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CHAPTER THIRTY:
the beginning of the end
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It had been three days since Aurora returned back from the fight at Hogwarts. Three days of rest was all that she required before her mornings switched back into the same routine she had been following for months in the city of Merlen.
The day after the battle at Hogwarts had been the quietest the city of merlen had been. There was no breakfast served, and no meetings for the day. Everyone had been exhausted after spending's hours in the middle of the hardest fight of their life and that is why everyone who participated in the fight spent a full day in their bedrooms, catching up on well needed rest.
Especially Harry, Aurora, and Luke: the three of them had notably gone through the worst physical pain.
You might have thought that in those three days of rest Harry and Aurora had talked about everything that went on in the last year that they had not seen one another. Between Harry believing that Aurora did not exist and Aurora believing him to be dead, it was clear the two had much to talk about but neither were ready to speak.
The two of them just spent the days wrapped up in one another's arms but did not speak much to one another except Aurora explaining Merlen to him.
However today Aurora decided that she could not spend another day in her bedroom and forced herself to wake up early and begin her day.
She turned around and glanced at Harry who was still fast asleep with his hand extended onto her side of the bed, where she lay moments ago. She examined him for a moment, taking a moment to realise how lucky she had been that he was here. He looked different, she noticed that the moment she saw him the first night he arrived here. He looked older, maybe they all did. his black hair had been messily sticking up in different directions with a single curl hanging down on his forehead, he appeared stronger in his shoulders yet looked like he lost some weight.
He had been the most benevolent person over the last day. Aurora had felt so exhausted and drained after the fight at Hogwarts, and between fighting Runskin and getting her eyelids pulled out, Aurora felt as though she could sleep for the rest of her life. Harry noticed this and without fail spent the day literally bringing her foods from the kitchen and keeping her occupied.
She looked at the clock by her nightstand which read shortly after seven, and rose from the bed wearing Harry shirt and a loosely fitted pair of shorts.
She opened her bedroom door, and as usual Louis stood outside her door. "She lives," Louis remarks sarcastically as she walks by, "I thought you might have been bedridden forever."
"It's called taking a day off, Louis, you should try it." Aurora replied, going down the hallway.
"Maybe if you didn't need protecting all the time then I could have a day off." He replied.
"You're the one who feels the need to protect me," She shouted back and he rolled his eyes in response.
When she walked into the changing room, Hestia stood there measuring out a dress on a mannequin that loosely resembled both Aurora's size and height. The brunette turned around when she saw her and a soft smile painted itself on her lips.
"Bonjour," Hestia smiled, examining her. "Vous aviez l'air fatigué."
"You can fix that." Aurora smiled back.
Aurora sat down in the chair once she had changed into her dress for the day, which had been a very neutral colour red long dress that came down to her ankles. It was long sleeved with golden cuffs wrapping tightly around her wrists, inside each of the golden cuffs had been two small tiny knives in case of an emergency. It was a v neck line dress with two slits in the ribcages of the dress and was wrapped tightly with three dark pieces of thick rope.
Hestia stood behind Aurora, a wooden comb in her hands as she gently ran the wooden instrument through the ends of Aurora's hair.
"What are your plans for the day?"
"My plans are the same as any other day," Aurora told Hestia, lifting up two pair of golden earrings to her ears to see which suited her better. In her opinion they both suited her but Hestia discreetly put down one pair of them and handed her the pair which the small golden hearts in the middle. "I am going to go have breakfast, wait for my boyfriend to wake up, then I'll go into the entrance room and hear the people's problems and have a late council meeting afterwards. After all of that is done then I'll probably end up spending the rest of the day in the library trying to find out if there is a way of unlinking me, Luke and Harry to Runskin."
Hestia nods gently, "I saw your mother entering the library early this morning...she was probably doing the same."
Aurora listened to Hestia's words but made no comment. She didn't even factor seeing Magnolia or Sirius into her list for the day. She wanted to know if Magnolia knew a way of unlinking them but judging by the sick expression on her and Sirius when they realised they were unlinked. Aurora knew this was a bad thing. Maybe even it was undoable.
"Any opinions on that?" Hestia asked, a slight teasing in her tone.
"No opinions at all." Aurora replied in an equally teasing tone. Hestia playfully rolled her eyes with a smile on her lips. A few moments passed and Hestia continued to gently comb the ends of her hair, which allowed her to actually form a moment with her thoughts. She had tried her hardest over the last day to not think about the fact that everyone had been here, that Sirius and Magnolia were here. "I don't ... I don't know what to feel."
Hestia looked in the mirror at Aurora with an understanding nod in her way, not a pitiful one or one that suggested she was about to try and convince Aurora to forgive them, like everyone seemed to expect her to. "That is understandable, you have been through so much."
Aurora didn't say anything when the girl said those words but it caused her to think for a moment. She had been through a lot and the fact that she was linked to Runskin was now a million times worse. Harry and Luke were also linked to him which made things unsurprisingly worse.
Hestia braided the back of her short hair, just along the sides so that her hair wouldn't be completely in her face for the day. "Have you spoken to Luke?"
"No," Aurora admitted, hating the answer to that question. Her stomach went into knots at the mere thought of it, it kept her awake last night. "When we came back to the island, he was exhausted, really tired – I've never seen him like that before, not even after full moons. Runskin drained him. Even if I wanted to talk to him, I wouldn't have gotten a chance ...Jackie and Remus have been treating him like a new-born baby. I only saw him once yesterday."
Hestia knew something was wrong with the girl, just from her expression. She might have gave a small laugh at the end but the girl knew it had been a fake one.
"I hope this does not sound invasive but I can tell something is bothering you, I wonder if you'd like to speak about it."
"I feel like I'm putting everyone in danger." Aurora admitted after a few seconds of gathering her words. Hestia seemed a little confused which led Aurora to add, "And I feel like the one I put the most in danger is Luke. He was possessed because of me, because Runskin wanted to hurt me and knew Luke was the easy way to do that. He and Harry are both linked to Runskin because of me. Harry just survived a battle he has been fighting his whole life and now he's got another one again, and Luke literally just escaped Runskin to find out that if Runskin dies, he will too."
"I do not mean to..." Hestia paused for a moment, trying to translate from French to English. "invalidate your feelings but I do not believe that you are to blame for what happened to Luke nor do I believe that Luke would blame you under said circumstances. They way he is with you...he wouldn't blame you."
Aurora looks at the girl, "I don't think he would ever necessarily blame me. I mean he even apologised to me when I first seen him. What on earth has he got to be sorry for?" She couldn't imagine him ever screaming at her about how this was all her fault, he spent far too much time convincing her of the opposite. "But I do think maybe he regrets choosing to stay here."
"Maybe you do not realise it yet but people want to find with you, for you. The people of this island have sworn to die fighting by your side if needs be. Luke is amongst them people, he wants to fight for you. Fighting for you means that we have all accepted the risk of danger. Luke is willingly choosing to fight for you and stay here, if the danger really bothered him he would have left the island right after Runskin trapped him in limbo for many months. I am sure that Luke knows that if he and his family wished to return home back to London, that you would send them there with a dozen solders and the most protection."
"That's the problem, you do not wish to do any of this without him. Without all of them." One of the annoying voices said in the back of her head.
"That's her weakness...she cares too much—" another voice shouted.
"It isn't just that. Runskin basically told me himself that Luke regretted meeting me." And that was the only thing that went through her mind
"And you believe what Runskin told you? The same Runskin who told you that Luke and Harry were dead?" Hestia questioned.
Aurora stared at the girl for a long moment and watched Hestia slowly give her a bit of a you're not really that stupid look. This caused Aurora
"Now stay still," Hestia mumbled, braiding one strand of her hair.
By the time Hestia finished with Aurora's hair and makeup, with one glance outside the castle Aurora could tell it was time for breakfast. Hestia never really joined for breakfast which caused Aurora to find herself leaving the chambers and walking down the stairs herself.
Remus and Jackie had been walking down the steps and turned when they heard her coming down behind them.
Jackie was surprised to see how well the girl looked considering the events that happened a mere two days ago. "You look lovely."
"Makeup does wonders." She replied, giving Jackie a small smile before turning to Remus.
Remus visibly appeared happy when he saw her, maybe a tiny bit surprised. He instantly moved from Jackie's side and without a word pulled Aurora into a hug. He didn't expect her to hug back but was pleasantly surprised when he felt her dainty arms reached up and hold onto his back. She pulled away first and she looked a little confused but said nothing.
Remus did not know where he stood with the girl he considered a daughter anymore. He knew he had hurt her, they all did, but her eyes weren't as cold with him unlike the rest of them.
"How do you feel?" Remus asked, keeping a steady hand on her shoulder.
"Shit, but my eyes have stopped stinging so that's a positive." Aurora replied, trying to sound positive. She hesitated for a second before asking, "I don't know much about ...linking spells and whatnot. I've actually not really read up on them...never thought I would need to. I guess I was just wondering if you knew anything about them, Remus?"
Remus knew the girl was indirectly asking him had Magnolia found anything. "I wouldn't know much about your magic, you should probably ask your mum?"
"Would rather stay linked and die, but thanks for the suggestion Uncle Remus." The black haired girl replied before skipping down the steps ahead of them and entering the entrance room.
"Always amusing Aurora." She heard Remus call behind her and this caused the tiniest of smiles to crack on her lips.
She entered the entrance hall, and was happily greeted by the people of Merlen as she made her way up to the coloured chairs at the top of the room, no one sat there as they could not until Aurora had sat there.
For the tiniest of moments, Aurora felt slightly lonely as she sat up at the top of the entrance room by herself. Despite the fact she possessed more than any of these people ever would, they had something she didn't right now, company. She saw Ron and Hermione sitting down beside one another and she wished to retrieve the same position she took beside Hermione for six years, but she knew she couldn't. Hermione wore a nice dress that really complimented her whereas Ron looked a little uncomfortably in his clothing. This caused the tiniest of smiles on her lips.
Her eyes went towards the end of the room where Remus and Jackie had entered and she followed them to where they sat with the rest of them. Molly and Arthur had also been sitting with them, and Arthur seemed to be taking in the beauty of the hall and was pointing at some of the paintings on the wall. James was sitting with his head buried in what appeared to be the daily prophet (she wondered how he got that here, he must have pulled some strings) and must have been mad about something in it as he was waving his hands to Sirius. Sirius didn't look concerned about whatever the article said and instead was focusing on the glass of pulped orange juice. Sirius looked slightly pale, and her mind swerved back to when he had been hurt. She remembered the feeling of utter fear when she saw him standing there with a blood stained shirt. She wished she didn't feel concern but she could not help it. She knew Magnolia healed him but it caused her to wonder if he was in more pain than her let on.
And where was Magnolia? She asked herself. She was hardly still in the library.
Moving away from that table, she caught Fred Weasley's eye, and was surprised to see he was already looking at her. He offered her a smile and she gave him one back.
The lonely feeling lingered for another few but soon faded right away when Beckham took the seat beside her.
"Morning sunshine," He greeted happily, and this caused all her negative feelings to vanish. "You look better today."
She rose an eyebrow, "Opposed to the ugly hag I usually am?"
"Amusing," Beckham reached across the table and took a slice of French toast and without another word bit into it, letting out a large groan like he hadn't eaten for years. "I spoke to Hagrid this morning, says he's going to try and plant some devils snare around the island in case anyone needs it. I think he planted some in the gardens as well already."
"He better not have touched the peonies. Hestia and I planted them together."
"He didn't touch them, don't worry, I prewarned him." Beckham mentioned, resisting the urge to laugh when he recalled Hestia showing Aurora how to garden. Aurora leaned across and took a slice of toast from the plate in front of Beckham, and aimlessly picked it apart before biting down on a small piece. "What did you do yesterday? Didn't see you once."
"Rested," She answered swiftly with a small shrug. "I felt really sick after the battle so I decided to take a day off."
"A well-deserved one." A voice said and Aurora turned to her left to see Damien standing behind them, quiet as a mouse.
Her eyes lit up when she saw him. "You're here..."
"Why wouldn't I be?" Damien replied, looking genuinely confused. Whereas Aurora thought perhaps she was going to receive the silent treatment since the last time they spoke, he declared his disappointment for what she did to the ministry. Maybe Aurora thought that Damien was madder than he actually was. She didn't like making him disappointed. "We've a very important day, are you feeling up to working?"
She nods, "Yes."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive." She wanted to stay busy today and avoid people at all costs.
Aurora tried to focus on whatever Damien had said next but the loud, screaming voices returned back in her head causing all her focus and motion to shift. The room felt like it became darker and all light faded, in reality it was just her head that was making everything feel worse. It was an overwhelming feeling to have voice shouting in your ears and the worst part was that it was a constant mix between French and English, making it even harder to understand at times. Sometimes, it was just words she heard, but other times it was full sentences.
She felt a little lightheaded for a moment and Damien must have noticed she wasn't paying attention because he snapped his fingers in front of her face which caused her to snap out of it, "Sorry." She almost shouted her answer because it felt like everyone was shouting but in reality they weren't. "I zoned out."
"Let's hope you will feel more focused when your lesson comes today." Damien replied, and Aurora might have been wrong but perhaps that was Damien using humour.
Aurora hummed at that, but her attention went elsewhere when Pierre came walking towards her.
"You look better." He comment, gesturing towards her eyes.
"Thanks." She mentioned, taking the extended slice of toast out of Beckham's hand.
"I was thinking that I might sit in and observe your lesson today?" Pierre suggested, eyes flickering from Aurora to Damien. Aurora thought nothing of it until she heard the lowest of grunts from Damien.
"We don't require an audience." Damien replied.
"No audience, just me." Pierre said, looking at him. "It would be good to get some perspective on how Aurora has been getting trained."
Damien looked at the man for about three seconds before humming, "Hmm, well I supposed Aurora can decide herself then."
Damien and Pierre both looked at her, she swallowed her toast before managing to say, "Well it can't be any harm to have one more person there?"
"So it is settled." Pierre replied, a small smile on his face. "I will find you later on in the hours."
Pierre disappeared and Aurora failed to notice the annoyed expression on Damien's face. Instead she was watching James and Sirius whispering to one another for quite some time before rising from their seats and approaching them.
Thankfully she was able to focus on Ron and Hermione as they came over towards her, both looking incredibly tired but oddly happy. She was delighted that they came up and approached her. She was also happy to see Hermione seemed to embrace the island's wear, and was wearing a blue dress, similar to the one she wore at the yule: once again showing that Hestia had a wonderful mind when it came to dressing people. The same way that Remus was wearing a flowy brown shirt that matched well with his eyes.
"Good morning." Ron grabbed onto her shoulders pulling her into a hug.
"Ron, careful." Hermione scolded roughly pulling the red haired Weasley away from her. "Do you not remember what happened a mere day ago? She's fragile, they all are, you saw how hurt Harry was yesterday...."
"Hermione, I'm fine, I promise." Aurora told the girl, giving her a small smile. If anything Hermione was the one who looked exhausted. Hermione took her forearm giving it a light squeeze.
"How are you doing?" Suddenly a voice asked, and standing to her left had been James and Sirius. She didn't even notice they came until she heard James speaking. She knew by the way Sirius was standing that the question was his own but for his own safety he was getting James to ask it. She was surprised James and Sirius was standing next to Damien, considering their clear dislike of the man: perhaps she missed something.
"Like I just said, I'm peachy." She replied.
Everyone seemed happy with her response except for Sirius. When she glanced at him, she saw him sort of raise an eyebrow at her. The stupid same eyebrow raise he gave her when he knew was lying and was trying to catch her out. Aurora stared at him in a way of almost daring him to say something but he choose the wise choice of keeping his mouth shut.
"Are we able to stay with you today or have you got stuff to do here?" Ron asked, glancing around the room.
"Meetings and then council meetings." Aurora answered, giving a slight eye roll. "Unfortunately no one can be in those meetings."
"Well Sirius and Magnolia could attended the meetings since they are blood relatives. Plus it would look good to have Magnolia there with you...two Aleksander's in the one room, sends a good message."
Aurora looked at Damien, snapping her head towards him and giving him a confused look. It was like he was trying to annoy her. If that was what he was trying to do, then he was succeeding. She turned back to see the expression on Sirius' face. He seemed hopeful but didn't seem to want to push anything on her which she somewhat was grateful for. Her eyes caught Beckham who seemed to be thinking it was a good enough idea. She let out a sigh.
"Suppose that's settled." Aurora mentioned, not hiding the disappointment in her tone at the thought of being in the same room as them. It was somewhat disappointment and somewhat a feeling of nerves.
"Bloody mental you run an island now...can't even tie your laces half the time." Ron mentioned, his smile beaming.
"Shut up Ron." Aurora rolled her eyes at the clear surprise in his tone.
"Do they make you wear a crown?" He teased.
Aurora choose not to answer that and instead laughed as if it wasn't true. Hermione sent her a look as if she knew it had been true and Aurora gave her back as if to say don't you dare say it.
"We should probably begin our training soon, we've missed a lot." Damien mentioned, sending her a gentle nod. "I'll meet you in the training room in thirty?"
She nods,
"Don't you think it is a bit soon to be starting training?" James questioned, concern lacing his tone. "I me
"No." Damien replied to James before leaving without another word.
The second Damien left, she took that as her cue and discreetly slipped back everyone and left the Hall. She thought she had escaped from them all easily but was wrong when she heard footsteps following her.
Aurora turned to find James and Sirius were the ones following after her, she wasn't surprised. She knew that Sirius wanted to speak with her – or at least try and speak with her. She was surprised he was still trying to communicate with her, surprised he cared that much. Or maybe it was all an act, Aurora didn't know anything anymore.
"What?" She asked, without turning around.
"We wanted to talk with you...calmy." James added the last part quickly and wore the same expression Harry did when he was about to ask for a favour or felt guilty about something. She looked at James cautiously, gesturing for him to continue. "I know that you don't have a single reason in this world why you should trust us or what we say but...."
James trailed off waiting for Sirius to takeover, "Oh right. Yes...it's about Pierre." Sirius knew what ever he was about to say next was going to annoy her because of the way her head snapped towards him. She stared at him as if daring him to continue. "I know you don't want to hear this but-"
"Then why are you telling me?" She asked curiously.
"Because I'm worried for you and I don't want you to be hurt more than you already have." He replied in one breath. "I'm telling you though, I don't trust him. Something is off about him."
"I agree." James adds as if it changed everything in the world that he also agreed.
"You don't trust anyone," Aurora told Sirius, "You don't even liked Damien."
"That's not true—"
"Liar." She cut him off.
"Can we talk about it, please—"
Aurora blankly stared at him the entire time before clearing her throat, "You're right." Her eyes flickered to Sirius for a moment before returning to James. "I don't have any reason to trust you or your words."
Without another word, she turned away from them, sending them both a look not to follow her before she disappeared.
"Don't say it." Sirius stated just as James opened his mouth to speak.
"You're really screwed." James replied not listening.
Aurora entered the second floor of the Library and made her way down the staircase as she knew Magnolia was in here and had a bone to pick with the woman. She walked down until spotting the brunette sitting at one of the tables – covered in about ten books and two coffee mugs. She looked up when she heard her. Aurora remained on the staircase, hovering on the wooden floorboards.
"Why are you still in here?" Aurora questioned, brows furrowing as she made eye contact with her mother. Magnolia looked confused – brows creased, mouth slightly opened and her head tilted slightly like a lost puppy. A sigh escaped her lips and she further added, "Hestia told me she saw you coming in early this morning and I saw you only leaving at midnight last night. You've spent the last few days inside that library. Why? As I have said before I can figure out how to stop Runskin myself. I don't need your help – or Sirius or James. I don't need any of you."
Aurora wanted to yell at the top of her voice that the whole thing was bullshit and that the woman was only putting herself in danger. They were all putting themselves in danger. More than they already had been. If Aurora could stay out of this war then she happily would: unfortunately this war started and was going to end with her. So, it led her to wonder why on earth every person was so keen to put themselves in danger.
"That's fine," Magnolia replied softly, not a flicker in her expression. She spoke so softly it took Aurora a bit off guard. "You don't need us, but that doesn't mean you're fighting in this war alone-"
"I'm not alone, I have Damien." Aurora interrupted, and Magnolia once again softened her expression. "And I have the people of this island – they've all declared to fight for me, thousands of them. Plus people from the battle of Hogwarts....I have enough people."
Magnolia waited until she had finished speaking to talk, "You have enough people to fight his army but not enough to make sure you don't die trying to kill him."
"Then let her die." One of the very nosy voices in the back of her head shouted loudly causing Aurora to flinch. This voice sounded familiar and Aurora froze slightly when she thought it sounded like her grandmother. But she was sure that couldn't be right. A sickening ill feeling arose in her stomach when she heard the person shout in her head, but she was sure she was just being paranoid.
Magnolia watched Aurora's expression before standing up from her spot and cautiously making her way over towards the girl but at a quick pace. "What's wrong?"
"What?" Aurora quickly asked, "Nothing—"
Magnolia knew when the girl was lying, it was far too obvious. "You don't need to lie to me. I know I have hurt you – that we have all hurt you. I know you don't want anything to do with me and I understand that but I promise you I won't hurt you again. I won't ....judge or whatever it is you think I'll say...I'm here for you." When she said that last part, Aurora had to resist the urge to shout about how when she needed to be there she wasn't: she also couldn't help but notice the sincerity in her voice. It was a beg. Magnolia watched Aurora's hard expression fall for just a second. Probably the slowest second of her life but she saw it. "Are you...hearing voices again?"
Aurora wanted to ask how on earth she could possibly know that. "What, what would make you ask that? No."
Magnolia couldn't tell if the girl had been lying or not. "Jackie told Remus who then told me that you said you weren't hearing them anymore. But I don't understand how you are possibly not hearing voices anymore without some sort of protection barrier—"
"I'm not hearing the voices anymore but even if I was, it would be a good thing. Whoever was speaking in my head helped me out during the battle of Hogwarts. I would have been ten times worse if I didn't have them helping me. They helped me during the fight." Aurora explained and watched an instant look of worry come on Magnolia's face.
"No, no, you can't trust them? Just because they helped you during the battle doesn't mean that they are good people. They were probably doing that for their own good, they might be wanting to ask you for favours. They know what you're capable of. Sure, some of them might be good, like my cousin Tris but Aurora, there have been some wicked, cruel Aleksanders before us – as you know. You can't listen to them."
"It's a good thing that I'm not hearing them anymore then." Aurora replied coldly.
As if knowing she was lying through her teeth, Magnolia reached into her jacket (which Aurora knew to be Sirius' one) and handed her the same bracelet she tried to give her when they arrived to the battle. "Well, if they do start again, put this on."
The fact Magnolia knew Aurora was lying annoyed the girl beyond explanation. This had been happening far too often. She saw right through her. Aurora and Magnolia both stared at one another for a moment. The black haired girl had her eyes narrowed into practical slits looking at her mother. However, Magnolia remained very cool despite the fact that the candles in the room blew out and the books on the table starting flickering pages.
See, Aurora could get around with convincing Sirius of any lie she told. Sirius never said no and he never really would fight back when she argued with him – a prime example was when she arguing with him that day in the library in her sixth year or when she was fighting about the horcruxes. Sirius gave in almost 95 percent of the time. The only time Sirius said no was when he truly believed there was danger involved, for example when she wanted to go to the caves with James, him, and Harry before she was erased. But Magnolia? No she was different. Smarter in one sense. Less easy to manipulate.
Aurora took the bracelet off the woman, "Enjoy your reading."
"I will let you know if I find anything." Magnolia replied before hoping back down the steps.
In an annoyed whistle tone back, Aurora went, "You do that!"
She angrily walked up the steps and as she yanked opened the door, James and Sirius were standing outside the door trying to enter. They flinched when she walked out of the room, and she was glad to know they wanted to see Magnolia and not speak to her.
She looked down at both of their hands and saw the number of food they must have stolen from the kitchen – unless Ted had given it to them because Ted would never refuse anyone some of his freshly baked foods. There was six croissants, a filled baguette and James was levitating a glass jar of orange juice. They must been bringing it to Magnolia. However when she looked back up, something told her they took it from the kitchen.
She sighed, rolled her eyes, before shoving past them both, allowing both of them to enter the library.
She headed up to her bedroom to change out of the dress, and into her training clothes. She gently entered her bedroom, not surprised that Harry was still sleeping. He was lying asleep facing the sun, with his hair sticking up in all directions, longer than she had ever seen it before. The balcony door was open and the light breeze flew through the room. His small but loud breathes echoed in her ears as she took her clothes from the drawer.
She got changed in the bathroom, and on her way out knocked into her vanity causing the boy in the bed to let out a grunt.
"Who's there?" He grumbled, not lifting his head from the pillow and keeping his eyes closed as he seemed to try and go back asleep.
"It's me."
Harry instantly turned around, hand reaching for the glasses in his nightstand and putting them on. She thought he would be mad she woke him but if anything, he looked delighted to see her standing in the middle of the room.
"Come back to bed." He opened his arms.
Aurora walked over, and kneeled down by his side, her hands reached out and took his face into her gentle hands. He closed his eyes, moving into her touch and rest his head on her palms. She frowned, "I can't stay, Damien is waiting for me downstairs to train, I've got to meet with the people of the island and then I've my council meeting.....I won't be back for a few hours."
He opened his eyes and went to sit up, "I'll come with you."
"No, no, you stay here and rest. You need it. Hestia will bring you anything you need." She told him, gently putting her hand on his chest and forcing the boy to lie back down. "Besides, you'll just distract me."
A light hum escaped his lips, "So I'm distracting?"
She leaned forward, whispering. "Very."
The boy appeared exhausted despite claiming otherwise. He still had bags underneath his eyes, and he had been covered In scratches and bruises that he refuse to let her heal. He let Jackie heal them but was too worried he was going to hurt Aurora by letting her use her magic on him.
He pressed a kiss against her wrist, "Stay here with me."
She truly found it hard to say no right now, and for a moment debated on telling Damien she was feeling ill.
A sigh escaped her lips, and she had to look away, glancing down to hide the small smile that rose on her face. "I can't let Damien down. I'll be back later..."
Harry extended his arms into a yawn, "Alright, enjoy your day of activities.....I'd sleep better if you were beside me...although I don't think we'd end up sleeping much."
"No, we wouldn't." A small grin played on her face. "Which is why I am going to go and do all the boring stuff and you can rest for the day, and I will see you tonight."
"You sure you don't want me to join you? Say the word and I'll come with you—"
"Rest." Aurora's voice called out and it made the boy stop talking and grin to himself, she waved him off before heading out the door.
Twenty minutes later, she found herself standing in the Training Room alongside Damien.
The only new addition this time had been Pierre. Pierre who sat in the corner of the room with a book in his hands (she always had to remind herself he didn't hadn't adapted to this century). She wasn't sure if he was actually paying attention but she learnt he could multitask.
The girl stood in front of Damien, and was hitting him but he had blocking every single punch. The worst part was the fact he was blocking her punches and wasn't even paying attention.
Instead, he had an irritated expression on his face as he looked at Pierre who sat minding his own business at the other side of the room. "Hm."
"Please be nice," Aurora continuing punching, this time much harder. "I've already got Sirius on my back about him – and James for that matter. Remus probably thinks the same but is too nice to say so."
"Your father is smarter than I thought." Damien mentioned, clearly agreeing with Sirius.
"Just please be nice." Aurora requesting and Damien turned his head back to look at her. He looked at her like she had some sort of audacity to request such a thing. She tilted her head and threw her hands up, whilst whispering. "Maybe you're forgetting he's like really old! He has no common concept of this century so that's why he's a bit weird. All of you lot need to be reminded that he helped me escape. I'd still be trapped in that cellar if it wasn't for him."
"I can try be nice." Damien replied. "Doesn't mean it will work."
A frustrated sigh escaped her lips, as she continued punching. As hard as she could, Aurora punched Damien in the shoulder before he could block it.
Damien's brows lifted, "Good."
"Can I ask you a question – a personal one?"
"Something tells me you will ask anyway." Damien hummed as they swapped sides and she blocked his much more forceful and powerful punches. He gave her a short nod when she bent down and easily blocked one of his more fast punches towards her, and kept on her feet the entire time. "You can ask me a question and I'll ask you one."
Sounds fun, she thought sarcastically. "I'll start. Why do you live alone on the beach like some sort of hermit?"
Damien put his hands on his hips, "Excuse me? I am not some sort of hermit."
"Exactly what a hermit would say." Aurora quipped back. "Don't you ever get lonely?"
"I like my own company." He answered truthfully, and she knew it had been the truth. She continued to look at him as he caught another one of her kicks, but she did manage to hit him a punch right afterwards. "People annoy me. However since you came here, I don't have much peace or quiet."
"But don't you ever like feel sad—"
"That's a second question." Damien cut her off. "It's my turn."
"Oh yay." She mumbled.
"You did some really good things at the battle of Hogwarts – you saved people, healed people, helped thousands. All the training we did went towards something good. But you also made some really bad decisions that day. I can understand – I can wrap my hand around what you did to the ministry ... I don't agree with it, but I understand." Damien told her and she had a feeling whatever he was about to say was important because he stopped training to speak. She was also somewhat feeling better over the fact he understood why she had to kill the girl from the ministry. "However there is one thing I cannot understand why you would do."
Her brows furrowed. "What is it?"
"You went into the woods alone without telling anyone where you were going."
When Damien saw her slightly confused expression, he once again realised the girl didn't see a problem with that. Or perhaps she did see the problem but did not care. He couldn't tell sometimes.
"I thought you learnt your lesson from last time you, Luke, and Louis all decided to disappear without
"Well this time was different. Runskin had Luke, he could have done something to injury him or worse....he wanted me to come alone...I couldn't risk it." Aurora replied. "When someone I care about safety is on the line then nothing else matters—"
"You went into those woods alone and if it wasn't for your parents, you would have gotten killed." Damien stated in a very simple explanation. "Magnolia got you out of that...world that Runskin was creating. You could have died over there and we would have never even known if you were dead or alive."
Aurora resisted the urge to argue back. "I didn't think it was that big of a deal."
"Do you know Louis came running up to me—petrified out of his mind because the last thing he saw was you covered in blood and he knew something was wrong with you. He was shouting, blaming himself because he was convinced you had mind controlled or something had happened to you. Then no one could find you. Do you realise how terrifying it is when you got missing – there is way too many people who see you as a threat right now. The panic Magnolia, Sirius and literally everyone got when Magnolia tried to search for you through a portal and all they saw was darkness."
Aurora furrowed her brows. "She was spying on me?!"
"Oh you hardly think the two of them really let you off in the middle of a battle and didn't keep an eye on you?" Damien rose a brow.
"I actually thought they respected my privacy enough to not spy on me!"
"I believe it's hard to not be a little overprotective over a kid who has a death wish on her hands."
"I don't even understand why Louis went off and told you all of that." Aurora switched the subject onto Louis when he brought up about the death wish. "He should have said nothing – worrying everyone like that! He doesn't even like me."
"You should have let him come with you—"
"There wasn't a chance that was happening."
"Why not?" Damien asked, confused.
The black hared girl threw her hands up, shaking her head. "I stood in that hallway with Louis, and I knew Runskin was waiting for me in the woods. And I knew that even though I have all these new6 powers that I wouldn't have been able to beat him....I knew it....not when he had Luke...not when he had him. I went into the woods with the hope that if I couldn't beat him, I could make a deal with him. He could take me, torture me, kill me, I don't care, but all I wanted was Luke back. It didn't even matter that Louis was there – he wasn't the one I wanted to come into those woods with me. It was Sirius and Magnolia, I wanted them with me. I don't know why exactly I wanted them with me but for some reason I did. Sirius is one of the best wizards I know and he got hurt – he almost died in those woods. Even though Louis detests me I can't help but....."'
"Care? You care for him." Damien finished, and he didn't seem mad that she basically just admitted what she did. She nods. "You care for a lot of people."
"You sound disappointed."
"No more questions." Damien mentioned, "We need to work on your mind control today and that's going to be hard enough, you need to focus."
★★★★★
Aurora left the training room alongside Damien as they walked towards the large Hall room with the coloured chairs: the same place they were this morning except it was now converted so that it was empty room with chairs for her counsel and her to sit on.
She pushed open the door and looked at the top of the room where her council sat.
Her council only consisted of Luke, Hestia, and Damien: the three people of this island who she trusted more than anything. She was supposed to have four advisors, five at most, but there wasn't many people she trusted on this island.
The members of her counsel had to present during the callings of the people of Merlen. Damien, Hestia, and much to her delight Luke all stood at the top of the room. She was surprised to see Luke there – the last time she saw him was the night they returned back to the castle: she ran into him in the hallway with Jackie and Remus who had the boy standing in between them like sort of child. She couldn't even speak to him properly with them standing there. She thought, like Harry, he would want to spend at least the next week in the bed.
Aurora didn't care that everyone had been in the room, the second Luke stepped down off the steps to go over towards her, she quite literally skipped towards the boy until he was standing in front of her. He extended his arms first and she almost shoved him to the ground when she jumped into the boys warm, welcoming embrace.
Magnolia and Sirius exchange a glance when they both the way Aurora's eyes lit up the moment she saw Luke. Magnolia was surprised at the different expression the girl could take on: when she glared at someone, she truly looked as though she wanted to burn them alive but when she looked at someone the way she was looking at Luke Lupin, it was entirely different.
"I'm so glad to see you." She breathed out as he set her down.
"Did you not think I'd be here?" He questioned.
"You need rest." She replies, as they walk towards the top of the room. He shakes his head whilst rolling his eyes which leads her to add, "You need more rest than anyone. How do you feel?"
"Better."
"Great response. Some more details would be appreciated."
"Details? Alright well I have gone to the bathroom three times today and oddly enough—"
"Luke, shut up."
"You asked for details..."
Whilst Luke and Aurora stood talking with one another, the doors opened and Remus strolled into the hall as if he had every right to be there: not knowing it was punishable to enter the hall before the gates were opened and without an invitation. The man walked up to the top of the room.
Louis, who had been guarding the doors of the Hall came running in after him, shouting. "Excuse me? I just told you that you can't come in here."
"Yeah I heard you – ill just be two seconds." Remus waved his hands.
"What is it with all you people and your inability to listen?" Louis said thinking back to the unfortunate time he was stuck with James Potter in Aleksander Mansion.
"These arrived for you," Remus held up three letters and handed them to Magnolia, "Volley dropped them off in my room for some reason. I think the presence of a large dragon on the island is scaring some of the animals....owls included."
Sirius, who was sitting beside her, moved over to look at them with furrowed brows. "Who sent you those?"
"People from the battle at Hogwarts."
Damien glanced down when he saw that Magnolia put the letters in her jackets, "Why are you hiding them?"
"I don't think it would make Aurora feel good if she saw that literally everyone except her was getting thanks for helping out in the fight which was being heavily lost until she arrived." Magnolia replied and all of them nodded in agreement.
"Remus," Aurora shouted from across the room in a positively enthusiastic voice. "Would you stay here during the meetings?"
"Aurora, that's not allowed. He isn't blood related or on your council." Louis shouted.
"I'm changing the rules, Louis." Aurora interrupted. "It's called adapting...try it."
Louis rolled his eyes in response before leaving the hall.
Remus did not think it would ever be possible to say no to anything Aurora or Luke asked him ever again. "Of course."
As there had not been anywhere to sit down, Remus found himself awkwardly manoeuvring his way past the large gold implanted chairs and standing beside Damien.
"You weren't at breakfast this morning." Damien offhandedly mentioned.
"I had to help Charlie get Archion down from one of the houses down the road. This island isn't exactly adapted for a large dragon to be living on." Remus tells the brown haired man, shrugging his shoulders slightly. He spent an hour trying to coax Archion down from the house and he only did it because otherwise Luke would have been forced to wake up and calm him down.
"Why did you have to help him?"
"Archion recognises me as someone important to Luke, or at least that's what Charlie says." Remus explained to the man, turning to face him. Damien kept his eyes forward, particularly between flickering between Aurora and Luke and then towards Louis who stood at the bottom of the room. "Since Archion has Luke back, he wont listen as much to Charlie....he is loyal to Luke and those he is close with."
"Hm." Was all Damien replied, not sounding very interested.
However something told Remus otherwise, or maybe for some reason he had wanted to keep the small conversation going: probably because Damien had been very close with Aurora and Remus wanted to make sure he was a good person. Yeah, that was probably why. Remus turns to look down at him, eyes slightly narrowed in an inquisitive way, "How did you notice I wasn't at breakfast?"
"I notice when everyone is missing." Damien replied in a blunt tone. "Even those who blend in with crowds."
Remus raise an eyebrow at the man, "Do I blend in with crowds?"
"Not exactly." Damien turned to him.
Remus returned the look.
Aurora stopped her conversation with Luke when she saw the time, and realised if she wanted to be finished by at least the afternoon she would need to start now.
As she walked up the steps to the chairs, Magnolia leaned forward slightly in her chair and asked. "Have you anymore people on your council? Beckham."
Aurora kept her eyes forward, gesturing to the guards at the doors to wait a moment before allowing anyone in. "Beckham ruled over this place for months....he refuses to sit in this room – unless I nicely ask him....I don't blame him. It's just Damien, Luke, and Hestia. All I need and want."
When Aurora spoke about Beckham, the small curious part in her head yearned to ask her what she thought of Beckham. Naturally she couldn't imagine Magnolia liked Beckham that much all things considered. His father was the reason she had died – or well that's what Sirius said, but deep down Auora still partly blamed herself for that. It wasn't Marcos who murdered her...it was her existence.
Hestia stood behind the golden chair in the middle of the chairs and Aurora sat down in it, taking her usual spot with Hestia standing beside her.
"I still feel a bit out of place here," Hestia admitted to her in a low voice. Aurora glanced behind her shoulder to look at the tall girl, who wore an expression of uncertainty – something that was rare to see on her face. She instantly knew what she had been talking about: Hestia didn't think she deserved to be on her council, she believed that she was not highly enough ranked in Merlen to deserve it. "There are more deserving people on this island who deserve to be here with you, I'm just a handmaiden."
Aurora raises an eyebrow at her, and Hestia gives her a look back that said that she was being serious right now. "Your opinion means more to be than most....for a handmaiden that is."
Hestia laughed at the last part but covered her mouth in an attempt to play it off as a cough when everyone turned to them.
"May I open the gates?" One of the guards asked her.
Aurora nods, "Yes, thank you Oliver."
The first three hours went by extremely fast, probably the quickest because of the presence of Magnolia who had been the centre of attention.
And like the stubborn teenager she was, Aurora sat bored in her chair, rolling her eyes every time someone fawned over the presence of Magnolia.
But at the same time, Aurora was almost slightly glad for the woman's presence because she did all the talking and solved all the minor little problems that was wrong with the islanders. Aurora much preferred sitting back in her chair and letting her mother do all the work.
If she was being honest, this was probably the easiest hearing she had in all her time of ruling because of the presence of Magnolia. Every time something was wrong or Aurora had not known the exact answer to something, the woman was quick to step in and say something.
Aurora's eyes went towards the door when the next person came in, he looked younger than most people who came into this room. He couldn't have been older than twenty years. He strolled to the middle of the room and before even speaking came across very confident. His eyes had mostly been on Aurora.
"Bonjour." He greeted, his eyes flickered across the council. "Serait-ce plus facile si je parlais en anglais?"
"Oui, pour les garçons." Magnolia replied, nodding towards Luke and Remus' direction.
Aurora smiled and adds. "Merci."
"Pas de problem, beau." He tells her.
Aurora was the only one who did not make a face, unlike everyone surrounding her who made a slightly surprised face at the boy calling her beautiful.
"My name is Charles Moulin, my father is Julien Moulin – you might recognise the last name?" He mentioned.
"Oh I do," Aurora's voice filled the air as she nodded with a small smile towards the boy. She and Damien exchanged a small look as he knew the man as well. They had spoken many times with him since Aurora's coronation. "Your father is the director for the new school, he sends me his progress every week...I have been ill for the last few weeks so I haven't seen him to discuss the progress.....your father is a nice man."
"You're building a school?" Sirius questioned.
"Repairing." She rephrased. "With the help of this boy's father. His father has been a great help to me these last few weeks."
"Was there something you wanted?" Sirius questioned loudly, speaking for the fourth time in the last three hours. Aurora wasn't so used to seeing him so quiet but she knew he wasn't going to be quiet now. "We've got a big cue and even though flattery is lovely, there's about four hundred people cueing up outside."
Aurora turned and glared at Sirius, "Taisez-vous, s'il vous plaî."
"Désolé."
"I wanted to put my name forward to fight in the war." Charles told them, "I'd like people to know that I am
"What age are you?" Magnolia asked curiously.
"I am eighteen years." He answered confidently, "But please do not think my age shows my capability."
"Oh I would not, my ages doesn't show mine either." Aurora mentioned, sending him a small smile.
Damien spoke up when he saw the girl had been far too nice to say no to the boy, plus everything sounded stricter coming from me. "There is a strict rule about ages....when we first offered people to fight in this war, we made a very important rule that an individual must be at least twenty one years of age...no younger despite any circumstances."
He seemed disappointed but did not fret. He nods, "Oh, I do understand, but if there comes urgency for the war, please do call on me. I would like to fight for you."
"I will. Thank you for your loyalty to my bloodline, it doesn't go unnoticed." Aurora told the boy, sending him a grateful smile. "If there is anything else you want please name it and I will try my best to ensure it is yours."
"Well, there is one thing I do wish to ask."
She clasped her hands. "Name it."
"I ask for your hand."
A laugh escaped Aurora's lips, a loud one, "Well I need my hands." She turned her head to see no one else laughed.
"No, love, I mean your hand in marriage."
Aurora paused for a long moment before she started laughing loudly and when she turned to see if it was a joke or not, everyone expressions told her otherwise. This boy was actually just after ... proposing to her in the middle of the room. Magnolia looked amused, whereas Sirius seemed uncomfortable and looked as though he wanted to say something. Remus seemed confused and Damien whispered something to him as if explaining what was happening. Luke appeared somewhat annoyed and Hestia seemed delighted by the proposal.
At the bottom of the room, guarding the door Louis seemed like he was wondering why on earth someone would want to purpose to her.
Luke pinched the bridge of his nose, "I'm sorry, who are you again?"
Charles looked back at Luke, "Who are you?"
Aurora actually found the boys boldness to question who Luke was a little bit funny and once again a laugh escaped her lips.
Sirius scrunched his nose, and loudly asked, "Aren't you a little young to be asking that question? And isn't it bold to ask that question to someone you don't know?"
"Not in Merlen culture...think of how many times my parents tried to marry me off. Remember Tris was married and running this place at eighteen." Magnolia reminded him, brows r
"Oh my answer....oh right." She scrunched her nose, letting out an awkward laugh hoping the sky would fall down any moment. She wished everyone wasn't staring at her. "I'm really sorry but I can't marry you. You're a lovely boy and all ....definitely my type looks wise....but....no thanks?"
A snicker caught her ears and she turned and saw both Magnolia and Sirius seemed to be trying to not laugh. She glared at them and they stopped.
"You are promised to another?"
"Yes."
"But you wear no ring?"
"I have a Harry." Was all she managed to say.
"A what?" He asked confused.
"A HARRY." Remus practically shouted at the boy. "It's....an English term."
"Oh, you mean you have another boy you wish to be promised to?" He rephrased and Aurora clasped her hands whilst nodding. She hoped he finally understood what she was saying but then he ruined it by adding, "And I am okay with that....I do not believe marriage should restrict your desires...."
Aurora looked at the boy, "Unfortunately for you my boyfriend isn't exactly the biggest on sharing....you can ask Mr Hamptons to confirm that....he will."
"Alright! Next please."
★★★★★
"Please come down and have dinner with us all."
"Who is down there?"
"Everyone..."
"Oh well in that case....definitely no."
This was the conversation that was happening between Harry Potter and Aurora Black at half eight in the night time on her balcony in her bedroom.
She stood outside, enjoying the cold air that was breezing through her and was glad she was finished with her duties for the day. Harry had gone down for dinner about twenty minutes ago but soon returned back upstairs with the persistence of trying to get her to come down and join them all for dinner.
He plopped his head on her shoulder, she closed her eyes feeling his warm embrace when he wrapped his arms around her waist, gripping her skin gently.
"You realise that's not going to work."
"I know. I just wanted to hold you," He states gently, and she moves her arms so that they are covering him. She scoots closer to him and places her head back on his chest. She felt him place a kiss on her head before adding, "I missed holding you."
I missed having you hold me, she thinks but for some reason couldn't find the words to say it.
Harry points a finger over her head and towards something in the distance. "What is that building there?"
Aurora squints and looks into the pitch darkness. "I don't know, can't see that far."
"Maybe you need these." He takes his glasses off and hands them to her. She slips them on and scrunches her nose. "What can you see now?"
"Nothing."
"Wow, you may be worse than me. Get glasses."
A laugh escaped her lips. "Never."
He kept his arms wrapped around her until he pulled back and softly turned her around. He pulled the strands of black curls out of her face and shifted them behind her shoulders, before leaning downwards and pressing a gentle kiss against her lips. It was such a gentle and soft kiss that when he pulled back, she leaned forward and kissed him harder causing a tiny laugh to emit from both of their lips as they pulled back. He cupped her face gently. "You realise if you just hide up here that everyone's going to think you haven't eaten dinner. Sirius probably wont sleep until he knows you've at least eaten." Harry commented, sending her a look. "You don't have to talk with any of them.....you can just talk with me...I wont talk with them either."
Aurora shook her head. "You can talk with them Harry—"
"No, they've hurt you." He stated. "And now I hate them all."
A small smile played on her lips, she shakes her head. Harry Potter was too pure and good to ever despise anyone that didn't deserve it. "No, you don't and that's alright. Just because I don't need a relationship with them doesn't mean you have to not have one with them. Besides, you care about Sirius far too much to ever just cut him out of your life."
"Say the word and I will never speak to them again—" He interrupted her and the worst part was that he had been serious and she knew it. If Aurora had told him to never speak with anyone – his father excluded – who she had even the slightest of problems with, Harry would follow in suit. It didn't matter the person, whatever Aurora asked of him he would do. "I mean that."
"I don't want that." She tells him off and Harry knew she was being truthful. "I don't want you to stop talking to everyone because of me."
Harry couldn't help but frown at that. He understood exactly why she had decided to no longer have any sort of want for a relationship with her parents but Harry also couldn't help but think of fifth year Aurora who would have done anything to have her mother back and father with her: but he understood why that had changed.
The two of them were interrupted when turning and seeing Molly entering the bedroom.
"Here come to come and get me to eat dinner?" Aurora raised a brow, a hint of a grin on her lips as she untangled herself from Harry.
Molly smiled at the sight of Harry and Aurora standing with one another. "Not exactly, but would you mind coming downstairs for a moment?"
"Not interested."
"Aurora, please just come downstairs." Another voice asked and Aurora looked out into the hallway and saw Fred and George were standing there, both slightly pale.
Harry stopped smiling when he realised something was wrong, "Is everything alright?"
Aurora felt everything in her body stop. "Is it Luke?"
"No, no, I promise it isn't. Luke is fine." Molly told her. "Just can the two of you come with us."
Aurora nods and walks ahead of them, and Harry clasps her head from behind. As they leave the room, Louis stood outside guarding her door. "I told them they couldn't go in there but the two red heads threatened to take this stick and shove it somewhere unpleasant."
"Empty threats....most of the time." Aurora replied.
"Is something wrong?" Louis asked, looking at the expressions on everyone faces.
"No idea."
He put his wand in his pocket. "I'll come with you, just in case."
"You don't have to."
"Damien went home an hour ago, whatever is going on he will want to be filled on in the morning. I am going wherever you are going." Louis lazily replies, giving a short shrug despite the sigh that emitted from her lips. Louis walked to her left and Harry walked to her right.
Aurora glanced to her right when Harry gave her hand a short tight squeeze indicating he wanted her attention. When she turned, he sent her a confused look jeering in Louis' direction. She was only now realising that Harry did not know who Louis was – of course he must have seen him around but Aurora was almost positive that there was no way they had been introduced.
"Harry, this is Louis." Aurora adds on as casually as she could.
"Hello," Harry happily greeted.
Neither of them were sure if Louis had actually heard them, until he raised an eyebrow and glanced in the direction of Harry and Aurora's direction. "So you're the boyfriend."
"That I am." He grinned and only stopped when he saw the unamused look Louis gave him.
They walked down the stairs and ran into Luke and Remus on the
They all entered the living room in the castle, which had been a large room with an open fire and a bunch of couches and tables inside it. It almost reminded her of the Gryffindor Common Room – which was somewhat an inspiration she had when they were redecorating it after years of it not being used. The room consisted of Magnolia, Sirius, James, Remus, and Jackie.
Aurora was only concerned when she saw Sirius had his head down, and when he lifted his head to look at them, she was greeted with an extremely bloodshot set of eyes. He had been crying – Sirius never showed emotions in front of other people, especially being anyway upset.
Seeing him crying reminded her of when she woke up from being in the crash at Saint Mungo's.
"What happened?" Harry asked, brows furrowed. "What's going on?"
Aurora knew something was wrong, her eyes flickered down to the books surrounding Magnolia before looking at the woman who seemed to be reading the same sentence over and over. "If I had to guess I would say Magnolia found something about us three being linked to Runskin and something is telling me that's its bad news."
Luke turned to Magnolia, "You found something about being linked? Something that can help us?"
Magnolia did not nod. "I found something but...it's not helpful. I thought there like most Aleksander Magic there would be an undo button for being linked – like the way we were able to stop Runskin from possessing Luke...I thought I could find a way but I was wrong. There isn't one."
"One what?" Luke repeated.
"A way to unlink you three from Runskin." Magnolia answered, as she thought back to every single thing she had read about being linked to someone. "Once you have been linked....you can't be unlinked unless the person who did the linking – in this case Runskin – undoes the spell."
"Alright," Harry slowly nods, "Okay that is bad but we can find a way. We are linked right now to Runskin and all three of us are fine. We are doing okay. Aurora doesn't need to physically kill Runskin...she can just capture him and trap him someone for the rest of his life."
Aurora crossed his arms, looking at Magnolia. "Harry, there's more. What did you find in those books?"
"The spell only lasts for three months...and by end of it, the individuals who are linked must die in order to complete the spell."
"So what you're attempting to actually say is that the three of us are basically all dying at this very moment and that there isn't any sort of way to stop Runskin?" Aurora questions, looking at them.
"It means that there isn't any way to stop you from being linked to Runskin." Remus mumbled, "You will be linked to him until he dies or your inevitable death
Luke sat down with Remus. Harry and James sat together even though Harry attempted to drag her down to sit beside him but the girl wouldn't move. Aurora however, stood by herself at the top of the room.
"You're not going to die." Remus told him reassuringly. "We are going to find a way, alright?"
Ed
"You all just basically said that we're going to die!" Luke shouted back, whirling around to look at them all. Aurora was sure she was imaging things but for a split moment she could have sworn Luke's eyes flickered light red.
"After everything, I didn't think that this would be the way that I die." Harry mentioned in a monotone voice.
"You're not dying." James shakes his head. "We will find a way, we always do."
Harry and Luke seemed fearful. Aurora, however, appeared somewhat calm about the situation: and both Sirius and Magnolia, and nearly everyone in the room noticed it.
"Is that all?" Aurora asked. When Magnolia nodded, she replicated the nod before leaving the room.
★★★★★
When Harry finally dozed off asleep, she unwrapped herself from him and went down to the gardens of Merlen where she met with Pierre. The two of them stood in the darkness, whispering about the earlier events of the night.
"Harry and Luke are going to die and they are going to die because of me." She breathed, shaking her head as she consulted in the man who listened cautiously and carefully. Pierre listened to her without intervening. "I'm the reason all of this is happening, I let Runskin out of the box, Harry and Luke are linked to Runskin because of me....they are going to die because of me."
"You may be the reason why Runskin escaped but it is your destiny to kill him once and for all," Pierre replied, looking away from the sky and down at her. "You are not to blame for his tricks against you and your friends."
"I can't save them."
Pierre watched her for several moments before asking, "Would you do anything to save them?"
"What sort of question is that? Of course I would."
"What if I told you there was a way to save them both?"
Aurora thought that he had been playing some sort of joke on her, she examined his face and realised he had been sincere. He didn't joke much so it made sense: if anything he unintentional said stuff that she found funny so she didn't know why she thought that was a joke. She furrowed her brows, but Magnolia had said there wasn't a way to save them?
"I'd tell you that I don't believe you," She tells him. "Magnolia said there isn't a way to unlink us."
Pierre extended his hand towards her, she looked at it for a moment – and if anyone looked close enough they would have seen the slightest expression of distrust in the girls eyes – but nonetheless she had reached forward and followed him into the gardens where no one could hear. His hands were as cold as ice and she instantly let go once she stood up.
"Your parents and family lied to you this evening when they told you there wasn't a way to unlink you all. There is." Pierre told her and for a moment she was surprised – but that soon went when she remembered everything that had happened. Of course they lied but why? "Your mother was right, you cant unlink an individual from another but using dark magic you can transfer the spell into another blood related person.....or into one person who is capable of withholding levels of dark magic."
Meekly she interjects, "Why wouldn't they tell me this?!"
"Two reasons: your family plan on pulling the curse out of you, Harry, and Luke and placing it on your parents instead. James plans on taking the curse for Harry, Sirius is planning on taking it for you and they are currently trying to find out if any elder relatives of Luke's exist to transfer the curse onto them."
Aurora almost didn't believe what she was hearing. She shook her head, "They.....Sirius is planning on sacrificing himself for me? And James is taking Harry's place?"
Pierre nods.
Aurora hated it. The thought that James and Sirius were planning on dying....no...it was wrong. It was so wrong on all levels.
"If you are listening you might of heard my second option, there is the choice to remove both curses from Luke and Harry and place them inside one sole body of another Aleksander....but it must be a person capable to holding such levels of dark magic – it could twist the mind into dark places." Pierre replied.
"I'll do it." She instantly replied. "We put the curses on me and take them off Luke and Harry."
"Do not be so fast to jump in front of a train." Pierre interjects, sending her a look. "I want you to take a moment to realise that this is dark magic. Magic that you have not yet encountered due to your mentors clear affection for you."
"What are you saying?"
"I would like you to reconsider your training with Damien," He tells her which takes her off guard. "His care for you makes him an unsuitable mentor. He is not training you to your fullest potential. You lack knowledge of dark magic....whereas Runskin knows all forms...he is stronger with this knowledge, more powerful, more dangerous. Damien's fear for you being more powerful is holding you back. I spent years with Runskin trying to master and understand his magic when we were mere boys ..... I know how dark magic works.....I believe the only way you will ever be an equal with Runskin is if you fight him with what he knows best."
Aurora listened to him, he was right in one sense: Damien would not teach her dark magic because he believed her past made her prone to want to use it more, that she would solely rely on it.
"if I learn this magic .... this dark magic....will I be able to save them?"
Pierre slowly nodded. "You'll be able to do much more than that. You will be able to save everyone."
"Show me dark magic."
★★★★★
alright guys this was the end of this act!!! please spam with comments!!!
what do y'all think of aurora learning dark magic and having Pierre as her (secretive) second mentor??
ANYWAYS let me know what you thought of this chapter?? I actually liked it for once <3
THE NEXT act will have a month of a time skip: this is because the warm up of the relationship between aurora and everyone will finally begin!!! + it plays into it being a month since aurora, Luke, Harry are linked// PLUS AURORA learning dark magic...
I'm not sure if the next act will be divided into 2 or not?? SO MUCH HAPPENS (including MAJOR character deaths but also serious bonding moments and great moments) that it might be overwhelming fitting it + the ending into the last act. I'll decide more as I finish up writing it!!