𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦 ; 𝒹.𝒽

twenty-four

Aurora stood in her father's bedroom, staring at its wrecked state.

"We left the home tidied up and Mundungus... that fucker." Aurora said with venom in her voice.

"You're Head of Black now..." Harry trailed off.

"What about it?"

He shook his head, "Nothing. I– it's nothing."

She walked around the house, feeling her anger rise with every wrecked room she walked into.

Harry and Aurora stood in ancestral room with the Black family tree. She stared at her name, "You know, I do agree with Lavinia. She said that the Black family name needs to die out."

"What, so you'll just let her kill you next time?"

"No..."

"Then what?"

"Aurora Weasley. That's got a nice ring, don't you think?" She asked, the edge of her mouth quirked up slightly.

Harry matched her smirk, "I honestly can't imagine you married."

"Yeah, me neither." She quietly replied, "You know, my dad said he didn't want my mum to take his name because of its horrible history. So, they settled on her hyphenating her name. When I was born, they got into a huge argument over me being Aurora Vespertine or Aurora Black. Dad said when he realized he wasn't going to win the fight, he let me take his name."

"I wish we had more time with Sirius. With everybody."

"Me too. And I fear... I fear that there is a lot my dad didn't tell me. I could always tell there was something he was hiding, something that he wanted to say but just... didn't tell me. I don't know, maybe it was just me."

"Were you ever told how or why you survived Voldemort that night?"

A few moments passed before Aurora spoke again, "Not directly. That night in the graveyard when Cedric was killed, Voldemort spoke of me as if I was a gift to the Malfoys. To raise as a pawn to make the Dark Lord's forces stronger. But I still don't understand why he would leave me alive, I'm a half-blood, and I have Legilimency and Occlumency, if I were Voldemort I would have killed me when I had the chance."

"And you fought him at the Malfoy Manor..."

"He disapparated after I killed Sayaka. Voldemort had plenty of chances to kill me, yet he didn't use Avada Kedavra once. I've been thinking of that often."

"Maybe he's saving you for Lavinia."

She shook her head, "No... no. I think he might have thought I wouldn't put up a fight. Or maybe he just wanted to try and get me under his thumb and bring me to his side. Either way, I should not have walked away from fighting him."

"I'm glad you did."

Later that night, Aurora sat in her old bedroom with Regulus lingering in a corner, "Stay. At least until you know they've got the real locket. But under no circumstances should you actually go with them to retrieve the locket."

"You know, they think I'm a coward for not helping them."

"They'll learn the truth eventually. You must be patient."

Aurora fiddled with her own locket around her neck, "Lavinia, your sister, she wants me dead, you know."

"She's always been troubled. I don't think my absence has done her any good."

"You think highly of yourself."

He smiled lightly, "I don't. Not anymore. I do know that only I and Diana understood her, and Diana didn't quite understand her to the extent I did."

"Were you close with my mother?"

"Not really. She just had a knack for understanding people, always being able to see the best in them. I was much closer with Althena."

"How close?"

"Quite close."

She narrowed her eyes, "Did you fancy her?"

He shook his head, "No. But... our relationship was more than a friendship yet strictly platonic. I don't know if she saw things the same way, but I did care for her in a way that couldn't quite be labeled as friendly nor romantic."

"Did she know about you being a Death Eater?"

"When she found out, that's when I made the decision to betray Voldemort. We got into a huge argument, fought one another, that's when I realized how much I didn't want the life I thought I did. My entire life I was trying to be the perfect son just to avoid the harshness of my parents, specifically my mother."

"That reminds me of myself."

He tilted his head, "How so?"

She shrugged lightly, "When I was still a Malfoy... all I wanted to do was please my parents. Yet no matter how hard I tried, I failed. I suppose the difference between you and I is that you were better at pleasing them." Aurora quietly said before shaking her head with a small smirk, "Oh, I should have known. Lucius treated me horribly and I thought it was just because I could never do anything right. He hated me because of who my real parents are."

"And Narcissa?"

She went quiet for a few moments. Thinking back to her memories of living as a Malfoy, Narcissa was the small sliver of kindness she received, "Is it bad if I say I miss her sometimes?"

"It's hard to detach yourself from those who raise you. Regardless of how they were."

She traced mindless shapes on the sheets she sat on, "There's been something, something I know that's been eating me up."

"What is it?"

"When Dumbledore was killed. Snape showed up and told Harry to stay put and he killed Dumbledore. Well... I knew his real motives. I knew Dumbledore wanted Snape to kill him. Snape and Dumbledore both let me into their mind and I wish they hadn't. I had to stop Harry from doing something, and just let it happen. Now... every time I look at Harry I think of what I'm hiding from him. I think of the sacrifice Snape is making. He was the one who nearly killed George, the one person I love more than life itself, and if he did kill him I would still have to sit back and wait because I know it's for the greater good." She said as tears fell softly from her eyes, "I don't feel like a good person."

"You are some one who has learned and seen things that no one should. And nobody is fully good, Aurora. Don't trust anyone who says they're a good person."

"I'll remember that."