Aurora | Harry Potter

chapter twenty-six

Everyone starts to leave the Room of Requirement after our last practice before the holidays, but I walk away from everyone and stop in front of the mirror, multiple photographs stuck to it. I look at the one of Cedric, his kind smile making me tear up.

"Aurora? Are you alright?" Harry asks, standing next to me. "Hermione said that Umbridge gave you a hard time yesterday." I nod slightly, raising my hand to show another sentence written on my hand, reading 'I must hand assignments in on time'. "I accidentally missed the deadline for that essay she asked us to write, so I had another detention with her."

Harry takes it in his hand, gently rubbing it. "You also seem quite tired, have you been having nightmares again?" He asks, to which I also nod. "It's been a year since the Yule Ball and just remembering him on that night and..."

I stop talking, clear my throat and hold back sobs. "It's just hard, especially with us learning stuff like this because I'm guessing he knew spells like these ones." Harry nods his head. "Yeah he did, he was really good. Voldemort was... just better." I sigh slightly and rest my head on his shoulder.

"Thank you for teaching us about these things, Harry," I say, interlacing my fingers in his own, "it will be really helpful out there." I hear him lightly chuckle and when I move to look at him, I hear the sound of crackling. We both look up to see a bunch of mistletoe growing above our heads, making me smile.

"Mistletoe," I whisper, looking up at it. Harry chuckles slightly and comments that they're probably full of Nargles. I chuckle as well and look at Harry, his jade green eyes sparkling. Slowly, he starts to lean in and I do the same. I close my eyes and we share our first kiss, sweet and gentle. His lips are soft and full of love, which brings a smile to my face as we pull away.

We both smile at each other and then he pulls me into a hug, wrapping his arms warmly around me. "Will you be my girlfriend, Aurora?" He asks, stroking my hair. I chuckle and say yes as I pull out of the hug, wiping away my tears.

"Don't worry," I say to him, "they're happy and sad tears." He smiles and we make our way back to the Common Room, certain Ron and Hermione will have questions for us.

-

"Aurora?" I wake up to Hermione shaking me aggressively, a worried look on her face. "What's wrong?" I ask, sitting up in bed. "Harry had a nightmare about Mr Weasley, Ron's just come back with McGonagall and they're now on their way to Dumbledore."

I practically jump out of bed and follow Hermione, who leads me downstairs just as McGonagall and Ron leave, each holding one of Harry's arms. We follow them to Dumbledore's office, where Ginny, Fred and George are sat. 

"In the dream, were you standing next to the victim or looking down at the scene?" Dumbledore asks Harry as I sit down in between Fred and George, who both side hug me. "Neither," Harry responds, sweaty and out of breath. "It was like I was... Professor, will you please just tell me what's happening?" He asks, just to have Dumbledore ignore him and talk to the wizards in his paintings, sending them either to the Ministry to find Arthur or to alert Molly. 

"They got him, Albus," one of them says, alerting everyone in the room, "it was close but they think he'll make it. What's more, the Dark Lord failed to acquire it." 

Out of nowhere, Harry shouts, "LOOK AT ME!" and makes everyone in the room jump, including Dumbledore. "What's happening to me?" He asks, his voice cracking. Then, Snape walks into the room. 

"You wished to see me, Headmaster?" He asks, a confused look on his face. "Severus, I'm afraid we can't wait, not even until the morning," Dumbledore replies, "otherwise we'll all be vulnerable." Snape nods and escorts Harry out of the room. I stand up to walk out, but Dumbledore stops me.

"Where's he going, Sir?" I ask, wringing my hands nervously. "There seems to be some sort of... connection between Harry's mind and Lord Voldemort's. While the Dark Lord might not be aware of that currently, if and when he does, it could be catastrophic. Professor Snape is going to try and train Harry in Occlumency."

"The act of closing someone's mind against Legilimency?" I ask, getting a nod from Dumbledore. "Now please, all of you, go and pack up your things. We're going to send you all back to Headquarters slightly early in light of recent events." Everyone nods and starts to leave the room, but as I walk out, I turn around to look at all the Weasley's, who have terrified looks on all their faces.

"Is Dad going to be okay?" Ron asks everyone. I exhale and throw my arms around him, hugging him tightly. "He'll be fine," I say. I feel more arms around us both and when I look up, I see everyone in a group hug. Everyone seems to relax slightly and as we all make our way back to the Common Room, we try to forget all that just happened.

For now, we need to pack up our belongings and go back to Headquarters.