AN: If it isn't quite obvious enough yet, I would like to point out the fact that this is a parody exaggerating the role of the Mary Sue that we all love to hate. Don't know what a Mary Sue is, you say? Well, check out TV Tropes and let the education begin!
Once classes were over and the sun had set, Aurora Anetta Alexandria Abdullah settled down into her bed and opened an old, worn out book. She pulled her long legs towards her chest and rested the dingy book against her knees, flipping through the ancient pages with careful precision. Her lips moved gently with each word she read, strands of hair falling from behind her ear and brushing against the pages.
Stardust pressed her front hoof against Aurora's arm with a small whinny, and Aurora scooped her carefully into her lap and petted the Pegasus. Stardust whinnied happily and laid down to sleep, yet Aurora continued reading.
After a long while, Aurora's eyelids began to droop, and she started to lose her grip on the book. Stifling a yawn, she allowed her small fingers to turn one more page before giving it up for the night. She had almost decided to close the book when something seemed to catch her eyes. She sat up with a start, jolting Stardust awake, and brought the book closer to her face.
Great gallopin' gumpdrops! This…this is it.
Her heart thudded harder than normal in her chest. She jumped out of bed and threw on a silk night robe that flowed so perfectly against her shape. She glanced in the mirror next to her bed, catching a glimpse of herself. She appeared to light up the shadowed room, her skin radiant and her hair cascading perfectly against her shoulders like a golden waterfall. Her eyes sparkled in the light of the full moon, resembling the night sky. She wrapped her arms around her stomach and brushed her hair carefully behind her ear. Her waist was slim and the hand-me-down robe framed her figure perfectly, accentuating all of her curves like most men would love. Not hers, though. Men would never adore her curves, which is why Draco and Harry's affection astounded her so.
They're both probably leadin' you on. They're gonna dump ya and make ya look like an idiot. You deserve it though! No one could ever like you!
She smothered a tiny sniffle that threatened to escape and pulled herself away from the mirror.
Now's not the time to be thinkin' 'bout that kinda stuff! Ya have plenty of time to be pathetic as usual later, but now ya gotta concentrate.
Without another glance in the mirror, Aurora grabbed her wand and left the girls' dorm in silence. She walked delicately down the stairs and sneaked past the fat lady, who appeared to be out on a night visit. She glided through the hallways of Hogwarts like a ghost, almost floating along the carpet with grace that would make the high angels jealous.
She turned corners without worry, making her way to the library at an urgent pace. Then she hesitated. Aurora tilted her head to the side as if listening to something, biting her lower lip. She instantly changed her direction and made her way to the clock tower, almost as if in a trance.
Once she reached the bottom of the stairway, she placed her hand on the railing and looked up. Goosebumps formed across her arm. She lifted her wand silently and with a quick wave, she whispered, "Celaverimus."
Moments later, a shadowed figure descended from the stairs. He looked around the otherwise empty area, his eyes passing right over her, something she was used to. Why would anyone want to look at her? Despite her elegant beauty and magnetism, she wasn't much to look at.
But this time was different. She looked down at her hand, which had completely disappeared. In fact, her entire body had vanished into thin air. She kept her wand at the ready, but the shadow walked straight past her without a second glance.
Once Aurora was sure he was gone, she made her way quickly and quietly up the stairs of the clock tower, voices sounding from above. She slowed her pace at the top and listened. She looked through the bars at a group of shadowed men, hands gripping the railing tightly.
"—of utmost importance if we are to succeed in killing Dumbledore," one of them said. Aurora covered her mouth to keep from gasping.
"We have but one option," another responded, "The boy. We must entrust this to him at this time."
"How are we to get him to go along with this plan? He may be full of angst, but he is far from murderous," the one furthest from Aurora piped in, and the others all fell quiet as he spoke. "I find it difficult to believe that he would be able to pull it off. However, there is…another, I believe would be an asset to us."
The others were intrigued, moving towards the farthest shadowed figure, surrounding him.
"Tell us. Who might this new person be?"
One of the shadows then removed his cloak, and Aurora immediately recognized him. His dark hair reached his shoulders, and he had the same stern look about him that he had during classes.
"An aspiring student," Severus Snape explained, "Not a force to be reckoned with. She is the brightest and most advanced witch of this generation I have seen yet. She's unstable and insecure, so that would make her easy to manipulate considering she has no personality. Everybody trusts her even though they don't know who she is, and Dumbledore, who has never spoken to her directly, has favored her above all the rest—even above Harry Potter himself."
"But who is she, Severus? Tell us a name!" one of the shadows grew impatient, tired of hearing him ramble on.
"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Snape offered. His gaze slowly settled on Aurora's hiding spot, and he whispered the spell, "Aparecium."
Aurora looked down as her hands began to fade into view, and she stood up, realizing exactly what her professor had done. She walked up the final few steps and made her way into the circle, causing the Death Eaters to part before her.
"P-Professor Snape," she said, stopping in front of him. He reached out a hand and went to brush her cheek, shooting her a rare smile. She was the only student he would treat so fondly, even if he tried to hide it.
"Aurora, my dear, I'm so glad you could join us," he said monotonously. He grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her around to face the others, who stared at her intently. She felt a blush creep up on her face and she had to look down, clasping her delicate hands together to keep from fidgeting.
"As you can see, this student cast a very difficult invisibility spell as easily as one would summon a pencil," Snape explained to the group, "She has mastered spells that even the most powerful wizards would struggle with – even the Dark Lord himself would stand in awe of her abilities."
There were murmurs of agreement around them, and Aurora's head shot up with awe.
"B-But I ain't…I ain't nothin' special," she argued, twisting her hands a few times before she crossed her arms. "I'm just a lil ol' plain Jane. It was just a coincidence that I could do that spell, and some of the other powerful spells that I have managed. I mean, I've made up some that wizards would only dream of creatin'…but that's nothin'. Just coincidence."
Snape hushed her quickly and made her look at him, kneeling down to her level.
"Aurora," he said softly, "you are like a daughter to me. We have no history other than the past couple of days, but I can tell right now that you will do us all a service. You are the deciding factor in this war. Without you, one side will fall and the other will prevail. You have no confidence in your powers and normally we would pay you no mind, but the writer of this story has made you a characterless heroine that forces people out of character and annoys all of the readers, and it is simply up to us to go with the plot."
Aurora's cheeks flushed again and she looked back at the Death Eaters before back to Snape.
"What is it you want me for?"
Snape smiled again, something no other student has ever been given the opportunity to see. Aurora felt a cold wind pick up behind her, and the air darkened further around them. She dared not look behind her, but an ill feeling took form in her stomach as it began to turn and ache.
A dark voice sounded from behind her.
"Hello Aurora."
Aurora closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, digging her nails into the skin of her elbows to keep herself from shaking with fright. She stepped back from Snape but stayed facing him, wind blowing her robe behind her. In that moment, she was terrified.
"Hello…Lord Voldemort."
AN: I apologize about the delay between chapters. I've come to the unfortunate conclusion that I am an adult now, and working a full-time job makes it difficult for me to keep up with writing like I could in the past. Ah, well. Hopefully I'll get the hang of it soon enough.