Chapter 2.
Dawdling.
Auri woke up with a start. Hermione was shaking her furiously by the shoulder. She looked like a frightened chipmunk madly waving pieces of parchment in front of her face.
She leaned against the bedpost and suppressed a yawn, "Good Morning, Hermione. What's all this?"
"Our schedules of course," she explained hurriedly. "Here is mine. I suggest you get yours." She slipped into black leather shoes and added hastily, "You'll be alright now, won't you? I've got to find Harry and Ron."
Auri's lips tightened and she nodded briefly, trying to sound convincing, "I'll be fine. Don't worry."
"I'm off then," Hermione collected her textbooks and her wand, and sprung off for the door, calling behind her back, "Remember to get your schedule!"
"Oh, I'll get my schedule alright," she sighed. "The problem is I don't have one."
She slipped quietly back into bed and closed her eyes under the covers, falling into a deep, careless sleep. Auri woke up at 12:00 in the afternoon. She put on the robes that Hermione gave her and decided to explore the castle grounds. She grabbed some late breakfast at the Great Hall, and swallowing the piece of toast, nodded approvingly, "Yum. This is so much better than the food in the orphanage." Auri dawdled for what seemed like hours until she ended up in what looked like an owelry. It was a large spacious room that smelled terribly, and where owls roosted and picked at their seeds. Surely no one would find her in this disgusting place.
"Going somewhere?" she heard a voice behind her and turned abruptly.
A thin balding man stood before her with long gray hair with an orange cat with green flickering eyes. This man was known as Argus Filch.
"N-no, sir," Auri said rather nervously.
"Let's see… first day of school, no wand, no textbooks. What do you call this? Dawdling," he cut her off, smirking unpleasantly.
"Well, sir, I was just in the owelry for my - " she began.
"Obviously, you had no intention of going to your classes," he cackled and stroked the cat. He seized her arm and roughly pulled her out of the owelry.
"The headmaster will be happy to see you," he continued triumphantly up the stairs. "Albus Dumbledore will be very pleased indeed."
He whispered a password to a gargoyle, which opened slowly to let them inside. Professor Dumbledore was at his desk enjoying a cup of hot chocolate and candy from Berry Bots. He looked up, unsurprised, as if expecting this all along, and smiled softly, "I presumed you would have a student in for me today, Mr. Filch." He nodded and the thin balding man left with his orange cat.
"Well?" Professor Dumbledore stared at her from his spectacles, sipping the hot chocolate.
"I- um…" she began tensely, and then took a deep breath. "What I am about to tell you is very important, professor. I would… I would appreciate it if you closed the window, please."
Dumbledore put the cup of hot chocolate down and flicked his wand at the window. It closed quietly with a soft clack. Aurora desperately tried to hide her surprise and awe.
"Professor Dumbledore," she said uneasily. "I am what you call here… a muggle. I am an orphan in London. I have these dreams about your wizarding world and in those dreams I found the secret of platform 9 ¾. These dreams are very realistic, and so… here I am now. No wand, no textbooks, but only I plead, I beg of you! Don't send me away."
Professor Dumbledore stood up, and sat down, his hands shaking, and took a sip of the hot chocolate. The mug slipped out of his hands and broke, leaving a stain on the expensive Persian carpet. He cleaned the mess with his wand and said, his voice steadily calming, "You realize your knowledge has put our world in danger." Then he sighed, "I'm sorry my dear, but I will have to erase your memory and send you back."
"No, please!" Aurora cried, her voice cracking. "I want to stay here forever. I want to learn magic, sir. I want… I want friends. I've made friends here. Please, don't send me back to that horrible place! I won't tell, I swear! If you want, I'll never leave your side, that way you can watch me more closely if you haven't trust!" She fell onto the floor, sobbing, her shoulders shaking.
"And I know something you don't," she wept. "I know that Lord Voldemort is planning on killing Harry Potter! He's returning, sir."
"This… this is not possible," the headmaster whispered, placing his moon shaped glasses on his desk. "How… how could you know? You have no connection with the Dark Lord. It's impossible."
"Well send me back then," she cried even harder. "But my dreams won't go away no matter what charm you place on me. They always come back. I always have nightmares."
Auri took the chair and flung it out the window, screaming, "You want magic, sir? I'll show you magic! And then you can send me to your stupid wizarding prison and I will rot and die! And you'll never see me again." She snatched an intricate lamp with hanging crystals and smashed it at the wall, along with many other objects. She collapsed onto the floor, breathing heavily.
"Care for butterbeer?" the headmaster asked weakly, dragging her to a chair.
"Y-yes, please," she mumbled, tears still streaming down her face.
Professor Dumbledore handed her a glass of foamy yellow liquid and she devoured it in one swallow, leaning back against the chair.
"I won't send you back," he said quietly. "You are free to attend this school." Auri flung her arms around his crying softly on the headmaster's shoulder. "Thank you sir, thank you," she whispered.
"Very well then," Professor Dumbledore said, readjusting his glasses. "You will come at 8:00 in the afternoon for magic classes. "Now put this hat on. It maybe late, but…" he chuckled and placed a Sorting Hat on her head.
"You've got guts and courage," the Sorting Hat mumbled. "Very clever, desperate I see. Brave and quiet… Kind, you have been through much… GRYFFINDOR!"
"Very well then," she said quietly, smiling. "Off you go."
By the time Aurora arrived in the Gryffindor Common Room it was getting dark. She spotted her new friends by the roaring fireplace, doing their homework.
"Where were you?" Hermione wrapped her arms around her, nearly choking her to death.
"Oh come on," Auri said mysteriously. "I had a little business to attend to."
"You look a little red," Ron noticed. "Have you been crying? Where were you?"
"N-no, of course not," she blushed. "I was at Dumbledore's office."
"Dumbledore?" Harry looked up at her, eyes narrowed. "What for?"
"I- I'll tell you later," Auri replied, looking away. "Especially you, Harry. You should know this."
"Know what?" Harry said testily.
"You don't like me much, do you?" she sighed and shook her head. It's very important, but I've got to trust you first." Auri smiled briefly and swallowed hard.
"I'm going to bed, alright?" she said wearily. "Good night." She stood up and left.
"She's a bit… odd," Hermione said uncomfortably.
"Yep," Ron sighed with a dreamy expression on his face.
"You like her, don't you?" Hermione said with a smirk on her face.
"What? No," Ron said, caught off guard.
"Ronnie's in love," Hermione giggled. He hit her lightly in the shoulder.
"She said something about trust," Harry said aloud, talking more to himself than anyone in the room. "She… she has a secret."
"That's quite obvious," Hermione scoffed and gathered her books. "Good Night, Harry. Ron."