Chapter Text
"This is ridiculous," Aurora mumbled, folding her clothes, placing them in her trunk. "Why does Dumbledore not want anyone to write to Harry?"
"The Order sees him as a liability, due to his connection with Voldemort," said her father, Sirius, matter-of-factly. After about two years of knowing him, one thing Aurora quickly learnt about her father, was that he never sugar-coated things-- he was blunt.
Right after the events of the third task of the Triwizard Tournament, Dumbledore had called a bunch of people, including her parents, to rejoin the Order of The Phoenix, an organization which fought against Voldemort during the first Wizarding War. Although this time, they were forced to remain secret, as the beloved Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, was a coward, who refused to believe that Voldemort was back.
A few days back, Sirius had offered his childhood home, Grimmauld Place #12, as headquarters for the Order, as it was under the Fidelius Charm, and other various protections. So, here they were, packing up their clothes, and putting extra wards on their current house, just in case.
"I guess...but it's still stupid though," Aurora sighed. "I mean Harry saw Cedric die! He's already been through enough! I just don't think that having everyone go no-contact with him is a good idea, if anything, he's going to feel a lot worse."
"I know honey, even I find it way too harsh," said Marlene sadly, stroking her daughter's hair.
"Can't we do something about it?"
Marlene sat quietly for a few moments, lost in thought, before an idea struck her. "Perhaps I can charm a parchment, which can allow you and Harry to talk to each other. However, you must not mention anything about the Order. And you cannot tell anyone about this. Understood?"
"Yes! Thank you, mum!" Aurora squealed, hugging Marlene. "I'm going to owl him right away!"
"Aurora, finish packing first," Sirius chuckled lightly.
"Right."
She finished packing her clothes, immediately rushing to her room, to write a letter.
Dear Harry,
How are you doing? I hope everything's alright for you. Anyways, along with this letter, I've attached a bit of parchment, so we can communicate. For reasons which I cannot tell you (I'm so sorry), Dumbledore's forbidden everyone to contact you, so I won't be able to send you any mail. However, my parents and I think that's a whole load of bogus, so thanks to my mum, the parchment is charmed in a way, so that we can talk to each other. Kind of like Riddle's diary, minus the creepy vibes. Just one thing, you can't tell anyone about this, so I guess it's our little secret. Also, again, due to reasons I can't disclose, I can't tell you much about what's going on. Once I'm allowed to, I'll make sure to explain everything. I already miss you, hope we can see each other soon.
Love,
Aurora
She gave the letter to her owl, Mr. Fluffshire, instructing him to give it to Harry, and fly back as soon as possible. Once Harry had received the parchment, the two began writing to each other for over four hours, until Marlene had to intervene and send her to bed.
Over the next few weeks, the two made sure to write regularly, while Aurora was making sure to not get caught by anyone. Whenever Harry mentioned that he had received no letters from Ron and Hermione, she felt her chest tighten with guilt. She couldn't mention that Ron and Hermione were also with her, and she felt horrible for lying. Luckily, her turmoil came to an end, though she wished it was under better circumstances.
A few days prior, there had been a Dementor attack on Harry and his cousin, forcing him to use magic outside of Hogwarts. As he had broken the law, he was immediately expelled from Hogwarts. That's when Dumbledore decided, enough was enough, and allowed the Order to extract him from his house and bring him to Grimmauld Place. Of course, when he first arrived, he was absolutely furious.
"What the hell! So, while I've been locked up at the Dursley's, you've all been chilling here, with this secret organization bullshit?"
"We're so sorry, Harry," said Hermione, looking down. "We really wanted to tell you, but Dumbledore forbade us."
"Oh, Dumbledore, forbade you? Just fantastic!" Harry hissed. "You know what, screw this, screw all of you, I need a moment to myself."
With that, Harry stormed off to a random room. Ron and Hermione let out a sigh, glancing towards each other.
"Let me talk to him," muttered Aurora, nervously playing with her blond curls, "I'm sure he'll come around."
Quietly opening the door, Aurora entered the room, sitting down on the bed, next to him. "Hey there...just so you know, I really am sorry I wasn't able to tell you about the Order."
Hadrian let out a breath. "Honestly, I'm not angry about that. I'm angrier about the fact that they just listened to Dumbledore like that. I mean, at least you made an effort to keep contact. Merlin, this summer was awful. I keep on having nightmares about Cedric's death..."
"I'm sorry," said Aurora, pulling him into a hug.
They stayed like that on the bed for a couple of minutes, until Marlene called everyone down for dinner.
Unfortunately, dinner was not rainbows and sunshine. Not even ten minutes in, an argument broke out between Sirius and Molly, over whether to tell Harry more about the Order. Aurora's cousin, Nymphadora, or Tonks, which was what she preferred to be called, tried diffusing the tension by making a bunch of funny faces. Using her metamorphagus abilities, she gave herself a pig nose, then dog ears, and something else, which no one paid attention to, being too invested in the ongoing argument.
"He's my godson, Molly," Sirius snapped. "I think I have a say in this matter."
"Oh please, you were barely a father to your own daughter, being locked up in Azkaban, you can't call yourself a proper godfather."
The whole table fell silent. Marlene was clenching her fork so tightly, it was a surprise it didn't snap in half right there. Meanwhile, absolutely horrified, Aurora glanced towards her father. Sirius' expression was worryingly neutral, no one sure what was going through his mind. "You know what, enjoy your meal," he said, standing up. "I can't deal with this; I'm going to my room."
Everyone awkwardly glanced between Molly and Sirius, as he got up and went to his room. Eventually, the stares settled down to Marlene and Aurora, who were refusing to make eye contact with anyone.
"Molly," Arthur sighed, "that was a bit too far..."
Molly just shrugged, continuing to eat pasta.
The silence during the rest of dinner was suffocating. Aurora didn't know when Harry's hand had made it to her knee, softly rubbing circles, but she was thankful for it. Everyone finished dinner unusually fast, wanting to get out of there, and into their rooms. Aurora was thankful that she was sharing a room with her cousin, and not Ginny and Hermione, knowing if that was the case, the air would be heavy because of dinner.
"Hey, did you go talk to Uncle Sirius?" Nymphadora asked her. "I hope he's alright..."
Aurora shook her head. "Mum said to give him space."
"Ah, I see. Go sleep, I'm sure things will be better tomorrow," said Nymphadora, ruffling her hair.
Hopefully. Aurora thought to herself.