The Girl in Blue

When she walked back into her home school, Aurora touched her blue necklace and slowly looked around - feeling as though it had literally been forever since she had roamed the castle of Hogwarts.

She reached the Slytherin common room, along with the rest of those who left for break, and they all entered, excitedly.

Aurora's eyes went searching for him, but she couldn't find him. He could be in his dormitory...or he could be in the library. It was a sunday, after all.

She set her stuff into her dorm and set off towards the library, passing by everyone who decided to mingle in the common room. She smiled at those who smiled at her and pushed past them, finally making it out into the Hogwarts corridors.

When Aurora reached the library, it was too quiet for her liking. She walked around, noticing that all the tables were empty. Where was he?

Aurora reached the restricted section but heard someone clear their throat behind her. She turned around and her eyes met the glaring Madam Pince's, the librarian of Hogwarts.

"Sorry," She mumbled stepping away, finally deciding to leave the library. She wandered around, instead of going back to the Slytherin common room. She wished to talk to Tom, but he was no where to be found.

"Your name is Rose."

Aurora spun around, almost feeling a heart attack but her eyes landed on the dark skinned boy, James.

"Excuse me?" She asked. She looked around and she noticed that she was very close to the Gryffindor common room. She didn't realize she ventured that far.

"Aurora Rose, not Jenkins." James glared, crossing his arms and leaning against the stone wall.

Aurora stared. How did he know?

"Your parents, real parents, were Charles and Asha Rose. You were adopted by Jarlath and Esmerelda Jenkins." James stated. Aurora felt like he was just stating facts but he had to have had a point to the conversation. Last she checked, James Hastings hated her.

"I found that out when I told my brother about you." He nodded, answering Aurora's thoughts. "I was excited because I thought you were going to be an amazing friend."

"James, where are you going with this?" Aurora asked, afraid.

James rolled his eyes. "Charles and Asha Rose killed my mother."

She felt her heart freeze.

"What?!" She breathed.

"As if you didn't know." He spat. "Your parents killed my mother. My father was in so much grief he checked into St. Mungo's and he hasn't been the same since."

In a flash, James was in front of Aurora, glaring and his wand out. Aurora stepped back into a suit of armor, defenseless.

"Your family destroyed mine!" He shouted. Aurora flinched but she shook her head, vigorously,

"I didn't - I didn't know, James!"

"That's a load of bull, Aurora." James pressed his wand against her chest and she hissed when she felt a burning sensation, even though nothing was happening to her robes. It was just the feeling.

Someone cleared their throat.

James stepped away immediately and he spun around. Aurora pressed a hand against her slight wound and her heart fluttered when she saw Tom standing in front of them, with his arms crossed. He was glaring at James.

"Intimidating a student in the corridors." Tom said, unamused.

"Not at all." James said, slowly. "I was just leaving."

James rolled his eyes. He backed away from Aurora and raised his hands. He brushed past Tom and went back inside Gryffindor tower, leaving Tom and Aurora standing alone. He was staring at her but she avoided him - the entire time she had been trying to find him, yet she had no idea what to say.

"Aurora." Tom said, quietly.

Aurora shook her head and started walking. "I should go back to the - "

Tom caught her wrist and stopped her. She raised her eyes to meet his dark ones and shrugged, "He has every reason to hate me."

He narrowed his eyes. "No, he doesn't."

"You have no idea, Tom." Aurora sighed. Tom let go of her hand and crossed his arms. Aurora glanced at him, waiting for him to say something but he didn't, so she turned around.

"Did they? Your parents, I mean," Tom called out. "Kill his mother?"

Aurora stopped. She turned around and shrugged her shoulders. "I honestly have no idea."

Tom stepped closer. "What do you know?"

Aurora didn't want to tell him. She wasn't sure if she could trust him enough. Surely, Tom and Aurora had gotten closer over the past month but he never even told her that he was still in the orphanage. Why should she tell him anything?

Aurora shrugged. "I don't know."

Tom nodded. He brushed past Aurora, in the direction of the dungeons and said back to her, "We must be off."

Aurora followed him but didn't fall into step with him. She wanted to stay behind him just because she felt better that way. She wanted to hide and never come out again. She wanted the truth but nobody was giving her the truth, so she had to live in lies - which she didn't even know existed.

"Did you have a good Christmas?" She asked, keeping a light conversation.

Tom shrugged. "It was like every Christmas at Hogwarts. You're letter, though," He turned to her and smirked, "was rather interesting."

Aurora blushed, still embarrassed at how that letter turned out. She kept a mental note to herself to not write anything when emotional.

"Did you like my Sneakoscope?"

Tom kept the smirk on his face. "It will be useful, one day, I am sure."

They walked in silence the rest of the way, and when they entered the Slytherin common room, the room was emptier than it had been when Aurora left.

"Riddle!"

Aurora and Tom both snapped their attention to Nott and Avery, who sat by the fireplace. They waved him over and he glanced at Aurora and muttered, "Meet me in front of the statue of the humpbacked witch after dinner."

"Humpbacked witch?" Aurora asked, confused, but Tom was already on his way over to Nott and Avery.

She was confused all the way up to her dormitory. She just felt like sleeping because she had nothing else to do and she wanted to dream away all of her problems. She wanted to snap her fingers and make James Hastings vanish.

Aurora got to her empty dorm room and crashed right when she reached her bed. Her eyes closed and she dreamt about nothing.

~

Aurora went down to dinner when the bell had rung. She followed every one, alone, and sat by herself at the end of the table. Isadora, Silas and Silver sat next to her, but seeing that she was clearly distraught and wanted to be alone, they didn't invite her into their conversation.

Headmaster Dippet made a welcome back speech and proceeded to announce to everyone that school was starting tomorrow and everyone should go to sleep early.

He dismissed everyone and Aurora immediately got up, trying to think where the humpbacked witch could be. She decided to go back to the Slytherin common room to make sure no one would see her.

She sat down in an armchair and waited for the crowd inside to die out, before she stood up and left the dungeons.

"Where the bloody hell is the humpbacked witch?"

Aurora felt like she searched the entire school, but of course, she didn't. She only searched the main castle and she felt like Tom had played a trick on her to get her in trouble, or something.

But Tom would never do that...right?

Aurora stopped in the middle of one of the corridors filled with statues and suits of armor. None of them looked humpbacked. It was starting to frustrate her.

Just when Aurora was about to turn around and go back to the dungeons before a teacher caught her, she felt an arm wrap around her waist and the other hand around her mouth and pull her in, muffling her shriek.

"Quiet, would you?" Tom hissed, sealing the entrance to some hallway. Aurora looked around, it was very dark except for Tom's wand.

"Lumos." Aurora said, lighting her wand.

"What is this?" She asked. "Why am I here?"

"Come on." Tom said, leading the way down the passageway. Aurora didn't move. Tom noticed and he rolled his eyes. "It won't hurt you. It's just a passageway."

"Why am I here?" Aurora repeated.

Tom stopped and said, "Why not?"

For some reason, that answer was okay for Aurora's brain, because her legs started walking and she followed the mysterious Tom Riddle down the the secret passageway.