CHAPTER FIVE; HARRY POTTER

❝ one of the greatest lies we tell ourselves is that we always have an easy choice. sometimes it's just two impossible circumstances and the knowledge that if you don't choose someone else will for you ❞

late october, 1994

･ ｡ﾟ☆

❝ north exit, rowena's bridge  ❞

HOGWARTS HAD BEEN EXACTLY what Anika had dreamed of since she was a child. She never knew it, Anika had only ever pictured a place where she could be away from the Aveline Manor and clung to the stories her mother told her about the school. To most people who would come by their Manor appeared alive, friendly, even welcoming but the Aveline women knew very differently. For them it was their cage and they were their fathers most prized birds.

Her father would often have parties where they all pretended to be perfect, Anika loathed them most of all. But she hated even more when the parties were over and all the life would leave their dead home. Hogwarts was nothing like the Manor. People were happy, she was happy, she felt more free in the first month at Hogwarts than she had felt for thirteen years living at home. It was so peaceful Anika almost could forget the fear of returning, she had yet to understand what her sister was doing and Aurora would never leave a trail for her to follow and discover the truth.

"Ani," Aurora called out running down the bridge in her Slytherin robes, "How has Gryffindor been treating you? Ginny Weasley being a good roommate?"

Anika smiled while her sister joined her admitting, "She's perfect actually, I am supposed to meet her soon for our charms class."

The older Aveline nudged her sister teasing, "Good, or else I'd have to use the Caterwauling Charm so every time she went into your dorm she'd set off an alarm that never goes off."

Anika shook her head fighting an amused smirk, "It wasn't funny when you did it to me and I am sure it wouldn't be funny for poor Ginny either. She's great, her, Edmund introduced me to a rather strange girl named Luna as well who won't ever stop talking about the nargles. I'm not sure what they are but... she's interesting. Everything's been perfect."

"Why does that sound like a 'but' is coming," Aurora prodded as she leaned her back against the railing of the bridge.

The younger sister sighed lowering her voice cautiously telling her, "I know you told me not to worry, and I've tried but I want to know what you're planning Rory." Immediately Aurora began to shake her head as her sister protested grabbing her arm to keep her from fleeing the conversation, "I worry not just for me but for you too, I know our father just as well as you and my mind cannot stop imagining what he'd do if he found out whatever your plotting. I can help, let me help you."

Aurora cupped her sister cheek rubbing it soothingly before refusing, "You can't help, no one can help. Everything is fine, I have never broken a promise to you before and I am not about to start now." Peering behind herself and Anika to ensure no one was listening, Aurora sharply put, "We can't keep talking about this, you need to just try and forget about it. You don't know a thing, and it needs to stay that way. I know it's not in your nature to stand by and do nothing, but you need to allow me to do what I do best."

The twisting of Anika's heart screamed not to let it go, but she still resisted the urge to argue. Anika loosened her grip as she made her sister promise, "I can't fight you, but if things go wrong, please don't wait to tell me."

"You'll be the only person I tell," Aurora promised before she looked at her watch. Realizing she was late for class she excused, "I have to go, Professor Snape hates when I'm late."

Anika watched as her sister turned to leave to go to class, as she left she began to look back over the railing of the bridge. "Anika," another voice called out soon after, the Aveline girl turned to see Ginny coming towards her, "You ready"

"Yes," Anika answered walking off with her newest friend trying desperately to do as her sister had asked of her.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·

❝ the goblet room ❞

"Who do you think the Goblet will choose," Mara pondered as she sat on the benches watching as student after student put their name in the Goblet.

Ronan, who had been seated next to her answered, "Some poor soul who has no idea what they're in for." His friend laughed but as Ronan looked off towards the door he saw Aurora, Nina, Anika, and Edmund walking through presumably looking for them. Standing up he shouted slightly, "Aurora!" The brunette smiled grabbing her sisters hand pulling her over to her friends.

"Anyone interesting put their name in yet," Nina asked sitting down in front of Ronan.

Faking a frown The Belmont boy taunted, "Well hello to you too Nina, I had a lovely day as well."

Aurora rolled her eyes looking to Mara muttering, "I see what you meant about him being dramatic."

Putting his hand over his heart falling back slightly Ronan mocked, "You've shot me in the heart."

Mara shoved him playfully reinforcing, "You make her proving her point too easy." Looking to her roommate she clarified, "No one really, Cedric Diggory was the last just a few moments ago."

"Imagine a Hufflepuff winning the tri-wizard tournament," Edmund mused clearly fond of the idea, "Most people think Hufflepuffs are too weak or stupid to know their elbows from their knees."

With a small pout Nina leaned forward enough for Edmund to fully see her as she said, "You could just say you mean Draco next time."

The brunette boy shrugged undoing the knot in his tie having had his last class for the day just before he entered, "He may be the leader of the thick heads but he is not the only one. The list of people in this school with pointless prejudices is a frighteningly long one."

Anika almost instantly snapped the idea her spoke up ringing a bell far too loud for comfort, "People like that are no good lousy scum, your house does not determine what threat level you are, or who you are. Your character, how you treat people and react to the world around you says who you are. And I for one think you're far more capable of surviving the tournament than anyone else, Edmund." 

Aurora smirked seeing how her sister had acted around the boy, always so protective on his behalf. It was frankly quite adorable in her opinion; to see her sister find someone she cared enough about to protect. Suddenly the Weasley twins sprinted into the room cheering loudly working up an entirely clueless yet enthusiastic crowd. George was the first to address the crowd stating, "Thank you thank you, well lads we've done it.

Fred quickly added on to his gathered disciples, "Cooked it up just this morning."

Hermione, who had been sitting on the last step happily sang loud enough for the twins to hear, "It's not going to work."

The twins took her up on her challenge, sitting on either side of her Fred spoke first questioning, "Oh yeah?"

Seamlessly George finished inquiring, "And why's that Granger?"

Pointing to the line around the cup she confidently said, "You see this? This is an age line. Dumbledore drew it himself."

"So," challenged Fred unbothered.

Hermione scoffed shutting her book telling the twins, "So a genius like Dumbledore couldn't possibly be fooled by something pathetically dimwitted such as an age potion." Aurora felt as if the conversation had brought a blush to her cheeks, but in reality her face had not reacted nearly as panicked as her might felt. None of them may have known how to trick the age line, but none of their fathers had spent the summer mercilessly helping her prepare to do just that. Though even Aurora knew, her father's magic was nothing compared to Dumbledores.

What would happen if the spell backfired and she was caught red handed with Harry's name, not even her own in her pocket? Mara leaned over distracting Aurora with her whisper, "Very delicate with them isn't she?"

Aurora chuckled, while the twins weren't swayed at all from their idea. George smugly told the younger witch, "That's why it's so brilliant."

Only partly joking Fred added, "Because it's so pathetically dimwitted."

Hermione shook her head as the twins backed away, "Ready Fred? Ready George," Fred confirmed before they simultaneously agreed, "Bottoms up."

The twins interlocked their arms drinking their potion without an ounce of fear of. what it could do. Once they finished they jumped inside the age line, and the crowd broke out cheering. "Bloody hell, did it work," Aurora asked amused sitting up watching as the twins put their names in the flame. The entire room waited with anticipation but when nothing happened the brothers cheered and giving each other a high-five. Students cheered believing just as they did but they were silenced by the flame firing up and the twins were flung across the room onto the floor.

"That had to hurt," Anika winced as everyone watched the boys sit up with fill full heads of grey hair and beards.

Aurora covered her mouth fighting her laughter while Ronan said between short breaths of laughter, "This could not get any better!!"

"That's positively horrid," Mara exclaimed as the twins suddenly began to fight one another. Immediately the group of friends, along with mosts the students ran to surround the twins chanting for their preferred winner. The moment was short lived when the crowds attention was diverted to Viktor Krum walking in calmly putting his name inside the goblet. As the famous seeker walked out he looked at Hermione and she smiled.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·

❝ professor snapes office  ❞

"You wanted to see me professor," Aurora's soft voice called out from the doorway she stood I as she watch him drag his quill across the paper. She and the others were on their way back to the dorms when one of the prefects came to tell her he had requested to see her. 

Snape didn't bother to look here way as he told her, "Sit." The Aveline entered taking the seat before him not daring to speak as she glanced around his gloomy and dimly-lit office. Upon the shadowy walls were lined with shelves of large glass jars filled with slimy, revolting things, such as bits of animals and plants, floating in potions of varying colors. The silence continued on leaving Aurora growing evermore curious as to why she had been called there.

"Have you spoken to Potter yet? Or have you been too preoccupied with Miss Devonshire and Mr. Belmont to even bother starting what you were sent here for," he asked the question having her fathers words behind them. Aurora suspected that her father had professor Snape there the day they preformed the unbreakable vow simply to have more eyes focused on her.

So even there, her actions would not escape his watch. Aurora straightened her posture stating, "I have. But given that someone has tried to kill him every time he comes here, I doubt he'll take to being overwhelmed with attention. His friend Ron already is whispering in his ear I am evil, if I am too eager he'll tell Harry it's a trap. I know what I am doing, and I am going through with it tonight. Is that all professor?"

Snape leaned forward finally tearing his eyes up from his works inquiring, "Do you know why your father has you doing this?" Aurora leaned back silently in her chair unable to come up with an answer. "So evidently you do not know everything as you like to pretend you do," Snape remarked as the Aveline stayed silent. "Now, I would like to know what is it that your father told you to do? How did your father tell you to start?"

Aurora opened her mouth to explain, but she cut herself short before she ever spoke. "I am sorry but, I'm not going to tell you that professor," refused the Aveline teenager.

Snape's brow raised at her brazen statement, "You're not going to tell me," he repeated back with narrowed eyes.

Holding her head up Aurora nodded once more saying, "Correct. I will not be telling you anything sir because had my father wanted you to know what I was instructed to do, he would have told you." The professors face twisted at the logic, "The fact that he hasn't means it's not necessary you know." There was a moment where Snape didn't say anything, he simply starred at the Empress as if trying to decipher a childish riddle. "Is that all professor," inquired Aurora when the silence had begun to bore her.

"No, not all," he replied reaching for the chunk of papers that were the Aveline girls she had handed in merely two day prior. Offering the papers to her Snape said, "Your essay's. It seems your mothers time her served her better than your father -- she actually learned something. Almost as if she was a lot smarter than she acted"

Aurora took the papers in hand seeing outstanding written on top each and every one. "Or a lot smarter than you took her for," swiftly remarked the Aveline gripping up her bag asking, "Can I be dismissed, Sir? I do have important things to attend to." The professor didn't give her the courtesy of his words, Snape simply waved his hand off.

Swiftly she turned on her heels heading to the door when she heard, "One last piece of advice Miss Aveline?" Aurora turned her head nodding at his request, "The school is quietest around three in the morning, but still do take care you are not seen."

"Of course professor," said Aurora hurriedly opening the door solemnly making her way back towards the dungeons. All the while fighting the growing twisted knot in her stomach knowing that the first few weeks of school had been easy, easy enough to forget why she had been there. But tonight, tonight was the night the real work began, and the betrayal would take root.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·

❝ hogwarts corridors -- the goblet room ❞

The Aveline empress took great care to ensure she followed through on her professors advice. Firstly by tiring Mara so much she would not wake, which was easy enough given the Devonshire, Nina, Blaise, Ronan, and the Malfoy's had a nightly ritual to smoke Nikolai's summers worth of muggle herbs. That, laughter, and some encouragement were all any of them needed to keep going. Eventually they had to stop because how tired they were becoming, and once an hour or two had passed, Aurora finally felt safe enough to come from her dorm. Not without using a disillusionment charm to blend Aurora into her surroundings, she would not be seen as long as she moved fast as stayed out of the light. 

Which had allowed her to sneak all the way down to the goblet room without any the wiser. Luckier still Aurora had not seen Peeves waiting and lurking at all, which she knew was a type of lucky she couldn't count on forever. So the second she arrived at the door, Aurora took one glance around to ensure no one could see before she slipped into the room. Only once she had did Aurora see the shape of a rough wooden goblet which fills with its unmistakable blue flame and the circle surrounding it to keep it safe.

Aurora gripped the rose and crystal end of her wand raising it tentatively not yet ready to begin. She had to do this, there was no choice about that anymore with the vow hanging over her head that much was certain now. What was not certain was should Aurora do it? She had no idea who wanted Harry in the competition and she knew people died in the tournament. Harry, in the short time she'd known him seemed a gentle boy, not one who deserved her throwing him into the fire just for she and Anika to escape it. All these thoughts were luxury thoughts, and she would not allow them to cloud her mind. Not when she had already come this far, so, Aurora focused every bit of intention and focus into her next words, "Confundus." 

She could feel of Dumbledore's magic fighting against her attempts to confuse it, and it came with a force of perhaps a thousand men and was far worse than anything her father had tried to replicate. Her arm shook from its might but Aurora refuse to relent no doubt in her mind meant more to her than the images of Anika's smile that flashed through her mind. After all, how could Aurora be blamed for saving a soul like her? Aurora knew she herself was lost long ago, but Anika? Anika had the strength to withstand their father and remain good, and innocent. She wasn't a liar like her sister and parents, Anika was always honest, even to fault. Perhaps she would never be their father prize and heir, but that simply meant Anika, despite her upbringing, remained better than all of them. 

And that was not something Aurora was going to allow their father to snuff out from her. It seems ages before the line began to flicker until it disappeared altogether. The Aveline inhaled deeply but allowed herself little time to recover before she rushed up to the goblet pulling out a piece of parchment. Before placing it inside Aurora raised the wand swishing her wrist tapping the goblet on the rim three times before muttering, "Novissime venire est ultimum esse videatur."

As quickly as Aurora had done it, she was dropping the parchment she had stolen from Harry with his name on it to ensure no one could match handwriting back to her. Once it fell she backed away from the cup waiting for the flames to erupt, or the room to swallow her whole while the teachers came out of hiding. But it never did, the goblet had accepted Harry's name and Aurora allowed spare tears to spill briefly. However she didn't allow it long before she wiped them away watching as the barrier returned with her safely on the other side. There was little left to do now, little that could be done, Harry and she were locked on a path towards an ending neither knew.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·

❝ the goblet room ❞

"Sit down please," Dumbledore announced to all his students, "And now the moment you've all been waiting for, the champions selection!"

Aurora, Nina, Mara, and Ronan watched carefully as Dumbledore approached the blue flame and it glowed red. With each passing second Aurora swore her heart would fall out of her chest, especially as they all waited for Dumbledore to proclaim, "The Durmstrang champion is ... Viktor Krum!"

Lowering her voice Aurora joked effortlessly, "The best seeker in the world chosen as their champion, who would've thought." Though the Aveline was certain if anyone could heart her heart they would know the truth of her in an instant.

The Durmstrang crowd cheered loudest of them all as Viktor made his way down the stairs shaking Dumbledores hand. Another name soon followed and the headmaster announced, "The champion from Beauxbatons... Fleur Delacour." The Beauxbatons girls cheered as Fleur walked up an another name came out of the flames, "The Hogwarts champion... Cedric Diggory."

Aurora felt nearly sick as she sat waiting for the inevitable, her heart caving in on itself. she could hardly even hear her friends conversations. As all the champions stood before the school the headmaster stated, "Excellent! we now have our three champions! But in the end only one will go down chalice of champions, this vessel of in history. Only one will hoist this victory the tri-wizard cup!"

As Headmaster Dumbledore turned pointing at the cup as Barty Crouch revealed the cup to the world. All the students cheered, but the goblet suddenly glowed red once more and another name flew out. "Is that supposed to happen," Mara whispered.

"No," Aurora answered truthfully as they watched Dumbledore read the name.

Quietly at first he said, "Harry Potter. Harry Potter?"  The Aveline girl fought the voices in her head telling her not to look at the body knowing she couldn't bear it, but she did it anyway. And what she saw broke her heart, she saw the bewildered and frightened eyes of the Potter boy trying to avoid being seen but he had already seen Aurora across the way. But all it did was cause Dumbledore to shout louder looking around frantically for the boy, "Harry Potter!" Forced to his feet by Hermione, Harry slowly walked up the row, as he passed her by Aurora he looked at her for a moment before shamefully looking away. Once she heard the other teachers filling out of the room she glanced back up only to see Nikolai's questioning eyes further down the table. Aurora did nothing but give a slight nod before joining in on the discourse of what was going on as if she was as clueless as everyone else.

aurora outfit for most of next chapter