For the first time in days, Aurora woke up in the comfort of her Beauxbatons dormitory with sunlight streaming through the curtains. Madame Pomfrey had released her from the Hospital Wing the morning after the Bianco's and the Tonks' had left. Aurora had spent the whole day with her friends, eating sweets, running through the corridors and having snowball fights. But today she had to go back to doing lessons.
Aurora groaned as she rolled out of bed. She absolutely despised Mondays. After slipping on her blue silk dress and brushing out her bed-hair, the girl checked her timetable for the day. In the morning she had Arithmancy with the Gryffindors. Aurora groaned inwardly. She hoped Fred and George were in her class- that way she might not die of boredom.
Aurora quickly gathered up her things into a white leather handbag and made her way out of the dormitory. The girl hurriedly greeted some of her fellow Beauxbatons students who still lingered in the common room, but she didn't have time to stay and chat. She was already running late for Arithmancy.
♛
Fortunately, Aurora had made it to class just before Professor Vector. Blanca and the Weasley twins were already seated, and called her over as soon as they saw her. Luckily for them, Professor Vector was not a very observant woman- she did not notice Aurora snoozing on the desk while Blanca plaited bits of her hair and Fred and George tried to turn their textbooks bright pink. Aurora wondered why the Weasley twins
had chosen Arithmancy in the first place. They never did any work.
Thankfully, the class ended three quarters of an hour early, as Gryffindor had some sort of House meeting to attend. Professor Vector had at that point let the two Beauxbatons students leave early- as she did not see the point in teaching them.
So, Aurora and Blanca spent the rest of their free time in the Beauxbatons common room reading and eating chocolate frogs- a very healthy breakfast. When it was finally time for lunch, the two girls made their way downstairs to meet their friends in the Great Hall.
As Aurora and Blanca entered the room, the sound of excited chatter and high pitched giggles reached their ears. It seemed that all the girls in the Great Hall were being even more hyperactive than usual, although for what reason Aurora wasn't sure. The girl shared a look with her cousin as they passed a Hufflepuff girl who was hyperventilating, giggling and crying at the same time. Something was definitely going on.
As the two girls finally reached their friends at the Gryffindor table, they noticed that even Hermione seemed flustered. She was chattering excitedly to Ron and Harry, who looked as though they wanted the floor to open up and swallow them. Meanwhile, Fleur was receiving even more stares from every boy in the room as she also babbled animatedly to anyone who would listen to her. Something strange was happening here.
"Hi guys." Aurora and Blanca greeted in unison as they sat down in between Cedric and Adam. Both boys' cheeks were tinged red, and they kept glancing around the hall nervously. On the other side of them, Viktor sat with his head down and a sullen look on his face. He kept glaring at anyone who came near to the group. Aurora did not know what was going on with her friends, but it was worrying.
"Is someone going to tell us what in Merlin's name is going on?" Blanca asked. For a moment, no one spoke up. They just stared at the two Italian girls.
"You didn't hear?" Hermione asked incredulously. Aurora furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. Was there something she was supposed to know about? As far as she knew, today was as normal a day as any other.
"Hear what exactly?" Aurora glanced round at all her friends. The boys were staring at her in fear, whilst Fleur, Hermione and Gabrielle's mouths hung open.
"The Yule Ball?"
"Ball? What ball?" Aurora was now very confused. A ball had never once been mentioned when she had eavesdropped on Madame Maxime's conversations. What exactly did it entail? Were they expected to wear formal attire? Or would it be more of an informal occasion? Would they be going alone? Or would they need dates?
As if in answer to her question, a throat cleared from behind her, and Aurora turned to see a young Ravenclaw boy of about fourteen or fifteen watching her nervously. The girl arched an eyebrow at him expectantly.
"Yes?" she asked impatiently. The boy shifted from foot to foot awkwardly and cleared his throat,
"I was um -- I was just wondering if maybe you -- um -- wanted to go to the Yule Ball with me?" he stuttered. Aurora's eyes widened. She heard Ron let out a snicker from behind her, and she turned around to give him a dirty look. The rest of her friends were watching with open mouths as she turned back around to address the young boy.
"Sorry, but -- no." she told the boy bluntly. He nodded, disappointed, before walking dejectedly back towards the Ravenclaw table. With a roll of her eyes, Aurora turned back around and realised that her friends were staring at her with wide eyes.
"What?" she asked with a scowl. Fleur let out an irritated huff, and Aurora raised an eyebrow at her questioningly.
"How come you 'ave already been asked to ze Ball? You did not even know about eet until two minutes ago!" Fleur folded her arms across her chest moodily, and Adam let out a loud snort, earning him a rather dirty look from the French girl.
"So..." Aurora ignored her adoptive sister and leaned forward onto her elbows, resting her chin on her closed fists. "What's the dress code? Ballgowns? Please say we get to wear ballgowns!" Cedric chuckled quietly at her enthusiasm whereas Adam rolled his eyes.
"Seriously? You're thinking about clothes right now? You should be thinking about who your date is going to be!" Adam exclaimed. Aurora rolled her eyes while Blanca snickered next to her.
"Please. I'll have no trouble finding a date." she confidently flipped her hair over her shoulder, which attracted the attention of every male nearby. Not that she noticed.
"Cocky much?" Adam teased, and she rolled her eyes playfully.
"It is true." Viktor's strong Bulgarian accent cut off any reply Aurora had been about to make. Everyone at the table stared at him in surprise. He did not talk much, and when he did, it was usually just one word answers. The boy paused for a moment before continuing. "A few of my classmates from Durmstrang are planning on asking you. They've turned it into a sort of competition." Viktor made a noise of disgust. Aurora mirrored this by scrunching up her nose in distaste.
"Yes. Well, I am not going to worry about that for now. I am sure when the time comes, someone worthy will have asked me." she glanced at Cedric, who had not spoken a word throughout lunch. He was staring down at his empty bowl as if it was suddenly the most fascinating thing in the world. Aurora was confused. Why was he avoiding her? Before she could dwell on this any longer, Blanca's voice suddenly interrupted her train of thought.
"Well, I think me and Aurora are due a shopping session. What do you say cousin?" Aurora's eyes immediately lit up.
"Oh, mio Merlino (Oh my Merlin), yes!" she squealed loudly, causing Ron to jump and spill his pumpkin juice all down his front. He groaned in protest, but Aurora payed no attention.
Aurora and Blanca began discussing their dresses for the night, and were quickly joined by Hermione and Fleur. The boys at the table all shared a look before running out of the Great Hall as fast as their legs could carry them, leaving the girls to plan their perfect ball in peace.
♛
A week after the events in the Great Hall, it was time for the monthly Hogsmeade visit. Aurora and Blanca had woken up early in anticipation of their shopping trip. The two girls were so excited that they barely even acknowledged the latest boy to ask one of them to the Ball. They simply skipped past him while he was in mid sentence, leaving the poor boy rather confused. Even as the two girls were eating breakfast, they barely acknowledged their friends. They were far too excited.
Finally, it was time to go to Hogsmeade. Aurora spent the whole walk there chattering away in Italian with Blanca, much to Cedric's annoyance. He had been trying to get her attention all day, but to no avail. The girl was far too wrapped up in her eagerness to get to Hogsmeade to notice him. Perhaps asking her to the ball today was not the best idea.
"Quindi, io scelgo sicuramente il rosso e l'oro, e tu il blu e l'argento?" (So, I'm definitely going for the red and gold colour scheme, and you're going for blue and silver?) Aurora confirmed. Blanca nodded and sighed.
"Stai così bene in rosso, Rora. Tutti i ragazzi ti sbaveranno addosso." (You look so good in red, Rora. All the boy's will be drooling over you.) she grumbled. Aurora giggled softly before bumping her cousin's shoulder playfully.
"Oh, taci." (Oh, hush you.)
♛
The bell rang as Blanca pushed open the door to Hogsmeade Dress shop. As the two girl's entered, their eyes widened as large as dinner plates. Inside the shop were rows upon rows of all kinds of dresses. There were elegant ballgowns, flowing summer dresses and sophisticated cocktail dresses in every colour imaginable. The two girls squealed and sprinted into the mass of dresses in search of their perfect ballgown. There were so many to choose from. Aurora had the feeling they might be a bit late going back to Hogwarts.
The first gown she picked out was a deep red, off the shoulder design with small, diamond like sequins and a puffy net skirt. Aurora rushed to the dressing room and tried it on. The dress slipped on like butter, but something wasn't right. It was too plain, and the skirt was itchy. If Aurora wanted to make a lasting impression on everyone at the Yule Ball, she had to do better. Only the perfect gown would do.
Over the next hour, Aurora tried on every kind of dress in the shop. Each gown was beautiful, but there was always something wrong. It was either too plain, too flouncy, the skirt was too wide, or not wide enough. Eventually, she gave up looking and sat down on the bench outside the dressing rooms. Crossing her arms over her chest, she let out an annoyed huff. She had been hoping that she would find the perfect gown today, but it seemed luck was not on her side. She would just have to contact the Delacour's and request that they have a dress made at the tailor's in Paris. Or maybe Aunt Narcissa would buy her one. She always had some of the most beautiful gowns at her parties.
Aurora's train of thought was interrupted by the dressing room curtain being pulled back rather abruptly. The girl looked up. Standing in the doorway was Blanca, wearing the most exquisite gown she had ever seen. It was a deep royal blue at the bottom, but was encrusted with diamonds at the top, creating an Ombre effect all the way down the dress. It was pulled back in all the right places, accentuating Blanca's natural curves. Her skin seemed to glow against the contrasting silver and blue hues. She looked perfect.
"Blanca..." Aurora breathed out as she slowly stood up from her seat on the bench. "E' quella giusta." (That's the one.)
"Lo so!" (I know!) she squealed and spun around excitedly. The skirt of her dress fanned out around her. Whoever her date would end up being was a very lucky guy, Aurora thought. Blanca suddenly noticed that her cousin did not have a dress. Furrowing her eyebrows in confusion, she asked;
"Dov'è il tuo vestito?" (Where's your dress?) Aurora sighed quietly to herself.
"Nessuno di loro ha... proprio ragione. Chiederò a Clara ed Emmanuel se possono farne fare una dal sarto a Parigi." (None of them are... quite right. I'll ask Clara and Emmanuel if they can have one made at the tailor's in Paris.) she answered with a shrug of her shoulders. Blanca could tell she was disappointed that she didn't find the perfect dress, but she knew not to say anything about it.
"Beh, andiamo a vedere le scarpe, va bene?" (Well let's go look at shoes, shall we?) Blanca suggested and Aurora's mood instantly brightened. The two Italian girls exited the shop arm in arm, chattering excitedly to each other about the upcoming Ball.
♛
As Aurora and Blanca walked through the Hogwarts courtyard, they spotted some familiar figures at the school entrance. Draco Malfoy stood stiffly alongside two other people. The man on his right had long, silvery-white hair that was slicked back with too much hair gel. He was wearing a long black robe with fur trimmings, and in his hand he held a cane with a snake's head topper. The man had a sour expression on his face and his nose was upturned like there was a particularly nasty smell wafting under it. Next to him stood a woman with similar silvery locks, except the top layer of her hair was dyed jet black. She wore a fashionable olive green dress coat with a fur hood, and her lips were painted a bright cherry red. She was animatedly trying to make conversation with Draco, who seemed to only be giving one word answers.
When the three figures spotted Aurora and Blanca standing at the other end of the courtyard, the woman began waving them over excitedly with one gloved hand. The two girls shared a look of amusement before walking over to the trio.
"Aurora, darling!" the woman cooed as they got nearer. As soon as Aurora was within arms reach, the older lady engulfed her in a tight hug. After a moment, she pulled away and went to embrace the other girl beside her.
"And Blanca of course! My, my look how you have grown! You two are beautiful young ladies now." she gushed. Aurora smirked.
"It's nice to see you, Auntie, Uncle." she gave the man a curt nod. Aurora had never really liked her Uncle Lucius, and he had never much liked her either. They shared a mutual dislike for one another, but were mostly civil, for Narcissa's sake.
"Hey, Aunt Narcissa. You're looking very nice today." Aurora complimented with a sweet smile. "I love that dress! So classy. You know--" Narcissa quickly cut off her niece before she could ask the question she knew was about to come out of her mouth.
"Aurora, I am not buying you another new dress." she said sternly, but with a hint of a smile on her face. The woman had always wanted a daughter that she could dress up, and do her hair and makeup, just like her mother had done with her. Aurora was the closest thing she ever got to that.
"But it's the Yule Ball!" the girl whined dramatically, making Narcissa chuckle.
"Aurora, sweetheart, you're almost an adult. You need to learn to do things for yourself." she reminded her niece, who pouted childishly.
"I can do things for myself. We went dress shopping this morning, but you know what a perfectionist I can be! I cannot turn up to the Ball in a dress anything less than perfect. There were simply no gowns in that shop that were suitable. I looked for hours, I swear!" she exclaimed. Blanca tried and failed to stifle a giggle, which earned her a fierce glare from her cousin. Blanca knew that Narcissa always had a soft spot for Aurora, so she spoiled her a lot. Chances were, she would relent and agree to buy the girl a dress after all. Aurora knew this, and had decided to try and use it to her advantage.
"Okay, sweetheart." Narcissa gave her niece a fond smile. It would seem the girl's plan had worked. "I will contact the tailor's in London and see what I can--" she began, but was cut off by Lucius Malfoy.
"Come now, dear. Aurora is almost seventeen. She should not have to rely on her aunt's money to buy something as trivial as a dress. You have spoiled her, Narcissa. She needs to uphold the Black name and learn to be more independent. We wouldn't want to disappoint your family by becoming lazy, now would we Aurora?" he sneered. His niece sent him a scowl.
"I am perfectly capable of doing things for myself, Uncle." she spat. Her voice was laced with venom.
"Then why don't you prove it?" he jeered. Aurora felt her blood boil. Lucius Malfoy would never fail to rub her up the wrong way.
"Fine." she snapped. "I will find my own dress, and I will do it without any help. Maybe then you will see that I am not just a little girl anymore. I can take care of myself." Aurora's glare intensified when Lucius simply smiled coldly at her. With a huff, she grabbed hold of Blanca's arm and pulled her along as she stomped up the stone steps. Just as she came level with her uncle, she whirled around to face him.
"Uncle Lucius." she began with a sickly sweet smile. "I can't remember if I've mentioned it before, but you're a foul git and I hate you with all my heart." she stated confidently, and with a flip of her hair stalked up the steps and through the entrance. However, before she could go any further, she was pulled back by Lucius, who was gripped her wrist tightly. He looked furious.
"Why, you little--" he seethed, but Aurora hastily cut him off.
"Nuh-uh. Don't interrupt my dramatic exit." she smirked at her uncle before continuing up the stairs, followed closely by a stunned Blanca. Aurora didn't mean to cause trouble. She just couldn't stop the words from coming out of her mouth. Lucius Malfoy was just one of those people who irritated her with their very existence.
"Aurora!" an English accent called out to her. She whirled around to face Draco Malfoy, who was jogging towards the two girls with an unreadable expression on his face. Aurora braced herself for an argument. Draco may not always like Lucius, but he was his father after all.
"That was brilliant!" he cried before scooping her up and spinning her around in the air. Aurora laughed in a mixture of relief and confusion as he set her down again.
"You're not mad?" she asked cautiously. She wouldn't blame him if he was. But, to her surprise, Draco shook his head vigorously.
"Mad? Of course not! I have been waiting for this day to come for years! The day when my father finally realised that he can't control everyone!" the boy exclaimed with a shout, and picked her up into his arms again. When Aurora's feet touched the ground again, she was in fits of giggles.
"Merlin, that felt good." she said breathlessly. Draco laughed.
"Not good. Brilliant!" he exclaimed. Aurora and Blanca broke into giggles again. They each grabbed one of Draco's hands and lead him down the corridor, laughing as they went.
A/N
I hate Lucius Malfoy so much.
Thank you sooo much for 1k reads! I am so so grateful that people are reading la chiave del tuo cuore. This is the furthest I've ever got with a story before, and I fully intend to finish it.
Thank you for reading,
Rose x