Aurora let herself read over Fred's letter not once or twice, but three times before she gently slid it back into the envelope where it came from, laying it on her nightstand.
He had hope, and that hope is what motivated Aurora to push through her final days at Hogwarts for awhile. The seconds went by slowly now that she had a reason to return home, and the anticipation was killing her.
On the day she was set to leave, she decided not to sit with her fellow professor's at the front of the room during mealtime, and instead took a seat in front of Ginny and Hermione. Luna was off doing her own thing at the Ravenclaw table, so Aurora didn't want to be a bother.
"He wrote me." She said as she sat down, a smile on her face. Hermione furrowed her brows, but a large grin came onto Ginny's face, and she grabbed Aurora's hand from across the table, squeezing it gently.
"Fred sent you a letter?" Hermione asks, and Aurora nods her head happily.
"I wrote him, and he wrote me back!" She said, pulling out the letter from her bag. She had packed and brought her bottomless bag with her, so she could just leave after dinner.
She slid out the parchment and gently handed it to Hermione, and the two girls read over it. By the end, Hermione had tears brimming her eyes, and Ginny's hand covered her mouth, which had fallen open about halfway through.
"Rory, that boy is in love with you." Hermione says from across the table, and Aurora takes her bottom lip between her teeth, nodding her head.
"I know he is, and I swear I'll do everything in my power to preserve him and his heart. I know I'll love him just as hard one day, and until then, I'm not going to mess things up." She said, inhaling through her nose.
"I've never seen Fred so adamant about something, not even his own business," Ginny said quietly, looking up to make eye contact with Aurora, "You know I love you, Rory, but you have my brother at his most vulnerable, and I need you to promise me you won't take that and hurt him again. I need to hear you promise me that." She said, and Aurora exhaled, taking Ginny's hands in her own.
"Ginny, I promise I won't hurt your brother like I did before. There's no excuse for my actions, and I'm going to do everything in my power to make up for it. I really like him, Gin, and I want it to only escalate from there." She said with her voice full of sincerity, and Ginny nodded in response, a small smile on her lips.
"I think this will work itself out." Hermione says, nodding her head at the two of them.
"I think so, as well," Replies Aurora, "I'll be returning home tonight, so I'll have to see how it goes." She says with a shaky exhale, and the two girls give her reassuring smiles.
"He wrote you, Rory, so that means he's willing to try as much as you are. Don't overthink this and stress yourself out, alright?" Says Ginny, and her knee begins to bounce, the realization that she would be facing him shortly hitting her in the chest.
"I'll try my best, and since the holiday's are approaching, I'll make sure to tell the both of you how it played out when I see you next." She replies, and Hermione smiles at her, before dishing herself a plate of food.
Aurora takes the letter back from Ginny and carefully slides it back into the envelope, closing it and folding it into her bag. The rest of supper consisted of normal conversation, and a delicious final meal before her departure, and Aurora felt better than she had in the longest time.
She felt herself get better over the course of the week, and she felt her mentality repair it's broken parts a bit, as well. Her situation with Fred left her an absolute mess, and she had to admit that she was embarrassed that she responded the way she did. A main concern was seeing Fred for the first time since that night, and she was worried that his anger would rekindle, or he would be unable to forgive her after she explains her reasoning.
Aurora knew she was once again having a mental battle with herself, but she couldn't help it. When she feels so strongly for someone and is put in such a nerve wracking situation, it's only expected that she overthinks a bit.
She adored Fred in every way, and even though his letter absolutely melted her heart, and filled her with a sense of happiness, there was the chance that she could see him and speak to him and have their relationship slip through her fingers.
When the bells chimed to signal the end of dinner, Aurora's eyes widened as the students began to get up, filing back to their set common rooms. She stands up with Ginny and Hermione, and follow them out to the corridors.
She grabs their hands gently and pulls them aside before they get on the moving staircase, and Hermione frowns at her a bit. She gives the both of them a soft smile, before pulling them into a three person hug. Ginny chuckled a bit, but hugged her back nonetheless.
"I'll see the two of you at the burrow for Christmas, alright?" She asks, and they nod their head at her, Ginny raising her eyebrows a bit.
"Let's hope my brother isn't thick enough to not forgive you first, alright?" She asks jokingly, making them laugh.
"Things will be alright, Aurora, don't worry about it," Hermione says, elbowing Ginny in the side, "We'll be just fine here at Hogwarts." She reassured, and Ginny nods with her.
Aurora let's out a soft sigh, running her fingers through her hair. She knew they would be fine at the school, but she was hoping they would want her to stay, just to buy her some time. She wanted to return home, but she was dreading it at the same time.
"I should stay, I should stay to focus on my career, shouldn't I?" Aurora asks, and even Hermione rolls her eyes.
"Don't be daft, Aurora, you need to go see Fred." Hermione replies, and Ginny pushes her shoulder a bit.
"Hermione's right. You need to go see Fred, but more importantly, he needs to see you," She says softly, and Aurora's demeanor relaxes, "I read that letter, and I know my brother. He loves you, Aurora, and he needs to see you. You need to stop stalling and get over yourself. Go home, Aurora, there's nothing keeping you here at the moment." She says, and Aurora blinks in response, letting her words soak in.
"I need to go home." She breaths out, and a smile comes to their faces.
"You need to go home." Replies Hermione, followed by Ginny.
"So get your ass out of here and go!" She exclaims, and Aurora laughs a bit, bouncing on her toes as she regains her confidence in the situation.
She pulls them in for a final hug before letting them head up the stairs to return to their common room for the night. She needed to make a couple stops before she left, so she made her way to find her mother, since she had to say goodbye before she left.
She knew her mother well, so when she arrived at the Transfiguration classroom, she saw Minerva sitting at her desk, sifting through student work. Aurora's footsteps seemed to startle her mother, and she snapped her head up at the sudden noise, relaxing once she saw who it was.
"Aurora, my dear, come to say goodbye?" She asked, and Aurora nodded her head, crossing the classroom just as her mother stood up, the two of them pulling into an embrace.
"I'll be back later this term, but for now I'm headed home." She replied, and Minerva nodded her head.
"I reckon you miss that Weasley boy?" She asks, and Aurora's cheeks heat up a bit, chuckling softly.
"Mother, you have no idea." She says back, laughing. Little did Minnie know, she hadn't seen Fred in weeks.
"Well I won't keep you any longer, it's already quite late," Minerva says softly, kissing her daughter on the cheek, "Travel safe, my dear, and I hope to hear from you sometime." She says with a smile, and Aurora squeezes her shoulders gently, nodding.
"I'll be sure to write. Goodbye, Mum." Aurora replies while turning around, sending her mother a slight wave as she left the room.
As she walked through the courtyard, she ran into Professor Sinistra, who was presumably returning to the Astronomy tower. Aurora caught her attention, and extended her hand for a firm handshake, as a form of gratitude.
"I'm on my way home soon, and I just wanted to thank you for teaching me once again." She said, and the professor smiled at her, pulling her in for a hug rather than a handshake.
"Aurora, you've been a stellar student, and I know you'll be a stellar professor once I'm gone." Sinistra says back, and Aurora beams at the compliment.
"I won't hold you up, but I'm glad I caught you before I left. You've been very helpful during my time here, and I wanted to give you my final thanks, and also my final goodbye. I'll return later this term to shadow you some more, so I will see you then." She says, and Sinistra nods her head in response, continuing to walk towards the Astronomy tower.
"Have safe travels, Aurora. I will see you in the new year." She shouted as she turned a corridor, leaving her out of sight.
Aurora let out a sigh as she realized she's said her goodbyes, and it was now time for her to go home. She held her bag firmly in her arms as she walked to the front doors, seeing Dumbledore standing by them like he was the day she arrived.
"Miss McGonagall, have safe travels home." He says quietly, and she nods at him with a smile on her face. The doors open automatically and she steps out, the cold air slapping her in the face.
"And one more thing, Aurora," He says, making her turn back around, "Things will work out if you want them to. You need to put in effort to get product." He advises with a wink, and she inhaled through her nose.
"Thank you, Headmaster." She replied, turning back around and walking down the long stretch of cobblestone. Damn, his omniscience.
She had a desperate need to go home, so right when she reached the end of the cobblestone bridge, the Knight Bus sped into sight, coming to a halt in front of her. She let out a breath at the sudden appearance of a large bus, but smiled a bit to herself, happy to have a method of transportation.
Stan Shunpike stepped down from the bus and cleared his throat, glancing at Aurora for a split second before pulling out a card. She rolled her eyes as he began to read his grand introduction, since she already heard it a month ago.
"Can I have a ticket?" She asks as he finished, and he reaches into his back pocket, handing her an official Knight Bus ticket. She steps onto the bus and takes a seat at the first available bed, Stan coming to stand in front of her with his arms crossed. She told him the apartment address, and the driver pulled a few levers, causing the bus to shoot off into the night.
"You're happier than you were last time." Stan says, sucking on a toothpick.
"Indeed I am." She replied softly, looking out the window.
"What's got you so happy now that didn't got you happy a week ago?" He pries, crossing one foot in front of the other.
"Last week my boyfriend threw me out, and this week he's bringing me back." She responds, and he scrunches his nose, shaking his head a bit.
"He ain't a good boyfriend if he throws you out, you know." He says, and Aurora chuckles a bit, raising her eyebrows at him.
"If you knew what I did, you'd think he's a saint." She shakes her head as she looks at him, and his eyes widen a bit as he studies her facial features, as if what she did was printed on her skin like words on a page.
"You don't look like you're capable of big bad things, little girl." He replies suspiciously, and Aurora laughs a bit at his tone.
"You have no idea, Stan." She says back, and he grunts a bit, standing up straight and looking out the window.
The rest of the ride was quiet as they sped into the town, coming to a harsh stop right outside of her apartment. Fred's apartment. Their apartment. She felt her heartbeat quicken, and she began to breath heavier.
"Well, come on then, he's brought you back, now you have to actually go back!" Stan shouts from in front of her, and she stands up quickly, nodding at him before walking towards the front of the bus, stepping out into the cold air.
"Hope this don't bite you in the ass, unless you like that!" Shouts the Shrunken Head with a cackle, before the doors shut behind her, and the bus disappears through the streets.
She lets out a deep breath as she walks to their front door, hesitating for a moment as she stares at it. She had a key to the place, and she had that key with her, but it felt wrong to just walk in after what happened, so she carefully brought her fist up to the door, quietly tapping her knuckles against it.
For a moment, she assumed it would have been too quiet for anyone to hear, since they were probably asleep, but against her judgement, she hear the lock turn from the other side. The door was pulled open in front of her, and all the air in her lungs seemed to leave her body at that moment.
In front of her stood Fred, wearing nothing but a pair of loose pajama pants that hung dangerously low on his hips. His hand was still on the doorknob, and he stared down at her with a mixture of hurt, shock, and happiness in his eyes, and she felt that look reflect onto her own face.
"Freddie... I'm home."