𝐀𝐔𝐑𝐎𝐑𝐀 | 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬

✧ chapter 15 ✧

1976

Aurora elected not to attend the celebrations in the common room that evening. Sirius and James insisted that she played a vital part in their win earlier that day but she couldn't shake off the feelings of guilt bubbling around inside her. Instead, she headed to the hospital wing to see how Emma was. Upon entry, she was accosted by a group of seventh year Slytherin girls who all immediately drew their wands and formed a human shield around Emma. Aurora instinctively reached for her own wand, which was nestled safely into the messy, dishevelled bun atop her head, but stopped herself short and raised both hands in surrender instead.

"I mean no harm. I wanted to see how Emma is doing." Aurora stated, trying to peer around the human shield to catch a glimpse of Emma.

"You mean no harm?" one of the girls spat, cocking an eyebrow.

"You're the reason she's in here!" Another exclaimed jabbing the air with her wand to emphasize.

"Girls, it's okay." A soft voice croaked from the bed.

"You're awake!" one of the girls cried, all of them tucking their wands away and swarming around Emma.

"Emma, I just wanted to say I'm really sorry. I let my emotions get the better of me and as a result you got really badly hurt. I shouldn't have allowed my foul mood to affect me that badly and I'm just really sorry that you were on the receiving end of my rage." Aurora rambled, fiddling with her hands the whole time and avoiding eye contact.

Emma's reaction took all the girls by surprise however as she burst out laughing.

"I will never understand you pacifists." She said between laughter.

"You're not mad?" Aurora questioned, growing more and more confused by the second.

"Mad? I'm impressed! I wish Rosier and Grier could aim like that! You're one hell of a beater, Faulkner. Own it!"

"You could have gotten seriously injured though!" Aurora protested.

"It comes with the territory. Everyone who plays Quidditch knows the risks. That's part of the thrill!"

"I really am sorry though"

"Stop apologising! It's okay, honestly! And don't worry, I'll tell the team to lay off you. Greengrass went a bit overboard and Rosier was way out of line. I'm a firm believer in sportsmanship you see, I hope to go professional when I leave Hogwarts. You should consider it too. If you could supress all that compassion you'd make one ruthless player."

"Close your trap Faulkner you look like a goldfish." One of Emma's friends joked, referring to Aurora's stunned expression.

"Believe it or not, we aren't all that bad." One girl added.

"A few bad eggs ruin the lot." Another mused.

"Well, this conversation has been...enlightening. But I'll leave you lot to it. No hard feelings?" Aurora asked, slowly backing out of the room.

"None at all." Emma smiled. Some of the other girls smiled too, but they seemed more forced than Emma's.

  ✧✧✧ 

"You seem to be in a much better mood today." Lily mused over breakfast, taking a sip of her pumpkin juice.

"I had a rather enlightening encounter with a group of Slytherins in the hospital wing." Aurora replied, chewing a bite of her toast.

"Turns out they're not all heartless, pureblood fanatics with a penchant for the dark arts." She continued casually, staring off into space.

"You don't say?" Lily replied sarcastically.

"Anyhow, Emma's not mad or anything, she was actually impressed, so I feel a whole lot more at peace again."

"Hate to interrupt your epiphany, but what do you think's going on down there?" Marlene asked, nodding towards the entrance to the Great Hall where Sirius and Peter were crouching with their hands held above their eyes like visors. They were both squinting and dramatically surveying the area as if looking for something in the wild. Sirius froze when his eyes landed on the girls, and he did a dramatic tuck and roll summersault, landing on one knee and using his hands as binoculars.

"Pete! By the beard of Merlin I think I've found the rarest specimens in this jungle!" Sirius exclaimed, motioning Peter over in a highly exaggerated fashion. Peter tried to suppress his laughter as he played along, also tucking and rolling (albeit far less gracefully than Sirius had) to land next to Sirius.

"Cut it out you prats." James ordered, pushing both of the boys over as he stepped between them to walk the rest of the way down the table to sit in his usual seat. Sirius and Peter just laughed from their positions on the floor, eventually getting to their feet and dusting themselves off as they made their way to their own seats.

"Well aren't you a ray of sunshine this morning." Aurora stated, as James sat silently and buttered some toast.

"Shut it, Faulkner." James glared, taking his anger out on the bread on his plate. He wasn't paying enough attention however and all but obliterated his breakfast, tearing the toast to shreds with his knife.

"Bollocks!" he yelled in frustration, discarding his original piece of toast and reaching for another. It was silent amongst the remaining Gryffindor's as their eyes darted from James to Lily and back again in anticipation of who would make the first move. The previous night before bed Aurora had recounted the conversation she had with James at breakfast to Lily, who initially breathed a sigh of relief at the impending peace and quiet. She wasn't counting on missing the attention, however, and was already thinking of an excuse to talk to James, just to get a reaction, to get something! She hadn't realised how dependent she had become on James constant affections until they were no longer there. So when she wasn't accosted first thing in the common room, bombarded with attempted hugs and kisses at the breakfast table, or showered with constant 'you look ravishing this morning, my Lily Flower's she didn't quite know what to do with herself. Upon further consideration Lily had decided that their fight was an overreaction to a small problem as a result of years of built up frustrations. She realised his words were designed to hurt in hopes of a reaction and decided she would forgive James for his indiscretions and they could return to their newfound civil state. When she sought him out at the Quidditch after party however, he hadn't so much as acknowledged her presence. He went so far as to actually look over her head as if she didn't exist, then abruptly walk away while she was mid-sentence as if she hadn't spoken at all.

While Lily was stuck wondering what in the name of Merlin's starry robe was going on, James was concentrating all his willpower on maintaining his indifferent façade. He had declared he was done with Lily Evans outright and he'd be damned if he was going back on his word now. It had barely been twenty four hours! He did feel a little bad for his callous behaviour, but his pride and ego could only take so much before they broke. If his efforts hadn't worked thus far it was not like they were suddenly going to work now. He was, for all intents and purposes, quitting while he was ahead to save himself even more heartbreak in the future.

After a minute or so of uncomfortable silence, accompanied by lots of sly looks and eyebrow raising by the remaining six not engaged in the silent feud, Sirius made an attempt at lightening the mood.

"The weather has been uncharacteristically nice recently, don't you think?" His feeble attempt was met by a collective groan from the Gryffindor's and a look that said 'really?' from Aurora who had glanced up at the enchanted ceiling to see it mirroring the gloomy sky outside.