The first N.E.W.T.-level duelling club was held on the third Wednesday of term, and almost the entirety of Aurora's year, and the year above, showed up, the biggest turnout she had ever seen. She supposed these days, everybody felt the need to learn to defend themselves.

Snape and Flitwick led the club, and even the Charms Professor was unusually somber as they made their opening speech. "You will all be put into a tournament-style pot with your greatest competitors," Flitwick told them, "with the goal of pushing one another as far as possible. It won't escape any of you, that every day, outside these walls, Dark forces thicken and attack our people, and others. It is our duty, as teachers, not just to teach you spells and theory and equations, but to prepare you for life, the world beyond school. I expect you all to dedicate yourselves to learning to defend yourselves with just as much vigour as you dedicate to your studies and other extra-curricular, if not more. It is, unfortunately, a necessity." His gaze lingered on Harry just a moment too long. Beside him, Aurora tensed. "Professor Snape and I have already sorted you into groups, based on our observations of your practical abilities and previous Duelling Club experience." She half-listened to the list of names, only starting when she heard her own, placed with Harry, Susan Bones, Hermione, Ernie, and — to her consternation — Theo, as well as the seventh years, Cho Chang, and Tobias Cartwell from the Slug Club. Harry, to Aurora's surprise, was hardly bothered by Chang's presence, watching her opening duel against Cartwell with a critical eye just the same as he reserved for everybody else. She supposed, amused, that his attention to Ginny over the summer was indeed symptomatic of a deeper infatuation.

She and Harry had been put up against each other to start, of course. Probably, Snape had hoped they'd wipe each other out in some freak accident. But before them, were Theo and Susan Bones. Susan was hard-faced, determined as she stared him down, with a righteous look on her face that made Aurora uncomfortable. Her family had their own history with Voldemort's forces, and she surely was aware of it as she stood across from a boy who should, in her head, be designated as an enemy. Theo, to his credit, appeared unbothered by this clear hostility, keeping his face neutral as he bowed and got into position, waiting for Flitwick's whistle.

When the shrill sound cut through the air, he was quick to move, words leaving his lips so quietly that Aurora had no idea what he was saying until the spell itself was cast. He was quicker than he had been, fiercer. There was a new set to his jaw and determination, bright and burning, in his eyes. He had been practicing. What, or how, she did not know, but it was clearer than ever that he had changed and developed over the summer months; he had filled out in his face and in his muscles, and there was a glow about him that he hadn't had in a while. She had noticed it on the train too; he had finally familiarised himself with sunlight. But now, he moved like it, fluid and strong, confident in his actions. When had he gotten like that, she wondered? When, when she had not been looking, had he changed?

She hadn't noticed how transfixed she was by his duel until Harry elbowed her in the side and hissed, "Stop staring at your ex."

Her cheeks flushed with heat, but she didn't look away. "I am not. I'm merely analysing Theodore's technique."

Harry snorted. "Yeah, sure. That's what that means."

He was graceful, almost, not as tentative as he once might have been. The flush of his cheeks made her stomach swoop, especially when she saw the way his arms flexed beneath his robes. Foolish, she told herself. Arms shouldn't be attractive anyway.

"And," she added, as an afterthought, gaze still fixed on Theo, "he's not my ex."

Potter scoffed.

Only when Theo won his duel did she look away, feeling his gaze drift to her and set sparks flying over her again. This was foolish. She had made her peace, and he had, too.

"He's looking at you, too," Harry said helpfully, and Aurora glared at him.

"Are you really trying to wind me up before we duel?"

He shrugged. "I'll win anyway."

"Fuck you."

"Language, Miss Black," Snape drawled from behind them, and she jumped. "We can't be insulting the Chosen One, now, can we?"

Now it was Harry's turn to be riled up, green eyes glimmering hatefully at Snape.

"You two are up. Do try not to wreak too much havoc upon the Hall; we do still require it for breakfast tomorrow morning."

They both tried not to glare too much at him as they replaced Theo and Susan on the duelling set, launching into it as easily as they launched into any fight.

It was bitterly fought. Harry had improved exponentially in skill and power, but Aurora had accumulated a greater array of spells to cast, constantly taking him by surprise as much as his sharp attacks kept her on her toes. Only once she managed to sneak a blasting curse past his shield, taking out part of the floor behind him and throwing him off, did Aurora feel like she had an upper hand. But the moment she took time to breathe, the world around her seemed to warp. Her chest was tight and sharp, her head suddenly emptied. There was a ringing in her ears and a tremble in her legs, and pain lanced across her neck, just as it had done months ago after the Ministry.

Harry hit her with a Stinging Hex that made it past her slipping shield. She stumbled, trying to aim a curse back at him, but it sputtered out on the way.

Harry's eyes widened, and he hurried forward; she made a move to fight him off, but it was only concern in his eyes as he swam into view, frowning. "Aurora? Are you alright?"

Her mouth moved too slowly. "Yeah," she said, taking shallow breaths, squeezing her eyes shut and hoping the world came into better focus when she opened them. It worked, but she still felt that nausea boiling her. "Yeah, just." She stepped back, back into position, and he frowned as he did the same.

"Are you sure?"

"Stupefy!" she shouted before he could react, and only just managed to dodge it. It was too weak though, and she knew that as soon as she cast it, strength flooding from her body.

It took only a quick impedimenta from Harry to bring her down, pain still lancing through her like she was being burned. "Surrender," she said quickly, sinking to the ground, anger and confusion meddling inside her.

Harry gave her a hand up, looking at her like one night encounter a wounded bird as he led her down to their seats. "Are you okay?" he asked in a whisper. "That wasn't like you — I didn't use a spell that should've had that sort of reaction."

"I'm fine," she said instinctively, and he stared at her. "I don't know. I just need to sit down. I'm tired."

Still, when she sank into her seat, she did not feel much better. Harry disappeared and returned a moment later with a glass of water for her to sip on and hold in trembling hands, face both hot and cold and the same time. She won her next match to Hermione, but only because she went easy on her, face etched with that same concern as Harry. By the time she got to face Ernie, she was recovered enough to manage to win, but it was closer a match than it ought to have been, and that made her shiver with shame. Pain kept throbbing, especially in her neck, and she was reminded of what Pomfrey had told her, and the nurse at St. Mungo's.

Harry hadn't used anything like the Transmogrifian curse, of course. But barring the weak, stilted duels with Leah in Defense, she had not had any nefarious magic put upon her since then. It seemed that had woken something of the dark magic buried beneath her skin, and the thought of that made her feel more ill than ever.

When they were dismissed, she went to find Gwen and Leah immediately, not wanting a moment more of Harry and Hermione's pity. She linked arms with them, trying to laugh about defeating Ernie, and hoping they did not see how ashen her face felt.

"Hang on," Leah said as they descended to the dungeons, looking over her shoulder to the right, "why's Nott following us?"

Aurora whipped around so fast she felt the sharp strain in her neck, and her world swam again. "I think he's trying to hail Aurora over," Gwen said, extricating her from them. Her gaze followed Robin with a slight scowl.

"You guys go on," Aurora mumbled, as Leah let out a sigh.

"Watch your back with him," she muttered, and Aurora nodded half-heartedly.

"It's fine. It's just Theo."

"Theodore Nott," Leah hissed back, and anger prickled Aurora's chest.

"He's fine," Aurora replied, voice short, "leave him be."

Leah did not seem settled by this, but Gwen dragged her away and Aurora went on back towards Theo, trying not to let her nerves show. It had been months since they had really spoken, months since she had burned down everything they once had been.

"Aurora," Theo said, looking relieved once she was on her own and he could approach. "Hey."

"Hey."

Silence descended. Aurora stared at the wall, to avoid being distracted by the sight of him, and to try and scrounge up something resembling a sentence. It would not come. Her mind was entirely blank, and though she had so many things she had wanted to tell him over the last few months, she could not now say any of them.

Theo cleared his throat. She still couldn't look him in the eye.

"Are you alright?" he started out, voice stiff. "It looked like you were struggling in there."

"Thank you very much, Nott, that's kind of you to say." He gave her a look of coaxing disbelief that was so familiar it made her want to curl up into a ball against him. "I'm fine. Just tired, I think. I had Quidditch practice last night, I must have overdone it."

He didn't believe her, of course, but they were no longer in a position where he could pry. "Are you alright?"

It took a moment before he said, simply, "Yes." His own voice was stiff and resolute. It didn't sound like him at all. "Look, I know you don't really want to speak to me, but there's something you should know. Can we...?"

He nodded round the corner, to a quieter corridor where their housemates would not be heading. "Yes," she said quickly, hurrying onwards, "of course."

A moment later, when the sounds of the rest of the Slytherins died away, Theo told her, "Draco's been talking about this job he's been given by the Dark Lord." Her stomach dropped. Some part of her had thought he might have something nice to tell her, some good news. That he might seek her out because he wanted to see her. Really, he was being generous speaking to her at all. To warn her. "I still don't know what it is, I don't think even Pansy does, but I figured you should know. He's been going on like he's taken the Mark, or promised he will — I'm not sure," he clarified hastily, as another violent bout of nausea washed over her, "—but that seems to be what's going on, from what I've gleaned. He's been gloating about it, whatever it is, that he's been chosen specially. I don't really know what to do. Snape must know, but Dumbledore's away all the time and I don't know what any of the other professors can do, when I don't even really know what's going on. But I thought I should tell you."

In the quiet that followed, Aurora's mind whirred. So Harry had been right, after all. Draco had become a Death Eater, just like she had feared. So young, so stupid. There was no saving him now.

"Well I don't know what to do," she whispered, staring up at him, a bitter lump of helplessness sticking in her throat. "I don't know why you'd expect me to, really, or why you've come to me but — Merlin, I'm not even surprised!"

The words rang out in something that could have been a sob, if she had allowed herself, if she could have been comfortable enough to slip into the way she and Theo had been before. But she would not, and she could not, do that. She swallowed tight, forced her face into composure. She could not be vulnerable with him; it would only open her heart up again, force her to seek comfort that would only her them both in the end.

"I don't expect you to," Theo replied. "I don't know, either. I'm not totally sure he's not exaggerating — you know how he is — but I know he did meet him over the summer." The words, and the question of how, exactly, Theo would come by that information, made a chill go through her. "I wouldn't put it past him to try and impress Pansy or the rest of us, but, I don't know. It feels different."

"No," Aurora agreed, chewing her lip, "it's certainly possible. But do you really think that is all this is?"

He shook his head. "Draco hinted that the Dark Lord was interested in me, too — anyone of us, really." Cold dread went through her. "I declined to follow in my father and grandfather's footsteps — obviously. But it seems Draco had been in contact with him, and I doubt he would say no if given the chance to serve."

"Have you met him?" she asked before she could stop herself, stomach tight. It was like seeing a different person in front of her, when he turned and met her eyes and the blue hue of his iris was darker.

"No. I almost... I visited the Malfoys a few times."

"You saw him with them?" He pressed his lips together, as though he could not go on, and she realised. "Is he there? At the Manor?"

"Of course not." His eyes were wide and imploring, and with no one around, he gave the tiniest of nods. "The Ministry have conducted so many raids, and it would surely be too much of a coincidence if he only left when they came." Her heart clenched.

She took a step back out of instinct, gaze darting to his left arm. He wouldn't. She knew that he wouldn't and he said he hadn't and he wouldn't bring it up just to lie about it, but — but there was that knotted rope of anxiety, dredged up from her gut to her throat. This was what she had feared. This was the space that their blood put between them. "Did you spend much time there, over the summer?"

"Some," he said, voice heavy. "Things get heavy, when you're an orphan. You know that. There's only so much the Fawleys can do, and I couldn't very well say no to Narcissa."

It hurt; not just that he had been with Draco, chosen to see him even though she had all but told him to, but also that he had been invited. Narcissa had extended the hospitality to Theo in his hour of need that she had never done to Aurora, her own family. Aurora looked away, but felt his gaze prickle the side of her cheek. "Do you have any idea what it is he's been told to do?"

Theo shook his head. "He hasn't even told Pansy — I asked. Though of course, she might not trust me. It seems to be something he needs to be in the castle for, though." So not related to the work he had Borgin and Burke's doing for him, then.

"I see." She sighed, the weight of his words sinking on her shoulders. "Thank you for telling me, Theo. You didn't have to."

He shrugged. "Well, I had to tell someone. It seemed best that you know. You might be able to do something with the information. All of the information." Including Malfoy Manor. It was like he was telling her to tell the Order — but she wondered, would it be clear who had given the tip? Would it put him in danger too? She knew she should not factor that in, that if they could locate the Dark Lord, then she had to do what she could to alert the Order, and that Theo would surely have considered himself, too. "The Ministry knows a lot, too."

Theo glanced away, a stony look coming over his face, and she got the feeling that this was all he could bring himself to discuss with her. Fair enough, she thought, swallowing the lump in her throat. It was more than she deserved. "We'd better get back to the common room," she told him after a moment of silence, "separately, I imagine. Just to be safe."

She made to leave, half-hoping he would stop her, and when he didn't, it made the lump in her throat grow even more. She shouldn't want him to want her to stay; neither of them should want anything from each other. It had been months and she didn't know what she wanted to say to him, just that she wished she could say something.

-*

She got the mirror from Harry the next morning, and spoke to her father at lunchtime in her dorm, having hastily snatched a sandwich from the table.

Her father was sat in the shed at Arbrus Hill, his motorbike whirring in the background. He was working on fixing the engine, apparently — it was making a noise like a pissed-off dragon, which she could not assume was bad. "It's lunchtime," she told him, when he stopped talking about grease and Muggle genius, "I don't have long, but I've got information for the Order. Theo basically told me the Dark Lord's been at Malfoy Manor, a few times. He hasn't said if it's a permanent base, and I know the Ministry's conducted a few raids over the summer, but... It might be worth the Order going in. He seemed to imply they were tipped off by a Ministry insider."

"You think?" Her dad sighed. "We know he must have spies in the Ministry — I can't tell you who we suspect, but there's a few. Dora suggested the Manor to Dumbledore, but he didn't agree. Spoke to Snape, and apparently he said it was clear."

Aurora scoffed. "And you trust Snape?"

He shrugged. "No. But Dumbledore seemed pretty certain, and I don't know if I can act on this if he believes Snape. I trust you, sweetheart — I'm not sure I trust that Theodore Nott's telling you the truth."

"I think he is."

"Aurora—"

"I know what you're going to say. He's never lied to me about something like this."

"You told me yourself, you haven't spoken, things have been strained. You said he's hanging out with Draco and Pansy again. That doesn't seem like he's very loyal to you."

The words still made her chest tighten. She knew that trusting Theo, to someone on the outside of it all, seemed like a mistake, and she knew her judgment hadn't been the best. She didn't want to trust him. But she could not ignore her gut and tell herself that he was lying. "I know how it looks. I know you've never liked him."

"I've never thought your relationship sensible," he corrected, "I had no negative opinion on his character 'til he started running around with sworn blood supremacists again."

Her cheeks warmed. "After having come and fought on our side at the Ministry. He can't be my friend anymore, Dad, I told him so myself, I can't blame him for trying to find somewhere to fit." Even if the sight of him with the rest of them turned her stomach. "I don't like it, but... Look, do what you want, Dad. I don't think he's lying to me. He said he thinks Draco's working on a mission for Voldemort, too, just like Harry thinks, I don't see why he'd lie about that either, do you?"

Her father's brow furrowed, wondering. Eventually, he sighed. "No. I'll see what Kingsley and Dora think." That was some relief, at least. They would be a little less biased against Theo. "You never did tell, Aurora, exactly what happened to make everything so strained between the two of you."

Her breath stuck in her throat. "It's not relevant."

"I reckon it is." Even through a mirror, she could feel his cold, questioning gaze that told her not to lie to him. She squirmed, and took a bite of her sandwich to avoid having to answer immediately. Her father merely waited, keeping that even gaze. "Aurora?"

"It's fine. I told him we couldn't be friends, because it was too dangerous. He was upset but, I think he came to understand, and we're at peace with each other. He hasn't done anything wrong." No, she thought, that was all her. "It's fine. I'm fine with it — as fine as I am with any of the rest of it. And anyway, this isn't about that, this is about the war. You have to speak to someone about the Manor. And make sure Snape doesn't know about it."

"And here I was thinking it'd be a fun topic to bring up at our dinner date next week." He let out a sarcastic sigh, and Aurora bit back a laugh. "Are you sure everything's fine with Nott?"

"Yes," she lied, "it's fine. Compared to everything else, it's really quite unimportant. And why do you care? You didn't want us together."

"I never want you upset, or hurting, either."

Too late for that. "I'm not. Any hurt, I'm over it now. What's more important is, he himself hasn't done anything to break my trust. He knows Voldemort was at the Manor because he saw him — that's not him being lied to, or misled."

"He saw him?" Her dad's eyes widened, outrage flickering on his face. "He was with Voldemort?"

"He was in the Manor and Voldemort was there, too." Merlin, even as she spoke, she winced. It sounded awful. If it were anybody but Theo, she would have written them off entirely. Maybe, she thought, she should. Maybe her dad was right. "He was just visiting Draco."

"Who you think is working for Voldemort!"

"Who Theo told me he suspects is working for him, and who is trying to help us by telling me!"

He scoffed, and she resisted the urge to throw the mirror across the room. "Right. Alright, yeah — fine. I'll talk to Dora and Kingsley."

"And Remus?"

He scowled. "Fuck knows where he is, but yeah." He did not elaborate. It wasn't fair, Aurora thought, that he could try and push her to talk about her feelings, and lecture her, but he refused to give any indication as to what the hell was going on on his end. "Just be careful, Aurora, please."

"I am. That's why we aren't friends anymore."

"Right." Her dad gave her that same knowing look as Harry had the day before, and she prickled with irritation, hating the feeling of his gaze worming under her skin. "Well, then, I'll leave you to lunch — but speak to me tonight, would you? I'm going round Andromeda and Ted's, they'd love to speak to you."

"I can't," she said, wincing. "Quidditch practice. The reserves were shit on Tuesday, and I've got to get us out as much as I can while we still have the weather and longer days on our side. Tomorrow night?" He nodded, and she smiled. At least with Andromeda and Ted, he was less likely to lecture her. Andromeda would tell him off. "Alright." She hesitated, then added, "I should tell you, something weird happened at Duelling Club last night."

"Go on."

She told him about the strange pain she had felt, the way she had reacted to Harry's magic against her, that exhausted, sickly helplessness, and the worry on his face etched ever deeper. She wished she could stop that, stop being the reason he was worried, that there always seemed to be something weighing heavy on his mind. "You should see Madam Pomfrey," he told her, and she groaned.

"I knew you were going to say that."

"It's true. Just to be safe. If you think it's abnormal, it's best to speak to a professional. Harry's a strong wizard, but a simple jinx shouldn't elicit that reaction, unless it's reacting with another spell lingering on you."

"The Transmogrifian Curse?"

His eyes lost more of their shine. "Possibly." He swallowed tight. "You've got time left of lunch — eat, and go speak to her, before you've got to use any more magic in class. If there's something deeper wrong, you don't want to go messing about with anything else."

That was the last thing she wanted to do. Pomfrey would fuss and ask questions. But it would put her dad's mind at ease, and hers, loathe as she was to admit it. "I will," she promised. "I'll speak to you tomorrow, yeah?"

"Tomorrow."

She grinned. "Love you, Dad."

He grinned, eyes twinkling as he raised a hand to wave at her through the silver. "Love you too, sweetheart. Good luck at practice!"

"Wow," she remarked with a laugh, "you almost sound like you want Slytherin to win."

He raised his eyebrows. "Don't push it. See you tomorrow."

With that he was gone, and her smile lingered only a moment more before dread curled back around her heart and she flipped over on her back, glaring at the ceiling. She counted herself down, forcing herself to breathe against the growing knot of anxiety in her chest, before trying to finish off her lunch and quell the nausea.

At least her dad would try, she thought to herself. Dumbledore was an idiot, blindly trusting Snape, and she knew if she dared criticise that, he would tell her she just hated Snape. Which she did, but that was because Snape was a twat. More and more, it seemed, Dumbledore was making the wrong choices, prohibiting action. She hoped they found Voldemort at the Manor. If her dad got to go, he'd probably burn it down on the way out, and she would relish the look on Draco's face when he heard the news.