Chapter Text
Rory was all nerves that morning. Sure, she'd been to a sleepover with her best friend, Matilda a few times, but this was different. This wasn't with Matilda. After the events that ended their third year of school, she was now irrevocably tied to Hogwarts's very own "Golden Trio." No one called them this to their faces because it was mostly an insult. A testament to how often found themselves getting into trouble and being rewarded for it.
But now Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Harry Potter were her friends. They had been before, but only in passing. Hermione was her roommate and the only other person in their year who liked to be challenged academically. Rory was also fond of Ron because he was the only other person around who liked the Chudley Cannons.
And then there was Harry Potter. Rory didn't know him as well, and she'd made a point to avoid him and the trouble he brought with him. He was nice, certainly, and whenever Draco Malfoy or any other Slytherin tried to harass her, he was first in line to jump to her defense. Mostly though, she gave him a wide berth.
Until last year.
"Are you sure you're all right with me going? I really don't mind staying," Rory said as they waited in the lobby of the Ministry of Magic. It was deserted at this time of day, but this seemed the most convenient way to get her to the Weasley's house. There was no fireplace to connect to the floo network in their small flat and she was too young to apparate. Using the floos at the Ministry was the easiest way to get to her.
The Weasleys had owned a very illegal flying car, but in second year, Ron and Harry crashed it into the Whomping Willow on Hogwarts grounds. That had been a spectacular sight.
"As if I would make you pass on the opportunity to go to the World Cup," her father said.
In Aurora's eyes, there could not possibly be a better human being on the planet than her father, Remus Lupin. Their life had not been easy and until this year, they'd mostly lived in a shabby one-bedroom flat where Remus slept except when his daughter was away at school. No one wanted to hire a werewolf. Except Dumbledore had last year.
Having the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor also be her father didn't earn her any popularity points, especially in the aftermath of the entire student body finding out about her father's condition. But that didn't bother her one bit. That didn't make her ashamed to have him as a father and never harbored an ounce of resentment towards him for the life they led as a result of them having so little money.
But their relationship was different now that she knew the truth about Sirius Black.
"You do this every time you have to leave for school," Remus said. "Except for last year because I went with you."
"I just worry about you being on your own," she said, as she did every year. She was less nervous this year, maybe because she was older, but also because she was nervous about her upcoming trip with the Weasleys to the Quidditch World Cup.
"I did quite well being on my own for 21 years before you came along. I think I'll manage," he said.
Rory rolled her eyes at this.
"Ah, Remus! You're a sight for sore eyes."
Rory turned to see Arthur Weasley approaching them.
"Arthur. Good to see you," Remus said, as the two shook hands in greeting.
"Hello," Rory said with a polite wave.
"Thank you for inviting her along," Remus said. "I've never been a fan of Quidditch."
"I think his eyes roll into the back of his head whenever I talk about it," Rory said.
"Well Ron insisted," Mr. Weasley said. "We're happy to have you."
Rory gave her dad one last hug. Remus paused to take in his daughter's features as he always did before she departed for school. Then he kissed her forehead.
"Love you, Dad," she said.
"I love you too," he said. "Take care of yourself, Aurora."
"And you," she said. "Remember chips aren't a proper vegetable."
Remus laughed Rory walked off with Mr. Weasley.
"Now is it Aurora or Rory?" he asked.
"Either," she said. "Rory's a nickname for Aurora."
"Ah," Mr. Weasley said, clearly never having heard her name from Ron.
She was called Aurora, like the northern lights. Her mother, she'd been told, had picked the name as a nod to her father's family's proclivity to name their children after celestial objects. She'd only learned this a few months ago. That was when she'd learned that her father, Remus, was not actually her father. He'd adopted Aurora 13 years ago when her real father was thrown in jail for murder.
Her actual father was the notorious Sirius Black was.
This revelation was how, despite her desire to not be thrown into any mess with Harry Potter, she'd had little choice. When Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban last year there were murmurings that he would go looking for Harry Potter for revenge, but her dad, Remus, was also concerned that Black might come looking for her.
But then it turned out that Sirius Black wasn't a killer after all. He'd been framed. It was a whole complicated mess that upended her life. Aurora spent so much of that evening in a blur feeling torn and confused and crying. But the next morning her dad was still there. He might not be her biological father, but he was always going to be her dad.
The only "downside" was that now she'd been permanently tied to Harry Potter and his trouble. They both had this huge secret about Sirius Black and his innocence and her parentage between them. There was no going back to the polite waves and "hellos" of years past.
Rory was part of Harry Potter's inner circle whether she wanted to be or not.
Rory dusted herself off as Mr. Weasley climbed from the fireplace behind her.
"Your home is lovely," Rory said gazing around the kitchen. In her flat, there was a small bar that separated the kitchen from the living area and that was it. This was practically a mansion to Rory.
"Ah, it's not much," he said.
Standing at the stove was a Mrs. Weasley. She'd seen her on the platform many times at the beginning and end of the school year. Both she and her husband had the same bright red hair their children had. Sometimes Rory wished her hair was a more interesting color than jet black, but in these circumstances, it would help her stand out.
"You must be Rory," Mrs. Weasley said.
"Aurora," Mr. Weasley corrected her.
Rory very nearly corrected him that either was fine, but she was quickly pulled into a tight hug.
"It's so good to meet you. The kids have been talking about you all summer. We're so happy to have you," Mrs. Weasley said.
"Thank you," Rory said.
Harry had written to Rory a few times over the summer, particularly after her birthday where he told her that he would also be spending the latter part of the summer with the Weasleys and that she should prepare for Mrs. Weasley's "aggressive hospitality."
"We'll be having dinner in just a bit. The others are outside. I'll have Arthur carry your things up to Ginny's room," Mrs. Weasley said.
Rory barely had the time to say thank you before she was shown the back door. The sun was starting to set on the horizon, but she could see her friends just up ahead. She walked through the grass and the mass of shapes of her friends started to finally become their own people.
Matilda was the first to see Rory. She was the only blonde in the bunch and, as usual, wore her hair loose and pushed back with a headband. She waved and then dashed over. She took Rory into a hug.
"My Beautiful Aurora," Matilda declared.
"My Beautiful Matilda," Rory replied.
Matilda Cerbus was easily the prettiest girl in our year, if not the whole school. People simultaneously wanted to be her and also hated her. She'd been a bit of a pariah in their first year because her father murdered someone and was sitting in Azkaban, but Matilda was so charming and so easy on the eyes that you forgot all about the fact that her father.
Matilda, like Hermione, was one of Rory's roommates, but the pair had always been best friends.
Rory wanted desperately to tell her best friend about Sirius Black and everything that transpired that night when Sirius Black had been set to be executed. But she'd been told not to. She wondered how many more secrets she was going to have to keep from Matilda if she kept hanging around Harry Potter.
"Ron's mother is basically my favorite person," Matilda said. "I got here this morning with Hermione and she made this coffee cake for brunch and I swear my soul left my body for a moment. It was an experience."
"Wow, that's high praise," Rory said.
Matilda slung an arm over her friend's shoulder. "How's the new flat?"
"Amazing," Rory said. "My dad slept so soundly the first night I was worried he was dead."
Matilda laughed. "I'm so glad to hear it. Especially after everything that happened."
Rory nodded in agreement. The fact that Matilda hadn't abandoned her after finding out Remus was a werewolf had been a relief. Rory was sure that all of her friends would turn on her, but Matilda had simply said "Well no wonder he's so exhausted all of the time."
"It's a good thing you're here. I don't think the trio knows exactly what to do with me," Matilda said quietly as they approached the others. "I'm sure Ron only invited me because he invited you."
That was probably true.
"You're just very intimidating," Rory explained. "No one knows what to do with you except for me."
"Too true," Matilda said.
"Hey, Rory!" Hermione said with a wave before giving her a hug. "Good to see you."
"And you," Rory replied. "Hello, Ron."
"Hey Rory," he said with a curt wave.
And then there was Harry. Tall, lanky, with dark unkempt hair, green eyes, and that peculiar lightning bolt scar on his forehead.
Rory was only slightly startled when he hugged her, and she returned the gesture before he realized she'd been caught off guard. Harry Potter had never once hugged her before. Not even on the night she found out Sirius Black was her father and that so much of both of their lives had been kept from them.
But they were friends now. Friends hugged all the time. This was fine.
"You were right about the aggressive hospitality," Rory said. "I still don't think I was properly prepared."
"Well you made it out here without being smothered so that's something," Harry said.
Ron rolled his eyes. "My mum can't help it. She's always been that way. Did she ask you if you were hungry or say that you look underfed?"
"Not once has she not commented on how skinny I am," Harry said.
"You're a seeker. You're more aerodynamic that way," Rory said.
"Oh, Merlin. Please save the quidditch talk until tomorrow," Matilda said. "I'd like a bit a respite before it becomes all-consuming. I'm only here because of friendship."
"I second that," Hermione chimed in. "Spare us."
"Fine," Harry agreed. "How's your dad?"
"Good actually," Rory said. "He still hasn't found work yet, but he's hopeful. We saved up basically everything while he was teaching, so we'll be fine for a long while."
"Glad to hear it," Hermione said. "I'm still so angry with Snape."
Rory's skin went hot at the mere mention of his name.
Severus Snape, as it turned out, was the reason Remus now found himself unemployed. Snape was the one who let it slip that a werewolf was teaching Hogwarts. He'd done nothing but antagonize Rory's father all year. Even the essay he set when he subbed for Remus, an essay on werewolves, had been a dig at him.
Rory wanted to kick her potion's master in the teeth. She'd told her father as much, but he'd promised her that Snape would get his eventually.
"I try to think about him as little as possible except for when I'm dreaming about hexing that greasy mop of hair right off his head," Rory said.
"Can I watch when you eventually go through with it?" Ron asked.
"Absolutely," Rory agreed. "You'll have to be on the lookout though. I could snap at any moment."
"You nearly did at the end of term," Matilda said. "What a juvenile thing to do. They were in school nearly two decades ago and he's still got a wild hair up his ass about your dads. Somebody needs to learn to grow up."
Harry nodded. He'd gotten the brunt of Snape's attitude over the past three years.
"Maybe he'll get over it his year," Ron suggested.
"Unlikely," Rory and Harry said in unison. They exchanged a glance and then laughed awkwardly.
Was everything going to be awkward between them now? Rory didn't like it. Maybe it was better when they were just passing acquaintances.
"'Scuse us a moment," Matilda said, pulling Rory out of earshot of the others. "What is up with you and Harry Potter?"
"Nothing," Rory replied.
"He went from barely acknowledging your existence to hugging you. His best friend invited us to the Quidditch World Cup," Matilda said. "Does he fancy you?"
Rory scoffed. "Yes. Famous Harry Potter has a crush on me and I forgot to mention it to you. Silly me."
Matilda huffed. "Fine. I just feel like there's some secret between the two of you that I'm not privy to."
Rory bit her lip. She was allowed to tell Matilda that Sirius Black was her actual dad since the truth was technically public knowledge, but she was afraid of what her best friend might say. It would stop her asking questions about Harry though.
"Okay, but you can't tell anyone at school. Promise?" Rory asked.
"Obviously," Matilda said with a nod.
And so Rory explained that she was adopted and that her real father was actually none other than the notorious Sirius Black, who also happened to be Harry Potter's godfather. That her father had been best friends with Sirius and the Potters at the time of their murder and so he'd stepped up to care for Sirius' daughter and try to keep it a secret from her so that she would never know the horrible truth of who her father was.
Matilda's jaw was on the floor. "Holy shit."
"Yeah," Rory said.
"No wonder," Matilda said looking over to Harry. "And your poor dad."
"Yeah," Rory agreed. He spent all those years raising the daughter of the man he thought was responsible for the death of all of his friends. It was sad. Of course, Rory couldn't tell her the whole truth about Sirius Black now. Or even how she knew it.
"But look on the bright side," Matilda said, "that's something else we have in common now. Both of our dads are notorious killers."
Rory rolled her eyes. "Leave it to you to draw that conclusion."
Matilda looked back over to Harry. "You definitely have a crush on him though."
"No I don't," Rory said firmly.
"Every girl in our year has a crush on Harry Potter at some point. Just accept it," Matilda said. "Unless you're Granger."
Rory glanced over her shoulder at Hermione. It was the world's worst kept secret that Hermione fancied Ron Weasley. It was blindingly obvious, probably even to Harry.
"Matilda, my favorite guinea pig. Mind trying something out for me?" Fred called across the yard.
Matilda sighed. "Excuse me."
Fred and George Weasley were in the process of developing their own line of sweets and jokes. Matilda somehow ended up becoming one of the people who tested their occasionally dangerous concoctions.
Matilda walked over to the twins and Ginny, leaving Rory to gravitate back over to the trio.
"Been in touch with Sirius?" Harry asked. Rory nodded. "I bet it's weird."
"Yeah. I think it's weird for my dad too," Rory said. "But I think he's relieved that I know now. Even more relieved that Sirius isn't actually a killer."
"Pretty relieved about that myself," Harry said.
"Being that everyone was counting on him murdering you, yeah I bet," Ron said.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Very direct, as always."
Ron shrugged. "Anyway, I'm glad you could make it, Rory."
"Yeah. Thanks for inviting me. I don't get out much unless I'm staying a few nights with Mattie," Rory said. Across the yard, Matilda was laughing.
"Probably telling her all about how they pranked my unsuspecting cousin into eating one of their concoctions when they showed up to get me," Harry said.
"Aw, that's too bad," Rory said.
"Not really," Harry said. And so Harry recounted the details of the last 13 years of his life: living with his aunt and uncle, sleeping under the stairs, being locked inside his bedroom second year, running away the previous year.
"The words 'child abuse' come to mind," Rory said. Harry shrugged. "How can you just shrug it off?"
"Well, having the lingering threat of Sirius Black being my godfather has really put them in a more tolerable mood," Harry said. "I'm all right. Really. Only three more summers with them."
"That's a bright side, but still," Rory said. "What a shit way for them to treat you. You're their family."
"I got a better replacement for them," Harry said nodding towards the Burrow. "Sometimes you do get to choose your family. Sometimes they come and kidnap you in the middle of the night and then their mother forces food on you every time you see her afterward."
"It's a good problem to have," Rory said.
"Definitely not complaining," Harry said. "I try not to let the Dursleys get me down. At least not anymore."
"Yeah, it's not fair though. Your parents are killed and then life continues to deal you a shit hand," Rory said.
"You didn't exactly get a fair shake either," Harry said. "Or your dad."
"I guess life is just shit sometimes," Rory said with a shrug.
"Exactly," Harry said. "But it could be worse."
Rory nodded. "I guess. There could be a disembodied dark wizard floating around trying to murder me."
Harry laughed. "See, you get it."
"I guess so," Rory said. She glanced over and saw that Ron and Hermione had extracted themselves from the conversation, probably having heard Harry recount the details of his upbringing a thousand times.
Rory saw Ron and Hermione talking to Matilda now. Their lives had been intersecting for the last three years. She even shared a room with Hermione, but no one knew Rory the way Matilda did. Rory didn't know anyone the way she knew Matilda. But now she was sharing stories with Harry, not to mention they had the weight of the secret of Sirius Black's innocence between them.
Rory felt things changing. She knew that change was inevitable. She would make new friends, her relationship with her old friends would change. Different people would get to see different parts of her.
Standing in Ron Weasley's garden talking to Harry Potter, Rory could swear the change was tangible.