"You've got to be joking," Aaron snapped. Aspen and Cedric glanced between each other.
"She's very insistent on us doing this. Astrid wants Amora back," Aspen explained.
"Hell no, we're not using an Unforgivable Curse on our friend! Are you all mad?" Ned shouted.
"Ned...they do have a fair point," Belle muttered.
"You can't be seriously agreeing with them," Ned huffed.
"If it means getting Amora back, I wouldn't exactly...object the idea right away," Rey murmured. Aaron looked at her like she was a complete stranger.
He couldn't believe them. He stood up from the crowded kitchen table and began to walk away.
"Where are you going?" Rey called.
"To talk her out of this stupid idea," Aaron responded.
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"Amora?" Aaron called out quietly. There was no response.
"Um...Astrid?" Aaron tried again.
"Come in!" her voice rang out. He opened up the door slowly, and squinted his eyes at the amount of sunlight she was letting in the room. Her nose was buried in a book like it usually was, and for a second everything felt normal again. Then her eyes met his and his heart sank.
She was in terrible condition. Her skin was a sickly pale color and her brown eyes were sunken. She finally put on a nice beach dress, but it revealed multiple scars and angry marks. Nonetheless, she looked determined. She looked like Amora.
"I'm going to assume your Aaron, my twin brother?" she asked curiously. She tilted her head to the side as if she was trying to take a mental photograph.
"Yeah," was all he could say.
"We don't look anything alike," Astrid snorted.
"We get that a lot," Aaron chuckled. It was quiet for a moment, and the only sound in the room was the sound of waves crashing onto the shore.
"I think I know why you're here," Astrid muttered.
"Please, there has to be another way," Aaron begged.
"We don't have time. Harry and the others are getting ready to finally face Voldemort, and I need to be back to normal," Astrid explained.
"But what if you go loopy?" Aaron countered, his voice rising.
"At least I'll know who I am and be loopy!" she shouted. She paused and looked at Aaron, scared he was going to yell back.
"Calm down, I'm not upset with you I just...don't want you to get hurt," Aaron said softly.
"And you're an amazing brother, Aaron. You really are, but you don't always have to protect me," Astrid said quietly. Aaron's head spun, and he looked confused. He had spent most of his life looking out for Amora and Tyler, making sure that his family stuck together.
Could he manage to maybe not to just once?
"Fine. But I don't want any part in it," he grunted.
"About that..." Astrid muttered. Aaron looked at her and she gave him pleading eyes. It took a moment, but he registered what she was trying to say.
"No. No. Amor- uh, Astrid, I'm not going to be the one who does this," Aaron said, backing away.
"Please, Aaron. Aspen and Cedric couldn't bring themselves to do it, but I know you can. You're strong Aaron, so please just be strong for me," Astrid cried, grabbing his hands.
"Amora, you're asking me to torture you!" Aaron shouted.
"I'm asking you to bring me back!" she yelled.
Aaron felt extremely conflicted. He couldn't curse his sister, not in a million years.
But if it was to save her...
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Aaron left the room, and Astrid sank into her bed. All she needed was someone to use and Unforgivable Curse, but these people cared too much about her to use it. That's what hurt more. These people cared so much about her and she couldn't do anything about it.
She sighed and began skimming her book once again, looking for any possible cures. Once again, she had come up with nothing.
That's when she heard a baby cry.
Astrid rolled her eyes.
"I hate babies..." she groaned, rolling over and tossing a pillow on her head. The baby just wailed louder.
"I'm going to go shut that baby up," she announced to no one in particular. She followed the sound of the babies cries out the hallway and stopped right in front of a room.
Why was it crying in Grey Eyes room? Did he give birth?
Slowly, the door creaked open and she poked her head inside. Cedric wasn't in there, but a small bunch of blankets in a small wooden crib was wailing loudly.
Astrid marched over and lifted up the blankets. A small baby's face poked out of the bundle, and giggled.
It had the cutest grey eyes and dark brown hair, a bit like hers. Her heart raced, and for some reason something about holding this baby felt familiar.
Astrid hummed a tune, and the baby stopped crying. When she stopped humming, the baby kept crying.
"So you like singing?" Astrid giggled. She tried to think of a song she knew, but her mind turned up empty.
"Just sing something..." Astrid muttered. She squeezed her eyes shut and the words came out of her mouth before she knew it.
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
You'll never know dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away,"
The baby stopped crying immediately, and when Astrid looked at the bundle, the baby was fast asleep.
"Cedric? Cedric, where are you mate?" Ned's voice called. Astrid whirled around and she saw Cedric standing at the doorframe of the room. How much had he heard of her singing?
"Sorry Ned, I'll be right there! I just heard Andromeda being fussy again," Cedric called back.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to barge in, but I heard her crying," Astrid explained.
"Oh, don't worry! It's alright, but that was a beautiful song," Cedric reassured her.
Astrid's face blushed a deep red. So he had heard her.
"Well...I best be going," Astrid muttered. She shoved the bundle of blankets into Cedric's arms and ran from the room.
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"Alright, what's the plan?" Astrid asked in the middle of dinner. Everyone at the table glanced around nervously.
"Astrid, we aren't exactly sure yet," Aspen explained.
"I already made a plan," Astrid shrugged.
"What is it?" Ned asked curiously.
"Simple really. You all just have to use the Cruciatus Curse on me once, each. Multiple blasts at the same time should snap be back to reality," Astrid explained.
"That could kill you," Cedric muttered.
"Just so we're one the same page..." Aaron began.
"Same page? We aren't even in the same library!" Rey shouted.
"Your plan doesn't make any sense," Aaron muttered.
"I'm under no obligation to make sense to you. All of you meet me at the beach tonight at nine," Astrid said, "We're getting my memory back. Tonight." With those words, she stood up, scraped her leftovers into the trash, and left.
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