Aurora Rosier & the Year of the Snake

Restless

Aurora had only been able to sleep for a few hours.

She jolted awake, taking a few needed seconds to readjust herself to the new and unfamiliar surroundings. The privacy curtains were still semi-drawn around her bed, undisturbed from when she had gone to sleep, and the only sounds she could hear were the soft snores of the four other girls in the dorm around her.

She tugged on the edge of the nearest curtain, just enough to look around the room. It was dimly lit, the light filtering in from the moon and through the lake just enough to make out shapes and shadows. All of the other girls seemed fast asleep, most of their curtains drawn tightly around their beds. All except Daphne, whose curtains were open. With her blonde hair sprawled around her head, she looked like a princess from a fairy tale on her mountain of pillows.

Kicking her legs free of the tangled forest green quilt, Aurora stood, shivering as her feet touched the chilly stone floor. She grabbed her treasured copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them from her bedside table, figuring that if she was going to be awake, at least she could find a cozy space to curl up, without the fear of waking her new dormmates.

The common room was much quieter now, the once raging fire much lower as the remaining embers fought to keep it alight. A few upper-level students still sat huddled in the low couches, probably reuniting from the summer apart, but they paid Aurora no mind as she hurried past. She grabbed one of the chairs next to the lakeside windows and hunkered down.

"Lumos," she whispered. The tip of her wand glowed just enough for her to see by, a soft white light that made her smile. It was one of the spells that Marius had successfully coaxed out of her before she left for school. It shocked her how much easier spells were to cast with the help of a wand, instead of sheer will.

She nestled deeper into the chair, her legs tucked under her, and opened the dog-eared book, trying to decide which section to tuck into.

Dragons? No, too many species to sort through right now.

Grindylows? No, she had just read that section last week.

Werewolves?

Aurora shuddered, flipping the pages quickly. Despite her love for all magical creatures, werewolves terrified her. She saw a picture of the XXXXX-rated creature when she was six and had nightmares for months. Even now, the idea of being outside in the woods on the night of a full moon gave her chills.

Eventually, Aurora settled on re-reading the section on Nifflers. They were high up in her top five favorite magical creatures, something she had in common with her hero, Newt Scamander.

Newt Scamander was a Hufflepuff, a little voice in the back of her head reminded her.

She ignored it, trying to focus on the Niffler's attraction to all things shiny, trying to distance herself from the panic attack that had been brewing since the Sorting Ceremony. Tears brimmed in her eyes and she brushed them away forcefully, focusing even harder on the words on the page in front of her.

When she realized she had read the same passage five times, barely able to make out the words with the tears threatening to spill over, Aurora decided to get up and explore the common room. She hoped to find something that could distract her enough to calm down and go back to bed.

The common room had emptied out. Aurora realized she didn't know how long she had been down there, but with the other students off to bed, she was free to wander. She hoped they hadn't heard her sniffling in the corner.

Aurora hated the quiet. It reminded her of being left in the Cottage when Marius had had enough of her questioning and would cast Silencio on her. He had never done it out of malice, but still, being forced to be silent would affect anyone negatively. Aurora much preferred the chaos of the Great Hall, where she may not always be heard, but at least she knew she wasn't alone.

All at once the quiet of the common room was too much. It felt like the final straw, breaking the dam of her emotions wide open: he weight of her uncle's expectations, the Sorting Hat's eerie comments, suddenly being all alone in a brand new place. Aurora sat in one of the low, plump couches near the fire and curled into a tight ball, tears streaming down her face. Even now she tried to cry quietly, even though there was no one around to hear her.

It felt surprisingly wonderful to let everything out, and when she was done, she felt much lighter. She still could't begin to guess how her uncle would react to the sorting,but she realized that was something she could deal with as it came.

She stood back up from the couch, her head a little wobbly from crying so hard, and decided to go back to exploring the common room before heading back to bed. Her eyes were heavy, but she knew that if she went back to the dorm now, where all her new classmates were having a much easier first night, she would probably start crying again. She needed a few more minutes alone to just breathe.

Around the room were pictures of past students and the accolades they had achieved - decorating the shelves, hung inbetween the tapestries and Slytherin-green decor. She didn't give them much thought as she passed, just scanning the titles of the portraits while they waved up to her. Gobstones Club -, Astronomy Club -, Hippogriff Club -, Slug Club -

The last photo's name made her pause and she picked up the frame from the shelf, intrigued. The etching at the bottom read 'Slug Club, September 1976'. An older man was waving a goblet of wine to the camera, grinning merrily. A gaggle of student surrounded him, all waving as well, each wearing their Hogwarts uniform. Aurora wrinkled her nose, wondering what a slug club would even entail.

And that's when she spotted him.

In the very back, an entire head taller than the gentleman with his goblet of wine, was Evan Rosier. Blonde hair artfully swooping to one side, blue eyes boring into the camera as he waved, half-heartedly, an amused smirk on his face. Around his neck was a green Slyhterin tie.

"You are too your father's daughter."

The Sorting Hat's words echoed in her mind. Suddenly, she didn't feel as hopeless anymore. While Marius may have been raising her to follow the Fawley path, she was a Rosier. Like her father.

"Aurora?"

Aurora jumped, whirling around as a whisper broke the silence of the common room. Daphne stood at the bottom of the stairs, a pink robe wrapped around her also pink nightgown. She padded her way over to Aurora, who was putting the picture back on the mantle.

"You alright?" Daphne stopped a few steps away like she didn't want to get too close. "You got quiet last night. And I didn'twant to ask you in front of everyone, but when I woke up to get water I saw your bed was empty..." She trailed off, waiting for Aurora to take over.

Aurora considered for a moment, took a depp breath, and spilled everything to Daphne: her uncle's desire for her to become a Hufflepuff and follow in her family's footsteps, the terrifying reality of becoming a Slytherin instead, discovering her father was a Slytherin, everything. She didn't leave out a single detail, talking at what felt like a breakneck pace. And Daphne listened.

When she was done, the two stood in silence, the weight of everything Aurora had gotten off her chest hanging heavy in the air. She hoped Daphne wasn't concocting the perfect comeback, or worse, preparing to laugh in her face before running off to tell Pansy. But she didn't do either of those things.

"I'd glad you're a Slytherin." Daphne smiled.

It took Aurora a second, but she smiled back, instantly relieved. "Me too."

"Come on, let's get back to bed. We've got a really big day tomorrow."

"I'll be right up."

Aurora watched as Daphne disappeared up the stairwell before turning back to the Slug Club photo. She waved, pretending once again that her dad was waving specifically to her.

"I am going to make you so proud."

Then she turned and raced up the stairs. By the time she was back in the dorm and under her covers, it felt as if a weight had been lifted.

Aurora was content, happy, even. And sleep came easy.