The End

Chapter 35: Do You See What I See?

"Well, Weasley, is she alive or isn't she?" Draco demanded loudly. He was clenching his finger tightly, trying to ease the pain of having the tip of it hacked off. Ginny looked back down at Neve and tried to feel her pulse again. Neve's skin was like ice. Her face was steadily becoming paler and paler. She tried her wrist, but got nothing. She tried her arm, but still got nothing. Ginny's hand went to her neck. Draco and Ava watched nervously. Ginny closed her eyes. She pushed harder into Neve's neck. Ginny removed her hand and looked at Draco and Ava.

"She's alive. Her pulse is very faint, though. As you can see, it was extremely hard to find. She's in some sort of trance," Ginny said. She heard footsteps behind her and turned quickly. Ava and Draco pulled their wands at the blink of an eye, pointing immediately. They sighed when they realized who it was.

"Whoa! Drop those, you three. It's just me," Aislin said. She held her hands up. Fionnula came around the corner behind her. She was examining the forgotten Death Eaters on the ground. Aislin's face frowned up. "What sadistic bastard did this?" she asked.

"That would be Zaviera," Draco mumbled. He held up his hand for Aislin to see. "He did this, too," he mumbled. Aislin nodded, examining his finger. She opened her robe and pulled out some medical supplies. She wrapped Draco's finger properly in a matter of seconds and mumbled some healing charms. When she was done, Draco felt no pain at all. He examined his bandaged finger.

"There. Since it was basically just the very tip of your finger, it was easy to heal. Hopefully, your nail will grow back," Aislin said. Draco nodded.

"Thanks," he said. Aislin nodded and looked down at her side. Neve was still lying on the ground, staring at what looked like the wall. She kneeled down next to Ginny.

"What happened?" she asked, checking Neve for injuries. Ginny shrugged and looked at Draco. Draco sighed.

"Tommy cursed her or something. I was too far away to hear what he said. A green jet of light flew from his fingers..." Draco was cut off.

"Green? Are you sure he even said anything?" Ava asked suddenly. Everyone looked at her. "It's important, Draco. Did you even see his lips move?" Ava asked. Draco thought for a moment then shook his head.

"No. Now that you think about it, I never really saw him say anything. Maybe that's why I didn't hear anything," he said. Ginny scoffed.

"You think?" she said sarcastically. Draco resisted the urge to just curse her. He was much too tired and his body ached too much to retaliate with a sardonic comment of his own.

"He probably just put her out of commission until he leaves the premises. The moment he gets far enough from her, she will be revived," Ava said. Fionnula nodded.

"So, in other words, he just put her to sleep?" Draco asked. Ava nodded solemnly, still looking down at Neve. "Why did he do that?"

"I thought it would be obvious," Ginny whispered. Draco and Ava raised eyebrows. Ginny turned her head to look at the other four.

"What would be obvious?" Fionnula asked. Ginny smirked and looked back down at Neve.

"He wants to protect her. If Neve is up and running about, she could get hurt. He doesn't want that to happen. If she does get hurt, he would never forgive himself," Ginny said, smiling. "Love is beautiful," she said softly, wiping a strand of Neve's hair out of her face. Draco crossed his arms.

"Then, he must really be swimming in a sea of guilt right now," he said. Ginny and Ava looked at him.

"What do you mean by that? He didn't kill her. Ginny just confirmed that," Fionnula said. Draco sighed.

"Lift her shirt," he said. Aislin raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Lift her shirt. I'll turn around." Draco turned and put his hood over his head so they would not accuse him of peeping. Aislin looked at Ginny. Ginny lifted her shirt and they looked at Neve's chest. A large, circular mark was on her chest. Ava recoiled at the sight of it. It looked like a large bruise because of its deep red color. Aislin touched it lightly. She then put Neve's shirt back down. "Can I turn around now?" Draco mumbled.

"Yes," Fionnula said. Draco did so, removing his hood.

"What happened to her?" Ava asked.

"Zaviera had the Cruciatus Curse on me. Neve stopped him by making him fall. So, Zaviera got mad. I don't really remember what was being said. I was in a lot of pain. But, I do remember him saying a spell. Let's see, it was 'Serment...' 'Senent...'" Draco looked thoughtful, trying to remember. Aislin frowned up.

"Serrement?" she asked. Draco looked at her and nodded.

"That's it. He said that curse and Neve started grabbing at her chest. What does that curse do?" Draco asked. Aislin looked back down at Neve, a fearful look on her face. No one noticed it but Ginny.

"It squeezes her heart until it either explodes inside of her or it starts a massive heart attack, depending on who it is cast upon. Since Neve is young and pretty in shape, I guess it was just squeezing. How did he stop doing the curse?" she asked.

"I sent a curse at him. He was pushed down by his mother and the curse hit her." Draco gestured slowly to a body not too far from them. Ava went over to her mother's body. She knelt down beside it, closing her mother's eyes.

"Au revoir, mamá," she whispered and kissed her mother's forehead. Draco put his head in his hands as Ava walked back over to him. Ava looked at him.

"Ava..." he started. Ava shook her head, smiling weakly, but smiling nonetheless.

"It wasn't your fault. She did it to save Tommy and you sent the curse to save Neve. You had no choice," Ava said. Draco nodded, running a hand through his currently wild hair. All was silent until they heard a familiar voice.

"Tommy...no..." it said. Ginny and Aislin looked at Neve. She wasn't moving, but she had said something.

"Did she just talk?" Fionnula asked. Aislin nodded numbly. Neve's lips moved again, this time, it was in a whisper. Ginny put her ear to Neve's mouth. The whispering stopped and Ginny sat back up.

"What did she say?" Draco asked. Ginny looked up.

"She said something about Dumbledore. It was in Italian. All I could recognize was his name. Why is she doing this?" Ginny asked. Ava snapped her fingers. She walked around Ginny and Aislin.

"Let me lay next to her," she said. Ginny and Aislin looked at each other then stood up. Ava positioned herself next to Neve. Neve's blank eyes stared into Ava's narrow eyes. Ava took a deep breath and put her nose to Neve's, staring directly into her eyes. She felt her surroundings disappear.

Tommy blocked Aurora's spell. He looked at her and lowered his hand. Aurora looked livid with him. Harry was not paying much attention to either one of them. He was much too flabbergasted by Dumbledore's lifeless body. Aurora stalked forward, getting ready to duel with Tommy.

"You son of a bitch," Aurora mumbled. Nicola watched the girl stalk towards him. Aurora was pretty intimidating when she wanted to be. She felt the air grow a little colder. Nicola's eyes widened as she remembered the last time this had happened.

'Nagini,' she thought. Aurora stopped and stared at Tommy. Tommy stared back. Harry felt the dull ache in his head multiply between Voldemort getting closer to him and Aurora getting angry. Aurora kept staring at Tommy, feeling the coldness behind her eyes. She smirked as Tommy foolishly met her eyes.

'Namishi,' she thought evilly. Tommy blinked as he started choking. Aurora never blinked. Voldemort watched as his son was struggling to breathe. Harry watched this feat too. Aurora was drawing power from him. She knew Tommy had about thirty more seconds before he was dead.

Aurora gasped as she had a lapse. She saw Neve laughing happily as she and Tommy rolled around in the snow. She saw various occasions when her sister was happy with him. Letting her conscience get the better of her, she begrudgingly blinked. Tommy fell on the floor, gasping for air.

Voldemort looked confused. He was going to save his son, but the Assante girl had stopped the curse. He looked at her. Aurora was staring maliciously at Tommy. She looked as if she'd just lost the fight.

Tommy coughed violently, trying to catch his breath. He got back to his feet and stared at Aurora. Aurora had her eyes narrowed to the point where they were almost slits. Everyone else in the room was temporarily dumbfounded by the sight before them. Tommy took in a deep breath, finally regaining his composure.

"I'm curious," he stated.

"About?" Aurora asked.

"Why didn't you kill me? You had the perfect chance."

"Some of us are not cold-blooded traitors. Plus, I would rather see you rot in Azkaban before I kill you," she said in a deadly tone. Tommy smirked. Voldemort cleared his throat loudly, letting everyone know that he was still in the room. Harry and Aurora's heads snapped towards him. Voldemort wiggled his fingers.

"I just thought that you all had forgotten why you were here in the first place," Voldemort said. Harry shook his head, gripping his wand tightly.

"Oh no, I haven't forgotten," he said, starting to walk forward. Aurora nodded slowly.

"Neither have I," she said. Voldemort nodded.

"Well, I'm glad to see that we're all ready for this. Which one of you would like the privilege of dying first?" he asked. Harry and Aurora birth smirked instinctively.

"We don't plan on dying," they both said. At the same time, they put their wands out. Two jets of light, one blue and one red, went flying towards Voldemort. Before he could react, Voldemort was sent flying back into the Great Hall. Nicola and Tommy blinked. Aurora and Harry walked forward in the large room.

Voldemort stood up and dusted himself off. He glared at the two 17-year-olds.

"You two must be crazy if you think that I'm going to let two teenagers get the best of me," he said. Harry smirked.

"What? Voldemort, I've managed to evade you six times. Aurora's done it once. So, what makes this time any different?" he asked. Voldemort laughed. He waved his wand. The large doors to the Great Hall slammed shut just as Hermione, Lina, Rina, Neville, Luna, and Ron ran up.

"Colloportus maxima," Voldemort said calmly. The doors seemed to meld shut. Harry and Aurora looked behind them then looked at each other. Voldemort laughed. "Looks like you won't be getting any help from your pals," he said. Harry and Aurora looked back at Voldemort.

Ron slid to a stop. He took in the scene around him. Tommy was standing to the far side. Nicola had her arms crossed and was standing in the corner parallel to him. Some woman was slumped against a wall, stunned. A heavyset man was lying on the ground, obviously dead. He also saw the lifeless body of the headmaster. He stared there for a moment. Ron looked to his left and saw Cye and Chaylse still pointing wands at each other. Seph had her wand out, looking around nervously. Lina and Rina turned around, seeing Death Eaters closing in on them from behind.

"Um, guys..." they said together. Hermione turned around. In a matter of seconds, they were surrounded.

"Hmmm, this could be a problem," Lina said, pushing her back against Neville's.

"You're right," Luna said. They all had their wands pointing. Ron looked around them, counting heads.

"Has anyone seen Ginny?" he asked. Hermione's face softened for a moment. She had not eve noticed that her friend was missing.

"No. I don't remember her following us. I'm sure she's fine, Ron. Ginny can handle herself quite well. She's probably doing a whole lot better than us."

"Ron, now would be the time to think something up," Rina said.

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking," Ron whispered harshly. He saw Tommy and Nicola standing behind the Death Eaters. Tommy was just watching, not making any sort of move. Ron frowned, thinking how he would like to pluck out his eyeballs at this moment. "That's it!" he whispered loudly.

"What is? You need to talk fast. The Death Eaters are getting restless," Hermione whispered. She turned her head when she noticed some of them parting. Bellatrix walked through them to face Hermione. She grinned wickedly.

"Well, Miss Granger. We just keep running into each other, don't we?" she said. Hermione glared at her.

"I guess we do," she said. She flinched slightly as Ron began taping her side with his finger gently. Hermione remained still, taking in his message. For emergency purposes, she had forced all of them to learn Morse code. Ron was happy that she had taught them at this exact moment. Hermione smirked.

'If I can through up a barrier to surround us, do you think you could do the Raiden Curse,' was Ron's message. Hermione nodded slightly. 'When I say go, do it.' Hermione nodded again. Bellatrix raised an eyebrow.

"Are you ready to die, Miss Granger?" she asked. Hermione smirked.

"You need to see me in order to kill me, don't you, Bellatrix?" Hermione asked. Bellatrix looked thoroughly confused by her question.

"What is that supposed to mean?" she asked.

"GO!" Ron yelled. Hermione nodded. Ron threw up a barrier quickly.

'Raiden,' Hermione thought. The bright light was emitted. Thinking quickly, Nicola, Chaylse, Cye, and Seph threw up barriers around themselves. Bellatrix did the same, but her fellow Death Eaters were not so lucky. Some gave into the power of the light. When Hermione finally let the curse down, some of them were on the floor, feeling around them. Ron dropped the barrier. Hermione looked a bit tired.

"Stupefy!"a voice said. Ron turned in time to duck a stunning spell sent by Tommy. The spell hit Neville in the back. He fell forward and hit hi head. Luna gasped and ran to his side.

"Neville!" she yelled. Neville was out cold. Luna pointed her wand. "Ennervate," she mumbled. Neville shifted, but instead of being stunned, he was still knocked out cold. Luna sighed and dragged him to safety. Ron looked at Tommy.

"That was a rather cheap shot, Tommy," Ron said. Tommy shrugged.

"You know me," he said. Ron shook his head.

"That is where you are wrong. I don't know you anymore," Ron said, pointing his wand at Tommy. Tommy held his hand up.

"Are you ready?" he asked. Ron nodded.

Hermione, Lina, and Rina stared at Bellatrix. Bellatrix stared right back, looking mad as a hornet. Hermione let her gaze wander past Bellatrix at Nicola. Nicola had her arms crossed and she yawned. Hermione frowned. Was the woman deliberately trying to mock her?

"Hermione, go fight her. We've got this one," Lina and Rina said together. Hermione looked at them, then walked past Bellatrix. Surprisingly enough, Bellatrix allowed her to pass.

Nicola looked over at Hermione as she walked up to her. She smiled. She turned to totally face her.

"Well, I see you want to fight me now, right?" Nicola asked. Hermione nodded.

"I have no qualms with fighting you. I promise I won't get too rough." Hermione pointed her wand. Nicola did the same, laughing at the girl's arrogance.

"A smart girl as well as a smart arse; what a nice combination," Nicola said sarcastically. Hermione smirked.

"Yeah, well..." With the swiftness of her boyfriend, Hermione dropped to the floor, spinning on her right foot. She tripped Nicola up. Nicola fell backwards. Hermione pointed her wand in her neck. "I learned from the best," Hermione said. Nicola smiled.

"You think this is the end, don't you?" she asked, eyeing the tip of Hermione's wand. Hermione looked bewildered for a moment.

"Of course I do. You have no where to go," she said. Nicola just laughed. She moved her leg under Hermione unsuspectingly. Suddenly, Hermione found herself laid out on her back.

"Well, it seems that you have forgotten that I'm not old like these other fools. I'm still relatively young in comparison to them, especially Tom. Thankfully, I have not lost my flexibility yet." Nicola stood up quickly. Hermione followed suit and they began throwing curses at each other. Neither had any desire to do the other serious harm, but neither knew that.

Tommy sent a jet of air at Ron. Ron's wand went flying. He frowned. Tommy smirked. Ron crossed his arms.

"I suppose you're too chickenshit to fight me the old-fashioned way,." Ron said, a hint of cockiness in his voice. Tommy's eyes widened. He took off his robe and stalked towards Ron. Ron smiled as Tommy threw a punch. Ron dodged it and grabbed his wrist. Tommy flipped over on his back. Ron raised his foot to stomp him in the chest, but Tommy rolled away.

Back in the demolished hallway, Ava was still staring into Neve's eyes. She had not blinked yet. Aislin, Ginny, Fionnula, and Draco were still watching in silence.

"Non danneggi Ron. Non danneggi Ron (Don't hurt Ron. Don't hurt Ron)," Neve mumbled unconsciously. Ava's eyes widened.

Tommy caught Ron in a sleeper hold. He held on tightly. For some reason, he could feel Ava in him. Smirking, he closed his eyes.

'Do you see what I see?'

Ava blinked.

AN: Wussup, people! Yes, I know, that was a little teaser for the battle between Harry, Aurora, and Voldy-jerk. So, get ready. The next few chapters will be ones you won't wanna miss! I sound like a tv show...LOL