Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor am I making any form of currency on this story.
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Aurora lay flat on her broom, her toes were pointed back on top of the bar. Her eyes were focused on the obstacles in front of her, hands stretched out in front of the broom, lightly gripping the handle. Using her whole body to steer as she rolled right, left, left, left, right, up, down over. The next obstacle was more tricky going through the hoop after it even more so. Her opponents were trying to pin her in. she wouldn't able to go around the next box without falling behind. She couldn't go over it without slowing down or she'd miss the hoops. She had to hit at least one hoop and extra points were around for hoop difficulty if she cut down she might maintain her current position but she'd lose points. Their was a hoop just on the other side of the box she could see its glow, but there was no way she could hit it unless… She spun ahead of the other racers aiming for the obstacle box.
Hitting the box with her broom was minus one half a point, hoop difficulty was plus five points, regular hoops were three points if she hit this right she would be a point and a half ahead accounting for the hit loss. Sure enough as the box fast approached she pulled up and angled down just slightly. The tip top of her broom hit the box at full speed catapulting her into a summer saw that flung her over the box and through the hoop she pushed her body to the right throwing her broom into a spin and allowing her to get full control again as she had to turn left, through another hoop the finish line all glowing yellow, white, and black was in front of her. She passed the line the horns sounded and she slid to a halt in the empty space that was the middle of the course. She finished a full three seconds in front of the second place finisher. The points though were what she was worried about. She could finish first in every race but if the points weren't in her favor she wouldn't be competing in the World Racing Tournament. She did a loop de loop as the scores came out. She was first in points too. It wasn't a huge lead but it would do.
As she accepted congratulations, she saw a familiar face waiting for her team in the fancy gazebo they only used for VIP passes. Those were not cheap and anytime someone bought one the whole team had to make an appearance to at least say hi and sign autographs. If the VIP's weren't too obnoxious they could invite them out to a celebratory lunch or dinner. While that part wasn't something they were contractually obligated to do, it was still expected that they would, at least once or twice a year. It was good publicity and encouraged others to buy VIP tickets. She entered the changing rooms and ran for the shower. Soaping up and rinsing off as fast as she could without compromising her beauty routine. Grandma Cassi would never forgive her if her skin turned leathery from all the wind. Also her contract did oblige her to 'look her best' for VIP meetings. She could admit to herself somewhat that at least a part of her wanted to look good for these particular VIP's. She used her enchanted brush to get her long hair into a twist. Many of her teammates chose to keep short hair but proper pureblood heiresses would see short hair as scandalous.
She called Winky to bring her a different perfume, dress and boots, the ones she'd planned to wear to sign autographs just wouldn't do anymore. So grey tights, her red dress with lace back and sleeves, full multi layered skirts, and black thigh high Tebo hide boots it was. A silver chained sapphire necklace with matching bracelets and anklets and a silver hair clasp were used to complete the picture. She had gone from rough racing girl to proper pureblood heiress in under fifteen minutes. Go her.
Aurora walked out of the changing rooms and out the door to the Gazebo to stunned silence from her team mates most of whom had never seen her dressed up. "Woah," Louisa called out whistling as she did so. "What's the occasion?"
Aurora turned and winked, "I caught a glimpse of our VIP's," She gave them a mischief filled grinned. "and decided that I would like to look my best for Victor Krum." That caused minor war amongst the girls who couldn't decide if they wanted to change or just rush out to meet him. Louisa always looked her best and ran with Aurora to the doors so they were the first ones out. It took another five minutes for the other girls to notice and race out after them. By which time they had already greeted their guest and invited them to dinner with them.
Outside, it was not one known face greeted her but several she knew her face showed surprise but most would simply think that was from the quidditch star there to greet them. Fleur Delacour was standing beside Victor holding hands with William Weasley. All three turned to them when they stepped outside. Louisa immediately greeted them and began to flirt. Aurora blushed a little it felt like a life time ago that she had known these people. It had been another life time. She put on a smile and walked over the annoyed looking Fleur and remembering to speak French began. "Hello, did you have fun at the races?"
"Yes," She said shortly still glaring at Louisa, before turning to look at Aurora again. "OH, forgive me, I almost didn't recognize you, congratulations on your win."
"Thank you, I'm aiming at winning the Worlds this year. No more second place for me." Aurora laughed. "I'm Rory." She held her hand out for William and Victor to take and bowed her head to Fleur acknowledging the other girl as an equal.
"No way," Louisa said smiling. "It's early yet, I still have a chance to beat you at Worlds too." She struck a pose pushing her nose up in the air but wasn't able to hold the look long before she bent over laughing at her own joke. Aurora and Fleur giggling with her. Victor smiled a little.
"Do you have your families support?" Victor asked her looking at her clothes and back to her face.
"Yes, my uncle and cousins are really proud of me." Aurora told them. "Sure there are some people in the family who don't think it's proper but I tend to ignore them. Most of the ones around my age think it's cool any way."
"How old are you?" William asked before any one else could. That was a tricky question really as she was younger than most and hadn't known it until she and Orion had gone through her paper work for school. Dumbledore had messed with her age to make it match Harry's and she had done a lot of time traveling that made her mentally older if not physically. Luckily their was no minimal limit to professional broom racing.
"I'm Fifteen." She confessed to their shock. "I started pro racing at fourteen. I loved racing the moment I sat on a broom the first time and took off doing loops and dives. Luckily I'm also good at it and my career was made."
"What about your schooling?" Fleur asked. "Doesn't this put you behind?"
"O' no not at all. I'm a sixth year student at the Athena school for the Arcane." She told them. She couldn't help but brag a little "I also obtained my Journeyman's level Healers license this past summer." She couldn't help the glow of pride that came with that. She'd never be great at transfigurations and her household charms were best described as good enough. Her DADA was excellent but her offensive spells were the worst in her classes. In Herbology the professors called her technical and proficient. Which meant she didn't kill anything but would never be a master at it. Her ability to beast speak made her good at Care of Magical creatures but despite that built in cheat she was still in the mid level grades for her class. So yes her ability to heal especially ones soul and magic was something she was immensely proud of.
Luckily her pride didn't put her audience off any they just looked impressed. "Were you guys hungry? We usually eat at Sheila's after big wins and we would love to have you come with us." Louisa, Dawn, Amelie, and herself did regularly haunt that particular club as it was exclusive and classy. The music was nice not loud and in your face and the food was excellent, it could rival that of a four star restaurant with ease. They agreed to come and the other girls came out as they were all joined by a few more VIP's all of whom Aurora took the time to greet give autographs and offered to give everyone a tour of the training facilities. These particular buildings were owned by their company who also owned in part at least the race course itself. It would have been very embarrassing if at least one of them hadn't won today. So she showed them the locker rooms she and girls pointedly told funny stories that had happened here in the past. The massage tables and steam room got a few dirty jokes, and they passed into the weight/strength training room and got a good look at the equipment and pools. They even got to view the area for broom repair before she led them all back out to the empty gazebo. All the girls signed a few more autographs.
Aurora managed to pull Fleur, Victor, and William out while Louisa and Dawn distracted the other's Amelie covered the door moving and ten minutes later all three met back up with Aurora and their VIP's outside Sheila's door. The guards let them in the moment they knocked and the girls led the way up to the top balcony their were three levels of balconies overlooking the dance floor the top most doubled as a restaurant. Their favorite table was roped off and a waiter hurried over to the table to let them in and pass out the menu's. Sweet breads with butter appeared the moment they sat down. Aurora tapped her wand to the menu than ordered the braised beef and gnocchi. The others followed suit tapping their menu's with their wands to change the menu options from French, Chinese, or Italian dishes. William and Fleur both kept with French menu. Victor followed Aurora's lead and ordered the Italian calzone.
The rest got Chinese and they had fun talking about the pro racing and quizzing Victor about the quidditch league. He was playing for his National team again for the next World cup. This one he was determined to win not just catch the snitch. They compared him starting his career so young to Aurora dealing with racing and school. "What brings a professional quidditch star to a race?" Aurora asked.
Victor laughed as he answered. "I came to spend time with Fleur she is engaged, and we got to talking." Victor got a rueful look. "She said racing was better than Quidditch, and I would have fun if I came to a race." Victor gave her a wink "She was half right I have had a good time."
Was he flirting Aurora wondered. She wasn't sure how she felt if he was. After a moments thought she decided if he was it was an unconscious act that he did naturally. Arcturus was the same. So they had fun ribbing him about quidditch being the soft sport. After dinner they wondered out some to the dance floor's others to explore the other area's as they spoke. She parted with the floo address for Victor and a mail address for Fleur. She had traipsed home to the Cottage and just began to undress when the house elf popped in with the tragic news.
O0O0O0O0O0O0O0O
Caellum awoke Early on the second of November to drag himself off to breakfast. Samhain had fallen on a Thursday giving them all a four day weekend from school. So he was currently at home in Lestrange Hall. Uncle Rolland wasn't doing to well, the man hadn't been out of bed in two weeks and the head of the medi-nurses Cassi had hired told him it would be any time now that he went. So Caellum had celebrated Samhain proper in Rolland's rooms. Rolland himself talking about those family member's who'd long since passed the river, and Caellum telling stories of his new school. He held the mans hand and assured him he was there as he took one last raged breathe. He waited until the nurses cast the last spells and left before he broke down crying. Helene Beauregard head nurse for Mr. Lestrange watched with a heavy heart this was always one of the hardest parts. She had been almost reluctant to take the job when she'd heard the patients last name. When she'd proudly told the woman who'd been interviewing her that she was muggle born, the other woman had looked at her bewildered and said. 'Yes and the sky is blue, pigs are pink, and none of it has anything to do with your abilities now does it?' Helene had been most embarrassed however the rest of the interview had gone quite well and she'd been hired. Mr. Lestrange had been a delight, so sweet and kind. He'd happily bragged all about his wonderful nephew. They'd been nothing like she expected such a notorious family to be. So now knowing Caellum didn't need to be alone right now, she felt secure enough to call an elf and have him inform the family. She knew he was quite close to his female cousins having been raised with them and so requested one of them be told that Caellum needed her. The girl that came was dressed to the nines she'd clearly been out somewhere.
"Caellum? Oh dear heart come here." Aurora called softly, as she pulled the distraught boy to her. Caellum rested his head on her shoulder so she could hold him as she cried. She cried too. The old man had grown on her despite not having known him long.
Aurora put Caellum to bed before getting to work. She gave the nurses permission to move him and get him prepared for burial notified his solicitors, accountants and non-elf staff. She than had to track down the elves to find out who all had been told. The elves had been ordered to notify the Lestrange family and they had. Unfortunately the only family baring the name were escaped convicts. So Aurora had Cassi, Orion, and Maggie informed. She than ordered cards they would fill out to send out the notices to the papers, and close friends once they decided on a burial date. Once done she fell into a elf made bubble bath. She woke up to the elves drying her off and tucking her into bed.
The next morning they dismissed the healing staff who were no longer needed after making sure they all had their references, and went over Rolland's preferred burial ritual. The new moon would not be until at night on the tenth so the public ceremony would be that morning. Caellum decided on anything Rolland hadn't already specified and once done they all began filling out the notice cards. The ones to personal friends and family were sent that morning and the Newspaper notices were sent in the evening as an attempt to notify his nearest and dearest before the papers could. Aurora returned to school and made sure to collect Caellum's homework and make up work so he could complete them every night. On the fifth when Aurora showed up it was to find a panicking Caellum locked in the floo room. She didn't need to ask what was wrong because he told her right a way. Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange had arrived not knowing Caellum was already there. He'd ordered the house-elves to deal with them for now but they had been demanding to know who was in charge and Caellum was not ready to face his father just yet.
Aurora marched down the rooms where the elves had kept the Lestrange brothers. She barged into the sitting room and yelled at them for being rude and inconsiderate assholes. They were shocked at her appearance and more so at her introducing herself as 'Aurora, you know the daughter of that dark wanker you worship.' She'd than taken them to town on their health. They had dark lines around their eyes, under their nails, running up their arms, and that was only the places she could see. It was a form of magical rot that resulted in spending too much time unclean around Dementer's with too little food and too much moisture. "Haven't you two seen a healer since you've been out?" No as it turns out they hadn't. The last healer they'd had sympathetic to the cause had disappeared while they were in prison and no one knew were to find a new one. It just freaking figured. Both men wanted to participate in the private family rites and to do that she was going to have get rid of the rot. While she was at it she might as well treat anything else she found. It was with a long suffering sigh that she ordered them to dress down and prepare for diagnostics, she only had so much time to get them healthy after all. When they didn't immediately comply she disarmed them called Winky and dressed them down anyway. Much to both men's embarrassment. Getting rid of the rot meant using a specialized wire brush and cleaning potions. The potions were easy to get it was the scrubbing part that was tricky, and painful. She petrified the men and Winky, carrying all the scrubbing tools she needed took Rodolphus off to the bathtubs. When he came out forty minutes later pink and cringing he no longer had the will to fight and merely fell upon the bed and said "Your worse than your father, he at least has never ordered anyone to take a metal anything to my privates."
"It had to be done you know." Aurora told him. "besides endangering your life, it acts as a STD spreading to any one you have intimate contact with."
Rodolphus raise his head and asked cautiously "Would a woman be able to spread it the same way?"
"If your wondering about your whore wife and my man whore of a father," She said causing him to wince again. "The answer is yes he probably has it already and yes he will need the same treatment." Aurora couldn't help the smile that slipped out there.
"Your evil." Rodolphus told her. "I'm so not going to be the one to tell him that." She snorted and began to fiddle with the potions she had laid out in front of her while he had gotten his bath. A few she had had to make others she had sent the elves to buy off of Cassi.
"Drink this." She ordered. "It will begin to infuse your bones to help them heal from any damage you sustained because of Azkaban."
"This one will help you put on a healthy weight." She informed him as she handed over another. "These two here will help settle your magic. Dementer's cause damage to your core after only a month of exposer and you were there for years."
"I've laced your food with nutrient potions, unfortunately that's all I can do for now." She told both boys once Rabastan had also been bathed and put to bed. She made to leave when Rabastan stopped her. "How did you know?"
"I'm sorry?" Aurora turned to him confused.
"I heard you when I was in the bath, talking about Bel's and our Dark Lord, how'd you know?" He was resting on the bed but it was obvious he wouldn't sleep right until he knew. Now that it had been asked it was also clear that Rodolphus wanted an answer too. Well she had been wondering how and what she would tell her father. She might as well tell him now. Rodolphus deserved to know as well. Why not use him as the messenger?
"That jack ass made sure I knew." She told them with a mirthless laugh. "You see when Dumbledore had me and Caellum kidnapped he just wanted Caellum." She shook her head realizing she would need to give them the back ground information. She summoned a chair to her, no use wasting magic conjuring one, when summoning took so little energy. She sat down and got comfortable while she debated what to say. "I want you two to remain quiet and fix this in your memory because I will never say it again." She fixed them with stern looks. They both nodded. "Dumbledore's grandmother was a squib born from the Lestrange line and he believes he deserves an inheritance from you because of it. The relation is too distant to declare himself the heir if the main line died out so he ordered five of his best to kidnap your son. He would have had you killed or disappeared at a later date. At which time he had planned to declare himself Caellum's full guardian. He would have access to the Wizengamot votes, and large portion of the money. He had not planned on me. He had no one in place to take a second child and girls are nearly worthless in his eyes anyway. So he asked one of the men who'd kidnapped us to keep me."
"The Fifth auror!" Rodolphus blurted out. Though annoyed she did wonder what he meant and gestured to the now sheepish man to continue. "We looked for the both of you. We managed to trace some of the magic caste in the house to the Longbottom's and the Prewitt twins, but we never managed to find the fifth man."
She nodded. "James Potter took me home to his wife that night already partially blood adopted. They had added James's blood to mind to make him my third parent. I can't imagine how he explained that to his wife."
"Voldemort came to the Potter's cottage in Godrics Hollow and killed everyone but me. He could have saved me. He might have bothered to notice that I was there but no he was to consumed with his need to kill anything in his way to register his own child" Alright so maybe she was a smidgeon bitter about that. "Dumbledore needed Harry to 'live' so he spelled me to look like him and enchanted my mind so that I would be loyal and do as Dumbledore believed the 'boy-who-lived' should."
"Who saved you?" Rodolphus asked.
"YOU THINK SOMEONE RESCUED ME?" So maybe she was madder than she had at first believed. Her laugh had turned bitter for sure. "No, NO I saved me. Voldemort tortured me, hunted me, stole my blood, used the connection he'd forged with me to turn my dreams into nightmares. Who was going to rescue me when my own father wouldn't. No I saved me no thanks to any of you."
She got up and stormed to the door pausing to look back and smile. "The only time I can think of that monster and smile; is when I realize that he used my ESTROGEN filled blood to make his homunculus. I hope he enjoys the PMS symptoms that's sure to give him." She turned back and stormed off to her rooms. She would grab her firebolt and take off there was no way she would sleep tonight.