la chiave del tuo cuore {cedric diggory}

♛ FATHER ♛

Over the day Aurora had been visited in the Hospital Wing by what seemed like everyone in Hogwarts. People she had never even met before pop their heads round the door to say hello, or leave a box of sweets on her bedside table. At the same time, Aurora had also been visited by her friends and family. Fleur and Gabrielle had spent the whole lunch with her, crying their hearts out and binge eating chocolate. Ron, Hermione and Harry had also come to see how she was doing. They had brought a huge mound of pumpkin pasties- Aurora's new favourite English delicacy- which Ron had been eyeing the whole time. In the end she relented and let him share them with her, much to Hermione's disapproval.

Just after lunch, Adam and Mackenzie came to visit Aurora in the Hospital Wing. They brought a whole basket full of American 'candy'. The three may have overindulged a little as Madame Pomfrey eventually had to take the basket away.

Viktor had also come to see Aurora. He was very emotional. It was the first time she had seen him show vulnerability. In the end, she had comforted him and Viktor gave Aurora his Bulgaria Quidditch shirt as a get well soon gift.

The Weasley twins were the next to visit, which came as a surprise. They told her they were willing to call a truce, which she of course accepted. They then spent the rest of their time together playing exploding snap.

Once the twins had left, Draco entered. He explained to her that Ariadne had fled the night she had been injured. Aurora simply nodded numbly, so he decided to change the subject. He told her that his mother Narcissa would be visiting in a weeks time. Aurora was excited to see her aunt again. He had also informed her that Blanca would be returning to England to visit with the rest of her Italian family later that day. The cousins talked for a while longer before Draco eventually left, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

Cedric and Dante had visited multiple times in-between lessons. Just after classes ended, they were sat on Aurora's bed with the curtains open upon Madame Pomfrey's request, talking about the Second Task and what it could entail.

"Why couldn't it be an easy clue, like 'follow the map to find out what the Task is'?" Dante groaned, flopping onto his sister's lap, who rolled her eyes at his dramatics.

"I know!" Cedric huffed, flopping down next to Dante on Aurora's legs. "Every time I open it, the bloody thing just screeches at me!"

Aurora chuckled slightly and patted both their heads comfortingly.

"Don't worry boys. We've still got months before the Task." she reminded them. The two boys seemed to calm down after that.

Cedric was just about to speak when the Hospital Wing doors opened, and in padded a large, scruffy black dog. The trio glanced at each other in confusion as it made its way over to the teenagers on the hospital bed, its tail wagging and tongue sticking out.

As the dog reached them, it placed its head on Aurora's legs where Dante and Cedric had just been. It cocked its head to the side in a playful manner, making the girl chuckle.

She then noticed that the dog was holding something in its mouth. She sent the dog a questioning look. It seemed to realise her confusion, so it placed the object on her lap. It was actually two objects. Two black roses.

Aurora and Dante's eyes widened in realisation. There was a tradition in their family that every time a new descendant was born, a black rose would grow in Orion Black's study. Walburga had tried multiple times to destroy the roses of her disowned family members, much like she had burned their names off the family tree- but she could not. A powerful kind of magic surrounded those roses. It was unbreakable. Even for Walburga Black.

Yet here was this dog, holding Aurora and Dante's own black roses between his teeth while staring up at the black twins with hopeful eyes.

Those eyes.