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Chapter 9: Alone Again
A few days after Lupin had mended Aurora's arm, his patient sat nibbling at her breakfast in the Great Hall. She was alone; Remus was in his room, asleep and trying to recover his strengths from the transformation of the night before. Aurora looked down at her arm, at the bandage that lay around it, and felt lonely and vaguely homesick. She missed Remus, she missed his teasing, his quick smile, and the way he made her feel calm and protected. Aurora glanced down at the Daily Prophet that lay in front of her. She and Remus always read the paper together; he reading the headlines to her, and she leaning over his arm to see more details. It had become a soothing tradition, and a pleasant way to start the day. But this morning the paper held little interest with her, and she scanned a bored eye over the front page, looking up when she heard the loud flutter of owl wings that signaled another days mail arrival. Before Aurora could react properly a large brown Owl came barreling towards her, a large package in it's claws. Dropping the package, along with several letter, in her lap, it flew of to the Owlery for a well deserved rest.
"What on earth...?" Aurora muttered softly to herself, putting her letters on the table and unwrapping the large parcel. She slid a fingernail into the brown wrapping and peeked into the hole she had made.
"The Firebolt!" she breathed softly to herself, "Well done Sigourney!"
To the left of Aurora was an empty chair, normally occupied by the professor Aurora found herself missing, and next to that sat Professor Dumbledore. He had watched with interest as the large parcel had been dropped in Aurora's lap.
"What have you got there, Professor Knightly?"
Aurora looked up from the Firebolt. Grinning she said, "Bribery, sir." She showed him the handle of the broomstick, "The only way I could get my sixth years to learn advanced Accio charms was to promise them we could strip down a Firebolt."
"Ah ha, " replied the old wizard knowingly, "always a handy tool, bribery. I remember, " he said, a smile visible through his cascading white beard, "I used to tempt my students with Fizzing Wizzbees and Lemon Drops. I see you've upped the notch a bit from my day. I assume your father lent it to you?"
"Actually my sister sent it..." Her voice trailed off, and she hoped Dumbledore would not pursue the topic.
He narrowed his eyes slightly, "Is he still not accepting you version then? I had thought after I spoke with him..." He sentence also was left unfinished.
Aurora could not look at his kind eyes, "No, I'm afraid he still believes Fudge. I doubt whether he will ever come around."
"Do not give up, my dear, " he said gently, placing a hand on the arm of Remus' chair, "there are many others who will believe you...If you tell them, of course."
Almost tartly she replied, "I don't really intend on telling anyone. If my own father will not believe me, I doubt whether others will be any more sympathetic."
Dumbledore looked at her over the top of his glasses, "Do not be so sure, Aurora. Some people have had to deal with such prejudices for their entire lives. They, more than anyone, would likely be very understanding."
Her glance at him was almost pleading, as though she wished him not to say that. "I wouldn't want to risk it,"
Dumbledore's voice became serious, "And do you wish to stay apart your entire life? You are young, Aurora. There is no need for you to not have a normal life."
"I do have a normal life," she replied defensively. "There are just certain things that would be silly to pursue, I don't want to have to go through that sort of rejection again."
"And did you ever consider how your rejection of others would make them feel?" He leaned slightly over Remus' chair and look at her closely, "Perhaps you ought to realize that your choices will cast the same rejection over others that you so wish to avoid yourself."
The old wizard leaned back in his own chair, casting only a last intent glance in Aurora's direction. She sat quite still in her chair for a few seconds, then picked up her fork and tried to swallow a few bits of egg. She had little appetite, though, and so, picking up her mail and the Firebold, she made her way out of the Great Hall. Emerging from it she walked slowly towards her classroom. Dumbledore's words troubled her, although she disliked admitting it. She had known him her entire life, and never known his advice to be wrong. But, for the first time she did not want to heed it. She was scared of having to repeat a scene that had troubled her ever since it had occurred....
She lay on a small bed in a darkened room, the only light coming from a small candle that lay on a table near the door. She tried to open her eyes wider to gather where she was, but she found that they wanted to stay shut, so she closed them again and lay still.
After a time it felt like something was weighing very heavily on her and she attempted to shift her position. She rolled over, but a tremor of pain shot up her spine and she fell once again on her back, a slight gasp escaping through her lips. After this she did not move, for she did not know why she was in so much pain, and it scared her. Still, the heaviness persisted and, as she became more alert, it worsened. A coldness settled over her, and her breathing became ragged and dry. No longer did she feel as though she was lying on a solid bed, instead it was though an abyss was opening beneath her and at any moment would swallow her whole. Her thoughts swirled, focussed only on things that made her ache more and more. She felt as though something was missing from her, but, though she tried desperately to find it, she could not. She lay for a time in a state of panic, not knowing what was happening, until the door to the room opened slowly and a little thin woman stepped inside. She shrank inwardly against her mattress and frantically tried to move. Quickly the woman stepped near, and placed a warm hand on her forehead.
"Shhh. It's all right now." The woman turned her head towards the doorway, "You have visitors."
She opened her eyes as wide as was possible, and saw a young woman with long dark hair standing in the doorway. The nurse nodded her head and stepped aside. The girl ran over to her bedside, and knelt over her.
"Aurora," she said softly, "it's me."
Aurora...She realized that must be who she was, but she was not exactly sure who the girl in front of her was. Something sparked in the back of her mind, but it flew away like the fastest snitch before she could even get a hold of it.
"It's me, " the kneeling girl repeated in a soft low tone, "Sigourney...your sister."
For a moment the heaviness over her dissipated, and memories flooded into her. "Sig..." Her voice was barely audible, dry and crackly from disuse, but her sister heard it.
"They told us you might not remember, " Sigourney continued, holding her sister's clamy hands in her own, "but I didn't believe them. I said the only thing my big sister ever forgets are directions." She smiled down at Aurora, although her eyes were misted over and her voice was low. She reached over and pushed away a strand of golden hair from her sister's face, and then rose slowly to her feet. "Mother and Father want to see you now, they wouldn't let us all come in at once." She leaned down and kissed her sister's brow softly, "I will be back, though, so no running away."
She watched as the dark hair disappeared from the room, but before she had time to think of what had just happened, she saw four figures standing outside her doorway. It strained her eyes to try and watch them, so she lay against her pillow with eyes shut, and listened.
"She knows who I am," began the first voice.
"Did she say anything?" asked a male voice.
There was no answer, but she thought perhaps Sigourney had shaken her head.
"The doctor says she has said nothing for the past week."
A second male voice spoke, "Not a word, sir. There is a constant voice charm on in her room which would pick up any sound....I'm sorry, ma'am, but the Ministry would not allow her in here otherwise."
"Surely you don't believe that rubbish!" Her sister said indignantly.
"Well...Her injuries match with the Ministry's story. From a medical point of view everything makes sense."
There was silence after this, then the sound of someone walking loudly off. Aurora was wondering vaguely why she had only heard three voices but had seen four people when a shadow was thrown over her, and someone came to stand beside her. She opened her eyes an inch, and saw a women with dark chestnut hair, and deep gray eyes looking down at her. The woman knelt beside her as her sister has done, and ran a finger gently over her cheek. This time she knew exactly who the person was.
"Mother..."
The woman gathered Aurora in her arms and held her without speaking. It was many minutes later when two male voices were heard again. Her mother stiffened at the sound and gently placed her daughter back in bed.
"Alastor, I know she's your daughter, but you must understand. There were witnesses...and the Dementor's don't make mistakes."
There was a pause and then, "Yes, I do understand, Cornelius, but she's my daughter...I can't believe it somehow..."
"Naturally you feel this way. I've known her my whole life, too, and I never suspected..."
"How long until...until they must attempt it again."
"We will wait until she is fully recovered. It is more effective then."
The woman rose then, and her face was exhausted but firm. She began to leave, but leaned over her daughter.
"Do not worry, my darling. They will not come."
She left the room, and Aurora raised her head up weakly to see her one last time, but her mother was already out of the room. Instead a man stood in the doorway. He was partially obscured in the shadows, but she knew him. He had taught her to ride a broomstick, given her her first Butterbear, and read her her first ever Merlin book. She lifted a hand up slightly, as though beckoning him in. But he did not move. His face for a moment was full of confusion, and it looked as though he might walk towards her. Then it changed, and he looked upon her with a glance she knew well. It was the one she herself reserved only for the most despicable of Death Eaters. Turning from her the man strode from the room, his well tailored robe grazing the top of the candle that sat near the door. She did not not lower her hand, but let in hang in disbelief for a moment.
"Daddy..."
Aurora sat down heavily in the chair behind her desk, grasping the Firebolt to her chest. For a few moments she stayed like this, trying to get her breathe back. Then she placed the package from her sister on the desk, and tore idly at the brown wrapping, exposing the entire broomstick. She ran a finger over the golden lettering of the Firebolt, remembering the day they had named it...Then she pushed it away, coming to a decision. I just can't tell him, Albus. Why, it was stupid to even behave like I did! Flirting like that with him, trying to be seventeen again. She leaned back in her chair and stared up at the ancient ceiling for moment. No, I can't tell him. If he ever looked at me the way Father did...Her thought was left to hang, for she could hear the sixth year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws making their way noisily down the hall. Quickly she placed the Firebolt on the floor, and then went and perched on the front of her desk. All her students came pouring in and found their seats amongst much jostling and shoving.
"All right, sixth years, how about we continue with our study of the history of the basic Disappearing Charm?"
There was silence for a moment, then much moaning and groaning.
In pretend sternness she said, "I had expected more of this class. Obviously you don't take your studies seriously enough, for if you did you would know the importance of the Disappearing Charm." Walking behind her desk, she continued, "I suppose there is only way to drill these charms into you head." She picked up the Firebolt, "Would anyone like to practice on this?"
There was another silence, but this time it was followed by a tremendous burst of cheering. The class continued in a much more energetic fashion after that.