YOU MAKE MY HEART SHAKE, BEND, AND BREAK BUT I CAN'T TURN AWAY!
aurora "rory" archer was a powerhouse. well, sort of. she was a fierce friend with a heart of gold and a love of music. she was also awkward, bad at potions, and... fatherless. her frie...
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THE REST OF THE YEAR took a dramatic turn. Everyone learned Ginny Weasley was behind all the Chamber nonsense... well, partially. She had been possessed by You-Know-Who. The girl was so young, yet she had gone through something so dark. Rory tried her best to be gentle with her for the rest of the school year and act as the sister she didn't have. The rest of the school went back to normal quickly as those who were petrified could leave the hospital wing. It was a scary few months. However, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley saved the day as they always did (with help from Hermione Granger, of course, despite being petrified). As a result, Hogwarts stayed open, Lockhart was fired after a spell mishap, and Gryffindor won the house cup. Most importantly, exams were canceled.
The train ride back home was full of Rory, the twins, Ginny, Harry, Ron, and Hermione using up all the magic they could before summer began. Rory soaked up all the time she could with her friends before she could see them again.
"Rory... My birthday's a few weeks before school starts... I would really like it if you came and celebrated with us." Ginny said shyly.
"Of course I'll go, Ginny!" Rory smiled.
"We'll write you all summer, don't worry," George said.
"I'm really gonna miss you guys." She said, looking down at her hands.
Fred put a hand on Rory's shoulder. "We'll miss you too. The summer will fly by though! Before you know it, we'll be back on this train, able to use magic again."
The rest of the train ride was nothing short of entertaining. Ginny exposed Percy while Fred, George, and Rory pretended to be shocked. They couldn't let anyone knowing how they'd found out. Now that Ginny outed him, Rory knew Fred and George weren't going to hold back in tormenting him.
But then the train reached the station, and it was time to go.
Every day soon melted into the same. Nothing to set apart one from the other. The only thing she looked forward to was writing the twins and the hope of seeing them at the end of the summer. She couldn't wait to be at the Burrow. She longed for Mrs. Weasley's cooking and spending her days playing Quidditch in the yard and her nights by the fire. Rory's London summers were nothing like the Burrow.
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HOME. HOME WAS TO RORY, not a place, but a feeling. The funny thing was, her actual home never felt like one. It was like the floor was littered with broken glass and one wrong step would cause nothing but blinding pain. Rory's dad left when she was only five. When you're five, your perception of the world is much different. It's a lot brighter than when you're fifteen. There's a certain magic to childhood, a certain hope. Because when you're five, you think your father is going to come back and your mother will stop crying every night as your baby brother tries to sleep. Being fifteen teaches you that's not the case.
