Hey everyone!

Happy April! I am so sorry for the late updates. Lockdowns mean the days are merging into one and it's hard to tell what day is what sometimes. Hope you're all doing OK. Stay home, stay safe and keep the pressure off your emergency services. Remember this will pass and the sun will shine brightly once more.

Lots of love,

LM xxxx

Finally Belonging Somewhere-Part 67:

Narcissa was the first to fully wake up and soon her arms were around her daughter. Nothing else mattered in that moment except the fact that her daughter was in her arms.

"It's OK my little dove," she said softly as she kissed Aurora's head as she felt the girl moving around as she began to wake up.

Blue orbs flickered up before she realised where she was. She could see the Headmaster, Lucius and the Hogwarts matron all surrounding her.

"My mother has gone to find Severus and they will be bringing Draco with them," Lucius explained as he moved quickly to reassure his wife that everything was OK, "Aurora is waking up but it will take her longer because of her current condition."

Narcissa focused on her husband and sat up, Aurora remaining tightly surrounded by her arms.

"What happened? How am I here? We were at the Manor…" she asked unsure of anything.

"We were but you fell into a very deep sleep and wouldn't wake up," Lucius said, unsure how to go on.

Just at that moment Priscilla, Severus and Draco walked in. Narcissa instantly moved over so Draco could join her on the bed. She wanted both her children close to her. She noticed her husband looking at her mother-in-law, clearly unsure how to carry on.

"So I came to the Manor and Lucius asked me to come and sit with Aurora after you'd said that you wanted to be here with her," Priscilla said, "but that's now where it gets a little more… interesting. Your elf was coming backwards and forwards between here and the Manor so Lucius could get updates on Aurora in case you woke up."

"How long have we been asleep?" Narcissa asked.

"Two days," Lucius replied, "that was when my mother came up with a theory…"

"You and Aurora are deeply connected in a way that I have never heard of before," Priscilla said as she finished Lucius' sentence.

Narcissa fell silent as she looked at her mother-in-law. Theories attacking her head, each as unlikely as the last… until one stuck out in her mind.

"I almost died around the seven month mark with Aurora…" she said, "you said my body shut down until Aurora was safe inside me…"

"Yes, almost like it needed to make sure that Aurora was safe and then starting bringing you back," Lucius confirmed, "showed you as dead but Aurora still alive. Yes."

"That's the only thing that stands out to me," Priscilla said, "if I'd have known it sooner then I'd have said something."

"But…but why hasn't mother been able to feel Aurora until now?" Draco asked, finally able to find his voice.

"Because when Aurora was taken by Bellatrix it would have stopped the connection from being able to work because they weren't a family," Dumbledore explained, "the connection lay dormant and shattered until that day at King's Cross when Narcissa saw Aurora on her own and needed to help her."

"So what would explain why Cissa was so desperate to help her. The connection woke up because they were together again… but why now? Why did that knock them both out?" Lucius asked the oldest wizard.

"Because it's unstable at a guess. Because of how long they've been apart and Narcissa isn't around Aurora constantly the connection can't stabilise and Aurora getting kidnapped was too much for their bodies. I'm guessing once it's stable it hardly noticeable."

Lucius growled in frustration causing Aurora to whimper, alerting the mother to her daughter being fully awake.

"Lucius!" Narcissa warned, "it appears we have a finally awake Aurora on our hands," she said before asking for some water so Aurora could have a drink.

Lucius insisted that Narcissa had a drink too and she knew better than to argue with him, so she quietly sat and had a drink with Aurora and then smiled as she saw her daughter look up at her and Draco looking at her.

"We're OK. We'll figure this out," she reassured Draco and Aurora even though she was pretty sure that Aurora didn't understand what was happening anyway.

"It would explain why Narcissa of all people was drawn to Aurora. Hundreds of people… magical folk would have been walking past her and yet nobody stopped to help," Severus said, "except Narcissa, who clearly felt something for the girl and have never seen her since she was born. I have heard of such things, but they are so rare," he admitted.

"I want to do more tests on this connection," Dumbledore said, "we need to find out exactly what's going on here."

"No!" Narcissa and Lucius said at the same time.

"But…" Dumbledore started.

"Narcissa needs time to process all of this and Aurora…" Lucius started.

"What about me?" Aurora asked.

"Doesn't matter for now darling," Lucius said softly before turning back to the Headmaster, "Narcissa and I need to try and explain to Aurora what is happening here," he said as he looked at him daughter. He just wanted to take her home and protect from everything as he watched her.

"I understand Lucius. This is unheard on in this day and age. I will wait," Dumbledore said, "but this will have to be looked into."

"I agree but not soon. When I am ready for it and Aurora understands then it can be done," Lucius said as looked back at the Headmaster, "I have to do what's best for my family and that is allowing recovering and time to process, especially for Aurora. She struggles to understand at the best of times. Narcissa and I will tell her once we have figured out how to explain it to her. She has to have some sort of understanding first before anything is done," he said.

Dumbledore nodded. Of course he wanted to do the tests as soon as he possibly but knew that Lucius was protective of his wife… and evermore so his daughter now he had her back. Dumbledore knew not to mess with Lucius but all he was trying to do was to help the family but he also knew that it was a lot to process and when they were ready he'd be there to help them and offer his support when he could.