1 Chapter 13

Aurora was on her way back to the common room with Beth. As she walked through the corridors, she noticed that for the time after a Quidditch match, the halls were unusually deserted, and the shadows were moving in an unnatural way.

"God, Beth, I feel so nervous!" Aurora exclaimed.

"Don't worry. Hey, I got to hurry and get showered… The last one in there is a rotten egg!" Beth laughed, before running off, without noticing the odd shadows. "Hey! You didn't even count, that's cheating!" Aurora made to run, but she stopped to look at the shadows.

"Who's there?" Demanded Aurora, whirling around, only to find they were just moving strangely in the candlelight. But then, from the common room she heard voices.

"Quickly! We must find the traces of him before he gets away again!" One voice, a males whispered.

"But we cannot find them. Are you sure she has them all?" The other, a female asked.

"Of course I'm not sure! The man we set to tail her got drunk in Hogsmede, remember?" The man replied angrily. Aurora ran into the common room.

"Okay, I know you're in there! Who is it?! If you're playing tricks, I swear I..." Aurora trailed off, as she saw only shadows. But then two figures cloaked in black whirled around to face Aurora. The male voice spoke, it was impossible to tell which, as their cowls were down and their faces could not be seen.

"Ahh! Discovered!"

"Who are you?!" Aurora demanded.

"It's the girl. We must not be caught" The female voice said, ignoring Aurora.

"Time for us to vanish" The male stated,

"Caught at what…?" Aurora was confused. One of the cloaked figures laughed.

"Don't worry girl. When this is over, you will think you imagined us."

One of the figures threw blinding powder at Aurora, who dodged the caustic powder and came up with her wand ready to petrify, only to find that they had vanished.

"Aurora?! What are you doing?" Beth called from upstairs.

"Huh? They're gone. Ack! Now I have to go and clean up!" A voice came from the shadows, just before the door to the Hufflepuff common room closed.

"Now. Forget we came. If you need to know of us, you will in time..."

"AURORA! SOMEBODY HAS GONE THROUGH OUR STUFF!!" Beth screamed. Aurora ran up the stairs to her room, to find their things strewn across the floor.

"What?! Is any of our stuff missing?!" Aurora asked quickly.

"Nothing of mine. Check your stuff!" Beth advised. Aurora checked everything, for a solid 2 minutes, before throwing up her hands in frustration.

"The Ruby! It's GONE!" Aurora wailed. Beth looked curiously at Aurora.

"What ruby? Aurora, is there something you're not telling me?" Beth queried.

"Oh, it's probably nothing at all. Don't worry. We got to get dressed for the ballroom party. Come on, and later, we can report to somebody in charge what happened, okay?" 'And I got to talk to Nitrotic about this…' Aurora thought to herself.

"If you are really sure, okay..." Beth said uncertainly.

As Aurora got to the Ballroom doors with Beth, two more figures in black vanished, with Beth having seen the two.

"What were they?!" Beth cried, frightened. She clung to Auroras arm.

"Those were the same guys I saw in the common room, they must had been the ones that went though our stuff!" Aurora realised.

"I'm not sure I want to go in, what if they cursed everybody in there?" Beth quivered.

"What are you talking about? You sound like a coward, what if Haer'Dalis is in there hurt? And what of Nitrotic?" Aurora demanded.

"Haer'Dalis?" Beth asked cautiously. She got more confident, but not much more. "You're right, we have to go in there to make sure everyone's okay!" But when the doors opened, the ball was in full swing, and the pair relaxed. The open doors revealed an amazing-looking room, which was adorned with golden colours of hues all over, as well as magical hanging chandeliers from the ceilings.

"Oh. I feel silly now." Beth mumbled.

"I knew it, nothing would be wrong in here." Aurora proclaimed, before walking into the Ballroom, making a grand entrance. Quickly Aurora took inventory of the room, with about 200 round tables, all of them with four chairs around them, and crimson tablecloths. All the teachers were there, except Dumbledore, which made Aurora think back to the note that Nitrotic had found in Dumbledore's office. She cast it from her mind though, as she looked for Nitrotic so she could wow him, and so she could talk to him about the mysterious figures…

As if on cue, Nitrotic himself strode confidently in through the other entrance to the Ballroom. He wore a pale grey vest and a long cloth covering both sides of his lower region. Spreading from his back was a pair of magnificent white feather Angel wings. He also wore a Hogwarts scarf, and his right arm was covered in an armoured sleeve, strapped on around his chest.

'Wow, he looks good. Wait a minute, that's an angel costume he has on. Hehehehe. He looks handsome as a angel, oddly enough…' Aurora thought rapidly to herself.

Next to Nitrotic, Haer'Dalis walked in, dressed as a horrible demon. The two pairs met in the middle of the ballroom.

"Wow. Nitrotic's going as an angel and you're a demon? Are you sure that you two didn't mix up your costumes?" Beth giggles, as they stopped. Haer'Dalis laughed a full, tone rich, flowing laugh, causing Beth to blush.

"Of course not, my swan! I just thought it'd be amusing to reverse roles for a night." Haer'Dalis stated, amusement laced subtly through his voice.

"You guys suck!" Nitrotic grumbled, as Aurora, Beth and Haer'Dalis laughed. Aurora made an effort to look good as she moved over to Nitrotic

"Hello, Nitrotic. You know, you look great." Aurora told Nitrotic, managing to keep herself from blushing. Nitrotic bowed deeply, almost hitting Aurora with his wings. Aurora giggled, and curtsied back.

"Like the wings?" Nitrotic asked anxiously.

"Oh, they look grand on you. Too bad they're not real" Aurora sighed. Nitrotic grinned.

"Heh. Too bad."

"Okay, enough with the formalities! Let's dance!" Aurora ordered as the band struck up a slow melody to start with. Nitrotic looked bewildered as Aurora put hands in his. "I'm waiting to dance. Lead me?"

Nitrotic did so, surprising himself by not fumbling, tripping, or screwing up in any manner. His mind was working at a billion thoughts a nanosecond.

'Oh jeeze! I'm dancing with her! And I'm not even screwing up!' He thought.

"Ahh, this is so nice." Aurora sighed as she moved close, just enough so she could rest her head on his shoulders. Nitrotic gulped uncertainly.

"It is pretty nice." He said, again surprising himself by not having his voice break as he said it, or some other wretched misfortune occurring. He moved his hand down lower on her back. She looked up at him with starry eyes.

"Now if only we had something nicer to top this off with." Aurora said suggestively. She leaned in even closer to Nitrotic. Aurora gazed into Nitrotic's eyes, which she noticed looked as if they had glitter in them.

"You know, I never noticed, but you have really nice eyes... For a guy." Aurora complimented. She surprised Nitrotic then by blushing and continuing. "And nice lips too." She leaned in closer.

"You have nice smelling hair." Nitrotic inserted, before throwing caution to the wind and kissing Aurora passionately. Aurora wrapped her arms around him, kissing him back, not even caring that they're in the middle of a ballroom with everyone watching. Haer'Dalis tapped Nitrotic on the back and whispered to the pair.

"Everybody is watching you, because the music has stopped and you're STILL STANDING!"

Aurora slowly stopped kissing Nitrotic and took a step back, as though awed.

"Wow, that was something else, Nitrotic." Aurora blushed furiously as she saw everyone staring at her.

"If you're finished, our seats are over there" Haer'Dalis pointed. "I got us a table together"

"Great! Then we can grab some food to eat." Aurora realised her stomach was rumbling. Everyone was sitting at their tables, as Nitrotic and Haer'Dalis sat.

"Hmmm. I wonder if these people will make me a Chicken burger" Nitrotic said as he looked helplessly at the Menu. He tried it out by speaking.

" Chicken Burger" He looked down at his plate, but nothing happened. "Awww, damnit! Then just chicken, peas and potato" They appeared on the plate.

"Hmm, I could go for a chicken cordon Bleu..." Aurora thought aloud. It popped into existence on the table, much to Aurora's surprise. "I didn't know they did French!"

"And a glass of wine" Nitrotic added to his order. His goblet filled with white wine. Aurora grinned impishly at Nitrotic, before ordering the wine herself. Nitrotic inspected his wine, before loudly complaining.

"I wanted red wine, not white!" And the goblet drained itself, like a bath with the plug removed, before refilling with the red wine. "That's better!" Nitrotic speared a potato on his fork, then put the whole thing in his mouth, but started struggling almost instantly.

"Mmmmpppphhh!" Nitrotic started gagging, and choking. Aurora noticed, and slapped him on the back.

"Careful, NEVER eat your food whole." Aurora ordered sternly.

"Thank you mother!" He said sarcastically. He cut the potato in half before trying again, munching contentedly. Aurora giggled, and quietly ate her food while taking sidelong glances at Nitrotic every so often. She therefore saw him take a flask from his vest, and pour some of its contents into his goblet. He swirled the goblet for a bit before taking a sip, and sighing in approval.

"That's better" He sighed, before drinking deeply from the goblet. Aurora looked at him curiously. "What's that?" She asked. Nitrotic grinned, and put a finger to his lips in a hushing gesture. Nitrotic quickly polished off the rest of his meal, and washed the rest down with his goblet of wine. Aurora had already wolfed hers down in the most ladylike way possible, and just sipped her wine.

"So, you gonna tell me what that was you put in your wine?" Aurora whispered.

"When you're older." Nitrotic winked, and grinned. Professor McGonagall stood up and addressed the school.

Aurora gave him a sidelong glare for that remark, before she looked up to the professor.

"Will all students please stand up for the next dance?" As the band struck up a quick waltz, and everyone stood, Nitrotic said to Aurora: "I'm not much for a waltz myself, are you Aurora?"

"Nope." Aurora told him.

Taking her by surprise, Nitrotic grabbed Aurora by the hand, and snuck out of the ballroom.

"Nitrotic, what are you doing?" Aurora asked, furiously blushing as she took a wild guess of what Nitrotic planned to do... Concerning her. Nitrotic, however, gave no answer at all and continued to lead the way.

Nitrotic led Aurora the long, twisty path up to the Astronomy Tower, until they stood on the highest vantage point they could find. By this time, the wine Aurora had drunk was affecting her and her judgement. Nitrotic lead Aurora out onto the roof, and helped her sit down. Having done that, he sat and then laid down himself.

"The stars are always nice around here." Nitrotic sighed.

Aurora blinked, almost disappointed that he hadn't done what she had thought Nitrotic would do. She looked up, and just smiled as she saw the glittering lights. She didn't really mind that Nitrotic had only led her up here to do some stargazing instead of making out like mad.

"Yeah, the stars look so clear from here." She smiled, as she looked down at Nitrotic.

Joshin lay in her room, looking out towards the Astronomy Tower. She liked looking at the stars, but tonight she saw two people on the tower.

"Stupid people. I hate people who get all mushy like that." Joshin complained, to nobody in particular. Her thoughts flashed to Draco, and she smiled.

"Aurora, what are you doing? Careful, you don't want to fall." Nitrotic warned, as Aurora tried her best to get a little closer to Nitrotic. Aurora just giggled.

"Hmm, I feel so light-headed... Here, reach for me...I want to get a little closer to you." Aurora murmured, as she put a hand out to Nitrotic, all the while wobbling on the roof as she did her best to keep her balance.

Nitrotic reached out for her, all the while looking at her questioningly.

"Aurora, are you feeling okay?"

Aurora just smiled as she did her best to reach Nitrotic's hand. "I'm just fine. I just want to get closer to you so I can kiss you..." She blushed as she blurted out the last part, and giggled.

Nitrotic couldn't help but grin at the last part.

"You're pretty loose-lipped now, huh? Don't tell me you drank way too much wine!" He said, half way between a scolding tone and a humorous tone as he edged towards Aurora.

Aurora blinked, as she accidentally stumbled backwards. She regained her balance, though. "Oh, that's odd. I only had like 2 cups of wine! Maybe somebody put something in the wine?" She thought out loud.

Joshin saw the girl stumble backwards, but regain her balance. Joshin just laughed, not caring what really was happening.

"It would be so funny if the stupid half-breed fell." She cruelly grinned, watching the drama as it continued.

"Nitrotic, I've got something to say to you! You smell like a bird!" Aurora giggled. Nitrotic moaned, and covered his eyes.

"That is NOT what normal wine does to a person." Nitrotic sighed. Suddenly, Nitrotic heard a scream, and uncovered his eyes to see that Aurora had fallen. Without thinking, he dove off the edge after Aurora.

"C'mon, C'MON! Come to me Aurora!" He screamed as he gathered speed, catching up to Aurora.

Joshin sat up as she saw the two plummeting. She saw the guy catch up to the falling Aurora, and catch her.

'The two will be remembered as lovers, who couldn't stand to live without each other' Joshin thought mockingly. Then, to Joshin's great surprise, the wings on back of the guy started moving, and flapping. Quickly Joshin raced out of her dorm, and knocked over three people in her rush to the Astronomy Tower.

"NITROTIC!!!" Aurora screamed, clenching her eyes shut. She was so scared to look at the ground rushing up at her, but then something told her to open her eyes; so she did.

The ground was far below her, and was getting further away. She felt strong, human arms hooked in hers in such a way that it was impossible for her to fall.

Aurora looked up, and saw Nitrotic, a look of intense concentration on his face. Aurora then desperately glanced from side to side, and saw the two wings on his back were subtly moving to keep them aloft.

"Nitrotic?" Aurora said uncertainly. "What's going on?"

Nitrotic remained silent, but a tear ran down onto Aurora's cheek.

"Nitrotic?" Aurora repeated, more insistently. Nitrotic swooped in to the Astronomy Tower, and only said one thing.

"Please, don't tell anybody." Then he flew away, not seeming to have any clear direction.

Aurora let out an involuntary sob, without really understanding why she was crying at all.

"Well, our true colours are shown. Or should that be, feathers?" The girl said. Aurora turned, to see Joshin, of Slytherin, a malevolent grin on her face as she stared at Aurora.

"Joshin? You're one of those Slytherins! What are you going to do?" Aurora asked, with a confused look on her face.

Joshin stepped back, holding her hands out in front of her.

"Absolutely nothing! This can just be our little secret." Joshin said sincerely. "If you'd do just one thing for…"

Joshin was cut off as a figure in black appeared on the Astronomy Tower.

"OBLIVIATE!" The figure cried with its wand aimed at Joshin. Aurora looked up at the figure in surprise, and she was sure it was grinning.

"We don't need anyone knowing Nitrotic's secret. By rights, I should Obliviate you too, but I think he would be rather adverse to it."

"Who are you people?" Aurora asked, now even more confused than before.

"If you have ever heard of us, it would be under the name of the Shadow Shifters." The figure laughed, in a deep, merry way, then jumped off the edge.

Aurora gasped, and raced to the edge. But the figure was gone. Nobody falling, nobody squished at the bottom of the tower, just gone. Joshin blinked, and looked around.

"Why am I up here?" Joshin asked, dazed.

"You came up here to tell me McGonagall wanted me in the main hall." Aurora blurted out the first thing that came to mind, covering up her confusion quickly.

"Oh yeah, now I remember. Quickly!" Joshin was puzzled when Aurora kept laughing as they returned to the ball, all traces of the fuzzy mindedness of Aurora mysteriously gone.