Shades of Grey

Trigger

“I don’t want it to be a big deal, seriously.” She pled, hoping he’d abide by that. He didn’t say anything.

“Well, tell me about yourself, then.” She prompted, eager to get off of the subject of her birthday. Lupin stared at her for a moment before shaking his head and sighing.

“I was born on the outskirts of Bristol. I was an only child. I don’t see my mother all that often. She prefers not to have company, usually.” Lupin began, clasping his hands together. Aurora noticed that he didn’t mention anything about his father, but she didn’t question him about it.

~

The next morning, Aurora went to breakfast as usual, taking her seat next to Liam. He was spreading jelly on a slice of toast, barely looking up as she sat down.

“Good morning.” She said, grabbing her own piece of toast before pouring herself some pumpkin juice. He nodded, taking a bite of his breakfast.

“So, have you talked to Emma yet?” Aurora asked, trying to start a conversation with him. He shrugged his shoulders and continued chewing. Aurora stared at him for a moment before nudging him with her elbow.

“Aren’t you going to talk to Emma?” She repeated, raising an eyebrow at him. At this, he suddenly became much more interested in his toast.

“Liam Matthew Dorsey!” She yelled, finally getting him to look up while also attracting the stares of several other students.

“Well, that got your attention. Are you going to talk to me, or what?” She asked him, feeling quite angry. Why he was being so moody was beyond her. Shouldn’t he be happy? The girl he fancied felt the same way about him. Aurora couldn’t understand why he was acting like such a prat.

“Actually, yes, I’ve been meaning to talk to you for a while, Aurora.” He said, setting down his piece of toast. She couldn’t help but glance up at the high table, her eyes landing on Lupin as he drank his morning coffee.

“What’s wrong?” She frowned, hoping that he hadn’t found out somehow. He’d be furious, she knew it. Had Emma let it slip to him? People sometimes did that around the ones they fancied…didn’t they? Liam took a deep breath and opened his mouth as though he were about to speak, closing it again and shaking his head, laughing nervously.

“Liam, what do you want to talk to me about?” Aurora asked him again, knowing it would be better to just get it out. She could still deny it, couldn’t she? He might not have proof.

“Aurora, what I’ve wanted to tell you is that…well…I’m sorry I wasn’t completely honest with you earlier but you have to understand why I wasn’t. It’s complicated. Kind of. I don’t really know how to say this.” He started to say, rambling on. Aurora was trying hard to listen, wondering now what he was going on about. If he knew about her relationship with Lupin, wouldn’t he be angry, rather than turning red?

“I have fee-” Liam began to say but he was cut off as Emma approached them.

“Good morning.” She smiled, sitting down next to Aurora.

“Hi, Emma. How has your weekend been?” Aurora smiled, while Liam averted his eyes and became interested in his toast again.

“I’ve mostly been doing homework.” Emma started to say and Aurora decided to help Liam out. She stood up, taking her piece of toast in her hand.

“You know, I really should get on that. Why don’t you two talk?” Aurora suggested, nudging Liam gently. Emma blushed at this and Liam refused to look at her.

“See you later!” She grinned and walked out of the hall. She was curious as to what Liam was going to tell her. He hadn’t been completely honest with her about something. Perhaps he didn’t like Emma? But that was absurd. Of course he did. Why would he lie about that? Maybe he was going to tell Aurora what his memory was, during their lesson on the Patronus Charm. Whatever he was going to tell her, she was sure he would tell her later on.