The comedown from the school-wide high of the Yule Ball was felt everywhere by the end of the year. New Year's Eve, Slytherin held a party in the common room for everyone, and at midnight a large group snuck out of the dungeons to watch fireworks coming from Hogsmeade Village. Cassius kissed Aurora at the bells, making her blush furiously, something which both Gwen and Pansy teased her for relentlessly. After, though, it was straight back into homework and preparing for the next term.
Aurora had projects of her own to work through, quite different from the nights she spent in the common room with her friends, going over Herbology diagrams and Potions notes. This was a rather separate matter entirely — that of the strange, smoky quartz ring she had inherited three years ago. The remnants of a curse still lingered about it, despite her attempts to free it. Sometimes she swore she could hear it whispering, but whenever she truly tried to listen, the sound faded.
It was a letter from Callidora that gave her a breakthrough. It had taken Aurora so long to decide whether or not to reach out, but Callidora, Marius and Cedrella all wrote to her shortly after Christmas, only brief messages, though courteous all the same. Aurora had, however, written back to Callidora with a slightly longer letter asking for any knowledge she had surrounding family heirlooms and curses. It was hesitating, but there was only so much that Andromeda and her father could tell her, and she didn't know how to broach the subject in a letter to Narcissa — especially given her dwindling trust in Lucius, which had never been particularly strong anyway — but Callidora, from years spent on the fringes of the family but still very much aware of it, had much more to offer, and Aurora felt her feelings had far less hurt to hear from Callidora.
The stone, Callidora suspected, was not regular quartz but instead a Lapis Nocte, taken from what used to be known as Hellgates. Fabled entrances to the Underworld — no one now knew where they were or knew how to open them, and in truth it was likely that much of the stories of their magical properties had been distorted, but according to Callidora the ancient magical stones had been of great interest to her own father, and to his father before him.
With that in mind, and a new focus for her research which had been at a dead end for the better part of two years, Aurora set herself the challenge of reading up on magical geology. Lapis Nocte was highly rare, and while some old Alchemists had tried to recreate it, none had achieved the task, and little was written on the subject. This meant that Hogwarts' library was equally sparse in terms of research materials, even when Aurora combed both the Alchemy and Magical Geology sections. The Restricted Section, she thought, might be of more use, but she didn't want to ask for permission from a teacher and have to explain her reasons why. Snape certainly wouldn't allow it, and she doubted that anyone else would either. She would have to seriously suck up to Professor Babbling and claim it was for a Runes project, or else Professor Hagrid, and confuse him into just giving her permission anyway, though the latter was likely to be far more questionable to Madam Pince.
Still, she vowed to find a way, and in the meantime worked on the few tomes which she was able to find, connecting rocks with enchantments — both naturally occurring and cast — and their uses in amulets. There was little about their use in rings, but she did find some anecdote of Lapis Nocte being used in amulets and brooches, protective talismans. She had never thought of the ring as protective before — the dark magic in it was tangible, a cold, sharp sensation that toyed with her nerves if she tried to put it in — but perhaps the enchantments were two-fold. Or corrupted — from her research, the main takeaway so far had been that anything was possible.
The night before the end of the holidays, Cassius broke her out of her studies, sitting beside her on the sofa before the fireplace. His arm was placed over the back of the sofa, fingertips lingering near her shoulder. "What you looking at?" he asked, peering over, and Aurora closed the book quickly, smiling. She hadn't told anyone about her project, and she wasn't going to start now. Not even with Cassius.
"Just some random stuff, really. Thought I might as well look at something other than schoolwork." She turned her head, seeing him frown.
"Do you always read just to learn?"
"Not always," she said, thinking of the secret fiction books Gwen sometimes let her borrow, hidden away in their dorm room, "mostly. I enjoy it. And it's important."
"Even on your last night of freedom before classes start again?" Cassius peered over at her book again and Aurora tensed, holding it tightly.
"I suppose I could be persuaded to tear myself away from it," she said, still with a protective hold. It wasn't as if she was getting very far with it anyway, and it was growing late. "Why?"
He shrugged. "I figured we could stand to spend some time together. I can bring a chessboard over, or we can just... Chat."
Aurora flushed — usually when they said they were going to talk, there wound up being a fair bit of kissing involved. Not that she minded that, but it still felt slightly strange, and she wasn't sure that the common room was really the best setting, especially considering that the younger students had all now returned from their break.
"How about chess?" she said nervously, trying to smile. "I'm sure there's plenty time to chat later."
To her relief, Cassius appeared unfazed by this, and was quick to fetch a board from a cupboard and set it up between them. They were able to chat over the game, which Cassius eventually won, though not without sacrificing very many pieces. And she had to admit that, despite her earlier determination to read and study, it was good to be able to relax on the last night before term started, and enjoy the company of something new and strange, but not unwelcome.
-*
Snow was still thick on the grounds outside in the morning when Aurora went upstairs for breakfast. She dreaded having to go out for Care of Magical Creatures later that day, and hoped that she would have time to run back to the dungeons and pick up her warmer cloak before then.
As she was halfway through breakfast, going over their History essay with Theodore, Daphne, and Leah MacMillan, Draco let out a loud laugh which startled her from across the table. He was waving around a copy of the Daily Prophet, showing Vincent and Greg, and looking very pleased with himself.
She and Theodore exchanged questioning looks, but neither knew what it was about, and so went back to their essays until Draco interrupted them again.
"Aurora," he called, waving the newspaper in her face. She batted it away from her cheek, frowning.
"Yes?"
"Look at this."
"Why?" She eyed the paper with suspicion.
"I get a feature."
"You what?" she asked sharply and snatched it from him. "What did you do?"
"Nothing," he said, then at her frown said, "nothing bad, I'm fine, it isn't about me. Just read it."
Still frowning, Aurora smoothed the pages, seeing first a picture of Professor Hagrid and then a headline which read: DUMBLEDORE'S GIANT MISTAKE
As soon as she saw the name Rita Skeeter, she groaned. "Draco, you didn't talk to that woman, did you? You know how I feel about—"
"Just read!" Draco urged, grinning. "Go on."
With a sigh, Aurora went on. Skeeter seemed critical of Dumbledore and of Moody from the first paragraph, but it was clear that Professor Hagrid was her target.
Apparently his classes were 'very frightening' — which they could be, Aurora supposed, but it was not as though they had not dealt with any other frightening creatures in Defense, or jinxes or curses — and Draco had given a statement about his being attacked by Buckbeak the hippogriff. This was true, but the next part she knew to be a blatant lie.
"You said Vince got bitten by a flobberworm?" she asked, flabbergasted. "Draco, they don't even have teeth! That's terrible!"
Draco shrugged. "I did get maimed by that hippogriff."
Leah MacMillan made a derisive snorting sound which Aurora pointedly ignored. "You couldn't even come up with a believable lie! That would take all of five minutes to disprove, Draco, honestly!"
The rest of the accusations she understood — it was after all entirely possible that the Blast-Ended Skrewts had been illegally bred, and she had speculated as such before — but it was the revelation after this which caught her attention.
"A giant?" she said, looking up to the High Table, where Professor Hagrid was conspicuously absent. "Half-giant?"
It would explain his size, but goodness... Aurora looked up to Professor Dumbledore, whose face was unusually grave. Surely he could not let a half-giant teach in a school? Giants were known to be bloodthirsty and even if Hagrid was only half-giant, didn't he think it concerning?
Then again, she thought, he had allowed Professor Lupin to teach and he was a werewolf. Granted, there were precautions, but she absolutely could believe that Dumbledore knew Hagrid to be a half-giant and turned a blind eye. There were no laws to say that someone with giant blood could not be in such a position, but even so, the idea of it was unsettling.
She knew Professor Hagrid, she reminded herself. He was rather foolish and reckless and had gotten Draco injured by failing to provide adequate safety checks on the class, but he wasn't a bad person. He had been kind to her, after all. He didn't intend anyone to get hurt, but he did put them in harm's way by his own failings. That wasn't really because of blood, though, was it?
And it wasn't as thought Gilderoy Lockhart hadn't done the same, especially if Potter was to be believed about his tale in the chamber of secrets, which he had told her father. Conflicted, Aurora scanned the rest of the article, confused as to whether Skeeter believed Hagrid's mother had been in You-Know-Who's army or just assumed that she had been. Harry Potter got a mentioned too — of course — just a suggestion from Skeeter that he was too vulnerable to be around Hagrid, that he surely was clinging to any quasi-parental figure he could find and was, distressingly, drawn to such dangerous beings as not only Hagrid, but Aurora's own father and Remus. Scowling at that last part, she folded the paper up with a sigh to hand back to her cousin.
"He is rather incompetent as a teacher," she admitted, "but I can't believe you spoke to Rita Skeeter about him. This article is ridiculous, Draco, all over."
Draco shrugged, taking the paper back. "She asked. Besides, he's an idiot. Maybe now we'll get a decent teacher, not a half-giant. Anything could have happened with a half-breed teaching."
She thought back to the insinuation of the giantess Fridwulfa's association with the Dark Lord, and felt a tight stretch of irritation. It was not as if Draco's family were innocent, after all. Nor were hers, but she — well, she did not endorse it. Not really. Anything could have happened with Lucius Malfoy around, and he had been a school governor.
"I hate Rita Skeeter," she reminded him primly, trying to avoid the rest of her thoughts. This, too, was the best angle with which to discuss the matter with Draco, the angle she hoped he would be most receptive too. She could not voice those other thoughts out loud, and certainly not to Draco — it would not be fair to him, she felt. "And you know that. Don't you remember what she wrote about me last year?"
"Yeah," Draco said, "but that was all nonsense. No one believed it."
She scoffed, anger welling behind her eyes. "Maybe not from your perspective, but that's certainly not the case, Draco. People have believed such things as Rita Skeeter wrote about me the whole time, Draco. It was awful, knowing what people thought of me, for something I had no control over. And — Hagrid isn't the same. It's not the same situation — but of all people, Rita Skeeter?" Her voice raised, and a couple of people were looking over, so Aurora tried to steady herself. Draco stared at her, eyes round and shocked. "It just had to be her? You spoke to her even though you know she's awful, and I hate her, and she lies! Didn't you think—" She let out a frustrated sigh. Draco hadn't been thinking and she knew that she shouldn't make herself the centre of this argument, but she couldn't help but feel annoyed about it. "Never mind," she sighed, though unable to shake the annoyance lodged between her ribs, finishing the last of her morning tea and standing up. "What's done is done. But you can't just — just say things like that to people. You could ruin lives! And you lied, Draco!"
"Oh, like you're such a saint."
"Maybe not," Aurora said. "I'm sorry. But you — what if someone last year had spoken to Rita Skeeter about me, like you did about him? You know how much that article hurt me, you know how much I hate her."
"But no one did. And you didn't do anything wrong, not really, and I mean he's innocent anyway—"
"But no one knew that at the time," she said as kindly as she could, trying to keep her voice down, trying to avoid causing a scene, "not even me. Someone else getting involved, lying about me? Would have made everything about that article ten times worse for me. Can't you imagine what would have happened if Harry Potter had spoken to Rita Skeeter about me?" For the first time, something like shame flashed on Draco's face. "Or anyone, for that matter. Merlin knows there are plenty of people here who hate me.
"I'm not — I'm not siding with Professor Hagrid, even though there isn't any actual evidence." Other than his outrageous height, of course. It really wasn't shocking that he was at least part-giant, in her opinion. "I just — not Rita Skeeter, okay? She doesn't care about people or what's right or wrong, she just wants a story and she'll make other people's lives miserable to get it."
She picked up her bag, smiled tightly at her cousin, and took in a deep breath. "Sorry for getting annoyed. But you see my point?"
Draco rolled his eyes, but nodded. "It's still out there though." She wasn't sure that answered the question.
"You don't have to be so pleased," Aurora shot back. "You didn't have to get involved or do any of this, but..." She shook her head. "I'm going to fetch my cloak. It's freezing today."
"I'll come with you," said Gwen, standing up. "Need a blanket to nap in History."
Aurora rolled her eyes, but was quietly glad for the company as she made her way down into the dungeon. Talking to Gwen was easy — they chatted idly about Slytherin house gossip, Aurora and Cassius's developing relationship which they still hadn't put a real name to, but certainly felt like dating, and Gwen's sisters' ongoing fight over makeup, which Jessie kept trying to 'borrow' from Yasmin before school, despite being all of ten years old.
Gwen still napped throughout History, as she always did, leaving Aurora and Theodore to sit together as they scrawled notes here and there. It was Care of Magical Creatures that she was worried about, even with her cloak, but when she got there, Professor Hagrid was nowhere to be seen.
Immediately, she was struck with the awful thought that he had been sacked already. For Dumbledore, that was harsh — but no, she thought, surely they would have been told if there was a permanent change of staffing. Unless Dumbledore wanted to gloss it over and brush it under the carpet, as impossible a thing as that was to do in Hogwarts Castle.
His replacement, standing before his hut, happened to be a grey-haired witch, with a prominent chin, who looked briskly around at them all.
"Hurry up now," she said, as the last stragglers from Gryffindor arrived, Potter and his friends among them. Potter of course, looked scandalised by Hagrid's absence. "The bell rang five minutes ago!"
Millicent shoved through the last of the snow and huddled at Aurora's side. "God, you're freezing," she muttered.
"So are you," Aurora laughed. "Let me feel your hands." They were like ice, as predicted. "We should have brought our Herbology gloves."
"Who're you?" Ron Weasley asked the new teacher, in a most indelicate manner. "Where's Hagrid."
"My name is Professor Grubbly-Plank," the new Professor said in her brisk tone, looking annoyed by the question. "I am your temporary Care of Magical Creatures teacher."
At least it was only temporary, Aurora thought, though her eyes drifted to the closed curtains of Hagrid's hut.
"Where's Hagrid?" Potter asked again, glaring at the windows.
"He is indisposed," Grubbly-Plank said.
"Indisposed," Pansy said, and let out a small, low laugh. Aurora glanced away, a lump lodged in her throat.
"This way, please," Grubbly-Plank called as the last students arrived. She led them around towards a paddock near the Beauxbatons carriage, then past it towards the Forbidden Forest, where a brilliant white unicorn was tethered to a tree.
"Oh," Aurora said softly, as they went closer.
The unicorn was bright white, so much that it almost hurt to look at, and everything by it dimmed in comparison. It was a far cry from the poor, sickly thing she had seen in the forest in first year and Aurora smiled as the girls were called forward.
"Approach with care," Grubbly-Plank instructed, "come on, easy does it."
The Gryffindor girls went forward first, immediately crowding the animal, who stamped on the ground and threw back its golden mane. "Not so many," Grubbly-Plank warned sharply. "Be gentle, ladies. A few at a time and approach slowly. You two!" She turned her eyes on Aurora and Millicent. "Come forward."
Aurora felt a wave of nerves wash over her as the unicorn eyed her warily. She and Millicent took tentative steps forward, and on Grubbly-Plank's instruction, Aurora raised a gentle hand to the unicorn's neck. The unicorn stiffened beneath her touch, and she was about to withdraw, before it relaxed into her with a low whinnying noise. Something about the unicorn felt familiar, the soft coat and low hum of energy.
"Very good," Grubbly-Plank said. "We've reassured it now, and the rest of you can start joining your classmates."
Again, the Gryffindors advanced first, Hermione Granger even sharing with Aurora a rare smile as they took the same side of the unicorn. Professor Grubbly-Plank started going over the magical properties of the unicorn, from her horn to her tail hair.
As she moved back to let the other girls near, Aurora's gaze wandered over to where her cousin was standing, showing the Daily Prophet to Potter and Weasley, both of whom looked furious. She held in a groan — of course, she should not have been so optimistic as to assume that Draco would keep the article on the down low. He wanted to gloat, wanted to rub it in Potter's face, and that annoyed her. Maybe she would have done the same — really, she thought it more than likely — but that still frustrated her.
Even so, it was Draco's decision. And she focused instead on the lovely unicorn before her and Grubbly-Plank's lecture. The boys could argue over whatever they wanted — it was not up to her to keep any kind of peace after all, and certainly not at her cousin's expense. That was what she tried to rationalise.
She avoided all of them on her way back to the castle after class, but Potter managed to catch up to her anyway in the Entrance Hall, looking furious.
"Did you know about this?" he demanded, clutching Draco's copy of the Prophet.
"I did not, Potter," she said tiredly. "Don't bring me into this."
"Have you read it?"
"I have." She walked on, but he followed.
"You know it's lies, right? Are you just okay with this?"
"Potter, I don't have to explain any of my opinions to you."
He swallowed, pursing his lips. "It's all lies! And you said you don't like Rita Skeeter!"
"I don't," she told him, weary. "But Draco makes his own decisions, Potter, if you hadn't noticed. Don't bother me about this. I've been through it with him already."
Potter huffed. "How do you not care?"
"Why would you think that I did?"
He looked at her, blinking. "Dunno. Just thought you cared about people knowing the truth."
"As I said." She swallowed. "I don't agree with the article. I have my own thoughts about my cousin. But don't bother me about this. I won't back you. Don't interfere, Potter."
He scowled, shaking her head at her. There was something almost like disbelief in it, of the frustrated sort, as he said in a low voice, "I see you're still a coward, Black."
The age-old urge to reach for her wand dawned on her then, the instinct to threaten Potter with a hex for daring to say a word against her. But instead she merely flexed her fingers against the wood and kept them there, glaring at him with an only half-hearted irritation.
Because the thing that made her angriest was that she couldn't find it in her to claim he was wrong. Was it cowardice to ignore her own fury, her own opinion on what was right and what was wrong? Was it cowardice to still be uncertain of what right and wrong were, to see the blurring of lines when it came to what she believed in and who she believed in, was it cowardice to defy something in private and stay silent in public? Could she even say she defied something at all if she never brought herself to express that defiance?
"I don't care for your definitions of my personality," she told Potter softly, making to step past him. "Learn to take a hint, won't you?"
-*
It was an inevitability that the notice was pinned on the notice board that evening, announcing that the fourth years' Duelling Club would meet on Saturday afternoon, and all participants still interested would be organised into a training tournament. Draco and Pansy were no longer interested, nor were Vincent and Greg, and by the time Saturday arrived, it was a group of eight Slytherins — herself, Theodore, Gwen and Robin, Millie, Apollo Jones, Lewis Stebbins, and Leah MacMillan — that made their way back to the Great Hall after lunch had been cleared away.
There were perhaps another two dozen students who had chosen to return, a large proportion of them Gryffindors and Ravenclaws, with only a handful of Hufflepuffs.
"Good," Moody grunted at them, "you're all here. Professor Flitwick'll tell you how we're running things."
Flitwick gave him a look, then smiled as he stepped up and flicked his wand to make the doors close. "Come closer, everyone, come closer. This is a nice little group we've got here."
"Perfect for hexing each other," Moody said, and Aurora withheld a smile.
"Now, we've had a little look at your classwork and general spell ability, and based on that and your performances last time, come up with a little ranking system. Don't worry — none of you will be told your ranks, it's only to decide who faces who. We've got a nice number to work with, so you'll all be paired up in brackets and then whoever wins each match will play the winner of another and so on. Hopefully this'll challenge those who need challenged and help those who need some improvement!" She saw Neville Longbottom, who had for some reason decided to continue with the club, knead his hands together nervously. "Now, I'm sure none of you are going to do each other real damage, and you shouldn't! Professor Moody and I are going to run you through some other mild jinxes before we get started on each other. If you'll all watch!"
He turned just as sharply and suddenly as he had last time. He and Moody bowed to each other and then started flicking their wands, calling jinxes — impedimenta, flipendo, relashio, ebublio, brachiabindo — which had varying effects and holds. Flitwick's successful bubble jinx, for example, held Moody in a transparent bubble for two seconds before he broke it, splashing everyone near him with water, and firing a Revulsion Jinx straight at Flitwick, whose grip on his wand loosened and disturbed the trajectory of the impediment jinx he had aimed at Moody, causing it to instead bounce off the window and dissolve in red sparks.
Moody eventually won out over Flitwick, possibly rehearsed, and they both turned to the impressed group of students. They got Perhaps ten minutes to practice the incantations on sparring dummies which Flitwick conjured along the hall, before being split into their first pairs.
Aurora, to her amusement, had been paired with Robin, who grimaced at her. "You aren't scared of me now, are you, Oliphant?" she teased as the others were sorted out. Harry Potter was pitted against Ron Weasley, which she personally thought was a horrible idea.
"Terrified," he drawled mockingly, "when I beat you, Gwen'll have my head for it."
She grinned, gripping her wand as she waited for the signal to begin. "I'm sure it won't come to that, Oliphant," Aurora said sweetly.
"Bow," Moody instructed them, and they did, Aurora holding Robin's gaze with a mocking stare which he reciprocated. They straightened up, and he said, "Begin!"
"Relashio!" Aurora started immediately, and Robin fumbled his wand halfway through a Disarming Spell. That gave her time to twist and hit him again with an Impediment Jinx.
Robin tripped, but got a hold on his wand again and whirled around. "Flipendo!" he cried, causing her to stumble back as blue light hit against her shoulder.
He hit her with a Stunner as she tried to regain her footing, but she dodged and managed to block it before sending back a Binding Jinx. It didn't work quite as intended, as he could still move his limbs, but was greatly restricted, and she managed to get some of her breath back before he made another attempt at Disarming her.
Aurora shouted, "Protego!" to stop it and the spell glanced off, fizzling against the ground.
"Finite!" Robin panted at the same time she said, "Petrificus Totalus!" causing the two spells to collide and ricochet. He lurched upwards while Aurora ducked her own glancing spell, and she dodged out of the way of his next jinx.
"Stupefy!" she said under her breath, flicking her wrist so that red light soared towards him, suitably stunning him for enough time that she could counter his Impediment Jinx with a Knockback Jinx of her own, finishing him off as he was thrown back against the ground, groaning.
"I concede," he said, wincing, as she looked down at him. "Ouch."
"What did you hurt?" she asked briskly, helping him to his feet.
"My pride, my arse, and my right shoulder."
Aurora snickered, waving Professor Flitwick over. "Who won? Black? Very good, very good, you'll be against Miss Bones next. You sit this round out, Oliphant, I'm sure your next opponent won't mind."
Robin grumbled, and Aurora frowned at him in insincere apology. "Rematch next time," he said, and she rolled her eyes.
"If you enjoy getting knocked on your arse, who am I to deny you?"
In a most childish gesture, Robin stuck out his tongue at her, and Aurora laughed, watching him being ushered to a bench by a rather disapproving Professor Flitwick. Theodore's duel with Gwen was still ongoing, as was Leah MacMillan's with Apollo Jones, but Millicent had managed to triumph over Lavender Brown, and she noticed Frida Selwyn of Gryffindor had managed to win against Padma Patil.
Granger and Potter both seemed to have had quick success with their respective opponents, but from the looks of it, they were to face each other next, and Aurora had to admit she was curious as to who would win. Potter had a more reflexive style of magic, but Granger was precise and likely knew far more spells than he did.
She turned to eye Susan Bones, who was watching the father fierce duel between her housemate Alice Runcorn and the Ravenclaw Kevin Entwhistle. Susan was the niece of Amelia Bones from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, who was herself an accomplished duellist. It would hardly be surprising, then, that Susan had picked up some of that Duelling knowledge — her defeat of Lisa Turpin had been swift and impressive. Aurora supposed she should have tried to pay more attention to the Hufflepuff. She was rather unassuming, but that did not mean she wasn't a fierce duellist. Defeating someone like Robin, whose weaknesses and style she was already familiar with, was one thing. Susan would challenge her, she knew.
They rotated Duelling partners when Theo finally prevailed over Gwendolyn, and Leah over Apollo. Aurora bowed to Susan but held her gaze firmly. This did nothing to intimidate the Hufflepuff, who merely raised her eyebrows as they straightened and held her wand with a perfect, clearly practiced grip. Still, Aurora noted a stiffness to her shoulders, and her rigid stance.
As soon as Moody let them begin, she started on a spell, but Susan did too, and she was faster. Aurora didn't have the time to block the Impediment Jinx, and so stumbled forward, causing the Knockback Jinx which she had aimed at her opponent to lose its trajectory and only catch Susan's leg, pushing her back but not fiercely enough to have major consequences as intended.
Their spells went back and forth like that for some time, neither managing to quite keep any upper hands that they did gain. Susan had a habit of favouring jabbing wand movements more than more fluid motions or flicks, and while that made her spells stronger when they landed, it also made them more predictable and easier to dodge. Aurora, on the other hand, favoured a more mobile tactic, and managed to sneak quite a few spells past Susan's shields and counters, but it soon wore her down.
The duel was revolving around Susan, and Aurora had to turn it around. She fired off a Jelly-Legs Jinx, which afforded her some time to get her breath back and erect a shield while Susan stumbled about. Susan aimed a Revulsion Charm, and while Aurora moved to dodge it, it seemed that had been Susan's intention — she put herself right in the spell's path instead, causing her wand to slip and Susan to regain her balance. They both aimed Disarming Jinxes at the same time, and this time Aurora stood her ground until the very last second, drawing her wand up to cause the spell to glance off and ricochet back at Susan, joining the path of her own spell in one line like fraying red rope, and flinging the wand from her hand.
Breathing heavily, Aurora stepped forward, clutching her own wand. Susan panted, but managed a grin. "I concede," she said. "But you move too much. Waste too much energy."
Aurora raised her eyebrows, mouth lifting in a smirk as she moved her wand and held her free hand out for Susan to shake. "Your style is too predictable. You always cast the same way, and leave yourself open."
Susan laughed, shaking her hand. "Thanks, Black."
"Anytime. You're really good," she admitted. "Did your aunt teach you to duel like that?"
"Sort of," Susan told her, looking around at the few other duels still going. "More like I spent my summers trying to copy her. I still have a lot to learn though, clearly."
"I suppose we all do," Aurora said, releasing her hand and bending to pick up Susan's wand and give it back to her. "Good show, though, Bones."
With only two opponents left, Aurora let herself catch her breath and take a drink of water from the table set up at the end of the hall. Gwen joined her, watching on.
"That was more of a workout than I thought," she said, untying and then retying her hair. "Bloody exhausted, and we're halfway through. Are you going against Nott?"
"I think so," Aurora said, and Gwen sighed.
"I didn't think he'd be as good as he is. I mean, I know I'm not the best or anything but I thought I'd last a little longer. He's really quick."
"Is this you trying to give me a... What did you call it? Not a motivational speech."
"Pep talk!" Gwen laughed. "Well, I just want to see you win. Not that I don't like Nott, but I am a bit bitter about my shoulder."
"He hurt your shoulder?"
"He didn't mean to, but I tripped on the Impediment Jinx and went flying. That's how he got my wand too, it was really annoying. Anyway, you can't talk, after Robin."
Aurora hummed. "I suppose so. Good shot, Theodore, then."
Gwen scoffed and bumped her side. "Lucky shot, more like. I'll get him next time."
"Rotate!" Moody called over the crowd of now chattering students. "Take a minute to relax and then back into it. Dark wizards won't wait for you to get a drink of water."
"But professors probably should," Gwen muttered darkly, and Aurora laughed as they set their glasses down.
She met Theodore's eyes across the hall and nodded, smirking in a challenge which he reciprocated with raised eyebrows and a falsely haughty expression. "Seems I have a victory to achieve," she whispered to Gwen, shooting a wink across the hall to Theodore, who was watching them. "Who are you against?"
"Robin," Gwen said chirpily, waving to him. "If I win, he owes me a proper date."
"Does he know that?"
"He will. He keeps putting it off, even though we said—"
"I don't need to hear about what you did at the Yule Ball again," Aurora said, holding in a laugh as Gwen glared at her playfully.
"Only if you tell me where you went on New Year's—"
"Didn't you hear Professor Moody?" Aurora asked quickly, picking up her pace. "Go destroy Oliphant!"
With Gwen giggling, they separated, and Aurora turned to face Theodore, who wore a rather amused expression. "You've been subjected to the Gwen-Robin gossip too then?"
"Gwen calls it girl talk," Aurora said, "what does Robin call it?"
"He calls it 'Theo mate, I just do not understand girls'." Aurora laughed and the corner of his mouth quirked up, pleased with himself.
"Poor thing," she drawled, while preparing her stance to duel. "Tell him he just needs to tell her what he wants. She's getting frustrated. But if he loses this duel I think she is just going to ask him out herself."
Theodore laughed, the corners of his eyes crinkling, and then they bowed to one another, becoming serious. At the signal to begin, Aurora snapped forward, not wanting to make the mistake she did with Susan Bones. Theodore seemed taken aback, but he was quick to recover and send her spell back at her, which she blocked. Another beam of light sent an Impediment Jinx her way just as she was blocking the other spell, and she twisted away. The spell caught her ankle and she stumbled towards Theodore, but twisted around so that her wand was pointed at him as she said, "Flipendo."
Theodore went falling back and Aurora regained her footing, aiming to Disarm him. He blocked it, countered, and she sent it firing back. The red light went back and forth until it fizzled out and both lunged forward, Theodore with a Restricting Jinx, Aurora with another Knockback. The spells collided, backfired, and Aurora sought to block in the same moment that Theodore, countered the Knockback and holding his ground, Disarmed her. As she moved to strike back at him, her shield fell, and the Disarming Jinx slipped in. Her wand flew from her wand, clattering on the floor, and she fell back, sighing.
"I concede," she said bitterly, holding up her hands. There was little point continuing a duel without a wand — wandless magic was still beyond her, though she knew it would be valuable later.
Theodore smiled faintly. "Thank you." She went to collect her wand, cheeks flushed. At least, she noted, he also looked rather dishevelled. He got lucky, she told herself, annoyed that she had let him. "You did well."
"I don't need you to tell me so," Aurora said tightly. Theodore blinked in surprise, then nodded.
"Very well, then."
"Sorry," she said as he turned away, "that came out rather rude. You fought well, too. Obviously."
He turned back, with a faint smile. "I'm sure you'll get me next time, Aurora."
"Most definitely," she promised, smirking. She twirled her wand between her fingers. "Looks like you're against Potter, though. You wouldn't sneak in a nasty curse for me, would you?"
Theodore laughed again, the sound causing Aurora to sigh in relief. "I'll leave that for you to do in your own time."
Aurora grimaced, eyes darting to Potter, who had gained a small crowd of his friends around him. He had won three duels out of three, and all rather quickly. Even Frida Selwyn, his final opponent, seemed to have gone down easily, and was now scowling across the hall as Alice Runcorn spoke to her. Selwyn was Aurora's final duel partner, and a very similar style to Susan. Both were tired though, and Aurora didn't count her eventual win as much of a victory, exhausted as she was.
The only pair by that time left standing were Theodore and Potter, both flushed as they tried to get one up on the other. Potter, to Aurora's eye, was the most natural duellist of the two, but there was a more practiced, precise nature to Theodore's casting. It unnerved her to wonder whom he had picked up his Duelling skills from, especially as he had never shown much interest in the area before. The expression on his face was not one of fierce will, as Potter wore, but of calm concentration, as he cast and blocked and countered, swiftly dodging spells instead of whirling and turning and twisting like Potter did. There was a talent to the way he duelled, and Aurora could recognise it now she was watching him from afar, and could recall the way he had duelled with her, sharp, precise, but also powerful.
Potter, however, was stronger than Theodore, no matter how much practice he had. He managed to knock him back with a carefully timed Flipendo, and then bound him with the Binding Jinx. When Theodore conceded, Potter broke into a wide smile and helped him up, to Moody's applause.
"That's it for tonight, folks!" he said, clapping his hands. "Ruddy good work, Potter. And you, Nott, pity you left yourself exposed, rookie mistake."
Theodore tensed his jaw, releasing Potter's grip and hurrying towards Robin and Gwen.
"We'll meet the same time next week," Flitwick told them cheerfully as Moody spoke lowly to Potter. Aurora rolled her eyes — surely he did not need congratulated so much, just because he had beaten four people. "If you choose not to come anymore, please let us know. We're going to organise a little differently next time now we've more of a grasp on your abilities, and we'll sort you into groups. Have something to drink before you go, and catch your breath. If you're hurt, please tell us. Madam Pomfrey is displeased with us enough as is."
Aurora let out a small laugh as she went to join her friends, bumping against Theodore's shoulder when she arrived. "Nice jinxing," she told him in a conspiratorial way, "you could've maimed Potter a bit more for me, though."
Theodore's cheeks flushed slightly as he said, "Well, I thought best to leave that for another day. Lull him into a false sense of security, you know."
"Mhm." Aurora hummed, raising her eyebrows sarcastic. "Very good, Nott, very good."
"Besides, I thought you might gain more satisfaction doing it yourself anyway."
Aurora shrugged. "It'd be fun to watch too, though, I suppose." She flicked her ponytail over her shoulder and stood up straighter, watching her fellow students begin to trickle out of the hall. Mad-Eye Moody eyed her little group warily, she noticed, and she gripped her wand a little tighter.
"Come on," Gwen said, catching the direction of her gaze, "don't know about you but I'm exhausted from that."
Aurora grinned, turning around. She caught Potter's eye across the hall and smirked. He did not smirk back, just rolled his eyes, and for some reason the unexpected reaction annoyed her.
"Yes," she told Gwen anyway, turning away and grinning at her, then Theo, "before we're blocked by that gathering swarm of Hufflepuffs."
Gwen and Robin laughed, but Theodore's gaze seemed to have been drawn across the hall, to Moody and Flitwick, and then the shadows beyond. Someone looked like they were standing there, a tall and heavy silhouette, eyes observing from the darkness.
But then Aurora blinked, and Theo turned, a bemused expression on his face, and the shadow was gone.