A/N: Thank you to SaltedChips for leaving a review on this story, I'm glad that you enjoy it so far! I was beginning to worry that nobody was really reading this so your comment was very much appreciated, I hope you enjoy this chapter as well! That being said, comments are super important to me, they motivate me a lot, so like please leave comments if you can, I don't care how short or long every comment means a lot and feedback ( as long as your not rude about it ) is much appreciated because I'm the only one who writes and edits this story and I know I miss a lot of mistakes, so if you ever notice them feel free to kindly point them out!
Also after this chapter I'm going to start posting chapters on a weekly schedule, new chapters will be posted every Saturday. I have fifty + chapters written and about forty of them have been finished and revised and I want to space out chapter updates so I have time to write and edit more chapters in between! So keep an eye out for updates on Saturdays!
( and on Wednesdays I may update a chapter as a special treat ( mostly for me because this fic is SUPER self-indulgent ) on a few occasions depending how well writing is going for me! That's all for now, I hope you all enjoy the chapter! )
and now onto the chapter . . .
PART ONE ( EYE OF THE HURRICANE ) CHAPTER TWELVE:
012 || All Knowing Abigale
"in which neville longbottom has some competition . . ."
"SO WHY ARE avoiding, Neville," Hannah asks, one lunch a couple weeks after the whole Moody thing.
Aurelia straightens out her tie, mumbling: "I'm not avoiding him, I just talked to him yesterday."
"Yeah, in class! And it was so awkward," Hannah exclaims, "Watching the two of you interact yesterday made me want to gouge my eyes out!"
"You're just being dramatic now, Han," Aurelia says rolling her eyes.
"Says you," Hannah huffs.
"Han's right. You're clearly avoiding, Longbottom. Why," Olivia cuts in.
"I'm not!"
"Yeah, and I'm not totally head over heels for Ginny Weasley," Olivia laughs, unlike Aurelia, Olivia's extremely openly bisexual and very proud of it."
"But, you are," Mari says, completely oblivious to what Olivia actually meant by the remark.
Hannah smiles softly, placing her hand on Mari's arm as she informs her that: "Liv's just being sarcastic, hun."
"Oh."
"Has this got anything to do with you punching him," Hannah questions, turning her attention back to Aurelia.
"Kinda." She mutters.
"Why don't you just apologise?"
"I did."
"Then why are you avoiding him?"
"Because I don't deserve a friend like him! I'm evil! I'm destined to be evil," Aurelia mutters, shamefully.
There's a moment of a silence and for a minute, Aurelia thinks Hannah might actually agree with her but then the blonde shakes her head "That's not true, Blue. You and Neville do deserve each other," Hannah says, frowning.
"Yeah, Han's right," Olivia says, biting into her muffin, "Longbottom's like the Princess Leia to your Han Solo!"
Hannah blinks, looking mildly confused as she asks: "Shouldn't that be the other way around?"
"If anything, Neville's the Luke Skywalker to my Han Solo." Aurelia corrects, "Because Han and Luke are best buddies too and I am without a doubt Han Solo and as lovely as Neville is, he definitely is not Princess Leia."
Olivia nods thoughtfully "Yeah, Longbottom's definitely more of a Luke Skywalker now that you mention it."
"I think we're getting off-topic here," Mari says, "What made you think that? Did Neville say something . . . Does he —"
"Moody. He said that I was gonna end up just like my aunt, evil and insane. He said I would hurt Neville one day because I was just like her," Aurelia replies glumly.
"Oh! That explains the hair!" Mari exclaims, casting an exasperated glance at Aurelia's raven-coloured curls. It's a colour that Mari thinks doesn't suit her at all; usually Aurelia keeps her hair anything but that colour.
"Yeah, I figured that I might as well get a head start on my slow descent into madness." Aurelia sighs, earning groans from the three girls.
"You melodramatic bitch," Olivia sighs annoyed.
"Rude! I haven't even done anything," Cedric gasps as he sits down next to Hannah.
Olivia rolls her eyes "I wasn't talking about you, you big ol' rat!"
"First of all, that's big ol' rat king, to you! Pipsqueak! Secondly, who are we talking about then," Cedric says, leaning closer to the girls.
"It's just, Aurelia." Olivia replies, rolling her eyes.
"Oh, so nothing unusual's happened then?"
"Hey!" Aurelia gasps, looking at Cedric with false offense.
"You wouldn't have to sit through our bullying if you had just sat with Neville!" Hannah sings, a teasing smile adorning her freckled face.
Cedric's eyes widen "So something did happen! Why aren't you sitting with Neville?"
"Well, I punched him —"
"What?!"
"She apologised for that! Honestly, Blue, don't leave out the important details!"
"— And then Moody said that I was going to be just like my aunt. Just as crazy and evil as she is — was? Oh, bloody hell, I don't know. But, he's right!"
"Merlin's beard, I had such high hopes for Moody. I quite enjoyed his teaching methods but — well, he had no right to compare you to your aunt. Or any of your family. You're working very hard not to be like them and no one pays attentions to your efforts. Don't listen to, Moody! He doesn't know know you, Blue, but do you know who does?"
"Who," Aurelia asks, still frowning despite Cedric's positive words.
Cedric grins widely before yelling out: "Hey! Neville come over here, will you?!"
Neville looks mortified by the fact that Cedric bloody Diggory had called him over. A lot of the students are now looking at him because of it.
Aurelia slaps Cedric's arm "What are you doing?! You rat!"
"Rat king."
Her eyes narrow, her face growing red with embarrassment as she slaps Cedric's arm multiple times "What would you do that for, you wee bitch!"
Neville scrambles over to the Hufflepuffs, almost tripping on his own two feet as he does so.
Cedric grins at Neville "Good afternoon, Neville! Hey, I was wondering what class do you have next?"
Neville looks equally confused and nervous as he stammers: "D — D — DA — DADA."
Cedric's grin widens "Well, would you look at that! So does, Blue! You two should walk to class together!"
"I will kill you in your sleep for this, Diggs," Aurelia whispers in Cedric's ear.
"Threatens the girl who once got upset and apologised to a leaf because it crunched too loudly when you stepped on it," Cedric teases.
"Unlike you, Diggs, the leaf was innocent," Aurelia hisses under her breath as she begins gathering her things.
Neville looks between Aurelia and Cedric nervously. He doesn't think Aurelia'll want to walk with him, he's pretty certain that she's upset with for not defending her more to Moody. They haven't had a decent conversation since then and he's very nervous. Neville's scared that their friendship is over, he doesn't want to lose Aurelia as a friend. She's his best friend without a doubt. "I — I —"
Aurelia stands up, slinging her messenger bag over her shoulder "C'mon, Plant Boy, let's go before I commit homicide," She shoots Cedric one last dirty look before she grabs Neville's hand.
"What," Neville blinks, looking between the two Hufflepuffs.
"She says she's going to commit homie-cide," Olivia says, "Get it —"
"Finish that sentence, Liv, and it will be a double murder," Aurelia says, Olivia just laughs and with the Aurelia drags Neville out of the Great Hall.
Neville glances at her, as he thinks of something to say, there are bags under her heavily-lidded, wide eyes and she looks sickly pale. He doesn't think she's brushed her hair this morning as it's curlier than usual and it's a very unusual black colour
"I'm sorry," Neville whispers nervously as they climb the stairs, Aurelia glances at him and raises an eyebrow.
"Why are you apologising," Aurelia asks, confused.
"I didn't stand up for you," He replies.
"Yes, you did."
"Not well e — enough," Neville stammers, "What kind of friend am I if — if I —"
"You're a wonderful friend!"
Neville shakes his head "No, I sh — should've said more, I should have —"
"The fact that you said something means a lot to me. You didn't have to say anything at all but you did and I can never thank you enough for that." Aurelia tells him, smiling softly.
"Oh . . . Well, I — I thought you we — were upset wit — with me because I did — didn't say enough," Neville stammers tearfully, "I thought you — you might not want to be friend any — anymore."
"Merlin, I punch you in the face and you worry that I won't want to be your friend anymore?"
"You did — didn't mean to and besides it didn't hurt that bad — okay, it hurt a lot. You have a great right hook," Neville says quickly.
"I'm sorry."
"You've already apologised . . . So, are we alright then? I mean, we're friends right? And — and we'll always be friends forever, won't we? No matter what anyone says or does, we'll stick by each other's sides through it all, right," He asks, looking up at her hopefully.
Aurelia smiles brightly, holding out her pinky "I promise."
Neville blinks as he quickly tries to think of what he's supposed to do. He's seen Ellie and Aurelia do this before. He's supposed to wrap his pinky around her's — yeah, that sounds about right. He wraps his pinky around her own and she gives it a little shake, her bright smile going wide. "I promise too," Neville says.
"Well, we should probably get to class," Aurelia suggests after a moment of comfortable silence, Neville nods in agreement.
x
ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ɢᴏʟᴅ | ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ɢᴏʟᴅ | ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ɢᴏʟᴅ | ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ɢᴏʟᴅ | ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ɢᴏʟᴅ
x
"WE SHOULD PROBABLY skip this class," Aurelia whispers to Neville when Professor Moody announces he's going to teach them the Imperius Curse and its effects. Which, isn't as surprising as it should've been. Aurelia's rather certain she's going to do well on this one, she's got experience with this curse. Technically speaking, she's got experience with all the Unforgivables; but's she's got the most experience with this one. Her dad put her under it a lot at social gatherings and for the longest time she had assumed it was her conscience speaking to her and she listened to it. Well, until it had told her not to touch the cookies and then she told it to 'sod off' because she really wanted those cookies. After that she started resisting it until she built up a decent immunity to it, specifically her father's Imperius.
She's not exactly sure she'll be able to completely resist someone else's Imperius, but Aurelia's still very angry with Moody so she's hoping she can, just to prove that she's mentally stronger than the rest of her family. She knows what she wants, she's got her mind set on being a good person and no one, not even an Unforgivable will change her bloody mind.
"But — but you said it's illegal, Professor. You said — to use it against another human was —" Hermione says uncertainly as Moody clears away the desks with a sweep of his wand, leaving a large clear space in the middle of the room.
"Dumbledore wants you taught what it feels like, if you'd rather learn the hard way — when someone's putting it on you so they can control you completely — fine by me. You're excused. Off you go," Moody growls, staring eerily at Hermione.
He points at the door and Hermione turns red with embarrassment.
"No offense but, I don't think she meant it like that! Sure, Dumbledore's got a track record picking horrible teachers — minus Lupin, he was an angel — but we've never actually been told to do anything illegal! So bloody forgive us for questioning any law-breaking taking place in the classroom," Aurelia snaps, defending Hermione.
Moody surveys her for a moment with an almost smug look on his face "Why don't you go first, Malfoy? I'm sure you've had plenty of experience with the Unforgivable Curses considering your family background."
She grits her teeth. To be fair, she brought that one on herself. Aurelia thinks she could just tell him to go fuck himself and leave the classroom but she'd much rather see that smug grin wiped off his face when she resists the curse perfectly. "Fine!" She agree snappily, stepping forward. Okay, brain! She thinks, please don't fail me now.
Moody waves his wand, growling out: "Imperio!"
A sudden wave of calmness and happiness washes over her, all her worries seem to melt away. Before she lets herself get lured into this feeling of security she tells herself she shouldn't be feeling this way. She reminds herself of where she is and how she's with Mad-Eye Moody who's kind of an ass to her. You shouldn't feel this calm around him, Aurelia tells herself.
Seconds later she hears Moody's voice echo in her mind: tell the truth. She thinks of her scars and the secret she's hid from her friends, she should — no. You don't want to tell the truth, not now. You don't want to.
It must be really difficult hiding who you really are, Moody says.
They're just scars, she tells the voice, it ain't that deep.
Tell them! He insists.
I think I'll pass.
Moody lowers his wand, releasing her from the curse.
"Well done, Black, you fought it well." He tells her, giving her a curt nod of approval.
Aurelia glares at him before turning on her heel to head to the back of the class. Out of all the stupid things he could've made her do, he tried to get her to do that. She dugs her nails into the palms of her hands as she fumed silently. Coming to a stop by Neville's side, he stares at her amazed.
"Wow, Ari! You completely resisted, that's amazing! How did you do it," He gushes.
"I'll tell you later," She replies quietly, frowning.
He nods and turns his attention to Dean, who under the Imperius Curse, jumps around the room, singing some weird song. The lesson continues with various students doing weird or embarrassing things that they would never have attempted with control of their actions. Harry, of course, because he's Harry bloody Potter is the only other person who resists the curse, though not as well as she had. Yet, for some reason he's gets more praise than she did. She bitterly scoffs at that, Saint Potter — Merlin, you sound like Draco!
Nym had told Moody could be an arse at times but when she said that, Aurelia had never realised she meant that much of an arse. By the end of the lesson, Aurelia's so enraged it's a surprise that steam isn't coming out of her ears.
"That bastard," Aurelia hisses heatedly to Neville, who is very confused. The pair stalk down the corridor, Aurelia in the lead as Neville struggles to keep up with her long strides.
"Is it about the remark he made about your family?" Neville asks.
"No! It's not fair," Aurelia exclaims, "He makes all the others do embarrassing things but me — ME! He tries to make me —"
"What? What did he try to do?"
Her face twists in anger as she shakes her head "I don't want to talk about it."
Aurelia knows that she'll have to tell him soon, she'll have to tell all her friends soon. She's running out of that make-up that's covers her scars and her Metamorphmagus abilities are not that reliable but she can't bring herself to tell him or anyone now. But, this time it's not fear that keeps the truth from spilling from her mouth but rather anger. She's so angry that she's surprised that she's able to form coherent sentences.
Neville looks at her concerned but he doesn't press the subject, he decides to change it instead, asking: "How were you able to resist the curse so well, you said you'd tell me later."
Aurelia bites her lip "Well, my dad . . . To keep me in line at parties, he'd put me under the curse . . . One time he wouldn't let have a cookie and I decided 'fuck that, I want a cookie' and I resisted the curse and got my bloody cookie. I started resisting it more after that but the first time I ever resisted the Imperius Curse was because of a cookie."
Neville stares at her aghast.
"I know it's illegal but could you maybe not . . . Not, well, tell anyone?"
"I won't tell anyone, I promise . . . But, I think he should be in prison for that."
"I s'pose you're right," Aurelia laughs.
"I always am," The teasing remark slips past his lips before he can really think them through. Neville almost regrets it but then Aurelia's nervous expression turns to an amused one and he knows he's done well.
"I s'pose you always are, Plant Boy," Aurelia laughs, smiling wide.
x
ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ɢᴏʟᴅ | ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ɢᴏʟᴅ | ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ɢᴏʟᴅ | ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ɢᴏʟᴅ | ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ɢᴏʟᴅ
x
THE DAY BEFORE Halloween brings Aurelia a new sort of excited feeling. Today's the day that the other school's will be arriving for the tournament. Aurelia's practically buzzing with excitement as she goes through the day. New people, new friends! She also can't help but wonder if Noelle will be attending along with the other Durmstrang students. She had said that's where she went and she did look to be of age. Aurelia really hopes she will be. She had only shared but a short conversation with the German girl but Aurelia can't seem to forget her. She's on Aurelia's mind as much as Neville is.
Speaking of Neville, he seems to be the only thing dampening her mood but by no fault of his own, Aurelia's just kind of jealous. She's never realised how easily jealous she gets until today, she really shouldn't be jealous considering she fancies to other people besides Neville. Hannah likes Neville, Aurelia had realised this at breakfast, and Neville likes Hannah. And so, Aurelia despite being positively delighted about the new arrivals can't stop this wee tidbit of information from dampening her mood.
Aurelia's been all smiles and bouncing around all day except for when that would cross her mind. Then her bright smile would falter and the spring in her step would turn into a trudge; Neville's been noticing this pattern all day. As they wait for the two schools to arrive, Neville finally asks: "What's wrong?"
"Huh? What? Nothing's wrong," Aurelia replies quickly as she tears her gaze away from the sky, "What're you asking for?"
"You're frowning," He says.
"Oh."
Well, shit! I ain't about to tell him that I've possibly got a big, huge crush on him! That's totally out of the question — well, fuck!
"Oh, well . . . You see I . . . I met a girl at the Quidditch World Cup and . . ."
Are you actually going to come out to him instead of telling him you've got feelings for him?! Ha, you bet I am! Aurelia's never really come out before, she's never exactly hid it as she would fawn over pretty girls without a hint of regret but she's never told anyone that she actually liked girls. Something about that made it seem wrong, Aurelia recalls that a lot her parents' friends didn't have many nice things to say about people who liked the same gender. She remembers the dirty looks they would give to those people and she would remember that most every time she would go to say something about how she feels and she would stop. If people didn't know for sure that she liked girls than they couldn't judge her.
But, she can't tell Neville that she might have a crush on him because she isn't certain. She might just love him a lot but as a friend, she couldn't tell him something she wasn't certain of. And she was certain she liked girls as she liked boys and she was certain that Neville wouldn't judge her. So, really her only alternative is coming out.
"I was hoping that she'll be coming along with the Durmstrang students," She says nervously.
"Okay?"
"Well, I — I liker her . . . I like girls like you like girls . . . I find them cute the way you find Hannah cute," Aurelia explains.
Neville frowns. Great, somehow his chances of getting with her got even smaller. Merlin, why is it always me? "You like girls," He asks meekly.
Aurelia nods slowly, asking: "Is there something wrong with that?" She looks down at him, a panicked expression on her face because she was certain that he wouldn't judge her, and he quickly pushes aside his moping thoughts to reassure her that there's nothing wrong with liking girls.
Except for the fact he's not a girl.
"No, nothing at all! There's nothing wrong with loving someone!"
Aurelia sighs relieved, it feels like a weight has been lifted off her shoulders. She never thought that coming out, even to just one person, would make her feel so free.
"So, how long have you known you liked girls," He wonders, more like how long has he not only been making her uncomfortable but making a fool of himself by trying to show that he like-liked her.
"I was actually really young, it was probably after my disastrous crush on, Roseburke. There was Pansy, don't you ever tell her this, and Ginny but I'm pretty everyone kind knows I like her but they can't prove anything because well there was Blaise Zabini," Aurelia replies.
"Wait, so you all — also like boys?"
Aurelia nods and Neville grins goofily. Okay, so he does have a very slim chance of being with her one day! "Wait — what about, Hannah?!" Merlin, Ari's got a crush on Hannah!
"You faaannncy her!" Aurelia teases, her hair an odd shade of green. Merlin's beard why do I feel so weird about Neville fancying Hannah, I should be happy for him, Hannah's a great girl! As Ellie would say, she's fit. Aurelia couldn't blame Neville for fancying her of all people; at least it's not Heather.
I don't fancy Hannah! Neville thinks absolutely flabbergasted, he opens his mouth but he's so shocked — Hannah? Really? Where on Earth did she get that idea?!
Two Slytherins push past them to get a better view of the sky.
"An excuse me would be nice," Aurelia says sarcastically.
The one Slytherin — Pansy Parkinson, turns around and sneers, jeering: "A 'sorry for betraying my friends and family' would be nice."
Pansy Parkinson's a mean-spirited girl that likes to taunt and bully students including Aurelia, but Neville's come to notice that Pansy's got a different way of bullying Aurelia. It's never too harsh, he's seen Draco treat Aurelia worse, there's an almost edge of playfulness to her taunting when it comes to Aurelia. Aurelia's told him before that Pansy and her used to be best friends, when no one wanted Pansy around, Aurelia would be there. Aurelia had always treated Pansy nicely and even though Aurelia's now a Hufflepuff and Blood-Traitor, it seems that Pansy still respects Aurelia to a certain degree. And the feeling is mutual as Aurelia seems to hold a certain amount of respect for Pansy — on most days, at least.
The other Slytherin is known to Neville as 'All Knowing Abigale' a fourth-year that has a knack for predicting the future. From what he's heard, it's just little snippets and nothing useful but it's amusing all the same.
Abigale grins brightly at Neville and Aurelia, ignoring the tension between them "So, this is Malfoy? The one you told me? She's a lot prettier than you described, Pans," Abigale remarks.
Pansy goes pink, hissing: "Shut up, Abby!"
Neville glances at Aurelia, who's turned a noticeable red colour. He watches as she tries to give Pansy a teasing smile but fails miserably.
"So — uh — uh, how do you think the schools are going to get here," Aurelia squeaks out.
Abigale grins wider "Mhm, aren't you a cutie-pie."
Neville narrows his eyes, jealous. Pansy's brown eyes flash dangerously as she tugs on Abigale's sleeve.
"To answer, carriage and boat. Not sure which school is which but they should be here any minute now," Abigale replies, smiling knowingly as she allows Pansy to drag her away.
"She's pretty," Aurelia breathes out.
Neville's stomach twists at the thought of Aurelia having a crush on someone else that isn't him. But, he reckons she's right, Abigale's pretty enough with her long, wavy brown hair, and chocolate brown, doe eyes but she's not as pretty as Aurelia — okay, Neville, you need to tell her now. Neville opens his mouth — just tell her how you feel! What's the worst that can happen? She could hear me? Good Godric just tell her —
"Aha, if I'm not mistake the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches," Professor Dumbledore announces.
The crowd comes alive with exclamations and guess on what's heading towards them. Neville looks up at the sky, too dejected by the fact that he hadn't told Aurelia how he felt to be really interested in the approaching school. It turns out to be a very, very large carriage like Abigale had said. A very large woman steps out of the carriage and greets Professor Dumbledore — she must be the Headmaster, a group of girls and boys in thin-looking, blue uniforms step out after her.
Aurelia turns to Neville, her blue eyes gleaming as she excitedly exclaims: "Friends!"
Neville smiles "If you can speak French that is."
"Oh, I can! Mum taught Draco and I when we were young!"
"Well, then you're going to have lots of friends!"
"Oooh, I hope so!"
"I know so," Neville says, "They'll trample over each other to be friends with someone as lovely as you."
Aurelia blushes, then her nose scrunches up in annoyance as a low rumbling sound invades her ears. The two share cautious looks as the sound grows louder.
"The lake! Look at the lake," Lee shouts.
They do and sure enough a boat emerges from the waves; Durmstrang has arrived. Once the massive boat's been anchored in the Headmaster of Durmstrange comes forth to greet Professor Dumbledore. His students follow after him and among them Aurelia spots Noelle. Aurelia grabs Neville's arm and discreetly points at her "That's her, Plant Boy, that's the cute girl I met at the World Cup!"
"Oh," Neville mumbles when he spots the girl and all he can think is that he's bloody intimidated. He doesn't stand a chance against her.
x
ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ɢᴏʟᴅ | ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ɢᴏʟᴅ | ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ɢᴏʟᴅ | ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ɢᴏʟᴅ | ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ɢᴏʟᴅ
x
AURELIA HANDS BACK Neville's jumper that he had given to her when they had been standing out in the cold. Now that she's inside eating dinner after Dumbledore had given his welcoming speech, she no longer needs it.
"Thank you," Aurelia says.
"It's no problem," He replies, taking the jumper from her and tying around his waist.
A first-year Gryffindor sighs sadly next to Aurelia, she turns to him and smiles kindly "What's wrong, kid?"
He looks up at her, surprised "Oh, well . . . I like my milk warm and it's alway cold here, I . . . It reminds me of home, y'know."
Aurelia smiles softly "I gotta spell for heating things up."
He looks even more surprised as Aurelia pulls out her spell book from her cardigan pocket. Real magic is that it fits in there without any spell "It's a very temperamental spell — full pun intended — so it might make your milk too hot. It's not the best spell I've made —"
"You can make spells already," He asks in awe.
"Somewhat. But, I've been doing this since before Hogwarts," Aurelia says, pointing her wand at the boy's goblet of milk and casting the spell.
"Wow! Thanks! I'm Dennis — Dennis Creevy, by the way!"
"I'm —"
"Aurelia Black," A familiar German accent cuts in, "We meet again."
Aurelia looks up and smiles "Noelle!"
"Hello, Aurelia. I spotted you across the hall and thought I should come say 'hi' — are you doing school work at the dinner table," Noelle asks, peering at the black book in Aurelia's hand with her signed name on it.
"Oh, n — no! I was just hel — helping Dennis with his milk . . . Uh, how are you? I — I'm so hap — happy to see you," Aurelia stammers, flustered.
Neville scowls and busies himself with his dinner.
"How nice of you. I'm happy to see you as well, Aurelia. I was quite excited when they announced that our school would be uniting for this tournament because that meant I could see you."
Aurelia blushes.
"Well, I must get back before Karkaroff notices I've wandered off. I'll see you around, pretty girl," Noelle says, sauntering back to the Slytherin table where the rest of the Durmstrang students sit.
Moments later the feast comes to an end and Professor Dumbledore gets to his feet, announcing: "The moment has come at last, the Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to give some words of explanation before we bring in the casket."
"Well, that doesn't sound morbid at all," Aurelia mutters sarcastically, Dennis hears her and giggles.
Aurelia pays little attention to his speech, she's got no reason to as she can't enter the tournament. Not that she would want to if she could. Professor Dumbeldore asks Mr. Filch to bring in the casket which he does and then he continues on explaining. Aurelia leans her head on Neville's shoulder, only half-listening to what's being said. The only thing that catches her attention is the actual Goblet of Fire and that's because it's blue and looked cool.
"Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet. Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night the goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools. The goblet will be placed in the entrance hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete. To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation, I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the entrance hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line," Professor Dumbledore explains.
"Or you could just cancel the tournament all together," Aurelia mutters.
"Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract."
That doesn't sound good at all, Aurelia thinks as she shudders.
"Now, I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all," He finishes his speech with a light tone.
With that students start clambering out of the Great Hall. As Aurelia walks beside Neville, she can hear Fred and George complaining about the age line and Hermione scolding them for it. Fred pushes his way between Aurelia and Neville, slinging his arm around her shoulder as he asks: "What about you, Blue? Are you going to try and enter?"
"Ugh, as if," She groans, "I'd fucking die if I got in. I don't want anything to do with that bloody tournament. It's too dangerous for me!"
Suit yourself," Fred says, retracting his arm from around her shoulder and turning back to his brother.
"Besides, I'm not worthy enough, the Goblet'd never pick me. Aurelia sighs.
Neville shakes his head "That's not true, you're very worthy."
The comment and the sweet smile on his face leaves Aurelia positively giddy for the rest of the night.