The End

Chapter 40: Ain't No Feeling Like Being Free

"So you mean to tell me that you all haven't seen Neve or Ava since we were brought here?" Harry asked as the nurse checked him out. Ginny, Ron, and Neville shook their heads.

"I haven't even heard so much as a peep from them. Normally, Neve would be screaming at the top of her lungs how she will kill the Mediwizards and nurses with her bare hands if they touch her again. It's almost surreal that you don't hear that," Ginny said, looking down. Harry nodded. He looked up at the nurse.

"Where is Neveah Assante?" Harry asked. The nurse looked at him with a raised eyebrow. She then checked her watch.

"Well, by now she should be on her way to the Ministry," the nurse said. The other three all looked dumbfounded.

"Why is she going to the Ministry? Isn't she hurt?" Ron asked. The nurse shook her head.

"After we healed all of the initial cuts and bruises, she was fine. The only thing left was a psychiatric evaluation and she refused to do that. Then the Minister of Magic requested that he see her immediately as well as Avarielle Zaviera. They were both being kept in the psychiatric ward. I don't think that they are still there, though." The nurse packed her things up and left the room. Harry looked over at the other three.

"Well, this isn't good," he mumbled.

"Why do you say that? Isn't Fudge just going to question her?" Ginny asked. Harry laughed.

"Well, if you call demanding answers questioning. He's going to try and get Tommy's whereabouts out of Neve. I highly doubt she knows where he is, though," Harry said. Ginny crossed her arms.

"Why?" She asked. Neville cleared his throat.

"Well, Neve was the last person to see Tommy. From what I can gather, she let him go..." He was cut off my Ginny's appalled gasp.

"Neville! Neve wouldn't betray us like that!" She yelled. Neville rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, that's what everyone said about Tommy and last time I checked, he tried to kill most of us," he said with blunt sarcasm and contempt in his voice. Ginny sank back in her chair.

"I still don't believe you," she said quietly.

"Believe it,"a voice said from behind Neville and Ron. They all looked towards the door and saw Lina and Rina standing in the door. Rina's nose was still wrapped and Lina's head and wrist were wrapped. They both looked weary and tired.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked. Lina walked forward, Rina following her.

"I stunned Tommy as he was about to throw some sort of spell at Neve. Neve then stunned me. The next thing I remember is lying to McGonagall about how I ended up on the ground in the forest. So, Neve did aid Tommy in getting away. I don't necessarily blame her, though," Lina said. Ron crossed his arms.

"Why the hell not?" He asked. Lina shrugged indifferently.

"What would you have done if it was Hermione you were facing? Put yourself in Neve's position," Rina said. Ron opened his mouth to say something, but found that he really had nothing to say. He just looked away from the Tremaine twins.

"Do you think Fudge knows that?" Ginny asked.

"I don't know," Harry said, looking out of the window.

Neve walked down the hall in the Ministry. Four Aurors surrounded her. Neve did not understand why she needed so much security around her. It wasn't like she was going to try and escape. All she really wanted to do was go home and go to sleep. Besides, if she really wanted to, Neve could easily take out the Aurors with her hands tied behind her back. She smirked to herself at the thought.

'To be a Magas,' she thought smugly. The Aurors in front of her stopped suddenly. They turned around and stepped back. Neve looked to her right and saw an open door.

"Go in," one of them said. Neve complied obediently and walked in the room. It was bare except for two chairs and a table. "Sit and drink this." The Auror handed her a glass. Neve looked at it. She was not stupid; she knew it was probably laced with Veritaserum. She just smiled and drank it. After all, she had nothing to hide.

After sitting in the room alone for about twenty minutes, the doors opened. Neve noticed that two of them with of the Magi. Neve knew one of them was Clyde Tremaine, father to the Tremaine sisters and a well-known Magus. She smirked. Was she really that important? Fudge came in after them. The two following him were a shock to her. Ricardo Assante and Ava walked in. Ava was instructed to sit next to Neve. She obeyed silently.

"Nonno (Grandfather)?" Neve asked. Ricardo nodded at his youngest granddaughter. Neve didn't understand why her grandfather was here. This was not his jurisdiction anyway.

"Well, I suppose you both know why you are here today," Fudge said. Neve turned her attention away from him and looked at Fudge. For some reason, his mere appearance made her sick to her stomach. Both of the girls nodded. "Let's not dawdle. Neveah, will you tell us where Tomás Zaviera is hiding?" Fudge asked. Neve stared at him for a moment.

"To tell you the truth, I don't know. Even if I did know, I wouldn't betray him by telling you," Neve said. Fudge raised an eyebrow and looked at Ricardo. Ricardo nodded and looked at his granddaughter long and hard. Neve wiped a stray strand of hair from her face.

"Tell the truth, Neve. You have to know something about his whereabouts," Ricardo said. Neve just smiled at her grandfather.

"Già ho detto che non so, Nonno. Sto dicendovi la verità. Non lo credete (I already said that I do not know, grandfather. I am telling the truth. Don't you believe me)?" Neve asked. Ricardo Assante stared long and hard at his granddaughter. She did not seem to be lying.

"Did you give her a truth serum, Cornelius?" Ricardo asked. Fudge shook his head.

"I just gave her something to drink. There was nothing in it," Fudge said. Neve raised an eyebrow. So the drink had not been mixed with Veritaserum.

'Then why did he give it to me...'

"Avarielle, do you know where your brother might be staying?" Fudge asked. Ava looked up from the floor. If looks could kill (in Ava's case they can), Fudge would be six feet under. Neve cringed. Ava had possibly the scariest eyes known to man.

"I don't know where he is and, like Neve, I wouldn't tell you even if I did," Ava said in a deadly tone. Ricardo and Fudge exchanged glances.

"We have reason to believe that Tomás will try to contact you eventually. Because of this possibility, you two will be under house arrest and constant surveillance until he is caught. Neveah, you will be sent to an undisclosed location. Avarielle, you will be sent to Romania to work for Charles Weasley until further notice," Ricardo said. Neve's mouth dropped open.

"You're locking me away? Then you're not going to even tell me where?" Neve said, rising from her chair. The Magus standing to the right of Ricardo stepped forward, reaching for his wand. Neve looked at him, daring him to try something.

"Clyde, that is not necessary. Believe me, she's a lot tougher than she seems. Neve, it is only for a little while..." Ricardo tried to reason with her. Neve shook her head.

"You're locking up in some house a million kilometers from civilization!" Neve yelled. Ricardo sighed.

"Neve, it is for your own safety..." Ricardo said. Neve was practically convulsing with anger. Her fists were squeezed tightly together.

"I want to leave here right now," she whispered, staring down at the floor. Ava watched her younger friend. She had never seen Neve so angry before. Sure, she's seen Neve get rather mad, but not to the point where she looked as if she was going to explode. The roots of her hair were changing color.

"Neve, we're not fi..."

"I said I want to go now!" Neve yelled. Ricardo took a deep breath and nodded. He gestured to the Magus standing next to him to take her out. The Magus made the mistake of touching Neve's arm. She grabbed his wrist on instinct and broke it without thinking twice. "You might want to get some ice for that," she said.

Draco's eye fluttered open. He looked around him. As his vision became clearer, he saw the dark-haired beauty smiling in front of him. He smiled back at her.

"Good afternoon, Draco," Aurora said happily, picking at the food tray in front of her.

"Good afternoon, Aurora. How long have I been asleep?" He asked. Aurora shrugged.

"The nurse told me I woke up a little after you fell asleep. I have been awake for about a day now. So, you have been sleeping right there for that amount of time. You looked so cute that I did not want to wake up. Plus, the nurse told me that you had not slept in four days because you were watching over me," Aurora said. Draco nodded.

"I don't understand how I fell asleep, though. I seemed to be doing just fine until..." It all came back to him. "That Weasley woman drugged me!" He yelled. Aurora shook her head.

"She did it for good reason, too. You should never deprive yourself of sleep, Draco," Aurora said. Draco just stared at her. He stretched his arms outward.

"Where's Neve?" Draco asked. Aurora sighed.

"I have not seen her at all since I have been awake. Papá told me that she was taken to the Ministry of Magic for questioning about Tommy. That was yesterday. Questo alimento è terribile (This food is terrible)," Aurora mumbled the last sentence. Draco nodded and glanced at the food on her tray. It did not look appealing in the least bit.

"I'm going to see about everyone else. Do you want to come?" Draco asked. Aurora looked up from the tray. She then looked out the window. It was pitch black outside.

"But it is night, Draco. No one is up," Aurora said. Draco held out his hand. Aurora stared at it for a moment. Sighing, she took it and he helped her out of bed. As soon as she tried to stand up, she fell forward. "Hmmm, that is strange," she mumbled.

"Can you move your legs?" Draco asked, holding her up. Aurora tried to wiggle her toes. After a few attempts, she got them moving. She let go of Draco and tried to balance on her legs. She took a step forward.

"I am good," she said. Draco nodded and took her hand. He opened the door to Aurora's room slowly. The lights in the corridor were dimmed slightly. No one was coming down either side. Draco squinted and saw "POTTER, H" on the door at the end of the hall. He pulled Aurora along. "Draco, where are we going?" She said in a hushed voice. Draco did not answer and just pushed Harry's door open. What he saw was not a complete shock.

Everyone had somehow gotten the same idea as Draco. They were all gathered around Harry's bed with chairs. Ginny and Harry were both actually on the bed. The talking ceased when Draco and Aurora entered the room.

"Why were we not invited?" Aurora asked, placing her hands on her hips. Hermione just laughed and moved over on the couch so that Aurora could sit. Draco nodded his greeting at the guys.

"It's about bloody time you awoke, Malfoy. You were sleeping like you were dead for a moment there," Ron said, popping a bottle open. Draco immediately took the bottle of firewhiskey and began chugging. Ron and Neville just watched him with wide eyes. When Draco lowered the bottle, he was rubbing his throat.

"Well, I would've been up sooner if your mother hadn't decided to drug me," he mumbled. Ron raised an eyebrow, taking the bottle from him.

"Mum drugged you?"

"It was the only way for him to go to sleep," Aurora said from across the room. Hermione noticed the bottle of firewhiskey floating around the room.

"I can't believe you all! You're in the hospital! Why do you have to get pissed to make it worse?" She yelled. Ron and Harry looked over in her direction. She was practically steaming with anger.

"Aw, Mione. Can't we have just a little bit of fun? We've been cramped up in her for a week now and it's starting to wear on me. This place is depressing as it is," Ron said. Hermione turned away from him as he took a swig of the whiskey.

"Well, if you wake up with hangovers in the morning, don't expect me to do a charm on any of you. I can guarantee that your mother won't do one either, Ronald," she said. Ron rolled his eyes. Then it dawned on Hermione. "Where'd you get that anyway, Ron?"

"Oh, this is courtesy of Fred and George Weasley. They left earlier this morning and decided to let us have this," Ron said. He held the bottle up. "I'd like to propose a toast to our new found freedom." Ron said.

"Freedom?" Aurora asked. Ron nodded.

"Well, with Voldemort out of the way, we can all slow down on the growing up process and kick back and enjoy the summer for once. I know I'd like to have as much fun as humanly possible before Mum forces me to get a job." Ron passed the bottle to Harry.

"Ron's right. We finally are free. We don't have to worry about anything that could put our lives in danger. We can finally act our age," he said. Ginny smirked and took Harry's pillow from behind his head.

"Would this be defined as acting our age?" She smacked him in the face with the pillow. Harry smiled at her.

"Well, I suppose so..." He said.

"Aw, you two, get a bloody room!" Ron yelled. Ginny looked at her brother.

"Last time I checked, you are in his room, Ron," she said, giggling like mad. Ron rolled his eyes. He threw a "Get Well" teddy bear at her. Ginny threw another one of Harry's pillows at him. Before anyone knew what was happening, pillows, stuffed animals, and even flowers were flying across the room at amazing speeds. It would be another few hours before the last of them fell asleep.

A nurse walked in Aurora's room the next morning, carrying a tray of the awful hospital food. She had yet to notice that Aurora was missing from her bed. The nurse sat the tray down on the table and opened the curtains, letting the sun in.

"Rise and shine, Miss Assa..." The nurse turned around and stopped dead in her tracks. She ran out of the room and looked around the hall. Aurora was nowhere in sight. Neither was her cute boyfriend. The nurse saw her mother, Giuliana, coming down the hallway with Vittoria Assante.

"Mrs. Assante..." The nurse began.

"Yes?" Both women said. The nurse's eyebrows furrowed. Vittoria realized why she was looking the way she did.

"We're both 'Mrs.' I'm the grandmother. This is Aurora and Neveah's mother," Vittoria said, gesturing towards Giuliana. The nurse nodded.

"Your daughter is missing. Aurora is gone," the nurse said quickly. All the blood in Giuliana's face seemed to leave at that exact moment.

"Gone? Have you checked everywhere? Have you che..." Before Vittoria could finish, another nurse ran up to them.

"All of the students are missing," she said.

"Have you checked on Potter yet?" An anonymous voice said. The nurses all ran towards Harry's door. They all stopped dead in their tracks at the scene before them. Vittoria and Giuliana breathed a long sigh of relief.

Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Draco, Aurora, Luna, Lina, and Rina were all laid out in the room somewhere. Ginny was snuggled up under Harry's arm. Hermione was leaning on Ron, who was snoring loudly. Neville and Luna were in a corner leaning on each other. Draco was resting his head in Aurora's lap. Aurora was unconsciously stroking his hair while resting her head against the wall. Lina and Rina were somehow entangled in a mass of arms and legs on the floor.

"It almost makes you not want to wake them," Giuliana whispered. "Let them rest for now. They'll eventually wake up," Giuliana told the nurses. They nodded and closed the door to the room.

Later that day, Draco watched Aurora finish packing. He was holding his head and quietly moaning to himself, cursing the firewhiskey he had consumed the night before. Aurora was smiling smugly with her back towards him.

"Can't you please just do it for me?" Draco moaned. Aurora shook her head.

"Hermione warned you all. I seem to remember all of you not wanting to listen when she threatened not to give you a charm or potion. It serves you right for being ignorant of our warnings." Aurora closed the trunk just as the door opened. She whirled around and gasped happily at who she saw.

"Hey," Neve said quietly. Aurora ran to her sister and threw her arms around her neck. Neve nearly fell back. She smiled and hugged her sister tightly. Aurora took a step back looked her sister up and down. Neve wore her long hair up in a large bun at the top of her head. She wore black robes and she looked mildly sad. Aurora noticed the "X" scar was gone.

"Where have you been?" Aurora asked. Neve smiled falsely and both Draco and Aurora knew it.

"Around. Anyway, I can't stay," Neve said quickly. As if to accent her words, an unfamiliar Magus opened the door.

"Five minutes, Miss Assante," he said. Neve nodded, looking down at the floor. Aurora looked from her sister to the man then back at Neve. Draco watched the wheels turn in Aurora's head as she pieced together what was going on.

"Where are you going? Why are they taking you away?" She asked. Neve did not meet her sister's eyes.

"They think that Tommy will try and contact me. They say it's for my own safety or something of the nature. I don't even know where I'm going. They won't tell me. It's supposed to be some sort of...Aurora?" Neve watched as her sister stormed past her. Neve looked at Draco. Draco just shrugged. He got up and followed Aurora out of the room. Neve followed him.

Aurora looked both ways in the hall, searching for her parents' mind signatures. She smirked when she realized that her entire family and Fudge were in the waiting room together.

'Due uccelli con una pietra (Two birds with one stone),' Aurora thought mischievously. She began walking down the hall, occasionally wobbling. Draco and Neve followed after her. Neve immediately realized where her sister was going.

"This is not going to be good," she said. Draco looked at her then back at Aurora. The girl was walking like she was on a mission. When they arrived at the waiting room, all went quiet. Aurora scanned the room for her grandfather. She stalked over to him and looked up at him.

"Perchè siete che la trasmettete via (Why are you sending her away)?" She asked. Ricardo Assante sighed and shook his head.

"Your sister could possibly lead us to Tomás Zaviera. We're keeping her under close guard. You'll see her when the summer is over, Aurora," Ricardo said. Aurora shook her head.

"Why cannot you find him on your own time? Neve has done nothing wrong to deserve you putting her under quarantine. I cannot believe you two are condoning this." Aurora glared at her parents. Giuliana looked away and Alfonso just shrugged.

"Regardless of what you think, Aurora, Neveah is still going to be sent away. No one but the Magi will know where she is. I'm sorry, but it has to be this way," Alfonso said. Aurora crossed her arms.

"You all act like he will try to contact her. Give Tommy a little more credit than that. He is not that dense to try and contact Neve. I will never forgive you all for this. You are locking her away like some common criminal." Aurora turned and walked out. Draco followed her out, passing Neve. Neve just stared at her family members with a clear amount of disgust. Finally, she turned to follow her sister. Giuliana looked at her husband.

"She is going to hate us," she said. Alfonso shrugged.

"She'll get over it," he said. Benicio and Donatello laughed and Vittoria shook her head. Alfonso looked at his sons. "What?" Benicio looked at his grandmother. Vittoria nodded.

"If you both think that Neveah Verdi Assante is going to 'get over it,' you've got another thing coming to you. Santino, non mastica su quello (Santino, do not chew on that)," Benicio took a piece of a quill out of his younger brother's mouth. Donatello nodded.

"Neve is the queen of holding grudges. She'll never forgive any of you for this. Ever. Sure, she'll talk to you and all of that nice stuff. As far as she's concerned, though, she has lost all sort of respect for any of you. So, when she gets back, be prepared for the worst," Donatello said.

"Like I said before, she'll get over it," Alfonso said.

Aurora stormed into an intersection of the hallways. She nearly knocked Harry and Ginny down. Both Aurora and Ginny slammed into each other. Harry grabbed Ginny's arm and Draco grabbed Aurora's arm.

"Where's the fire?" Harry asked. Aurora looked at her friends.

"They are sending her away," Aurora said. Harry and Ginny just stared at her with questioning looks on their faces.

"They're sending me away," Neve said as if she was stating that she had combed her hair that morning. Harry and Ginny just stared at each other.

"Why?" Ginny asked, looking back at Neve.

"They think that Tommy will try to contact me. They say it's for my own safety. I think I can handle Tommy, to tell you the truth. Ava's receiving the same treatment. Since she's technically out of school, she going to work for your brother, Ginny," Neve said.

"Charlie? In Romania? With dragons?" Harry asked.

"That's right,"a new voice said. Neve looked past Harry and Ginny. Ava was standing there. Draco, Harry, Ginny, and Aurora turned to look at her. Ava had her hood up. If one was just to look at her, one would think that she was a Death Eater; a Death Eater who wore white. For some reason, she looked a little paler than usual. She removed her hood and everyone gasped.

"Ava...your hair..." Ginny whispered. Ava nodded. Her hair was cut very short and was about the same length as Harry's.

"Some time last night, I came across some scissors that a nurse had left in the room. It's really hard to work with dragons having long hair. Plus, it was starting to bother me with having to comb it everyday..."

"Harry! Ginny!" A voice was yelling from the other end of the corridor. They all turned to see George and Fred walking up to them. Lee Jordan was limping behind them.

"Come back, have you?" Ginny asked, crossing her arms. Fred looked down at his sister.

"We came to get...Oi! Ava, what did you do to your hair?" Fred asked, looking appalled that she had cut it. Ava narrowed her already slits for eyes at Fred, causing him to shiver a bit.

"I cut it, Fred. What does it look like?" She asked through clenched teeth. Fred cowered behind his sister. Lee cleared his throat.

"Well, I...uh...I like it. It suits you," he said, barely audible. Everyone just stared between the two. George rolled his eyes and Fred made a gagging sound. Ginny was beaming between the two.

"Merci beaucoup...I mean thank you," Ava fumbled out. Fred sighed and touched Lee's arm.

"We've got to get going. We just came by to pick up Lee. It's been fun," Fred said. Lee was still staring at Ava as Fred pulled him off. George laughed and waved at the rest of them as they disappeared around the corner. Harry, Ginny, and Draco turned back to Aurora, Neve, and Ava.

"So, you're leaving too?" Harry asked. Ava nodded.

"I don't know why they told me where I was going. They won't tell Neve at all. Well, I've got to go finish packing. I stop and say goodbye before I go." Ava walked past them. They stood in silence as Ava walked off. The silence was broken by a rather gruff voice.

"Miss Assante, it's time." A tall Magus stood behind Neve. Neve sighed and looked down at her feet. She glanced back up at her sister, smiling. Aurora looked close to tears. She threw herself at Neve, hugging her tightly. Neve laughed softly.

"It's only for a little while, Aurora. I'll be back," Neve said in her sister's ear. Aurora nodded through her thick hair. She stepped back, wiping the tears off of her face. Neve looked around at the others.

"Stay out of trouble, Neve." Ginny smiled. Neve laughed.

"Me? In trouble? That's such nonsense," she said. Draco made a scoffing noise. He wasn't looking at any of them.

"Now, THAT'S rubbish. Seriously, Neve, be good." Draco looked over at her. Neve nodded. She hugged Aurora one last time. She turned to walk away with the Magus.

Once again, everyone sat in Harry's room, thinking about the events that had transpired over the past week or so. Everyone seemed to be engaged in some sort of conversation with another. Harry felt something inside of his robes when he was trying to pick them up off of the floor. Shaking them, a piece of parchment fell out. Harry's eyebrows furrowed and he picked it up. He sat back down on the bed next to Ginny and opened it. When he read it, everything all of a sudden became very clear.

"That's why..." He whispered.