𝐂𝐫𝐮𝐞𝐥𝐭𝐲 ; Fleur Delacour

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲

❝ Ridiculous anticipations. ❝

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"Salazar, Aurora — You could have been killed!"

Aurora Black scapes through the narrowed hallway, it being dark as it was half past three in the morning. Hers and Daphne's heavy footsteps barged in people's sleepy nights into a disastrous one. For the latter's argumentative voice got in their heads, waking them roughly up in the crack of dawn.

"Leave me alone." Aurora mutters, neither angry nor upset for she was numb. Not because of a painful curse inflicted onto her, but because of who caused it.

"No, you don't get to do that!" Daphne exclaims, her own wand highly attended on her hand, firmly held. It was scary how one comforting night turned badly worse when Fleur worriedly knocks on her bedroom door.

As Aurora walks up a step, she stops when the kitchen door opens and now sees Fleur an immensely worried expression. It hurts to see as Fleur's eyes looks at the blood on her cheek and on her ripped open coat sleeve. Aurora's stoic expression was washed off in realization of the pain she's currently in and began going upstairs once more.

"Rory!" Daphne darts up as well, messily clanking unlaced shoelaces on the edges of the steps. Then Fleur knew she should've tried harder to stop Aurora from leaving the house.

Tears began to form in Aurora's eyes as she walks in narrowed hallways, passing by a raging picture of Walburga Black, hoping it would shut up and won't wake anyone else. But thus, her wishes were not granted when she heard Molly's peering voice from a floor up, yelling what was the commotion.

Sirius was in a bad mood, hands running in his hair frustratedly upon hearing quicken paced of footsteps coming close to his room. "What the bloody hell —" He stops just by his door, seeing Aurora pass him but not before looking at her father. "Aurora — What happened?!" He exclaims, grabbing a sweatshirt behind the door and began wearing it oppose to his night attire.

"Just give it a rest!" Aurora raised her voice out of the pressure of everyone asking and telling her off. For when she slammed the bedroom door, multiple paintings clatter on the carpeted floors and lights flickered open and close.

Aurora couldn't move as she slipped down the floorboards, crying silently as her back rests on the black door. The occurrence of tonight backed her onto a corner she couldn't get out from. Seeing Elias and him accusing her for never helping him was too much. Did he really think she and Daphne didn't try?

Because they did. They really did and Aurora didn't know where she went wrong.

"Aurora, please open the door." Daphne knocks heavily, glancing at Sirius who shook his head at her. They didn't want to force their hand, especially not when they couldn't hear a single thing behind that locked door. It was frightening to see their friend, daughter, in such a state that would get anyone shot down a barricade of self remorse.

Aurora pulls her knees to her chest, her teeth itched in stained red from her own blood and it tasted so stale. Her fair skin slashed into a cut on her arm, forever holding torch onto the boy she considered as a brother did that to her. An even smaller slit was on her pale cheek, stunning into continous tears as she closed her eyes and depended on her forehead resting on her uninjured arm, small cries leaving her pink lips.

In the darkened corridor, being awaken by stubborn heads of protests calling Aurora's name, Molly reigned Daphne into a smaller space to ask what's happened. Sirius doesn't join them and kneels on the floor, hand implanted on wooden surface when he heard Aurora's mumbled cries through it all.

Fleur eventually joins the small crowd gathered outside her room shared with Aurora. It was obvious Fleur tried to hide any evidence that she cried downstairs, before and after Daphne came back with Aurora. It was obvious when her eyes were heavy, red by continous tears pooled until now.

"Fleur." Daphne calls, folding her arms up to her chest, preferably too out of place to say, "I think you're what she needs right now."

It was different. Daphne wasn't the one who was comforting Aurora when she comes to Hogwarts after summer because of Aspen Briar's abuse. She wasn't the one who could see Aurora crying because of the lack of maternity love. It was Elias and now he was the one to hurt her.

Daphne wanted to kill him but hesitates to do when thought of.

"This is ridiculous — What she needs is a healer —"

As Fleur took a step forward, the sound of a clap echoed in empty spaces that silenced Molly Weasley. The first thing Fleur noticed in coming in their room was it was empty. Then she looks back to the door, seeing Aurora curled on her knees and into the corner, crying in her own arms that made Fleur falter.

Fleur was unsure if she could even do this. Still, she had hopes she can and steps forward, sinking on her knees silently. Their relationship has been nothing but bliss and purity of fun. Of course, there would be a day where it would be the opposite and they'd have fights and arguments. But this was entirely different than what Fleur expected.

It was better than arguing, sure, but Fleur still didn't want to see her lover crying and trying not to when she holds her hand.

"You don't have to be here. . ." Aurora whispers, her voice barely heard and unrecognizable.

Fleur slowly shook her head despite not being seen. "Let's get you up. I have to bandage your arm up." She whispers just as low, voice soothing and Aurora was sure she had gone slightly better because of it. Fleur plants a small and assuring kiss on the top of Aurora's head, "I love you. Please, let me do this."

For a first in a very long while, Aurora felt weak when she sits on the edge of her mattress. With her head hung low and couldn't stop seeing Elias in her line of sight, Fleur took it all away when she came back with a clean and damp towel from the bathroom.

"It's not that deep, you can have Mrs. Weasley look after it tomorrow after you get rest." Fleur avoids Aurora's eyes but it's not like she was looking at her. Compliantly, Aurora lifts her arms and holds back a verbal wince when she felt the pain backlash onto her slashed skin.

It was quiet and Aurora stopped crying. For she couldn't look back into what happened when Fleur was carefully cleaning her open wound. "I'm glad it was me. . . It could've happened to Daphne too." Aurora whispers as if to make good in the situation.

"You're glad you got hurt and hexed?" Fleur bluntly asks, neatly folding the towel before gently dabbing it on the dried blood on Aurora's face.

"No, I —"

"— Please, stop moving." Fleur — as gently as she could — holds Aurora's chin and tilts it to the other direction to see the small cut more clearly. Though it may not sound like much, it bled a lot that Fleur couldn't ignore.

Sensing she was upset, Aurora stays silent and shame filled her nerves.