=★=
The game continues, Aurora winces as each piece smashes. After a few moves, Ron, Harry, and Aurora study the game. Hermione knew nothing about wizard's chess, so she stayed quiet, and trusted Ron to make the right decisions.
"Wait a minute." Aurora's eyes widen in realization.
Ron turns to her, with sad eyes. "You understand right, Rory. Once I make my move, the Queen will take me... then you'll be free to check the King."
Tears threaten to spill out of Aurora's eyes. "No, Ron, no!"
"What is it?" Hermione asked, oblivious to the situation.
"He's going to sacrifice himself!" Harry said, with a worried look on his face.
"No, Ron, you can't!" Hermione cries. "There must be another way!"
Ron turns to look at his friends. "Do you want to stop Snape or not? Harry, Aurora, it's you two that have to go on. I know it. Not me, not Hermione, you."
Harry nods. Aurora does too, tears streaming down her face. She cant lose her best friend, she can't.
Ron sends one last look to Aurora, and she looks at him with pleading eyes.
"Knight...to H-3." Ron's horse moves forward, slides and stops.
"Check."
The Queen turns and advances. Ron breathes faster, clutching the steel reins. The Queen stops. SMASH! Ron goes flying off the horse and lands on the floor, unconscious.
Aurora looks away, small sobs escaping her lips. Hermione starts walking towards him.
"No! Don't move! Dont forget, we're still playing." Harry said, no matter how much he wanted to check on Ron. Hermione moves back.
Harry walks the diagonal in front of the King. "Checkmate."
The Kings sword falls onto the ground victory. Harry breathes out, and then the three run to Ron. They bend beside him, Aurora held his hand.
"Take care of Ron. Then, go to the owlery. Send a message to Dumbledore. Ron's right... we have to go on" Harry said, looking at his sister. She looked at him, and nodded.
"You'll be okay. You both are great wizards, you really are." Hermione said.
Aurora sniffled. "Not as good as you."
Hermione smiles. "Me? Books and cleverness? There are more important things. Friendship, and bravery. And Harry, Aurora, just be careful."
The twins nod, and walk away.
=★=
The two walk down a long staircase to an empty room with pillars around it. The Mirror of Erised is in the middle of the room, and a man is standing before it. It is Quirrell. The twins yelp and grab their scars.
"You?" Aurora questioned, with a surprised look.
Quirrell turns around.
Harry shakes his head. "No. It can't be...Snape. He was the one-"
"Yes. He does seem the type, doesn't he? Next to me, who would suspect, 'P-p-poor s-stuttering Professor Quirrell?'"
"B-but, that day, during the Quidditch Match, Snape tried to kill Harry." Aurora said, perplexed.
"No, I tried to kill Harry! And trust me, if Snape's cloak hadn't caught fire and broken my eye contact, I would have succeeded. Even with Snape muttering his little counter-curse."
Aurora's eyes widened at his response. Snape tried to save him?
"Snape was trying to...save me?" Harry asked with disbelief.
"I knew you both were a danger right from the off. Especially after Halloween." Quirrell glared.
"Th-then you let the troll in." Aurora put the pieces together. It all made sense now.
"Very good Potter, yes. Snape, unfortunately, wasn't fooled. While everyone else was running to the dungeon, he went to the 3rd floor to head me off. He, of course, never trusted me again. He rarely left me alone." Quirrell turns back to the mirror.
"But he doesn't understand. I'm never alone. Never. Now...what does this mirror do? I see what I desire. I see myself holding the stone. But how do I get it?"
A raspy voice speaks up. "Use the girl." Aurora's eyes widen as she looks around.
"Come here, Potter, now!"
Aurora walks over, shakily, but with a confident look on her face.
"Tell me. What do you see?" Quirell asks, looking at her through the mirror.
Aurora looks in the mirror. She sees herself. Her mirror self brings her hand into her pocket and takes out a red stone. The mirror self winks and puts the stone back. Very subtly, Aurora reaches to her pocket. She feels a lump, and gasps.
"What is it? What do you see?" Quirell yells, making Aurora flinch.
"I-I'm shaking hands with Dumbledore, next to Harry. Gryffindor won the house cup."
"She lies." The raspy voice speaks up once again.
Aurora turns to face Quirrell "Hey, where is that voice coming from, it's kinda creeping me ou-"
"Silence!" He yells.
Jeez, Aurora thought.
"Tell the truth! What do you see?" He tries to get the answer out of her. Aurora was about to make a sarcastic comment, but she was cut off.
"Let me speak to them." The raspy voice spoke up once again.
"Master, you are not strong enough."
"I have strength enough for this."
Aurora, and Harry, stare in confusion as Quirrell unwraps his turban and on the side opposite his face, another face is planted. It is Voldemort who appears kind of like a snake. He stretches out and faces the twins through the mirror.
"Harry, and Aurora Potter. We meet again."
"Voldemort." The twins say in unison.
"Yes. You see what I have become? See what I must do to survive? Live off another. A mere parasite. Unicorn blood can sustain me, but it cannot give me a body of my own. But there is something that can. Something, that conveniently enough, lies in your pocket!"
Aurora turns to run, grabbing Harry's hand.
"Stop them!"
Quirrell snaps his fingers and fire erupts all around the room. Aurora and Harry are stuck.
"Don't be a fool! Why suffer a horrific death when you can join me and live?"
"Never, you bald snake!" Aurora glares.
Voldemort laughed. "Haha. Bravery. Your parents had it too. Tell me, would you like to see your mother and father again? Together, we can bring them back."
Aurora and Harry look in the mirror to see their parents.
"All I ask for is something in return."
Aurora takes the stone from her pocket, and looks towards Voldemort.
"Aurora what are you doing?" Harry asked his sister, was she really buying it? Aurora looked at him, then looked back to Voldemort.
"That's it, Aurora. There is no good and evil. There is only power, and those too weak to seek it. Together, we'll do extraordinary things. Just give me the stone!"
Their mother and father vanish. "You liar!" Aurora yelled.
"Kill them."
With one quick motion, Quirrell flicks his hand to make Harry fly into the wall. Quirrell soars into the air and smashes into Aurora, one hand on her throat. Her leg scrapes against the step, and she lets out a yelp. The stone falls out of Aurora's reach as Quirrell chokes her. Aurora strains and squeaks. Suddenly, Rory puts her hand on Quirrell's, trying to get him off of her. Smoke furls from under his hand.
Quirrell yells out in pain, and Aurora smirks. "Harry, just touch him, that's his weakness!" She yells to her brother, who had finally gotten up from off the ground.
Harry places a hand on his face.
"Ahh! Ahh!" Quirrell backs up. His hand is crumbling into a mountain of black ash. "What is this magic?" His hand dissipates.
"Fool! Get the stone!" Voldemort scolds.
Quirrell walks forward, but Aurora puts both of her hands on his face. Quirrell backs up, then his face, which is horrendously burned, crumbles as he walks forward. His whole body is ash. He falls to the floor. The twins gasp, and they look at their own hands, which were undamaged.
They hurry over to the stone. Harry picks it up and sighs, when he hears something. Turning, the twins see a dust clouds with Voldemort's face. The cloud rushes forward, right through them, sending them flying through the air.
They both fall to the ground, unconscious. The stone, slipping out of Harry's hand.
=★=
Aurora flutters her eyes open to see she is in the hospital wing, Harry was asleep in the bed beside her.
"Harry? Harry wake up!" She tries to get out of bed, but a searing pain from her leg stops her. She winced, and got back into bed. She looked under the covers, to see her leg was wrapped in a white bandage. She groans and takes a minute to look at her surroundings.
There were many candy wrappers, and cards, scattered all over the place.
Aurora looked over to see Dumbledore, standing at the doors of the infirmary. "Not so fast, Ms. Potter, your leg has been seriously injured. It might take a while to recover."
Aurora looks down, then back up at Dumbledore "What about Quidditch?" She asked.
"There is only one game left of the season, you won't miss too much." Dumbledore smiles.
"Damn."
Dumbledore chuckles. "You remind me a lot of your father, always getting into trouble. He sure was something."
Aurora smiled, to her that was a compliment.
Their conversation comes to an end, when Harry wakes up. He puts on his glasses and looks around.
Dumbledore turns to face him. "Good afternoon, Harry. Ah. Tokens from your admirers?"
"Admirers?" Harry asked.
"What happened down in the dungeons between you two, and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret, so, naturally, the whole school knows."
They all smile, and Aurora lets out a laugh.
"Ah, I see your friend Ronald has saved you the trouble of opening your Chocolate Frogs."
"Ron was here? Is he all right? What about Hermione?" Aurora asked, concerned about her friends.
"Fine. They're both just fine." Dumbledore reassured her.
"But, what happened to the Stone?" Harry asked.
"Relax. The stone has been destroyed. My friend Nicholas and I had a little chat and agreed it was best all around."
"But Flamel, he'll die, won't he?" Rory quesitoned.
Dumbledore sat on Harry's bed. "He has enough Elixir to set his affairs in order. But yes, he will die."
"How is it I got the Stone, sir? One minute I was staring in the mirror, and the next..." Aurora trailed off.
"Ah. You see, only a person who wanted to find the Stone, find it, but not use it, would be able to get it. That is one of my more brilliant ideas. And between both of you, and me that's saying something." She smiles.
Harry tilted his head. "Does that mean, with the Stone gone, I mean, that Voldemort can never come back?"
"Ah, I'm afraid there are ways in which he can return. Do you know why ProfessorQuirrell couldn't bear to have you touch him?"
The twins shook their heads.
"It was because of your mother. She sacrificed herself for you, and that kind of act leaves a mark."
The two, touch their lightning bolt scars.
"No, no, this kind of mark cannot be seen. It lives in your very skin."
"What is it?"
He pauses for a moment.
"Love."
Dumbledore pats Harry's head and stands up.
"Ah. Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. I was most unfortunate in my youth to come across a vomit flavoured one, and since then I have lost my liking for them. But I think I could be safe with a nice toffee."
He takes brown bean and eats it.
"Mm.Alas. Earwax." He walks out.
Aurora and Harry laugh, before looking at each other.
"Are you okay, Harry?" Aurora asked her brother.
"I think so, you?"
"Just peachy."
=★=
I was crying making this chapter ;(
The book isn't done yet, but I wanted to thank all of you for commenting and voting on the chapters, it really means a lot to me!
Question: Are you a morning or a night person? I'm definitely a night person, I cannot wake up in the morning.