TWO. ❝ FOR GOD'S SAKE ❞
Hogwarts, 1991
AURORA STOOD amongst her classmates, watching in anticipation as Draco Malfoy returned to the ground, hopping off his broom while cackling with his friends. Aurora noted that he was a nasty boy— she didn't appreciate the way he had made fun of Neville Longbottom for his unfortunate first broom ride and taunted her friend Harry.
"What an idiot," Hermione said with crossed arms as Draco shoved past to get to his friends. Aurora glanced over her shoulder at him and shook her head.
"I wouldn't be surprised if he fell off his broomstick," She heard him say. "I bet he'd never touch one again after this."
Just then, someone had yelled and pointed in the sky— for Harry Potter was flying towards them, holding Neville's remembrall high above his head. Aurora began to jump and cheer along with the rest of her classmates, running to meet Harry halfway.
Harry arrived on the grass gracefully and she and Ron celebrated with their fists in the air.
"That was brilliant, Harry!" She exclaimed and he grinned from ear to ear. Everybody around him was yelling in triumph, glad for him.
"Harry Potter!" Professor McGonagall's voice boomed. Everyone was silenced at this sound and turned to the wise witch before them who was making her way across the pavement. "Come with me," She said firmly and turned to walk in the other direction. Harry, anxious, followed her and Aurora squeezed his hand to let her friend know that it would be okay. He looked at her with a small smile. Aurora watched Harry walk away with a blank expression— he had only been trying to do the right thing.
"I'll bet he's in trouble now," A familiarly irritating voice called out from behind. Aurora turned and saw Draco Malfoy snickering, obviously amused as to how the situation turned out for her friend. "This is what he gets for always begging for attention— like how the Weasley father begs for a pay raise every year when they get too sick of living in their cardboard box."
Him and his friends began to snicker to themselves, appreciating such a joke, when a voice spoke up behind him.
"You know, you're very rude," Someone said softly, but firmly. Draco had rolled his eyes to his friends and turned to lash out at whoever had spoken out of turn. It seemed he would have to put someone in their place once again, but when he faced Aurora Hampshire, the girl with the warmest brown eyes and long brown hair, he couldn't bring himself to do it.
He simply turned back around and looked down at his shoes. For one rare moment in his life, Draco Malfoy had found himself completely silenced. And not out of fear like it often was with his father— but out of nerves that overtook every inch of his system.
In that moment, Draco Malfoy realized exactly three things that were completely out of character for him: One, being that Aurora Hampshire was, by far, the prettiest girl he had ever seen. Two, being that he had just made himself out be an absolute git in front of her. And three, being that this girl would likely become his greatest weakness.
London, 1995
"AURORA, YOU DROPPED ANOTHER SOCK," Vesta Hampshire ran after her daughter who was walking across platform 9 3/4 with a suitcase that was barely closed, dropping clothing garments wherever she walked. As Aurora turned around to retrieve the sock from her mother, more items spilled out.
"Christ, Aurora," Vesta threw her hands up in the air. "Do you need this much clothes? You wear a uniform the majority of the time."
"Girls will be girls," Arthur said, eying Ginny who seemed to be having the same problem. Vesta shook her head and picked up the rest of Aurora's things, handing them back to her in a pile.
"Make sure you have all your things," Vesta sighed, looking over her daughter who had crouched down to stuff everything back into her suitcase. "Textbooks, books, toothbrush?"
"Yes, yes, check," Aurora went through the various items she had listed and went to hug her mother goodbye. "I will be fine!"
"I know," Vesta stroked her hair and held her daughter tightly. "I love you so much, Aurora," She said with the smallest hint of sadness in her voice as it cracked. Aurora always felt a tinge of guilt every September 1st when she had to leave her mother in London. She knew how lonely she would get in their empty home, even if she went out with colleagues and sometimes had Arthur and Molly over for dinner. Aurora still knew how much her mother missed her and worried for her deeply while she was gone. Sending Aurora off into the wizarding world always made her a bit anxious, paranoid ever since the brutal death of her husband.
"I'll write you," Aurora nodded when she pulled away and Vesta smiled softlt. "Send me more books this year— I keep finishing them early."
"Of course, dear," She laughed, and hugged her again before looking to Arthur. Arthur was smiling at her when she ran over and enveloped him in a tight hug.
"Goodbye, Arthur," She said quietly. "I love you too."
"Have a good trip, dear," He was patting her on the back. "Keep an eye on everyone for me, will you?"
"I will, but I can't say I'll be able to keep them out of trouble," She laughed and pulled away from Arthur.
"Yeah, because you'll probably be in the thick of it, won't you?" He shook his head and Aurora grinned at this, earning a look of disapproval from Vesta. "At least write me about it, okay?"
"Of course," Aurora waved this off as she began to grab her things once again, making her way further down the station. "I'll be home for Christmas! Don't eat all my mum's pudding again like last year!"
Arthur laughed and exchanged looks with Vesta who was shaking her head at her daughter's humor. With another wave, Aurora went off to catch up with her friends.
"Hey, we were wondering where you were," Hermione said in relief once Aurora reappeared. "We have to get on soon."
Aurora nodded at this then looked at her watch for the time. "Uh, right, yeah. I'll meet you guys on board— I'm gonna go find Draco."
Hermione simply nodded in response, as she had an arsenal of comments about Aurora's boyfriend on the tip of her tongue, ready to be fired. She told her that she would save her a spot before Aurora ran off again.
Aurora found Draco with his parents, all of them standing quite stiffly before each other as Lucius patted Draco on the back awkwardly, uttering a form of goodbye. Draco was dressed in an expensive black suit, and Aurora noted in her head that he looked like some classic evil villain in an American movie. When Draco turned around, he immediately spotted Aurora looking at him and a smile crossed his face. His family's eyes flickered toward her, Narcissa offering the slightest tug at the corners of her mouth, so small that if you had blinked, you would've missed it. Lucius's mouth tipped downward in distaste before looking away and stalking off, Narcissa following behind him. With this, Draco made his way toward Aurora without another look back.
"Why do you have to get dressed up to go on the train?" She asked, amused, and Draco immediately glared at her in response while taking her luggage from her.
"Because I'm not a git," He spat and Aurora held her hands up in defense with a smile. They fell into step again, making their way down to store their luggage.
"I think dressing up for a train ride makes you a git," She had retorted moments later when they were handing their things over to the train attendants and Draco rolled his eyes. Instead of responding, he took her hand in his and guided her toward one of the train cars.
"Well, I'm afraid this is where we part," Aurora had sighed dramatically once they were inside the train. "I don't think we'll ever see each other again."
He was shaking his head at her and leaned forward to kiss her cheek. "I'll see you in a couple hours."
They parted ways, as Draco was heading off to his Slytherin friends and Aurora went to find Hermione and the rest. Draco looked over his shoulder at her and the way one of her socks fell lower than the other around her ankles, smiling to himself a bit before continuing on. He was reaching the end of the car when someone wrapped their arms around him, their force shoving him forward slightly. He turned, ready to make some snarky remark about how someone didn't know how to walk ("Get off me! Are you blind? Or are you just choosing to close your eyes and walk around aimlessly like an idiot?") when he found Aurora who quickly pressed a kiss to his lips and hugged him tightly before running off again. His anger then faded away as he touched his lips, still remembering what hers felt like before he continued on to the next car, chuckling.
When Aurora got to the compartment Hermione was in (after going through various ones where she was not, prompting multiple awkward apologies from her), she let out a sigh of relief and slid in next beside them. "Harry, Hermione, Ron," she greeted each of them with a curt nod.
"Where've you been?" Ron asked, stricken by her absence. "the trolley already came by!"
"Yeah, we just got you some droobles," Harry handed her a package of candy and she thanked him, tossing a couple galleons in his direction. They talked for a bit until Aurora decided she should perform her prefect duties and went off to patrol the train, stopping to talk to some of her fellow Ravenclaw housemates and others she knew. When it was announced that they were minutes away from Hogwarts, she went to change into her robes.
It was nearly dusk when they arrived in Scotland. Aurora was trailing behind Harry, Hermione, and Ron, as she was talking to Cho about the quidditch team for this year. Cho was saying she thought Ravenclaw had a pretty good chance at winning quidditch cup when Aurora caught Draco walking forward from the corner of her eye. She listened in as he went past Harry, uttering some words to him.
"Why's the ministry still letting you walk around free Potter? Better enjoy it while you can. I suspect there's a cell in Azkaban with your name on it," She heard him remark and Harry looked ready to jump on him when Ron pulled him back. Draco dusted off his suit and continued on. Seeing this, Aurora politely excused herself from Cho and their conversation to go to Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
"What did he just say?" She asked when she caught up to them. They turned their heads toward her, their faces faltering slightly.
"Whatever," Hermione waved the situation off with her hand. "He's been a git the entire train ride."
"What do you mean?"
"He came over to our compartment and said some nasty things," She shrugged. "Nothing new."
"No matter though," said Ron who smiled proudly at Harry. "we handled it."
"I'm so sorry," Aurora groaned putting her face in her hands. She was angry then, for what seemed like the billionth time, with Draco. He never seemed to learn from his mistakes no matter how many times she would have to drag him to the Gryffindor table and get him to apologize to whichever of her friends he hurt from there. It was getting quite old, having to deal with this.
"No need for apologies," Harry said. "We all know Draco has always been a git."
Aurora nodded, wanting to defend Draco and say that he wasn't, that he was actually kind and ambitious and loyal. But she couldn't bring herself to do so. He didn't deserve that from her and there was no way to justify his actions.
Parting ways with Harry, she made her made their way to the prefect carriage with Ron and Hermione. They were waiting together in a line with others to get on, Ron and Hermione bickering about something while Aurora's frustrations simmered within her. She let out a long sigh when she felt a small tug at the back of her skirt. When she turned around, there stood Draco Malfoy who looked more smug than ever. She wanted nothing more than to sock him in the face.
"I can't believe you actually said that," Was all she told him, causing his smile to drop immediately.
"Aurora—" He began, but she wasn't going to listen to whatever excuse he had ready for her today.
"When are you going to stop being so immature?" She asked, causing some others to look at the pair in confusion. She ignored them, as all of her anger and attention was focused on the boy standing before her. "It's fifth year, for God's sake."
As everyone questioned what they were arguing about now, Draco pushed past them and followed Aurora into the carriage, ready to argue further when she sat down beside Hermione. He was about to sit to her left when a Ernie Macmillan beat him to it, nearly knocking him over in the process which earned a harsh glare from him that could be enough to kill a man.
"Move your arse, or I'll take house points from you too," Draco said. "I don't care if you're a bloody prefect. I can do it." He scrambled to his feet in fear of his wrath, then Draco resumed his proper place, sat beside Aurora calmly, who sent Ernie a look of sympathy before scowling up at Draco.
"Aurora, love, it was just bit of fun. No harm in it," He had tried to reassure her but she was busying herself by going through one of her bags to find a book that would aid her in ignoring Draco. Hermione and Ron were looking at him quizzically, and Draco, feeling their stares, bit back the urge to snap at them. He settled for a glower instead and they sent one right back.
As the head boy and girl talked on and on about what the year would look like and everyone listened to them intently, Draco's attention was on the girl beside him. He kept whispering, trying to get her attention, but Aurora wasn't responding.
"Psst! Aurora, I'm sorry," He whispered loudly to her and she turned her body toward Hermione instead, angling her knees to the right. Eventually, he stopped bugging her and remained sitting in silence. It wasn't as if this hadn't happened before— based on the past times, this would be over in precisely seventeen minutes— ten, even, if Draco added in some act of vulnerability that showed remorse.
When they finally arrived, he went out the carriage first. He was walking off without her, not looking back. He counted down from exactly twenty-seven seconds in his head as he made a bet with himself as to how close he could get to his estimated time of forgiveness. He was nearing zero when a small hand slipped into his quietly. A smug smile overtook his face when he found none other than Aurora Hampshire intertwining their fingers in silence. He did the same, and held her hand tightly in his. She wouldn't look at him or talk to him as they walked alongside each other, but he took her bags from her anyway and carried them without complaint. She took note of this kind gesture in her head and a small smile of her own appeared on her face.
He was quite annoying, yes, but oh, how he could make her crumble under his touch.
Hogwarts, 1991
AURORA HAD BEEN IN THE LIBRARY for at least an hour now for her free period. She had it during a different time than Harry, Hermione, and Ron. In fact, they didn't have very many classes together at all, other than some with Hermione, which saddened her when they were first comparing their schedules. It felt as if they had all the time in the world together and she was forced to tag along for the little, mundane moments despite the fact that they reassured her all the time that she was, in fact, a part of the group, yet here she was, studying alone. Although, Aurora really didn't mind being alone. It was a good time for her to really think and clear her mind, and in this particular hour, she spent her time reading, covering up her muggle book with her Defence Against the Dark Arts homework she had already finished.
"You're in my potions class," An unfortunately familiar voice startled her from behind.
She turned in surprise at the new presence and found that it was Draco Malfoy standing there, looking down at her, hair slicked back and cheeks flushed. "I, uh... I don't think I've introduced myself to you yet," he said and recomposed himself. "I'm Malfoy. Draco—"
"I know who you are," Aurora cut him off calmly, turning back to her work as she pulled her notebook over her story more and began writing fake notes. Draco was taken aback by her bluntness and pulled back his hand he had subconsciously given out for her to shake.
"You do?" He asked, feeling his cheeks grow hot at the thought of her knowing his name at which he cursed himself in his head. He ran a nervous hand over his hair— as a Malfoy, he never acted like this. It was very much unlike him, but he couldn't help it as he grew more and more tense standing beside her.
"Yes," Aurora answered, not looking up. She didn't want to be talking to this boy as she had experienced and heard countless times about how rude he was to Harry, Hermione, Ron, and various others in school. "You're the one who's always mean to my friends."
Draco twitched a little at this, feeling himself bubble with anger at the thought of her friend, Potter. His hand curled into a little fist.
"That's because Potter's a slimy little—" Draco cut himself off, seeing as the girl was not impressed with his attitude. He softened as he saw she was looking up at him, with a disappointed, yet unsurprised expression. "Nevermind that," He said instead, shaking off the thought of Harry Potter. "What's your name, then?"
"Aurora," She answered, and tensed up slightly as Draco Malfoy moved to sit in the spare seat beside her. He honestly didn't know what he was doing, but there was this weird feeling in the pit of his stomach that made him feel a bit odd as he watched Aurora write. Aurora. Aurora. He turned the name over in his head countless times before he spoke up again.
"Aurora," He began, and the words felt as if he were throwing them up because of how nervous he felt with this girl. But as his father told him before, a Malfoy doesn't get nervous—nothing should bother a Malfoy who kept his composure at all times. "I think you're very pretty."
At this, Aurora snapped her gaze toward the boy fully, as an expression of bewilderment appeared on her small face, furrowed brows and a frown. She refrained from reaching up to touch her cheeks as she could feel they were becoming redder by the second.
"So I think we'll get along quite well," He continued as he saw that she was blushing. This gave him a stroke of confidence as a sense of smugness overtook him. Aurora had watched his composure change, a small smirk arising on his lips and she shook her head at this.
"No," She stated firmly, ignoring the burning feeling that accompanied her rosy cheeks. "Not if you're rude to my friends."
Draco sat there and pondered for a moment with himself. It felt as if he were physically beating down his urge to say something snarky then about Aurora's friends as the words were on the tip of his tongue (particularly, a comment about Harry Potter).
"If they're your friends, then I won't be," He said through gritted teeth. Aurora turned sharply to look at this boy before her, not believing what she was hearing. For weeks now, she'd grown to learn that Draco Malfoy was a rude, spoiled, insufferable boy with an incredible sense of self-righteousness. She did not put herself in situations with those types of people, yet here, she sat beside him now, considering his offer of friendship.
"Why are you being nice to me?" She asked, fully baffled by his behavior. He was always cruel to everybody who wasn't Crabbe, Goyle, or Pansy Parkinson— even his fellow housemates, so the question beckoned an answer in her mind as to why he was standing here, talking to her.
"I don't know," Draco answered honestly.
She paused for a moment, thinking as to what her mother or Arthur or Molly would tell her. Molly would not tolerate any kind of attitude from the beginning. And her mother had always taught her to be kind, yet strong-willed. And Arthur? Well, something pulled at her gut and told her she knew what Arthur would do in such a situation.
"We can be friends," she said with her chin held up high. "But if you step out of line, we won't be friends anymore," She warned him as kindly as she could despite the way she was eying him suspiciously, and Draco shrugged, unfazed.
"Then you can keep me in line," He replied as if it were so simple. Aurora's breath hitched at this; this could very well be the worst decision of her entire life. "So what are you doing? Homework?"
Aurora pressed her lips together before sheepishly moving her things to reveal she was actually reading a book.
"I was reading," She said and Draco shuffled slightly in his seat.
"What book is that?" He asked, scrunching up his face to read the words written as he'd never heard of such a book in his entire life. "Is this a muggle story?"
"It's a good one— To Kill A Mockingbird," She said, flipping the book over so he could read the cover. "It's very famous in the muggle world." Draco pursed his lips, his nose wrinkling slightly in distaste. He never really cared for literature, nevertheless muggle literature, but if Aurora liked it, then he would bear with it.
"Well, read something to me, why don't you?" He had asked after a couple moments of awkward silence and she looked at him for a quick second, searching for a sign of sarcasm or bitterness and found none. He simply sat there, looking at her, waiting for her to start up. She adjusted herself in her seat, clearing her throat, and Draco thought her hair looked very soft. It was a rather odd, foreign thought to him— he never really thought that much about girls, let alone did he often take the time to admire someone. But with Aurora, it was different. He enjoyed admiring her.
"'Atticus told me to delete all the adjectives and I'd have all the facts...'" Aurora began to read and Draco smiled to himself. Initially, he was at a humiliating loss when Harry Potter rejected his friendship in front of everyone. It set him to be very bitter— more bitter than he already was. But right now, as he sat there and watched Aurora Hampshire read, it didn't really matter— all of that excess pride and hatred began to fade away from his view. It didn't even matter that she was friends with that bloody arse— she was his friend too. And he wasn't going to let that go.