CHERRY // marlene mckinnon

-thirty one

"Do you ever think that maybe I wasn't so 'perfect' after all? This whole family isn't either. Our whole reputation is built on lies and fake smiles." Aurora retorted. "And yes, I may have agreed with your views before. But that was only because you imprinted those things into my mind way before I could even walk! This year may have been wild, but it opened my eyes. A lot."

"You don't seem to understand the gravity of the situation you put us in. Our family in!" Walburga had now raised her voice. "If it wasn't for the Avery's, our reputation would've been tainted forever. All because of your foolish desires with that girl!"

"That girl has a name you know! And what  is so wrong with being with a girl?! Why can't we just be with who we want to be with?" Aurora was tired of it. She was tired of explaining basic things to her mother. What was so different with being with the same sex rather than being with the opposite sex? And why did other people care so much when it wasn't even their lives?

"You know, I used to say the same thing when I was younger."
Walburga was in a deep thought, mainly about her past.

"You used to- wait what?!" Out of all the people she knew, Aurora never expected her mother to have had similar experiences as hers before. "So let me get this straight, you're telling me that you, of all people, have been with a girl?"

"I didn't say that. It's just that I've had a similar experience in the past." Walburga corrected her. "But then I learned better. I am ashamed of it of course, even to this day. But what matters is that I know that those things are not right. And luckily, things ended before many people found out."

"I—so you— and another— what in the world..." Aurora still couldn't wrap her mind around it all. She was also curious to know more, but her mother had already left the room at that point. "Wow. Just wow."

"So are you ready?"

"What? Oh yeah, let's go." Aurora snapped out of her thoughts as soon as she heard Regulus's voice. "Do you want to go by Floo or do you want me to apparate us there?"

"Oh no, I don't want to apparate. It always makes me dizzy." Regulus groaned.

"So Floo network it is." They grabbed their stuff, and Belle, and then made their way to the fireplace.

*****

*** TW: mentions of ED's***

  At the Rosier Manor, Veronica stood in front of her mirror, taking in how she looked. She wore a simple white floral dress with a pair of nude platform sandals. She also wore her favorite pair of gold hoops and a few rings. She looked beautiful.

So why didn't she feel that way?

Growing up, her mother had always been strict with how she looked. The women on her mother's side of the family were all beautiful but constantly made sure that they looked even better. It had always felt like a competition between her and and her cousins. And it was even worse at family gatherings. Her aunts and grandmothers always had something to say about the way she looked.

When she first started Hogwarts, she was very skinny. No one in the school said anything, but it always felt like hell for her when it was time to go back home on the holidays. Her family members, especially the women, always had something to say. Whether it was 'You should start eating more, Veronica.'  or  'You're so skinny! You can literally see all your bones.'