Aurelia died during the Battle of Hogwarts AU
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Harry reaches the Forest's edge. Within, further on, he can see Dementors drifting within the trees. Harry starts to enter, then pauses, reaches into his pocket and removes the Snitch. Eyes the words etched upon it: "I open at the close."
Harry frowns, then closes his eyes, brings the metal orb to his lips. His fingers tremble, then lowers his hand, watching as the metal shell falls away to reveal the resurrection stone. A jagged crack runs down its center, along the line representing the Elder Wand. The triangle and circle, representing the Cloak and Stone, are faintly visible. Harry stares at it, then closes his eyes and begins to roll the Stone over in his hand.
"Once. Twice. Thrice. . ." he murmured.
Harry stands for a moment and then, slowly, opens his eyes. Five people stand within the Forest: James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Lily Potter and Aurelia Clemonte.
"Guess you still care about me for you to summon me here," a girl chuckled.
Harry snapped his head and looked at her with widened eyes.
"Aurelia? W-why are you here?"
He then looked around again, noticing that everyone here has one thing in common.
"No. . ."
"Yes," she chuckled. "Crazy that it took the resurrection stone for you to talk to me again."
Sirius and Remus looked at the two lovingly knowing how close they were in third year.
"I-I don't understand. . ." Harry stammered.
"You do. . . It's alright Harold, I forgive you," she smiled at him.
"You've been so brave, sweetheart," said Lily.
"Why are you here? All of you?" asked Harry.
"We never left, dear," said Lily softly.
"Does it hurt? Dying?" Harry asked again.
"Quicker than falling asleep," said Sirius.
"And he will want it to be quick," Lupin jumped in.
"You're nearly there, son," James smiled at him.
"I'm sorry. I didn't want any of you to die for me. And Remus, your son. . ."
"Others will tell him what his mother and father died for. Someday he'll understand. . ."
Harry then looked at Aurelia again.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything," he stared at her. Tears could be seen from his eyes.
"I know, it's alright," she said.
A chill breeze shakes the trees. Harry looks ahead.
"You'll stay with me?" asked Harry.
"Until the end," James answered.
"He won't be able to see you?"
Sirius shakes his head, gestures to Harry's heart. "No. We're here, you see."
"Stay close to me." Harry turns to his mother.
"Always. . ."
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He did it, he finally did it. However, one thing he has in mind after what he saw at the forbidden forest is Aurelia. He ignored the call of Hermione and Ron and ran frantically to the great hall where all the bodies are.
He kept looking and looking until he saw Alex Grimaldi and Davina Huntington crying in the middle of two bodies and one of them is Aurelia Clemonte, his Aurelia Clemonte. The same Aurelia Clemonte who gave him his first Christmas present, who sent him cookies every summer, his very first friend and the same person he pushed away.
As Alex noticed Harry's arrival looking at Aurelia's dead body, Alex stood up and made his way to The Potter boy.
"What the hell are you doing here, Potter," Alex shoved him to the wall.
Harry didn't even fight back and kept his gaze on the curly haired girl who looked peacefully sleeping. Tears still haven't escaped his eyes because he still thinks this is all a dream. Maybe this is a nightmare and he'll wake up tomorrow and it turns out he's still on the horcrux hunt.
"Alex, let him go," said Davina softly. "Aurelia wouldn't have wanted this."
Davina just looked at the Gryffindor boy who looked like he no longer had any energy in his body.
"I'm sorry, Potter," said Davina. "I know you were once close with her so I'll give you both some time."
Davina then pulled Alex away who still glared at Harry. The two best friends then sat next to the body of Luca Montgomery.
Harry then fell onto his knees, next to Aurelia's head, still looking at the girl. It feels like nothing could come out of his mouth, like he was frozen, physically and mentally.
"Aurelia. . ." he said, no more than a whisper.
"Aurelia. . ." he repeated.
She stayed still.
"Wake up," he shook her body softly.
"Wake up Aurelia, it's over," still shaking her body.
Then it finally hit him. She'll never wake up again. He'll never see her eyes again, her smile. He'll never hear her voice, her laugh, her jokes. He'll never feel her touch anymore, her hugs, her kisses.
His body started to shake and tears kept pouring out from his eyes. He finally touched her cheek and brushed his finger there. At least he could still feel her soft skin. Then he started to brush her hair with his fingers. Her soft hair he always loved to play around with.
He softly picked up her head and put it on his lap.
"I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry," he sobbed while brushing her hair.
"I never hated you Aurelia, I never hated you, I never hated you. I'm sorry. Please come back, p-please wake up, I beg you, I'll do a-anything, I promise," he begged her while sobbing.
He could see dried blood on her forehead, some dust on her face, even some bruising, but she still looked beautiful.
"Remember w-when I used to call you Aurora because y-your name sounds like that muggle p-princess? Princess Aurora, the sleeping beauty. Maybe you are the sleeping beauty, so please wake up for me — please," he sobbed as he caressed her cheek.
"Harry! We've b-"
Hermione gasped at the sight and it seems like Ron froze as well. Hermione then hugged Ron and started sobbing. Tears also started to escape from Ron's eyes.
Aurelia Clemonte, their once best friend, is no longer here.
"Hey Aurelia, Hermione and Ron are here," Harry whispered to her. "Don't you want to say hi to them?"
Aurelia stayed still, with her eyes closed.
Hermione and Ron then sat on their knees in front of Harry to get a closer look at Aurelia.
"We won, Aurelia, we won. I defeated Voldemort. He's dead now," Harry whispered.
Hermione started to sob even harder. Both Hermione and Ron are still unable to say anything.
"Remember when you told me in third year that Hermione and Ron will be dating in seventh year? You were right Aurelia! They're dating now," Harry chuckled while wiping his tears off his face, which he learned is not useful since tears wouldn't stop coming.
Harry's bad dream eventually came true. Aurelia died before he could mend their strained friendship that was caused by him.
"Even now, you still look pretty, Aurelia," said Hermione as she tried to force a laugh.
"Guess I finally got the girl now, Aurelia," Ron chuckled through his cries, remembering the time when Aurelia gave him advice on how to get girls.
Harry just kept studying her face, knowing that this is probably his last time being able to be this close to the girl before she's six feet underground.
Even in a battle, she still smelled good. Vanilla and strawberry.
"This is unfair," he said more like a whisper, however Hermione and Ron heard him.
"This is so unfair, the world is unfair, it is unfair to you," he said while brushing her hair.
Hermione and Ron then kept saying I'm sorry to Aurelia's body every minute. The three of them savored every moment they had with the curly haired girl. It took one of them to die for them to mend their friendship.
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Harry couldn't stop crying at Aurelia's funeral. After the battle of Hogwarts, he ran through his stuff and finally found her bracelet, the very same bracelet he gave her in first year. He accidentally found it in the room of requirement in sixth year. He thinks that Aurelia purposely put it there because Harry and her are no longer friends.
He put on her bracelet on his wrist ever since her death and never took it off, not even once.
"Potter, Granger, Weasley," Davina approached them with Alex on her side who looked like he would rather be somewhere else than in the presence of the trio.
Harry saw Davina carrying three identical books.
"Aurelia made this book. It's her own school yearbook since Hogwarts doesn't have one," Davina forced a laugh to hide her cry. "From first to third year, the book is filled with the four of you so I figured it'd be nice for you to see it as well. However starting fourth year, it's mostly us and Luca. I just thought it would be nice as well for you three to know what she did after the — well after you three stopped hanging out with her."
"That's s-sweet. Thank you Davina," said Hermione between cries.
"You're welcome," Davina smiled at her.
"She always cared for you three. She may say she has moved on from all of you, but she's far from it. She would always bring up what you four did in our conversation," Davina chuckled.
Harry just kept his gaze at the cover of the book.
𝐴𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑎'𝑠 𝐻𝑜𝑔𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑠 𝐽𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑦 ♡
"Also, we have this tape. It's actually a surprise birthday tape we made for Aurelia's eighteenth birthday last year. It's just a compilation of her videos we recorded on my cam recorder. I just thought you three should have it so you can never forget her voice you know? We're bound to forget her voice someday and I just hoped that this will never make us forget that," said Davina as she fought the urge to not cry in front of the trio.
"Oh and Potter, I hope you still keep those letters someone sent you in fifth year."
Harry finally looked up from the book and frowned at the girl.
"It was Aurelia. She was the one who wrote it. She saw how stressed you were and she wanted to comfort you but she thought you hated h-"
"I'm sorry," Harry cut Davina off and left the group. He went as far as he could and sat on a bench.
He put the book next to him and rested his elbows on his lap. He then buried his face in his hands and started sobbing uncontrollably. How could he not recognize her handwriting?
It didn't take long for Hermione and Ron to find him.
Hermione grabbed his book and put it on top of her book so she could sit next to him. Ron also sat next to Harry and started rubbing his back.
"S'all my fault," Harry sobbed. "If I wasn't stupid enough, if I wasn't dumb enough then we would still be friends with her. She would join our horcrux hunt and she'd be by our side the whole time. She wouldn't be d-dead if it wasn't because of me."
"It's not your fault Harry," said Hermione softly.
"Really? Stop lying to yourself, I know you two also think that she could still be here if we're still friends with her," said Harry. "I avoided her just because I was in denial that I'm in love with my own best friend. She probably died thinking I hate her when it's actually the complete opposite of that, but she'll never know that, because she's gone — she's fucking g-gone."
Not knowing what to reply to Harry, Hermione and Ron hugged him and the three of them cried together while thinking of the memories they have together with the girl.
Harry purposely stayed over longer so he could have some alone time with Aurelia. However, someone suddenly stood up next to him.
"Harry Potter, is it?" said the middle aged man.
"Y-yeah sir," Harry answered.
"I'm Oscar Clemonte," the man offered his hand for Harry to shake.
"Hi sir," Harry shook his hand. He noticed this is Aurelia's father.
"Thank you, for what you did," he said gratefully, talking about Voldemort.
"Y-yes, no problem sir," said Harry.
After a minute of silence, her father finally speaks again.
"Always thought you two are going to date, turns out she ended up dating that Ernie boy."
Harry just nodded and tears started to escape his eyes again.
"I don't know what happened between you two but I know my daughter, she never stopped caring," said her father. "I was going through her room yesterday and I found this letter. I think she meant to send it to you but never did."
Her father then gave him a sealed letter with her handwriting on top of it.
Harry Potter
"I'll leave you alone with her," Oscar patted his shoulder and left the two alone.
"Guess I should read the letter with you," he awkwardly chuckled as he sat next to her gravestone.
He stroked the gravestone before he finally opened the letter
Dear Harold,
I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable by confessing to you. I always thought you liked Cho, I didn't know what came to me. I'm okay with you not liking me back, you're my best friend and I would rather have you by my side forever rather than getting this stupid feelings between us.
By the way, how was the world cup? Are you okay? I heard about what happened. Did you, Hermione, or Ron get hurt? I'm sorry for not attending the world cup, I have something else to do.
Yesterday I went to St.Mungos to visit my mum's friend who's hurt. I kept studying how the healers tend people. I think I know what I want to be. I think I want to be a healer! It would be cool, wouldn't it? With our yearly adventures, if I know how to tend people, I can take care of us on the spot if we get hurt (though I advise we still go to Madam Pomfrey afterwards).
Again, I hope what happened that night won't change anything between us.
Have a great summer!
Your best friend,
Aurelia (Aurora)
Harry couldn't contain his tears anymore. He started sobbing and rested his forehead on the gravestone.
"I'm so s-sorry, Aurelia," he sobbed.
He kissed her gravestone and said, "you would've been a great healer, I'm sure of it."
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It's been twenty five years since the Battle of Hogwarts and a lot have changed. Hermione and Ron have their own family, Davina and Alex have their own family, and surprisingly Harry has his own as well.
Harry met a muggle girl at a muggle cafe and decided to go on a date with her. Now they're blessed with a twin, a son and a daughter. They're both going to their third year at Hogwarts and Harry has never been more excited for his children.
Although on the outside he looks like he has this perfect life going on, a family, a perfect job, he never once got over what happened during May second. All the people that died that day, families, friends, Aurelia.
After the funeral, he ran through his old school stuff and finally found all of the letters Aurelia wrote for him.
Dear Harry Potter,
You may know me or you may not. Don't freak out, I'm not going to hurt you or hunt you down. I'm not a death eater, I'm a normal Hogwarts student.
I've seen the way The Daily Prophet has been thrashing on you and how people have been calling you names, and talking about you behind your back.
I just want to say I believe you, my whole family believes you, all of my friends believe you. Please don't think you're alone.
I know it seems weird that someone you may possibly never know sent you a letter but I just want to cheer you up after seeing how people treated you.
You can send me letters back if you want to rant to me, I'm all ears, I won't tell a soul I promise, but if you think it's weird to talk about your problems to a stranger then don't, it's completely fine. I just want to make you feel better and more welcomed at school.
If you think this is completely weird and want me to stop, you can reply to this letter and tell me to stop. If you don't want me to stop sending you letters but you also don't want to send me any letter, then don't send me any letter because by that I'll assume that you're okay with this (:
In order for you to send me a letter, just go to one of the school owls and say you want to send a letter to butterfly.
I hope you're doing well and don't let their words get into your head
Sincerely,
Butterfly
Ever since knowing that Butterfly is Aurelia, Harry regretted not writing back to the letter at all, however Harry was grateful that she kept sending him letters.
He never watched the disc Davina gave them until five years after her death. Harry has slowly forgotten what she sounds like and hearing it again for the first time after five long years, Harry couldn't stop the sobs that came from his mouth.
Every year, he visited her gravestone twice, her birthday and May second. However, for the first few years, he visited her grave every time he's not busy. He felt the need to make up for lost times.
Harry feels like he's lucky to have his wife because she's actually okay with him like this, including wearing a bracelet with the initials of his dead ex best friend.
"Hey Lia," he sat next to her gravestone. "How's it going down there? Hope it's not too small or dark." He chuckled.
Talking to her gravestone for years, he suddenly came up with a perfect nickname for Aurelia, Lia.
"Lily is so mini you, it's crazy," said Harry to her gravestone.
Harry decided to name his daughter Lily Aurelia Potter and his son James Sirius Potter. Hermione and Ron named their daughter Rose (courtesy Aurelia's middle name), while Alex and Davina decided to name their daughter Rellie.
"Her humor, her curly hair, her laugh, her mannerism, she's literally mini you, and she's not even your daughter," he chuckled.
He stared at the gravestone while playing around with the bracelet around his wrist.
"You wouldn't believe this but she has a crush on her best friend. She suddenly asked her mum to bake cookies and she wanted to send it to him. I just hope that boy is not stupid enough like me," he sighed.
"Sometimes, I wonder what would've happened if you survived Lia. Well you would have if we stayed friends," he said the last part more like a whisper.
Until this day, some parts of him still blames himself for her death no matter how much people tell him it's not his fault. Even Alex told him it's not his fault. Her father never once blamed Harry for her death but he always felt that he could prevent her death.
Sometimes Harry would still look at Aurelia's yearbook and read her letters. Whenever he's feeling down, he reads the letters from butterfly.
Because for the longest time, it was Harry and Aurelia.