"What in Merlin's name was that?"
The door near flew off it's dingy hinges. The knob came propelling at unheard of speeds, the wall on it's left falling a victim to it, an ugly dent forming where the impact took place. And through the ajar door came a stomping Aurora. Her raging tone positioned with a particular ferociousness that had even Merlin quaking in his grave, the sound of his name surely did little to help.
Her arms flung over her chest, eyebrows furrowed and mouth pouted in budding fury. Standing before Theodore as she awaited his explanation for his previous behaviour.
"What was what?" Came his innocent response, eyes bulging, he almost looked pure.
"You condescending, irritative, little fuck!" She growled.
"Say that again." The Slytherin leant back in his chair, a brisk smile playing at his face.
"Oh!" The girl stomped her frustrated foot. "Why are you like this? Why are you like this?"
"Oh come on, love." The Slytherin groaned. "It wasn't that bad." She seemed hardly swayed.
"You decked Andrew Kirke in the nose!" The Gryffindor screeched.
His head lowered as his Addams apple bobbed. "I was stopping the fight." He reasoned.
A shrill and twisted laugh bounced from the walls of her throat and through the empty room. "How chivalrous of you." She seethed. "That's how we stop fights these days?"
"He was on Adrien like a leech." The Slytherin shrugged. "I simply flicked him off."
His words failed to extinguish the heated frustration that bubbled within her. With her fists clenched and jaw locked tight, he was trying really hard to ignore her withering glare, no matter how harsh always had him flustered.
Hours before hand, the Gryffindor Quidditch team had occupied the pitch, practicing their runs and skills, a warm peace had soothed them despite the chilling air. It had supposed to have been a quiet day, the classes were easy, the field, focused.
That solace was soon crushed by the likes of the Slytherins. To no surprise, the team wrapped in green staunched whatever peace and tranquility roamed throughout their friendly game. And with sharp edged words they aimed to kick the Lions off the pitch.
It didn't take much for a brawl to emerge.
By the time Aurora had arrived, blood clouded everyone's vision. Fists went flying and wrestling had been announced as the new form of communication. Then, she saw it; from across the field, she watched as Theodore Nott, her Theodore Nott, delivered a mean punch straight for Andrew Kirke nose. Blood spurred from his nostrils.
Now, she too saw red.
Aurora believed him when he said the punch was thrown for the purpose preventing a worser fight. Somehow her mind continued to dwell over the fact he probably could've prevented a fight from breaking out at all. She decided she wouldn't believe him if he told her he tried to stop the initial argument.
Luckily for him, he didn't try it.
So she asked him herself. "Why couldn't you simply extinguish the argument before it grew violent?" The stubbornness within her would not let him get away with it so easily.
"How?" He gave the girl a deadpanned stare.
"You're the Quidditch Captain!" She seethed. "It's your job."
"What Quidditch Captain ever stopped a fight between the snakes and lions for Merlin's sake." He then smiled a toothy sweet grin, soaking up in all that rage of which festered in her. The brutal puncture her stare offered did nothing to sway him from tormenting her a just little bit further. "Now where's my kiss?" He puckered his smug lips.
She ignored him for the two days following.
• • •
His intended aggravation penetrated far deeper than he had initially hoped. There was however a game found within their 'fight'. Where she refused to communicate with him in any way whatsoever, he refused to stop trying to break her.
The Slytherin was proving to be a true nuisance. The consistency of his attempts never once faltered. His constant nagging suffice to say was driving her nuts. He was dedicated, she could admit.
Potions was the class she found particularly difficult to neglect his attempts at achieving her attention. Especially as she attempted to brew her concoction right next to him.
Two cauldrons bubbled of hazy green smoke, clouded the room. The envy coloured mirk saturated their sleeves and dampened their hair. That, paired with the humidity of the stuffy room, proved torturous enough.
The constant poking of her side had the poor girl on the verge of a temper tantrum fit for no other than a three year old. He was relentless, every three seconds the boy found great amusement in raising his pointer finger and gently stabbing her clothed ribs, murmuring his teasing message in her ear.
"Aurora." He would chant along each poke. "Aurora. Aurora. Aurora." Her fists clenched over her equipment as she stirred. "Aurora. Aurora. Aurora." Her jaw locked tightly shut. "Aurora. Aurora. Aur-"
"Shut up!" She seethed. His jaw slacked open in surprise as a particular pride overwhelmed him. Yet to process his triumph his finger dumbly remained poking her. "And stop that." She slapped his wrist.
"I win?" His voice came softly. She need not to reply, and so she didn't. "I win." He grinned. "Now you have to talk to me."
"I don't have to do anything." Her arms folded over her chest.
"Oh but we're talking now, are we not?" He was so smug. Too smug. His eyes checked the room, no one was paying any mind to them, he used such to his advantage. Lowering his head down to hers, he playfully pecked the side of her face.
A smile threatened to pull at her face, like strings sewed through her cheeks they tugged upward, a small grin of her own teasing her lips and no matter how hard she tried to shove them back to a straight line they refused. Theodore loved watching her try through.
"You're trying not to smile."
His words influenced a much wider curl of her lips. She dared not look at him. Maintaining her eye contact with the substances that continued to gurgle in her cauldron. She sighed, flashing him the finest unimpressed expression she could possibly offer, which wasn't very good. It merely sourced as kindling for his budding flame of ultimate amusement.
She liked that potions lesson.
• • •
Chaos erupted too easily within the walls of Hogwarts. Within the timeframe of less than half a second, the class was dismissed and with it the very bounds that kept Theodore sane. Snapped by the words of department their Potions teacher, Slughorn, his confinements had, exposing the Slytherin to his impulsive desires that would be considered intrusive by the vast majority of the wizard population.
Masked by the busy halls of thrilled students did Theo grip Auroras un expecting arm. The week had finally tumbled to its' end as the bliss of Friday afternoon greeted them. Lively chatter of the upcoming Quidditch match shielded any exhaustion the students may've felt, and the assortment of said students who crowded the hallways made it easy for him to slyly grasp her by the wrist and pull her along.
Scramming through the corridors they realised as the population of occupants lessened they needed to be sneaky, in hopes they wouldn't expose the true nature of their spent time together.
It didn't take long for the witch to realise he was dragging her along the way toward the astronomy tower. It still remained high among the spectrum of her favourite places, and to that very day, if left alone up there, would forever cherish it. However, she found lately, she didn't mind venturing up those windy stairs with a certain Slytherin boy on her arm.
Her focus had successfully clouded her vision, she remained a simply body, her mind absent. He dragged her where she needed to go, and her feet followed mind adrift.
A jagged crack in the tiles had her barreling toward the awaiting ground before her. Thankful her limbs remained intertwined with Theo's, he pulled her up by the forearm. A hazy pink swarm painted her cheeks as embarrassment hit her, she dumbly glanced up at him. With the expectations to find him beaming with mocking amusement she found herself surprised when he wore a simply grin.
She would never know why he smiled, but in his mind a distant memory played repeatedly. The remembrance of a parallel moment of nearly a year prior gifted him the appreciation of where he stood and how. It felt surreal.
From loath to respect. From respect to like. From like to... whatever the bloody hell he was experiencing then, it remained unclear, he could say like, but that made him feel like a child. So he settled, with 'from like to ?'.
"What?" Came her precious tone. For a moment she sounded delicate; she was anything but.
"Nothing." His head shook. "Nothing." He paused, eyebrow raised as his eyes examined the break in the ground. "Come on."
Dismissing the subject entirely, he dragged her further.
Reaching the familiar spiral staircase, the two, arms interlinked, raced up them. The constant circles they moved in, influenced a dizzy spell to fall upon the two of them. Theo was the first to loose balance. His figure fell into Auroras, and in the most unnatural stance she caught him.
"Oh!" Her hands formed planks to keep him upward.
He laughed. "I've fallen for you." His arm swung to fan his neck, her eyes rolled from behind him before the girl swiftly pushed him off her, his body barreling toward the rails. A single yelp escaped his previously cocky lips. She couldn't help but snigger.
As the boy caught himself upon the railing, the girl stole the opportunity to run past him. Booming a violent cackle as she beat him to the tower. "I win." She sung.
"You cheated." The Slytherins arms fell to his hips.
"No. You fell." Her tongue poked out at him. He jumped at her the very next second.
• • •
Soothed by the gentle winds, their minds were out at ease as their breathing began to calm. After a ferocious game of cat and mouse, they each gave in to the bittersweet temptation of simply sitting down and relaxing.
Their feet hung from the highest point of Hogwarts, basking in the warmth of the setting sun as they soaked in the others company. Their words spoken in soft murmures as their hands gripped the iron railings.
"Who're you vouching for?" She grinned teasingly.
"Ravenclaw." He grunted.
Their discussion had swayed toward the topic of Quidditch, often the first game of the year was reserved for the most heated match between the opposing houses, Slytherin and Gryffindor. Never once did their battle prove friendly, for both teams each fuelled by the core of their hatred and anger, played dangerously. Their individual competitive nature merely added fiery kindling to the already roaring flame.
However, that term, their game was postponed, due to the heated brawl that had occurred merely days ago. The teachers deemed them too hotheaded to play first, so, in Slytherins place, the Ravenclaw team would play.
"Not Gryffindor?" She faked an innocent pout.
"Absolutely not." His tongue poked at his inner cheek, the dent of his face catching Auroras attention.
"So you hate all Gryffindors then?" She poked his cheek.
He side-eyed her for a single moment before a small grin broke out. "Well, there's this one Gryffindor I can stand." He shrugged. "Pureblood, Siblings, easily aggravated." His eyes examined her reactions. "You see, they're always hanging around with Potter so it's awfully hard to get their attention." He feigned a regretful sigh.
"Well, you have their attention now." She smiled.
"Really?" His eyes shot to look at her. "Ron Weasley's noticed me?" Her head flung backwards, an easy smile slapped her face as she cackled. He too, produced a lowly chuckle, drinking up the smooth light atmosphere they simply existed in.
And as the gentle reflection of golden rays penetrated through their shivered flesh and settled the shaky skin, they stole gasps of air, and playful pecks. Allowing their banter to tickle their humour and evoke rounds of gentle chuckles. It was peaceful.
• • •
"Katie Bell has the Quaffle!" The house of red roared from their stands, loud and enticed cheers came in heated rhythms as Lee Jordan commentated on the current match. A heated game, of blue and red.
As the game raged on, the audience fought a battle of support themselves. Shrieks and gasps of overwhelmed excitement weren't uncommon, nor was the occasional heated debate of which occurred toward the edge of the Gryffindor stands and near the Slytherins.
Unsurprisingly, the stand littered with students of green remained utterly unimpressed; they did not bother with such a show of support, if they expressed any at all, and certainly not for the house of bravery. Theodore's eyes blinded by the storm of fog barely caught the sight of Aurora from the stands. Her cheeks painted maroon crimson, the flakes of lost colour exposing the remaining pecks of skin left underneath the lines that marked her face.
Besides her, she held hands with Hermione. The two girls each wore matching strips of of paint over their cheeks, releasing matching squeals and bursts of cheery laughter. They bounced whenever Ginny scoured.
He had no doubt that the face paint was Auroras doing, he had noticed she had a flare for the creative, especially when it involved those she deeply cared for, and was not surprised that she had decidedly dragged her younger witch friend to do the same.
He had too particularly taken notice to the way Hermione continuously huffed whenever the Weasley boy would triumph. He predicted another tiff had caused a certain drift between the two. Their arguments, Aurora had told him, were not necessarily uncommon.
However it was uncommon to see Aurora feign from screaming like a total banshee at the sight of Ron's success. And he had notice such success was occurring at a peculiar amount. Something had her quiet, she would clap, sure, smile a little, but the Flores witch was extra. Her discomfort towards Ron's winnings practically held up a sign toward Theo, with the inscription: 'Ronald Weasley has done something wrong!'
Ronald Weasley had done something wrong.
From across the pitch, despite the seemingly never ending shouts and screams of excitement, so loud she was sure to go deaf, Aurora listened patiently to Hermione as the girl huffed and complained about Rons behaviour.
The boy had cheated, hence his surprising excel that match. The Ravenclaw house were the house of intelligence and strategy, they had ideas like no other house, formation to beat, and a use of team work that never went un-admired. It had Ron quaking that morning.
His nerves had settled slightly at the news the match would not be shared with Slytherin, the most brutal house. But not much eased his worries, so Harry helped him cheat. Much to the girls distain, as Ron whined over breakfast, the captain of the Gryffindor team plucked out his Felix felices and literally spiked his friends drink.
Ron played with little to no flaws, a clear act of tampering. The unfairness toward the Ravenclaw house had the girls disheartened. She winced when Andrew Kirke flew past his nose a bulbous red shade, and slightly bent. Her eyes cast over toward the Slytherin stands, where she intended to scowl toward Theodore, but he was busy chatting with Blaise by that point.
Her eyes caught the way he chatted so lively, with a particular gleam that exposed both his mischievous nature and his cheerful one, she felt a sudden pang of envy that it was Blaise who had him beaming in such a natural manner.
A body then blocked her view.
"Uh, hey Rory!" Came the muffled voice of Geoffrey Hughes. She smiled sweetly up at him, nodding her head in greeting.
"Hey Geoffrey." She had been noticing quite a bit of him recently. Since she had defended him against a group of cruel students near the end of spring the boy had always been near she supposed. An act of gratitude the girl dismissed it, but by that point she guessed he may be crushing.
"You look really nice." His hands gestured to the messy tiger strips she drew over her face. "Pretty." He mumbled, he hadn't expected her to hear it. Probably crushing, she was afraid to assume.
"Thanks Geoffrey." Her eyes cast toward the game. "Intense match, right?"
"Yeah." He went awkwardly silent for no more than a moment. "Why did you stop playing?"
"Dedicated myself to my studies." The girl shrugged, pursuing her unsure lips as her feet rocked in a fiddling type motion. Her eyes stole a peak towards Theodore. He was watching the game boredly by that point. His expression dead and uninterested.
She felt the sudden sting of her lip, realising too late, that her teeth had impaled her bottom lip. She sucked the crimson bead, her eyes still on Theodore playfully, almost waiting for him to turn around and catch sight of her looking at him so teasingly.
Geoffrey, turned around searching for whoever her suggesting look was aimed toward, he found no one looking back. Assuming, that maybe, just maybe she that look was perhaps just a shy glance... away? Thoughts raced throughout the poor boys head.
He beamed as ideas he liked settled. "You know Aurora you're really smart; I really don't get why you bothered to quit the team." His new surge of confidence lead him through the conversation. "You could be completely dominating a game and still pass your N.E.W.Ts... at the same time!"
She smiled. "Thanks Geoffrey." She stopped chewing her lip. His shoulders visibly dropped. "You know, I never really got why you did play."
"Oh - you see-" He started talking, Aurora should have been listening, she really should have, and she knew to scold herself later, but in that moment, that thousandth of a second, her eyes caught Theodore's amongst the busy crowds. They smiled. His smile began to fall and she watched as his eyes caught the back of Geoffrey's head, the Slytherin scoffed a laugh, a dangerous grin offered an evil promise. She shivered. Chewing her bottom lip, the girl offered a playful look, he grinned back accordingly.
He'd stopped speaking. In a panic, she chuckled nervously, praying to Merlin that he hadn't asked any questions. "That's interesting." She looked away from him, Theodore was still gazing teasingly back toward her. The rhythmic thump of her organs, surged her budding excitement. The heat in her veins throbbed as she felt her breathing grew erratic. Geoffrey too, seemed to be eloped within a similar state.
Theodore raised his eyebrows toward the Gryffindor boy. Her smile turned cheeky, as the caps of her shoulders rose to meet her cheeks. Geoffrey turned around.
The blonde boys eyes scanned the premises; his eyes cascading down toward the Slytherin stand where his eyes caught sight of none other than Theodore, himself. The snake, offered a cheeky grin before his own view shifted toward the game. The Hughes wizard smiled stiffly, turning back toward his witch friend.
Caught and guilty, she offered a tiny curl of her shamed lips. "You know what Geoffrey? It was real great talking with you today but I think I'm going to head off to my dorm now." She offered her departing message.
A swirl of disappointment coloured his hues, "Yeah." He trailed off. "I could walk you?" His eyes renewed with hope.
She didn't wish to be the one to extinguish it. "Sure?" Her legs twisted awkwardly. The strange stance was more than enough to express how much she didn't want him to walk her. Either he was blind or hopeful, whichever, it had him proving ignorant to her distain.
She walked alongside the lanky figure, his hands dropped by his sides, nearing hers a little too closely. She pretended to act unnoticed when she stuffed her hands in her pockets. The Gryffindor she walked with was undoubtedly a sweet boy. "Thank you Geoffrey." Her lips twisted from tight to genuine. "You don't have to walk me all the way."
"I can't just allow a lady to walk herself now can I?" A throaty chuckle escaped him, she too released a heartfelt sound of amusement.
"Good thing she's not by herself then." Their attention was swiftly snatched. Leant against the stone pillar, Theodore assessed the situation tensely. Aurora was a bit too smiley. He couldn't just let her walk off with him, so with tainted intentions he followed them. "You're needed again, Flores." He refused to greet the Hughes wizard.
"What for?" Came his stiff tone. The Slytherins eyes widened in offence. The audacity that Geoffrey respond offered Theodore a ghastly surprise.
Like he was going to respond to him. "Daphne needs you, Aurora." He faced the boy, reluctant to speak to him at all. "Sorry. Her invitation doesn't seem to include awkward tag along." The sorrow expressed through his vocabulary did not dare invade his tone.
"Is Daphne okay?" Worry etched her. His face dropped. He hadn't exactly thought this through.
"You'll have to tell me." He shrugged innocently. Aurora eyes narrowed to their slits, she could see past his half hearted lies. A judgmental scoff escaped her.
"Okay." She addressed the snake. "Lead the way." Contributing one last smile Geoffrey's way, she allowed the Slytherin to lead her.
• • •
Auroras palm wiped the flush and swollen buds of her lips. The applied friction drying up the euphoric feeling of another's lips as she walked through and into The Gryffindor common rooms. Her afternoon with Theodore proved exiting to say the least. Kisses were stolen and hands touched forbidden places. She blushed at the thought of were his hands had ventured that evening.
By the time she had reached the familiar painting, her thoughts had been overridden by the chaotic racket that raged from the other side of the hidden door. The fat lady clutched her ears as she flung open the entry way, not providing any effort to formulate a polite greeting, as if the addition of her own voice to the already loud banging would deafen her.
Aurora nodded once, before she too stepped past the threshold. The sound merely loudened, blasting vigorously against the drums of her ears and tampering with her very sanity. Celebration and triumph clouded the room as students cheered, dressed in maroon and gold. Gryffindor, she guessed, had won the match.
Ron Weasley stood center of the them, students crowded around him, attention directed solely on the boy as he soaked up every word of affirmation offered. She grimaced, if only he had actually earned it.
Weaving past the bodies of many, she approached Hermione and Harry, the two had taken a more modest approach to the evening and appreciated the company of each other. She sat by them.
"Turns out Rory." Hermione spoke immediately. "Harry didn't actually give Ron the Felix Felices." She smiled broadly. Auroras persona brightened instantly. "Just let him think tha-." Her words tumbled to a sudden stop.
Aurora followed were Hermiones eyes lingered. Ron remained stood in the center of the room, lips locked with Lavender Brown. Another uproar overcame the surprised audience, cheers broke out at the display. Hermione however didn't seem as thrilled.
She smiled tightly, her hands clenched as she turned back to the two. They both offered her a sympathetic glance. She swallowed once, nodding her head.
The silence between the three went un-betrayed for the rest of the evening. She couldn't exactly remember when, but sometime during the night Auroras hand had come interlaced with her young witch friends, clutching almost dangerously to her, and they didn't let go.
_________________________________
AN,
So sorry this took forever to update I had little to no motivation, but here this is better late than ever. This is the definition of a filler chapter bc I struggled so hard finding the effort. Thank Merlin that's over with.