The Princess of Light

Chapter 5.13 (Princesses of Hogwarts)

Limbo
Somewhere between Heaven and Earth
June 24 1995

It was as if everything halted. Every movement around her stopped, her own brain, the only thing still working, was trying to comprehend what was happening.

And then she fell, the last thing she'd ever see with her heart still beating, was Harry's usually emerald eyes, now turned obsidian with the pain from his scar. He had looked up just in time to see the light leave her eyes just like she'd seen his mother's life being drained out of her.

Aurora's soul left her body, floating away to a place unknown to her.

Then, before she even left the sky right above the graveyard, the scenery changed. She was no longer surrounded by the black, starry night but instead stared up at a ceiling that was so white it hurt to look at it.

Aurora blinked. When her eyes opened again a woman had appeared, leaning over her, smiling at her. "Mama?"

"Yes, darling, it's me." Her mother's soothing melodic voice said. "Can you stand up?"

Aurora tried to use her arms, which had weirdly reattached themselves to her bodiless soul, to support her weight. She managed to sit upright without problem. She looked down. Her entire body was complete and visible.

But instead of the filthy clothes she'd worn in the graveyard, she was wearing a dress as white as her surroundings.

"Am I dead?" She asked her mother. Her voice betrayed her feelings, something which didn't happen often.

Adeline smiled warmly and shook her head. Her hair moving with her head creating a waterfall of gold in the white light. She was even more beautiful than Aurora remembered. Adeline was nothing short of a goddess-like beauty, one that wasn't supposed to really exist. Not without Veela blood at least.

Adeline sat down on her knees and wrapped her arms tightly around Aurora, crying on her shoulder.

Something was so right about the feeling that washed over Aurora. It was ten times better than any hugs Jasmine had given her and they were the closest she'd ever felt to a real mother's hug. Aurora's whole body reacted to the arms of her real mother around her.

Her warmth, her smell....everything seemed to fill the empty feeling Aurora didn't know she had.

Adeline squeezed her daughter to her. Her flesh and blood. The girl she'd watched grow up but never had been able to touch. Never had been able to tell how proud she was. This moment, having her daughter finally in her arms was an indescribable feeling. One that only mothers could understand.

After all, there was nothing in this world more powerful than a mother's love.

Adeline pulled back a little to look at her daughter's face beaming up at her. She was incredibly proud to see how much she looked like her. But there was defintely a hint of Sirius there too. Her smile, her eyes, the curl in her hair and her cheekbones were Sirius's genes.

This girl could move mountains if she wanted to. And that wasn't just her proud mother instinct speaking. Aurora seemed to be designed to become a leader. With her gorgeous smile, her warm voice, her powerful posture and her smart, sensible and slightly mischievious personality, she was meant for great things.

Sadly, those great things would have to wait a while. Or at least the things that Aurora would consider great. Adeline saw the next few weeks as Aurora's biggest challenge yet.

It brought her back to the task at hand...telling Aurora the reason she was here.

Adeline sighed and let go of Aurora so she could sit more comfortably on the floor. "I should probably start explaining." She said. "To fully make you understand, I should probably start at the very beginning....do you know who we are descended from?"