Mine to Protect

Chapter 9: Beneath the Surface

Aurora felt the weight of their discovery pressing down on her with every step she took through the castle. After leaving the hidden room, her mind swirled with thoughts of the Dark Lord's plan and the possibility of breaking the Dark Mark. She and Regulus were now tied to something much larger and far more dangerous than either had anticipated.

As she walked through the bustling corridors of Hogwarts, Aurora tried to maintain an air of normalcy, though her mind was miles away. The familiar chatter of students, the rustling of robes, and the creaking of the old stone floors all felt distant. She passed groups of Gryffindors laughing and talking, but her thoughts were still back in that dimly lit room in the dungeons, her hand in Regulus's.

She was shaken from her reverie by the sound of someone calling her name.

"Aurora! Hey, wait up!"

She turned to see her brother, James, jogging toward her, a bright grin plastered on his face. Behind him, Sirius and Remus followed, both wearing mischievous expressions.

"Where've you been?" James asked, draping an arm over her shoulders. "You've been disappearing a lot lately. Is there something we should know about?"

Aurora forced a smile, trying to keep the nervous flutter in her chest from showing. "Just... studying. O.W.L.s are coming up, remember?"

James raised an eyebrow. "You? Studying? That's more of Remus's thing." He winked at the werewolf, who chuckled.

"I can be studious when I want to be," Aurora replied, her voice light, though her thoughts were far from carefree.

"Well, whatever you're up to, don't forget to join us for Quidditch practice later," James said, his tone playful but affectionate. "Can't let the Slytherins win, can we?"

At the mention of Slytherins, Sirius's grin faltered, and he shot Aurora a curious glance. "You haven't been spending too much time with that lot, have you?"

Her heart skipped a beat. She couldn't let Sirius or James suspect anything—especially not now. "Only when I have to," she said quickly, hoping her casual tone would be enough to dismiss any suspicion.

Sirius's eyes narrowed slightly, but before he could ask anything further, James cut in. "Leave her alone, Sirius. She's not about to go and betray her Gryffindor roots. Besides, she's got us to keep her on the straight and narrow."

Aurora smiled, relieved as they continued down the hall, but her mind remained elsewhere.

Later that evening, Aurora met Regulus again, this time in an abandoned classroom near the Astronomy Tower. The room was cold, the evening light casting long shadows on the floor. Regulus was already there, standing by the window, his expression pensive.

"They're starting to notice," Aurora said quietly as she stepped inside. "James... and Sirius. They're suspicious."

Regulus frowned, his gaze dropping to the floor. "It was only a matter of time."

"We need to be more careful," Aurora continued, her voice low. "If they find out what we're doing..."

"They won't," Regulus said firmly, crossing the room to stand in front of her. "We'll be careful. We have to be."

Aurora nodded, though the knot of anxiety in her stomach remained. She trusted Regulus, but the risks were growing every day. And the more they uncovered about Voldemort's plans, the more dangerous their mission became.

"We should look at the memory again," Regulus said after a moment of silence. "There might be something we missed."

Aurora hesitated. The thought of revisiting Voldemort's memory made her skin crawl, but she knew Regulus was right. They needed to understand everything if they had any hope of stopping what was coming.

"All right," she said softly. "But we need to move quickly. The longer we wait, the closer we get to being discovered."

Regulus's hand found hers, his touch grounding her in the midst of the uncertainty swirling around them. "We'll figure it out," he murmured, his voice steady. "Together."

Aurora nodded, her heart tightening as she met his gaze. She didn't know how they were going to stop the darkness looming over them, but as long as they were together, she had hope.

As the night crept on, they stood in the silence of the empty classroom, the weight of their choices heavy in the air. Beneath the surface of their secret mission, Aurora could feel something deeper stirring between them—something unspoken but undeniable.

But for now, the shadows of their pasts and the dangers ahead were all that mattered.