A/N: Hehe, I did it! Only a couple more chapters until second year!

The first week of November at Hogwarts was brutal. The weather had turned very cold and the frost seemed to nip at Aurora's skin relentlessly. Luckily though. Madame Pomfrey had charmed a pair of gloves and several pairs of socks for her in order to control her Reynauds.

Classes had also continued to pick up, which in turn resulted in even more homework assignments. However, having Hermione as a friend had certainly only encouraged Aurora more to keep up with her studies. She had always been good at finishing her homework on time, but having another friend as focused on her work as she was, was encouraging. Ron and Harry had also gotten somewhat better with their work as well, as Hermione could be a constant and shameless nag. Aurora thought it was good for them. She sure in hell wan't going to coddle them, but if someone else would then perhaps they would procrastinate less.

Most excitingly however, the Quidditch season had finally began. This coming Saturday, Harry would be playing his first game against Slytherin. By now the entire school was aware that he was the new seeker. No one was sure how it had gotten leaked since Wood had put so much effort into keeping the new seeker's identity a secret. Aurora suspected a Slytherin spy.

In preparation for the game, Aurora and Ron coached him on the rules and hundreds of possible ways to commit fouls. It was a very structured and ruthless game. Poor Harry could use all the help he could get. While Aurora and Ron focused on preparing him for the game, Hermione assisted him in completing all of his homework. She had drafted several study schedules for the group to make the most out of their time. She also recommended to him, "Quidditch Through The Ages," a book that surely would be the ultimate guide before his first game.

Though Hermione still remained strict about her studying, ever since the troll incident in which Aurora, Ron, and Harry saved her, she was much more relaxed about bending the rules. On the morning the day before Harry's first Quidditch match, the four sat in the freezing courtyard. Hermione conjured a fire within a jar, which they all pressed their backs against to stay warm. They quickly put it out though as Snape crossed the courtyard and began to approach the quartet. They were unsure whether it would be allowed or not but they were not looking for another reason for the Potions Professor to pick on them. Aurora and Harry had already made a poor first impression and he just blatantly could not stand Hermione or Ron.

Snape limped closer to them, something that Aurora immediately took note of. His expression was strained as he attempted to hide some of the pain, but also aggravated. It appeared that no matter what the four did, they would be yelled at regardless.

"What do you have there, Potter?" Snape asked pointing at the book Harry held in his hands. It was the book she and Ron had gotten him from Hermione's recommendation, "Quidditch Through The Ages."

Harry showed him the book, lifting it higher so Snape could read the title. He didn't seem so interested in the book however, he seemed more interested in finding a way to punish Harry.

"Library books aren't allowed to be taken outside. Give it here." Snape extended out his hand to snatch the book from him. "Five points from Gryffindor."

"We didn't know, Professor," Aurora said. She knew it was probably not a good idea to further agitate the crabby professor, but she could hardly control herself. She felt the words leave her mouth before she could stop herself.

"You'll do well to learn when to shut your mouth. Another five points from Gryffindor," Snape snapped at her and then limped off, book in tow.

"He just made that rule up," Harry muttered angrily while glaring daggers at the back of Snape's head. Oh, if only looks could kill. But if that were the case, Aurora would already be dead. As much as she tried, Aurora could not keep her mind off Draco. It was all the more frustrating when she finally was able to get him off her mind and he would suddenly appear, whether that be in class, walking down the hall, or in the library. He always seemed to be there, coincidentally, when Aurora was. She was certain it was likely not that big of a coincidence. Even though he was still keeping his distance from her, he was still required to watch her, as ordered from her father. She chose to ignore him though. she was not so much angry or upset anymore about that night's incident, but Aurora knew better than to just forgive him. It was better this way anyways. They weren't good together.

The Gryffindor common room was very much alive that night. There was a celebration in place for the beginning of the Quidditch season. However, the quartet were not ones to participate. Tonight was dedicated as one of the study nights, via Hermione's study schedule, and it was imperative that they finished their Charms' essay tonight. It was proving to be impossible for Aurora to concentrate in this environment. Hermione, Harry, and Ron seemed to block it out with ease, even beginning to finish up their work, but Aurora had hardly started. How could she be expected to work with the entire Gryffindor house getting riled up. Fred and George were of course the front runners of the celebration, popping multiple colorful firecrackers and noise makers of their own invention out of their wands. She admired their creativity, but she really needed to get this paper done.

"You know guys, I think I'm going to go to the library. It's too loud here. There's still an hour before curfew, I can probably get this done."

"Do you want company?" Harry offered. He seemed more than willing to accompany Aurora. He even looked hopeful that she would want him to come with her.

"I'm okay, Harry. I appreciate it, but I really need to concentrate."

"You sure?"

"Yes, if you come with me, you'll just distract me," Aurora chuckled. She really did love Harry, but the two of them together would accomplish nothing.

"Alright, well, be careful."

"I will!" Aurora called back as she began to exit the portrait hole.

"Be back before curfew!" Hermione called out.

Aurora walked down the corridors of the castle. The sun was setting and glazed lazily over the horizon. The yellow and orange hues danced through the windows of the castle and splayed shadows across the stone floor. Aurora felt at peace by herself. She really did treasure her time with her friends, but sometimes it just felt better to be alone. Now maybe she would be able to complete her essay.

She approached the library and pulled one of the massive doors open. She had first come to the library her second week of school. Though she had been here before, the hundreds of shelves and thousands of books always took her breath away. It was unlike any other place she had been so far in the castle. She had also been delighted by the fact it carried a large muggle books section. It was primarily for third years and above taking the "Muggle Studies" elective class, but the books weren't just informative. Among the standard nonfiction informative section there were books from philosophy, history, fiction, horror, and even joke books. Aurora didn't find the jokes to be all that funny however as she couldn't understand everything being discussed. She had cracked open a few fiction books though and was delighted by some of the stories muggles had written. Aurora also got a kick out of doing something she would surely get in trouble for doing at home. Her father not only hated muggleborns, but the muggle world altogether.

Taking a seat at a back table in the library she pulled out her ink and essay scroll from her robes' pocket and began writing. She had been writing for nearly thirty minutes, when she was disrupted once again. This time though was not from a loud firecracker, but a stack of books tumbling to the floor. Aurora looked up from her paper to see who had made the loud noise.

"Unbelievable what are you doing here?" Aurora spoke briskly. She wanted to yell at him over all her pent up anger, but she was in a library and Madame Pince would not hesitate to throw her out, which would only waste her time even further.

"Some reading," Draco mused. He held no aggressive or condescending tone as he spoke. He seemed slightly embarrassed to have been caught near her. But overall, his demeanor was relaxed. Not the fake nonchalant relaxed, but a genuine and comfortable attitude. She found it almost tolerable, but he was still Malfoy.

"You've been staring at me and following me now for weeks. What do you want?" Aurora rolled up her scroll again. There was no way she was staying here alone with Malfoy. She had no patience to deal with the little git today or any day really. Draco held his hands up and walked gingerly to another seat at the table.

Aurora sprung up instantly. Her speaking to him was no invitation for him to join her.

"Rory look," he started.

"Don't call me that. That's reserved for my friends," she spat at him. She would make it perfectly clear that they were in fact, not that.

"Okay, Aurora, please stay just for a second." He seemed desperate.

Aurora huffed and tapped her foot. She was aware how obnoxious she must have seemed, but she didn't care. As far as she was concerned she was already doing him a favor by not punching him in the nose.

"Well go on. I don't have all day. Curfew ends in twenty minutes you know, and I still have a couple more paragraphs to write."

"I'm sorry."

Aurora was almost shocked. She didn't think Malfoy had it in him to be sorry. It was certainly the first time she ever heard him say it in the eleven years that she's known him.

"Oh sorry is that all?" Aurora replied back sarcastically. Maybe he was sorry, but sorry wasn't good enough.

"I shouldn't have ever done that to you. I don't know why I thought it was acceptable and if I saw another person do to you what I did, I would've made him very sorry. I don't deserve your forgiveness, but I'm hoping I can earn it."

"Why do you even care Malfoy? We aren't friends, it's not like any of this really matters. You're right that you don't deserve my forgiveness though."

Draco was left speechless again. Perhaps he had expected her to forgive him and they could go back to picking on each other. This would not be the case. Under different circumstances, Aurora might have enjoyed seeing him tongue tied, but right now it just felt like a kick to the gut. She wanted him to have the answers, because she sure didn't.

"I'm just sorry. Please Aurora."

"I don't hate you Draco, but I never want to talk to you again. Leave my friends alone too while you're at it. I don't appreciate you picking on them now, just because you decided I'm not longer your best option."

And with that, Aurora pushed in her chair and left the table. She stepped out of the mostly vacant library and made her way back to Gryffindor common room.

She had also made it back to Gryffindor Tower, when she realized she had left her essay and ink behind. She would have to turn around and go get it. But there was only five more minutes until curfew and she did not want to risk the detention, especially when Harry had his big game tomorrow. She would go tomorrow. Madame Pince has likely already found it and she could get it from her before the match. There was also the possibility that Draco had taken her essay. She groaned inwardly. If Malfoy had it, it was as good as gone. He was probably going to rip it up or destroy it one way or another. At least he would not turn her work in as his own, if there was anything she admired about Draco, was that he took pride in all of his work, if it wasn't his, he wouldn't take it for himself. But there was still another possibility that he would use it against her. Not that it would be a very effective method of blackmail, she would just rewrite the essay and turn it in late if need be. Anything to get out from under Malfoy's thumb.

As she entered the portrait hole, Hermione, Harry, and Ron were all grouped very closely whispering excitedly.

"What's going on?" Aurora collapsed on the large fluffy yellow run next to Harry. She put her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. She was beyond exhausted, it had been a very long busy day. He rubbed her head lightly before catching her up to everything that had just happened.

"I left the common room to get my book back from Snape. When I saw him, he had his trousers pulled up. There were bite marks on his leg. Filch was helping him too with bandages. But remember when we got separated that night after curfew and we went to the third floor? Hermione thinks the bite marks on his leg match the giant three headed dog hidden there."

Aurora immediately perched up. She was no longer tired, but interested. Though she did wonder, why did something always seem to happen when she left?

"Did they see you?"

"Yes, but I just asked him for my book back as a cover."

"And?"

"He just screamed at me to leave and I got out of there. I came back here a couple minutes before you arrived. Do you understand what this means though? He must've let the troll in from Halloween in order to create a diversion to get to whatever the three headed dog is hiding. I'd bet my broomstick that he's after it. He only started limping after Halloween."

Aurora looked skeptical, "Harry he's a professor."

"God woman we just had this conversation with Hermione, that doesn't make him any saint. He's definitely going after whatever that dog is hiding."

"Well we're going to need more evidence then, we can't just accuse him," Hermione stated. Aurora nodded her head in agreement. Sometimes Hermione was the only other sane one in their group.

The group bid their goodnights, and the boys and girls separated as they went off to bed. Hermione and her discussed possible theories, but didn't come up with much. They creeped silently into the room as to not wake up Lavender or Parvati.

Aurora sank into her bed and was quickly overcome with sleep. Part of her was still nervous about her essay, but she was far too tired to stay awake worrying about it.

The next morning came and it was finally the day of the first Quidditch match of the season. The Great Hall was filled with cheerful and excited chatter for the day's match, but Harry was in no celebratory mood. He sat at the table solemnly. He was dreading playing today. Sure practice had gone just fine, but now that he would have to play in front of the entire school, he was afraid he would embarrass himself. Aurora had tried her best to comfort him as much as possible, but she herself was anxious for him. No matter what reassuring phrase she fed him, it felt forced and he could sense it.

The owls entered the Great Hall now as they did every morning. Aurora looked to see if Spry would have anything for her today. She had written several letters since to her mother and managed one out for her father in which she ignored his response. She guessed that he was relying on Draco predominately now that she has proven herself to be difficult to him. Today though, Spry came with a package. He dipped low to her dropping the package onto her lap. He allowed Aurora to stroke his feathers a few times before he stole a breakfast sausage and left back to the owlery.

As she began to open the mysterious package, she listened to Ron and Hermione attempt to soothe Harry. It was still not very effective.

"You've got to eat breakfast."

"I'm not hungry, Ron"

"Come on Harry just a bit of toast," Hermione said. She buttered a piece for him and put it in his hand.

Seamus joined in as well, "Harry you need your strength. Seekers are always the ones to get nibbled by the other team."

Harry shot Seamus a dirty look. His comment was neither helpful or appreciated. "Thanks Seamus."

"Sorry mate. But you do need to eat."

Aurora finally got the last bits of package off the parcel, in her hand she held what had been mailed to her. Her essay scroll and ink. However in addition to her belongings she held a letter. How nice of Madame Pince, she didn't even need to return to the library. She would be sure to send her a nice thank you note. However, the letter and package though as she came to realize, was not from Madam Pince at all, but from someone else:

Dear Aurora,

You left your scroll and ink in the library last night.

I am sorry,

Draco

Aurora closed the letter again and pushed it along with her returned materials into her robes. She smiled a little bit. She scanned the Great Hall for platinum blonde hair, but could not seem to find him. He must've finished breakfast already. This would have to wait until later.

By eleven, the entire school gathered into the stands in anticipation for the game to begin. Aurora buzzed with excitement. Sure she was nervous for Harry, she knew how dangerous Quidditch could be and he was completely new to the sport, but logically she knew that he would likely be fine and this first game would be the start of Gryffindor winning the House Cup.

Ron, Hermione, and Aurora, joined Neville in the stands, along with Dean and Seamus in the row in front of them. they were largely surrounded by a Gryffindor crowd. Even the other houses, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff seemed to cheer Gryffindor on as they willed any other house but Slytherin to win the cup this year.

As a surprise for Harry, they had charmed a giant poster with a Gryffindor lion. Hermione had learned to charm it to roar, and Aurora had discovered how to make it flash scarlet and gold.

Aurora sat playing with her fingers. It would be minutes before the game would begin. She wanted Gryffindor to win so badly, she'd have something else she could stick to Malfoy.

At the thought of his name, she began to look around the stands for him. There was only one boy in school with hair like that, it would be relatively easy to find him even with a packed stadium. His hair was just as distinctive as the Weasley's. She glanced all around the stands, but could not find him at first. That was before she heard his voice, as he joked with his friends, Crabbe and Goyle

She was surprised to find that Draco was seated only a few rows behind her. Aurora turned to look at him, he seemed a little more comfortable being close to her again, but he was still somewhat far away from her, protecting that slight boundary between them. As she made eye contact he winked at her. She thought back to the letter he sent to her this morning. She rolled her eyes at his gesture, but mouthed a thank you. He smiled at her.

She turned around again as the Quidditch players entered the filed. The Gryffindors entered first led by Wood.

"There he is!" Hermione said gleefully. Harry was the last in line, directly behind Fred, or maybe George. It was difficult to tell the twins apart so far away, but Aurora was sure it was Fred, they had a slightly different gait from each other.

Madame Hooch directed both teams to lift up on their brooms and she followed. Aurora watched as she seemed to give a talk to both teams, likely about sportsmanship. Not that she was expecting anything from the Slytherin team. They were notoriously known to play dirty by other houses. Fred and George had told her a story about a Slytherin beater nearly decapitating a Ravenclaw Chaser last year. She was sure the story was just an exaggeration, but it still concerned her that they would play dirty. Harry will be fine, she reminded herself.

Madame Hooch then blew the whistle the teams were off. Gryffindor started with possession of the Quaffle and the game was starting so far to be highly in their favor. Besides the game itself, the match continued to prove interesting with just Lee Jordan's, Fred and George's best friend, commentary alone. Professor McGonagall pretended to let on that she wasn't at all amused by his comments as she lectured him to stick to the game.

Suddenly a figure shouted down the row, ordering students to shift over.

"Hagrid!" Hermione, Ron, and Aurora cried in unison. They had visited him several times since arriving at Hogwarts, and Aurora felt safe to say that Hagrid was one of her friends.

"Bin watching from meh hut, but yer can't see too well from there," He explained to the three.

They sat for several minutes chatting animatedly over the game. Hagrid had several comments himself about the game, most of them being about the cheating and dirty playing done by the Slytherins. He tried his best to stay as unbiased as possible, but being a member of the Gryffindor house in the past, his team was already decided.

And then, Flint almost knocked Harry off his broomstick. Most of the audience screamed in anger except for the Slytherins who either snickered or cheered Flint on. An uproar moved through the crowd.

"Red card! Send him off ref!" Dean yelled to Madam Hooch. Not that she could exactly hear him.

"Red card?" Aurora questioned to face him.

"Football term," Seamus clarified for her.

"Well there's none of that in Quidditch."

"Nah they ought to change der rules," Hagrid agreed. "He could ave hurt Harry."

Though Flint was not taken off the field as it was not part of Quidditch rules, a foul was declared by Madame Hooch and repeated by Lee Jordan. Gryffindor was left with a free shot. The Gryffindor chasers scored and the game continued, though Slytherin did not seem any more motivated to play clean as they aggressively attempted to turn the game into their favor. The Gryffindor team was still leading strongly though, they would need to end the game with the snitch soon if they wanted to win.

This proved to be an issue for Gryffindor though as Aurora noticed Harry was seeming to have issues with his broom. Her heart sank. It was like she was psychic at this point and attracted the bad luck.

She wasn't the only one to notice either. Suddenly the entire school was watching Harry Potter buck around on his broom. And then, he slid off.

"Oh God," Aurora whispered. He was going to fall to his death. He was at least fifty feet in the air and the broom seemed to keep rising higher and higher, he only had his hands to grip the handle left. If he let go, that would be it. If he didn't die, he'd at the very least be gravely injured which didn't sound that appealing either.

The rest of the Gryffindor team halted in shock, the Weasley twins had attempted to get closer to him, but every time they did the broom would jolt harshly to another direction. This would make the situation worse as Harry was barely able to grasp the wooden handle, and would come closer to falling. The twins resorted to circling below him, maybe they could get close to him, but if he did slip off, perhaps they would be close enough to grab him.

The rest of the team remained still in agony, they didn't want to do anything more that could possibly set the broom off anymore. Slytherin, predictably, took advantage of the no break rules in Quidditch and scored several easy points with the Quaffle, bulking their score to be higher than Gryffindors.

Though they were counted by the scoreboard, many of the goals went unacknowledged even by fellow Slytherins as they witnessed The Boy Who Lived about to fall to his what seemed like his inevitable doom.

Hermione tugged on her sleeve. "Look over there."

Ron and Aurora looked to where Hermione pointed. Professor Snape was in the stands chanting under his breath. Of course! There was nothing wrong with Harry's broom, rather it was being hexed. If they could stop Snape, then perhaps Harry would be able to lift himself back onto his broom and save himself. They had to help him.

"Snape's hexing his broom," Aurora stated. She was in shock. She had been skeptical about the possibility of Snape attempting to steal the parcel guarded by that beast, but Harry might have just proven himself right. He had gotten too close and now Snape was going to take care of him.

"What should we do?" questioned Ron.

"Leave it to me," Hermione stated, then disappeared.

Though Aurora was glad they were able to identify the issue, it did nothing to quell her anxiety. What if Hermione wasn't quick enough to save Harry?

"Come on Hermione," Ron muttered several times under his breath. Not only would Gryffindor lose the game if she didn't stop Snape, The Boy Who Lived would become The Boy Who Died At His First Quidditch Game.

And then, there was a fire from the professor's box. Smoke spread through the small set of bleachers and several professors rose to help stamp out the fire from its origin, Snape's robes. As he got up to stomp on his robes, Professor Quirrell fell over, and Aurora immediately noticed the broom quit jerking around. Something deep went off inside her. What if Snape wasn't the mastermind behind everything at this game? Or maybe he wasn't even the one to go after the parcel. Of course this didn't make sense though, if he wasn't trying to hex Harry and Quirrell was, what motivation would there be? And what was that bite from if Quirrell was really responsible? Aurora had to admit, her theory didn't make that much sense, but she sensed that there was something more than just Snape.

Regardless of her suspicions though, they were quickly evaporated with the delight of Harry lifting himself back onto his broom.

"She's done it!" Ron cheered.

"It's okay ter look now Neville," Hagrid said. The poor boy had been sobbing into Hagrid's jacket for several moments terrified of what seemed to be the demise of Harry Potter.

Harry started to speed towards the ground, just like that first day of flying lessons when he retrieved Neville's Remembrall.

"He's seen the snitch!" Aurora yelled. She couldn't stop smiling. It was so odd how quickly the mood seemed to shift in the stands. What was once silent in horror was now alive and vibrant in noise once more.

Harry continued to dive further and further to the ground until he was just feet away from the field. Terrence Higgs, the Slytherin seeker, was right on his tail racing him for the snitch. However, as their brooms were about to collide with the ground, Terrence hesitated and pulled away. Harry did no such thing. Instead, he tugged his broom up lightly, he was centimeters away from the snitch and only inches off the ground, but he could not quite reach it. Daringly, he stood on the edge of his broom. Aurora gasped at his ballsy move. He had only been flying for around a month and he was already practically a professional.

And then in Harry Potter like fashion, he slipped off the end and flipped forward onto his face. Aurora winced, that had looked painful. He put his hand up to his mouth, Aurora thought he was going to be sick. He made gagging expressions and then spat out a golden ball with wings.

Though it was not a conventional method, Harry had indeed caught the snitch. The game was over, Gryffindor won.

Aurora turned to look behind her to where Draco Malfoy was seated at the beginning of the game. He was still seated there, but no longer with a happy expression. He looked grumpy, likely over that Slytherin had just lost the match. When he caught her staring at him, she winked. He was the one who rolled his eyes this time.

Just an hour later after Harry and Gryffindors victory, the quartet was seated in Hagrid's cottage enjoying a cup of tea. The other three tried to explain how Snape had hexed Harry's broom. As expected, Hagrid denied all claims of this. Aurora remained quiet, she was unsure of what she thought, she still felt there was something off about Quirrell, she didn't want to make any assumptions yet about Snape.

"I'm telling you it was Snape!" Ron repeated for the millionth time. It didn't seem to matter how much he said it, Hagrid denied everything he claimed.

"Rubbish. He's a professor."

"Hagrid I found something about him," Harry took one last sip of tea and set his cup down on a white doily on the coffee table. "He tried to get past that three headed dog on Halloween, it bit him. We know he was trying to get past it to get to whatever it's guarding."

That certainly got Hagrid's attention quickly. He straightened up with an expression of shock, nearly dropping the kettle of tea he was holding.

"How do you know about Fluffy?"

"Fluffy?" Aurora questioned. So Hagrid knew about the beast. He must also have more information. Perhaps about what it's hiding.

"Yes, now stop asking me questions, this is top secret infermation yer know. Dumbledore himself trusted me to keep it all a secret."

"But Snape's trying to steal it!" Hermione cried.

"He is not! He is a Hogwarts teacher. He had nothing to do with whatever happened to Harry's broom today.

"Than why did he try to kill Harry? I know a jinx when I see one, Hagrid. Someone was messing with Harry's broom and Snape was muttering in the stands while it was going on."

"Yer wrong! I don't know what was wrong with Harry's broom, but Professor Snape is not involved. Now listen to me yeh four, you need to keep out of this mater. Yer meddling in thangs that don't concern yeh. Whatever Fluffy is guardin is between Dumbledore and his good ole friend Nicholas Flamel."

Aurora perked up again, "So there's a Nicholas Flamel involved in all of this then."

Hagrid looked furious with himself. He tried so hard to keep everything a secret, but really he struggled to keep his mouth shut. Hagrid briskly chucked all four of them out of his cottage. He was no longer in any mood for company. Though the group didn't know everything, they knew Fluffy was definitely guarding something, there were several people involved, and Hagrid was hiding more than what he stated he knew.

Aurora had a new mission.