/N :
Kat wishes to know if she can now officially kill the bastard French. Please? Pretty please? She'll love you all forever if you let her . . .
Dedication : Katie, who originally typed up this chapter before I lost it on my computer, Catherine, who typed it up the second time but then her comp buggered up. And all of the carp faeries and those in the cult. If you wish to join, ask in your review.
I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT ALL OF MY CHARACTERS! [And there are a lot of them . . .]
Oooh and by the way the songs mean nothing at the start. It just happens to be what I am listening to . . .
Please please forgive me
But I won't be home again
Maybe some day you'll look up
And barely conscious you'll say to no one
Isn't something missing?
You won't cry for my absence I know
You forgot me long ago
Am I that unimportant?
Am I so insignificant?
Isn't someone missing me?
Even though I'd be sacrificed
You won't try for me, not now
Though I'd die to know you love me
I'm all alone . . .
Isn't someone missing me?
# Missing – Evanescence #
Aurora was woken suddenly by someone tugging her duvet off of her. After dinner she had gone back to bed for she had been tired, and she had been sleeping for that long. "What?" she mumbled.
"Come on!" It was Serena. "We have to go!"
"Go where?" she mumbled a bit louder.
Serena sighed. "Don't question, just do!"
Aurora stumbled out of bed and changed into some random clothes in the blink of an eye. "Where - ?"
Serena took her hand and dragged her out of the room. Once outside, she banged Aurora's door closed and translocated them both to a room which Aurora knew to be somewhere off one of the main corridors of the school. Aurora could not believe the sight which met her eyes.
Virtually every Elder was there of all three good Orders - all of the members of the so-called 'High Council'. She could see Lana, her mother's best friend standing next to her husband David, Olivia's ex-husband. Her mother's own husband, Jon, was standing over in a corner with some children. When Aurora looked a bit closer she saw that all of her siblings were there, including Matilda.
Matilda's nickname was Tilly. She was fourteen, and had been born before Serena and Jon had got married. She was a pretty girl, though small for her age. Her hair was a deep brown, which was odd as Serena had golden-brown hair and Jon was blond. Her eyes were a bright blue, like Aurora's were most of the time, and when she smiled these eyes came alive. She would be taking her Knife Test on the 24th of December, four months after her birthday as was the tradition. The whole of the High Council would be there, as hers was a particularly important Test.
All of the people stared at Aurora, their faces black but their eyes and minds speaking volumes to her. She was strongly trying to resist the sudden urge to stick her tongue out at them. They all, of course, seemed to hate her guts, but underneath the ostensible hate she could sense pity for her situation, ad even some regret. She could also sense anger, but the exact source of hate she could not pinpoint.
"Serena?" Lana was the first to speak. "Have you told her why she is here? Anything at all?" Aurora could tell Lana was still uncomfortable being around her after the whole 'stairs incident' as they liked to call it.
"Nothing," answered Serena, who seemed on the verge of tears. "I could not bring myself to speak of it."
"Good." Lana turned to Aurora, her chocolate-brown eyes looking intently into Aurora's now bright blue ones. "We have something to tell you, and to ask you if you know anything about it. Somehow we presume not, as you have been ill for so long, but we are all here just in case. Shall I?" She glanced around, and various Elders nodded slightly. "I really don't know how to tell you this, so I shall just tell it to you straight. Your father has escaped."
Aurora laughed. "Right! And you actually expect me to believe that? It's not even April 1st!"
"We also knew that you would not believe us, so we thought we would show you this." Lana flicked her fingers slightly, and a large television-like screen appeared in front of Aurora, separating her from the rest of the people in the room. The screen was like the one she had seen her father on before when she had taken the events of the last High Council meeting from Mara's mind, and this one showed pretty much the same view. Her father, sitting against a wall in some sort of cave or small cave-type room, chained heavily to both the wall and the floor. He appeared heavily sedated; his head slumped to his chest. The same scene was seen for about a minute, until suddenly his head rose, his eyes open and alert. Somehow he melted the chains holding him down away, and he stood up, stretching like a cat. Then he moved over towards the cave opening, for it actually was a cave, the 'camera' following him. Lana flicked her fingers again, and the screen disappeared.
"He killed five of our best guards after that," she said.
Aurora was trying hard to keep her face straight and not to smile. "So he's gone?"
"Yes."
"And you don't know where he is?"
"No."
"And you were wondering if I knew anything about it."
"Yes."
"Well, as I'm sure you already know from picking my brains, I don't know anything as I've been ill for the last three weeks. What would I know? Ah," she smiled at her thought. "You want me to, in a way, work for you, don't you? To tell you if I see him."
Lana looked slightly guilty. "Yes."
"Why exactly would I do that? This is a man I've never met, but would die to meet, who happens to be one of my closest blood relations and would probably accept me, and you want me to lure him to me so you can capture him again and never let me see him? Did you seriously think I'd agree to that?"
"Well-"
"What do I get in return?"
"Forgiveness," Serena answered this time.
"Forgiveness for what? For my sins?"
"For what you did to me. We will try to help you again."
"I don't need bloody help! I am me. I am evil. I take after my father in that respect, and I don't want you to try and 'help' me in any way! I don't want to leave here and my best friend. About the incident Lan, I'm sorry, I really am. From the bottom of my blackened and poisoned heart I'm sorry. But how many times do I have to tell you? It was not me. It was her! Sometimes I can't control myself, she takes over and I have to suffer the consequences of her actions. Even when I didn't know about her, before I came here, I knew that it wasn't me doing what she made me do." Everyone was still staring at her after this little outburst, but she still carried on. "So no, I won't work for you, whatever you offer me, whether it is forgiveness and new teaching, chocolate or even immortal life. I could never do that to someone I love, even if I do not know him or remember anything that he has done. I still love him as I love any member of my extended family or friends. Never will I work for the good side of this battle."
Aurora turned and marched out of the room, her hair flying, tears pouring down her face for no apparent reason. Serena called after her, but she would not, and even could not, stop. Quickly she translocated herself into one of the main corridors near to the dungeons, scattering a bunch of third-year girls who were whispering behind their hands about some of the boys. She could feel the Morion presences moving with her, but she did not stop even for them. She muttered the password for the Common Room angrily and ran inside. Draco rose from where he had been sitting, but stopped as he saw the tears on her cheeks. She ran straight past him and up the stairs, blasting her door into splinters. She was still crying, and she did not know why. Surely she should be happy her father had escaped? Collapsing onto the floor, she saw two people appear in front of her.
"Really Aurora, do you have to make so much mess?" The woman turned and mended the door with a quick flick of her hand. Aurora could not help smiling.
"Always so tidy aren't we Liv?"
"Well, someone has to be around here, because you certainly aren't." Olivia glanced around. "It's tidy at the moment, but I bet Serena tidied it for you. It certainly wasn't this tidy when I came here last."
"You've been here before?"
"We came to see you when you were ill."
"She didn't tell me about that."
"Of course she didn't. Now Rora we must talk about why we are really here."
Aurora looked pained. "Did you know -?"
"Yes, and we have been trying to tell you ever since you woke yesterday, but we feared Serena and what she would do if we showed ourselves again. I believe she knows I am here, but we have hidden his," she indicated Will, who stood next to his mother, "presence well."
"If she finds out and tells Mara-"
"She'll go after you with a pitchfork!" Will laughed.
"They all will." Aurora found herself crying again. "Dammit! Why does this keep happening to me?"
Will came to sit on the floor next to her. "You've just found out something that is both shocking and really quite exciting. You're still in shock from finding it out."
"They're coming," Olivia said. "I have to go. So should you amin yondo." With that she shimmered and disappeared. [A/N : My son]
"Are you going?" asked Aurora.
"No," answered Will. "You need someone here who really understands you, and I seem to be that person right now." He put his arm around her, and she could smell his scent. It was odd; Draco never really seemed to smell of much, whereas Will always smelled of . . . Will. She remembered his scent well, too well. His long dark hair brushed hers, and she caught some of it in her fingers, feeling its softness beneath her fingertips. What would Draco say if he saw them this close?
"He would probably be very jealous," Will answered to her thoughts.
"He'd probably kill us." She stopped and thought for a moment, her fingers still caught in his hair. "But we've always been this close, friends or otherwise, ever since we were small." She smiled. "Do you think that she's gone to look for him?"
"Probably."
"She still loves him, doesn't she?"
"Always has done, always will do." Like me. she heard him think.
"Don't-" She bit her lip to try and hold back the tears.
"Don't think what you just thought. I – I'm meant to be happy with Draco. He's meant to be my Beloved. But -"
"You still regret what happened with us?"
"Of course I do," Aurora whispered, the tears she had fought to hold back now streaming steadily down her face. Will caught some of them in his palm where they turned to small diamonds. He kissed each of her cheeks tenderly, and then stood up.
"There are people coming, so I am going to go." He reluctantly let go of her hand. "Be brave Rors. We'll find him so don't worry. I bet he doesn't even know who you are any more." He kneeled in front of her, and she wrapped her arms around in a great bear-type hug before he kissed each of her palms and then her forehead affectionately in the benediction ritual. Then he shimmered and disappeared, leaving her utterly alone.
The door burst open. Aurora looked up to see a multitude of people standing there. She found out that she was still holding the tiny teardrop diamonds, which Will had slipped into her hand as he left. She shoved these under her bed, which she was now sitting with her back to. In the doorway was a range of figures, from her golden-eyed mother and her husband Jon, to Lana and her husband David, to Aurora's brother and sisters, to Draco, a quill still in his hand, dripping ink onto the floor, forming a small pool.
"What are you staring at?" Aurora demanded. "I'm slightly shocked and would like to be alone if you please to gather my thoughts and get over all of this. Please leave."
"But -"
"No Amme, no buts. I need all of you to leave me alone for a few weeks so I can think. But not about your offer, Lana, because that will never, ever, ever happen. Not in one hundred million years."
With that, Serena shimmered and disappeared, followed by everyone else except Draco and Matilda. Aurora stood up.
"Tilly -"
"I know, I must go."
"Good luck with the Test, yeah? You can always come and talk to me if you need to. I'll be at Draco's over the holidays if you need to come and see me. Oh, and tell Amme I'll be coming back to the house to pick up the rest of my stuff when school finishes, and also to visit Eldara's grave, the field and my Tree."
"Sure." Matilda moved towards Aurora with some hesitation before giving her a quick hug. "See you soon." She shimmered and disappeared.
"What the - " Aurora had almost forgotten that Draco was still there.
"Oh by the Lady Draco. What a mess I've got myself into."
A/N :
There are quite a few hints in here of things that may happen later. If you pay attention you may realise what they are [or if you've already read ahead . . .] Look at lengthy descriptions is all that I'm saying . . .
glitzydancingshoes : Thank God I decided not to do D of E. All of my mates do it. Poor them and poor you. What are you doing? Bronze, silver or gold? Pointless excuses are stupid. Don't bother with them. You'd eat one of my chapters? That's awfully nice of you!
Clairie – I don't update because I can't be bothered. Fact. What do you mean about 3 doors down? Who are they? Porn story is sort of porn. But it has to happen some time – they are teenagers! And it's not like it's in great detail. [To all of you that have no idea what the hell I'm on about – I've written up to chapter 23 in which something happens . . . ]
Addie – IT IS NOT PORN! It is not. I tell you. It is not. Shall I wear my t-shirt again on Friday?
Katie - . . . bored . . . I do so live in Nottigham! You know nothing! How was Greek? Hope twas OK luv! Your elderly lobster no 1 was in a film on Saturday. He looked quite nice . . . MY MUM HAS SEEN HIM IN THE FLESH TOPLESS!!!!! DAMN HER!
Luthien Goldberry – [I'm not Addie, that's Bex]
A-G-S – Greetings dingbat! Yeah because you're however many hours behind us it's Monday for us. I'm going to see PoA on Friday again! Whoo! The masterpiece has ground to a halt. This is in full flow at the mo. So it'll be a while till I can be bothered to write more on that.
lupu – BLINK BLINK BLINK BLINK BLINK BLINK BLINK! WHOO! That is all I have to say to you.
Rje – PoA is odd. Sort of good, sort of not because it leaves out stuff or changes it. But TAF and Leonard . . .
meenyrocks – I'm sorry you can't update! I'm meant to be revising too . . . Oh well! I'll just do badly as always!
DLSnapeKurama18 – I'd be in your band if you didn't live God-knows how many thousand miles away! And I'd need a kit too . . . Of course it sucks for Aurora – she's a teenager!
If you people hurry up and review I may put up another chapter this week . . .
