Talk To Me (Albus Dumbledore x OC)

6 - Lies & Deceptions

Was? Aurora thought to herself. As in, no more? Until yesterday, she wasn't even aware that Albus had a brother, let alone another sibling, but something terrible had obviously happened to use the past tense in such a short manner. She was now extremely thankful she'd managed to keep the wand safe – Merlin knows what would have happened should it have been lost to the Manticore. She walked to stand in front of the alter, momentarily eyeing the golden owl statue having never seen it this close before, and turned back to the Professor.

"Thank you for allowing me to borrow it," she recognised, a little wary of his motives, still ignoring the ache across her torso.

He acknowledged her thanks with a nod, before speaking again. "Is there something that I should be made aware of?"

She quirked a confused expression. "In regards to, what?"

"Anything, really, before someone realizes first,"

She turned her head slightly in suspicion, eyeing him from the side. "I am not sure what you think-"

Dumbledore cut her off mid-sentence, stalking across to her with his shoulders taught and eyes dark. He wasn't meaning any force by his actions, but the intimidation tactic was to advise that she tell him now or reap worse consequences later. Aurora wasn't entirely certain if he knew of her injury – perhaps he was just speculating – but at this point the throbbing was starting to reduce slightly so she'd assumed it was better for it. Or maybe she was being naïve.

"Newt and I released Theseus from Erkstag," she started, her voice not much louder than a mumble. "It wasn't easy, but we managed just fine."

"And how, exactly, did you gain entry? I only provided one pass-key for Newt," Albus suggested, walking up one of the steps to be eye-to-eye.

Her eyes changed to a look of mock innocence, though, really, she was starting to feel a little foolish. "I may have duplicated the original,"

His brows raised in mirth. "Must have been a perfect replica to fool the warden,"

She shook her head and winced. "I'm unsure whether I fooled him or if he anticipated we would not return," The girl admitted.

Albus took another step forward. "How successful was this escape plan of yours? By what means did you all manage freedom?" His voice was dropping – she was tiptoeing around his real intentions. He was running out of patience, and she, potentially, out of time.

One step back was met with one forward. "My brother knew of some behavioural traits that we could mimic to reduce the creatures' aggression, then we nearly got eaten by a Manticore despite this, used your port-key and landed in front of Hogwarts," she finished, trying to sound chirpy to deflect his daunting front.

Albus wasn't buying it - he didn't necessarily think she was lying, but withholding information was as bad as such. She appeared to have her arms crossed in defence, so in an attempt to soften her exterior and bring the girl's guard down his hand reached out slowly to grasp at her forearm. However, before he could reach the fabric of her coat, her right arm seized his own in a desperate hold, eyes widening in alarm, shoulders turning away and fingers ensnaring his wrist tightly. He now noticed the tremors racking her small frame, the tiny shudders vibrating through her hand into his own. This was the evidence he needed.

"Should I call for the nurse or will you show me yourself?" Dumbledore's tone softened a little.