Darkest Desire

14. Cornered by the Enemy (EDITED)

Mauw mauw. Here goes another chapter. I always love feedback on my stories, so I'd really appreciate it if people left a comment after reading the chapter.... Thanks! Oh, and this chapter is dedicated to MrsDestler because she undertands the crazy world we Harry Potter Fabs live in!

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Aurora pulled up her duvet and rolled toward the darker side of the room. The blinds shut out most of the evening sun, but still on the opposite wall there were rectangles of light projecting from the gaps. She watched them turn from the natural white to the yellow glow of the torches that dimly lit the Gryffindor Girl's Dormitory. She tossed from one side to the other, her bed that had been so careful made becoming a tangle of covers as time passed. For spells she would close her eyes and be conscious of breathing slowly, rhythmically. She considered the calming draught she kept in her trunk for just such purposes, but thought better of it. They worked well alright, but last time she had been groggy the next day and her mouth had tasted of metal. The night wore on, thoughts tumbled through her mind in rapid succession about her current predicament and how her life had just gotten a whole lot more complicated. Problems she had already solved reemerged for another examination. Dimitri. Dominic. Severus. Things she mustn't forget for the next day nagged at her. There were assignments to turn in, homework to be done, not to mention the mandatory attendance to classes she'd rather not go to. After a tortured eternity the room began to get lighter and the birds chirped, and Aurora threw back the covers and stumbled out. Sleepless. 

After a restless night, all she could think about was how royally screwed she was.

Dimitri she could handle, but somehow having him near while she was residing at Hogwarts seemed like a very very bad idea. She treated him like a brother, and cared for him deeply. He was one of the few people she felt she could talk to about anything and everything. But he could tell her friends here at school a thing or two she'd rather not have them know. Their interaction, the way they behaved around each other, it would give away many things that for now she would rather keep to herself. But seeing Dimitri in this tumultuous time could also perhaps prove to be a blessing in disguise, since it had been a while since she'd last seen the youngest Kuzenkova brother, and liked the change of pace.

Then there was Dominic. If there was anyone Aurora would rather NOT see, it was him. Despite being Mitri's brother, she could not bring herself to deal with the problem that was Dominic Kuzenkova. The complex relationship she had with him made is difficult for her to hold a decent conversation with the man, let alone have him around while she was a student at Hogwarts. The last thing she needed was another piece of emotional baggage being dropped upon her shoulders. Like things weren't already difficult enough as it was.

Not to mention Severus. Never had Aurora met anyone that wanted to be left so utterly and completely alone as Severus seemed to want. He was broody, hot-tempered and cynical. And yet, there had been moments, flashes, in which he seemed....different. Temporary lapses in which he seemed like a different kind of man. Sure, he was stubborn as hell and the two of them couldn't spend five minutes talking before wanting to kill each-other,  but he was more open in those moments. Like an angry and broken man that had been through hell and back and was trying desperately to keep the pieces back together. There was a charisma to his sharp wit and intelligence, this pull towards his immaculate persistence that made Aurora want to understand what had happened to Severus Snape to shape him into the man he was now.

And it was a feeling Aurora could relate to.

So when the morning came around and she headed downstairs to the Great Hall, accompanied by Fred and George,  she found herself in a rather pensive mood.