Aurora Rosier & the Year of the Snake

Midnight Discoveries

Aurora couldn't sleep. Again.

It was becoming a much too common occurrence now that she was at Hogwarts. She was finding that anytime she couldn't stop thinking, it kept her awake. Her mind would whir and spin and she would fall deeper and deeper into a train of thought, usually thinking herself in circles. When she was living at the cottage, she would combat these moments by sitting with her legs dangling from the cliffside window, letting the gentle crashing of the waves lull her. But now, all she could do was lay in bed, surrounded by snoring girls who didn't have the same issues she did, and let the thoughts fester.

Exams, she figured, would be the absolute worst for her sleep.

She couldn't stop thinking about Harry and Ron. She knew they were heading straight into the trap Draco had set for them - they were too stubborn to turn down his challenge. And the worst part was, when they inevitably got caught and probably expelled from Hogwarts, they would leave thinking it was Aurora's fault too. She had been there when Draco made the challenge, and she hadn't said anything then to stop them. In their eyes, she would be just as much to blame as Draco was.

She curled into a ball and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to ignore the thoughts rolling over and over each other, hoping the new position would force the sleep to come faster. Sighing, she looked over to Tracey in the bed beside her. The brunette had her arms thrown haphazardly out of the blanket and hanging over the edge of her bed. On her wrist, her digital watch flashed in the dimly lit room. If she squinted, Aurora could just make out the time.

11:40 pm

She rolled back onto her back and groaned. She had been trying to fall asleep for nearly two hours now.

It was twenty minutes until their supposed 'wizard's duel' was supposed to happen. In twenty minutes, Harry and Ron would meet their fate at the hands of Filch. Twenty minutes until they received what she could only imagine would be a permanent detention.

Twenty minutes for Aurora to try and find a way to stop them.

I have plenty of time, she told herself, and without a second thought she untangled herself from her blanket and stood. As quietly as she could she grabbed her dark blue robe from its hook, barely stopping to properly pull on her slippers as she made a frantic, yet silent, dash to the common room.

Her thoughts raced as she made her way through the - luckily - empty common room. She didn't have much of a plan, just get out, warn the boys, and get back before anyone woke up and noticed she was gone. It was a risk, of course, but one she was willing to make.

Maybe if I warn them in time, they'll stop hating my guts. The thought steeled her determination as she creeped into the dark dungeon corridor. She glanced around, straining to hear footsteps from any of the prefects on patrol, but the castle was silent. They'll be so thankful, maybe we could even be friends again.

Aurora held onto that promising idea, no matter how far-fetched it felt, and continued on her way.

It was significantly more difficult to navigate the dungeons in the dark, but Aurora refused to use Lumos, utterly convinced that even the smallest of whispers would call attention to her, and every professor, prefect, and ghost would surround her before she could say 'Nox'.

Luckily, her daily navigation of the dungeons had become second nature, and she found herself in the entrance hall without much trouble. She paused again before she emerged from the shadows, just barely sticking her head around the corner to ensure the coast was clear. Once she was certain nothing was lingering nearby, she hurried up the staircase to the third floor, the only sound the soft shuffling of her slippers on stone as she tiptoed to the trophy room.