the day of the first slug's club dinner arrived and so did aurelia's excitement to dress up in a simple though effective outfit.
she pulled on a plain, light blue, long sleeved shirt and a black jacket over it. she paired it with a tight, black trouser and slipped in her shoes. after she was done applying a little bit of cold cream, she smiled and ran downstairs.
"nice outfit!" susan yelled after her, chuckling lightly at the girl's excitement.
"thank you." aurelia yelled back over her shoulder, ascending downstairs as quickly as possible.
"hey aurelia!" she heard zach's voice and came to a halt to find him sitting on one of the couches with his other friends who were smirking at him.
"you look great." zacharias smirked causing aurelia to turn a deep shade of red due to the embarrassment. she muttered a quick thank you and strolled out of the common room.
she surely liked the hufflepuff's presence and how sweet he was but something didn't feel right. she felt nothing special. she was confused.
on the way to slughorn's office, aurelia spotted a familiar slytherin standing near the black lake in the freezing cold.
"theodore?" aurelia yelled, running towards the black lake.
as soon as theodore heard the familiar voice, he turned around and hid the photograph he was looking at, behind his back. he just hoped that aurelia didn't notice but it was too late as she had already reached for whatever he was hiding behind his back.
"what are you hiding? let me see." aurelia frowned, turning him around and snatched the photograph out of his grasp.
"aurelia! give it back!" theodore protested but in vain as aurelia had already seen the photograph and was smiling sadly.
"your mum." she spoke up, glancing at theodore who rolled his eyes,"you were missing her?"
"yeah cause it's her birthday and she isn't here with me!" theodore seethed, venom dripping from his voice.
"what's wrong with you?" aurelia frowned, completely done with theodore's recent tantrums of ignoring her.
"nothing."
"you are an idiot!" aurelia glared,"at first you ignore me for days and when I ask what's wrong you say nothing?"
"yes, nothing." theodore repeated,"n-o-t-h-i-n-g, nothing. tell me if I need to repeat it again."
"it hurts when you ignore me." aurelia whined like a kid causing theodore to scoff in response.
"stop doing that." theodore scolded but aurelia wasn't the one to give up. she got ahold of his arm and give him a nice shook but in vain due to the cold glares he was throwing towards her.
"what's wrong?" aurelia asked,"i'm sorry even though i don't remember doing anything which can make you upset."
theodore sighed in annoyance but soon realised that he was being stupid for acting like a complete asshole to get aurelia worried. it wasn't her fault that she liked some other boy, he reminded himself.
"ugh i'm an absolute idiot." theodore groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose, earning a muffled giggle from aurelia.
"took you long enough to realize." aurelia teased, bumping her shoulder with theodore's who was trying hard to keep a straight face.
"haha very funny."
"anyway, you still haven't told me the reason you were ignoring me." aurelia reminded.
"let's just say that my brain stopped working for a moment and now i've realized my mistake." theodore didn't know how to explain the pang of jealousy his heart feels whenever he finds her with zacharias.
"i don't understand what you're trying to say. . . but oh well, it's good to know that you've realized your mistake." theodore flashed an awkward smile in response, reaching out for the photograph clutched in aurelia's hand.
"did you wish her?" aurelia suddenly asked, pulling the photograph of the smiling woman away from theodore's reach who had a confused expression on his face.
"and how exactly am i supposed to do that?" theodore raised one of his eyebrows, clearly surprised by aurelia's words.
"close your eye and wish her." aurelia shrugged casually, glancing at the stars in the night sky which were enlightening the black lake beneath.
"huh?" theodore frowned,"i still don't get it."
"i'll help you." aurelia offered, moving her eyes back to theodore's bewildered face. she lightly grabbed theodore's hand turning him with her to face the night sky.
"what are you-"
"close your eyes theodore and repeat after me."
"this doesn't makes any sense an-"
"dear mum." but aurelia had already started, taking theodore by surprise.
"golden pl-"
"on this auspicious day."
"fine" theodore muttered to himself knowing how stubborn aurelia could be,"dear mother, on this auspicious day. . ."
"i wish you a very happy birthday."
"i wish you a very happy birthday." theodore repeated, closing his eyes when he realized he hadn't.
"you are an amazing human being."
"you are an amazing human being."
"you carried me-"
"you carried me around in your womb for nine freaking months, happily gulping down all the difficulties and pain to keep me safe and sound."
aurelia opened her eyes, smiling widely and glanced at theodore whose face was being illuminated by the fluorescent moonlight.
" your efforts haven't gone down. i am trying to be a kind and noble human being just as you had taught me." theodore continued,"i was stupid for ignoring you before but now that you aren't here with me, i realized that i lost a precious gem. but i promise that I'll make you proud. i love you and i miss you."
abruptly, theodore opened his eyes, a small smile of relief lingering on his lips as he felt his chest getting off the things he had hidden forever.
"so how do you feel?" aurelia asked after a moment of comforting silence.
"quite good. it feels like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulder!" theodore chuckled lightly, turning to look at aurelia who was beaming with happiness.
"i knew it." aurelia smiled triumphantly,"i need to go now. don't want to be late for the first slug club dinner. I'll see you around."
reluctantly, theodore nodded and let go of aurelia's hand.
aurelia once at last waved at theodore and made her way towards slughorn's office where she met up with harry and hermione.
"ah, welcome you three. take a seat." a jolly slughorn welcomed them, earning an instant smile from aurelia who seemed most excited out of the three. aurelia took a seat next to hermione, having blaise zabini on the other who offered her a small smile, earning one as a response.
" hi neville." she proceeded to greet neville who responded with a quick smile.
slughorn took a seat besides cormac as he asked him,"so cormac, tell me, see much of your uncle tiberius these days?"
"yes, sir." cormac replied while aurelia got hold of the delicious desert,"in fact I'm going to go hunting with him and the minister for magic over the holidays."
"well, be sure to give them both my best." professor slughorn chortled.
"what about your uncle, belby?" he asked, turning to belby,"for those of you who don't know, marcus's uncle invented the wolfsbane potion. is he working on something new?"
"dunno." belby shrugged,"he and my dad don't get on. probably because dad thinks potions are rubbish. says the only potion worth having is the stiff one at the end of the day."
slughorn nodded before turning to hermione,"and what about you, miss granger?what is it your family does in the nuggle world?"
aurelia glanced at hermione, who shifted uncomfortably in her seat before answering,"my parents are dentists. they tend to take out people's teeth."
"fascinating." slughorn commented,"and is that considered a dangerous profession?"
"no." hermione answered and then smiled," though a boy named robbie fenwick did bite my father once. needed ten stitches." she laughed quietly while everyone just stared at her in disbelief except the potter twins who were smiling along.
just then the door pushed open and in the youngest weasley whose eyes were bloodshot red.
"miss weasley!" smiled slughorn,"come in. come in."
ginny closed the door, walking up to the table when hermione whispered,"look at her eyes. they've been fighting again. him and ginny."
aurelia immediately noticed ginny's eyes just as hermione had predicted they were puffy.
"sorry, I'm not usually late." ginny apologised, pulling up her seat when harry suddenly shot up from his seat, his gaze fixed on ginny. there was an awkward silence as harry and ginny stared at each other. slowly, harry sat down and so did ginny.
"no matter. you'll just be in time for desert. this, if belby leaves you any." slughorn said.
after few more hours filled with some awkward tension, everybody got up to leave except the potter twins who had a task to complete.
"go and talk to him!" aurelia hissed, shoving harry towards slughorn who bading goodbye to others.
"I'm not doing it alone!" harry whisper-yelled, pushing aurelia in response.
"you do know that he admires you the most right?" aurelia reasoned, yanking his hands away from her shoulders.
"just because i got mum's eyes doesn't mean-"
"i promise I'll wait outside for you-"
"ah potters." slughorn interrupted, turning towards them with a questioning look on his face.
"i was just going." aurelia smiled nervously, hurrying out causing harry to mentally groan.
"harry, my boy?" slughorn asked.
"oh yes sir, i was just admiring your hour glass." was the last thing aurelia heard before shutting the door of slughorn's office behind her. she let out a tired sigh and leaned onto the wall for support. few minutes passed but harry still didn't come out. aurelia could hear their muffled voices.
"aurelia!"
the hufflepuff glanced up from her shoes to find zacharias standing in front of her with a slight smirk dangling on his lips.
"zach? what are you doing here?" aurelia questioned while zacharias walked over to her.
"it was getting late and you weren't back yet. i was a little worried so thought of checking out to make sure that you were okay." zacharias answered simply, earning a pleased look from aurelia.
"you didn't really had to do that." aurelia smiled heartily,"i was just waiting for harry."
"oh do you want me to stay with you?" zacharias asked.
"no, no, it's fine." aurelia shook her head lightly before smiling,"it was really nice of you though. thank you."
zacharias nodded, waving at her until his posture was swallowed by darkness.
finally when harry got out, aurelia leaped in front of him, curious to know about what he talked about.
"so?" aurelia questioned.
"i got nothing. he just talked about this special shelf he made for students extremely good at potions." harry answered, earning a disappointed sigh from aurelia.
"oh, let's go back then." aurelia said. the twins walked in silence when harry decided to break it.
"so smith and you?" he coughed a little, trying not to sound as he was upset by then.
"mhm, what about it?" aurelia asked, a smile instantly appearing on her face on the mention of zachairas.
"are you two dating?"
"no harry!" aurelia laughed lightly,"we are just friends."
"that boy has got more on his mind, I'm sure." harry scoffed, rolling his eyes.
"maybe." aurelia murmured quietly.
**
the much awaited match finally arrived which was between gryffindor and slytherin. hours before the match, aurelia had painted her cheeks with gold and scarlet with a go ron etched in black paint. she happily made her way over to the gryffindor table where she spotted lavender brown wishing ron a good luck.
"I'm resigning." aurelia heard ron blurting out as she took a seat next to him, startling him a bit but relaxed afterwards,"after today's match, mclaggen can have my spot."
"you shouldn't resign! you're so good!" aurelia tried to convince him.
"have it your way." harry agreed causing the other two girls to stare at him in disbelief.
"harry you can't let him quit!" aurelia frowned.
ignoring what his sister said, harry pushed a cup towards ron,"juice?"
"hello everyone." the quartet heard a dazed voice and turned to find luna sitting besides ron with a giant lion mask on her head,"you look dreadful ron. is that why you put something in his cup? is it a tonic?"
aurelia turned her attention back to the boy with glasses who slipped a small vial back in his pocket.
"liquid luck." hermione said,"don't drink it, ron." she tried to stop him but ron quickly grabbed the cup, gulping it down.
"you could be expelled for that." hermione hissed, eyeing aurelia to try to convince the two boys to withdraw their idea who just shrugged in response.
"I don't know what you're talking about." harry shrugged casually.
"c'mon harry. we've got a game to win." ron grinned, getting up along with harry.
the two rushed out, leaving the three girls behind who didn't know how to break the awkward silence draping them.
"well. . . " aurelia cleared her throat,"i really love your lion hat luna."
"me too." luna smiled in a thanking way.
after having breakfast, aurelia made her way to the stands with an excited luna on her side. the two took a seat in the gryffindor stands, cheering and clapping loudly when the gryffindor quidditch team flew in the sky.
"go ron!!!" aurelia and luna chorused.
a slytherin chaser headed towards the gryffindor goals where ron gazed at the chaser nervously. the chaser hit the quaffle and ron scooped down just in time and saved the goal. the gryffindor's stands erupted in cheers and applauds.
the game finally came to an end with gryffindor being the winner which meant celebration. later in the evening, the gryffindor common room was bustling with students patting and complimenting ron for his amazing skills.
aurelia stood at the corner with her brother and hermione who were all watching ron with a proud smile on their faces. the crowd was cheering 'weasley! weasley' repeatedly.
suddenly hermione spoke up,"you shouldn't have done that."
aurelia turned her attention back to harry and hermione, very well knowing where this was going.
"I know. I suppose I should just have used the confundus charm." harry smugly replied, taking both aurelia and hermione by surprise.
"what?" aurelia couldn't help but ask about the confundus charm they were talking about.
"hermione used the confundus charm on mclaggen so that ron-"
"that was different." hermione tried to be innocent, cutting off harry in between,"it was tryouts. this was an actual match."
harry pulled out the full vial of liquid luck, taking both aurelia and hermione by surprise.
"you didn't put it in?" hermione asked. harry shook his head with a smug smirk on his face.
"ron only thought you did." she asked again and harry grinned. aurelia smiled slightly, turning to look at ron, just when lavender brown tapped on his shoulder before pulling his head down to hers, kissing him.
aurelia's lips parted in shock, scared at seeing how hermione would react. aurelia was very well aware of how hermione was crushing on ron, not making it too obvious for anybody else to figure out.
in a blur, aurelia saw hermione running off somewhere causing aurelia to share a worried look with her brother. harry took it as a cue to follow her best friend leaving aurelia behind.
sighing, aurelia exited the common room, quickly making her way to the hufflepuff basement.
bumping in theodore on the way, aurelia decided to ask him about what she had been brooding over since few days.
"hey, what are you doing out here?" theodore questioned.
"i can ask you the same." aurelia said, suddenly getting nervous.
"oh i was just goofing around-"
"will you go to the slughorn's christmas party with me?"
theodore couldn't believe his ears that out of everybody, the aurelia potter was asking him out as a date for the party.
he grinned widely but it soon faltered when blaise's word rang in his head.
he should have invited you too theodore. you're brilliant at potions everybody knows. he asked me about your father and he wasn't quite happy with it.
no way in the world, theodore wanted to ruin aurelia's source of happiness.
aurelia had complained how slughorn invited her brother to the slug club while on the train but not her as she resembled her dad a lot. after being invited to the party, aurelia was ecstatic and bursting with joy. theodore can go to any extent just to make her happy.
taking a deep breath and shutting whatever his heart was yelling him to do, theodore opened his mouth,"as much as i want to say yes, i can't. i've got detention with mcgonagall and i don't think I'll be able to make it."
"detention?" disappointment was dripping from her words, shattering theodore's heart.
"she caught me goofing around." theodore shrugged, looking everywhere but aurelia, for he was scared that she would point out the guilt swirling in his eyes.
"and you're here again." aurelia muttered.
"uh i was just going." with that theodore ran away from aurelia, constantly cursing himself and his fate.
being disappointed, aurelia returned back to the common room and having left no other option left asked zacharias to accompany her and he said yes.
a/n: hi, theo is her first choice lol. aurelia is being childish-