◊⬫ Aurora Black - chapter 20: One More Year ◊⬫

Instructions

⬫◊ Chapter 19: One more year ◊⬫ The last few days in the burrow were complete madness. There were a thousand and one things to prepare before September 1, when they would have to return to the most incredible school in all of England: Hogwarts. Tidy up rooms, pack suitcases, look for the pens, cauldrons, bottles of ink and wax for broomsticks that had been forgotten in the most remote corners of the house since the beginning of summer. Fred even had to trade a package of marbles with a gnome in exchange for the crystal ball he used for divination class. On the other hand, duties could not be missing either. Aurora soon discovered that, along with Percy, she was the only person in that house who had completed the assignments and readings the teachers had sent for the holidays. “My uncles locked everything in the cupboard” Harry excused himself “I had no way to do them” And, even though Ron had no valid justification, little Black resigned herself to helping both friends. Time seemed to fly thanks to so much hustle and bustle, and, amid laughter and the occasional scolding from Molly, they had arrived at the station without hardly realizing it. Aurora crossed first, leading Ava and Ginny, who followed her with excitement and nervousness. The three of them looked around, delighted at the sight of the scarlet train. The students went up and down, meeting their friends with smiles and hugs... although some of the latter occurred among tearful families who were sad to let their little ones go. Aurora felt a pang in her heart when she saw a mother giving her little girl one last kiss on the forehead before the Express' departure. She looked away to meet Molly, and after a quick farewell, due to the little margin of time with which they had arrived, she forced herself to smile and get into the car with the two eleven-year-olds. “Look, the first-grade carriages tend to fill up around here. You can come with me or go find a free one to meet new people and-” Aurora began, but she stopped instantly when she saw a boy with hair as black as ebony crossing from the next car. He was adjusting his sleeves with a slightly distracted air. "Theo!" Ginny and Ava gave each other a knowing look as her friend approached the Slytherin, who had already raised his head with a gentle smile. They watched as he held her in his arms, not without some surprise, when she ran to hug him. “I’d swear they’re blushing” Ginny whispered in Ava's ear with a mischievous smile. “Hi again, Arie” he said as they separated. "Where have you been? You told me you were coming to the alley the other day!” “Right… change of plans” Theo responded with a dull voice. Aurora also recognized a very unusual sad shine in his eyes. She frowned, concerned, and spoke softly. "All good?" Before he had a chance to answer, they heard poorly concealed laughter behind them. Ava, noticing, nudged the redhead to get her to shut up. “We're leaving. Nice to meet you” said Ginny, laughing. Immediately afterwards, they both disappeared through the back door in search of a student from their class. Theo nodded in confusion. “Let's go to a compartment?” That's how they ended up finding the only remaining free one. Since they had been writing to each other all summer, there wasn't much more to tell, so their conversation flowed along banal topics. “Have you seen Ron and Harry?” Hermione looked out after half an hour. "Why? Aren’t they on the train?” Aurora was surprised “I hope so” she said worriedly before leaving. Thinking about it, Aurora didn't remember seeing them break through the station wall. She didn't have much time to think about it, as the compartment filled little by little. Emma, Lyra, Anthony... the most notable arrival was Gabriel and Dean, who sat up running after slamming the door. "What have you done?" Lyra raised an eyebrow. "Us? Nothing. Miss Moon, how dare you distrust” Dean managed to say between laughter. “Your honour, I claim the right to innocence until proven otherwise” laughed Gabriel. “Briel” Aurora scolded, holding back a smile. “It's Mr. Clifford” he joked, but he couldn't bite his tongue. “Some blonde Slytherin may have some problems opening his carry-on luggage” “Draco?” “Malfoy, Miss Vane” Dean nodded with mock courtesy. Right after he looked at both Slytherins inquisitively. “But you’re not going to tell him anything” Seeing Emma shrug, Theo responded. “That boy lacks jokes in his life, anyway” Everyone nodded in surprise. Only Emma smiled proudly. “I knew it” she said simply, remembering each time that, as children, she had organized pranks in which he participated apparently reluctantly. “Wonderful” Gabriel shook his hand with a stately gesture, although his smile was affable. Aurora couldn't help but smile.