House of Bellefeuille and Ravenclaw
Being a morning person, Tom found himself in the Great Hall where a few other students from the opposite houses sat. He grabbed his preferred breakfast and poured himself a glass of orange juice. Slowly, as time passed, the Great Hall was packed with loud noises from the countless everyday conversations among everyone.
Tom had ignored his surroundings at first and only returned his focus of awareness when his minions started to head toward him. He realized then that the only one's missing from the group are the two Black sisters, Bellatrix and Narcissa. 'Must have been due to the last meeting.' But Tom couldn't bring it within himself to care much about either of them. His minions all said their good mornings to which he only nodded, not finding within himself to start a conversation.
Then a loud whistle came from a herd of owls that flew gracefully into the room dropping the morning deliveries to their respective owners. Tom didn't have an owl not that he cared for those types of creatures especially when he can't know what they were thinking. He prefers more snakes and it works in his favor since he can speak and understand them.
Every owl had dropped the current morning news of the Daily Prophet and after reading it Malfoy's eyes widen in shock almost choking on the juice he was drinking as he quickly puts his drink down to tap on Tom's shoulder.
He glares at the white-haired boy annoyed at being disturbed from eating his meal but gives his attention to see what his minion wanted him to read from the article. Word per word Tom's eyes slowly grew wide in surprise and he snatches the paper away pulling it closer to him.
So many questions he has about her but nothing to confide in to give him information. Asking her directly was out of the question since it means having direct contact with her.
Which was the prime reason why he muted the bond in the first place...
His treacherous heart sunk to his stomach in guilt. There was a sharp tension of pain in his chest as if someone had stabbed him.
'Come on! Get it together!' He sighs to himself frustrated.
'You're doing this to protect her. She doesn't deserve to be pulled into the chaos that you are going to end up creating. Especially if it's something crazy as genocide...'
But...
Tom looks at the photo displaying Aurora smiling as she left the entrance of her school before coming here.
'You can't help it can you...'
There was so much joy and life in her eyes even through the black and white ink. So much so that he wishes he can feel it, that he could be a part of it. That he could be the reason why she smiles so brightly. He wanted her to smile that way for him and only to him.
'You fell in love with her...'
Yes.
Yes, he did.
From the beginning.
The very first night they met, Tom fell in love with her. First, by her beauty, as she slept and as the days went on. Her smile and eyes he loved second. He loves the way she giggles as they dance in each other arms when they call out to each other in secrecy. But the warmth - the feel of each other skin- was missing. An aching sense of being able to just feel each other's touch was nerve-wracking and he couldn't help but wonder.
Did she crave his warmth as he does for her?
"Good job in your finding, Malfoy," he says with his calming tone. But inside he was trying to pry away the aching feeling of want and loneliness away.
"What will you do now my lord?," he whispers ever so quietly as a group of Ravenclaws walk past their table.
"I will be going to the library, to see if there is more information I can gain about her from the Ancient Pureblood families' books that Hogwarts has." He looks around at the rest of the group. "What more have you all found?"
"Well since your run-in with the French wizard we had wondered about at first we managed to gain some intellect on him," Goyle started and Crabbe continued off of him as everyone turned to face them. "Henrik Baudelaire was born in a rich pureblood family and is the current CEO of Belmont Enterprise. He was the successor to Arthur IV Belmont who had committed suicide by stabbing himself with a dagger that's reported missing, and his body was found in the ballroom of the Belmont's mansion."
"Sheesh, that seems like a sad way to go," Amycus Corrow muttered not sympathetic as he took a swing of his orange juice.
Goyle adds to Crabbe's speech, "The Belmont's are known for having a special ability -"
"What special ability?" Tom interrupts eagerly.
"It's rumored that they are the last descendants to Merlin and thus have the ability to speak in dragon's tongue otherwise known as the Draconian language."
'Draconian... it almost sounds just like Parseltongue.'
'Does that mean she is just like me? Are we really the last of our kinds of speakers?"
"That makes so much sense," Antonin says with realization hitting him. "I have always wanted to be just like Arthur one day. After all, he was known to be the best duelist in all of France."
"My father told me...," Malfoy lean onto the table and all the boys followed his movements, "that after the death of Arthur, The Headmistress of Beauxbaton Academy of Magic, took her in especially since she is the girl's godmother."
"All the pieces are making much more sense..." Tom trails off and now eyes are centering on him again. "That's why the lynx cat was with him that night I spoke to him. He has a close relationship with her, but what kind...that I do not know of."
He rises from his seat urgently, "I don't have classes today so I will be spending it in the library to see if there is anything I can find on the LaRue family, good job on your work all of you." He whispers the last part carefully making sure that no one else around them hears him.
As they say their goodbyes to him, as he is in front of the door it opens revealing the person that they have all spoken about.
Her white hair was down her blue hat was perfectly positioned on her head. She was wearing the typical uniform for her school that appeared more high status and elegant in comparison to his black robes with a white t-shirt and silver-green tie under the collar.
His sense of smell was clouded by the roses perfume from her hair that must have been from the product she uses when she showers. Their eyes widen in surprise to almost run into each other and this time Aurora was the one to break her attention away moving just as quickly to the Slytherin's table where the rest of her companions were.
All eyes followed her form as she arrived there, even his minions gave him a confused look about what to do. He send them a glare that meant 'Act normal' and they all nodded and started talking amongst each other about normal teen stuff. He sighs giving one last look to Aurora taking in how beautiful she looks amongst her friends and companions. He then turns around allowing the doors of the Great Hall to close behind him.
~**∞**~
Aurora almost panicked when she came close to bumping into him. But as much as she wanted to say "Hello" or "Good morning" she couldn't help but remember that it was possibly futile. Feared that he would just walk passed her again as he did before when she first sensed his bloodlust. So she had moved away first not wanting to feel that feeling of rejection again, but even then her heart still stung.
She shoves down her sadness by stabbing at a piece of pancake that she had smudged in honey.
"Aurora, mon pote, tu vas bien?" (Aurora, bud, are you alright?)
"Hein?", she looks up while chewing. (Huh?)
"J'avais demandé si vous étiez prêt pour les questions que les journalistes vous poseront et vous n'avez pas répondu...," Sophia, her long time friend, told her slowly. Her face shown concern for her. (
The other girls all looked at each other and the red-haired friend of their, Sophia questioned her with a slight tone of anger, "C'est encore lui... n'est-ce pas ? Le lien muet vous fait souffrir." (It's him again...isn't it? The muted bond is causing you pain -)
"Non, ce n'est pas lui-," (No, it's not him -) she sighs sadly, and her shoulder drops. She pushes her plate away no longer finding any appetite to eat and folds her arms on the table.
"Conneries!"(Bullshit!) Sophia exclaims as she slams her fist onto the table which caught everyone's attention but she didn't care even when the other girls from their school kept telling her to lower her voice, "Tu étais nerveux depuis que nous avons quitté notre école et pendant tout le voyage jusqu'ici. Puis, après la coupure du lien et l'annonce des champions, tu as commencé à disparaître le plus souvent et on te voit rarement ici." (You had been nervous ever since we first left our school and through the whole journey here. Then after the bond got muted and the announcement of the champions, you started to disappear most often and we rarely see you here.)
"Elle a raison,"(She is right,) Bethany whispered tearfully, she was always the emotional and shy one in the group. "Vous avez passé plus de temps dans la chambre forte, caché loin du monde qu'ici. Vous ne vous êtes pas montré pendant deux jours... nous avons pensé..." (You have been spending more time in the vault, hidden away from the world than here. You didn't show up for two days...we thought...)
Aurora's heart broke and her eyes get wearily, "Je suis désolé." (I'm sorry.) She grabs onto their hands giving them a tight comforting squeeze, "Je promets que je ne le ferai plus, vous avez ma parole." (I promise I won't do that again, you have my word.)
Sophia squeezes back even though she was mad, she couldn't hide the fact that she had also thought alongside Bethany that something bad must have happened to Aurora. The rare moments that they do see her are when she is laying on her bed still in her daily clothing and both, Sophia and Bethany, are the ones to always tuck Aurora in. "Tu ferais mieux," (You better.) tears fall freely off Sophia's cheeks.
Aurora reaches out to them and all three give a tight hug. As the bell rings, Sophia was the first to pull away as they all wipe their tears smiling and chuckling. "Allez-y, je ne veux pas être en retard pour vos réunions avec les champions et les journalistes." (Go on then, don't wanna be late for your meetings with the champions and reporters.)
Aurora gives one last look at them making sure they're alright and gives them a confident smile. "Ok, je vous vois plus tard alors." (Okay, I'll see you guys later.) She gives them a wave of goodbye as she heads to the location she was told to attend by the Minister the day before.
Arriving at her destination the other champions were there with their respectable uniforms. They give each other a small nod of recognition and before any had the chance to speak a reporter walked in followed by a photographer. It took them a total of twenty minutes to get one photo done and two hours for the interviews to occur. Just like how her godmother predicted the reporter kept pressuring her to answer questions about the LaRue family to which Aurora kept replying, "I don't know anything about them."
Again and again, they pressured her to reveal something and it was the final straw when they mention the death of her father Aurora excused herself, angrily leaving the room.
Yells and shouts followed after her minutes later and Aurora turns to give them a piece of her mind when she sees the other champion for Hogwarts, Caleb, out of breath running after her.
"For a short person you're a fast walker," he says wheezing.
"What do you want?", she says annoyed ignoring the 'short person' comment.
He takes a few breaths before asking, "I was wondering if you would like to join me for a walk." Aurora's eyebrow raises and her head tilts in confusion. The look makes Caleb stutter and blush red that was easily visible on his pale skin, he nervously says, "I figure you haven't had a chance to know about Hogwarts and thought you would like to know more about it. Maybe we can get to know each other in the process? That's if you will like to of course..."
Aurora sighs trying to seal away the heated anger inside her remembering the breathing technique Henrik taught her and once she feels herself calm down she nods whispering a small, "Yeah sure, why not..." she shrugs at the end. 'It's the best way to distract me and what better way of learning about this school from a student attending it.'
Caleb smiles brightly. "Great! Shall we start with the Hogwart's courtyard and ground as we make our way inside?" he then offers his arm to her gently in a sense of trust between them, Aurora eyes him and his arm cautiously. Not thinking much harm into it and remembering her manners taught in Beauxbaton when a gentleman offers their arm or hand. She puts her arm through his and couldn't help herself feeling his bright energy contagious.
"We shall," she says smiling back at him and together they walked talking about each other's schools and student's life comparing them.
~**∞**~
"And this here is the Ravenclaw's dormitory!", Caleb says proudly as he walked behind her letting the painted portrait door close softly.
There were already a couple of students inside watching her with curious wonders and feeling a little unease by their looks Aurora slowly hides behind Caleb's tall form. "Aww, don't be shy no one is harmful here." He slowly steps out of the way and places an encouraging hand on her shoulder, "Everyone this is Aurora Belmont. Who I'm pretty sure you guys already know that..." He rubs his neck awkwardly with his hand.
"Hello," a dark skin girl with braided hair approached her smiling at her welcoming, "I hope you haven't lost all your brain cells with this doofus." A small "Hey!" can be heard behind them as they walk deeper into the dormitory Aurora giggles, "No thankfully I did not."
"Allow me to introduce myself, Iris Watson, 6th year here at Hogwarts it's a pleasure meeting you." Aurora shook her offered hand replying, "The pleasure is all mine."
"So," Caleb questions as he finally catches up to them. He spreads his arms out and asks with an exciting smile, "...what do you think?"
Aurora looks around the first thing she acknowledges is how the room is covered with a mainly dark blue color and there was a couple of lighter shades of blue with a hint of green touches across the wall giving it a northern sky. While the whole ceiling is covered with the design of a constellation. The stars and lines are designed with glass allowing the sun's light to give a sparkling aesthetic to the room. The stairs to what Aurora assumes leads to their bedrooms are in the center of the room, there were plenty of comfy-looking sofas, soft bean bags for the students to use, and bookshelves with different interesting subjects. All the way from magical animals, to herbs, and to learn about the different stars.
"It's beautiful!" she says happily.
"Believe me, this room looks even more amazing when the moon's light hits the ceiling. The whole room begins to glow with stars design marking itself on the walls and floor. While the shade of the wall starts to glow as well giving it a full effect as if the northern sky is right in front of you." Iris says as she sits on the sofa and leans onto Caleb's side, who wraps an arm around her.
Seeing the look Caleb gave to Iris when he embraced her she asks, "Are you guys dating?"
Caleb's and Iris's cheeks both shade in a light pink tone as they respond together, "Yes! We have been together for a year and a half now."
"Congrats, I almost feel slightly jealous. You guys found each other already." Aurora comments as she sits down on the available soft bean bag across from them.
"Aww, don't worry you will get yours one day and who knows maybe we can have a double date together," Iris says with an encouraging tone.
"Yeah," Aurora winces slightly, "I don't think...that's ever gonna happen." She whispers the end softly and her voice held so much pain. Iris and Caleb both looked at each other knowingly and Iris slowly moved away to approach her sitting down next to her. "Don't say that, you will only bring yourself down," she wipes away the tears that were falling down. "You are absolutely beautiful and I know you have a good heart and any fool who doesn't see it is not worthy of your affection."
"How do you know?"
Gold eyes search through the warming friendship of dark brown eyes.
"I can just tell with a single glance at someone." She then whispers to her, "It's a little gift I carry."
Aurora sniffs softly and Iris rubs her shoulder as a sense of comfort. In an attempt to distract her, Iris questions, "So what is your school like?"
"Well..." she starts off, "Just like you guys, we have a sorting ceremony but it involves spirits of the old past -"
"Spirits!" they both shouted surprised.
Aurora nods.
"There is a white chalked marking on the floor with an ancient symbol that we are yet told what it signifies and when your name is called you walk in the center of the circle. The marking glows under the moon's light and the spirits of the Old Religion course through us. They read our memories and our thoughts. They know our passions and goals. It's by them they sort us between three houses. The House of Papillonlisse, the insignia is a purple butterfly on a leaf, is known for its kindness, artistic ability, maturity, and idealism. The House of Ombrelune, the insignia is a blue with silver sinister-looking moon, is well known for cunning, logic, ambition, and curiosity. Lastly, the House of Bellefeuille, which is the house I am sorted in, has an insignia of five leaves and the color is green those sorted in this house are known for bravery, sensitivity, loyalty, and love of nature."
"Wow..." they both say with their mouth dropped. Just by the awe energy surrounding them, Aurora chuckled knowing that they had countless questions to ask.
And boy was she right...
Plenty of hours later, it became evening and after asking each other questions and sharing knowledge the three make their way back to the Slytherin's dormitory. Iris wanted to accompany them and so when they stood in front of the door that leads inside to the Slytherin's dormitory they stopped walking and their laughter quieted down.
"Thank you so much for walking me back," Aurora says happily.
"Hey, no problem always happy to help," Caleb cheerily responds.
Before Aurora had the chance to open the door Iris calls out to her, "Wait!! Aurora may I ask you something personal?" Caleb quickly looks at her with a disapproving look but she ignores him coming closer to her. Aurora curiously and cautiously looks between them especially with Caleb sighing away slightly annoyed.
"What is it?"
Iris plays nervously with the bracelet that was on her left wrist and asks, "Is it true about the rumors?"
Aurora's eyebrow raises in confusion.
"Are you truly soulmates with Tom Riddle?" she presses on.
'Oh, so that is what she wants to know about...'
'Would she use it against me?'
'Make it worst than it already is?'
"Trust her," a mysterious female voice says ghostly behind her.
"Who said that?"
The back hair of Aurora's neck stood up as her entire body is covered in goosebumps.
"Aurora, are you alright?" Caleb questions her carefully. Turning towards them slowly they both looked at her with concerned expressions. "Did you hear that?" she asks as she checks behind herself again. That feeling of being watched was coming back to her tenfold and the invisible hand that she felt on her shoulder back when the champions were announced came back to her mind.
"No, we didn't hear anything. Are you sure you're alright?" Iris is the one to ask her this time.
"Yes," she says quickly. "I'm fine, look can we have this conversation next time?"
Iris and Caleb both looked at each nervously and Caleb shrugged saying, "Sure, next time then."
"Okay, thank you again, and goodbye." She quickly grabs the door and shuts it behind her not waiting to hear a goodbye from them. Thankfully there was still no one in the main room of the dormitory and so she tiredly lays her form on the couch and somehow all her exhaustion guided her to fall asleep.
~**∞**~
Now one would think the story of the day ends there.
But how could it...
When someone that the past whispers to speak louder now that they are here.
The "Raven" or shall we call them by their true name?
"Nyx"
Is in the balance of changing fate...
~**∞**~
A mysterious person lowers down the hood from the invisible cloak they wore.
She approaches the sleeping figure that slumbers on the sofa of Slytherin's room and kneels before Aurora's form. The mysterious girl hesitates when she raises her hand to touch her cheek but before she does fear that Aurora will awaken she sings out softly, "Lay down your head and I'll sing you a lullaby. Back to the years of loo-li lai-lay. And I'll sing you to sleep and I'll sing you tomorrow..."
Aurora subconsciously leans onto the warm touch of the person who gasps surprised and gently touches the other cheek with affection.
A couple of tears fall off the girl's face.
A silver necklace alongside a long golden necklace reveals itself from under her shirt.
But before she could do anything, footsteps approached their way and the girl quickly puts on the hood of the cloak stepping away from Aurora to stand in the corner of the room. The girl remained quiet when Tom entered the room coming back from the library. She watches as he stops from his spot seeing Aurora's small body curled on the sofa. He approaches her ever so slowly and in panic, the mysterious girl approaches him.
But she stops when she sees the intimate action and expression portrayed in front of her.
"Shh, I got you, love," he says lovingly as he cradles Aurora in his arms and gently lifts her. Aurora sleepily wraps her arms around Tom's shoulder and buries her head deeply underneath to where his neck and shoulders meet. She inhales and sighs with a small content smile on her face still remaining asleep. Tom's heart flutters when he looks down to admire her and he continues his way walking past the still hidden figure with the invisibility cloak carrying Aurora to the dorm room she is sleeping in.
Hearing the footsteps fade away did the mysterious girl remove the hood revealing herself.
Tears rapidly fell down her cheek as she presses a hand tightly against her mouth to cover up her sobs and she kneels down to the floor the invisibility cloak wearing heavily on her shoulders.
'I was right...'
'He wasn't always bad...'
'There was happiness...'
'And fate took it away....'
'I can still do it...'
'I'm strong enough to change everyone's ending...'
'Give them a reason worth living for....'
The necklaces reveal themselves again and she holds onto one of them with care and love.
The silver had the insignia of a "V" with the red gem design roses and vines everywhere.
And the other necklace, the golden time-turner she snatched away.
She touches the time-turner hesitantly...
The golden shimmer encouraged her to do the next thing that fate had written for her.
But she ignores its call.
Grabs both of the necklaces and tucks them again underneath her shirt.
"Not yet," her light blue eyes that are mixed with silver in her iris look to the path Tom and Aurora went through.
"...There is still something I want to do before I say goodbye..."