Fate Set Right

Chapter 36

Aurora didn't answer. She looked at her feet, seemingly fascinated by the squish her feet made in the damp earth beneath them.

"All right, what's her maiden name?" Fred asked, and Aurora turned her attention to the Forbidden Forest. "So that's what happened to Hermione."

It was Aurora's turn to stop short, and she whipped her head around fast enough that her hair hit both her face and Fred's. He chuckled, seemingly unfazed by her hair and her disbelief.

"What?" she said softly.

"Well, pretty brilliant, me. Sorta started to put it all together when we heard Sirius suggest a Hermione to teach DADA this year. It's been a couple years since Hermione left, yet we never really hear from her unless Harry or Ron writes her. She doesn't come visit. There's no bloody way she could have moved so quickly that she couldn't say goodbye, and you two did, do, look awfully similar. Sorta wondered, didn't think it was possible, but you said this afternoon you weren't pure-blood. And really, how else would your mum know me?"

"Who else thinks this could be the case?" she asked, resuming their stroll once more.

Fred shrugged. "Just George, me thinks. We haven't exactly sat around with anyone else and asked their thoughts about it. Just a bit short of barmy, isn't it? Does anyone know?"

"Draco and Luna," she replied.

"Loony Lovegood knows everything, though."

"Don't call her that," Aurora scolded.

"Yes, ma'am," Fred conceded without argument. "So, any other secrets about you I should know? Not going to tell me that Snape's actually a dungeon bat, are you?"

Aurora held the scowl, but her lip twitched a bit. "No."

"That's good. Scary enough as it is, he is."

"He's supposed to be."

They walked in silence until they were at the furthest point from the castle. Fred stopped her again, pulling out his wand and drying a nearby fallen log. He motioned her to sit, and then reached into his pant pocket before sitting beside her. "Not much of a birthday present, I must say," he said, enlarging the small box before handing it to her.

Aurora hesitated with her hand on the ribbon, glancing at Fred as she wondered if there was a jinx on it. When it seemed like it was safe, she pulled on the gold material, watching it fall. She lifted the lid and pushed aside the tissue parchment to find a lovely ornate box. There was a crank on the side, similar to a Muggle music box, and she looked at Fred curiously.

"Afraid to say, the best part would be better viewed tonight in the Room of Requirement but didn't want to flaunt how lucky I am by being the one to show up with a gift."

"Well, the outside is lovely," she admitted, running her fingers over the pale gold images of flowers embossed over the deep red lacquer.

"There's the inside, too," he said in a slightly teasing way. "Go on."

She slowly opened it, still a bit wary that his natural tendency to prank would suddenly present itself. The inside was lined with black velvet, and there was an odd scent coming from it. Something like jasmine, honey, and parchment. Aurora assumed Fred had spritzed a perfume in the lining, but the scent was lost in the fresh air of the cool November day.

"Tap your wand to the crank," he said, and she did.

There was something coming from the bottom of the box that she couldn't see, lost in the light of the sun. But the song that played was quite lovely. Violins and a piano playing something familiar. Not particularly romantic, but not anything meaningless, either. Whatever the song was, it pulled on her heartstrings, and she smiled up at Fred.