Of Apples and Oranges

III: v: Jealous

For days she had been trailing the boy of her dreams. Not Harry, he was too out of her reach, but her ex-bestie. Aurum was going to befriend Gregory again.

The boy had been all over the place with what seemed to be his new pack, one could say. He had abandoned her for a while, but she desperately wanted him back.

There were times of strain when he had accused her brother of unspeakable actions, but she had gotten over it. She knew it was just his overprotectiveness. And who could blame him? She felt the same way about him that he did her.

Gregory had been keeping to himself for most of the summer, but Aurum would be damned if she didn't bring him out of his shell to her.

Aurum awaited his coming to the Slytherin common room from the dorms all morning on the couch by the fire. They had arranged this when she had caught him in a library without his new friends. Alone, they could talk, but Aurum had no idea why they needed to be by themselves. She must have dozed off on the couch for a bit because he suddenly appeared next to her draped in a bathrobe when no one else had even bothered to have roused themselves. But she knew he was always an early riser.

The blonde weakly smiled and looked down at the mahogany blanket she was draped in. "It's been a while."

"And it will be a while again." Gregory murmured.

"Why is that so?" she asked, slightly pouting.

"We've got to go our separate ways already, Aura." Gregory shook his head. "I tried to rip the bandage away before you could even tell it was coming off."

"But why?" Aurum burst out.

"My parents want me to cut ties. If You-Know-Who came back, I could get caught up in his wrath against muggles. I've fought them for almost a decade but now they've gone and done this." Gregory stood and removed his robe. Besides his bare nakedness, all Aurum could focus on was the huge swirl on his back. It was a Cruciatus Scar, one of the largest she had ever seen. "Every time I fight, it hurts. They only did it this once on accident, but it's lasting. It was as if they had a flashback—they called me Ruby."

Aurum clapped and hand to her mouth and began to sob. Ruby was her father who had died to protect her and Argentum from Death Eaters long ago.

Gregory tied his robe back and knelt down to hug her. "Listen, just remember that I love you." Gregory tore away from her grasp suddenly as he screamed out in pain. His deep voice was hoarse and agonizing. Aurum cried louder at this, clenching her blanket to herself.

Gregory struggled to rise to his feet. He gave a weak smile and allowed himself to tear up at the pain. "Just smile that golden grin of yours and you'll be fine. Forget about me."

And like that, he was gone. Aurum crumbled into a dark sadness, wrapped in an enigma of pain that, like a scar, would never heal.

Never had she ever felt hatred and jealousy for anybody, but now it was all she could feel for Gregory's parents, and Pansy, Blaise, and Vincent. How could the parents of a child torture them so, even on "accident". It was sick and twisted even if it was for some sort of protection. Was Voldemort so serious that he would just kill a kid for hanging out with his best friend? And how dare the Slytherins revel in the happiness of Gregory. He was hers to enjoy and hers alone. No matter what happened to split them, she felt they were attached at the soul. His new friends didn't match up to her, she thought. But, seeing as how she caused him pain... maybe it was for the best.

Alone, Aurum watched the four from her perch on the tallest rock by the Hogwarts Lake. They seemed to happy in their strides. It created sparks of envy and loneliness within her. Today was a day when Draco stayed in bed, hurt by the betrayal of his friends as well. Aurum couldn't help but feel that she was part of the problem. She looked away.

"Aura!"

Aurum quickly turned, only to see Chantelle. She wasn't necessarily disappointed, but not extremely happy. She knew it couldn't be Gregory, but for some reason, there was a glimmer of hope.

"Hey, Channie." Aurum struggled to make a smile.

Chantelle climbed towards the top of the boulder, helped up by Aurum past the edge. She laughed, catching her breath and focused her attention on Aurum.

"Where's your boyfriend?" Chantelle tittered.

"He's not my— well, he's just sleeping in. Our friends don't really hang out with us anymore." Aurum sighed.

"Oh, what happened?" Chantelle asked, extremely concerned. When Aurum explained it, Chantelle brought her hands to her arms, probably trying to think of how to soothe her friend. "I'm sorry. You must feel like this is all your fault. Have you told Draco?"

"I plan on it. I can't keep anything from him anymore." Aurum shook her head, remembering her first year.

"Perhaps it's for the best." Chantelle put her arm around Aurum. "Give him his space at the least. Merlin knows he needs it. When he's ready, maybe he'll come back to you. Maybe the pain will be gone. It's not your fault honey, it's just a matter of circumstance. For now, just hope that he's happy."

Aurum and Chantelle watched on as Gregory laughed with Vincent, Blaise, and Pansy walking along the lake. As long as he was happy, she was too.

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Author's Note: who do you guys ships so far? ;) I like everybody together tbh but obviously the main ones are Harry/Aurum, Draco/Aurum, Ron/Aurum, and Gregory/Aurum lol I meannnn I prefer one, but I like them all.