The Nation's Golden Child and the Blizzard
For the Winter Challenge in the houses competition
Random Prompts: Winter (season)
Five Prompts Challenge: Snow (Weather)
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Harry Potter Fanfiction Challenges
The Choose your Own wand challenge on Harry Potter Fanfiction Challenges:
Wand length: 11-12 inch (11 ½)-write a story with the minimum of 750.
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Harry Potter Fanfiction Challenges
For the Your crazy enough to do it challenge on HPFC (Harry Potter Fanfiction Challenges):
Using prompt 434. Winter (season)
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Harry Potter Fanfiction Challenges
Ultimate Writer's Challenge on the HPFC
Write a multi chapter fic
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The Golden Snitch
For the Ollivander's Wand shop challenge on the golden snitch:
Wood, using prompt: Fir-write about a survivor.
School, house: Aurora, Vela house
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So, this will be a multi chapter time travel fic. These prompts, though, are only relevant to this chapter, though. So, Aurora and Remus are two key characters, though Remus will go later on, for plot reasons. . Aurora is a girl Harry, by the way. There will be Dumbledore, Ron, and Hermione bashing. James is not Aurora's father, okay? I won't tell you who is, because that would ruin the surprise.
This was only supposed to be a single: all well. Aurora will be friends with Slytherins in her year, plus Fred, George, Luna, Neville and probably a few other Ravenclaws. And inspiration goes to Judy Collins's song, the Blizzard. Some lines are very similar to lines from that song. So… LISTEN TO THE BLIZZARD WHILE READING!
Nation's Golden child refers to Aurora being the girl who lived.
The snow fell swiftly. Whoever it hit might have thought they were being hit with little knives. One might almost say it was a blizzard. But what did you expect for mid-winter in England's Highlands? The cold, sharp snow hitting her face hurt Aurora Potter. The coldness made her face feel numb.
But that was nothing compared to the pain Aurora had felt in the past. Aurora had been called many things in the past: hero, prat, queen, the golden child, coward, traitor, good student; but the one she had always been, and truly been: was a survivor. She survived the killing curse, she survived her relatives' abuse, and she survived the war. That was all she was now: a survivor.
The scars on her face and arms were proof she had fought bravely in a war, but no one cared now. All they cared now was the fact she had changed sides. She hadn't changed to the dark, she had changed to the neutral. Apparently, that was a sin, and now she was worthy of being called a traitor, and had being chased out into the mountains.
Aurora was all alone, now. Everyone had betrayed her trust, and she had been chased away from her home, her life: all she had were the clothes she wore and a wand. It wasn't the elder wand or the holly wand, it was wand she had made herself. She had wanted to become a wandmaker, and while she had been still at school she had studied it, and got teaching from Ollivander in the holidays. The wand was twelve-inch, fur wood, with the core of hair from a Thestral's mane. Thinking about the Thestral that had given her the hairs and what the wood meant, Aurora realised it suited her down to a T. It worked better than any other wand, too.
Fur marked a survivor, Thestral hair marked a hurt and disturbed a person, and the particular Thestral Aurora had met, was a soldier. It would have soldiered through anything. The length of the wand implied someone intelligent, and maybe a bit mysterious. That was Aurora: a survivor, a hurt and probably disturbed person who was a bit of soldier. She was also quite smart, but Aurora wasn't sure if she was mysterious.
Aurora was saddened that she would no longer be able to live in the dark and gloomy rooms of Grimmauld place or get a teaching spot at Hogwarts: both places were her home. Sirius had left her Grimmauld place, and Hogwarts was the first place that felt like home.
Now, she was reduced to living as a mountain person struggling to just survive. That was if she wanted to remain in England, Aurora supposed: but where would she go? She didn't have anywhere to go outside of England.
Aurora cried as she thought of who turned on her. The Order of the Phoenix, the Ministry that had been set up after the war, and even her friends had turned on Aurora: after all, she had done for them. She had killed Voldemort: that was all they wanted, they said. But no, she was supposed to kill the Death Eaters and all the Horcruxes, too.
Even the people Aurora would have trusted with her life, and were almost family; had turned against her. Ron, Hermione, Molly, Seamus, Dean, Ginny, Tonks, Bill, Fleur: they said they were her friends, and they were among the ones who chased her away. That hurt more than anything else. Her friends were not really her friends; they were just using her for fame and glory. The only people who didn't chase Aurora and somewhat supported her were: Neville, Luna, George and her old Transfiguration professor. They were the only ones.
But that didn't matter now: what mattered was Aurora needed to find shelter from the storm. It would still be snowing the next day; that was winter. But hopefully, it wouldn't be as strong as a ruddy blizzard. In fact, Aurora decided this evening was a blizzard.
THUD! Something went nearby. Aurora jumped ten feet in the air at the sound of that. She quickly pulled her wand out and casted a quick 'Lumos.' As Aurora shined it where the thud had come from, she saw a fallen branch lying in the snow and a stag charging off from the branch.
"Just a deer," Aurora said, feeling relieved it was just that, a deer.
Then she walked on, pressing through the thick snow. It was dark and Aurora was tired, but she had to get to shelter. It was just too cold to stay out in winter. Summer was a bad enough time to sleep outside in the mountains, but winter was an impossibility.
Just then, the wind blew even harder. Aurora shivered and pulled the cloak she wore tighter around herself. She would deserve a medal if she survived this. She had been walking for hours, and now she was tired, hungry, cold, and her feet ached like hell. All she wanted was to rest. But she couldn't, not unless she wanted to die.
Just then, some light appeared ahead. Aurora walked closer and saw it was a diner. The wine red-haired eighteen-year-old pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming. She wasn't: she had found shelter. Hopefully, they were still open and would allow her to shelter in there.
Aurora quickly walked up to the door and walked in. It was much warmer inside the diner then outside in the snow and wind. The diner had a counter/bar thingy at the other end, and chairs and tables leading up to that. Then there was a toilet sign hanging above a corridor that went off this room. There was a door on the other side of the room, that went somewhere else. The colours were light green and blue, and the style of the building was quite old: which wasn't surprising considering where it was.
"Your brave, miss," a male's voice said. Aurora looked up to see that it was the blonde-haired bartender who had spoken.
"I am on my own. I did something to anger the people I knew, and this is how it ended: me out here, in the middle of a bloody blizzard in winter," Aurora said bitterly.
"Calm now, child; you're okay here. Feel free to order anything you want that we have: it's on the house," the bartender said welcomely. Might as well have it free: it attracted more visitors that way!
"Okay, thank you," Aurora said gratefully. She took off her cloak and hung it on the coat stand, deciding it was a little too warm for that and a thin jumper.
As she moved closer to the counter, Aurora saw a dark man sitting at the counter drinking whisky, most likely. He was wearing a hood which concealed his face and any other reckoniseable features. "Hello," he said. Not knowing his name and not wanting to ask since she would probably never see him again, Aurora dubbed him 'the stranger.'
"Hello," Aurora nodded as she sat down on a bar stool. After she glanced at the menu, Aurora said, "Can I have a coffee and some potato and leek soup, please?"
"Sure; I'll get it now," The bartender said, rushing off. He started with the coffee.
"God, it's cold out, isn't it?" Aurora said, glancing out a winter that was badly frosted from the cold.
"Yes: there is a big storm up on the mountain, which is coming over us now: it's a good thing we're open because we all could be here for hours, and there is nothing else for miles," The bartender said.
"But where will I sleep? You'll want to close at some point, and if there is nothing else around; where can I go?" Aurora asked, suddenly getting distressed.
"There is a flat upstairs that this gentleman is using, but it's big enough to share. Would you share?" The bartender asked the stranger.
"Yeah sure, Bill," said the stranger, not sounding the least bit fazed.
"Thanks," Aurora said gratefully. Then she talked to the stranger, feeling a bit cautious. Her relatives, even if they had abused her, had taught her not to talk to adult strangers because they were dangerous: but, a blizzard was a blizzard.
After Bill the bartender finished Aurora's coffee, he gave it to Aurora before going into the kitchen to do her soup. About then, the conversation between Aurora and the stranger shifted to their lives, and Aurora found herself telling the stranger all about her life through Hogwarts, her relatives and the war (excluding magic) then onto how because she wanted to not be on a fighting side, she was chased into the mountains to mostly likely freeze to death at the hand of a blizzard and a cold winter's night. That all led to her bursting into tears.
"You've had it pretty tough," said the stranger, his voice full of sympathy.
"Yes. I have been many things you know, but the one thing I have always been is a survivor," Aurora said quietly, looking down into her coffee. She was still crying; even if she wasn't sobbing, she could see the tears falling from her green eyes.
"We're all survivors: we've survived this long. What will you do now?" the stranger asked.
"Not sure. I have a friend in Bulgaria, so maybe I'll head over to see if he's mad at me for changing to the nothing side," Aurora said after a moment. Her tears had dried a bit.
"Good plan at the very least," the stranger said, finishing off his whisky.
"What about you?" Aurora asked, wanting to hear more about her stranger friend. He hadn't said much about himself.
"Me? I'm a loner and a private person: I can't take the heartache now. But sometimes I do pick a few fights if I drink too much whisky," the stranger said. Aurora laughed at the last bit. Then Bill brought Aurora her soup, which smelled lovely. Then the stranger ordered another whisky, Bill got it for him.
Aurora and the stranger ate/drank in silence for a while. They listened to the blizzard as it bashed against the wall of the diner. After a while, it quietened down and just became snow gently falling.
"We must be in the eye. I'll be back: I've got to take the cat out so it can go to the loo. Be back shortly," Bill said. He went into the kitchen, then came out with a glaring, tabby cat; which he took out the front door.
After ten minutes, the cat and Bill came back in. Bill said, putting the cat down, "When the blizzard kicks up again, I'll wait ten minutes, then lock up." The cat shot back to where the kitchens most likely were.
"Good idea," said the stranger.
"Yes, it is," Aurora agreed. Then she and the stranger got talking again. Aurora didn't understand it: how you could just talk to someone you've just met like an old friend. But she didn't think about it because she didn't want to: talking to him made her feel better.
Half an hour later, the blizzard kicked up again. Ten minutes after that, Bill locked the doors. "No getting out until morning, now," he said.
"Well, thank you, Bill. I think I'll show this young lady upstairs so I can get to bed," the stranger said, referring to Aurora. That reminded Aurora she hadn't mentioned her name.
"Great idea: I'm about ready to hit the hay," Aurora said, shaking her head.
"You do that. Good night," Bill nodded.
"Good night, Bill: and thanks for everything," Aurora said, getting up at the same time as the stranger.
"Good night, Bill," the stranger said. Then he beckoned for Aurora to follow him through the diner.
He led Aurora towards the sign saying toilet's, and she saw there was a corridor back here. They walked down it. The corridor went further, but when they reached some stairs going up, they went up the stairs. When they reached the top, Aurora noticed it was the same style and colours as the rest of the building, except a bit homelier.
"It's been a while, Aurora Potter," the stranger said suddenly. They were still walking into the flat, but they had just passed the bathroom.
"How did you know my name?" Aurora asked raising her eyebrow. They just reached a room that looked like a living room. Despite how she should feel, she didn't feel at all scared or creeped out.
The stranger stopped, then turned to face Aurora. He pulled back his hood, and Aurora was shocked at what she saw:
"Remus?!"
Cliffhanger! By the way: do you want Aurora to go to Hogwarts or another school?