Disclaimer: Aurora Clementine Badeau, Aberto Adriano Badeau, Alicia Doireann Badeau (nee Riddle), Timothy Durante Badeau, Alfred Cillian Badeau, Holly Caoimhe Badeau, Nicola Sorcha Badeau, Italia Isla Badeau, Thekla Sophia Badeau (nee Metaxas), Maximus Eligio Badeau, Alexander Fidel Badeau, Massimo Cillian Badeau, Dolores Maria Badeau (nee DaSilva), Gloria Boxington (nee Badeau), and Henry Boxington are © me lol I know, really long list of characters and yes, they're all related in some way. That'll be explained later. All of these names are authentic Spanish, Scottish, Italian, Irish, and Greek names (Thekla is the only pure Greek though). There are some names in here that I added but I'm not saying their mine because they don't play huge roles and I'm too lazy to go through the whole story again and type more names to this already long list (like Professor Markis, Nikita, etc…)

Pippa Lupin © my friend, Ashley :)

All other characters are © Jo Rowling (if you've seen the names in the original HP series)

Now…Enjoy. Please review!

Christmas came pretty quickly for Aurora and her family. She was in the middle of sending last minute Christmas presents out to Lily, Severus, Andromeda, and Sirius; having just sent James, Remus, Pippa, and Rebecca theirs. She was writing Sirius a letter of apology. There were balled up pieces of paper that had failed her inspection; her brother's poor trash can was overflowing. Aurora sat back, adding one last period to the letter she hoped was the last attempt. She began to read it and was amazed that anyone could read her very bubbly hand-writing.

Dear Sirius,

I think you probably hate me because of who my uncle is. I'm sorry you had to find out the way you did. I know we've never been very close but I've always considered you a friend, no matter how many arguments we get into. I wish I could have been more open about my family; I wish I could have told everyone in the very beginning so that Ewald wouldn't have anything to hold over my head.

I never wanted to be with him, Sirius. I despise him. He's cruel and rude and arrogant and hypocritical. No, it was never him that I liked and it wasn't Daniel Whisperwood or any of the other guys I've dated throughout our years at Hogwarts. Sirius, it's always been you that I've wanted to be with. You've always been the one guy I've had a lasting crush on. But it seemed impossible for us to be together.

Either I was in a relationship when you were single, or you were in a relationship when I was single or we were both with other people at the same time. I really thought I had lost you to Florence Fletcher. You two seemed almost perfect together. I remember being very jealous of her but I never really showed it. I just took it out on you, pushing you away from me and to her even more. Now I know I've lost you for good.

I mean, who's going to want to be with me now? No one who knows my family history, anyway. I'm not proud to be his niece, Sirius. I dislike snakes not because I fear them but because I am indeed a Parselmouth and because they represent the very being of Voldemort and my Slytherin ancestors. Sirius, he killed my muggle father and my muggle grandparents. He tortured my mum to insanity and into a vegetative state.

Now Tim and I fear that he might have gotten Alfred as well. I don't know why I'm telling you this. I'm sorry. That's all this letter was supposed to say. I'm sorry. So…I want you to know that I'm letting go of the idea of ever being with you in any way; as a friend, a lover. So, I guess this is good-bye. Be happy, Sirius. Thank you for everything.

Sincerely,

Aurora Clementine Badeau

'Oh geez…I'm such a cheese cake!' She glared at the letter and then just left it on the desk, walking over to the guest bed in the office. She sat on it heavily, sighing as she leaned back and laid there. 'You've fallen hard, Miss Aurora.' She closed her eyes and rested her head on her hands. 'Crap.' She heard a soft hoot and looked to the window. "Isis!" Aurora went to the window, gently picking up her favorite owl, a female Snowy Owl that had belonged to her mother. She pet Isis, smiling as the bird affectionately nibbled at her earlobe. "I've missed you a lot, Isis. What do you have for me tonight?" She pulled a small package and letter off of Isis' leg and unrolled the parchment first. It's from Aunt Gloria. Aurora sat down on the bed again, letting Isis hop off of her arm and onto the bed.

Absently, Aurora noticed that Isis had ruffled her feathers and settled down next to her. Her aunt Gloria wasn't from her mother's side. No, she only had one surviving member from that side of the family, besides her mother, and that was her Uncle Tom (a.k.a. Voldemort). No, this aunt was from her father's side of the family. Her father's sisters and brother had been taught by Alicia how to communicate to the magically inclined. It had worked and they actually all liked using owls as a post carrier. Aurora began to read the letter, her eyes scanning it quickly.

Dear Tim,

I'm sorry to hear about Alfred. I can't believe he has turned to the dark side of your magical community. I know you must be going through denial, him being your twin and all. Being betrayed isn't the best feeling in the world. So you know for sure that he's the one who gave you parents and my parents over to Tom Riddle? Isn't he your "secret keeper"? Do you think he's given your whereabouts away? If he has, you are more than welcome to come live with my husband and me. Henry won't mind, I promise. I don't want any more tragedies befalling this family. Please respond as soon as you're able. Love you.

Always,

Aunt Gloria and Uncle Henry

Aurora paled, her hand reaching up to gently wrap around her neck. 'WHAT?!' "No…No. Alfred would not give our parents and grandparents to Voldemort on a silver platter. It's not like him." Aurora stood and went to the door, wrenching it open. "Tim! Tim!" She stormed down the stairs and into the living room. Tim ran in with Thekla close behind, hold Alexander as she bottle fed him. Tim and Thekla looked concerned. Aurora waved her aunt's letter around in the air as Holly and Nicola entered the room with Italia. "What's this?! Huh!?" She threw it at him, her eyes blazing angrily at him as the letter fluttered to the carpeted floor. Tim stooped down and picked the letter up, reading it quickly. He groaned and placed a hand over his face.

"Yeah. What is it, Tim?" Aurora was sounding angrier by the second, which upset two year old Maximus, who began to wail and cling to his mother's skirts. Tim glared at Aurora and then motioned for Thekla to remove Alexander and the other young children out of the room. He turned his attention back to his furious sister and paced, waiting for everyone to be out of the room. When they were gone, he spoke.

"I didn't want you to know the truth."

"What truth?! That's all lies! He wouldn't hand our parents and grandparents over to Voldemort like that! They raised all of us better than that!" Tim was shaking his head, making Aurora angrier. "What do you mean, no!?"

"Aurora, he began acting strangely about two months before all of this shit happened! He became edgy and nervous around us. Mum accidentally grabbed his forearm and he yelled at her because it hurt. We asked him to let us look at it and he refused. He was acting like a wounded and cornered dog."

"Maybe he had a really bad cut or bruise or something! Maybe he was tired and agitated from work!" She argued, refusing to believe this. Tim shook his head hard and then grabbed her shoulders, shaking her almost violently.

"Aurora, Mum told me she saw him looking at his arm in one of the bathrooms at the Italy house. She saw the dark mark on him!"

Aurora was speechless. The dark mark on her brother, Al; the biggest joker of them all? Tim noticed her disbelief and moved away from her. He paced a little, his hand running through his thick brown hair.

"Not Al. Al wouldn't do that!" She refused, shaking her head as her chin trembled and her voice began to choke.

"Are you so sure, Aurora?! Are you?! He's my twin, damn it, and I didn't even notice it! He's changed, Aurora. He's not the Al we knew anymore!" He was yelling now and Aurora flinched, stepping away from him. She glared at him and then ran up the stairs, slamming the door to the room she was staying in.

Lily sat on her blue plaid bed, leaning back on a pile of soft pillows. Her legs were bent up in front of her, a hard book against her legs as she wrote a letter to Pippa. She has just gotten a letter from Pippa about her break off with Severus Snape. Lily tried pouring all of her sympathy and comfort into the letter; she knew Pippa needed it desperately. She also knew that Aurora, Andromeda, and she were the only ones who would be hearing about this besides her brother. Pippa would not tell Sirius or James about this for fear of humiliation by the two.

A tapping noise came from her window and Lily looked up. She saw her barn owl, Hooty, at the window, tapping away. He wanted in and he was carrying something. Lily stood and went to the window and let him in, a cold gust of wind following him. He hooted loudly and nipped at her finger tips as she reached for him.

"Hooty, behave or you won't get any treats," she scolded and the bird seemed to understand her because he allowed her to touch him and get the letter off of his leg. She then gave him some treats, smiling as he hooted happily at her. She went back to her bed and got back into the position she had been in prior to the owl interrupting her writing. She opened her new letter and smiled as she read what Aurora had written her.

Her happy expression quickly turned into one of horror as she read Aurora's letter, which sounded angry and wounded.

Dear Lily,

My brother, Alfred, wasn't kidnapped like I had told you before; like Tim had told me. No, he joined the Death Eaters or so Tim tells me. Mum caught him not too long ago with the Dark Mark on his arm. No one tells me anything! I had a right to know! Maybe I could have talked some sense into him. What's worse is…he's the one who gave Voldemort my parents' and grandparents' whereabouts.

He's the reason why my father, grandfather, and grandmother are all dead; he's the reason why my mother is in St. Mungo's hospital, why she's insane and as good as dead.

Lily… I don't know what to do. I wish you were here. I need someone to hug me and tell me that everything is going to be ok. Tim tried keeping this a secret from me but I intercepted a letter from my aunt Gloria. He had told her, a muggle who doesn't understand a thing about our world. How could he do that to me? It's completely unfair and inconsiderate! I want to run away. I just want to leave all of this effing crap behind me.

I just needed to vent…I'm sorry. I'll see you at the station.

Always,

Rora

P.S. I finally wrote Sirius, but I never sent it out.

Lily felt so terribly for both of her friends that she became quite teary-eyed as she fiddled with her necklace that James had gotten her for Christmas. She took a moment to collect her thoughts before she finished her letter to Pippa. When she did, she sent it off with Hooty. Then she sat back down and began on Aurora's letter. 'What can I say to her? She's been through so much…It truly isn't fair.'