Aurora | Harry Potter

chapter thirty-four

"Aurora?" I turn around to see Harry standing in my doorway, a cheerful expression plastered on his face and Hedwig on his arm. She flies over and lands on my desk, eagerly waiting to go out for a night time fly. I stroke her feathers lightly as I seal the envelope containing the letter, a smile growing on my face.

"Here you go, darling," I whisper, handing the letter over to Hedwig. She takes it and flies out my open window, quickly disappearing into the night sky. I turn back to look at Harry, but instead of being greeted by his smiling face, he sharply leans forward and kisses me. I chuckle slightly before kissing back, seeing his jade eyes sparkle.

"How have you been?" I ask as we both sit down on the edge of my bed, happy and unbothered smiles on both our faces. "Good thanks, glad to get away from Privet Drive for a while. How about you? Have you heard anything from your Dad yet?"

I shake my head, letting out a heavy sigh. "Nope, still nothing... it's been a whole year and I haven't heard from him once..." Harry interlaces his fingers with mine, making my eyes wander over to look at his. "It's alright, I know it sucks, but the Weasley's are your family. Just like me and Hermione are."

I smile at him and squeeze his hand a little, his kind words bringing some comfort. "Thanks, Harry." He smiles back and then lets go of my hand to lay down on my bed. He looks up at the ceiling, the candles in my room releasing a slight vanilla scent. "Can't believe that school is starting again soon," he says as I lay down next to him.

I nod my head and then asked about what happened with Dumbledore before he arrived at The Burrow. "He took me to see a friend of his, Horace Slughorn, who he asked to come and teach Potions. Apparently Death Eaters had been trying to recruit him for Voldemort's Army, so he completely trashed the place and transfigured himself into a chair."

"Wait, does that mean Snape will be teaching Defence Against The Dark Arts?" I ask, knowing that Snape has been dying to teach that subject for the longest time. Harry nods, a chuckle leaving both our lips, but my smile quickly twists into a frown. I grip his hand slightly tighter and turn my head away, facing the headboard of my bed.

"I'm really... nervous about this year, Harry," I mumble, just loud enough for him to hear. "With everything that happened with Umbridge and the Death Eaters... I just..."

I feel the weight of the bed shift as Harry sits up. He pulls my hand toward him and I decide to sit up as well, still looking away from him until a hand gently grabs my chin and pulls my face to look at his. My eyes ever so briefly glance at my left hand, of which the back is covered in scars from Umbridge's detentions and punishments.

"That's okay, Aurora. I'm really nervous about this year too, but we're all going to get through this together, alright?" He replies, a small smile on his face. I smile back and when my eyes glance again at my hand, he presses a gentle, tender kiss on the scars.

I smile and nod, thanking Harry for the comfort.

-

"Gred! Feorge!" I shout, walking into the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes to see that a fair amount of Hogwarts students are here, which makes sense as school is about to start pretty soon. Once me and both the twins make eye contact, they practically sprint over to me and scoop me into a tight hug, making me laugh aloud as I squeeze them tightly.

"I've missed you guys so much!" I exclaim as they drop me back down, making me realise that somehow they are even taller. "We've missed you too, short-stuff," Fred says, ruffling my hair slightly before I knock his hand away. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny walk over and greet the twins as well, before I pull out the small bunch of flowers from behind my back and hand them to Fred and George, who jokingly pout as they take them before smirking.

They walk away and then I walk away from the group, my eyes wandering over all the jokes and treats on the shelves. I recognise some sweets from last year that they were promoting at school - well, until Umbridge banned them. I look up the stairs to see Ron trying to barter with the twins for something, which makes me laugh. Harry is carrying a small paper bag so I decide that I should buy something as well. 

Looking over the jokes and sweets, I grab a large, non-joke filled Pick 'n Mix and when I go to pay, Fred and George sprint to the till and shake their heads at me. "Guys, I can pay for it, you made Ron pay for his," I say, chuckling when they shake their heads again. "Yeah but he's our brother, that's different to our best friend."

My heart warms slightly at that comment, so I give in and go to leave, but George grabs my arm and pulls me back as Fred goes to grab something from under the desk. "We want to give you something special because Harry told us that you're worried about this year," George explains and out of the corner of my eye, I see Harry, Ron and Hermione step outside the store. 

Fred pops back up with a large bag, containing several wrapped up presents. "There's some gifts for everyone else, but there's a few for you." I gush slightly and press a friendly kiss to both their cheeks, making them blush and smirk. I thank them and walk outside, joining the group outside.

"Hey guys, look what the twins got-- oh no," I start but stop when I realise that they're looking at Ollivander's wand shop, which has been ransacked.