurora was here to hear you say that, Catalina," Hermione said, shaking her head. Lina laughed.

"Well, there is no law against looking, is there Hermione?" she said slyly. Hermione shook her head.

"I guess not, Lina."

"There is also no law against fantasizing," Ginny mumbled quietly. Apparently it was not quiet enough. Harry had stopped rubbing his head and Draco had stopped rotating his shoulder. They were both now gaping at Ginny. Ginny looked over in Harry's direction. "Not saying that I fantasize about Draco or anything," she fumbled out.

"I would bloody well hope not," Harry said in a low, scary voice as the doors to the hospital wing opened up. Madam Pomfrey walked in the room. Dumbledore, McGonagall, and the six school Magi followed her inside. The rest of their friends came in also, looking worried. The students quieted as they approached, all of them looking stern.

"Is everyone in fine order?" Dumbledore asked. They all mumbled answers and Dumbledore seemed to sigh relief. He looked at all of their injuries. "I see no one has been seriously injured, thank Merlin. I need you to tell me what happened, if you can remember," he said.

"I'll start off, since I was there from the beginning," Draco said. Dumbledore nodded. Draco sat up to a more comfortable position, wincing slightly. "Well, after Neve finished practicing, she sat down. After about two minutes, she got up and started walking to the Forbidden Forest. I was elected to go after hersince I'm the only one who can handle her in her frustrated stage." Draco paused.

"Why did you decide on going into a place that is forbidden, Miss Assante?" McGonagall asked. Until that exact moment, everyone had forgotten that Neve was even in the room, let alone awake. They all turned to face her. Neve was sitting on the windowsill, staring out at the courtyards.

"The only place I was sure no one would follow me into; I wanted to be alone," she said, not turning to face them. McGonagall, apparently satisfied with Neve's answer, turned back to Draco.

"Go on, Mr. Malfoy," she said. Draco nodded.

"I caught up with her. When I did, I saw another person standing in a clearing with her. It was Aurora. She had a faint glow of red in her eyes and she didn't say anything. Well, before she killed Neve, I pushed Neve to the ground. I was going to attack her, but Voldemort appeared then," he said. Dumbledore looked out at the rest of the students.

"And how, may I inquire, did the rest of you end up in the Forbidden Forest?" he asked.

"Well, we all seem to get funny premonitions about each other's well being after you work with a person for a while. You start to learn their behavior and all that. It was very unlike Draco not to return with Neve by either dragging her or carrying her, knocked out," Hermione said.

"Mione's right. Malfoy isn't one to dally when it comes to retrieving people. Especially not Neve," Ron said. Dumbledore nodded.

The rest of them started telling their sides of the story, but everyone avoided saying Tommy's name, even Ava. Dumbledore took immediate notice of this.

"We are missing someone, I see," he said, intertwining his long fingers. Everyone looked at each other.

"Of course we're missing someone. We've been missing her for a while now," Draco said, sounding very irritated with the old headmaster. Dumbledore chose to ignore his rudeness. He looked over in Neve's direction. She was still staring determinedly out of the window. Her face showed no decipherable sentiment.

"Neveah, have you anything to say? You have been abnormally quiet since we started this interrogation," he said softly. Neve did not respond to him. She did not even look his way. Dumbledore looked over to Ava. "You, too, have been abnormally quiet," he said. Everyone heard Ava chuckle to herself.

"Since when is it uncharacteristic of me to be quiet?" she asked, raising her head slowly. Everyone, including Dumbledore, was a little shocked at the tone is Ava's voice. She did not sound like herself.

"Am I correct in assuming that you know of whom I speak when I say that we are missing someone?" he asked her. Ava's cold eyes met Dumbledore's. Ginny inwardly cringed as she felt the sheer aura of power that Ava was giving off. Ginny was sure that if it was possible, Ava's head would be glowing.

"If you are assuming that my twin is missing, then yes, you are correct," Ava said. Dumbledore stare intensified. Everyone sat in silence as they watched this exchange between a powerful wizard and a powerful Telepathic witch.

"And why is Tomás missing?" Dumbledore asked.

"Because he's a dirty rotten snitch and a fucking coward," Draco said under his breath. Everyone heard him, though.

"That wasn't very nice, Draco," Dumbledore said. Draco cut his eyes at the old man. Dumbledore gazed at him over his half-moon spectacles.

"Well, everyone in here knows its bloody true. I'm not going to sit here and sugarcoat everything by saying that he's confused or anything like that. Zaviera knew exactly what he was doing," Draco scoffed.

"Did it ever occur to you that maybe Tommy had no choice in the matter?" Hermione said, glowering at Draco. Draco turned his concentrated stare towards her. Hermione stared back, her gaze never wavering.

"He had no choice, huh? Everyone has a choice in whether or not they want to be a Death Eater, Granger. I had a choice. I chose not to become one. I chose to defy my father," Draco said.

"Unfortunately, defying our father is not as easy," Ava muttered quietly. Everyone except Hermione stopped breathing momentarily. They all stared at Ava. Her face was impassive as usual.

"Your father? I thought your father was dead," Ron said. Ava smirked lackadaisically. She looked in Ron's direction.

"Unfortunately, so did the majority of this world until two years ago," Ava said. It took a moment, but it all clicked at once for everyone. Ron's mouth just hung open. Draco stared at Ava like she had said something highly offensive.

"Your FATHER is VOLDEMORT?" Ginny asked. Ava nodded.

"It makes perfect sense," another voice piped up. Everyone looked to its source: Harry.

"What do you mean by that, Harry?" Aiko asked. Harry sighed.

"With the exception of Professor Dumbledore and maybe Professor McGonagall, I'm the only one in here who knows what Voldemort looked like when he was our age. Ginny might remember, but it might be a little unclear. It never occurred to me until we were out in the forest whom Tommy looked like. I've been wondering that since I met him. Tommy looks exactly like Voldemort did over fifty years ago," Harry said. Dumbledore had his eyes closed.

"I'm afraid Harry is right. I wonder why I did not see it sooner," Dumbledore said.

"It was because no one really looked at his face. The one way to really interpret a person is through their eyes. The only thing he lacks from Voldemort is his eyes," Neve said softly from her windowsill.

"She's right." McGonagall looked at Ava. "It appears that Avarielle has gained that from her father," she said. Ava did indeed have the same narrow and sinister eyes as her father.

"Wait just a minute here, people! How do we know that Ava is not on their side, too?" Neville asked. Silence rang loudly in the air. Ava stared at them all. Her eyes rested on Hermione. Hermione swallowed hard.

"We can trust Ava," she said.

"How do you know that, Hermione?" Harry asked. Hermione looked down at her bed sheets.

"Well, I can speak fluent French. I know what was said between Ava and Tommy while we were out there. From Ava's reaction, I'd say she had absolutely no idea what the deal was between Tommy and Voldemort."

"That is not entirely true," Ava said.

"Why not? Are you saying that you, too, betrayed us?" Lina asked. Ava shook her head slowly.

"No. I did not know Voldemort was my father. I did, however, figure out that Tommy was working for him. I suspected him. Aurora actually witnessed him talking to Voldemort via the common room fire late at night. Why do you think Voldemort took her? Aurora confirmed my suspicions one day," Ava said.

"Why did you not say anything, Ava?" Ferris asked. Ava frowned.

"Do you really think that I would just hand over my brother to you? Sure, he was doing wrong, but he IS my twin brother first and foremost. I am not going to be the one to send him to that filthy wizard prison of yours," she said, sounding quite furious with them.

"I think that is enough for today. We will discuss plans later on. I am certain that I might have to send the students home before Voldemort's supposed attack on Hogwarts. Minerva, alert the teachers that they have to give early final exams set for next week," Dumbledore said. McGonagall nodded and left. He turned and faced the students.

"What about us, Professor?" Harry asked. Dumbledore sighed deeply.

"I suggest that you train has hard as possible. Miss Assante, I would like to see you in my office," he said, looking Neve's direction. Neve did not even look at him, but he knew she had heard him. Dumbledore left the room in a sweeping motion.

After a few moments of silence, Neve stood up to leave the room. She grabbed her wand and started walking. Draco cut her off halfway down the center of the room. Neve looked up at him.

"Where are you going?" he asked. Neve glared daggers at him. Her face still held no readable emotion. Draco could not tell if she was mad or sad.

"I have to go see Dumbledore. Did you not hear him?" she said. The others watched this scene in silence.

"This is all your fault, did you know that?" Draco yelled at her. Neve just stared at him.

"Draco, you don't..." Harry started. Draco ignored him.

"No. She needs to hear this. You endangered all of us with your stubborn behavior. I told you from the beginning that he was a little sniveling cretin. You didn't want to listen. Now your tenacity has gotten your sister in trouble and us nearly killed! What are you going to do about this now?" Draco yelled at her. Neve just stared up at him. Everyone was waiting for Neve to blow up in Draco's face. Draco was even bracing himself for it. Instead, Neve looked down at her feet.

"You're right, Draco. I told Tommy all those things about our weaknesses. I told him everything that was going on with us. He just kept relaying it to Voldemort. So, you're right. Everything is my fault," Neve said quietly. She looked back up at Draco. Draco took one look at Neve and instantly felt bad.

Neve, for the first time, looked as though she was about to cry. Her eyes were glassy and they seemed to filling up with tears. Draco opened his mouth to say something.

"I'm sorry." Neve pushed past him. Draco looked at her out of the corner of his eye. He saw a single tear roll down her face before she immediately wiped it away. Neve slammed the door to the hospital wing shut.

Rina walked up to Draco. He turned his head to face her. Everyone flinched visibly when they heard Rina's right hand meet Draco's face. Draco's head snapped to the side.

"What did you hit me for?" he yelled at her. Rina crossed her arms.

"You are such a jerk, Draco. Don't you think that Neve already knows the things you said to her? There was no need to send her on a guilt trip. You are such a tactless arse sometimes," Lina said.

Neve stared at the door to Dumbledore's office. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Come in, Neveah," she heard the headmaster say. Neve opened the large, heavy door and stepped in the circular room. Dumbledore was tending to Fawkes. The phoenix flew over to her and landed on her shoulder. Dumbledore smiled. "It seems that Fawkes fancies you, Neveah," he said. Neve looked at Fawkes' vibrant plumage. The great bird nuzzled her hair and flew back to his pedestal. Neve stood in front of the headmaster's desk.

"You wanted to see me, professor?" Neve said. Dumbledore nodded.

"Neveah, I do not know exactly what you are feeling right now. I can probably gather that you feel betrayed somewhat," Dumbledore said. Neve just stared at him. Dumbledore sighed. "I have called you in here for one reason, Neveah."

"What is that, professor?" Neve asked. Dumbledore sat forward on his desk.

"I need you to promise me that if you receive any word from Tomás that you will alert us immediately. The consequences if you do not abide by this request will be great," Dumbledore said in a serious tone.

"Professor..." Neve's mouth hung open. Dumbledore stared long and hard at her. Neve looked down at the ground, clenching her fists together and queezing her eyes shut. "I promise."

"Do not fail me, Neveah. You may go," he said, sitting back in his large chair. Neve closed her mouth and walked out of the room.

The next day, Hermione looked around the Gryffindor table. Neve was nowhere in sight. She turned towards Ginny, who was staring at a chessboard. She was playing Ron.

"Ginny, when was the last time you saw Ava or Neve?" she asked. Ginny looked up. Staring at Hermione, she furrowed her eyebrows.

"Now that you think about it, I haven't seen either for quite some time now. You haven't even seen Ava in class? Neve hasn't been in any of ours," Ginny said. Hermione nodded. She looked at Harry.

"Harry, can you find Ava?" she asked. Harry just looked at her.

"If you don't know where she is, why do you think I would know?" he asked, totally oblivious to what Hermione meant. Hermione sighed at her friend.

"Sometimes, Harry, you can be as thick as Ron," Hermione said. Ron leaned over and put his lips to Hermione's neck.

"I heard that," he whispered. Hermione shivered and giggled. Ginny and Hermione both looked disgusted at their display of affection.

"Aw, that's just sick, you guys. Get a fucking room," another voice said. A flash of green and black swept past them. Draco sat next to Ginny on the bench. "Has anyone seen Neve or Ava?" he asked. Ginny shook her head.

"I was trying to get Harry to use his Telepathy for once and see what he could pick up on Ava," Hermione said. Harry suddenly felt very foolish. He was a bit rusty on his Telepathy. Knowing Ava's tremendous powers, he would not get so much as a signature.

"I don't think that'll work, Hermione. Ava's much more skilled than me and she blocks herself out. I'm pretty sure that she doesn't want to be found," Harry said. Hermione frowned.

"At least try, Harry," Hermione said. Harry sighed and closed his eyes. For a moment, everything around him was quiet. He was searching and searching until he came to what seemed to be a large wall. Harry opened his eyes.

"She's blocking me out. She's pretty good at it, too. I told you, Hermione," Harry said. He went back to eating.

Neve sat in an abandoned tower at the school. It was the only place that she could legally go and find some quiet. She stared out at the blue sky. She wondered idly what Tommy was doing. Did he really love her? Did he even care that he had used her? Did he feel any remorse? Does he like being a Death Eater? Had she really been sleeping with the enemy?

As if to answer her questions, a brown owl came soaring over towards her. Neve watched as it circled the tower before opening its beak. An envelope flew into Neve's lap. She looked at the brown owl as it flew away. Neve turned the envelope over.

Neveah Assante

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

North Tower

Neve examined the unfamiliar handwriting on the envelope. The only person who knew of this place was Tommy. They had come up here so many times. One time held a very special place in Neve's heart. She opened the envelope and unfolded the parchment inside. She immediately recognized Tommy's scrawl he called writing.

Dear Neve,

I don't know if you even opened this letter. I wouldn't be surprised if you just threw it away. Even so, if you are reading, I bet you're wondering how I knew exactly where you would be. Remember, I know that place very well, as do you.

Well, I don't expect you to ever forgive me for my betrayal. I don't intend to justify my actions. All I can say is that I became a Death Eater to save my family. If they were not in danger, then this letter would've probably never been written.

I'm sure you want an update on Aurora. She's fine. For the most part, she just sits around in the shadows, thinking Merlin knows what. I'm not even sure she realized who she is. Your youngest brother, Santino, is here too. Cute kid.

I bet Draco is just rubbing this whole situation in your face, isn't he? Stupid prick. I can see why he dislikes his father so much. The man is crazy.

Well, Neve, I just want you to know that I love you very much and I never intended to hurt you or Ava. I know you must want to kill me right now. I've really messed things up for us, now, huh? If you never want to speak to me again, I won't protest. I can tell you that I will see you again very soon. I don't know under what circumstances, though.

Neve, I will not harm you. If anything happens that you cannot handle, run. Don't try and be brave, as you so often like to tell me. Just get yourself out. On my order, the Death Eaters will not harm you, but I cannot say the same for everyone else, especially Harry and Draco. They are top priority from what I hear.

This is where I depart. Do not try to write me back. I just really hope that this letter got to you. If you want to see me again, I will be in the Shrieking Shack on Sunday. If not, I will understand. Just remember that I love you.

Tommy

Neve stared at the letter of what seemed like redemption when she finished reading it. She read the last paragraph over and over. She now had to make a painful choice. Would she be loyal to the Order, or will she see her true love one last time? Sighing, she put her wand to the parchment.

"Ustione," she whispered. The parchment caught fire and began burning. Neve sat the burning parchment on the stone floor, watching it burn. She made up her mind right then and there. She knew what she would do.