Aurora was summoned to Umbridge's office on the evening of the first of April, to the news that Marietta Edgecombe had revealed the whereabouts of the DA, and near enough every other detail about it, to Umbridge. They were exposing them tonight.

"I expect you all to follow my orders," Umbridge told the fourteen gathered students, sweeping around her office. On either side of Aurora stood Pansy and Theo, and further along were Cassius, Graham, Draco, Vincent, Greg, the Carrow sisters, Lucille, Blaise, and Millie and Drina Bulstrode. "We will go this Room of Requirement, as Miss Edgecombe mapped out for me, and we will fight our way in. Catch as many students as you can — Edgecombe could not give me any names." Aurora felt a cold feeling drizzle into her gut. Something like relief mixed with dread. "Whoever brings me Potter…" She licked her lips. "Let's just say they will be rewarded, hm? I have the Minister for Magic himself waiting for me, along with Aurors Shacklebolt and Dawlish, and the Ministry will be very pleased with whomever manages to capture who we most need to catch." The way she spoke made it sound like a wild hunt. "Now, it's probably best if we pair you all up. We don't want anyone being caught unawares — these students are practicing for an insurrection, remember?"

Aurora bit the inside of her cheek and tried to hide her derisive expression. The DA were well-trained, certainly. She wouldn't like to fight any of them. But insurrection was, still, a bit of a reach.

"Me and you?" Theo asked her almost instantly, turning before Pansy had the chance.

Relief flooded through her. "Of course."

On her other side, Pansy sighed. "You two always pair up, for everything! I wanted to go with Aurora."

Aurora stared at her, surprised by the unusual show of petulance over such a small matter. Pansy had never seemed to care about her and Theo pairing up for anything before, not since second year. Another seed of doubt crept, unwanted, into her gut. "I mean… I assumed you'd go with Draco. And me and Theo know how each other fight. All the time in Duelling Club last year came in handy."

Pans didn't look pleased, but muttered her agreement and hurried over to Draco, clutching her wand tightly. Theo watched her with a nervous sort of frown, but came to Aurora's side as they made their way out of the office and upstairs to the seventh floor. Aurora didn't have to say anything — she knew, instinctively, that Theo knew this was going to be difficult, that he probably already knew that she knew about the DA, and for whatever reason, he trusted her intentions enough to not say anything to Umbridge, and instead to walk by her side, wand ready to fend off anyone who turned around to them.

"Right," Umbridge said as they came up onto the seventh floor. "Now, I'll go on up ahead with Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Parkinson, and the Bulstrode girls. The rest of you, hide in your pairs. They'll scatter like rats."

Aurora did not wait to be given further instruction, but led Theodore to a secret passage a few corners away where she knew they would be muffled by the tapestry and said, "Promise you won't breathe a word of what I'm about to do?"

He didn't even look surprised. "On my life."

"Alright. Thank you. Tippy?" There was a loud crack, and her house elf appeared before her, wielding a wooden spoon.

"Mistress!" she cried, beaming up at her. "Hello!"

"Hi, Tippy. Sorry to summon you away from whatever you were doing, but this is urgent. I need you to get a message to Harry. He's in the room, the Room of Requirement, here in Hogwarts, do you know it? Or know any house elves who will?"

"Tippy can ask! If it is to help students, the elves will surely do it!"

"Good, but you have to be quick. Really quick. Tell Harry, and no one else — he has been discovered, and he and his friends have to get to safety. Alright? And — it might help if you ask for an elf called Dobby in the kitchens. The Malfoys' old elf. Got that?" She nodded furiously. "Okay. Thank you, Tippy, so so much. And please — if you think you might be endangered at any point, get out as soon as you can. The person after Harry, she's dangerous. Get in, give the message, and go, understood?"

"Yes, mistress." Tippy spared Theo only a curious look before disappearing again with a loud crack.

Theo stared at her in the dark silence. "Dobby?"

"It's a long story and I'm sure I don't even know the half of it. Come on, before Umbridge gets suspicious, we should pick a better spot."

And without thinking she took his hand and led him away, down twisting corridors until they were nearer te seventh floor landing, tucked into an alcove. "What are you going to do?" Theo asked her, voice soft. "If you are supposed to capture someone… I know you don't want to."

"I don't know why you would think that, Theo."

"Aurora, for just once, answer my question instead of pretending you don't know what I'm on about. I do. I've gone this long without saying anything, you think I can't be told now?"

"I…" She had to force the words out. "I don't know. I'll… It depends if anyone else is around. But if I have Harry… I need her to trust me. But I don't want him getting hurt, or anybody else, if I can help it, I just — I might be in over my head."

Theo nodded slowly in understanding. "You're going to get yourself in real trouble one of these days, you know."

"Probably." She smiled grimly. "Let's hope today isn't one of those days."

He held her gaze just a moment longer, before glancing away and clutching his wand tighter, listening out. Their shoulders almost brushed; Aurora could feel the air between them as surely as she would have felt him. "What do you want me to do?"

"Theo, I'm not going to tell you what to do."

"Well, I'm here, and you're here, and you seem to know more about this situation than I do."

It sent a shiver down her spine. The way he looked at her, so sincere, so trusting. "We need to give them a convenient escape, and make sure Umbridge doesn't get her hand on this scroll Granger will — hopefully — have with her, it's a list of names. Her detention practices are barbaric, I won't have anyone suffer that if I can help it. And if we can, warn Potter not to give up anything. Pretend like nothing was happening."

He nodded, took a deep breath. "For what it's worth," he told her, in the anticipatory quiet, "you could have told me you were in this club."

She sucked in a cold breath. "Theo, I didn't—"

"I know why," he said, shaking his head. "But, still. I just want you to understand that."

She flexed her fingers close to his, imagining the warmth she had felt at the party weeks ago. But before she could test that, she was brought back to herself by the sound of shouting a short distance away, and Potter's voice, the words indistinct but the sound grating as ever. "Brace yourself," she muttered, and dragged Theo into an alcove, hands warm together. They peered out from the darkness as students started rushing back, and made a half-hearted attempt to stun passers-by, their spells ricocheting off all the walls and giving the impression that they were trying.

There was shrieking and screaming and Aurora figured she probably wasn't hurting anyone, at least as far as she could see. The jelly-legs jinx that did hit Zacharias Smith was, of course, only to make it seems more realistic; his housemates, loyal things they were, still helped him get away from their invisible and extremely focused pursuers.

"Get them!" Umbridge's voice started to yell from down the corridor. "For goodness' sake, do something!"

Aurora exchanged glances with Theo, who had a sudden mischievous grin as he tightened his grip on her hand. "She doesn't know we're good at duelling," he said slowly. "She's never let us prove any magical skills. For all she knows, I've the worst aim in the world."

"And?" Aurora asked.

"And," Theo said, "you're an infuriatingly fast runner."

She grinned, a slightly giddy, bubbly feeling rising inside of her. Then she darted out of the alcove she was hidden in, muttering nonsense spells as she ran full-pelt down the corridor, giving chase to nothing and no one, while behind her Theo turned another direction, firing off spell that fizzled out the moment they left his wand. Aurora grinned at her sight of it, at his mischievous stray smile he sent her way, and her heart pounded in her chest as she felt herself latch onto gim, felt her breath catch and her thoughts stumble over themselves. There was a beauty to him like this, one she was starting to see more and more. Moments of excitement and joy and managing to find the fun in the world.

Then his eyes widened and he lurched forward and she turned, to see Draco behind her with Harry Potter sent sprawling onto the floor. For a moment, on instinct, she turned her wand on Draco, but Theo called out, "Professor Umbridge!" and she stopped herself, moving to point it at Harry.

She looked him in the eye, silently begging him — with his furious, stubborn look — to understand, to know when to run. She knelt beside him, grasped his hand tight, and said just as Draco tried to shove in the way, "I've captured Potter, Professor!"

"It was me!" Draco retorted, and she squeezed Potter's hand.

Another Hufflepuff sprinted round the corner, giving Theo the chance to deliberately misfire a jinx which knocked Draco back onto the floor with an inflating tongue, leaving Harry clear to run.

"Have you destroyed the list?" she whispered in his ear, Theo chattering loudly to Umbridge about how many they thought they had seen. "Like I told you?"

"Move away from him, Black," Umbridge ordered, and Aurora stood up immediately. She could not give the Professor any more reason to be suspicious.

"I'll deal with him," Theodore said, bored. "And Draco — sorry about that, my duelling skills are a bit rusty. Haven't used them in so long."

Umbridge's simpering smile was almost amusing, but Aurora could see the annoyance flashing behind her eyes. But Lord Nott was too powerful a friend for her to risk offending his grandson and heir. Aurora hurried to Umbridge's side and Theo took her place, leaning down to say something to Harry even as he bound his arms behind his back.

"Have we captured anyone else, Professor, do you know?"

"Not as far as I can see, but Potter was the main target. Aurors Shacklebolt and Dawlish are on their way already. We can tackle Dumbledore now, with Potter's testimony. Miss Edgecombe said there was a list of names, hopefully we can use that as evidence, too."

She could only hope he wasn't forced to talk. At least if Kingsley was there, he wouldn't let anything too bad happen to Harry. She tried to console herself with that as Umbridge stalked forward and hoisted Harry to his feet. There had to be something she could do, but she couldn't think of anything that wouldn't expose her. She tried telling herself it was fine, she had a bigger plan. But it wasn't just a detention on the line. Harry could be physically hurt, he could be expelled or exposed to Voldemort.

She had to trust that Dumbledore and Kingsley could, between them, help him more than she could.

"Black and Nott?" Umbridge said as she helped Draco up. "You run along now and see if you can find anybody else. Mister Malfoy, find Miss Parkinson, will you? We shouldn't split from our assigned pairs."

Umbridge turned and stalked away, hauling Harry behind her, and with a scathing look at her cousin, Aurora turned the other way, heading to a quiet passage with Theodore in tow, and then ducking into a broom cupboard, locking the door behind her and illuminating the space.

"You can't tell anyone about this either," she told Theo as she took her two-way mirror from her bag. "Sorry about this — I'm sure I'm putting you in an awful position, so if you'd rather not know something you shouldn't, feel free to run off."

He blinked in surprise, but shook his head. "I can handle it. What's that?"

"It's how I talk to my father, without using letters. It's a two-way mirror. All I have to do is say, Sirius Black — and, give it a moment…"

Her father's face swam in the glass. "Aurora! Hey, sweetheart, what's — who's that?"

"This is Theodore."

"Theodore Nott."

"Yes," Theo said stiffly, still staring wide-eyed at the mirror, upside down. "Pleased to meet you, sir. Sort of. Again."

"What are you two doing… Is that a broom cupboard?"

"Yes," Aurora said quickly, "it's a long story—"

"Is it one I'm going to like?"

"Probably not — listen, Umbridge has found out about the DA, and she's captured Harry. I think most of the rest of them got away, I'm not sure, but we tried to cause enough of a distraction, and Hermione listened to me and got rid of their list of names, but Umbridge is taking him to Dumbledore's office, where Fudge is. I don't know what she's going to do, but you have to make sure someone can intervene, if she tries to hurt him, or Dumbledore. Kingsley's there too, or should be, but I don't know what to do."

Her father said nothing, just looked suspiciously at Theodore, who shifted uncomfortably and met Aurora's eyes with a wary gaze. "Get near the office, if you can, but don't go in. I'll get Phineas' portrait to keep me updated over at — at the house." Again, his suspicious gaze drifted to Theo, and Aurora felt guilt twist inside of her, for whom, she did not know. "How much danger do you think Harry's in?"

"I don't know," she said. "If Fudge is there, I don't think Umbridge will hurt him physically, but he may well be risking expulsion, or some other punishment for whatever charge they decide to cook up."

Her father took in a deep breath. "Okay. Okay. Well, I shouldn't know about this yet, should I? Unless Phineas tells me, or Dumbledore gets a message, but I'm not sure Umbridge would want us in contact with him, so I guess it'll have to be the former. I'll call on Phineas, get him to pretend he's telling me this himself — what does she have on him? Harry, I mean?"

"Nothing, really. One witness, but no proof he was at any meeting tonight, she might not have anything to prove him guilty — not that the Ministry really cares all too much about that. I don't know how much he knows..."

"I told him Edgecombe couldn't give any names," Theo piped up from beside her, catching her gaze. "And that he shouldn't reveal anything, because Umbridge doesn't have the evidence to accuse him. Hopefully he'll listen."

Her father nodded, almost in approval. "Hopefully," he agreed. "And if Kingsley's there, he might be able to help too."

"I did try to help him, Dad," she said, because it felt necessary to say, to insist to herself as much as to him.

Her father smiled weakly. "I'm sure you did. Are you okay?" She nodded. "Alright. Well, I better deal with this — but thanks for telling me. You did the right thing, kid."

She wasn't sure if that. But she didn't have time to tell him, as his face swam out of view, and the cupboard went quiet.

Into the silence, Theo said, "You're out of your mind, you know."

She smiled wryly, staring at the floor. "Someone has to be."

"So — let me get this right. You've infiltrated the Inquisitorial Squad via Pansy, who presumably doesn't know any of your intentions, and you've used this to find out how Umbridge planned to discover Potter's group, and then to warn them, and then to stop them getting caught, and then, through this mirror, to warn your dad?"

"More or less. I also plan to gain her trust and read through her papers and work out how to bring the whole Fudge administration down, given that she's been basically torturing students and possibly engaging in bribery and all sorts of corruption as part of a series of coverups. But that's the long and short of it."

"Sweet Merlin. You're — and let me guess, I'm the first person you've told about any of this? Right?"

"Potter knows. He didn't want to hear it, but technically I did tell him."

"Well, that's a first. Aurora Black telling someone what she's up to, who would have thought?"

She gave a wry chuckle, leaning against his shoulder. In the warm darkness of the broom cupboard, it felt like something was drawing them closer and closer still. As she looked at him in the dim light, for a moment, Aurora found her breath was caught in her throat. He had helped her and Potter without even really knowing why, had basically lied to Umbridge for her. Had risked himself, if discovered, because, for some inexplicable reason, he believed in her.

It terrified her, but it also made her giddy. The thought of his trust made a smile spread across her face, and the feeling of him beside her even moreso. "What?" Theo asked, frowning even as he himself smiled. "What are you smiling at?"

"I don't know," she said honestly. "It's just that I feel useless, and tonight has been a mess and I've no idea what's about to happen but — I'm really grateful you're here. With me. Right here, and..." She reached out and squeezed his hand and then he pulled her in closer, arms drifting against her waist. Aurora took in a shaky breath broken against an irrepressible smile, and looked up at him. "Thank you, Theo. For everything."

Theo just shrugged, and the action made Aurora pull just that bit closer to him, see his face just that more clearly. Her gaze was inexplicably drawn to his lips as he spoke. "You don't have to thank me. It was rather fun, actually." A small smirk curved his lips, but she could sense the hitch in his breath as he caught her eye.

He bent lower, just ever so slightly, and for a moment Aurora stood up taller, moving her head as if to grant him a better route to her lips. His fingers pressed gently against her sides and she broke out in goosebumps, rising up on her tiptoes. Time stood still in the darkness around them.

Then she felt the seconds fade away, and crossed the distance between them, tugging his lips to hers.

The kiss was gentle at first, soft with surprise and uncertainty. Theo's arms wound around her waist and she brought a hand up to cup his jaw and when he kissed back properly, her whole body seemed to burn from the feeling. A blush ran, warm, from her lips through her veins to the very tips of her fingers and her toes, imbued with restless energy that was desperate to find itself an outlet. She wanted him, wanted this; wanted an end to the fear and uncertainty that raged within her, wanted to just be here, in the darkness, with Theodore Nott.

She wanted something that filled her with this warm hope and joy instead of the usual cold dread and gnawing anxiety, and when he drew away, hands trailing over her waist, she realised that she did not want to let go at all, wanted to tug him back to her, pressed together and intertwined.

"Aurora," Theo said breathlessly, staring at her with a broad, surprised smile. "That — what—"

"I'm sorry," she said quickly, making to step away. "I don't know what I was thinking, I just — I didn't think, I should've asked, that was so, so foolish of me.but I just — I wanted to do something that I really wanted — something that's not just for the sake of strategy and planning and I want something I can hold and — I'm sorry, I shouldn't be telling you any of this, or saying it at all, and — and if you want to leave I'll understand, but I thought — I think you might — but if you don't—"

This time, he brought their lips together, tugging her up by the waist and sending sparks flying around and skittering over her skin. It was brief, but it left her wanting and breathless and made her flood with relief and hope and joy, so overwhelming it was almost dizzying, as she clasped her hands around his neck and leaned back, pulling him with her until they separated, both flushed.

"I do," he said, and Aurora let out a breathless laugh, unable to stop herself from smiling, even as the world began to slowly press in again. He pressed his forehead to hers, and she wound her arms around his neck, with a giddy smile.

"Theo, I... Well, I rather fancy you, I think."

"I'd rather hope so, after that." He smirked. "For what it's worth, I fancy you, too. Have done for a while, actually." The feeling of his fingertips resting against her was all the more apparent. Aurora was certain she could feel him breathing, as sure as she could hear his voice.

"But this is a bad idea," she whispered, and his smile fell. "I — I shouldn't have done that. We shouldn't... It's dangerous. You have your family, your grandfather would be furious if he found out that we were anything like... And I — I can't get you involved."

"Involved in what?"

"In me! In my life and my mess and my problems!"

"Every time anyone else gets involved in my plans, they go to shit! I almost died just trying to do some research in first year because of Potter poking his nose in, and my dad almost got his soul sucked out because they wouldn't just hand over their stupid rat! Other people getting involved in my shit always tends to make it worse, not better." She swallowed tightly, putting a stopper in the rush of words out of her throat. "And I don't want to make things worse for you or anyone else, either. But that's — we should go. Find the others, they'll be suspicious by now. I want to talk later, but this..."

"Okay," Theo said softly, though his lips were pursed and a frown etching it's way over his face. "Okay, yeah, you're probably right. But." He dropped his hands from her waist and she felt cold as his touch left her. Then his hand snaked to hers and intertwined their fingers. "If I were to ask you to be my date, for the next Hogsmeade weekend, after exams, what would you say?"

The question caught her by surprise and she hesitated a second too long.

"I'd want to say yes," she told him. "But I'm not sure it'd be a good idea. I mean… Your family would hate it. It would be dangerous. Your grandfather hates me enough and you have that whole thing with Flora, I mean, it doesn't matter if you don't like her, you're basically betrothed and I don't want to get in the middle of that, and, Merlin, this was a bad idea, wasn't it?"

"Aurora—"

"No, it was, it was — Merlin, I'm sorry, Theo, I never should have done this. We can't do this, we can't just — this is more than our feelings, this is — and if you try to be with me — if people knew — your grandfather hates me enough already—"

"I won't let them hurt you—"

"You might not have a choice."

"Aurora, I've already told you what I want, that I'm with you—"

"I know, Theo, but what if that doesn't matter? What if that makes it worse? I…"

"You're scared."

"Of course I'm scared."

"Aurora, you said you'd listen." She pressed her mouth closed in a thin line, and nodded. "I — you don't have to come to Hogsmeade. That was kind of silly to suggest. But if we were normal, if no one else mattered and it was just you and me, would you want to? Would you want to be in a relationship with me?"

"Yes, but that doesn't matter!"

"Of course it matters! Doesn't it matter what we want, rather than everybody else in the world telling us what we should want? We have to let it matter. If it isn't important, then we aren't important — and we are, aren't we?" There was a fire in his eyes, a passion stirred rarely, but more and more recently. "What we want is important, who we want to be with is important."

"It is," she said, heart pounding, "but it can't — it can't be… But I want you."

They could keep it secret. Aurora was good at hiding things and Theo was good at keeping quiet. They were already friends; speaking, being close, would not be a shock to anyone. "And I want you, too," Theo told her, raising a hand to brush her hair behind her ear. Her breath caught in her throat. "I want to be able to want you, I want you to let me tell you that."

The words made warmth bloom inside her again, and she leaned back in towards him. "Tell me, then," she told him, "and I'll do my best to listen." She swallowed tightly, then pressed another quick kiss to his lips. "We really should go, though."

"Yeah," Theo said, exhaling. His grip on her hand tightened. "Let's, then."

But just as she placed her hand on the door handle, he turned her around, and asked, "Before that — can I kiss you again?" and she melted.

"Make it quick," she whispered, and he pressed a gentle kiss to her lips, smiling as he pulled away.

"Okay. We can go now."

She tried not to laugh as they separated and she opened the cupboard door to an empty corridor. "Come on," she whispered, leading him out. "Quickly."

They went on quietly, a contemplative silence stretching between them. Now she had gotten a taste of him, Aurora found herself wanting more, but she knew she could not cross the distance between them again. Certainly not out in the open, where anybody could see them. But as her gaze slid to him, she saw him in another light, saw the softness of his lips and the angles of his jaw and the blush beneath his cheeks when he caught her eye and grinned.

"There are the stragglers," Cassius said, as they appeared. "Catch anyone? We've none of us had any luck."

"Only Potter," she said, trying to make it sound as though she were bragging.

"I caught him," Draco snapped with a scowl. "And if it hadn't been for Nott fucking up his hex, then Umbridge would know that!"

Aurora shrugged. "Whatever story you want to tell, Draco. What's the plan now, anybody know?"

They all looked between each other, uncertain. "She didn't really say."

"I think we were meant to catch more students."

"Probably."

"How'd they all escape?"

"It's like Professor Umbridge told us," said Theo, "they're highly trained in battle, and probably also in running away from people."

"It's the Harry Potter method of warfare," Aurora said with a sneer. "If in doubt, flee the scene."

Theo gave her a small smile before asking, "Anyone know what's happening to him?"

"Expulsion, I hope," Draco said, looking at Aurora as he said this, "or a cell in Azkaban."

Aurora kept her face neutral and shrugged. "I don't know and I don't care. I suppose all we have to do now is return to the dungeons and wait for an update?"

This was met with a number of grumbles, mostly that they should wait for her in her office. Aurora didn't care to hear Umbridge gloating, or to deal with the guilt that was twisting inside of her, and the knowledge of the hatred she would now have to deal with and had, for once, she felt, earned. Potter had been right. She hadn't had to do this. But it would have happened anyway. She just didn't like her role in it, her complicity. The choice hadn't only been taking part or standing back and letting it happen. She could have stopped Umbridge earlier, could have done more.

That line of thinking would get her nowhere. Aurora followed everybody downstairs, and ended up crammed into Umbridge's office, sat next to Theo on an floor cushion. When their knees pressed together, she tried desperately to ignore the way her body seemed to just know the feeling of him, sending a warm hum through her veins.

"I do want to talk," she whispered to him as the others busied themselves with speculation. "But right now... I need to get my head in order."

"Alright," he whispered. "That's probably sensible, actually."

"If there was none of this," she told him, "none of... You know. Then knowing my feelings would be as easy as breathing."

That seemed to reassure him. His smile widened and he glanced away for just a moment, as though checking the room for wandering eyes, before he looked back at her. "Don't take too long, will you?" He leaned over and whispered in her ear, so that nobody else could hear, "You're a very good kisser, and I'd like to try that again."

"You're going to make me blush," she said shortly, struggling not to smile as he pulled away, laughing. "We can't have that here."

That sobered him up, but his soft smile remained.

Umbridge appeared almost an hour later, face red and furious. "Well," she said, "we couldn't get Potter and his friends, and Dumbledore escaped us. His army indeed! But, we got one thing out of all this. Oh, yes. You all are looking at the new headmistress of Hogwarts." Aurora forced a smile even as her stomach plummeted. "And from this day, you are all members of the Inquisitorial Squad, responsible for the monitoring of student behaviour in the school." She opened her drawer, revealing a handful of shiny silver badges with the words on them. She had been planning this for some time, then. It made Aurora's anger rise even hotter and more bitter than before, though she took her badge and the list of responsibility — monitoring the hallways, giving out detentions, deducting points — with a proud smile. Umbridge met her eyes, smirking. "You've done well, Miss Black," she told her, "I didn't think you had it in you."

"I'm full of surprises," she said lightly, and when Umbridge moved onto Theo, she looked at the crowded drawers, jammed with official looking papers, and hoped that she could make herself useful at last.

But there were even more worrying thoughts in her head now, so many things to puzzle out, and she didn't know that she could even hold so many feelings. And then she locked gazes with Theo again and fought so hard to suppress the smile she feared would give everything away, and felt, more than ever before, exposed.