Chapter Text
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If there's one thing that petrified Aurora, it was herself. Not her usual, fleshy self. But the version of her that tore into the flesh of wild beasts and viscously hunted for its prey. The version that clawed through her skin, ripping itself out of her anthropoid cacoon and undergoing a metamorphosis each full moon, revealing matted grey fur and a hulking physique. It was terrible, for both Aurora and the unfortunate souls that were around her when it happens.
The moon was strung high, a perfect circle hanging within the pitch black so dark it hummed. There weren't any visible stars, all blocked by clouds and faraway weather. After three weeks at Hogwarts, the full moon was bound to happen. Walking across the empty roads, Aurora wandered through the forged pathways of the Forbidden Forest. Her hands and feet tingled, not magically or blissfully, but with the kind of static feeling that blooms when your limbs fall asleep before you do.
It burned. A strike of fire spread across her entire body as though she were a birch forest. Every part of her felt like it was about to burst, ripping through her from the inside. She collapsed to her knees, the forest floor digging into them as she curled into a ball. It started with her bones, shifting around to make room. Then it was her muscle, swelling up and beginning to stretch the skin. Lastly, it was her flesh, bubbling beneath before melting in a mutilated mess at her paws.
Her entire body seemed to wear thin, ever-changing beneath the moonlight that crept through the canopy of leaves above. Her vision blurred, focusing on everything and anything and all things and then nothing and her mind swept blank, her conscience flickering out before losing all self-control.
She could see it all. Trapped inside her own body, a morbid sense of dread clawed its way through her fast-breathing lungs and aching stomach. She could only watch as her vessel indulged in the primal hunger that vanquished her authority over her body. It tore into and through her, sprinting- hunting in the forests for something to satisfy the craving for something living.
She spotted a deer. Tall and muscular, she could almost hear its erratic heartbeat and blood rushing in its veins. Stalking, her movements circled the prey before she released a predatory growl and lunged, her sharp canines puncturing the soft, delicate flesh of the deer. Her head whipped around, effectively severing the animal's head off from its body. She was stuck begging for her corpse, sobbing without the ability to cry as she watched her claws tear apart the deer, blood spraying across the green grass below. Taking mouthfuls of her hunt to satiate the appetite of her feral anatomy. The feeling of her hands jerking apart the warm muscle and the odious echo of bones fracturing filled the vacant woodland air.
Distant sounds of fire and dark wizards howling into the night seemed much clearer, ringing in her ears with deadly intent. Of men and beasts, they feared what they did not know, hunting not for the truth, but for the end to their dread.
The night was cruel and glacial, shivering those who so desperately seek the rays of the morning sun. It scorned the glow of solace and selfishly withheld hope for dawn spreading across the horizon. Transforming innocent creatures of the day into savage beasts of twilight.
𓃦
Waking at dawn in the Forbidden Forest with a massacre of an animal surrounding you would terrify any student. But to Aurora, a peculiar sense of ease wormed inside of her. The night was over.
𓃦
Returning as silently as possible, Aurora felt blessed when nobody was awake yet. That meant nobody was there to see her torn clothes and blood-stained complexion. Stumbling into the common room, she walked with quick feet that tapped bare against the wood and carpets. She went straight to the washrooms and into a cubical, where she filled the ceramic tub with warm water. She took a moment to stare at her reflection, wincing at the blood and dirt caked onto her sun-kissed skin and the small cuts and scrapes that covered her body.
She decided then and there that she was done. Starting today, she would find a cure for this.
Washing up was nice, but the subtle lavender smell gave her more of a headache than usual. Now, the calming scent of citrus and lavender she wore wasn't just because she enjoyed it. She wasn't at all pleased with the smell. But she read somewhere that dogs and wolves are uneasy when they sense it. Maybe, just maybe, wearing the perfume would help soothe the carnal werewolf inside her.
She stepped into the basin, the cold tile contrasting with the steaming water. She cleaned herself head to toe, making sure that none of her injuries would get infected. Her legs wobbled when she exited, taking sight of blood, grain, gravel, and dirt pooling in the once clear water. The nauseating part was that most of the blood wasn't hers.
Her school robes brushed against her legs as she walked, deciding that sleep would crawl away if she tried capturing it. A stroll through the castle wouldn't hurt before breakfast. The most painful part of tonight was the look on Poppy and Marly's faces as they slept, worry permanently stapled in the crease of their brows and the frowns on their faces. Aurora couldn't bring herself to wake them up, thinking it would be better to meet them at the Main Hall for her morning meal. And even with the hunger rumbling in her stomach, she couldn't imagine eating right now.
Students started to fill the school with idle chatter, the silence no longer ringing in Aurora's ears. She spent a few minutes listening in the music corridor and another few admiring the winter plants sprouting in the Greenhouses. The closer it got to breakfast, the more nervous she got. What if someone saw her? What if somebody knew about her? What if they watched her turn into a freakish creature and rip apart innocent animals? All her thoughts drowned her, rushing through her head like a current. She could feel herself slipping under the tide, her legs losing strength as they got tugged into the infinite depths below.
But when she entered the Main Hall, fidgeting her hands behind her back and her heart beating frantically, the sight of nobody batting an eye at her was unexpected. Elijah sent her a smile when they made eye contact and Daniil did the same, Chloe offering a content wave beside Sebastian, Ominis, and Imelda, who had introduced herself to Aurora during flying class. She swiftly walked to her table, meeting Poppy and Marly who sat beside one another with anxious expressions.
Poppy pulled the brunette into a much-needed hug, Marly joining in on Aurora's right side. The Italian tried not to cringe when Poppy's hand brushed over one of the scrapes on her back. For once, they all sat on the same side. "Where were you last night? We were worried sick over you!" Poppy whisper-shouted, trying not to draw attention to them. "Yeah! You never came back, did you?"
Flustered by all the attention she was getting, a blush rose to Aurora's cheeks. Quickly, make something up, she panicked.
"I came back. You two were just asleep. I didn't want to wake you up!" She joked, trying to stop their worrying. These two were the last people she wanted to know about her condition. Her words weren't a complete lie, but it was for other reasons she doesn't take them.
"No way, you must've been freakishly silent," Marly said, pulling away to dish out her breakfast.
"Or maybe you sleep so heavy a dragon wouldn't wake you up," Poppy laughed.
Suddenly, everything was normal again.
As they ate, Aurora tried to swallow down her food. It was nauseating. Every time she took a bite of her toast, all she could see were the dull, lifeless eyes of the deer from last night. It seemed to stare at her, even after death as she watched herself pull it apart. She gave up after her toast, opting to drink tea instead. Poppy sent her a questioning glance, looking at Aurora's empty plate and then up at her tired eyes. Aurora waved off her concern, telling the doe-eyed girl she wasn't too hungry today. With a skeptical glance, Poppy went back to her stack of pancakes.
The three of them walked through the halls until Marly branched off, leaving with a dramatic goodbye. The two friends giggled and continued to Defence Against the Dark Arts. Poppy complained about having to sit with a rude Slytherin who used to bully her in their 5th year. When Poppy first told Aurora about his antics, she was close to telling Elijah about it and knowing him, the Gryffindor would settle their issues the old-fashioned American way.
"Buongiorno, Ominis," Aurora greeted as she sat in her seat. The blind boy offered a short hello, more focused on his book than anything else. She slightly leaned over, trying to look at the pages. Frankenstein was printed on the cover, as well as a line of braille beneath it. She asked, and he gave her a summary of the book up to where he was reading. Hm, she could certainly relate to the monster. Her eyes wandered to her own stack of books, opening her D.A.D.A textbook to study today's lesson.
The classes dragged on, exhaustion weighing down on Aurora's shoulders. Between the lack of sleep she got and the lack of interesting lectures, she had come dangerously close to falling asleep in many of her classes. It was her last lecture of the day, overly excited for the end of her classes and to take a well-earned nap. Once again beside Ominis, they both made small talk before the teacher began his job.
𓆙
Ominis was slightly off-put by Aurora's lack of enthusiasm. Usually, she was the only thing keeping him awake in their History of Magic lesson, but today, she seemed to be acting strange. Her voice was deeper and quieter than normal, her answers were short, and she seemed disengaged from any of her actions. He eased out of their conversation, settling down as Professor Binns floated to the front of their tables.
"Today, class, we will be discussing the goblin rebellion of 1618 and the tragedy that befell upon wizards," he droned, his voice carrying such little excitement that an invisible weight seemed to settle on Ominis' eyelids. He couldn't fall asleep, especially after trying this hard for the first month of school to stay awake in all his lessons. "In total, there were seventeen-thousand four-hundred eighteen deaths, and it caused mass destruction,"
Ominis could already feel his eyes slipping closed, leaning an arm onto the wooden desks to support his heavy head. A few snores already bounced in the air at record-breaking speeds. It was already arduous to stay awake in class in previous years but with the occasional whiff of lavender and the warm sun streaming onto his face, it suddenly felt a lot harder than usual.
His body tensed up, flinching slightly when a weight dropped onto his shoulder. Curls ticked at his neck and the feeling of Aurora's cheek melting against his collarbone sent shivers down his spine. He had never been so close to her, let alone any other girl in the school. Her breathing softly soothed him, a rhythmic rise and fall in her chest that eased his racing heart. What does he do now? He pondered. He couldn't just shove her head off, and he hated admitting that he found comfort in the way her body leaned against his.
Now he couldn't fall asleep.
The boy decided that he would savour every moment he could as she rested against him. He cursed his blindness at this moment. The lack of vision bestowed upon him has always been irritating but he would do anything at this moment to be able to see her. The way her face scrunched in contact with his robes and the way her eyes rested peacefully. He could only imagine the serenity that decorated her complexion. Why did he yearn so badly, achingly to gaze at her? It was strange, how she vexed him without even knowing it.
The more Professor Binns spoke with his monotone voice, the more willpower crept out of Ominis. He strained to stay awake, focusing on anything his mind could think of. He didn't realize he had fallen asleep, his head leaning to rest on Aurora's. The two teenagers dozed while their class went on, an atmospheric solace that not even the strongest gods could replicate. An aura made by, and for, only the two of them.
There, they rested until the class ended, the rest of the students filing out and preparing for their evening. All except three. It took a moment for Ominis to wake up, wishing for nothing more than to sleep just a minute longer. It also took him a moment to remember the girl beneath him, head tucked into his neck comfortably. Her hair smelled of her perfume and felt soft as the feathers on his family's owl. Heat burned upon his ivory skin, his face feeling similar to a sunburn.
At the same time, Aurora stirred, humming as she lifted her head off his shoulder. He felt her arm lift, brushing through her hair before resting at her side. He stuttered, his entire body short-circuiting when she turned and grasped his hand. "A-Are you alight? I apologize for sleeping on you," he barely managed, wanting to slap himself as his voice cracked.
"Oh, Ominis, I should apologize. I had a late night-"
"No, no! Really, it's alright, Aurora, I also fell asleep."
"Are you sure? I feel that I'm always falling asleep around you. Not that you bore me, or anything!"
"I assure you, you weren't a bother," he reassured, putting a halt to their panic.
"Hey, you guys know what time it is?" Called a groggy voice from the other side of the room. Ominis hadn't talked with him much, but Benji Hills was a surprise. Ominis wasn't even aware they shared this class. Giggles erupted from beside him, a bird’s song. He soon found that her joy was awfully contagious as he felt laughter quietly bubble out of his throat.
Yeah, everything was normal again.