Aurora sat in her bed examining all of the jewelry that had been sent to her for her birthday. She had received a necklace with a huge diamond placed in the center from her parents, a set of pearls from her eldest brother Nathaniel, an opal ring and matching earrings from Reginald, an emerald ring from Emerson, and last but not least, gold bracelets from her uncle Gavin. Even though she was away from her family they never forgot about her- this was something she was truly grateful for. Aurora gathered all her gifts and hid them in the jewelry box that she kept in her closet. She knew that if any of her suite mates saw they would make a big fuss and she preferred not to draw any attention to herself. Once everything was safely in place she walked back to her bed and sighed. It had been raining the previous night and continued into the next morning.

"Of course with my luck the weather would be miserable on my birthday."

Today was her 20th birthday and while most people her age would enjoy an occasion such as this, Aurora wasn't exactly in high spirits. Despite the fact she had just received fine jewelry from her family, she couldn't shake the feeling of disappointment. She had really wanted them to be with her on this day. All she wanted to do now was curl up in a ball and disappear. The day had barely begun but she wanted it to be over as soon as possible. She opened her desk drawer to retrieve a pack of cigarettes, when she stopped immediately, eyeing the box that held her tobacco products.

"I'm missing a pack. Who could have- Wyatt!" She spat out with as much malice as possible. "That son of a bitch! I can't believe he stole from me!"

"Yo, keep it down, you're going to wake your roommates."

Aurora turned around to find Beatrice standing in the doorway.

"What are you doing here?" She asked bitterly.

"Well that's not nice, I came to visit for your birthday."

"I appreciate the thought, but I'm not in the mood for visitors."

"Oh well, too bad. Not really your choice, now, is it? We're going to celebrate your 20th birthday my way, so wear something nice because I'm taking you out to lunch." Beatrice exited the room, closing the door behind her.

Aurora sighed. "This is going to be a long day."

Aurora was rushing back to her room, paying no mind to the thundering rain. Lunch had been a complete disaster! Not only did the waiter get her order wrong, but he was also clumsy enough to trip and drop a bowl of hot soup all over her lap. It was absolutely humiliating, and the fact that the restaurant was packed with people didn't help the situation. In hopes that she wouldn't draw more attention to herself, if that was even possible, she rose silently like the lady her uncle raised her to be and walked out of the establishment without a word.

"I knew I shouldn't have worn heels. Why did I let Beatrice convince me to wear heels, or even to go out for that matter?" She muttered to herself as she drew her drenched jacket to her body. A few more paces forward and the unthinkable happened: one of her heels broke, which caused Aurora to trip and fall into a muddy puddle.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me!" Aurora didn't usually swear- she tried to avoid it if she could- but in the moment she didn't care. She had more pressing matters to attend to other than her use of a vulgar word. The poor girl was soaked from head to toe, and to top it all off, she was now covered in mud.

She reached for her shoes and removed them from her feet as she began to stand.

"I'm just going to make it back bare foot." She continued to her room.

Aurora had never felt so relieved once she caught sight of her suite, but this was short lived, because once she entered she was greeted by none other than Wyatt and Draco. They were sitting on the couch in the common room. There she stood at the doorway, completely drenched, covered in mud, and barefoot.

"What happened to you!?" Wyatt asked, trying to stifle his laughter but failing miserably. Aurora turned beet red with embarrassment.

"YOU!" She spat out with as much venom as possible, "How dare you steal from me?!"

"What? I don't know what you're talking about." Wyatt stated as he stuck his nose in the air.

"Don't play dumb with me, you miscreant! You know exactly what you did."

"Oh yeah? Well enlighten me."

"You stole a pack of cigarettes from me!"

Wyatt stopped to think for a second and then he remembered. "You're seriously going to bite my head off about it now? That happened weeks ago."

"It doesn't matter when it happened! The fact is YOU STOLE FROM ME!"

"Aurora, dear, you should really learn to use your inside voice; what would your mother say if she saw you right now? Shouting in the presence of young Master Malfoy and myself."

Aurora gritted her teeth. "I'm not playing this game with you." She briskly walked past the young men and hid away in her room.

Wyatt broke out into full laughter. "The nerve of that girl!"

Draco just stared at his friend in disbelief, "You stole from her. Also, did you take a good look at her? She's soaked and covered in mud, and it's her birthday. I'm honestly not surprised that she reacted the way that she did."

Wyatt was about to respond when Beatrice entered.

"Have you guys seen Aurora?"

"Yes she's in her room, most likely changing. She looked a mess when she walked in."

Beatrice groaned. "Today was supposed to be a happy day and there she is locking herself in her room, avoiding everyone!"

"I highly doubt she's simply 'hiding in her room', she probably needs some time to cool down."

"Cool down? Why?"

"Well let's just say she and I had disagreement."

"It was a little more than that." Draco scoffed.

Beatrice sighed; she wasn't even going to bother asking what the so called "disagreement" was about. She walked over to her cousin's door and knocked furiously, "Aurora! You come out here now!"

"Leave me alone, Beatrice." Said a voice on the other side of the door.

"Stopping moping around! It's your birthday. You're supposed to be happy and celebrate, not lock yourself in your room!"

The door opened; Aurora appeared dressed in her most comfortable sweats. Despite her calm composure she was livid. All she wanted was a day of peace where no one bothered her. She just wanted to stay in her room and possibly get lost in one of her books- was that so much to ask? But no, her disruptive cousin had insisted that she go out, and on top of that, Wyatt was really grinding her gears. Aurora really did appreciate Beatrice's efforts to try to do something special for her birthday, but she was at the end of her rope.

Aurora's face was completely stoic. "Beatrice, I would appreciate if you didn't bang on my door like a savage. I just want to be alone for the rest of the day. I appreciate your efforts and that you care, I really do- but please, I've had enough excitement for today."

Aurora closed the door and locked it once again leaving Beatrice as frustrated as ever.

"I give up!" She threw her hands up and walked over to the couch and took a seat next to Wyatt.

Aurora sat on her bed reading her book. For the first time today she was actually enjoying herself- until she heard a knock on her door. Aurora sighed in frustration and shut her book, thinking that it was Beatrice again.

"Go away, Beatrice, I'm not interested!" She called out, feeling irritated.

"Um, it's not Beatrice." Stated a hesitant male voice. Aurora immediately recognized who it was and jumped up to open the door.

"Oh Draco, I'm so sorry! That was really rude of me. I thought it was Beatrice again."

Draco smiled reassuringly. "It's fine…I see you're in dry clothes now."

Aurora began to blush heavily. "Yes, there's nothing that could put me in a good mood quite like dry clothes." She began to look around. "It's really quiet here, where is everyone?"

"Beatrice went home and Wyatt…well, I'm not sure where the fool ran off to. I know you probably don't want to associate with people today, but I was wondering if you'd like to accompany me to the café, my treat."

Aurora smiled. "Sure, I'd love to! Just give me a minute, I'll be right out!"

Draco nodded and went to sit on the couch.

Aurora was rummaging through her clothes looking for a suitable outfit to wear. She didn't know why she felt excited, and it wasn't like she was going anywhere interesting. It was just the café, she'd been there more times than she could count. Over the course of a month she and Draco had become friends. She usually had her meals with him and Wyatt. But she hadn't been seeing much of Draco around, and so it would be a good time to catch up- even though she had no idea on what they would catch up on. Once she found an outfit that she was satisfied with, she quickly changed and headed out the door to meet Draco.

"I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long."

"Not at all." Draco extended his arm, and with a light pop they appeared at the entrance of the café.

Once inside Draco ordered their beverages; he had a coffee, and Aurora ordered a chai.

"What happened to you today if you don't mind me asking?" Draco began to mix the cream in his coffee.

"Not at all, it's actually kind of funny now that I look back on it. Beatrice wanted to take me out for a birthday lunch I guess, and not only did the waiter get my order wrong but he also ended up tripping and spilling soup all over me. It was really embarrassing! So I just left, I didn't want to spend another minute in there. But while I was walking out in the pouring rain I tripped because my heel broke and I fell into a puddle of mud." She took a sip of her beverage and then continued. "So not only was I soaked, I was covered in filth as well and I made the rest of my way back barefoot. And to top it all off once I thought I was home free I found you and Wyatt sitting on the couch in the common room."

By the time Aurora had finished her story Draco was beside himself. He couldn't control his laughter; it had been a long time since he laughed so hard. Aurora began to giggle in spite of herself.

"Despite what an awful day it's been at least I have a story to tell, no?"

Draco was finally able to collect himself. "Yes, but really gets me is this: why didn't you even think to pull out your wand and repair your shoe right then and there?"

She began to turn red. "You know, it never even occurred to me. I guess I was too upset to even consider the thought. But anyways, enough about my horrible day- how have you been? How are your classes treating you?"

"They're alright. I've also been spending a great deal of time in the lab so that's been eating away at all my free time."

"Is that why I haven't seen you at meals lately?

"Yes, I've been either cooped up in the lab or my flat."

"Same…well mostly the library. Sometimes I study in my dorm but I go to the library if I want to avoid my suitemates, which is a majority of the time."

Draco chuckled; he didn't know what it was about Aurora but for some reason the girl made him feel nervous. He wasn't the sort of person to be nervous among members of the opposite sex; in fact, he'd had a number of girlfriends here and there and he'd interacted with enough females to say he was quite comfortable with them. It was just this one that unhinged him, and he dared not let it show.

"That's a nice ring." Draco observed. Aurora extended her right hand and examined the ring; it was the emerald ring that Emerson had sent her.

"Thank you, it was a gift from my brother."

"I see. Did you get anything else for your birthday?"

"Yes, a lot of fine jewelry." She smiled and took another sip from her chai.

"Speaking of gifts," Draco reached into his messenger bag and pulled out a rectangular object that was wrapped in gold colored wrapping paper. He handed it to Aurora. She held it her hands; it was heavy. She looked up at Draco with wide eyes.

"You shouldn't have!"

"I wanted to! Aren't you going to open it?"

The girl grinned and began to carefully unwrap the present. Draco held his breath; his gift was simple but he had a feeling that she might like it. Or at least he hoped she would. He had gotten her a book, but not just any book. It was the full version of the Arabian Nights. It had gold seaming and was leather bound with beautiful intricate designs that covered it entirely.

"Oh my goodness! Draco, you remembered!" Aurora beamed up at him.

"I take that you like it then?"

"Are you kidding? I love it! If it wasn't deemed improper I would kiss you! I still can't believe you remembered!"

Draco would say that he was baffled: this was a girl who came from a very wealthy, high- standing family. She could have absolutely anything she desired, and she even received some of the finest jewels for her birthday. But she was completely ecstatic over a book he just happened to buy for her on a whim. Aurora Pontellier was truly something else.