Wednesday 1st September, 1971 (P5)

-The Common Room

The Slytherin common room was surprisingly warm, comfortable and cosy- especially seeing as most people would expect it to be quite the opposite of this down in the depths of the dungeons.

In the room, there were a few huge squashy looking sofas and armchairs, a huge black rug in front of the blazing fire, and even more paintings adorning the walls, which Aurora could only assume were some different sorts of classic painting replicas- most likely donated by some of the richer pureblood families- the ones with the most refined tastes.

"We're up here," Cleo said, leading Aurora to a winding staircase in one corner of the room. At the top, there was another door which opened into a bedroom. The room was way smaller than the room she had at home, but yet it already seemed better.

It was going to be good to finally spend time with other people her own age for once; making some friends that don't just hang around her because they are members of her family.

In the room, there were three beds, all off moderate sizes, with thick green velvet curtains that hung from the top of them, laced with grey trim tassels. There was another fireplace, and each girl had a heavy mahogany trunk and set of shelves by their beds. Aurora could already see her cases propped up against one of the trunks. She moved over, assuming that was her bed.

Lucky for her, her bed was closest to the door, furthest away from where the girls were so it would be easier for her to stay out of any of their drama.

Looking across the room, Aurora could see that Emilia was already rifling through her own things when Aurora arrived, pulling out clothes and magazines and books, making a terrible mess of her side of the room.

"I can't find my favourite jumper," she wailed, chucking her belongings across the room in search of the jumper. "Mother made me pack it so I wouldn't lose it on the train, but it's not here!"

"I'm sure it's there somewhere Emmy," Cleo said comfortingly, walking over to the girl and crouching down beside her. "Have you checked the side pocket? Because that's where-"

"Of course, I've fucking checked the side pockets, Cleo! How useless do you think I am?" She shouted, "Do you really think I'm that incompetent?"

"I didn't say you were useless I was just saying-"

"Then stop!" Emilia spat. "You don't need to say anything..."

"I was just trying to help..."

"THEN DON'T!"

Aurora had learnt from their conversation on the train that the Greengrass' and the Zabini's had grown up as neighbours, and therefore the two girls (Cleo and Emilia) knew each other quite well.

Though as close as the two girls were, Aurora still couldn't comprehend how the two of them became such good friends in the first place, seeing as the two girls couldn't be any more different even if they tried.

Cleo Greengrass was seemingly a very quiet and reserved girl. She hardly ever talked out of turn, and if she was to do so, it would most likely be to answer one of Emilia's many demands on complaints. So far, Aurora had had very mixed feelings on the girl. She could see the girl's potential through her mask of fear; but she hadn't had a chance to properly speak to the girl alone yet due to the fact she was permanently attached to Emilia's side, so she could hardly judge her fir her personality in that moment of time. Her looks however; she could judge her on.

Though they were only young, Cleo looked much older than she actually was. She was very tall (she guessed she must be around 5'5) and already had a very feminine build, one that many of the boys would be sure to marvel at if she wasn't stuck in Emilia's shadow all the time. She wasn't particularly skinny, and yet she definitely wasn't overweight; she was more of a curvy build, if she had to be described as anything.

However, her most noticeable feature had to be her eyes. Though the Black family's grey eyes were usually descried as being one of the most noticeable and amazing of colours, nothing could compare to Cleo Greengrass' eyes. Her eyes were deepest blue, so blue that you could compare them to the clearest of oceans, or even the brightest of skies. They were perfect; especially when you matched them with her pale complexion and her long blonde locks.

Emilia Zabini, on the other hand, was a completely different sort of person. She was nothing like Cleo. In fact, she was the complete opposite to the girl. Though she was a complicated character, Emilia Zabini could be described in three simple words. Brave. Bossy. Bitchy. She was the sort of girl that you tried to avoid, one that would judge you, pester you, and yet everyone loved her. Everyone worshipped the ground she walked on.

The girl was a walking masterpiece, after all. She had the most beautiful chestnut brown skin (which was flawless, of course) with large dark eyes to match. She was the definition of natural beauty, something not many people were nowadays, but everyone wanted to be. The girl didn't need to work out or eat healthy to stay in shape, she didn't need to wear any makeup and she certainly didn't have to act nice around anyone, if she didn't want to. People overlooked that, most people only caring about the visible parts of the girl; she didn't seem to kind. She craved for attention, anyway.

Of course, she always had Cleo by her side, following her around like a lost puppy, willing to care for the girl day in and day out and fulfil her every need, but her love and attention didn't seem to matter to her all that much. She seemed to care for the girl way less than she did for her, instead caring more for the attention of other people, anyone else's attention really (though the boys seemed to give her the most out of everyone). Aurora didn't blame them though. How could she? She could see where they were coming from. The Zabini girl really was stunning.

The girls really were two extremely different characters, and due to these extreme differences in their types of personality, the two of them seemed to argue constantly, and Aurora (who had only been in the room with them for less than ten minutes) was already sick of it. She could already tell that it was going to be a long few year.

She was used to arguing, of course, seeing as the Black sisters were known to be very argumentative people, but it was nothing like these two; at least their arguments ended!

"You know, if you can't find it, I can always go and ask Eddie," Cleo said innocently, flashing her puppy dog eyes at Emilia. "I'm sure he can help us look for it..."

"Please, Cleo. Can you just shut the fuck up about that stupid brother of mine for five seconds and just try and help me look for it!"

"I'm trying Em, I really am, but-"

"But what?" she snapped. "You have eyes, don't you? You're not doing anything... so you can help!"

Cleo sighed, getting on her knees and helping Emilia rummage through her things. "It's just a jumper, Em. We can always look get it later after we-"

"I'm NOT leaving this room without a jumper!"

"What's so special about it? Can't we look for it later?" Cleo suggested.

"No, Cleo. We can't look for it later because I need it now. It's the only jumper I have that matches perfectly with this skirt!"

"You can always borrow one of mine," Aurora spoke up, finally having enough of the two girls arguing. "I mean, if you want to, of course. I might have something in my case that matches your outfit..."

The room fell silent, the two girls both turning to face Aurora.

"You talking to us now then, Rose?" Emilia suddenly turned around to face her, looking her up and down, a displeased look across her face. "Thanks for the offer but-"

"I know. You're probably thinking my fashion sense isn't up to your standards, and I agree. But I promise that none of the clothes in there are of my own choosing," she said, pointing at her case that still lay on the floor, unopened. "It's mainly Cissa's doing, actually; she chooses the majority of my outfits. You're welcome to take anything you want from it... I really don't mind."

"Maybe I will," the girl replied, unbuckling Aurora's case quickly and emptying the contents out onto the bed. Cleo followed her, giving Aurora a small smile and a quick 'thank you' as she headed straight to Emilia's side.

Though most people would just be thankful with the offer, Aurora knew the part about Narcissa secretly sold the idea to the girl. After all, Narcissa had quite the reputation when it came to fashion, being known as one of the most put together and the prettiest pureblood women. Being styled by her would be considered an honour by many; especially to Emilia (who seemed to be into fashion just as much as the next typical pureblood girl).

Emilia rummaged through the clothes, pulling faces at a few outfits (which were of course the ones Aurora had chosen herself) while marvelling at the few Narcissa had obviously packed her.

She pulled out jumper after jumper, scowling as she sifted through them, until she finally reached into the case, pulling out something that she didn't turn her nose up at.

"This one okay?" she turned to Aurora, holding up a simple, tight-fitting black jumper and waving it in front of her. "Can I- "
"Go for it!" Aurora said, trying not to laugh at the girl's sudden change in attitude towards her. "You can keep it if you want, it's not like I want it. It'll look better on you than I did on me, anyway."

"It will, wont it," Emilia boasted, placing on the jumper and admiring it closely in the mirror, checking herself out, admiring how the jumper hugged into every inch of her body. "I knew you were good for something, Rose, even if this outfit was Narcissa's doing."

"Umm... Thanks?"

"Now," Emilia continued, heading towards the doorway with Cleo obviously trailing right behind her. "Me and Cleo have places to go and people to see. Guess we'll see later, Rose, if you're still awake when we get back, that is."

"Yeah, see you- " Aurora began, but they had already left before she could even finish her sentence.

She wasn't exactly sure who the girls had gone to see. It was only the first day of school, and classes hadn't even started yet, so she was unsure on how they already had plans. She guessed it would be something to do with Noah, or at least people like him. Meeting with some of the other popular purebloods.

She, on the other hand, was left alone, but that didn't bother her. She needed to speak to Regulus anyway; to speak to him and check if he was feeling ok after the sorting ceremony. So, she decided to do just that, walking out of the door, heading back down towards the common room (which happened to be on the way to the boy's dorm). Lots of people were gathered in the common room, all talking and hanging out with their friends, but unlike them, Aurora wasn't planning on staying, or so she thought.

"If it isn't Aurora Black," A voice rang out from behind her. She turned promptly to see a group of older boys, all sat around the fireplace, though the one that was talking was by far the most familiar to her.

"Rosier," she replied. "What a pleasant surprise! And you're here with-"

"Nobody important," He shrugged, jumping up from the sofa and walking straight over to her. "Just a few friends..."

"I can see that," She said looking behind him, seeing a group of Slytherin boys all sat around the fireplace. She didn't recognise as many as she thought she would, but they were Slytherins all the same. She presumed a few of them must be half-bloods; if they were purebloods, she would be sure to know them.

Rosier smirked, coming closer to Aurora once again. "So, how's my favourite Black sister doing today? You settling in ok? "

"I'm doing well," she nodded. "I mean, apart from having to listen to Cleo and Emilia arguing for the past half hour, I'm pretty much feeling the same as I was the last time you asked me... And you?"

"Me?" he stepped back.

"Yeah Rosier, you," she laughed. "You doing alright?"

The boy just stared at her, a shocked look on his face. He obviously wasn't used to being spoken to in this way; except he didn't seem angry about it, he just seemed rather confused. "Yeah, I guess," he answered awkwardly. "Ummm... You know just talking or hanging out or whatever you want to call it. Just catching up on each other summers."

"Oh, ok..."

"Did you want to join us or-" he said, signalling over to his group of friends. "Because if you do want to, I'd be fine with it. I can always introduce you to the other guys and-"

"Oh no! I mean, not that I don't want to get to know your friends at some point, because I'm sure they are all nice enough people, it's just that I already promised Reg that I'd go and find him. You know how it is... Family stuff."

"Do you need me to-" He signalled towers the first-year boys' rooms. On a normal day, Aurora would've been grateful for the boy's help, and would maybe even have accepted it, but in this movement, she could see that he was busy, and she didn't want to ruin his fun.

"No, no. It'll be fine," she replied hastily. "You stay with your um- friends. I can talk to him."

"You sure?" he questioned, "Because I'm happy to help. I can always just go and tell my friends that I need to go and then- "

"I'm sure."

Evan nodded, giving Aurora one last smile before heading back to the common room fireplace to be with his friends, while Aurora herself headed down the corridor to the boy's dormitories; Regulus' one to be exact.

The corridor was pretty much the same as the one to her own room, with the same staircase and the same doorway leading up to the room, and yet it felt different. Maybe it just wasn't familiar, or the atmosphere was different, seeing as there were no screaming girls and instead just a load of rowdy and boisterous teenage boys running up and down the staircases constantly; she didn't know.

Aurora stood outside the door of the first-year boys' dormitory now. She didn't know what to do. Did she need to knock? Or did she just need to walk straight in there, assuming that only Regulus would probably be left in the room by now?

She waited for a few seconds, waiting for a sign, but nothing happened. So, she knocked. She knocked on the door three times, each time for something to happen. And, on the third time, it did. A faint sound of a voice could be heard, and the door flung open. Aurora could now see him; she could see Regulus.

Regulus was sitting on his bed when Aurora arrived in his room, his trunk still packed. None of the other boys were in the room with him, which only confirmed her previous suspicions that they were the people that Cleo and Emilia had gone to hang out with; Aurora wasn't complaining about that though. It was better that it was just the two of them.

"Cheer up, Reggie," Aurora said, going to sit next to him, "You didn't want to be in Gryffindor anyway, did you?"

"Five hundred years." Regulus replied, stonily, "Every Black at Hogwarts has been sorted into Slytherin for over five hundred years, but he just had to go and fuck it up, didn't he? He just had to be one of them... He had to be a Gryffindor."

"Well, it's about time someone tried to be different, isn't it?" Aurora shrugged. "It would be extremely boring if we were all just the same."

"But why him?" Regulus whispered. "Why him out of all of us? He's going to hate me... He probably already hates me... I would hate me too, If I were him."

"He won't hate you Reg," Aurora replied, reassuring him once again, before sitting down next to him and wrapping a comforting arm around him, "It's Sirius... he's your brother. He could never hate you. Nobody could ever hate you. You're too much of a nice person for that."

"But what if he does? What if he never wants to speak to me again? What if-"

"Then you have me," she smiled. "And I can tell you now, what I've told you a thousand times before, I'm never going anywhere... Not without you, anyway."

"That's what he said... What Sirius said," Regulus whispered. "How do I know you're not lying to me? How do I know that you won't leave me too?"

Aurora gave him a small smile, "You'll just have to trust me."

"But why should I? Why should I trust you, Rory? I trusted him and- "

"And Sirius is ignoring you now," Aurora said. "I get it, you think that he hates you, but at least Sirius is still around. He's probably just annoyed; he hasn't said anything to me either, if that makes you feel any better. He'll get over it in a few days. And me, well I've never left you before Reggie, not really... So why would I leave you now? We're family, remember? And family sticks together."

"Not family, just you," he shrugged. "We stick together."

"We do," Aurora smiled, "Now, are you going to stop moping around and actually unpack, I'm guessing by the closed case that you never got round to doing that."

Aurora jumped off the bed, going straight over to Regulus' suitcase and unbuckling it, placing it on his bed next to him.

Opening the lid, she could see plenty of things. There were spare robes, casual clothes, food, everything you could ever need really. There was so much stuff, in fact, she wasn't sure how the boy was even able to fit all of the stuff inside it.

She grabbed the first item she could find, a quidditch poster, unrolling it carefully and pinning it up on the wall with a simple sticking charm, before turning back to look at him.

Regulus had finally started to unpack, pulling book after book out of his trunk. Those that didn't fit on his shelf he stacked beside his bed, creating a huge pile of different novels, most of which Aurora had never heard of before.

"You know," Aurora said to Regulus, who was still busy stacking books, "There is a library here, at Hogwarts."

Regulus smirked, "I know, but these books are different... They are mostly muggle books, you see. Sirius gave them to me; he's read through them all already. He said that they were interesting, so I kept them. And I had to bring them here... Mum would've set them all on fire if I left them at home."

"So, you brought them ALL with you?" she questioned. "To Hogwarts... Instead of leaving them at home?"

"That would be correct."

"How did you fit them all in your case? Surely there wasn't enough room-"

"Extension charms... A lot of them," he smirked. "And, more importantly, sheer luck. Mother was too busy checking through Sirius' stuff to notice any of mine."

Aurora smiled. She had never expected Regulus to do anything like this, anything that went against the rules that were set out for them, especially something like this; something involving any kind of muggle. He was the favourite; the angel child, and yet he had never properly used this to his advantage until now.

He had never gone against his parents' wishes before, as far as she was aware, anyway. He was too smart for that. He'd seen on several occasions what his punishment for breaking such a rule would be, through the behaviour of Sirius, of course, so she wasn't sure why he'd do it. Why he'd risk it all just for some stupid muggle books.

There was only explanation for it; sentimental value. The books must've meant something to him... It was inevitable. She just didn't know what about them was so dear to him. They were just books after all, old and dusty books, something that Regulus would usually have no interest in whatsoever. So why keep them? Why not throw them away?

Aurora looked back down at the pile of books, picking one up in her hands and flicking through it. On first glance, it looked like an ordinary book, a book that any person could just pick up and read at any time that they wanted to, but once it was opened, all she could see was notes and comments, all of which had been scribbled out in Sirius' own handwriting.

"What are you- "Regulus began, running over to her and trying to snatch the book out of her hands, but she stopped him, pushing him backwards and smiling sweetly at him.

"Read it to me," Aurora mumbled.

"W- what?"

"You can't read it with him, so read it with me," Aurora continued. "You read the story, and I'll read his notes. It'll be like he's here with you... It'll make you happier. I promise."

Regulus smiled. "I don't need to pretend he's here, to be happy, Rory. I have you, and that's more than enough for me."