Aurora had been scared many times in her life – her grandfather's corruption had scared her, her mother's lust for power had scared her, at times even Godric's talent had scared her – but it was nothing compared to the fear she felt now.
As she walked through the Great Hall the next day, she was afraid for every student she saw. Of course, she couldn't show it. She walked to her table calmly and sat down next to Regulus. She smiled at the others – even the Derbys – when it was called for. She made it look – or she hoped she made it look – like nothing had happened.
At lunch, she sat next to Regulus again. His year had Astronomy with the Hufflepuffs that morning. When she asked about the new professor, he frowned.
"Professor Quimby has been the Astronomy teacher for twenty-five years, Aurora."
"But the new professor? Professor Highmore?"
His frown deepened. "Why would we have a new Astronomy professor when we already have Quimby?"
"Never mind," she said, working to hide her confusion. "I must have been thinking of someone else."
He gave her a strange look before he started talking with Galen.
After the meal, she left the dining hall in a crowd of students heading for the afternoon lessons. She felt a hand on her elbow and turned to see Sirius.
"What happened with Dumbledore last night?" he asked, settling into step next to her.
"Um," she said, looking at the large crowd around them. "It's fine. He's…taking care of it." Her voice dropped low. "Donovan won't be back."
He nodded. "Good."
He kept walking beside her, without speaking. That morning's lesson was a combined Herbology lesson with the Slytherins and the Ravenclaws. Why is Sirius following me outside?
"You switch houses or something?"
He frowned.
She nodded to the green house. "This is a Slytherin-Ravenclaw lesson."
"I'm walking you to class," he answered. "I know you probably don't know this, what with your House and everything, but it's what polite people do."
"And you, Sirius Black, are definitely known for being polite."
The grin he gave was rakish.
A group of Slytherins walked past, scowling as they entered the greenhouse.
"Will being seen with a Gryffindor damage your reputation?" he asked.
"It would take more than that to damage my reputation."
He laughed.
When they reached the greenhouse door, he said goodbye and made his way back to the castle. He wasn't hurrying – clearly he had no attention to go to class that morning.
When she entered the greenhouse, she sat in her usual spot next to Galen, who, despite her recent company, greeted her with a grin. If he was angry about the events of the previous night, he didn't let it show all day – neither did any of the others. In fact, Aurora suspected they were being even nicer than before. It seemed her refusal had only increased her mystique and perhaps made them want her more.
At dinner, Aurora watched for Remus, James, Sirius, and Peter, but they never came to the meal. She excused herself and made her way to the library where she found three of them holed up in back corner, surrounding by stacks of books.
"Aurora!"
Remus turned quickly, clearly trying to cover the open books with his torso.
James swiftly kicked a stack of books under the chair he was sitting in and covered the open book his lap with his hands. "Miss Townsend," he greeted, cringing at his own formality.
Peter didn't say anything. He just grabbed all of the loose pieces of parchments on the table and hugged them in his arms.
She tilted her head at him. "What do you have there, Peter?"
She took a step closer and looked down at him. He blinked back with…fear?
James stepped between them, but Aurora simply reached around him. Slowly, she pulled out one of the parchment slips. For a moment she stared at it, then she looked back up with piercing eyes.
"Doing some research?" she asked Peter coolly.
"Aurora –" James tried to cut in, but she wouldn't let him.
"Tell me, what have you found?" She finally looked away from Peter. Her eyes settled on Remus. "You already knew my family's history. Were you looking for details? Did you want to learn the Curses?" Her eyes flashed.
"We didn't –" Remus started to explain, but stopped when she looked at him.
"Oi, you won't believe what I find in the Restricted section!" Sirius came around the corner, holding a large leather book in both hands. On the cover, the title was written in thick, gold lettering: 10th Century Dark Witches and Wizards.
Sirius swore when he saw her and a guilty expression overtook his face. "Rory –"
"This is an awful lot of work to go to over me," she said, looking at the mess they had made. "If you all wanted to know something about my family, all you had to do was ask."
Then she turned and walked out of the library.
The next morning, Aurora didn't look at the Gryffindor table. She made it a point to focus on Galen as he explained about his father's vital role in the new blood testing procedures being introduced into the Ministry. She nodded at him when he stopped speaking.
"You must be very…proud of him," she said, carefully maintaining a calm expression. "I'd love to hear more but we better get going to Transfiguration or we'll be late."
As they left the hall, she caught a glimpse of deep red hair. She needed to ask Lily a Charms questions and quickly told Galen that she would meet him in class. As she approached her friend, however, someone else caught her arm.
"Remus," she greeted coolly. "I'm a little busy right now –"
"I'm sorry."
She didn't say anything.
"It's my fault. I made the others help me. I wanted to know more about you," he said. "You know a lot Aurora. About a lot of thing you shouldn't. There is no known cure for Lunar sicknesses, but you cured mine."
Her jaw clenched.
"I have asked, about your family," he said. "I have asked."
"You have," she agreed. "But just because you didn't like the answer doesn't mean—"
"Nearly Headless Nick said he knew you."
Aurora stilled. She knew of the Gryffindor ghost. She hadn't seen him yet, but she had the feeling that she knew the man he used to be too.
"Your ghost is mistaken."
Remus shook his head. "Nick doesn't lie."
"I didn't say he lied," she answered. "Remus, his head is almost severed and you are trusting his mind?"
The Gryffindor didn't have an answer to that.
"You better get to class. You're already late," she said.
To his credit, he looked ashamed as he left. When he had finally disappeared up the stairs, Aurora turned back to the halls, fuming. Quickly, she stepped into a stairwell and cast an amplification spell.
"PENDLETON!"
With the other students in class, she hoped no one else would respond. Normally she would have cringed at her recklessness, but this was serious. She needed help now. A buzzing noise came from above and steadily became louder. Just as the sound because unbearable, Pendleton Peeves popped into view.
"Lady Townsend," he greeted with a sweeping bow. "You bellowed?"
"Where is Sir Nicolas?"
Peeves frowned. "Sir Nicolas?"
"Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington."
The poltergeist only stared.
"The Gryffindor ghost!"
"Ohhh! Nearly Headless Nick?"
"WHERE IS HE?"
The poltergeist frowned and looked as close to innocent as Aurora had ever seen. "He's on the second floor, in the east wing. Writing a letter, I think."
Aurora worked to temper her anger. "Thank you."
"Miss Aurora," the poltergeist said slowly and cautiously, "is everything okay?"
"I don't know," she answered honestly.
She found the Gryffindor ghost right where Peeves had said he would be. He seemed genuinely excited to see her and Aurora immediately knew he hadn't meant to cause any trouble. Some of her anger dissipated. Quickly, she made him promise not to speak about her to any of the students. Then, as she was about to leave, she thought of something else.
"I've already met the Baron, but do Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw have House ghosts as well?"
"The Fat Friar and the Grey Lady."
She frowned. "I don't think I know them."
Nick answered her frown with his own.
"You know the Grey Lady," he said. "Or, more appropriately, I guess, she knows you. It's Ravenclaw's daughter."
How excellent. The Ravenclaw ghost would be related to Ravenclaw herself, she thought, and not inclined to do Aurora any favors. She had never met Rowena's daughter in person – she had been born after Aurora's curse – but she had read more books than Remus had about her family and knew her story was legend in her time. Helena would know the stories of her family from rumors and the stories about her from her mother.
Aurora grimaced about what Rowena might have told her daughter.
"Where is she now?" she asked quietly.
"I haven't seen the Grey Lady all year," the ghost replied. "She rarely leaves the Ravenclaw tower."
Even more excellent. Aurora wanted to groan at the prospect of a Ravenclaw offspring that knew her secret being locked away with the brightest, most inquisitive students in the school.
Maybe they already know.
They have to know, they're Ravenclaws.
That's why they have been being so nice to you.
They know.
They know.
Dark things happen to wizards who meddle in time.
Donovan knows too.
He saw you.
He knows
And Remus.
Remus has always known.
They all know.
They all know.
Dark things happen to wizards who meddle in time.
Exhaling sharply, Aurora found herself out of breath and in front of the headmaster's office. Her heart was pounding and she couldn't calm her breathing.
They know.
They know.
She thought about what would happen. They would take her away from the castle. They would take her away and lock her up.
Lock you up.
Lock you up.
Time magic was illegal now. Could she be arrested for being cursed? She thought about the wizarding prisons she had seen in modern books. Isolation, dementors….
They know.
They know.
There was a ringing in her ears now.
Peeves?
She turned to look and the walls started to melt. A feeling of familiarity washed over her and gripped her with panic as she felt herself fall to the ground.