Stars and Ground

✩CHAPTER 7✩

Aurora slammed a paper on the table at Lucius. He looked at it and then at her. "What's the meaning of this?"

"It's a contract. That says I have to marry you right after I get out of school. I'll sign it if you remove whatever you did to my brother, and if you agree to leave him alone." 

"Why should I take it when I could just keep it on him as blackmail?" Aurora smirked at him.

"My parents may not care about me, but they do care about my brother. And, I informed them of what you did. They're really mad. This won't be too great for your family, don't you think?" Lucius looked in horror at the girl. His parents would probably disown him if he brought their family name down. He pursed his lips. "Fine."

"You first, then I'll sign this contract." Lucius waved his wand and got rid of the curse on her brother. Orion stared at his sister. He didn't think she'd do that. Aurora wiped a tear away and signed the contract. Lucius signed the contract too. "Well, until then, I'm breaking up with you."

"WHAT?!" He yelled.

"It never said I had to date you before that. I'm free for the next 6 or so years. By the way, if you do hurt my brother, you'll die. So, go ahead and do it. See if I care." Aurora smirked at him once more and sat next to Severus. Severus frowned and hugged his friend. "Friends again?"

"Friends."

"Thank you. I didn't want to date him, I promise."

"Now you have to marry him, though..."

"Better than him blackmailing me every chance he gets." Aurora tried to downplay her emotions. She didn't want Severus to be worried about her or anything. "I think I'm going to go back to staying in the Gryffindor dorms." Severus nodded. He understood. He didn't love being in the same house as Lucius either. Lucius's expression was priceless. He was angry that she had outsmarted him. The other houses were amused. They didn't know exactly what happened, but they gathered that Aurora outsmarted Lucius somehow. 

Aurora was nervous to return to the Gryffindor dorms. She wasn't sure if they'd accept her back after hanging out with the Slytherins so much. She also wasn't thrilled that she had to marry Lucius. She sighed. This was everything she was trying to avoid. Severus patted her back, unsure how to make his friend feel better. Aurora laid her head on Severus's shoulder. She wished she could end up with him. Was that weird? Was that normal? Did all friends feel like that? She didn't know. Severus hugged her. Sirius glared at the two from afar. James punched his shoulder. "Someone's got a crush!"

"Do not. Just don't like how she willingly went back to the enemy."

"Severus is not the enemy," Lily defended. She didn't like the boys bullying him. Severus was her best friend too. She understood why Aurora liked him so much. "Yes, he is! He's a Slytherin!" Sirius said. "So?" James didn't argue. Sirius knew he agreed with him, but he wouldn't say so in front of Lily, who already hated him. 

That night, when Aurora came back to her dorms, no one said anything. At least, not to her. She was glad. She pet Artemis softly. "You're my friend, right?" She loved her cat so much. Artemis was the only thing here that didn't feel like a stranger. Hogwarts felt like home, but the dorms didn't. 

Meanwhile, the Mauraders came back to the commons room. "You think she's back?" Sirius asked. "We saw her come here," James said.

"This is ridiculous, Sirius. You could just go up there and see!" Remus suggested. He shipped those two together. He didn't know whether Aurora liked Sirius or not. It wasn't like they talked much. Maybe a few words in class. Sirius admired her mostly from afar. It wasn't because of her looks. Yes, she was cute, but it was how she talked to others. He fell in love with her smile. When she laughed, it felt like time slowed down. Sirius rolled his eyes. That sounded so cliché, but it was true. Sirius was in love with a girl that he barely even talked to. Was that even love? Maybe it was more of lust. But he didn't want her for a short period of time; he wanted her forever. Her looks were at the bottom of the list of reasons why he loved her. The boys were so busy arguing about whether they should see or not, that they didn't notice her come downstairs.

Aurora wasn't sure whether she should take a seat on the couch, but she decided to. She'd have to be near them someday. The 4 boys watched her. Mainly Sirius. Remus sat next to her and smiled at her. "Hey." She smiled back at him. She wasn't sure that he'd want to be friends with her in front of his friends. "Hey."

"Are you planning to stay here this time?" 

"Er, yeah. I love Sev and all, but I can't stand being in the same room as Malfoy and his friends."

"Did you break up with him? Why?" Sirius asked. 

"Nosy much?"

"Rory, we kinda heard everything earlier...I'm sorry. It wasn't my idea," Remus admitted. Sirius and James silently cursed their friend. "I'm sure it wasn't, Rem," She said coldly. She didn't want them to have heard all of that. She sighed. "Ever since we were kids, my amazing parents basically betrothed me to Lucius Malfoy. They thought it would be good for our bloodlines to merge. Well, actually, the Malfoys asked my parents. It benefits them more than it does my parents..." Aurora smiled sadly, "Actually, Sirius, you were one of the options."

"I was?!"

"Well, yeah. You or Regulus. My parents didn't like yours much, though, so they stuck with Malfoy. Anyways. So, I was destined to marry Lucius. Now that they disowned me, they can't make me marry him anymore. Lucius wasn't very happy with that, so he resorted to blackmailing me to date him. If he didn't, he'd hurt my brother. So I dated him for a wretched month. I gave him a deal that...I'd marry him once I got out of high school so he'd leave my brother alone, though." Remus hugged her. He couldn't imagine being forced to marry someone. Especially cause it was her brother's fault. "So now you have to marry Malfoy?! Why would you do that?!" James was disgusted. Sirius was too, but he understood how it was like in those strict type of pureblood families. His parents, once upon a time, tried to betroth him too. That was before they realized he was a disappointment. "So he'd leave my brother alone. I didn't want him to hurt Orion. I never said anything about dating him until then, though. So, I get another 6 great years before I'm forced to marry him. Otherwise, I die. And he dies if he hurts Orion. On second thought, I hope he hurts Orion." 

"We'll figure out a way," Sirius promised. He wouldn't let his girl slip away from his hands that easily. "Why do you care? We're not even friends," Aurora frowned. She just didn't understand why Sirius seemed to care about her so much. "We could be friends..." Sirius extended a hand out to Aurora. She took it, and they shook hands. She shook hands with James too, and briefly shook hands with Peter. Peter didn't say anything to her. They hung out until midnight. Aurora really liked them. After curfew, they saw Lily walking in. "What's miss goody-good doing so late?" Lily blushed. "Hanging out with Sev." She ran up to her dorm. Aurora lost her smile. She felt jealous again. Severus never invited her. Maybe he wanted to just hang out with Lily. Aurora knew Lily and Severus would always be closer than her and Severus, and it made her a little sad. She didn't know why, exactly. "I don't see what she sees in that slimy git," James said. Aurora glared at him. "I'm friends with him. He's perfectly fine, thank you very much. You guys are just too blind sighted to see it." Other than their disagreement with Severus, they got along pretty well. Aurora wondered why they didn't become friends earlier. Right. She became friends with Severus. She hoped they still would be her friend. She hoped she could be friends with both the Mauraders and Severus.