Luckily for Aurora, the rest of the day went by uneventfully.

Draco was, as expected, fuming after he realized that, not only had Harry and Ron not been expelled from Hogwarts, they hadn't gotten so much as a reprimand from McGonagall.

"And how did he get a broom?" Draco whined for what felt like the hundredth time that morning. He groaned, pushing the palms of his hands into his eyes while Professor Quirell stammered something about the importance of counter curses at the front of the classroom. "Of course they'll bend the rules for the great Harry Potter!"

Harry's new broom - which was apparently a "bloody Nimbus Two-Thousand!" according to Draco's complaining - had been an especially sore topic. Draco refused to let it go, and spent the better half of the day whinging about how unfair it all was. And, to make matters worse, Harry had bragged to Flitwick about it, even going so far as to thank Draco for being the reason he got it in the first place. Every time Draco brought this up, his ears went bright red with fury, and Aurora half-expected them to blow out steam like the Hogwarts Express.

Aurora had only nodded in response to his complaints, barely paying attention as Draco prattled on. She had been tuning him out ever since he slid onto the bench beside her in History of Magic earlier that morning, both because she wasn't feeling terribly bad for the blonde, and also to keep his knowledge of her involvement in Harry and Ron's lack-of-expulsion to an absolute minimum.

The other Slytherins had been hard at work keeping their distance from Draco, pairing off with each other during classes instead of with him, just for a moment of respite from his groaning - not that he seemed to notice. According to Daphne, who had taken a moment as they walked between classes to fill Aurora in, Draco had lost his temper at the mere sight of the owl delivery, before he had stomped off to confront Harry and Ron, and his mood had only gotten worse as the day went on. It was bad enough that even Crabbe and Goyle, who usually stuck to Draco like glue, had bumbled off to sit on their own, although they did occasionally sneak longing glances at him over their broad shoulders.

Aurora became the perfect companion to Draco's grumbling because she was too lost in her own thoughts to care. When she wasn't giddy with excitement at her promise to spend a few hours with Hermione in the library after dinner, she found herself day-dreaming about the three-headed dog only a few floors away.

As the day droned on, Aurora concocted exactly what her life could become if she had the chance to train the three-headed dog for herself. She had never had her own pet - save for her share of the chores to care for her uncle's owl - but she was utterly convinced that she would make a wondrous owner. She already knew what she would name the dog too: Daisy, May, and Princess if it was a girl, Rocko, Lewis, and Simon if it was a boy - but that might have been her lack of sleep talking.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, classes were finished for the day and dinner was coming to a close. As the Slytherins took their final bites of dessert (tonight featured a delectable tart made of persimmons, apples, and a thick whipped cream on top), Aurora took her opportunity to excuse herself from the table.

"I have to finish my essay for Potions," she sighed as she stood, letting her shoulders slump disappointedly. She dug her nails into her palm to quell herself from bouncing excitedly on her toes. "Think I may visit the library tonight and see if I can't find anything interesting to impress Snape."

"Oh, I'll come too!" Tracey popped the final bite of her tart into her mouth, standing and wiping away the crumbs from the front of her robes. "I haven't even started mine. What about the rest of you?"

"Not a lick." Pansy shot Tracey a wolfish grin.

Aurora's eyes widened slightly with panic. Under any other circumstances, she would have loved to explore the library and work on her homework with her friends - they usually all gathered in the common room, always the girls but with a few of the boys joining in more often than not. Time seemed to go by faster as they half-worked, but mostly talked, and they would later all ignore the exasperated looks their professors gave them for turning in essays that sounded nearly identical to each other.

But right now, she wasn't too sure Hermione would be keen on the idea of anyone else joining their study session. Especially another Slytherin.

Aurora scrunched her face up, as if deep in thought. "I dunno. I'm not sure that's a good idea."

"And why ever not?" Pansy crossed her arms on the table and quirked her eyebrow.

"I've just heard…" Aurora glanced down at her hands, trying to think of a viable excuse, but her mind was suddenly blank.

"Well, spit it out, or we're just going to join you." Pansy rested her head on her hands, staring at Aurora expectantly.

A sudden, sharp kick on her shin made her jolt and look up. The culprit - Theo, who was sitting diagonally across from her - was gazing at her, a bored expression on his face. His finger was pressed against his lips nonchalantly, almost as if he was shushing her. It took a moment, but Aurora quickly caught on to what he was trying to silently tell her.

"The librarian! Madam Pince!" Aurora wrinkled up her nose. "I've heard she's rather strict. She doesn't tolerate noises of any kind."

"It's true," Theo sighed. He held up the book he had been reading, a new one he hadn't had in class the day before, with whorls of blue and purple on a black cover. "She nearly bit my head off when I was checking this out yesterday, and all I did was clear my throat."

"What's the fun in studying with your friends if you can't talk to them?" Daphne pouted.

Theo shrugged. "I'd stay away from the library then, if I were you."

Tracey sat back down in a huff and served herself another slice of tart before the plates disappeared for the night.

"Guess it's the common room for us then," Blaise added. "But really Aurora, it's an essay for Snape. Bet we could write about anything and get at least an E."

"I just want to see if I can find anything interesting. And if I do, I'll bring it back with me to the common room," Aurora said, gathering up the final bits of her things. "Promise."

With a final 'thank you, I owe you' glance at Theo (who only smirked a little in reply), Aurora bolted in the direction of the library. She felt a little bad lying to her friends about the true reason behind her secrecy, but until she could figure out how to be friends with Hermione without Draco or Pansy screeching that she was a 'house traitor', it was better to keep it a secret. And besides, it was true - she did plan on writing her Potions essay.

When she reached the massive library doors, Aurora paused in awe. All guilty thoughts about stretching the truth to the Slytherins disappeared as she gaped at the sheer size of the space. She hadn't gotten a chance to properly visit the library yet, but suddenly she felt as if she had been missing out.

The library stretched forward far enough that Aurora had to squint to see the tapestries hanging on the opposite wall. It felt like a labyrinth: towering shelves that stretched upwards to just barely avoid brushing the high ceilings, each stocked to the brim with books of all shapes, sizes, and colors. The bookshelves seemed to turn every which way, weaving paths that curled in and out and around on themselves, creating nooks where students were settled, reading and working on homework - Aurora wasn't surprised to note that most of them bore the Ravenclaw crest on their robes. Books flew lazily through the air, occasionally being 'Accio'-d down to be investigated, before being released into the air again.

As she searched for Hermione, Aurora took her time to peruse the library. She felt like she could get lost in the vastness - the room was so massive, with so many twists and turns and passageways, it made the task of locating Hermione seem impossible. She was just one girl hidden in a sea of books.

The more she explored, the more she came to recognize something like a pattern within the books around her. The way they were shelved, it seemed as if Madam Pince had created her own organizational method and chose to not explain it to the students. There were books about cauldrons next to books about potions, the topics then splitting into 'Basic Potions', 'Famous Potioneers', and 'Unusual Potion Ingredients' as the pathway split into three different directions, as if the shelves were meant to mimic the thought process for a reader to follow. It was a confusing system that would take time to understand, but Aurora was certain that Hermione, and probably Theo too, had already mastered it.

As Aurora wound her way deeper and deeper into the library, ducking under an archway made of books, a row of metal bars made her do a double take. In the farthest corner, a wide section of the library had been blocked off. A heavy iron padlock sat in the center of the only entrance Aurora could see, and the thick bars looked too narrow for anyone to squeeze through.

She took a few steps closer, squinting to try and make out any discernible shapes beyond the inky darkness that only seemed to linger on the opposite side of the bars. All she could see were more rows of bookshelves, and the occasional flicker of torches. Just as she was about to attempt to stick her arm through the bars, Hermione appeared beside her.

"There you are!" Her chipperness made Aurora jump, startled out of the stupor the mysterious bars had seemed to put her under. A sharp 'shh!' cut through the library, even though Aurora didn't see a librarian or Prefect patrolling nearby. In a whisper, Hermione continued, "Come on, I've already got us a table."

Hermione took Aurora's hand and led her quickly through the maze of shelves as if she knew this place like the back of her hand (which, Aurora considered, she probably did).

"Make yourself comfortable." Hermione let go of Aurora's hand as they entered a small nook with two tables pushed together. Hermione's school things had been spread out across both tables, which she began shifting around to make proper room for Aurora to work. "I've just been working on that essay for Snape, which doesn't seem very fair, you know? For us to write about a genuine mistake like it was purposeful. Poor Neville, he hardly ever -"

"You come here a lot, don't you?"

Hermione glanced up from where she was restacking a selection of library books. "Oh, I love it here, Aurora. Look around!" She gestured to the shelves, which spiraled up around them. "There are so many books, I'm afraid I won't even make a dent in reading them before we graduate."

Aurora smiled at the brunette, who seemed to be in such awe at the books around her. Their study space was so warm and inviting, it made Aurora think about the caged area Hermione had dragged her from.

"What was that blocked off area? Y'know, with the cage and the darkness?"

"That's the Restricted Section. Only upper level students are allowed access to get inside. Or if you have a very specific note from a teacher, but that doesn't happen often." Hermione twisted her lips to the side. "You're lucky Madam Pince didn't see you standing there, she tends to get a little wild when students who aren't allowed get too close. Just the other day I saw Morag MacDougal - he's a Ravenclaw, do you remember him? Anyway, he tried to stick his head between the bars, which is ridiculous, those bars are so tight he wouldn't have gotten more than his hair inside, but Madam Pince still nearly shouted his ears off just for trying."

Aurora thought back to the entrance of the library, where a woman in a bird-like hat had stood scowling behind a grand desk.

"Personally, I believe she has eyes everywhere. And ears, too, Hermione continued, turning her focus to the essay she was working on. "This place is so massive, that has to be how she knows everything that's going on."

"It seems like just the place Draco would try to sneak into." Aurora thought for a moment, taking the seat across from Hermione. "Harry and Ron, too."

Hermione didn't even look up from her work to roll her eyes.

"Honestly, Aurora, they're horrendous."

"Then why were you with them last night?"

Hermione threw her arms in the air. "I didn't have much of a choice! I tried to stop them in the common room and they ignored me, so I followed them out into the corridor, but when I tried to go back to bed, the Fat Lady had left her portrait." She crossed her arms. "I told them I would come along too, if not just for the opportunity to tell Filch that I had tried to stop them. Believe me, I would've rather been in bed if they hadn't just - oh, come off it, Aurora, stop laughing!"

Aurora couldn't help it. She had covered her mouth to stifle her giggles, but across the table, Hermione had started grinning as well, and soon both girls had dissolved into silent hysterics - their shoulders heaving up and down with the strain of trying to keep their volume at a minimum.

It took them a minute to calm down, but once they had, they settled quietly into their work. Aurora pulled out her pitiful Potions essay, right now barely hitting the minimum length, compared to Hermione's roll of parchment that brushed the floor. Hermione had gone back to scribbling away. They worked in silence, the only sounds between them the scratching of quill on paper.

Eventually, Hermione stopped writing, seemingly satisfied. She blew gently on the parchment before rolling it up and storing it carefully into her schoolbag. She bit her lip nervously, glancing at Aurora, who was still hard at work.

"What's it like being a Slytherin?"

Despite the fact that she had expected the question eventually, it still took Aurora by surprise. She took a moment, still staring down at her parchment. When she looked up, Hermione was staring at her, eyes wide, but genuinely curious.

"Honestly? 'Mione, I love it."

Hermione's face fell and she seemed to shrink in on herself a bit. Aurora rushed to continue.

"I am sad we weren't sorted into the same house, of course! But I don't think I would trade being a Slytherin for the world. Sure, there are some issues. A few of them can be a bit…"

"Mean?" Hermione interjected helpfully, a small smile on her lips.

"I was going to say difficult, but yes, that works too." Aurora laughed. "But for the most part, they're wonderful." And before Hermione could interrupt again, Aurora continued. "Yes, even Pansy. Draco too. Honestly, Hermione, I think you'd like some of them. Have you met Theo yet?"

Hermione shook her head, and Aurora brightened up. "Oh, you might like him! I reckon he might love books as much as you do. He's been in the library before, you might've seen him - tall, dark hair, real quiet-like." She tapped her chin, considering for a moment. "You might like Tracey too. She's kind, a bit timid. And Daphne's my favorite. She's real sweet and quiet but, believe it or not, she seems to be the only one able to put Pansy in her place."

Aurora looked back to Hermione, who was nodding and appeared to blink back the start of tears. At her sad smile, Aurora got up and circled around the table to engulf the brunette in a big hug.

"Don't look so sad, 'Mione! Just because I've got mates in Slytherin doesn't mean we can't still be friends too. I mean, you're the expert on all things Hogwarts." She tapped Hermione's trusty copy of Hogwarts: A History. "Are there any rules in here saying we can't still be friends if we were sorted into different houses?"

"I don't remember reading anything like that…" Hermione's brow furrowed in concentration.

Aurora grinned - she was practically positive there wasn't anything in there about House-specific friendships, but it felt important to divert Hermione's attention to something she could focus on. And if Hermione knew about anything, it was Hogwarts: A History.

"But," Hermione said, "what about the house rivalry?"

"Rivalry, schmivalry." Aurora squeezed her tighter and rocked her side to side, the way Cedric did when he was trying to cheer her up. "If we can make our own decisions, we can decide to be friends, y'know."

The brunette leaned her head back into the hug to look Aurora in the eyes. "Alright, fine. It's just that…" She started to say something, but paused and closed her mouth, changing her mind at the last minute. "I think I'd like to meet Theo. And Tracey. And the rest of your Slytherin friends. If you think they'd like to meet me too."

Aurora gave Hermione a final squeeze before going back to her seat. "It may take some time, but I think they'll come around." She shrugged. "This whole 'my house is better than your house' prejudice? It's just a silly house grudge. They can't hold it for seven years, that would be ridiculous."

"I suppose I could mingle more," Hermione said quietly, her focus on her fingers in her lap. "I've only really talked to the Gryffindors, but we have classes with the Hufflepuffs a few times a week. And there are plenty of Ravenclaws here that seem nice…maybe if I took a chance, I could…"

She trailed off, playing with her fingers. Aurora leaned forward in her seat and propped her head on her fists.

"Well, never mind that for now! We have seven whole years to make friends, and we've only been talking about my house. What's it like being a Gryffindor?" When Hermione didn't look up, she reached across the table and tugged one of Hermione's curls that had fallen into her face. "If I'm being honest, I thought you were gonna be a Ravenclaw. From the minute we met on the train, you're just so bloody smart."

Hermione blushed and finally looked up, tucking her hair back. "Thank you, truly. Gryffindor is…well, it's nice. Excellent, really. Professor McGonagall is very determined to see us succeed." She paused before giving a definitive nod, not saying any more.

Aurora cocked her head. "And how're the other girls? Parvati and…oh, what's the other girl's name? Daisy? Rose…? Ugh, it's a flower name, I know that, but I can never remember which."

"Lavender." Hermione shrugged. "And there's also Anastasia Runcorn and Lily Moon, but they much prefer to keep to themselves. They're all nice enough."

"And then there's the boys. I only remember a few of them…Ron and Harry, of course. And Neville." Aurora prompted. When Hermione only nodded again, she continued. "Do you talk to them much? Outside of trying to keep them from getting in trouble?"

"Not particularly." Hermione paused, then took a deep breath. She squeezed her eyes shut and spoke very fast. "They aren't keen on having me around." She opened one eye and glanced at Aurora, whose mouth had fallen open in disbelief. Hermione shrugged again. "That's why I prefer the library. At least here I can find solace in being alone and still get my work done without Ronald trying to copy off of my answers."

There was a moment of silence between the girls. Hermione had gone back to intensely studying her fingers below the table, her face beet red. Aurora sat across from her, desperately thinking about what she could say to make the Gryffindor feel less self-conscious. After a minute or two, it hit her.

"Mione, you've been doing really well in Transfiguration. It's bloody impressive."

Hermione's face lit up at the topic and she leaned forward. "Aurora, it's my favorite! I never thought I could love a subject more! I know it's only been a few weeks, and it's only our first year, but I've already thought about asking Professor McGonagall for extra assignments. I've been quite keen on…"

And she was off, talking at a rapid speed about her favorite classes and everything she's learned, both in class as well as on her own time in the library. Aurora grinned, glad that she had cracked Hermione's nervous shell, and joined in, debating their preferences of certain professors over others, and which lessons they had loved and which they loathed, even coming to the agreement that no matter how much of a bore Binns' class was, it was still rightfully wicked that they had a ghost as a professor.

In no time at all, the sky outside the few windows in the library had darkened, and Madam Pince was sweeping through the shelves, herding students out with a stern look and an arched brow. After passing their nook twice and decidedly unhappy with the speed that they were packing up their belongings, Madam Pince roughly cleared her throat and gave the two girls a withering stare that made them scramble out of the library, barely containing their laughter.

Once the girls reached the main hall, they paused.

I hope things don't go back to the way they were before, Aurora thought, clutching her school bag tighter on her shoulder. She took a deep breath and beamed.

"Thank you 'Mione." Aurora kicked the toe of her shoe on the floor, suddenly nervous. "It was nice getting to catch up, you know?"

Hermione answered by pulling Aurora into a tight hug, nearly smothering Aurora with her hair.

Still hugging Aurora tightly, she whispered, "This was the most fun I've had since we were Sorted."

And when they pulled apart, she gave Aurora a slightly buck-toothed grin before breezing off to her common room. Aurora waved back before she practically skipped down to the dungeons.

Everything was going to be alright.

Apologies for a very delayed chapter, allergy season took me out of commission for a bit & hit me in the worst way. But Aurora is back & she has finally made amends with her train friends (or at least, the one that matters to her the most!) Back to following the original plot more in the next chapter!

Thank you all for reading & for such wonderful feedback! I always appreciate it :)