The week leading up to Halloween was always a busy time in the Slytherin common room, as everybody prepared themselves for initiation on Tuesday evening. Aurora was preoccupied reading through her mother's diary and her father's family genealogies in between her mountainload of homework and dealing with party preparations, which she was glad to not have gotten herself so involved with this year. On Sunday evening, after dinner, Aurora met up with her cousin Elise, as usual, in one of the warmer courtyards at the back of the East Wing.

Elise was quiet, which was the first thing Aurora noticed about her. She responded to Aurora's questions with simple yes and no, shrugging her shoulders.

"Alright," Aurora said, when Elise had completely ignored her joke about Doctor Who, something which it had taken her a lot of pop culture observation and research to understand, and which Elise usually appreciated. "What's wrong?"

Elise glanced up at her, then shrugged. "Nothing. It's fine."

"You're quiet. You're never quiet."

"I know, I just…" She bit her lip, swallowed tightly. "Do you — do people really dislike people who don't have wizard parents?"

It was like a stone had been dropped into Aurora's stomach. "Has someone been mean to you?"

"Not really, I suppose. I mean, it's not been that bad, but ... I didn't really realise it was that big of a deal? Me and Clara were talking about Take That — they're a cool band — and some of the other girls in our class were... Weird, about it."

"Weird, how?" Auror aasked sharply, dread rising through her. "What did they say?"

"Well, one of the Hufflepuff girls made fun of me in Potions, and said Muggles didn't know good music. And then there was these other ones who — they said I couldn't really be your cousin and then they said I was — a mudblood?"

Cold seeped through Aurora.

"Who?" she asked me immediately, mind whirring. "Tell me, and I'll sort them out."

"It doesn't matter, I don't want any trouble. I didn't even know what it meant."

"Do you know now?" Elise nodded, looking down, and anger flared up inside of Aurora. What right did anyone think they had to talk to people like that, to put down a little girl who had been so bright and so excited, just because they didn't like that she was there?

"I'll sort them out," she said, voice trembling furiously, "I'll tell them you're my cousin, and that they should never say such things again. They should never have said such things, no one should. It isn't right, and it shouldn't be allowed, either."

"It doesn't matter. They still won't like me. They said me and Clara were weird too, and too loud. And they said you wouldn't want people to know if we are related, because the Black family don't like Muggles, but you do like me, don't you?"

"Of course I do! Those girls don't know what they're talking about, Elise, and they don't know me. And I very much do want people to know you're my cousin, because you are part of the Black family, alright?"

Elise chewed on her lip, looking down. "You don't mind that I'm related to you, do you?"

"Of course not! Why—"

"Well I know your other cousin Draco, doesn't really like me that much. He hasn't said anything," she said quickly, "but I don't think he does. He never says hello to me if I pass him in the corridor."

The doubt and hurt in Elise's eyes broke her heart, and made her anger at Draco only rise. "Draco… Takes time to adjust to change. He's a right old grump at times. But he doesn't dislike you, I promise. And I'm really glad I got to know you, Elise."

"Even if I'm not… Like you."

"What does like me, mean?"

"Like… A proper witch."

"You are a proper witch, Elise." Her voice trembled. "You are, it doesn't matter who your parents or grandparents are anybody else is. You are a witch. You're brilliant and you deserve to be here."

Elise nodded, but there was still a sadness behind her eyes, and a tremor in her bottom lip. "Clara says some boys called her a mudblood the other day."

"Do you know who?" Elise shook her head. "Were they Slytherins? My age?" She nodded.

"One was. A bit younger than you, I think. Like I said, I don't really know what the word means, but we worked out it's an insult. About us not being what they call pureblood."

She tightened her jaw, thinking over every face in the common room. Anyone might have said that, anyone might have hurt her cousin and her friend. "Can you tell me the name of the girls who made fun of you?"

Elise shook her head. "One of them was Reisa Avery. The other was Olga Yaxley. And — and their friend, the boy, Colbert … Bulstrode." Millicent's cousin. She stored the names away; first years she hadn't really interacted with, but she knew where they sat in the common room, the circles they went with. "But I don't want to cause trouble, it'll just make them worse!"

"I'll sort them out."

"What'll you do? They'll know I told you!"

"Good! It'll stop them being mean to you again! First years are naturally intimidated by fifth years. And no one wants to make an enemy of the Quidditch Team. Have you told Professor Flitwick any of this, your head of house?"

Elise shook her head.

"Tell him. Please. I'd tell Snape, but he's useless, but Flitwick'll pass it on to Sprout about the Hufflepuff." Elise nodded reluctantly. Aurora put an arm around her shoulder and held her tightly, rubbing her shoulder. The girl was brave, she didn't cry. But Aurora felt she had a right to.

"I will if it happens again," Elise said. "But, please, don't make it a big thing? I don't want a fuss, and I don't want anyone to not like me any more than they already do."

But she couldn't just let that lie. Aurora gave Elise her word, but as she went to the common room that night — having dropped Elise off right outside Ravenclaw Tower, lest anybody come across her and decide to have a go — she still tore the question over in her head. Sure, she didn't want to go against Elise's wishes, but she also had a duty to protect her cousin, stand up for her, defend her. And people needed to know that she would fight for her, too.

"What's eating you, Lady Black?" Blaise asked, when she had been quiet through most of their card game. Everybody was there, even Theo, who was more frequently absent from such social things these days.

"Oh, nothing," she said breezily, casting her gaze over to the corner of the common room where she spied the first years sitting, gossiping. "Just had a busy day."

Pansy and Lucille exchanged a glance. Draco ignored her and took a card from Greg.

"Actually," she said nervously, "has anybody heard anything about my little cousin, from the first years?"

The group stilled, quieted. Draco looked up, frowning. "Well," Millie said, with a shifty look, "my cousin Colbert asked me the other day if she was really your cousin — obviously I said yes. I don't know where he got it from, I think they're just curious."

"Right," Aurora said, looking around. "Nobody else has heard anything?"

Everybody shook their heads. Draco stared at the floor. "Draco?"

"Nothing," he said, blinking. "I haven't heard a word."

Aurora hated that she didn't know whether she could believe him or not. She curled her feet underneath her, leaning back. "That's good then, I suppose. I'm glad you clarified things, Millie."

Each of them looked as though they were trying to puzzle her out. "I just wanted to know. Check up on things, of course. Family."

She forced a smile, tossed her hair, put that calm and solid front on again. Theo frowned at her, his gaze questioning, and she shook her head. A sympathetic, almost worried frown overtook his features for a moment, as he opened his mouth to speak. Then he was cut off by Lucille, demanding they get another round in, and the conversation dissipated.

After the round ended, and her friends began to move off to get materials to study, Aurora kept watch over Avery, Bulstrode, and Yaxley, trying to decide what to do.

Aurora kept an eye on them throughout the Halloween feast in the hall the next day, too, and was one of the first to return to the common room to expect the first years' arrivals at midnight. She wished she had Potter's cloak to help her get about tonight, but at least she had her map. She didn't want to make a scene, and didn't exactly like the idea of targeting a group of eleven-year olds, but they shouldn't have upset her cousin in the first place, and someone had to set them straight about what was and wasn't right. And she knew what children like that responded to. They did not want to fail.

She managed to subtly rig the groups for the scavenger hunt that evening, since Pansy was in charge of co-ordinating it, and was more than happy to gossip about all the details with her. At midnight, when the first years all traipsed into the common room, dishevelled but high on anticipation, Yaxley, Avery, and Bulstrode wound up in a group together, to go off on their hunt; they were required to collect a unicorn hair from the Potions store, find a plant of interest in the greenhouses and explain why they think it is the most useful plant there, and create something which represented their favourite subject. Simple enough, but it still required a level of group work, just in case someone wandered into the Forbidden Forest and got eaten by an acromantula.

Aurora slipped off from her friends early on, when the party was in full swing and she would not be missed. She followed the three first years to the store room, where they stood clustered, extremely unsubtly, debating the best way to reach the top shelf where the hair was kept and whether their recently-learned Levitation Charm would help them out at all.

"Need something?"

Avery let out a squeal and turned around, stumbling against the wall. "Merlin, Black! What're you doing here?"

She nodded to the shelf and cast, "Protego objecta." A thin blue shield shimmered around the jar of unicorn hairs. "I heard you've been giving my little cousin a hard time."

They all looked at each other nervously. "We didn't know if she was—"

"She is. But it doesn't matter. Whether she is or isn't is not of your concern, and certainly not your place to speculate upon. But see, I don't take kindly to people insulting my family, and I'm sure all of your families would agree. We can't stand for it, as a point of honour. understand?"

"I… Well, none of us meant to… It was just a joke… Everyone's saying she's a mudblood!"

"Don't you dare call her that," Aurora snapped at Yaxley, who wilted. "Take that word out of your mouth - Scourgify." She waved her wand in a swift S formation and bubbles appeared frothing in Yaxley's mouth suddenly, only for a second, not long enough to run the risk of her swallowing them or choking, before Aurora ended the enchantment. Yaxley shot her a filthy look, spitting on the floor. "I'd keep that up longer, but I don't think all three of you had the time to figure out how to end a charm like that right now; not when your classmates are almost all at the greenhouses already."

"It makes sense to do this first. That's why we're doing it now, everyone'll come here on the way back and we want the best—"

"I don't need to hear your strategy," Aurora said, twirling her wand between her fingers. "I don't care what you have to say to me. But I'm warning you, I know far more spells than you, and I know your families. I have evidence that you've been bribing Rhys Erdick into doing your homework for you, Avery, and that you, Bulstrode, were the one who took Graham Montague's broom for a joy ride last week. And let me tell you, he was not happy about it. I know far more than you, see." Gwen was an excellent source of information. "People gossip in the common room, and I'm a good listener. I'd advise you don't give me anything else to hear that I wouldn't like."

"Or what, Black?"

"That's Lady Black, to you." Avery pursed her lips. "I'm sure plenty of my year who dislike me can give a reason not to get on my bad side. I got through defensive enchantments implemented by all the Hogwarts professors, including Professor Dumbledore, when I was twelve. I poisoned Harry Potter. Successfully. I was thirteen. I also fought off a werewolf and a host of Dementors in one night. I was fourteen, then. I fought Barremius Crouch, once Head of Magical Law Enforcement, and former Auror, and I won. That was just a few months ago."

She stilled her wand and smiled sweetly. "Now, will you run along and have a look for something in the greenhouses, like good little first years? When you get back, I promise this unicorn hair will be a bit more accessible. And don't bother my cousin, or anyone else whose blood status you dislike, ever again. I will know about it. And so will you."

Each of them fell silent, exchanging furtive glanced. "Well? I do expect an apology."

"We're sorry," Avery ground out. "Really, really sorry, Lady Black. We won't bother your cousin again."

"Good girl," she said, smiling, her voice saccharine.

She almost felt bad for intimidating a twelve year old, but if it was a choice between them and Elise, she'd much rather Elise was happy. She was also relieved she might get the message through to them, without having to resort to anything more serious; after all, they were still children. And they still had time to learn right from wrong, if given a nudge — she just had to be careful of its direction.

"Yeah, Black," Bulstrode muttered, still rather disingenuously. "We're sorry."

"Sorry."

She looked them up and down, cast her cold gaze over each of them. "Get out of here, then. Oh, and don't repeat this. No need for things to get out of hand, hm?"

They nodded furiously, and when she dismissed them with her hand, they scurried off. Once they were all safely round the corner and headed out to the greenhouses, Aurora relaxed and released the enchantment, running a hand over her braid.

"Alright," she whispered to herself. "Time to go back."

No one had noticed her absence. The party felt muted. Gwen and Robin weren't in the mood for it, and Theo had cleared off into his room and was only going to return at a quarter to three. When she returned and managed to fetch a drink, she stood warily by a sofa in the corner of the room, observing Pansy and Daphne and Draco and the easy way in which they interacted, the way she once had been, and felt a hopelessly bitter feeling coil in her chest. They all seemed so happy, they formed a perfect picture, as if it were Daphne who had been their best friend all this time. She knew it wasn't fair, and she also knew these feelings weren't restricted to Daphne. For so long now she had been drifting, and now realising her comparative irrelevance, against the likes of Daphne and Lucille, hurt far more than she wanted to admit.

"You look tense," a voice said over her shoulder, and she jumped, seeing Blaise grinning at her as he leaned against the back of the couch. "High stakes for the firsties? I thought your only investment was the little Ravenclaw?"

"Don't sneak up on me, Zabini," she said, and he gave her a crooked grin, hopping over the back of the sofa and extending a hand to her as though he expected her to do the same. Aurora rolled her eyes, but walked around the side to sit by him anyway. "And yes, Elise is my only… Affiliation. But still, I can't help but think something must go wrong tonight. It has every other year."

"Ah, but you're forgetting," Blaise said with a smirk, "tonight is different."

She sighed. "In what way is tonight different?"

He held out a bottle to her, eyebrows raised. "This time we can drink."

She took the bottle, but flashed him an unimpressed look. "How exactly is that going to help the first years?"

Blaise just shrugged and leaned back, popping the cap off his own bottle. "No idea. I doubt it will. But it stops us worrying so much, so, drink up."

Aurora rolled her eyes, only marginally amused by his explanation. "Perhaps if you tell me what this is first?"

"A slightly diluted firewhisky. It's sweeter than the normal, and not as, er, potent." Blaise shrugged. "Thought you might prefer that."

Narrowing her eyes, Aurora inspected the bottle. "How very thoughtful of you, Zabini."

"Oh, I'm nothing but thoughtful," Blaise said, and she smirked. "Fancy it?"

She was about to say no, but then caught sight of Pansy, Draco and Daphne being joined by Lucille and Millie, and felt jealousy twist inside her. It would be easy to go and join them, but then, it didn't really feel that way. She didn't like to feel that she might be intruding on something she should have been a part of. She dreaded the thought, dreaded the eyes on her, dreaded the inevitable heartbreaking realisation that she was no longer one of them, that had been sneaking up on her recently. No, perhaps she belonged with Blaise, just slightly sidelined, marked as other, sharing watered-down firewhisky in commiseration.

She popped off the lid of the bottle and knocked it against Blaise's own. "This had better taste decent."

"Cheers," came his only reply, and they both went to drink.

It was, somewhat surprisingly, as Blaise described; sweet, still holding a recognisable heat of the firewhisky, but dangerously easy to drink. The party went on around them as they traded comments and laughter, and Aurora found herself at last relaxing in Blaise's company, cloistered away with him on the sofa.

Hours wore on accompanied by a couple of drinks and still their friends remained in their perfect bubble, drawing in the occasional Carrow or Avery or Flint, and eventually Theodore, who Flora and Daphne fussed around. All seemed content with the arrangement, with the shift in the balance of the world, and it made Aurora's heart ache. She could tell it bothered Blaise too, this isolation; perhaps it always had, and she had simply never taken the time to realise it. There was a lot that she had never taken the time to realise about Blaise, really, and it was halfway through the third bottle, feeling like this might be the meaning of tipsy that she had not yet experienced, that she opened her mouth to say something and was met with his comment of, "They all look like they're having a grand time, don't they?"

There was no denying the bitter hint of his voice as he nodded to the group by their usual sofas. "Yes," Aurora said, unable to hide her bitterness either. "I rather think they're enjoying not having our company. Perhaps it's less boring," she bit out, recalling Draco's jokes that now felt too frequent and too harsh for no other reason than the gathering hurt already in her heart, "without me around."

"Perhaps there are fewer nuisances without me," Blaise commented, and Aurora stared at him.

"Who said that?"

"Lucille."

"That bitch," Aurora said lowly, and Blaise laughed. "Sorry, I know I shouldn't use that language."

"Don't apologise," Blaise told her, "I like it. Not as stiff as some people." He looked to Daphne as he said this and took another long drink — he was almost finished his third bottle, quite ahead of Aurora, but was not really showing it. "D'you ever think we're like, the tag-alongs? Just 'cause of Draco?"

She stared intently at her bottle. "I don't know," she lied, stomach curdling. "Maybe."

Blaise scoffed and leaned back; his shoulder brushed hers as he did so, the two of them pressed closer together. "I do. Well, me more than you. Always have been, just 'cause Mum's got money and Lucius Malfoy wants anyone with gold."

It was her turn to scoff at that. "Well, he doesn't want me." Blaise raised his eyebrows. "Oh, haven't you heard? I'm the greatest enemy of the Insular Alliance for some indecipherable reason. And they…" She cast a glance to her friends, who were oblivious to the conversation. "They're pissing me off."

"Draco?"

She laughed. "Yes."

"Thought as much. He's pissing me off too, always ranting about something in the dorm room. How his father is doing this for the Minister, that for the Wizengamot, how he's going to have a new position any day now. Always going on about Potter, too. It's like a broken record."

She looked at him curiously. "That's a very Muggle reference, Zabini."

He shrugged. "Stepdad-to-be number five. He was bumped off before the wedding. You have to be really annoying to manage that. Mum decided his money wasn't worth his whining."

At that, Aurora laughed, and leaned her head against Blaise's shoulder. It was oddly comforting, oddly warm. "He does go on about Harry, doesn't he? I'm not sure how I was so oblivious to it."

"Because you used to be just as bad," Blaise said, and she slapped his arm lightly.

"I was not!"

"You absolutely were," Blaise laughed, shaking his head. "It was funny when you did it, though. Draco's… Something else. And anyway, you call him Harry now, so clearly there's something different. I don't think Draco will ever grow out of saying Potter that way he does — you know the voice I mean? When he sort of spits it out?"

She did. "Yes, well, Draco is the grudge-holding sort. He's a big ego. Even bigger than yours," she quipped, and in return he flicked his fingers against her shoulder. Aurora let out a light squeal, shying away before being drawn back to him again, curling up slightly. Blaise shifted too, and before Aurora could process it, his arm was around her, and her stomach was fluttering because for some ridiculous reason, she found that she liked that. She liked someone looking at her like they wanted her, like she was important.

"Lady Black, I am offended."

"I didn't say anything untrue, did I?"

"Oh, but your tone was so scathing," he said, with a mock pout, "it wounds my ego."

"It'll recover," Aurora told him, laughing, though her voice came out slightly breathless.

Blaise gave a soft laugh, and there was a moment of quiet before he continued, "Why is it everyone's pissing you off?"

Aurora just shrugged. "It's not them so much as this whole situation. But — look, don't tell anyone."

"My lips are sealed," he promised, and from the look in his eyes she knew he was genuine. He needed this conversation, too.

"Well, it has been made clear to me recently that certain pureblood lords see my existence as a threat to their own, despite the fact that I have never expressed any desire to harm their political position of status, and all I have done to offend them is to be born of a muggleborn mother. Draco seems to think this position is something that I should accept, even agree with, and that it is my own fault for being controversial. Again, all I have done is to exist. And no one else will say anything. Well, Theo has, but… He's other problems and to be honest, I understand how easy it is to be sucked in and to ignore it all at times and I hate that I know that, too. But, Theo aside, even Pansy seems more or less content to have me… Phased out. Drift away. I can't remember if she's ever once stuck up for me to Draco. And I don't know if that's my problem or theirs or both, or maybe this was all fucked from the beginning, but." She shook her head. "I don't like being on the outside."

There was a long moment before Blaise responded, and she worried if she had been too open, said too much.

"Me too. I've always been rather outside, different, you know. All we have is money, and new money isn't what they revere. It isn't status, it isn't a name, it isn't pure blood — even though I am, technically. It's fighting to fit in and still being an afterthought. It's trying to be the centre of attention, to have all eyes on you because you know at any given moment you could just be forgotten. It's more and more obvious. I'm not in the club, the circle their ancestors created and that they will all fall inevitably fall into, because that's what they do. Its — God, it's just impossible to ever really be one of them, you know? I'm always overcompensating for something. And Draco, he..." He trailed off, as though afraid of the words that were about to leave his mouth. His gaze flickered to Aurora, hopeful but also curious, and then back to Draco with a vindictive glint. "I can never tell him."

"Tell him what?"

"But I'm over it. Over him, over the lot of them, but I can never say it, can I? Cause I need them, so much more than they've ever needed me."

He looked at her so intently then that she felt her own heart echo the feeling behind his words, exposing every insecurity that she too had felt. The need to be known and the fear of it, too; emotions that were forced to co-exist in a constant tension. His fingertips still lay on her wrist where they had come to rest, and Aurora slowly moved her hand so that their fingers were intertwined, a show of friendly solidarity that nonetheless raised a tingle along her arms.

"It's pretty silly, isn't it?" she said. "That things have to be this way. That we're, what, lesser? Because of your name and my blood, because no matter what we do or how our families rise, we will never be the same, because of some arbitrary judgment." He blinked at her, as though surprised.

"You think your… Blood, is the same as my status?"

"I think it definitely has a similar effect on the pureblood fanatics, yes. It repulses some of them, and for what? I'm no lesser, you're no lesser. We're no lesser than them, but we're the expendable ones."

His brain turned this over and then he said, "We are, aren't we? Draco tolerates Vincent and Greg better than us, just 'cause they fall in line. It's bullshit."

"Quite." She took another long drink and hiccuped. "And, of course, if we ever bring it up, we're hysterical, and blowing things out of proportion, and playing victim. And yes, we are very lucky too, but we're not fortunate enough that we're unable to acknowledge it."

"Maybe that's a good thing," Blaise suggested, "I'd rather not swan about like Crabbe does, thinking he's the bee's knees just because his uncle has a seat on the Assembly and his dad's mates with Lucius Malfoy. Everyone's dad's mates with Malfoy!"

"Mine isn't," Aurora pointed out, and Blaise quirked an ironic grin.

"Probably for the best."

"Definitely for the best," Aurora said. She had surprised herself somewhat by saying it, but was glad that she had. "He's a twat."

Blaise grinned, bowing his head towards her. Their clasped hands tightened together, and Aurora found herself turning, closer into his side as he did the same to meet her gaze properly.

"I bet none of them have even noticed," Blaise said in a biting voice, fierce gaze trained on Draco, "that we're here, without them, or that we're unhappy or have opinions of our own."

"Maybe they have," Aurora said, her own gaze straying to her cousin for a moment, then onto Theo, and then back to Blaise, "and they just don't care enough anymore. Maybe they stopped caring a while ago or maybe they never did at all."

"Fuck them," Blaise said, and leaned closer. Warmth prickled through Aurora, a tingle beneath her skin, and she became acutely aware of the space between their lips, and the deepness of Blaise's eyes, and the scent of his cologne wrapping around her. Her drink lay forgotten on the sidetable; his had found its way to the floor. "Just for once, just…"

"We don't have to be expendable," Aurora said firmly, heart pounding as he leaned in. "The outsiders."

"We're not," Blaise agreed, his right hand drifting over her shoulder, the other finding it's way to rest upon her hip. "We shouldn't be. We don't need them, we don't need to rely on them. Our world doesn't revolve around them, either."

"Exactly. We can — we can be us." There was a shrill desperation to her voice that even she could not ignore, a longing to be important, to feel something, to have a place, to do something for herself. "Aurora and Blaise. That's good enough, isn't it?"

"More than good enough," Blaise confirmed, and leaned down to capture her lips in a kiss.

It took a second for Aurora's mind to catch up to the reality of what had just happened, to reel over the seconds and emotions and little touches leading up to it, all the dangers, and then for her to say fuck it, and kiss him back. It was not like kissing Cassius last year, there was something overwhelming about it, but not exactly in a good way; there was something, somehow, also lacking. But it was nice, and he held her tightly and kissed her like he was putting all his heart into it, and it wasn't too wet or sloppy. Kissing him back, she felt wanted, and for a moment she had someone who understood, someone to cling to. But she didn't know where to put herself, what to do, how to move; it was awkward and too harsh and too desperate, but it wasn't for him.

Then they broke apart, Aurora remembering where and who and what they were. Her gaze snapped towards where their friends were still standing and, of course, by magic, that had been the moment they all choose to look over.

Cheeks flaming, Aurora moved back to her corner of the sofa, confused to find her eyes smarting with guilty, confused tears. Blaise followed, slowly, frowning.

"That was alright, wasn't it?"

"Yes," she said, unsure if she was telling the truth or not.

"I thought you… I thought it might..."

He blinked, glancing at Draco and then at her, his eyes wide and frenzied. "He looks like he wants to kill us."

"Probably you more than me." Aurora leaned back, heart pounding, wondering whether she wanted to kiss Blaise or if he really wanted to kiss her, or if they both were just angry, and needed something to pretend they could be normal.

Her gaze turned back to Draco, whose lips were pulled together in a thin, furious line. He had no right to that anger, no right to the controlling look in his eye, and for a brief moment the frustration Aurora had been feeling for that last few months rose up again, blinding hot.

"He's not as great as he thinks he is," Blaise said lowly, "none of them are."

"I'm not under any illusions."

"You are, when it comes to Draco and Pansy. You're… Curious."

"Curious?"

"I've never quite managed to get a hold on you, Lady Black." He shifted, so that he was closer to her, drawn up to a fuller height, and she in the corner, feeling like he had put her suddenly underneath a microscope and trapped her there, to be probed and inspected. "One minute you're Draco's best friend and the next minute, you're furious with everything he stands for."

"I contain multitudes." She had meant it to come out in a bored, unbothered sort of drawl, but instead her voice shook, breathless.

"You're never quite furious with him, though. He's never allowed you to be, mind."

"What are you trying to say, Zabini?"

"Nothing." He shrugged. "Just that, you interest me. You both do."

"Interest you?" Somehow it didn't feel like so much of a compliment. It made her unsettled, uncertain. "Well, thank you."

His smile was indulgent, more of a smirk. He leaned in again and Aurora leaned back, uncertain, feeling all eyes upon her and the sense that this wasn't right. And yet, didn't she deserve to do something that wasn't quite right, that wasn't specified, that was something she herself could control? "You think I've never been furious with Draco?"

"I don't think I've ever seen you truly angry with him. You're too cold for that."

"Cold?"

"You're just… Very careful. Honestly I'm surprised you even went for that snog there, but I know you won't do it again. You're too afraid. I can see you. You don't like not being able to control this."

Her anger flared again, and she didn't know whether she wanted to kiss him again just to see what happened, or if she wanted to hex him for being so bloody difficult. On the other side of the room, she heard Draco's laugh, and something bitter and burning curled inside of her.

She reached up and tugged him down towards her, capturing his lips in a searing kiss. He didn't expect it, and yet he fit to her quickly, pulling her tight against him, a hand tangling in her hair. Her eyes burned with tears as her heart pounded; when they paused for breath she let out a sob and leaned back in before he could notice, her hands scrambling desperate to hold him, find something to cling onto.

When they parted the next time, Blaise pulled back, and her cheeks flamed. "I, um… I shouldn't…"

"Knew you had it in you, Lady Black," he murmured, his gaze almost mocking. Aurora's heart pounded and yet when the anger faded, the impulsiveness faded, she found herself turning away sharply, struggling to raise her gaze to the group of her friends across the room.

"Well…" She had no words for him, only flaming cheeks, confusion, and a sense of embarrassment and guilt and shame, that she had done something wrong again and she didn't even know what. "I should actually go check on Gwen, I think. She's still in our room." She swung shaky legs over the edge of the couch and Blaise's arm fell away from her shoulders.

As she went to stand, he said softly, "I always thought you more interesting than you let yourself be."

"Don't say such things, Zabini. I'm not interested in flattery. In fact, I — I don't want to... That was nice," she said, unsure why that kiss had twisted her up inside, when it had been perfectly fine, when she had wanted it and yet. Merlin, she just wanted to cry. She didn't even know why she'd done it, when she looked at Blaise and only saw a slightly annoying friend, but she didn't know if she did or if she just needed something new to try, something to make her feel different. "But I don't want—"

"Your cousin's coming over," Blaise said suddenly, tilting his head towards Draco, who was marching towards them with blond hair like a knight's helmet. "I'd better make myself scarce."

He vaulted over the back of the couch and sashayed away. "What do you — Zabini, what the hell?"

"Aurora!" Her cousin's voice cut through the common room. She turned round sharply, and upon seeing the furious look on his face, her stomach sank.

"Draco."

"What the hell's going on with you on Zabini? Were you — were you snogging?"

Aurora's cheeks flamed. "Maybe. Not that it's any of your business."

"It is so my business! You're my cousin! And Zabini isn't good for you."

"And you'd know that how?"

"Well, he — you know how he is! He's Blaise! He flirts with anything if he thinks he can get a bit of entertainment."

"Oh, thank you very much," Aurora retorted, walking away in the direction of the girls' dorms, feeling suddenly rather hot and faint, as she recalled what had just happened. Merlin, what was she thinking?

"You know what I mean, Aurora," Draco said, hurrying after, "stop being dense. You can't go out with him, not seriously."

"I'm not going to. He annoys me and it was a mistake." She looked back over her shoulder for him, but Blaise was long gone, buried deep within the shadowy crowd of people. "Don't worry about me, Draco."

He snorted. "Obviously I'm going to worry about you if you're snogging Blaise. Something's got to be wrong there."

"Blaise is nice! He's attractive, respectable. He's just not for me." He was too cold, too unpredictable. He made her too nervous. "Anyway, Draco, it doesn't matter."

"What were you even talking about?"

"It doesn't matter. Just… Stuff. School."

"Stuff? School?"

Her cheeks flamed as she shook her head, moving away from him. "Leave it, Draco. It's none of your business, I just — I just need to figure some things out. And I need to go find Gwen so just — I'll see you later. Alright?"

"What is going on with you, lately?" Draco demanded of her, tugging her back. She winced at his harsh grip. "You're all over the place."

"I am not."

"You don't talk to me as much as you used to, or any of the others, and you're always, I dunno, secretive. And if you're with us, your head isn't really there, and half your time you're with Tearston or Oliphant or MacMillan, or with Potter — yeah, don't give me that look, I've noticed."

"I can hang out with whoever I like, Draco," she said coolly, and he scoffed.

"But Potter? Really? You and him and your little Elise, everyone's seen the three of you hanging about the castle together, chatting."

"Elise is my family — our family. And Potter's my godbrother. You're welcome to join us sometime, you know."

Draco scoffed again, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, me and Potter."

"Or just Elise. She'd like to get to know you."

Draco pursed his lips, glaring at her, with a disbelieving look in his eye, and she found suddenly that she hated that look on him, an ugly, suspicious expression, and she hated that she knew, deep down, he was only humouring her when he said, "Yeah, right. Maybe."

"There's no good reason why you can't at least be nice about the fact she's in my life now. You don't have to be friends with her, Draco, I know you're not obliged to her just because you're distant cousins, but it's pretty obvious why you don't want to even give it the time of day, when you know that getting to know her is important to me."

Draco made an annoyed sound of disgust and turned away. "I didn't come over here for a fight, Aurora."

"Didn't you? It felt like it."

"Not about this. Just go to your dorm."

She let out a derisive laugh. "You can't boss me about—"

"I'll be with the others when you finally decide you can be seen with us," he snapped, turning around and storming away.

Aurora stared at his back, both anger and defeat warring inside of her. Why did he have to be so impossible, so dense and ignorant and unwilling to listen to her, even now, when she so desperately needed him to?

She didn't know how much longer she could hold onto him, like this. When she watched him return to their friends, whispering in Pansy's ear, she wondered how much longer she would be able to be one of them. If it was as Blaise had theorised, that they were the hangers on because of him, how much longer would it be before Draco finally got fed up of her?

But, she asked herself, when she caught Theo's eye and saw his beckoning smile, when she saw Pansy's wave, and then Leah's from across the room, was it possible that she could be the first to draw the line? If she were only braver than she was tonight; if she could only muster the strength to say what she really felt, what she was really angry with him for, and to let herself break away before he pushed her out.