Tuesday 5th October, 1971

-Marlene McKinnon

A few more weeks went by, and Transfiguration quickly became Aurora's favourite subject.

She wasn't good at the subject, and she often struggled to read through the thick text books that came with it, but she enjoyed it all the same; though it was mainly just due to the fact that it was one of the only lessons where she had the freedom to talk to whomever she liked (which in her case happened to be a certain McKinnon girl). She knew she shouldn't be talking to her, but after talking to Sirius, and being ignored by Regulus, she couldn't help it.

Over the last few days Aurora had spent most of her time with Marlene, though this was mainly during lessons to avoid any criticism from her Slytherin classmates. However, much to her disappointment, she knew she wouldn't be able to carry on with it for much longer. It was risky for her. It was risky for Marlene. It was risky for everyone, including Regulus, who knew about it, and hadn't stopped it from happening. So, for that reason, and that reason alone, she knew it would all have to end soon.

It was Tuesday now, and the Transfiguration lesson that day had been fairly successful. Both Aurora and Marlene were able to turn a match into a needle, something that they had been working on for several days now. Something that was not so successful for Aurora was ignoring Marlene, who was constantly smiling at her, and laughing with her; it was something that Aurora had always wanted in a friend, but she knew she couldn't have it like this.

So, once Transfiguration ended, Aurora left promptly, trying to avoid conversation with everyone and make it back safety to her room, where she knew she would be able to have some peace and quiet for a few hours. However, as she left the classroom, Aurora foolishly turned around, only to come face to face with Marlene, who was evidently already looking for her. "Hey Rory! Wait up!" Marlene called out, running quickly out of the classroom towards Aurora. Aurora didn't know what the girl wanted, but stopped all the same, not wanting Marlene to think that she was avoiding her.

"What is it Mar?"

"Transfiguration... I'm assuming you haven't done your homework yet?" Marlene questioned tactically.

"Nope, why do you ask?"

"I'm going to the library with a few friends and I was just wondering if you-"

"No! Please don't finish that sentence," Aurora begged, stopping Marlene before she could say anything else to her.

As much as Aurora would've loved to study with Marlene and her friends, she knew she shouldn't go; it was too risky. All it would do was put her new friend in more danger than she was in already, and she couldn't do that to anyone, especially not Marlene, who had never been anything but nice to her since they met each other in their first Transfiguration lesson.

"What do you mean, don't finish it? I thought that we were- "

"Friends? You thought we were friends?" Aurora mumbled, forcing herself to answer the question in a way that she was sure would almost certainly keep the girl away from her for a while. "We can't be friends, Marlene! Don't get me wrong, I really want to be you friend and I rather enjoy your company during the few hours we spend together in lessons each day, but it's just not possible... not outside of classes. You understand that, right?"

"No. No, I don't understand!" Marlene retorted in a confused manner. "Why can't we be friends? Why isn't it possible? Why can't we-"

"Because I'm a Slytherin, and you're a Gryffindor. I'm a pureblood and you're Muggleborn. We can't be friends, Marlene. It just wouldn't work."

Aurora tried to turn away, instantly regretting what she'd said, but she was quickly stopped by Marlene, who instead if shouting or complaining about what she'd said, grabbed her arm comfortingly, obviously not ready to give up on her just yet. Aurora had always found it weird how their friendship worked- how both her and Marlene were willing to risk everything over a friendship that had only formed a mere few weeks ago. It was stupid really, and they both knew it was. However, as much as Aurora had tried to relay this point to the girl, she still seemed to not want to let go.

If anything, Aurora trying to fight back and avoid her seemed to make the girl more determined to be friends with her than ever. Typical Gryffindor.

"And, how do you know that? Marlene questioned her. "How do you know if you haven't even tried it? We were getting on so well, Rory. You can't just ruin everything just like that."

"I'm not trying to ruin things, Mar. I'm trying to keep you safe!"

"Safe? How are you going to keep me safe if we aren't even friends, huh?" Marlene chuckled to herself, circling around the spot that Aurora was standing in. "How is pushing me away from you protecting me?"

"What do you-"

"You know they're targeting people like me already, right?" Marlene continued. "Avoiding me won't make me any less of a target than I already was... If anything, it'll just make things worse."

"How? How can it make things worse? If people see us together, you'll get killed and I'll be disowned; kicked out of my house for becoming a blood traitor of all things!"

Marlene sighed. "Look, just forget about all that 'Pureblood supremacy' shit for a second," she said, not knowing how to respond to such a statement without offending the girl. "Let's make a deal. You come to the library with me today. We'll sit in the back corner; stay hidden, we don't even have to sit with my other friends if you don't want to. And, if my plan works, as I'm sure it will, we stay friends."

"And, if the plan doesn't work?"

"That's up to you really..." she shrugged. "But then again, what's life without a little risk?"

Aurora stopped to think for a few seconds, weighing out her options in her head, before finally letting out a sigh, accepting her fate, "Fine, I'll come."

"Ok then, let's go," Marlene jumped up in triumph, pulling her bag higher up on her shoulder before grabbing Aurora's hand and dragging her towards the library.

It was a short walk to the library; one Aurora knew quite well. She'd walked past there many times before, usually checking for signs of Regulus, who seemed to go missing in such places fairly often. However, this time it was different; this time she was going there for her.

After arriving at the library, the two girls had got settled in the back corner of the library fairly quickly, and luckily for Aurora the library was virtually empty anyway- the only visible inhabitants being a small group of Ravenclaws. From there, Marlene started searching the shelves, pulling books out and placing them onto the table along with her own homework, which she seemed to have already finished.

"I don't need help Mar!" Aurora protested, finally realising what was happening. "You're not doing my homework for me. I'll work it out eventually and-"

"Too bloody right, I'm not," Marlene replied, withdrawing a heavy book from one of the shelves surrounding her. It was a Transfiguration book; Aurora could easily recognise the size and shape of that stupid book. "I just fancied refreshing my memory, that's all, and it also so happens that you need to refresh yours too, so why not do it together? It'll be quicker if we do."

Aurora huffed, "Haven't you go something better to do? Where are your friends, anyway?"

"I'm not exactly sure," Marlene settled down next to Aurora, opening the book. "They might be in the common room?"

"The common room! But I thought you said-"

"Quiet please, I'm trying to work." Marlene interrupted, her clearing throat and beginning to read, "Transfiguration for beginners, an easy guide to animal transfiguration..." And on she went. And on, and on. Aurora sat there are listened for a while, writing notes as Marlene read the book out for her.

At first, Aurora had thought the idea was stupid, however as it turned out, this method of studying was actually extremely helpful. Though she could've easily read through the book herself, listening to Marlene seemed to increase her understanding of the book, allowing her to write down pages and page of notes quicker than ever before.

In fact, within an hour Aurora had managed to learn more about Transfiguration that she ever knew before (thanks to Marlene) and had multiple pages of work to prove it.

After finishing the final chapter of the book, Marlene let out a quiet cough, and put down the book. "I don't think I can study any more today," she croaked. "You have all the notes you need now, right?"

Aurora's eyes snapped open. She sat up, blinking. "Yeah, I do," she said quietly. "It's dinner now, I'm starving."

They both got up, stretched, and headed towards the great hall. As expected, Marlene's friends were already were waiting for her at the Gryffindor table in their usual seats when they arrived. Aurora, however, had no choice but to find a spot next to one of the other Slytherins- preferably not next to Regulus. Weighing out her options carefully, she walked over to the other side of the table, sitting down next to Evan Rosier. She hadn't talked to Evan in a while, and she knew how close him and Regulus seemed to be, but he was the safest person to sit next to- especially seeing as Andromeda, who she would have usually sat by in this situation, seemed to be missing again (unsurprisingly).

After grabbing all the food that she wanted onto her plate, Aurora started to eat, but was quickly interrupted by Evan Rosier, who she knew would probably have a vast number of questions he would want to ask her.

"Where were you earlier?" his voice was loud and clear as he leaned over her, grabbing onto a jug pouring himself another glass of pumpkin juice. "Thought you'd be in the common room... Reg was there..."

"How nice," Aurora replied glumly, keeping her eyes on her plate, twirling her food around on her fork.

"You guys aren't talking, are you?" Evan said, finally realising what was going on. "You know, just because Reg is being a bitch doesn't mean we are all like him... You could've just come and sat with me and my friends, you know."

"I know."

"If you knew, why didn't you join us?"

"Homework," Aurora replied simply, glancing over in Marlene's direction. "Lots of homework."