"Where have you been?!"
Aurora was bombarded with questions when she returned to the party. After sharing one last kiss, her and Marlene decided to part ways, not wanting to draw too much attention. Now, Aurora stood in front of a very confused Veronica Rosier as she walked back into the Hufflepuff common room.
"Well, I just needed some fresh air. You know how it is, I'm not a big fan of parties and large crowds." Aurora tried to lie, not in the mood to answer the questions that would follow if she told the truth.
But while Veronica had the looks, she also had the smarts too. "You are the worst liar ever, you know that? I saw you leaving the party with McKinnon. So, is that a thing again or what?"
"I am not sure actually. I mean, we kissed. And, it was honestly amazing." Blush rose to her cheeks just thinking about their little moment, "We're going to see each other again tomorrow, after dinner. I don't what I would call this, but I'm just glad to have her back again."
"Well that's certainly sweet. But, please, be careful. Avery may be a prick but he's also a sneaky little shit. I don't want you or anyone to get hurt if your parents were to find out."
"I know, I know." Aurora sighed, looking out into the room, her mind filled with endless thoughts and what-ifs. If only her life was simple as James Potter's or Lily Evans'. They didn't seem to worry about anything at all. They were just a boy and a girl who fell in love and people accepted that. It would never be the same for Aurora and Marlene.
"I feel like I'm suffocating in here. Do you want to leave?" Veronica's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.
"Yeah, let's go. Everyone's leaving anyways." They walked out of the room and into the dark and empty corridors.
Some students were helping their more drunk friends get to their dorms safely, and others were walking with their partners. Veronica and Aurora walked in comfortable silence until they made their way to the dungeons.
"Do you think Cissy's asleep?" Aurora asked, breaking the silence.
"I don't think so. She's probably up writing love letters to Malfoy." Veronica giggled. "I don't understand what she sees in him. The guy is an absolute jerk."
"You went for my brother, so I don't think you should be talking." Aurora received a smack on the arm after saying this and rolled her eyes.
"No but Regulus was quite sweet. Even out of our relationship, he didn't go out of his way to torment people. Now Lucius on the other hand, he's a different story." She explained with a sigh, "He seems quite controlling too."
"Oh very. A relationship with Lucius Malfoy seems suffocating." Aurora agreed with her.
"Right! He doesn't even seem like he's all that great." Veronica said, interlocking her arms with Aurora's, "You know I'll always support Narcissa but she's so young and she's about to get married. I could never envision myself in that sort of situation."
"After seeing my parents' marriage, it made me want to throw the whole idea of marriage out the window." Aurora started, reminiscing on the numerous nights she had spent with her pillow over her head, trying to drown out the voices of her parents as they argued. "Getting married seems like trapping yourself in a situation that you can't get out of."
"Especially in pure blood families like ours." Veronica chimed in, "Leaving one will leave your reputation tainted. And so will never marrying."
"I guess us women will never win, will we?" Aurora let out a sad chuckle, knowing that it was true.
The world would never sympathize with girls like them. Girls who were born to mothers that had their girlhood taken too early. They had been born and eventually married off to continue the same cycle their mothers had, and soon, their daughters would.
Girls like them were merely pawns in this continuous, unbeatable game of chess.
*****
"So, Marls, where'd you run off to last night?"
Alice gave a knowing look and mischievously grinned as she took a sip of her tea, somehow knowing exactly where the blonde-haired Gryffindor had been the previous night.
Mary shared the same questioning look with Lily and Marlene almost spat out her coffee at what Lily said next.
"You know, next time you decide to have a little midnight escapade with someone and don't want anyone to know, you should really cover up those marks on your neck."
"I mean, I never said I didn't want anyone to know." Marlene started, setting her teacup down, "And in my defense, we also spent most of the time talking too."
"Oh I'm sure you two did a lot of talking alright." Mary chucked, nudging Alice who tried to stifle a laugh.
"Mary, darling, I know you're not talking after your little snogging session with Lily last night." She tried to change the subject, which caused Alice to fake a gasp as she looked between her friends.
"She has point you know." Alice muttered, looking down. "And you did it in front of James too."
"So? It was technically a dare." Mary shrugged it off, "And it's not like it was the first time either."
"What?!"
"Since when?"
Now it was Marlene and Alice who were shocked and confused at this new piece of information.
But how could they have known? It happened during their fourth year, when Lily wanted to learn how to kiss. It was normal for girls their age to be interested in all that. After all, that's when the dating usually started at Hogwarts.
Now Mary on the other hand, had a way with boys (and girls, at times). She offered to help her best friend out and that was that. It stayed between them all this time.
Well, until now.
"Mary! I thought we agreed that would stay between us." The red-headed Gryffindor turned to her friend with rage written all over her face.
"Lily I didn't even know you also swung that way too—"
Lily cut off Marlene before she could even finish her sentence, "I don't! Look, I was fourteen and didn't know how to properly kiss someone. And well, the rest is quite obvious."
"How scandalous, Miss Evans." Alice nudged her with a smirk.
"James should actually be thanking me right now because without me, his girlfriend wouldn't have—"
"What should I have been thanking you for?" Suddenly, like always, James Potter was nearby. And not without his group either.
"For—"
"For being a very good friend!" Lily put her hand over Mary's mouth, before she had said anything else that would have bruised James' ego.
"Oh yes, very." Marlene emphasized with a smirk.
"Well in that case, Remus was a very good friend too." Sirius added, seemingly catching onto what was going on. The only two confused were James and Peter.
"Wait, what are they talking about?" Peter whispered to Alice, scratching his head.
"What— am I missing something here?" James asked, looking around the table.
"Can we not talk about our good friends now?" Marlene asked, humor present in her eye.
"No, no, I feel like there's a deeper meaning to all this."
"It's all right mate, you'll get it someday." Remus patted him on the back.
On the other side of the Great Hall sat another group of friends, sharing a similar conversation.
"Like I always say, if you want something in life, you have to go and grab it." Veronica said.
"Ronnie, I don't think she can do that to an actual person." Narcissa answered, turning to face her friend.
"Y'know, now that I realize, it does sound kind of weird." She hummed, seemingly thinking about something. "I think there's a word for that, I can't quite remember what though."
"Yeah, kidnapping." Aurora added right before she brought her cup of coffee to her lips. As she took a sip of her coffee, someone caught her eye. And it was hard to ignore him when he looked like a wreck.
"What happened to you?" Aurora asked Regulus as he took a seat across from her. She noticed the dark eye bags under his eyes and his slouchy posture. His hair also seemed ruffled and out of place. Regulus would never go out like this. There must have been a reason for this.
"Gee thanks." He groaned, staring at his sister with a blank face.
"I forgot that you were also at the party. But I kind of lost you after I— uh, after a while." Aurora quickly stopped herself before she told him anything that she'd later regret. "What were you even doing there? I didn't know you talked with any Hufflepuffs."
"Am I not allowed to have a social life now?" He retorted but his mind seemed to be elsewhere.
"No that's not what I mean—"
"Why do you even care?" He snapped at her, which came across as a surprise to Aurora.
"You know what, you're right. I don't care. I'm done caring about you and your problems." She sighed, "One second you're apologizing to me, and the next you're treating me horribly. Make up your damn mind."
But that was Regulus' problem; he couldn't just make up his mind. It was as if his mind had a mind of its own and chose to do whatever it wanted. Each waking moment was out of his control. And he often times lashed out in anger, not knowing how to ask for help.
*****
"I think I'll die before the NEWTS." Veronica groaned as Aurora, Narcissa, and her walked along the Black Lake.
"Oh come on, with the right amount studying, you'll be fine." Aurora reassured her.
"It's our last year here. Can't we just skip all those bring exams and go straight to graduating?" Aurora laughed at her friends words.
"You're saying that now, but we'll be missing days like these when we leave." Aurora hummed, fumbling with the small flower she had picked.
"Yes, when we're all old and gray." Narcissa added.
"I for one will not be gray, old maybe, but gray? I am not trying to look like my grandmother." Veronica pointed out, as they passed by other students on a walk.
"But then again, the stress of marriage and having all of those annoying kids aged her a few years earlier."
"Don't be so mean!" Narcissa laughed.
"What? It's not like the old hag was ever nice to me." She shrugged.
"I think I met your grandmother once when we were younger." Aurora started, "It was at that ball, hosted by the Malfoys. I won't lie, she scared me."
"It's probably the French in her. My whole family back in France always look like they hate everyone." Veronica explained, recalling how he aunts and uncles always had a stern, cold, face on. "Actually, they probably do."
"Yeah, you're quite different from them." Aurora added.
"Oh I try to be. I aspire to be nothing like them. Luckily, this apple fell far, far away from the family tree." She smirked, knowing that she was always the main topic during family reunions. And not always for a good reason. "Families am I right?"
"Don't remind me." Aurora groaned.
"What's wrong?" Narcissa asked, turning to face her cousin.
"Oh you know, the usual. I am seventeen years old and I do not know what I am even doing with my life." she sighed, stopping to sit on the grass, and her friends did the same. "I am burdened by the constant need to please my family and be what they want me to be. It's just all so tiring."
Most people her age, mainly muggles, were going out every night and living their lives. Aurora's life was merely Hogwarts and 'home', which resulted in her mood almost always being spoilt. She felt so trapped.
"Look, this is all temporary. One day, you'll be free to go wherever you want, with whoever you want. You won't have to worry about your family." Veronica gently rubbed her shoulder. "Our parents weren't able to break that cycle, but we will. We'll be happy. I promise."
"To freedom." Aurora put her hand in the middle, joined by her friends who vowed the same thing.
"To happiness." Narcissa followed soon after.
"To being ourselves." Veronica smiled, placing her hand on top of the others.
*****
Hi !!! I know, it's been a while since I last posted a new chapter but I've been super busy with school and a shit ton of personal issues LMAO so i apologize for the delay
I'm not too sure how I feel about this chapter, this is kind of a filler chapter I guess. I don't know when I'll post the next chapter (currently working on it as I write this lol) but I'll try to do it whenever I can, which I hope is soon, but I can't promise anything because the motivation to do anything these days is leaving my body with every passing second
Anyways, I hope y'all are having an amazing day/night, wherever you are. Remember to drink or eat something and take care of yourself <3
Also, Happy Black History month !! :)
-Jo