At the sound of Tom retreating towards the Restricted Section, Aurora heard Raoul exhale shakily. She had decided to ignore whatever had just happened between the two, it was clearly between leader and follower, and Aurora had no interest in getting herself caught up in any of Raoul's private business, regardless of whether she agreed with it.
That and Tom had always been a subject Raoul had been reluctant to discuss, no matter when Aurora had tried to bring it up. It mildly annoyed her, to say the least, but if the relationship between the two boys was what she had assumed it was, she understood.
"Look, 'Rora," Raoul began as he turned towards her, "there's something I need to talk to you about." His tone seemed sad, his eyes cast down as Aurora brought her full attention to him.
Salazar, Aurora thought, had Tom been right? Had he already grown bored? The conversation they had had still fresh in her mind. She thought it would be an awful tragedy if she had to hex Raoul right her in a library open for anyone to see.
"It's just something that's been on my mind for a while and I need to ask-" he drew in another breath and swallowed.
Aurora could hear the blood rushing in her ears as her hand found the hilt of her wand. She was going to hex him.
"Would you attend Slughorn's Christmas Party with me?" Raoul's eyes finally came up to meet hers, to be greeted by the last possible expression he had expected to see.
Aurora's face was one of utmost confusion, her mouth slightly open, brow furrowed and her wand clasped tightly in her hand on the table in front of her. Aurora realised his tone had not been sad, or regretful, but nervous.
She tried her best to suppress the laugh that threatened to spill out of her, she did, but her efforts were in vain. Her face cracked into a wide grin as she almost doubled over on the table, her wand left forgotten as she clutched at her stomach with one hand, and wiping away the tears that had begun to form in the corners of her eyes.
Raoul laughed lightly too, though Aurora realised it was more to try to alleviate his awkwardness over the situation, given that he had just asked his girlfriend to attend a party with him, only for her to go from irate to hysterical in a matter of seconds. She took a second to pace her breathing before drawing herself up again to meet his eye, her shoulders still shaking slightly.
"Of course, I'll go with you, you idiot. Merlin you nearly gave me a heart attack I thought you were trying to break up with me." she beamed at him, as he sighed in relief.
"You nearly had a heart attack? 'Rora I thought I was about to get stood up by my girlfriend!" exclaimed Raoul as Aurora continued to laugh at him.
"Yes, well, I'm sure you'll be glad to know that I don't plan to break up with you any time soon, or letting you break up with me for that matter," she huffed, picking up her wand and waving it aimlessly towards him, "and to avoid another situation like this, I would like to ask you to attend the Malfoy's Christmas Ball with me." Aurora finished, making it very clear it wasn't a question.
Raoul looked rather exasperated at her.
"You know I will, but you know it's customary for a wizard to ask his witch, not the other way round," he said as he reached for her chair, pulling it close enough to his own that their shoulders brushed, and his arm dropped around her shoulders.
Aurora grinned up at him, pushing herself further into his side.
"Yes, but I think we've established I am a rather unconventional witch."
She pouted her lips ever so slightly, and Raoul getting her meaning, ducked his head down, pressing his lips against hers.
"That, you are," he mumbled against her mouth, and Aurora let herself laugh again.
The last few weeks with Raoul had been undoubtedly the best of Aurora's life. Coming almost out of nowhere, he made her feel special in a way she had never experienced before. Praise from teachers or her friends had been all well and good, but Raoul practically worshipped the ground she walked on.
Aurora knew she could never be truly safe in the world, she had done and seen far too much to even fantasise of such a thing, but every time he kissed her, every time he ran his calloused fingers across her soft skin, it was enough for her to completely shut everything else out, feeling only the intense comfort her brought her. It was addictive.
And fuck Tom Riddle for even trying to challenge that. How dare he try to get her to question her boyfriend. How dare he try to make her think someone could take away the one thing that was now certain in her life, to suggest it could all fall away around her so quickly.
Yeah, and fuck you for letting him, a small voice in the back of her head whispered. Aurora ignored it.
The night of the Slug Club Christmas party Aurora found herself alone in the bathroom of her dorm.
She stared at herself in the mirror, eyes roaming over every part of her body, taking note of every imperfection she could find to eradicate them, a practice her mother had drilled into her from a young age. She started at her feet, clad in the high black sandals her aunt had given her for an event in the summer.
Slowly, her gaze shifted up, past her calves and up the hem of her skirt that hung around her knees. You could barely see the bruises there under her tights, so her eyes drifted further up still, satisfied that they were dealt with. She made a mental note to start utilising cushioning charms.
Up past her hips that she had always been told by her mother were too wide, to her pinched waist that Thea had always said she would kill for. Unfortunately, unless she wanted to perform some serious glamour charms, those were two issues she could hardly rectify at this moment.
Not that she had cared much what Gueneviere had to say about her figure, as always it had been a passing comment made one of the two times she had so graciously made time to entertain Aurora's company that year. Thea's compliments always left her feeling slightly better than she had felt before.
The stark contrast between how she felt between two such closely linked elements of her anatomy was something Aurora tried her best to push as far down as she could. At least Raoul had never seen cause for complaint. Nor any other boy, for that matter.
Eyes refocusing once again, she came to land on her chest was covered by the black silk of the dress she had chosen, hiding the pendant she kept so fervently hidden from the world. Even now, she'd cast a disillusionment charm over it, appearing to anyone other than herself to be a small emerald set in gold instead of the silver triangle.
Passing down over her arms, she examined every small scar and mark, most of which she couldn't even recall collecting, but had still marred her milky skin. They had been easy enough to lie away when she was younger, few enough that she could blame them on carelessness is potions or catching herself on rose bushes when in the gardens of her estate, but as she had grown and accumulated more, she had become more and more used to glamouring them each morning, one of the only useful things Olive had ever taught her to do.
As much as she trusted him, not even Raoul had been privy to the state of her arms. She wasn't ashamed, if anything she was proud, she saw them as trophies if anything. So no, not ashamed, only the hesitance to admit where they'd come from. She could lie, but there were too many to warrant anything but the truth. Much the same, Raoul had also only ever seen the small emerald necklace.
Her almost white-blonde hair hung around her face waiting to be charmed into place, yet not a perfectly curled strand fell out of place. Aurora picked her wand up off of the sink, casting the glamours over her scars, watching every imperfection cease to be as the magic washed over them, before touching it to the front of her hair, allowing it to wrap and coil itself into tight curls that sat atop her head.
When the final strand of hair had secured itself, Aurora finally brought herself to look into her own eyes. As striking and blue as they had ever been, she let her mind wander back to Tom echoing her warning in the Library, as she had done so frequently over the last few days.
Aurora knew anyone who knew what they were looking for would be able to look into her eyes and see her fractured soul, as it was not something easily hidden, but it took significant training to attain such an ability. An ability she was sure Tom could not have learnt Soul Spotting of all things in such a short space of time. He must have been trying to unsettle her, after all, that had seemed to be his goal that particular day.
Curious as to just how much difference it made, Aurora slowly built up her Occlumency walls, one layer at a time, and watched as her bright eyes slowly turned dull and unfeeling as she shut her mind away piece by piece until there was nothing left to see. When she was done, Aurora held her gaze for a few minutes, barely recognizing the person looking back at her.
She saw black heels, but she couldn't put her finger on where they were from. She saw tights, but wouldn't be able to tell why they were there, the dress was long enough to not warrant it. She saw the subtle shimmer of magic across the arms of the girl in the mirror but had no idea why she would need to do such a thing. Aurora never occluded to this level, had always been told those who did often go mad.
She could see why. Aurora felt completely numb. she was pretty certain she wouldn't even be able to tell someone her name had they asked her at that moment.
Only when the sound of someone rapping on the door to the bathroom danced through the surrounding air did she break the walls back down, every feeling and emotion slamming into her like a tsunami as she steadied herself on the sink for a moment, watching her eyes return to bright blue.
"I'll be right out," she called over her shoulder, picking up her wand and straightening herself out when she was sure she wouldn't collapse, unnecessarily dusting out creases from her dress that weren't there, before turning and walking out the small bathroom into the dorm.
"Well don't you look ravishing tonight, Lady Rosier?" Raoul lowered himself into a mock bow as Aurora walked into the common room, grinning at her mischievously.
"I thank you, Lord Lestrange, you don't look half bad yourself." Aurora winked at him, extending her hand for him to kiss her knuckles.
"My love, you know I only get my title when my old man kicks the bucket."
"I could say the same about my mother's title being bestowed upon me."
"Yes, but we both know you're the most worthy Lady of the family already," Raoul used her extended hand to draw her closer to him, kissing the top of her head in greeting as he had developed a habit for, "and I meant what I said, you look spectacular tonight."
"I meant what I said as well, you don't look half bad." Raoul placed his hand against his chest in faux offence as Aurora's jest.
And he didn't look half bad. Raoul was wearing deep green velvet dress robes, a charcoal waistcoat, and what looked like Dragon hide boots. Not to mention, he had paid attention to his hair for once, the black unruly curls sat on top of his head instead of hanging in his face for once.
He wasn't alone, Arche and Abraxas were sat next to a fireplace drinking from a hip flask Aurora was certain contained Firewhiskey, and certain she would steal at some point in the evening. Both boys were dressed similarly to Raoul, sporting dress robes of one shade of green or another, and discussing what sounded like Arche's shock at being invited to yet another of Slughorn's parties.
"... I'm telling you Brax, the man's only interested in my dad's politics," he snatched the flask from Abraxas and took a swig, "I barely even passed my Potions O.W.L., and he's out here calling me a 'prime example of an excellent student? Prime example of being born into the right bloody family more like." he scoffed as everyone laughed at his ranting.
"Well that's everyone, are we ready to leave?" Aurora clapped her hands together, drawing the attention back to her as she looked around expectantly.
"Not quite, Tom said he'd be fifteen minutes about twenty minutes ago, so I'd say we only have another ten to wait." Arche drawled.
Aurora huffed, but her companions only laughed off her frustration, Dorea having joined Arche and Abraxas on the settees.
"I suppose you two are going stag tonight?" She asked the two boys in an attempt to make conversation.
"Black, I am greatly offended you think so lowly of me!" Arche exclaimed, his hand raising in mock offence much the same as Raoul had done as he lifted himself.
Dorea just tilted her head forward, raising a single eyebrow at his theatrics waiting for her response.
"Yeah ok, I'm going stag." he resigned, sinking back into the pillows.
"And I felt it would be inappropriate to attend with a partner given, you know-" Abraxas gestured vaguely towards the girl's dorm, his face slightly grim, much to the amusement of Aurora.
"Ah, my poor Abraxas, I'm sure your pining future Lady Malfoy will be clamouring to attend events such as Slughorn's Christmas party on your arm once your union has been announced," Aurora said condescendingly.
Abraxas's feature screwed up slightly at her comment.
"Do you think?" he asked, sounding unsure.
"Absolutely not, in fact, I'm pretty sure you'll be at risk of being hexed the first time you even suggest to Thea that she spend more than her mandatory hours in the presence of Slughorn." Dorea finished, as everyone except Abraxas burst into laughter once again.
Dorea was not wrong, Thea had assured them there was no love lost as she had fawned over the two girls getting ready that evening, despite Olive's sulking. When Aurora had assured her she would receive an invitation to next year's party with her new status as a future Malfoy, Thea had scoffed and said she'd rather clean every trophy in the Trophy Room with her spit.
"Well, I'm glad you all find my situation funny." Abraxas crossed his arms over his chest, fixing his eyes on the floor.
"If you don't laugh about it mate, then we will." Raoul clapped his friend on the shoulder, only to be met with a scowl.
"Oh yeah? You try being married off to someone who can't stand you." Abraxas' tone was far snippier than normal, and Aurora sighed.
"She doesn't dislike you, you stupid sod." She snapped back.
"She was always rude to me when we used to play at the Manor."
"Yes, because you were seven."
"What difference does it make?"
"Abraxas it was almost ten years ago!" Aurora's voice was getting louder and louder, her tolerance for her friend's whining rapidly decreasing, "Do you think she wants this any more than you do? No. You're one of my oldest friends, but I'd suggest you pull your head out your arse and talk to her like the adults you're expected to be to make this whole situation less torturous for all parties involved."
Abraxas had fallen silent, no longer scowling but looking rather sheepish. Of course, it was Arche who then broke that silence.
"Damn, Princess has fangs," he smirked.
Aurora flashed him a smile, making sure he could see her teeth.
"Princess has always had fangs laced with venom, Arche, it would do you well to remember as such." Arche only raised his hands to surrender, but not without wiggling his eyebrows suggestively towards Raoul.
"How the fuck do you keep a reign over that one Lestrange?" Aurora scowled, answering herself before Raoul could even form a sentence.
"He doesn't, no one has a reign over me." She puffed her chest up slightly as Raoul laughed quietly into the top of her head.
"Is that so?" A voice came from behind them, drawing all attention towards the entrance to the Boy's dorms.
Tom Riddle stood there, clad in all-black robes, black shirt and tie, looking expectantly towards Aurora for an answer. She didn't even bother to entertain his question, rolling her eyes before turning back to the group.
"Well, that's everyone then, shall we?" She gestured towards the door, winding her arm through Raoul's as they made their leave.
Tom had already got to the door by the time the rest had brushed themselves off, holding it open as each passed through.
"Rosier," he breathed out as Aurora passed him, though his eyes seemed to focus on the wall above her head.
"Riddle," she bit back, reminding herself that she had promised Raoul to be civil towards his friend.
Or his leader.
Or whatever the weird power dynamic they had going on.
Aurora picked up her pace slightly, edging Raoul forward eager to create as much space between them and Tom as possible as they made their way towards the Greater Potions Lab, and planning to avoid him as much as humanly possible. She wanted to have a semi-decent evening, after all.
If you weren't already familiar with the Greater Potions Lab, you probably wouldn't have even known it was a classroom. Aurora had to commend Slughorn's decorative eye.
The workbenches were nowhere to be seen, replaced with large circular tables covered in hor d'oeuvres and flutes of champagne. Great silver drapes hung from the ceiling, concealing the usual cold unforgiving stone of the dungeons behind layers and layers of fine shimmering silks, large poled wrapped in green ribbon placed strategically through the centre of the room to keep the drapes suspended.
Despite the general rule against House bias amongst teachers, it was clear Slughorn had felt no need to hide his obvious Slytherin pride that evening. He was Head of House, after all, Aurora supposed she couldn't fault him for that.
The night had gone near enough seamlessly, Tom sensing Aurora's disinterest in engaging with him, instead conversing with an older boy she recognised to be a Nott, whilst she and Raoul found themselves vehemently avoided Slughorn's questions about their 'union' and his gushing of how strategic it was of them to unify two such prominent houses.
Aurora had never taken a strong dislike to the red-nosed professor, she had just found over the years that she could only handle so many questions about her father's role within the ministry before realising she wasn't valued for her abilities, but her connections. However, the fact that all the other students in attendance were in a similar situation, doted on by Slughorn based purely on their family was a small comfort.
All except one. Tom didn't come from a wealthy Pureblood family. If she was being quite honest, Aurora didn't even know if he was a Pureblood at all. He acted like one, that was for sure, his aristocratic presence trumping that of even Abraxas, and he was heir to the richest bloody family in all of Wizarding Britain.
And Slughorn was infatuated.
Raoul had had to stop himself from spitting his champagne up when Aurora had made a comment about not being sure of the morality behind being that far up one of his student's arses, and that she was sure the governors would take issue with such teacher-student intimacy. Once he had recovered, Raoul had grinned and reminded Aurora it was the second time she had used the very unladylike phrase that evening and would be liable to give her mother a heart attack had she ever caught wind of such language exiting her daughter's well trained mouth.
Aurora had smirked back, noting that Gueneviere would only know if Raoul snitched, to which he assured her his lips were sealed. He had promptly actually spat out his champagne when Aurora expressed her dismay towards him losing the use of his mouth as her smirk turned incredibly suggestive, and incredibly unbecoming of a young lady in a public place. Gueneviere would be apoplectic.
Following the mandatory mingling between guests, the tables vanished only to be replaced with a huge phonograph in the far corner, slow music winding its way through the air. Attendees began to pair off, swaying in each other's arms whilst murmuring to each other, occasionally swapping partners between friends. It was the same as every other gala or function she had to attend over the years.
After ten minutes of dancing with Raoul, Arche had approached and asked him if he could borrow his lady in exchange for a hip flask of Ogden's Finest. Raoul had relented, but not before telling Arche he knew it was only Blishen's and calling him a cheapskate. Aurora had laughed, snatching the hip flask from Raoul before he could so much as take a sip and talking a long drink for herself, relishing in the burning sensation running down her throat and into her stomach.
Next had come to Abraxas, who handed a rather put out looking Dorea over to Arche. Aurora didn't fail to notice her friend staring longingly at the back of a boy with untamed black hair donning deep crimson velvet robes. It appeared Abraxas had noticed too, casting his eyes towards Aurora and nodding knowingly. They didn't discuss it any further but were able to silently acknowledge that they had both realised Dorea's attention had been reserved for some weeks now.
It was hardly their place to interfere. They both knew that Cygnus Black II was a formidable man, but his wife Violetta even more so. Dorea would face enough trouble with her obvious pining for a Potter from her parents without a Rosier-Malfoy intervention as well.
When her dance with Abraxas had come to an end, Aurora faced a string of other partners. They were mostly guests of Slughorn who, much the same as the professor, only quizzed her on Etienne's Ministry business, pretending to not seem put out when she made it clear she had no intention of discussing anything of the sort.
A couple of students had followed, one being Nott, the same boy she had spotted talking to Riddle shortly after arrival, the other was one of the Black boys, although she had to admit she wasn't sure if it was Cygnus or Orion. That family produced so many children it was quite hard to keep track. Much to her relief, Tom hadn't asked her to dance, although she could have sworn she caught him glaring at her more than a few times throughout the evening.
As the night began to draw to a close, students and guests began filtering out of the dungeons. Dorea had left rather hastily around twenty minutes beforehand, suspiciously soon after Potter and a damn sight more giggly than normal. Aurora had spotted Raoul across the rapidly emptying room, catching his eye and motioning with her head towards the door, signalling she felt it time to leave. Raoul glanced nervously towards his company.
He stood with Arche, Abraxas, Tom and Slughorn, the former two engaged in conversation whilst the latter three stood listening in. Slughorn clapped Tom on the back, eliciting polite chortles from the four students before looking down at his wristwatch.
With the room now empty save for Aurora and the men at the other end, she could hear the professor reminding Arche and Lestrange of the essay due the following day. The group had turned and began to walk towards Aurora, who stood expectantly, waiting for Raoul to take her arm and lead her back to the Common Room.
When only three of the four boys left the side of Slughorn, Aurora had internally groaned, expecting to be told to wait for Riddle once again. To her surprised delight, Raoul informed her that Tom didn't require them to wait, as he had wanted to discuss the subject of his further reading with his 'mentor' before he left.
As they turned to leave, however, Arche swaying slightly, undoubtedly from the flask of firewhiskey that had been long since finished, Aurora's delight dissipated within almost an instant. She wasn't sure if any of the boys had caught Riddle's question to the professor, but his words made her blood run cold as she stepped into the dungeon corridor, reverberating around her head as she scrambled to make sense of how he would have come to know of such a thing.
"–I was wondering what you could tell me about Horcruxes, sir?"