𝐀𝐔𝐑𝐎𝐑𝐀 | 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬

✧ chapter 19 ✧

1976

The next morning Aurora woke up late to find the other girls had all gone down to breakfast already. The clock on her bedside table read 7:55AM, meaning there was only five minutes until classes started, which meant Aurora only had five minutes to be seated in the transfiguration room. She leapt from her bed with alarming speed and began gathering her robes up from the floor where she had discarded them the night before. She then dashed into the bathroom and turned on the shower, not even bothering to wait for the water to heat up before she jumped in, quickly washing her face but taking care not to wet her hair and letting the tepid water run over her body for all of ten seconds. No sooner was she in than she was out again, dabbing herself dry and struggling into her underwear. Aurora ran from the bathroom to her bed, still hooking her bra, where she had left her robes and was about to begin getting dressed when there was a movement in her peripheral vision.

"Sirius, what the hell?!" Aurora half shrieked, half yelped, grabbing the curtains from her bed to cover herself. A very startled Sirius simply stared wide eyed back at her, three pieces of toast wrapped in a napkin in one hand and his wand in the other.

"How did you even get up here?" Aurora questioned, now scrunching her nose in confusion. Sirius' mouth opened and closed a couple of times as if her were attempting to speak but no words were coming out. Aurora checked the clock again and saw that she now had three minutes.

"I don't have time for these shenanigans! Look at me, don't look at me, I don't care but I need to get dressed." Aurora informed, dropping the curtain and picking up her black robes. Her discomfort at being in just a skimpy, pink silk underwear set outweighed by her concern about being late for McGonagall. She slid the long, billowy robes onto her body and shoved her arms through the sleeves. She then grabbed a pair of black socks covered in small white daisies and her beat up Chuck Taylors, sitting down on the bed to put them on. Finally, grabbing her wand from her bedside table and shoving it in her bun, Aurora headed for the door at an alarming pace. Sirius, who up until this point had stood gaping at Aurora, rather shocked by the scene he had walked in on, finally snapped out of his daze and followed suit.

"Sirius, wait!" But it was too late, as soon as Sirius stepped out onto the landing the entire staircase turned into a slide and the two slipped all the way down and fell in a heap in the Gryffindor common room.

The two untangled their limbs and quickly sprung to their feet, ignoring the shocked faces and hushed whispers from the few students who did not have a class first thing on a Tuesday, and ran for the portrait hole.

Sirius and Aurora sprinted wordlessly through the halls towards the transfiguration room, arriving at the classroom only one minute past 8 o'clock.

"You're late." Was all McGonagall said, not even looking up from her parchment.

"Sorry professor, I overslept-"

"I don't want to hear it Miss Faulkner. Five points from Gryffindor for your lack of organisation and tardiness." McGonagall interrupted, remaining tight lipped.

"Yes, Professor." Aurora resigned, sighing and heading towards her usual seat, followed closely by Sirius who was yet to be detected.

"That's five points for you too, Mr Black." McGonagall added, finally looking up as Sirius let out a defeated groan. It was only now that she got a good look at Aurora's dishevelled appearance; robes thrown on slopily, slipping off one shoulder, face flushed and slightly sweaty and her hair still in the same updo she had worn the previous day, only now it had slipped to one side and there was more hair falling out of the bun than there was in it.

"Another five points for your sloppy appearance. Do clean yourself up a bit, Faulkner." McGonagall scolded, giving the two latecomers one final disapproving look before beginning the lesson. Aurora nodded, straightening herself out a bit before she took her seat.