CHERRY // marlene mckinnon

-twenty nine

It was hard for Aurora to sleep the night before. She was in deep thought, thinking about Veronica's letter for the most part. But eventually she fell asleep, although it felt like she woke up only minutes later.

She ate breakfast and had asked her parents about going over to Veronica's the next week, and surprisingly, they agreed.

The rest of the day was a bore, as Aurora had been repeating the same routine for the whole summer. Her parents spent little to no time with their children and that left her with a lot of time on her hands. But she mostly spent the time reading, or doodling in her journal. Regulus on the other hand, was almost always in his room, doing, well whatever it was that he did.

But as Aurora had her head in a book, Regulus barged in her room with not warnings whatsoever.

"Okay so I need your help with something." He said, walking towards her.

"Woah, woah. You've been in your room all day long and now you barge into mine, expecting me to help you?" Aurora said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, that's the whole point." He quickly replied, and then continued what he was saying before. "So, as you know it's Veronica's birthday next week, and well, I  don't know what to get her."

"So let me get this straight...you don't know what to get your own girlfriend for her birthday?" Aurora asked, almost a little too loudly.

"Keep your voice down, I don't want them to hear." Regulus hushed her.

"Wait, they don't know?"

"No of course not, and I intend on keeping it that way. If mother and father find out, they'll make a big deal out of it and all hell will break lose." Regulus explained.

"Right, where were we? Oh yes, figuring out a gift for my best friend, who you also happen to be dating. Well, for starters, Ronnie doesn't really like over-extravagant stuff. She likes simple things and gestures."

"Okay, noted." Regulus said, waiting for his sister to continue. He initially came to Aurora for help because she was Veronica's best friend, and she probably knew more about Veronica than she did herself.

"Oh and she hates roses." Aurora added. "She also doesn't like fancy jewelry, if you were planning on getting that."

"Oka—wait, actually, I know exactly what to get her, thanks for the help!" He said as he rushed out of the room.

"I—okay then." Aurora then went back to reading her book. But then she shut it closed again when she realized that she also had to get something for her best friend. She didn't really know what Evan liked, so she left that part for Regulus.

So she quickly changed into a pair of flare jeans, a white button up top, and paired it off with white sneakers. She grabbed her
purse and made her way to the front door.

"Mother, father, I'm going out. I need to get a gift for Veronica!" She shouted so her parents could hear her, then she left before they said anything. She would deal with them later.

*****

Aurora knew that it was a risk to go to a muggle shopping area, but what her parents didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

She had apparated to a small shopping area in London, it was filled with many small cafes, stores, and boutiques. And luckily, she had converted her galleons to the muggle currency.

The weather was nice and sunny. The warmth from the sun hit her skin, and it felt quite pleasant. It also wasn't that crowded. Aurora strolled through the area, occasionally checking out some of the stores. She finally stopped at an antiques shop, it seemed interesting.