Aurora liked to think of her life as one that, unlike seemingly everybody else nowadays, she did not want to re-live.
Sometimes, when she's lying awake at night, she likes to think that the fates, or God or whoever it was that planned out peoples li...
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The third task was approaching quickly, and Aurora was petrified.
She was suddenly more aware of her surroundings, her eyes darting back and forth in their sockets at such a rate that she found herself getting dizzy ten times an hour, and her fingernails were bitten raw. She sat alone in the library most days, reading book after book on an assortment of magical creatures and defensive and offensive spells, chewing on the end of her quill and splodging her work.
After that night in the astronomy tower Remy had been around more often, though she was significantly quieter than before. Aurora could hardly find time in her schedule to worry about Remy on top of the tournament, but the thought of Remy drifting off again still haunted the nights just as much as the upcoming full moon did.
The next moon fell a month before the third task, and on the day before Aurora found herself surrounded by the pleasant smell of fresh parchment and pine forests, her table in the library covered in herbology textbooks, just in case she needed to fight off a devils snare in a months' time.
She had just finished a page on the properties of Mandrakes when she was interrupted by somebody clearing their throat awkwardly in front of her. She looked up, slightly annoyed, only to see a nervous looking Harry Potter leaning slightly against the book shelf opposite to her.
"Aurora." He said, "Hi!"
"What." Aurora said bluntly, her focus turning back to her book.
"Can I sit?" Aurora didn't reply, and Harry took that for a nod of acceptance. "You know for the third task-"
"No. They haven't announced it yet."
Harry laughed awkwardly, as if Aurora had just said something that was meant to be a joke but was actually really not-funny. Aurora fixed the younger boy with a piercing glare, and his laughing immediately ceased. He cleared his throat. "You...You're not joking?"
Aurora scowled. "Obviously not. They haven't told us what the task is, only that it's next month."
"Er. . . they did? The maze?"
"What maze." Aurora snapped. "Spit it out, you're wasting my time."
"They announced the task last week. I saw you there? At the quidditch pitch-" He winced, as if the memory had lashed him with a whip, "Well, what was the quidditch pitch."
"Wait," Aurora looked up, startled. "What's happened to the quidditch pitch?"
"You're telling me that you weren't actually there." Harry narrowed his eyes suspiciously, "Have you been polyjuiced? Or have you just generally forgot."
"Potter. What are you on about?"
"Brilliant." Harry muttered, "Bagman brought us down to the pitch last week, we have to get through a maze, remember?"
