𝐀𝐔𝐑𝐎𝐑𝐀 | 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬

✧ chapter 31 ✧

1976

Sirius and Aurora stepped out of the cosy farmhouse and into the harsh winter winds, both inhaling sharply.

"You don't honestly expect me to hop on the back of that thing, do you?" Aurora asked incredulously, raising an eyebrow at the motorcycle in front of them.

"Firstly, that thing is not a thing, it is a she, and she is named Lois."

"You named your motorcycle Lois?" Aurora interrupted, giving Sirius a look like he was insane.

"You bet your ass I did! Now, onto my next point; yes. I do expect you to hop in the back of Lois unless you have any better ideas."

"As a matter of fact, I do. Two words. Knight. Bus."

"We are not taking the Knight Bus."

"Fine. We'll take Lois. Now do you have any bright idea on how we're going to get from Manchester to London on a motorcycle?"

"As a matter of fact, I do." Sirius mocked Aurora's words from before, motioning for her to hop on the back.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Lois." Aurora mumbled in the direction of the motorcycle, her voice laced with annoyance. She punctuated her statement with a sarcastic curtsy.

Sirius motioned again for Aurora to hop on the back of the bike. Aurora rolled her eyes but obliged, wrapping her arms around Sirius' waist. Sirius started the bike up and revved the engine a bit, warming Lois back up, before he took off at an alarming speed, sending up yet another spray of gravel.

Once out of the driveway, Sirius pushed another button and the bike began lifting off the ground.

"Sirius, what the hell?!" Aurora practically screamed, holding on to him tighter.

"How are we going to get from Manchester to London, you ask? Magic."

✧✧✧    

Once in the air, Sirius pushed yet another button which seemed to engage some sort of turbo boost, rocketing them faster through the sky.

Due to the advantage of no traffic and the terrifying speeds at which Sirius liked to travel, they made it to London in little under forty-five minutes, a new record Aurora was sure.

"It pains me to admit it Sirius Black but that was actually fun." Aurora stated once they had landed Lois in a side street and found a place to park.

"I don't believe what I am hearing." Sirius exclaimed dramatically to the audience in his head. It had become apparent after six years of knowing him that in Sirius' mind his life was a sitcom and he was the star.

"Git." Aurora replied, although she was laughing now too.

The two wandered up and down Oxford Street for a couple of hours, entering a shop every now and then to look or buy something. Another bonus of Aurora's parent's life makeover was that they very rarely had a use for money, but they still had a lot of it. At the height of their lawyer lifestyle David and Linda Faulkner had made sure to invest wisely and set up majority of their money in compound interest accounts which meant that the longer the money sat there, the more interest it would accumulate and thus make them more money. When they finally began rejecting their materialistic way of life, they decided against wasting all the efforts they had put in previously and instead put Aurora in charge of all their accounts, making her the wealthiest eleven year old in the UK. Her parents let her have almost complete control under the condition that she wasn't wasteful or greedy. The money was to go towards the best robes, books and school supplies money could buy in order to best prepare her for whatever career she chose in the future. They set up an account in Aurora's name and each month a sum of money would be transferred into it as an allowance. She also had a similar account at Gringotts, meaning she could access muggle and wizard currency whenever necessary. This much responsibility at such a young age actually managed to teach Aurora responsible money handling as opposed to making her spoilt and entitled.

"Can we take a break please?" Sirius pleaded after exiting what felt like the hundredth shop Aurora had dragged him into.

"I suppose. I am rather hungry as I didn't get breakfast this morning." Aurora scowled at Sirius, causing him to grin sheepishly as that may or may not have been his fault.

The two entered a small muggle café and sat in a corner booth next to the window. As Sirius helped her out of her coat, Aurora noticed a couple of girls in the café staring at her. Their eyes darted between her and Sirius and their eyes narrowed, almost as if they were angry he was with her. Aurora sat across from Sirius and began studying his features. He was the embodiment of aristocratic beauty and his effortlessly cool and edgy style juxtaposed against his regal, almost refined face made him that much more attractive. Aurora glanced at her scruffy appearance in the reflection from the napkin dispenser. Her hair was still in two, loose, messy plaits with pieces falling out around her face. She studied her bare face and saw the same plane girl she always saw. She was now beginning to see why the girls appeared to be angry Sirius was with someone like her. Outwardly, she didn't look like much.

Without realising, Aurora had reached into her bag and grabbed her wand, now pointing it at the two girls underneath the table.

"Accetus," she whispered, and watched as the girls suddenly spat their drinks out, spilling the contents all over themselves.

"What the hell?!" One of the girls yelled, summoning a waitress.

"Can you please replace this for me, it tastes like vinegar." She continued, the other girl nodding and sending her drink back too.

Once the waitress returned with two new drinks, the same thing happened again, and the girls instructed the waitress to try the drinks. She did and claimed they tasted absolutely fine before walking off, quite annoyed with the prank the girls pulled.

"You know better than that." Sirius whispered, a small smile tugging at his lips.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Aurora replied innocently, flipping through her menu. After watching the girls suffer in confusion a little longer, Aurora muttered the counter jinx so that the girls would no longer taste vinegar whenever they ate or drank anything.

After the two girls calmed down they began their staring and whispering again, only this time Sirius noticed too.

"Venit macula," Aurora whispered again, causing the two girls to sprout a rather large and nasty looking pimple on prominent areas of their faces.

This time Sirius burst out laughing.

"Now I know that was you, you invented that spell!" He wheezed, and Aurora smiled to herself. Now the girls could feel as ugly as they had made her feel.

"It's harmless. The pimple will disappear at the same rate as a normal pimple, that is assuming they leave it alone." Aurora shrugged, signalling to the waitress that she was ready to order.

Once the two had eaten lunch they exited the café and began their shopping again.

"Are you going to tell me what all that was about?" Sirius asked, referring to the two girls in the diner.

"They made me feel ugly, so I made them look ugly." Aurora mumbled, now embarrassed at her behaviour after saying it out loud. This was a whole new level of petty.

"How did they make you feel ugly?" Sirius asked, suddenly concerned.

"They kept staring at you then looking at me like I wasn't worthy of being with you. Forget it, it's stupid." Aurora sped up, trying to get away from Sirius after blurting something that ridiculous out. After all, his ego was large enough as it was and she didn't want him getting the wrong idea.

"Hey, hey," Sirius grabbed onto her arm and pulled her to a stop, forcing her to look at him, "they don't know you. Don't ever let anybody ever make you feel unworthy, okay? You are so beautiful and funny and smart, if anything I don't deserve to be with you." Sirius brushed a strand of hair out of Aurora's face. After a moment of Aurora staring with wide eyes, Sirius realised what he had said and grew embarrassed, his cheeks burning a deep crimson colour. He consciously dropped his hand from it's spot near her cheek and instead moved it to scratch the back of his neck. The two of them avoided eye contact and remained in a stunned silence for a moment. 

After another uncomfortable minute of silence, Sirius cleared his throat, as if attempting to erase the awkward moment from his mind. What was happening?