Disclaimer / Author's Note I do not own the Harry Potter Universe or its characters. I merely own the original characters you don't recognise.Thank you for reading. I am very excited to be writing this. It's extremely fun to toy with my idea of another Potter. This story will also be updated weekly.

Description Aurora J. Potter grew up privileged, with the price of having to follow all the rules that comes with being a respected pure-blood in wizarding society. She can't choose her own clothes, her own friends, or even her own likes and dislikes. Though she soon realises that her thoughts may not be her own either. There is a bounty out for her head, and there is a psychopath determined to collect it.

Small Note There is a chance that I may take a break for a month or so to pursue my original book. This does not mean I will ever abandon Potter Pure-Blood, as this story is my ultimate pride and joy - I am merely practicing multitasking is all.

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Chapter Eight

Ghost Tradition

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I became obsessed with that damned glass. For the first time since school started I felt like I had a distraction that pushed away the horrible thoughts that'd forced their way into my mind. I'd spend my days in the halls in between class, sitting on the benches and studying how ghost interact with the students that can't see them. They'd float above their heads holding articles from their times, brushing their hair, or simply standing by like they were waiting for something to happen. Sometimes, I wondered if they knew they were dead.

I wanted to float around and leave all of my troubles behind, too.

Hesitantly, I'd been trying to work up the nerve to speak to one of them. For once, my fear allowed me enough time to actually think over everything that could possibly go wrong. I thought they'd be angry with me. Possess me for interrupting their repetitive schedule. Maybe I'd hurt the feelings they had left. The more I thought on it, the more that reality seemed to drift further away from me. Which meant that more and more people began to avoid the girl that was obsessed with ghosts. . .

"Aurora?" Dole's hand waves in front of my glass. He was tall and I'd been looking up at the ceiling at a ghost kid that was playing with a transparent stuffed animal. I sighed and rolled my head back to the back of the bench, annoyed. My eyes had to readjust when I opened both of them at the same time. I lost track of time.

"Where's the damn fire?" I asked, my voice more vicious than I'd intended. He didn't flinch, nor did he correct my language for once. He reached over to take the glass from my hands. I saw his expression laced with concern.

"The Dining hall," he told me. "The Halloween lunch feast is starting and the Trick-Or-Treating is starting at seven."

I'd been looking forward to Halloween. I sat up immediately, the familiar atmosphere that came with the holiday overtaking me. It'd completely slipped my mind when I woke up that morning. My hand lurched forward before I'd even thought about it and snatched my glass back.

Yet, I wondered for a moment if it was right for me to go Trick-Or-Treating. "Isn't that a mu-" I stopped myself as I fiddled with the glass nervously. Then thought against asking about the muggle holiday at all and added; "Are you coming?"

"I don't have a choice," he flashed his badge to me like it were the most obvious thing on the planet that he had to be on duty to lead the students off to the Trick-Or-Treat. I stomped my foot at him, getting the impression that he wouldn't be with me during it and working instead. I couldn't deal with the other students on my own. Not yet, anyhow. "Don't do that."

"Do what?" I put a hand on my hip and straightened my posture. My permission slip to go had been signed days ago with strict instructions much to my surprise, but I didn't want to go if he wasn't going to be right next to me. To protect me from the others, of course. "You won't even be with me."

"I will if it'll make you feel better, I'll stand next to you," he promised me. At first, I didn't believe him. My eyes looked him up and down, trying to detect any sort of dishonesty on his part. All I got was a sincere smile. I was defeated and reluctantly agreed, even knowing that he'd just leave my side the second some stupid kid stepped out of line. It was better than not having him at all, though. Then again I knew I would still complain any chance I got. He grinned at my compliance and put his arm protectively over me after ruffling my once neat hair. "Good girl."

He walked in silence towards the Dining Hall as he listened to me talk non-stop about the glass. His patience was astounding to me. Appreciated most of all. I couldn't help but think of how Anne had always been far too busy to listen to me. Writing. Meetings. Then, more writing. Like she'd been on a deadline.

Could I blame her?

A new feeling came over me as the memories played in my head. Tugging on Anne's pantsuit corners to get her attention when I'd tiptoed into her study. Sitting quietly in the corners when she had The Congress over for an important dinner meeting. She'd never given me a second glance during those, I remembered. Just gave me a sheet of paper and some crayons to keep me busy. Sometimes Dora Calderon would be brought along when she knee I'd be present.

I forced the thoughts from my mind, my heart feeling as though it were playing a rough game of tug-of-war with a heavy rock. No, I didn't have to believe it. Anne loved me. She was just a grown-up. And all grown-ups were too busy, as I've been told. By people like Aunt Marlene. And speak of the devil herself, she was walking briskly from the opposite direction with two peaches in either hand. Then when she saw me, her search looked to be over. I scrunched my nose when she approached.

"Is that all the food that's there?" I asked sourly, imagining all four tables with nothing but fruit baskets on them. "On Halloween?"

She didn't seem to realise what I was talking about. Auntie swallowed the peach she'd bitten, then looked down at her hands as the realisation came to her.

"Oh, goodness no," she waved me off with a laugh, muttering something about how the carbs in that hall would go right to her thighs. She regained her composure. "I just wanted to let you know that your dear aunt mother -" she was talking about Anne, I knew. " - Wrote to me just a bit ago about the whole Trick-Or-Treating thing."

Auntie's eyes then went to Dole, who was listening in as if he were a part of the conversation. She must have wanted him gone for her to continue. I knew that look from anywhere. Pressing my lips together at first, I warily turned to Dole and told him that I'd meet him in the Dining Hall. His expression went like mine - wary - and he looked from me to Auntie.

"You'll escort her back to the hall?" he asked her with concern. Aunt Marlene grinned at him and pointed a thumb towards the way that she came.

"I'll take care of it, chap," she reassured. With that, he nodded at her as a thanks and headed off. I saw him look back every few seconds until he disappeared when he'd turned a corner. Her attention was back to me after she made sure nobody was around. "Listen, she told me to go on this thing with you after I begged her to let you go."

I wasn't surprised, then. Auntie would have had to do a hell of a lot of pleading with Anne to look past the fact that it was a muggle tradition. One that witches and wizards just happen to like doing as well. One of the boys from my lessons a couple of years back had told us that his parents were letting him go that year. When I'd asked Anne, she told me flatly that just because our kind did it now doesn't mean it didn't come from muggle origins. Therefore, the answer was no.

Auntie continued upon my silence.

"Anywho, I feel like the reason for this is because she's concerned," said Marlene. The was grin off of her face and was then replaced with an unfamiliar serious one. "She told me that you wrote to her about Mr. Parr and that glass. . . And how you think you can just solve some sort of case by yourself."

Instinctively, I slipped the glass into my robe pockets. I feared that if she saw it then she would get the idea to take it. Raising my chin a little, I crossed my arms over my chest. She only raised an eyebrow at me im return.

"Because, I could," I insisted with a whine. And I thought it was true. After all, I was the one with the glass. I was the one with all of the intel that came from sources that they didn't even think to check. All because they were dead to them. To me, it didn't matter. They could see me, they could talk to me, and I could talk to them. "If you would just listen to me I could tell you -"

"No, Aurora," Aunt Marlene held up a hand to cut me off. Her eyes were harder now. As were mine upon being interrupted again. I felt my anger rise quickly and I balled my fists at my side. Nevertheless, she continued anyway. "This is grown folks' business. Let's get one thing straight - If I catch your ass out of bed trying to pull some Sherlock Holmes crap I will give you detention. For a week If I have to."

The phrase grown folks' business rang in my head. It was a phrase I'd heard far too often. It made me angry. If they'd just listen to me for five seconds I could tell the grown ups what I knew. What the poltergeist under my bed had told me, the portraits I'd went around to question, even the creature named William that polished the statue of our school founder. But of course, they wouldn't hear of it so long as it was from a portrait, or a ghost, or even a creature that could talk. I felt like a low class mudblood.

"You don't know what you're talking about," I felt myself swallowing my anxiety of talking to an adult like that. Yet, I was too angry to think about what she'd do to me for it. "You're treating me like some - some - mudblo -"

Before I could finish, her hand was on my wrist and her eyes looked more vicious than I'd ever seen them. All my confidence was gone and one swift motion. My anger was now replaced with fear in what felt like a single blink of an eye. Never before had I ever seen Marlene Mckinnon look as though she could strangle someone if she could get away with it.

"You don't ever say that word, do you hear me?" Her tone was low and her expression as sharp as a knife. It was a very different reaction when I'd said it in front of others before. I got the cold shoulder, usually. They looked hurt and moved away from me. They'd stare at me as if I'd burnt them and go tattle. But Auntie took it more personally than any pureblood I'd ever seen. Slowly, I nodded to her and chose silence. Looking me up and down, she let me go and ushered me to walk with her to the Dining Hall doors. Just as she'd promises Dole.

We walked in complete silence, my eyes looking at my feet the entire time. Every so often, she'd look at me. And with each look her expression grew softer. We stopped at the Dining Hall entrance. I took a step forward to enter but her hand was on my shoulder before I could. She turned me around to face her.

"I'm sorry," she told me sincerely. "I. . .I didn't mean to snap like that."

I only nodded at her silently in understatement, even if I happened to be boiling on the inside. She only let out a breath when I'd refused to look at her. It was wise, when I'd only gotten a small nudge to enter the Dining Hall. Just like that, nothing more was said about it. I didn't forget it, though. That is, until I saw the overwhelming sight of food that towered onto the tables. Bowls full of candy. Things I hadn't seen before. My eyes tried to adjust to the colors I was seeing just enough to see where Dole is, in our usual spot at the end of the table, daintily peeling back a wrapper to a pastry.

As I moved to my place the stares followed me again. Occasionally, I heard that infamous nickname 'Potter Pureblood' being thrown at me. And each and every time, it cut me. It hurt me. And It was so hard to ignore it. The first thing that came to my mind was to snap at them. Look them up and down and try to find their most smallest insecurities to use against them in the heat of the moment. But as I did, the anxiety I had chose to intimidate the words back down my throat. It made me swallow thickly and continue my way, seething with anger more at myself than them.

Pathetic. Goddamn pathetic.

"Aurora, look," Dole was oblivious to my current state, reaching to the stacked platter of wrapped pastries and waving one in my face as I sat down. I snatched it to keep it from blocking my vision. As I narrowed my eyes irritably at him I read the front of the oval shaped treat.

"Honey Bun?" I curled my lip in disgusting, tossing it back to the platter it'd come from. He gave me a look, but I refused to taste this muggle treat. It came from filth. Just being around it made me wonder what Anne would say. My eyes went over all of the other bowls and played. Muggle treats. Almost all of the candy and most of the pastries. I settled for a cupcake with white whipped frosting on the far end of the table. Strawberry, my favorite.

"You won't even try it?" Dole asked me, lowering his voice a little. It was a precaution, I knew. Because it was what he did when he had a sick feeling I was close to saying something offensive within earshot of other students. "You're gonna have to if you're going Trick-Or-Treating. Most witches and wizards get their candy from No-maj stores."

That strange term again that I was hearing so often now. 'No-maj'. Anne had always referred to them as 'Muggles'. It was what I'd grown up with until I became old enough to attend my pureblood lessons at seven and I'd began to hear the term shared between my peers. By that time, it'd already solidified. I thought about this because it was just now that I realised how different I truly was from my peers. Our views. Our morals. Our standards. I was told to find a nice pureblood family to get along with, but I saw none. Either that or a lot of them chose not to voice their thoughts for fear of getting what I was getting. I was jealous. They were a hell of a lot smarter than I was.

"Fine," I relented, scowling at him. I took it and, much opposite to him, tore it open roughly and took a bite. I hated it. Not the pastry itself, but the fact that I actually liked it and knew that I wouldn't be getting any more during summers. I instinctively thought of Anne again, imagining her judgemental little face staring down at me.

Dole looked at me with a victorious smile. He raised his glass of apple juice as a cheers to his small victory and took a sip.

"So," he began, straightening his posture. "You see more ghosts than usual today?" His tone sounded suggestive. Like there was something that I should know. My eyes stayed on him as I thought on the question. Yes, today had more ghosts than it did the previous day. And the day before that as well.

"What about it?" I replied, stuffing the last bit of pastry in my mouth before anyone saw. He seemed to take that as a 'yes', even though he knew I didn't like talking about my glass in front of other people. I felt like they'd try and steal it if they got the idea that I had something from such a famous and powerful wizard. We were, after all, in a school house of thieves.

"Halloween," Dole's tone was suddenly dismissive. He must have detected my discomfort. "Only day in the year that the plane of life and death are open, or so the myth says," he laughed a little. Something told me that he read that from somewhere and had the assumption it was common knowledge. I certainly didn't know about it. Questions swam into my mind instantly, my attention grabbed.

"Tell me more," I urged him. I positioned myself more comfortably with my cheek in the palm of my hand and my elbow resting on the table. It wasn't proper posture for a pureblood witch - or rather 'lady' - but Anne wasn't here to see it. "Why don't they talk, either?"

The question took him by surprise. He took a moment to think on it, glancing down at his plate. Despite my rapidly growing impatience I watched him trace the silver steaks on the marble table intently.

"Well, they do talk," he told me. "For example, see Madam Crewe over there?" he gestured with a sugar cookie he'd grabbed over to the Wampus table. Above it, there was a very classy looking ghost woman with the longest hair I'd ever seen. She wore a floppy hat that covered half her face and a nice dress I could hardly make out. What stood out about her the most was her posture and the way she sipped her tea with her pinky out. The cup she held looked as though it'd died with her. If I squinted, I could make out some cracks on the side. Dole cleared his throat to gain my attention again as he continued. "Woman of very few words. Very judgemental woman, mostly of what people wear."

"How'd she die?" I asked immediately. He chuckled a bit, seemingly used to my strange fascination by now.

"No clue, but I think she died in the early 1800's," It was so long ago. One of the best parts about investigating peoples' lives before their deaths was imagining how they possibly lived in such a different time. It was nearly impossible, the 1800's. It was so long ago I began to wonder what little they had back then compared to what we had nowadays. What spells they had used. What potions they'd come up with by then. What they knew. "Why don't you go ask her yourself?"

It was like he'd grown a second head. My expression said it all and he was quick to wave off any fear that plagued my mind.

"She doesn't bite, honey," Dole assured me, putting a hand onto my shoulder. I leaned into the touch of the older brother that I'd always wanted. I tried to keep the smile from my face, but inevitably failed. I glanced over at Madam Crew, though, and immediately felt the smile vanish. I wasn't so sure if she wouldn't bite me after all. Then again, the ghosts that could be seen without the glass wanted to be seen. Maybe she wanted to talk to people, even if she didn't speak first. Or, my mind stretched further, she wanted to pretend she was still alive. I'd heard that they tended to do that.

I put it in my mental notes to talk to her later.

"Me, me, me."

Aunt Marlene found me in the library awhile later. She had a pillow case in hand, bulky and full. I expected a hard thump when she'd tossed it onto the table in front of me, covering my book. Yet it was soft and didn't make a sound. My eyes drifted to her questionably as the memory of the last paragraph I'd read slipped my mind. Auntie had a large grin on her face, mixed with apologetic eyes.

"Hey, babes," she pulled out the chair next to mine and reached over to pull me closer. My head rested on her chest. It was warm. I felt myself unable to resist sinking into it. Within moments her fingers were running through my hair. It lasted for a bit before she pulled back and tugged the pillowcase closer towards me. Before I could think to ask, she clarified. "Muggles use it to collect candy at the doors. And this -" she reached inside and pulled out a black and red cape with a sinister design. " - Is a last minute costume. You like vampires, don't you?"

"Not the friendliest," I retorted blankly. Yet, the design was pretty. So I accepted it with hesitation. A costume. Muggles were the strangest to me. Then, I frowned as I thought of what the other children would think. I looked at her, eyebrows furrowed with worry. "But. . . But the other kids aren't wearing any costumes."

She scoffed.

"How long have you been in here?" she questioned with a quirk of her brow. When I'd muttered 'ever since lunch' she shook her head. "Kid, look around. They're all getting ready. With costumes."

Suddenly, I felt a little jealousy stir in me. I wished I could have put a little more effort into my costume. Maybe I'd be a cool dragon. Or a mermaid. Unfortunately, all I had was a cape and too little time to do anything with it. Yet, I found myself forcing the biggest smile that I could muster. She saw right through it and patted me on the shoulder.

"Hey, next year you'll have the greatest costume," she assured me. "I promise."

I nodded slowly, tearing my eyes away from her and looking back to the pillowcase and the cape. I'm a pureblood witch. One born of two ancient and noble lines. My chest began to feel as though it were expanding. I didn't know why, and it frustrated me, that my eyes felt an intense pressure that I'd tried to hold back. Auntie watched me, but said nothing. That's what I liked best about her. She liked pace. Respect. And she was still there. When I finally spoke, it came out more quiet than I'd intended.

"What would Anne say?" I asked her, swallowing thickly.

And when she spoke, it came out bold and strong. The confidence that I'd desired. She took her finger and rose my chin to make me look at her. Her blue eyes stared back at me, her expression that of hard stone.

"And why do you care?"

"..."

We were led out in a single file line out of the castle and past the silver gates. I refused to leave the castle without Lookie at my side, and he loyally walked proudly next to my feet. It took only ten minutes to get to the wizarding town that was below the large mountain. I saw decorations. Lights. Yard blow-ups that I'd never seen before that stood proudly on their front lawns. And as promised, Dole was at my side. He pointed to everything he'd thought I'd ask about, occasionally pausing in the middle of a rant to tell off a first year for trying to wander off. There weren't many children with us as I'd thought there would be. Dole had told me that it was because people were wary after what'd happened in the beginning of the year.

It was too much for my eyes to take in all at once. I squinted my eyes to see as far as I could down the neighborhood. I saw a gate at the end, and past it was where the shops were. It was too far to make out what the signs said, though.

"Greylock Valley," he'd told me. "One of many wizarding towns in Massachusetts, since you're from New York."

It was a small town, I could see. Smaller than Gormeth due to the other being a wizarding city rather than a town. I wondered if we could go there and shop one day, to which I asked him. Despite my eyes being wide with hope, he shook his head.

"No, you have to be of age to leave the school grounds during your free time," he told me. I sulked. Though, I couldn't deny that it made perfect sense that they wouldn't be able to hold legal adults within the walls of the school. I couldn't wait to be big, too. Nobody to tell me what I can and can't do. I could drink, if I wanted. Go to bars. All the things that adults did.

Then, we stopped at the first house. The first few kids began to race one another to the front porch. Some stayed put, to which I supposed they were purebloods who'd never done this before. Like me. I looked at Dole as a silent asking if It was safe to go, too. He nodded and nudged me along. I expected him to come with me, but he didn't. He wanted me to be able to do some things on my own.

I trudged up to the house, feeling even smaller than what I actually was. By the time I'd gotten there, a witch with a large black bag had answered the door and was smiling down at the children who reached i to it to grab what they'd wanted. I watched with wonder as a second year girl reached into the bag, going so deep that the handles of the bag touched her shoulder, and she pulled out the biggest lollipop I'd ever seen. She beamed as she tossed it into her pillowcase, shouting her thanks to the woman and running back to the sidewalk. How that could possibly fit in there, I had no idea.

The witch saw me, smiled, and she gestured to the bag. Lookie pawed at it curiously.

"Go on, pretty one, anything could be in that bag," she told me. "More than enough in the bag for everyone. I prepare for this."

My anxiety washed away for just a moment and I reached into the bag. I copied the other girl and went as far as I could go until I could feel myself latch onto something solid. It felt as though my fingers would slip and the weight caused by everything around what I'd grabbed was pulling it down. I gripped it and pulled with all my might. Much to my surprise, out came a clear back tied in a small blue bow. Inside, it looked like small bars of chocolate. The woman laughed.

"Oh, wonderful. That one gives you an uncanny sense of smell for a few minutes," she clasped her hands together. "The other boy got a bag of Broom Drops that could make him float."

I questioned how it tasted. I'd much prefer to float, of course, but I was filled with an unexplained joy that left me skipping off of the woman's porch and back to Dole, who gave me the most proudest grin I'd ever seen. The first thing he did was ruin my perfectly neat hair by ruffling it.

"Did you thank her?" He asked. I didn't. I'd completely forgotten in my excitement. When I'd shook my head, he gently reminded me to thank every person that allowed me onto their property.

And for a few hours, I did. I thanked every piece of candy I'd gotten and I'd smiled the entire time. Lookie even seemed to enjoy himself as well as he chased another cat that'd came with its third year owner. Everyone else felt the same as I did. A strange sense of freedom that even gave them the confidence to say a few words to me. Even when I was sure they hadn't known it was me they were speaking to.

It was like this all up until we'd gotten to a classy brown house. The man wasn't on his porch. Rather, he sat in the middle of his walkway with a blanket covered table and a few cards he was fiddling with. A few kids had paused in their tracks and began to mumble to one another. A boy had loudly asked if anyone else could see any candy.

"He's a seer," I replied to him. Anne had told me all about this. There were some seers that were so skilled that they could tell the fortunes of those they came in close contact with. I stepped a bit closer, my energy from the night still coursing through my veins. He smiled at me, and the third year student that was in his chair stood up and walked away happily. She must have gotten a good one. I plopped myself right into the seat, despite Dole's hesitant look behind me.

"Eager, are we?" He asked me. It wasn't his voice that caused the adrenaline crash, it was that I'd suddenly realised just how afraid I was. Slowly, I nodded. I must have looked like a lost puppy to him. He was quick to reassure me. "The names Hendric. All I'm gonna do is take your hand and give you a little fortune. Okay?"

Again, I nodded. A few of the prexy's were sure to step a bit closer in a protective manner with their hands positioned on their hips, where their wands were kept hidden. I don't know why, but it'd made me feel a bit special. It even caused a small smile to appear on my face. Hendric smiled in turn, thinking that mine must have been directed at him. I said nothing and slowly held out my small hand for him to take into his. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. It seemed a complete silence aside from the children that'd moved on to the next house and the crickets that hid in the grass.

The guy made me feel as though I were in a bubble. One that was slowly getting smaller and smaller the more that time dragged on. My patience began to wear thin very quickly. I'd been about to just get up and move on with Dole to get more candy. I thought about how he'd be lucky to even get a thanks from me for doing absolutely nothing but waste my time. Then, his expression twisted into that of pain. I snatched my hand away, but not before his eyes had flown open and he spoke in an echoed whisper just loud enough for me to hear.

"A sister in all but the womb," he spoke, voice cracking a tiny bit. I wanted to run to Dole, tell him to take me far away to continue the night as if I'd never stopped at this house. But I my mind told me to stay. I somehow felt far too entranced to even do so much as look away. I'd even wager that a force beyond my comprehension would punish me if I dared to move from my seat. "A girl separated from her only family by war has disturbed the events of history and changed what should have been. . . She will find what she is looking for when she looks in places where things are otherwise lost. . .But will be divided by her own blood if what needs to be found stays lost. . ."

I began to whimper by the time he'd finished. His eyes were what had scared me the most. They'd been wide. Staring. Glossed over in a way that looked as though he'd been about to cry. They'd no longer held the bright brown color that I'd seen at first and had been replaced by the blackness of his pupils. Then, ever so slowly, the color came back. He immediately pulled his hand away and rubbed at sockets irritably, muttering about the intense pain. He looked like he needed water.

My sniff reminded him that I was here. Looking at me, he blinked his eyes rapidly to help them adjust properly.

"Oh, well, I'd best be going to bed now," he'd nodded to me, standing up and giving me a smile. "A headache suddenly came over me. So sorry I couldn't get to your fortune."

And with that, he'd gathered his deck of cards and went inside. I'd let out a breath that I didn't know I'd been holding and bolted over to Dole. He'd waited for me patiently and took me in his arms immediately when he sensed something wrong. He began to question me on what the man had said to me that'd made me act this way, but I wouldn't tell him. I couldn't. Hell, I didn't even know what any of it meant. The fortune was about me, I knew. Or, at least I thought it did. I was nobody's sister. Separated from my only family, yes, but. . .

In all but the womb, He'd told me. It swirled in my head even above all else. My mind grew frustrated trying to pick apart what it meant, piece by piece. It was then that I tried to organise my priorities. Tried to make sense of it, somehow. Then, it hit me. Funny, how all that needed to be done to make an educated guess was to repeat what's been heard out loud a couple of times. My upper lip curled in disgust as I realised just what - no - who he spoke of.

Harry James Potter, I knew. A sister in all but the womb.

No, I was not his sister.

I will never be his sister.

"Mm. . ."