Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of JK Rowling and her assigns.
She was so excited to be invited to one of Professor Slughorn's parties that she could barely get her lipstick straight beforehand. She wasn't sure he really knew who she was. When she went for her student-advisor meetings every year, he usually mumbled, "Oh, yes, the strawberry-blonde..." This time he had said something about her excellent O.W.L. marks and had invited her to a party he was having.
It was the first truly grown-up event she ever went to in her life. The house elves offered her a small glass of wine and small hors d'oeuvre. She took them so that she could have something in her hands and looked around. The crowd was filled with many of her more influential housemates, of course, but there were a few others she didn't know as well from other houses. She nodded at people she knew and suddenly stopped short.
She had the sensation that someone was looking at her back. It crossed her mind to wonder if a knit top with a scooping front and back neckline was the best choice. She turned and saw a man she'd never seen before. He had dark hair and the most mesmerizing dark eyes she'd ever seen. He nodded and walked toward her. She quickly stuffed the cheese-something in her hand into her mouth so that she could shake hands. He took it between both of his and then kissed it with a click of his heels.
"Ah, Igor, you've met our Auriga. Quite a dark little horse... she took eight O.W.L.s with Outstandings. Only one student in recent history to surpass that, also Slytherin, of course..."
"Actually, it's Aurora," she murmured, not sure why it was important that this wizard know her proper name.
"And yust as peautiful as the dawn. I'm ferry pleased to meet you." He leaned down and kissed her hand again.
"Igor Karkaroff is an associate of the greatest student I ever taught." Slughorn looked at Aurora meaningfully. "He has many important people to meet."
She nodded her understanding that she was to stay away from this important personage. Even if it was her first time attending this event, she knew that it was designed to help Professor Slughorn gain influence and certain creature comforts by making suitable introductions. Gossip in the Common Room had been quite informative on that point. She was here as a treat or perhaps because her grades suddenly indicated she might have such influence someday.
She spent the rest of the evening chatting with classmates about the latest transfiguration project McGonagall had given them. Yet the skin of her shoulders burned with the knowledge that he was staring at her. She couldn't help turning every so often when she suspected his eyes were upon her. He smiled, and once he raised his glass in her direction. She invariably blushed and turned back away.
* * * * *
He saw her again the following summer in Diagon Alley. He was trailing some Mudbloods for the Dark Lord, and she was purchasing her things for her last year at Hogwarts. He tried to think of some pretext for going up to her and speaking with her, but he came up with nothing, so he watched.
Slughorn had told him that she was too young, and she was, but she was already much older today than the previous winter. She was so beautiful, and she had acquired a new grace. Her head turned and caught the light. He wondered, as he had that night, whether the red-gold of her hair glowed in the sunrise. He was determined to find out. He was likewise determined to discover anything he could about her. He was completely smitten, and he knew it. He gloried in the thought that the power and prestige he won through his work for the pure-blood cause might be shared by her.
Suddenly she looked up at him. She had grown much more poised. Instead of blushing and turning away, she looked back at him, full on. She eventually smiled and answered a question asked by the woman to her side.
Now he looked at the witch and wizard who accompanied her. Glancing from them to the object of his attention, he realized that they must be her parents. Both were handsome people; the mother tended toward portliness, but he wouldn't mind if Aurora gained a little. He could see that the reddish hues of her hair came from her father. He seemed to be a pleasant, happy man. They made an attractive family. He could easily see himself walking down the street with an Aurora who aged as that pair had aged, taking their own little ones to shop for school.
The Sinistras walked on, and Aurora turned to look back at him. He hoped he would see her again, soon, for the sun did indeed rise in the smile she gave him. He turned back to the matter he had in hand. The greater glory he achieved; the sooner he would have something to offer his goddess.
* * * * *
She couldn't understand why she thought so much about him. He was constantly upon her mind, especially when she spent late nights at the top of the Astronomy tower, practicing for her N.E.W.T. On her star charts, she kept connecting the stars in shapes that made the letters I, G, O, and R. Then she would quickly siphon the ink back into her pen. It would be horribly embarrassing to be caught with such a fantasy, especially since she had no reason to think it was reciprocated.
A school year is a set amount of time, and it eventually passes. During the weeks between when Aurora's seventh year ended and her N.E.W.T. grades were expected to arrive, her parents made her the gift of a trip to Europe. They sent her with Mr. Sinistra's younger sister, but Aurora was usually able to wander by herself during the day. She looked at various things but ended in Paris, where she stayed for over a week.
She was walking over a bridge with a view of the Eiffel Tower when she bumped into a man. His arms went around her to keep from falling and her hands clung to those arms. She looked up and saw—him.
"Mr. Karkaroff! What a surprise!"
"And for me as vell. I visit family and stop in my faforite city for a few days, but vhy are yu here?"
"I'm on a trip. It was a gift from my parents for finishing my education."
"Vill yu be here long?"
"A few days." Her heart was racing, and she couldn't figure out why.
"Vill yu meet me? I can show you city."
"I think I would enjoy that."
Suddenly they realized they were still clasped together and each took a step backward. They smiled in embarrassment. Then they exchanged contact information and went back on their respective paths. Aurora reflected that he wasn't as old as she had originally thought. He couldn't be more than five years older than she was. She took a last glance backward and hoped he didn't think she was hopelessly young and foolish.
* * * * *
He sat in the deepest part of the courtroom and fretted. He hoped she wouldn't come even if he craved a glimpse of her. All the hopes he once had where she was concerned were dust now. She should never even glance at him.
He had discovered too late that the glory he hoped to achieve would be one-sided. Only one wizard would have the power and prestige that was promised them all. That wizard was not Igor Karkaroff. Now other wizards gave him great promises. He could have his freedom and leave the country as long as he told all he could.
He sat in the well and thought of naming names. He caught glimpses of some of the families he would soon be mentioning and lost heart. He would never be accepted in this society if he told all he knew, and he might be in danger. He couldn't do it. He would face Azkaban rather than accept the offer that had been made.
A rustle of a witch settling into her seat caught his attention. She didn't look directly at him, but he caught a glimpse of the red-gold hair. It was she. Her parents had recently been killed. He wasn't part of the party that had gone to their house, but he knew who was.
His resolve was strengthened, and his lips were loosened. He would grant retribution to his goddess. He would worship her this much. He would be forced out of England, and he would never see her again. There was a standing job offer at Durmstrang. His conviction here would not affect that, and he would live comfortably for as long as he liked. There would be comfort but no joy, for he would never see his Aurora again.
* * * * *
Aurora didn't know why she thought about him so much. He was a Death Eater and had probably killed people. Yet he was so gentle with her and so openly admired her. No, she shouldn't think about him, but for some reason she couldn't help it. "Le cœur a ses raisons que la raison ne connaît point," she thought to herself. Then she realized that Blaise Pascal was a Frenchman, and that got her thinking of Paris and Igor.
She worked hard for three years, learning more about the sky and its ways. She watched the stars long into the night, wondering if he saw the same ones. No one knew exactly where Durmstrang was, after all. She dreamed of their time in Paris, wishing now that he had kissed her. She cursed herself for having been too much of a lady to kiss him.
He had given the information that made punishing her parents' killers possible. Did that justify her feelings? She let herself believe that it did. She almost felt bad for the murderers when she saw how painfully young they were, but they were killers and deserved to be in prison. When Igor's deportation had been announced, she had almost lost faith. His look up to her had been so beautiful, so full of hard work and determination, that she was inspired to work hard as well. If she could get a job teaching, perhaps...
Durmstrang rejected her application. They did not need teachers in Astronomy. She found herself accepting an offer at Hogwarts. She would be expected to teach all of the Astronomy classes and assist the House Head in overseeing the Slytherin students. She almost rejected the offer when she realized that the Head was Severus Snape, but what could she do? The Ministry wasn't hiring in her field, and she had no intention of going anywhere else. She wanted to be someplace that Igor could possibly find her.
After she finished her round of study, she took another vacation in Paris. She intended to go to all the places he had shown her, but found that most days she loitered in the very spot where they had bumped into each other, where for all intents and purposes she had stood in his arms for several minutes. She looked at the monument in the distance and pondered her world.
"Am I going blind, or is the dawn light before my eyes?"
She turned and found herself within his arms again. Without waiting an instant they both reached for each other and kissed. They had aged enough to stop trusting the Fate that had just managed to bring them together. After all, Aurora reasoned to herself, perhaps Fate was only willing to do this much.
Hours later, she lay in his arms in the rooms he took over the summer. Making love had not been as simple as the novels had lead her to believe, but they had persevered until both knew complete pleasure. Learning to please and be pleased was an enjoyable way to discover the generous heart and inventive mind of the man who occupied so much of her thoughts.
Somewhere a clock chimed four in the morning. Igor chuckled. "I vondered, vhen ve first met... vould Aurora shine vith the dawn? Now I know in few hours."
She looked up at him in contentment. "I thought I would never find you again. I'm so grateful for what you did for my parents."
"It was all I could do."
"I can never repay you."
"Then ve vill not speak of it." She realized that he was embarrassed.
A/N: The Pascal quote above is translated, "The heart has reasons that reason knows not." Thank you to Owlbait and Kyria of Delphi for beta reading.