Two
1 September 1996
I awoke with a gasp to a knock coming from the bedroom door. It took me a moment to get oriented and then the knock came again.
“Aurelia” It was my dad, “Wake up! Breakfast will be ready soon”
“I’m up! I’ll be down in a moment” I yell back and then I hear his footsteps walking away.
The Weasleys left 12 Grimmauld Place about a week ago, they said they needed to get everything for the kids’ school year. I think it was because Molly didn't want to be holed up here anymore. I understand that.
The rest of the order was long gone but I’m fairly certain that they are helping Harry to the platform today.
I, reluctantly, got out of bed and started to get dressed. My dad insisted we stay here until I left for school. Claiming it was to make sure ‘Sirius and Harry aren't lonely’ so now it is just the four of us here.
Today is my first day of my final year at Hogwarts. I still had a pit in my stomach but the longer I had it, the more it felt like a feeling that something bad was about to happen. I couldn't quite put my finger on it.
As I got dressed I wondered what could happen. Harry had his trial at the ministry, but that went well. Maybe it would be the transport to the train? But I don't think so.
I made sure to dress comfortably since I’d be on the train nearly all day. I left the room Sirius gave me and immediately encountered Kreacher, the Black family house elf. I don't understand why Sirius didn't just give him his freedom, but that was not my decision to make.
“Good morning, Kreacher” I tried to sound joyful even though he was quite nasty to us all.
He just turned to me and snarled.
I continued down to the kitchen where breakfast was being made.
“You two are making breakfast?” I said immediately upon arriving in the kitchen, “But neither of you know how to cook?”
“Good morning to you too Aurelia” Sirius spoke as he attempted to make waffles. I was pretty sure he was burning them.
“How are you doing this morning, darling?” My dad asked.
“I’m okay, I guess”
“You guess?” Sirius sounded exasperated, “It’s your last year at Hogwarts I figured you’d be excited”
“I am it's just I've got this pit in my stomach”
“Are you alright?” My dad worried too much.
“I’m fine, I just have this feeling… like something bad is gonna happen. It’s probably nothing”
“Is this because the seer thing or is it something else?” My dad always tried to be helpful but he didn’t know too much about my ability, and honestly… Neither do I.
Before I could even answer Sirius interjected with, “She’s a seer?!”
My dad and I both looked at him shocked, “I already told you this, we've discussed it”, I chuckled softly, hearing my dad’s response.
“I just didn't know”
“How? How didn't you know?”
“I just… you know… didn't know” Sirius almost looked embarrassed.
Harry entered the kitchen looking groggy, he had looked like that every morning since he arrived. I think it's because the only time he has gotten a decent night's sleep this summer has been since he arrived.
“Good Morning, Harry” I tried to change the subject to Harry so that I wouldn’t be the focus anymore. I’m sure whatever it is that I’m feeling, will go away.
“We will talk about this later” my dad said to me. I nodded.
“What’s going on? Talk about what?”
“Nothing, Harry, just a feeling” I looked at my dad, “It’s nothing”
Slowly the conversation moved on from me but I know that my dad won’t let it go, especially since the climate of the wizarding world right now. We all know what’s coming but everyone is too afraid to discuss it openly.
“So,” my dad spoke, “The order is coming to help escort you, Harry, to the platform. Aurelia, you and I will leave for in half an hour”
I already finished my breakfast, so I went upstairs to make sure everything was packed and ready to go.
I sat on my bed for a moment once everything was done and packed and I heard a knock on the door as it opened.
“Lia, are you ready?” It was Sirius.
“Yeah, I’m ready” he stood there staring at me, looking like he wanted to say something, “what?”
“Nothing… nothing” I just waited for him to continue, “I remember when you were little… you would run all around James and Lily’s house, you loved how much she doted on you”
Tears briefly formed in my eyes but I blinked them away.
“You’re just… so much older than I remember you.” He continued.
“You know… I remember her, just a little bit, but still.”
“You do?”
“Barely, she used to be my favorite person, since my mum wasn’t around”
Tears formed in Sirius’s eyes, “she loved you more than anything” he sat down next to me.
“I was going through some of my dad’s old boxes a few years back and I found all my baby stuff” he looked at me, “I found a tape of Lily singing me a lullaby, there was a letter attached to it”
“She left you a tape?”
“I asked my dad about it and he said she wanted me to have the tape, just in case something happened to her. He had forgotten about the letter but it was for me to read when she got older” I wiped away my tears, “there was one for Harry too, but we all know the Dursley’s aren’t exactly sentimental when it comes to Aunt Lily”
Sirius scoffed next to me, “They were horrible, even before they died. She always treated Lily like a monster… and she treated Harry even worse”
I wiped away the rest of my tears, “I should probably get going, I don't want to make dad wait on me”
“Yeah” Sirius stood up, “we wouldn't want that”
As I stood, he brought me into a bone-crushing hug. “Sirius… too tight”
“Sorry, pup… my bad” He let go and reached for my trunk, “let me help you bring this down.”
“Thanks” I grabbed my bag and followed him downstairs.
“Oh, look who’s finally ready” My dad was leaning against the wall across from the stairs as Sirius and I came down.
“Don't worry, dad, we won’t be late” I assured him.
I walked straight towards the front door and both my dad and Sirius followed behind. As we all got to the front foyer, Sirius set down my trunk.
I turned to him and gave him a big hug, “bye, Sirius, I’ll miss you” I spoke into his chest.
“Bye, pup, have an amazing last year. I’ll see you at christmas.” He then leaned down and whispered, “prank a few Slytherins for me, will you?”
I released from the hug and saw my dad give Sirius a look. “Don’t worry, dad, I never do anything like that”
“Mm-hmm sure, Aurelia” I just smiled up at him.
“Time to go?”
My dad shook his head at me and grabbed the handle on my trunk. I grabbed ahold of his arm and he apparated us into an alley down the street from King’s Cross.
Both of us grounded ourselves for a moment before my dad spoke, “So, do you want to talk about earlier?”
“What about earlier?” I tried to act like I didn’t know what he was talking about.
He gave me a look, “You know what I mean. Usually when you have a feeling, it’s right”
“I know” I started heading towards the station and my dad followed behind me.
We both stayed quiet until we were almost at platform 9, “You can tell me anything, you know that, right?”
“Yeah, dad, I know. It’s just a feeling, it will pass”
“Owl me, Lia, if anything comes of it” I could tell my dad meant it, with everything happening in the wizarding world right now, neither of us can take any chances.
I nodded, “I’ll be fine–” as I spoke, a pair of arms wrapped themselves around me and picked me up off the ground.
I yelped and saw a flash of red hair as I turned around, “Fred! What is Merlin's name!”
“Wow, Aurelia, and here I thought you could tell us apart?”
“Drop the act, Fred, I know it’s you”
“How do you do that? Even our own mother can’t tell the difference”
“Lia,” my father interrupted, “have an amazing year”
I hugged him as tight as I could, “bye, dad”
He rolled his eyes at me and Fred and walked away. Fred and I ran through the pillar onto platform 9 ¾.
“George is already in a compartment with Lee and Angelina” I nudged Fred with my shoulder as he mentioned Angelina.
Fred has had a thing for Angelina for about a year now. He tries to hide it but isn’t very good at it. Basically everyone knows except for Angie.
“Whatever” He rolled his eyes at me.
“Awe… Freddie, don’t worry, I’m sure if you made a move, she would reciprocate”
Right before he could respond, I caught a glimpse of curly hair and immediately started running towards it. Rosalind Sinclair. My roommate and best friend since first year. We tell everything to each other.
“Aurelia!” Rosalind yelled.
Fred followed behind me and greeted Rosalind, “hey Rosa”
We stood and talked for a few minutes on the platform until we heard the train whistle indicating that the train would leave in one minute.
We all began running for the door and luckily got inside before it shut. Fred led all three of us down to the compartment that the rest of our friends were in.
“You know” Fred started, “George has been excited to see you since we left Grimmauld place”
I ignored him, but internally I couldn't stop thinking about George missing me, or being excited to see me.
Once we got to the compartment, we entered and said hello to the rest of our friends. The train started moving and began the long train ride to Hogwarts.