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— (chapter twenty-seven.) —
"Dumbledore reckons You-Know-Who's getting stronger again as well?" Atlas whispered.
Everything Aurora had heard heard from Dumbledore, her less than fortunate encounter with the Minister and their conversation afterward, she had now shared with Atlas, Pansy, Theodore, Selene and Draco — and, of course, with Remus and Regulus, to whom Aurora had sent an owl the moment she had left Dumbledore's office with Harry. Selene and Aurora had sat up late in the common room once again that night, talking it all over until Aurora's mind was reeling, until she understood what Dumbledore had meant about a head becoming so full of thoughts that it would have been a relief to siphon them off.
Selene stared into the common room fire. Aurora thought she saw Selene shiver slightly, even though the evening was warm.
"I've never wished more in my life that Dumbledore is wrong." Selene said, rubbing her arm anxiously. "You know what it'll mean for all of us, don't you, if You-Know-Who is really getting stronger?"
"Yes," said Aurora quietly. "But we'll have to deal with that when it comes. Who knows, Dumbledore may be wrong."
Beckett Hayes, a boy that lived in St Bernard's with Selene, had been sat with them having spotted just how distressed the two girls look. Aurora trusted Beckett despite him not being in her immediate circle of friends anymore. He was like the older brother of St Bernard's despite him being easily one of the youngest in Jupiter Ward. He was sitting with his elbows on his knees with his hands folded between his legs, staring at the floor. Aurora thought he too looked as though he could have done with a memory wipe.
"Fudge reckons Madame Maxime attacked Crouch?" He said, turning to Aurora.
"Yes," said Aurora, "but he's only saying that because Crouch disappeared near the Beauxbatons carriage."
"No one suspected her, did they?" said Selene slowly. "They all jumped to you because you made such of a scene of yourself coming in so late. Mind you, she's definitely got some giant-blood, she just doesn't want to admit it — "
"Of course she doesn't," said Beckett , looking up. "Look what happened to Hagrid when Rita found out about his mother. Look at Fudge, jumping to conclusions about her, just because she's part giant. Who needs that sort of prejudice? I'd probably say I had big bones if I knew that's what I'd get for telling the truth."
Selene looked at her watch. "Lord we need to get some sleep!" she said, looking shocked. "Especially after the day we've had, come on , Aurora, bed now."
Aurora and Selene went slowly upstairs to their dormitory. As Aurora pulled on her pajamas, she looked over at Selene's bed. True to her word to Dumbledore, she had not told Selene or Beckett what she had learned about Neville's parents. As Aurora shook her hair out his it messy bun and climbed into her four-poster, she imagined how it must feel to have parents still living but unable to recognize you. She often got sympathy from strangers for having a dead mother, but as she thought about it, she thought that Neville deserved it more than she did. Lying in the darkness, Aurora felt a rush of anger and hate toward the people who had tortured Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom... She remembered the jeers of the crowd as Crouch's son and his companions had been dragged from the court by the dementors... She understood how they had felt... Then he remembered the milk-white face of the screaming boy and realized with a jolt that he had died a year later...
