Semper

10

The pain still hadn't left Aurora's system, although it had lessened a bit, enough to clear her mind and let it run its genius course. She had taken the excuse of being sick and skipped her classes as she went to Madam Pomphrey and got a pain killer potion on the pretext of having her cramps, but her mind knew that the pain she had felt was anything but cramps.

Somehow while siphoning Remus's pain yesterday, she had literally absorbed the pain into her own self, and was experiencing all the pain that he felt. And that thought in particular made her almost cry. Out of all the people, Remus didn't deserve to go through such pain every month.

Give the pain to Damocles Belby if you want. He's a git. She thought of the fourth year who always tried to harass her and make fun of her. But once she and the guys pranked him with permanent slime , he got the message and stayed away.

As mentioned earlier, it's been a long three months, and Aurora has experienced much more than what one person eleven years of age should have to handle.

But Aurora knew if she told Remus about it, he would never let her siphon his pain and just suffer through the pain alone. And she couldn't let that happen. And so she decided not to tell anyone – not even the girls in her dorm – about the pain and just sucked it up. Besides, it was already fading , and judging by its rate the pain would be gone by the end of the day.

She was still in her pajamas, as she lounged at the couch in her common room as she saw Diya enter from the main entrance . She sat up straight as she saw her eyes red and tears streaks down her face. "D? What's wrong?" She asked as Diya plopped down beside her and rested her head on Aurora's shoulder.

"Its nothing. Just hold me , I'm sad." She mumbled as Aurora side hugged her. Aurora wasn't fooled. From the time she had met Diya Shafiq, the girl screamed of strength. But here she is, tears streaming down her face as she let Aurora hug her, one thing she never let anyone do as she hated being touched.

"D what happened? You know you can tell me." She whispered as she felt her sniffling stop. She waited patiently for Diya to speak up, and after a while she did. " Its my parents." She whispered.

"What about them?" Aurora asked back.

"They wanted me in Ravenclaw, said I wasn't smart enough and that's why I was placed in Griffindor. " She sniffed as Aurora started getting angry.

"Why? Griffindor's can't be smart?" She angrily asked as Diya furiously shook her head. "No no. Its not that. Its just, my family is part of the Sacred Twenty eight, and being smart is what we're known for. Almost all in my family were ravenclaws or Slytherin. I'm the first who got put into Griffindor." She mumbled, as if embarassed.

"Hey. Griffindor's are just as smart, if not more , than the Ravenclaws. Beside there is more to life than just being smart. Gideon and Fabian told me Griffindor's are the bravest people ever and my mum always tells me and Lily to be brave. So, for me being brave is better than being intelligent and you should think that too. And is that a sugar quill in your bag? I'm eating it." She rambled on, picking up the said sugar quill as Diya mulled over her friend's words.

Aurora had all but forgotten the start of the conversation, focusing more on the quill – curse her attention span – when Diya spoke up. "You're right." She whispered as Aurora looked up from her sweet quill. "What?" She confusedly asked as Diya laughed.

"You're right Rory. Its better to be brave and intelligent than just being intelligent. And I'll tell my mother that right now. Thanks Rora! Love you!" Aurora could just half-heartedly hug her back because soon Diya was flying away, back to send her owl to her parents, when suddenly Aurora got a brilliant idea.

For the help, she ran straight to the one place she got all her information, the Library.

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"You sent Diya's parents a howler?" Sirius said as everyone laughed around Aurora on the dining table as she looked confused. "Yeah. They were being mean to D, so I became mean to them." She replied back, the confusion evident on her face as Diya shook her head amusedly beside her. She couldn't believe that Aurora would send a Howler to her parents, but as she had stated earlier, Aurora was chaos. Now only she was starting to understanding that she was the good kind of mess.

"What did they send back?" James who was on the other side of Aurora said as he tried to look over her and see the paper tightly clutched in Diya's hand.

"I'll read it." Sirius said as he chucked the letter from Diya's hand, ignoring her protests as he cleared his throat dramatically. "Ms.Evans." he started as Diya eventually settled down.

He smirked, knowing that he had won as he continued," We give you our apology if you thought we were trying to belittle our own daughter, we would like to assure you that we're not. Being in Ravenclaw or Griffindor, it's all based on our choices and merits, and after some serious contemplation my husband and I have decided that it's okay for our only daughter to be in the house of lions.

I hope you find this well. If not, the owl knows to return this letter back to us.

Signed Ameerah Shafiq
Department of International Magical Cooperation." He finished as silence fell in the group.

"Is it just me or did the letter sound, odd?" Lily warily asked, as Diya put her head on the table. Diya was very familiar with the hidden meanings in her mother's letters, even at the tender age of eleven she had witnessed more than what a child should have to witness. But she never thought her mother would come down so low as to threaten her friends.

"I'm sorry. " She mumbled to the two groups as she got up and left. Aurora wanted to go after her – after all it was her who sent the Howler to start this whole mess – but Lily grabbed her arm. "Let her have some time Rory." She whispered as Aurora reluctantly nodded.

"It's my fault. If I hadn't sent that bloody Howler, none of this would have happened." She grumbled as Remus looked at her. He had been silent the whole time Sirius read the letter, but judging from his clenched fists he too had gotten the hidden meaning in the letter.

"It wasn't your fault Rora. Diya's parents being complete tossers is no one's fault but their own. " He said as Aurora finally looked at him and he could see the conflict arising in her eyes.

"But if I hadn't –" she tried to argue but Lily cut her off.

"If you hadn't sent the Howler, I'm sure I would have." She said as Aurora looked at her in shock. It was a known fact that Aurora was the bolder one in the twins, and Lily liked to follow the rules. The vision of Lily recording and sending the Howler made Aurora smile a bit.

"What she had written in the letter is absolutely despicable Rory. You weren't wrong at all." James reassured as well.

All the while Aurora noticed that Sirius hadn't said anything.