𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦 ; 𝑜.𝑜.𝓅

twenty-one

Aurora was instantly taken aback by the scenery in front of her when Sirius apparated the two to the field.

Though the weather was still gloomy, the green grass and bright flowers had never looked more beautiful. The highest hill had a large, beautiful green tree that towered over the entire hilltop.

"Your mother's grave is up on that hill. One day, when I'm gone, I hope to join her there." He said, "But until then, she'll just have to wait on me." He said in a sad tone, but with a small smile.

He led her up the hill, and Aurora saw the small gravestone that had her name.

Diana Serephina Willamina Vespertine - Black

"Long name, she had." Aurora commented.

Sirius sighed sadly as he knelt down, touching the top of the grave, "I hold a lot of guilt regarding your mother's death. I think you should know... I know you looked into my mind but I know you avoided all of the sad bits, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"I stepped down from being James and Lily's Secret-Keeper just a week before the death of them and your mother. We told no one that I stepped down when Peter took over, hoping the Dark Lord would come after me and not them. Your mother was furious when I decided to become the Secret-Keeper, and she was even angrier when I said I wanted the Dark Lord to come after me and not them. I called her selfish, and the night of their deaths, she was on her knees begging me not to go because she had a terrible feeling something had happened. I didn't say goodbye to her, I didn't say goodbye to you. I was the selfish one, and I have been paying the price of it ever since." Sirius said with shame in his voice.

"Is that why Althena is so... distant?"

"That, amongst other reasons and events that happened during our days at Hogwarts. Althena was the one that found your mother, and you crying over her body. You r-really don't remember any of it?"

Aurora shook her head, "No. You said it yourself, Lucius probably wiped my memory. I doubt whatever Dark Magic he used on me will be able to be undone." She quietly replied.

"They left you alive to hopefully use you... I suppose I can thank them for that because I don't know what I would have done with myself if they killed you. Even Lily and James told me to look after you and your mother before anything, and to run as far as we could... but I refused."

Aurora slowly knelt down beside him, "I hold no anger towards you."

"You should."

"You're not perfect, just like everyone else. That night... you never could have truly known that you would find James and Lily dead with their home destroyed. You fully expected to come back to my mother and I safe and sound and... you should not have said or did what you did, but your intention is what matters."

Sirius sighed as he looked at Diana's grave, "I feel as if I've let you down, Aurora. Even now that we've been together, I haven't been making enough effort to connect with you. I'm sorry, for that."

"It's okay." She said, "I've also had trouble connecting recently. I suppose all we can do is work through it together."

"I wanted to start teaching you to cast your Patronus today, but I don't think I should have started off on such a sad note. I really should have asked Remus for some tips." Sirius said more light-heartedly.

"I'm glad you told me. It's off your chest."

The two stood up and Sirius led her down the hill to the home he and Diana once shared, "We thought about making his Headquarters, but it's just too precious to risk being found and destroyed." He said.

"So what happens if I happen to cast a wickedly powerful Patronus and the Dark Lord sees it and comes running?"

"Uhh... I haven't thought that far ahead. But what's life without a little risk?"

"This is the Dark Lord we're talking about here." Aurora said, "I don't think risks are a good idea." She said as they approached the home.

"Augustus told me you were quite the risk taker. I suppose he was wrong."

"He wasn't wrong." Aurora quipped back, "I just know when to take risks and when not to."

Sirius smiled lightly and opened the door, "After you."

Aurora was expecting the home to be a wreck, but she was met with the opposite. It didn't smell great on the inside due to the amount of dead plants and dust, but it wouldn't take much to get the home looking normal again.

"Althena fixed the home back up after Voldemort destroyed it. My heart goes out to her everyday for the horror she had to witness." Sirius sadly said, "But nonetheless, I am grateful she fixed this home up. I was tempted to live in here again, but I can't risk this place being found."

"Weren't you just going on about how we should take risks?"

He didn't answer back to her as he muttered a spell, causing all the lanterns and candles in the home to become lit with fire. Aurora couldn't hide the comforting feeling she got being in the home.

Because it truly felt like home.

The home was decorated beautifully, like an earthy Victorian-era home. She looked at the pictures on the wall, some were torn up from the wreckage, but Althena put them back together. Somehow, the cracks in the no-longer moving photos felt poetic.

She found one picture hanging lopsided that wasn't destroyed, and it was a photograph of her mother, her father, and her.

She touched her hand to the photo lightly, tears brimming her eyes. The three looked nothing short of happy. Diana was pointing to the camera with a smile, trying to get young Aurora to look at the camera.

"Funny day, that was. For some reason you kept calling me mum and your mother papa." He said with a chuckle, "Still don't get what you were going on about, but it was certainly entertaining."

He led her throughout the rest of the house. It was small indeed, but Aurora still loved it. The home had three bedrooms, one being empty for what her mother and father hoped to be for another child.

Aurora's bedroom was the complete opposite of what she had in the Malfoy Manor. The first thing she saw when she walked in was a large window that looked out into a beautiful garden with lively flowers.

The toddler bed to the right had sheer purple bed curtains covering it, creating a magical feel. Her room, like the rest of the house, was covered in dead plants.

"Why are the plants inside here dead but not the outside?"

"Your mother tended to the ones inside, nature tended to the ones outside." He simply replied, "I must say, if you think this house is beautiful now... it's breathtaking when it's alive. Maybe one day... you can bring it back to life."

Aurora turned to him, "What?"

Sirius sighed and leant up against the wall, "I can't live here anymore, I wish I could. So that leaves only you to take it, should you want it."

"Not now, of course."

He shook his head, "No, not now. When you're older and when you've found the one, this could be where you start a family."

"You don't think this place could be cursed after what happened?"

"No. Not with your mother watching over this home and this valley."