Dinner guest

"So, who am I meeting tonight?" Aurora asked uninterestingly. She was sitting at the dinner table in a brand-new dress. Her Aunt had taken her to Diagon Alley and had her completely made over. Her hair had been chopped off until it reached her shoulders, her nails had been manicured, her eyebrows plucked, her teeth whitened, and a completely new wardrobe had been bought along with her school robes.

It had been torture.

Draco had whined the entire time about not being able to bring a broom to Hogwarts or about a rude boy from the robe shop who didn't know anything about Quidditch, and her aunt spent the entire time schooling Aurora on how pure blood should expect to be treated when they entered a store.

The only interesting part of that visit was when she got her wand.

Flashback

Ollivander's was a creepy place Aurora decided looking around the dusty shop.

"Hello?" Aunt Narcissa called as she entered around the shop behind her. They had left Draco at his robe fitting deciding not to have them together when they got their wands as they always managed to make everything a competition that was amusing to her, frustrating to his parents, and temper tantrum inducing for Draco.

Aurora looked around the shop looking for something… she did not know what it was about the shop, but everything about it seemed to be filled with… something. She couldn't put her finger on it, but it filled her with excitement.

It was going to bug her all day, not knowing what it was.

"Yes?" An old and withered voice answered suddenly making both Narcissa and Aurora jump. An old man with the most intense eyes appeared from behind the stacks of shelves. He looked at her Aunt and was about to say something when he glanced at Aurora. Mr. Ollivander stared at her in what resembled awe before gleefully clapping his hands together.

"Oh! Oh, dear, I have been waiting for this for a long, long time!" He exclaimed joyfully. Aurora and Narcissa looked at each other in shock before looking back at the strange man.

"What exactly have you been waiting for?" Her Aunt asked in her 'I'm too good to bother with you' voice.

Mr. Ollivander didn't lose his smile as he responded with a sort of twinkle in his eyes, "Well for the last Black. You know I remember your mother and father when they came and got their first wands,"

"Mr. Ollivander! If you could please reframe from going down memory lane and help my niece find her wand?" Aunt Narcissa interrupted before he could say any more about my parents. Aurora had gotten used to that as well in her time with the Malfoys. Whenever she brought up the subject, she was reprimanded and told to mind her own business. She tried to find her dad on the family tree, but his name was blasted off, when she asked Draco he simply mocked her which let her know that he didn't know anything either. Aurora was simply waiting until she got to Hogwarts to ask Professor Dumbledore more about them.

Mr. Ollivander did not seem to mind her aunt's attitude and simply pulled Aurora to the center of the shop. "Now I assume you have been practicing on different wands, am I right?" Aurora was about to answer but he interrupted her before she could say anything. "Of course, of course… but those wands wouldn't have served you as well as your own will. After all the wand chooses the wizard, or in this case the witch."

Aurora, always curious ignored the measuring type around her head and asked, "How do they know the right person to go to?" Her Aunt looked annoyed at the spectacle that was happening, but she knew not to interrupt Ollivander during his process.

"Magic of course. Magic guides the right wand to the right witch… it knows what the witch or wizard is capable of… they work together, learning from each other. A wand is probably the best and most loyal friend anybody will ever have." Aurora felt her eyes go wide and she felt herself buzzing with anticipation. He was right, all the wands she used to practice did not always feel right. Now she knew why.

"Now… let's see which wands belongs to you, my dear." He said as he walked towards the back of the shop coming back with a long thin box. "Unicorn hair and applewood. Very flexible." When Arora waved the wand, a harsh bang exploded from it, pushing her back several feet. "Well, not that one then," Ollivander said nodding to himself. Aurora looked over to her aunt who seemed highly uninterested with what was going on. When Ollivander came back he presented her with another wand, and when that one didn't work, he tried yet another one, then another one, and another, and another, and another. It got to the point that Aurora was almost in tears because it seemed as if Ollivander had tried almost every wand in the shop. So much time had passed that her uncle and Draco had arrived and were waiting impatiently for Aurora to find a match.

"Why not simply give her an Elm wand and be done with it?" Her Uncle exclaimed after, yet another wand misfired in her hand.

"My dear Sir, I assure you that the myth of Elm wands only belonging to purebloods is only that, a myth. I have never been able to not match a costumer… no, I will find the right wand for Miss Black." Mr. Ollivander wandered further back into his store and Draco took the chance to sneak up to Aurora and whisper to her.

"You will never guess who I met at my fitting? He was incredibly dense! He didn't know about Quidditch!"

"No offense Draco, but I really don't care right now." Aurora moaned looking at the mountain of wands that had been formed. Draco rolled his eyes but moved back towards his parents when Ollivander came back with what looked like a lockbox. It looked like it was made of metal but there was strange marking all around it.

Her aunt and uncle stopped talking to each other and suddenly looked interested in what was going on.

"What is the meaning of this Ollivander?" Lucius sneered at the old man.

"Miss. Black seems to be a special case. These wands are the strongest wands my ancestors created throughout their careers. Seventeen were made only five remain. Each wand that chose a witch or wizard became great people who have helped shape our society in one way or another. They were each custom made from the trees of Avalon and my great, great, grandfather believed that the trees were infused with magic by Merlin himself so that they would never produce magic until the right witch or wizard was found. Should anyone try, magic itself would retaliate. Well, that is the legend at least, shall we test that theory?

Pulling out his own wand, Ollivander tapped the box and the lid opened revealing five wands. Everybody in the shop held their breath, they did not know how but it felt like those wands were… alive in a way.

"Come this way, My Lady. Simply glide your wand hand an inch away from the wands and if you feel a connection pick it up. Now, remember this, do not touch the wands if you are not sure. If you do the backlash may be fatal."

"Are you sure this is necessary?" Her Aunt hissed moving to stand beside Aurora. "I'm sure if you are incapable of producing an arcuate wand we can go elsewhere."

"Do as you wish Mrs. Malfoy, but I assure you that young Miss Black will find her wand in this collection and giving her any other wand would be a disservice to her and her lineage."

"How will I know if it has a connection with me?" Aurora whispered staring at the wands. They were all so beautiful and different from any other wand she had seen. She couldn't look away from them.

"You will know my dear."

Aurora cautiously walked towards the five wands laying in the box side by side. She did as Ollivander said and put her hand an inch away from the first wand, it was a deep red color looked the most like a stick than any other wand she had ever seen. Yet even though it looked like a stick she could feel a powerful heat coming off of it, it almost burned. That wand didn't want her.

The next wand was an almost pure white, as she passed her hand over it she could feel the wand gently nudging her away from it. And if this wand was pure, the next was almost as black as night. Aurora paused over this wand and her family inched closer to take a look. There was something dark in that wand and it felt like it wanted her to pick it up, and she almost did. But just as her fingertip brushed the wood, she felt a sharp sting, like when she had nicked her palm on a knife cooking dinner at the orphanage. The wand wanted to hurt her… she knew it. Aurora jerked her hand away passed it over the next one.

This one was it she didn't even have to think about it.

She picked it up. As soon as she did, she felt a great blast of warmth fill her and a without needing to be waved the wand produced an unnerving yet beautiful light that was so bright that it blinded them all. When they were able to open their eyes, the entire shop was cover in vines, grass, and exotic flowers.

"Woah."

"Woah is right my dear!" Ollivander exclaimed jumping for extreme joy. He couldn't believe this had happened in his lifetime. "Oh, this is one for the history book!"

"What exactly happened here?" Lucius hissed staring around the shop with awe.

"The same thing that happens all the time. A wand chose a witch! Only I believe that this witch is destined for great things… Oh yes, many great things!"

Aurora took a long look at the wand. It was very pretty, almost elegant with a warm red color, not like the first wand in the box, but still, out of the five wands, it was the most plain. Not that any of them were plain compared to the rest of the wands she saw that day. "What kind of wand is it?" She asked still looking at her new wand.

"Cypress wood 12 inches with a phoenix feather core. Very firm. That will be 14 gallons." Ollivander said waving his wand again and instantly all the wands that had rejected her flew back into their boxes and back on the shelves, and the garden her wand had made disappeared inch by inch.

End of Flashback

"Severus Snape. He is a friend and a Professor at Hogwarts. I wish to speak to him about your wand." Her uncle answered her before taking a sip of his wine.

Draco huffed and glared Aurora making her smile innocently back at him. He had been in a right foul mood ever since they returned from Diagon Alley. After he had demanded to be given one of the wands from the chest Ollivander had quickly taken it back and gave him a wand that produced green and black sparks. He didn't like that he had found his wand in one try, and Aurora had taken to showing off her wand around him at every chance.

"Dear, do you really think he knows anything about this?" Her aunt asked, "He is a potion master, not a Wandcrafter."

"Severus is well versed in all types of magic. He may know something." Her uncle said just as the floo flared up. The man that walked out was tall wearing black robes, he had shallow almost yellow skin, had greasy black hair, and a long hooked nose. But it was his eyes that Aurora focused on because as soon as they looked at her, they filled with deep and inexpiable hate. Aurora shot a look at her cousin who looked just as confused as she did, all he did was shrug his shoulders at her.

Not very helpful in her opinion.

Taking a closer look at the colors that surrounded the man, Aurora was even more confused by the man. His colors were dark platinum with bursts of white that was almost instantly consumed by bursts of black. It happened in such quick succession that it made her dizzy to keep looking so she had to stop.

"Lucius, Narcissa. Thank you for having me in your home once again." His voice was smooth… but it sounded oily to Aurora's ears, almost dishonest.

"Thank you for coming." Her aunt smiled gesturing to the seat across from Aurora at the dinner table.

After he sat, Dobby popped in to fill his wine glass before popping back out.

"If I may ask, why was it that you called for me days before the term starts?" Severus questioned with a raised eyebrow. The last thing he wanted was to be seated across from the demon spawn Black had produced. The only reason he accepted the invitation was because the headmaster wanted him to check in on the girl. Severus had to admit, she was the perfect mix of both her parents, but her eyes… those were Blacks. Every taunt, every prank, every miserable moment from his Hogwarts years came back to him when he saw those eyes. Oh, how he will enjoy teaching this girl this year, it was time for her family to learn that they weren't always in control.

"Do you know anything about wands?" Her uncle asked wasting no time to satisfy his curiosity.

Severus stared at the man with a black look before answering, "Only what I have read in a couple of books. Why?"

"When we went to Ollivander's in order for Aurora to get her wand, something strange happened." Here Narcissa paused to collect her thoughts, she wasn't really sure what had occurred in that shop… but whatever it was, it was special. "She practically went through all the wands in the shop before Ollivander brought out some ancient wands that had never been paired. One chose her. We were wondering if you knew anything about those wands. If they had any significance?" Narcissa finished saying.

Severus took a long look at the girl. She was fidgeting in her chair not looking at any of the adults. At first glance, she appeared as any other pureblood girl would, back straight hands in her lap, and eyes cast downward unless spoken to. But he could spot her hands twitching and her eyes peeking at him from beneath her eyelashes. Other than the fact that she was rebellious, there didn't seem to be anything spectacular about the girl at all.

Yet, if there was? If there was something different about the girl then Dumbledore's interest in her would be much clearer.

"Let me see the wand," Severus said taking a generous sip of his wine.

"Aurora, hand it over." Aurora looked over at her uncle with uncertainty, but when she noticed his face tighten, she quickly pulled out her wand from the pocket in her dress. "It's Cypress with a phoenix feather core."

When Severus took the wand from the girl, he noticed right away that it was a very elegant wand. The color was a warm red and the feel of it was smooth. However, when he tried to get his magic to flow through the wand to cast a simple levitation spell, he felt the wand reject it. It didn't feel like it was resisting but outright denying his magic any leverage.

This was unexpected.

What he had told Lucius had been the truth, what he knew about Wandcrafting only came from a few books he had read over many years. So, while he knew next to nothing about what this wand could signify, he did know that it meant nothing good if the Malfoy's believed they could use it to gain more status. So, he did what he did best... he lied.

Using some wandless magic, he levitated his plate while still holding the girl's wand and said in his most uninterested voice, "There doesn't seem to be anything different with it besides its design. If there is anything outstanding about the wand, I wouldn't know what it is."

"So, you don't know of any special wands associated with Ollivander?" Lucius insisted glaring at his old friend now.

"The only wand that has ever gain any notoriety is the Elder Wand… and while Ollivander may not have all his wits about him I'm sure he wouldn't possibly give a wand of that much power to a little girl." Snape sneered distastefully. Glancing at the girl again he caught her eye and entered her mind silently and without notice. And almost at once, he noticed that something was different about Black's spawn. She was raised by muggles and had little magical training, yet it Severus could only gleam her surface thoughts, anything deeper was hidden by a wall that would take much more effort than time allowed to penetrate. She was confused by what the adult were discussing, 'weren't all wands special in their own way? Why did her family want hers analyzed? And why was this greasy git staring at her?!' Severus broke the connection that had lasted all but thirty seconds before casually commenting, "Besides, there has never been any talk or suspicion that Ollivander, any Ollivander, has ever possessed the Elder Wand."

Lucius seemed slightly modified by his friend's observations, however, he continued to question what had occurred in the store. The girl's power far exceeded that of a regular eleven-year-old, it was special, unique. Lucius couldn't imagine what she would become, how powerful she would be.

And she comes from two great pureblood families! She could bring amazing status to his family. After all, she was the last Black, the Lestrange's were in prison so their fortune was hers as well, and her mother's family were exterminated during the war. It was the Malfoy family that took her in, that provided for her, pushed her to reach her full potential… she would owe them everything she one-day gains. He only needs to continue to mold her as he was currently doing. Shape her into a fine Lady. He would marry her off one day to someone who would pay a great deal to have her power, beauty, and name. It seemed that the girl would turn out to be a fine investment indeed.

Authors Note

It has been so long since I've written for Aurora, but with the way things are like in the world right now, I've had the time to revisit her story and found my inspiration to write for her again. To my new readers, I hope you enjoy the ride. To my old readers, thank you for staying with me!

Next chapter we meet the gang and her journey really begins!

Review, please!