Rory's Outfit--Hair Down

Aurora had a relatively good breakfast that morning, up until she received a copy of the Daily Prophet from Eric.  She sighed and rubbed her temples as she read and reread the article in the paper about her mother's case.  She had signaled Vulpes in the Great Hall to meet her in the Courtyard, and was waiting a little nervously on a stone bench in a secluded alcove.  Aurora didn't expect the news to get out so quickly after she, herself had learned of the Ministry's intentions on reopening her mother's case.  It hadn't even been a full day.

The night before had to have been the most bizarre occurrence of her life.  One: someone talked to her; Two: that someone became her first friend; Three: people came up to them as if they were a spectacle; and Four: that someone's sister questioned Aurora's intentions and then became friends with her.

Despite it taking her through a whirlwind of foreign emotions and experiences, she knew she was heading in the right direction with Vulpes Connor.  For the first time in years, she didn't feel so alone, nor the need to want to be alone.  With a crooked smile, she looked up as she saw a blur of movement in her peripheral.  I really hope this friendship works out.

Outfit!

It was a lazy Sunday when Vulpes stepped out of the Great Hall after breakfast and headed for the courtyard. Vulpes yawned lightly as he stepped through the main doors and into the warm sunlight. He wasn't quite sure what to make of Aurora signaling him at breakfast to meet out here, but he figure it was best not to ask such trivial questions.

Stepping into the couryard, Vulpes scanned the area for his friend. It took him a moment, but finally he saw her in a small secluded alcove and quickly skippedd towards her. He tugged the straps on his bag, not entirely sure why he brought it with him today. Just a thought that he should take it with him, as it contained the journal he had been neglecting to write.

As he got closer to where she was sitting, he decided to ask a question that had cropped up earlier this morning. "So what's the story morning glory?" he asked lightly. "What did you tell my sister to make her hug me when she saw me, and to apologize? Because that's an incredible feat of strength."

Vulpes laughed slightly and sat down next to Aurora. "Seriously I'm amazed.  It takes me way longer than that to get her to come around most times." He smiled warmly at her and added: "She must really like you."

Aurora beamed at the sight of her new friend and scooted over more for room.  She laughed at the mention of his sister apologizing.  "Yeah, well, she waited for me in the common room last night.  She wanted to talk, I guess you can call it." she chuckled and reminisced what happened the night before.  "She's a little spitfire, that one.  She threatened me with her wand and everything." she shook her head in amusement and looked out into the courtyard idly.  "She... wanted to know if I had done anything to sway or tempt you into my bidding." she said breathlessly and gave him a cheeky smile.

"But everything's fine, now.  We actually had a little heart-to-heart concerning you," she said a little more seriously.  "She really cares about you, Vulpes.  She was just looking after you, you know.  I think we're actually kind of friends, now... in a weird way." she added with a chuckle and looked away, purposely failing to mention the part about how Cytherea wanted Vulpes and Aurora to date each other.

"Anyway, I signaled you out here, because... well, here." she said, changing the subject and handed over the Prophet gently.

"Yea that sounds about- wait what?" Vulpes gave Aurora a surprised look. "Heart-to-heart. With Cytherea? Was last night a full moon or something..?" He glanced up at the sky. With a smile he listened as she told him that they had smoothed things over. And that they were friends.

With a smile, he took the news article from her and read it. And then he reread it three times to make sure the words were right. For all intents and purposes it sounded like a normal article... except that last bit.

Vulpes looked back up at Aurora and handed her the article. "Your mothers case? I like how they're implying Vampires have something to do with it," he said calmly. Whoever gave the quote was not very bright. If they weren;t supposed to say anything about Vampires, they shouldn't have said that last line at all. Vulpes really hoped it wasn't Apollo, or his father who made the claim. Although it seemed unlikely as both were smarter than that.


He tilted his head to one side. "But that's good isn't it? Hopefully they'll actually make some progress on it soon." Vulpes smiled at his friend. "Y'know my cousin is part of Level 2. Maybe I can convince him to disclose some information. If he knows anything that is."

Aurora watched as Vulpes read the article, nervous for his input.  She sighed in relief and chuckled at his opinion on mentioning vampires.  "This is the first time I've heard anything about the case.  Let alone that vampires were involved... I never imagined..." she trailed off and looked away, unable to find the right words to describe her mind at work.  "Your cousin is an Auror?  If he's involved in the case, then... I don't know.  I don't want him to get in trouble if he's relaying information that's classified." she said sheepishly and looked back up at him, biting her bottom lip.

"It's weird, you know?  Going all these years without a lick of information, and then this," she said, emphasizing by pointing to the article.  "I know it's not really anything to go by, but the fact that it's actually out there... it's surreal." she said softly and shook her head.

Vulpes smiled and shook his head. "Nah, he's a Hit Wizard. He had the NEWTs to be an Auror. Along with the ability, he fought at the Battle eleven years ago." As he explained this his eyes lifted up to the rest of the courtyard. Apollo would have been here for most if it. "I'm not sure why he didn't go for it." Vulpes said softly.

He gave a shrug. "I'm not sure how much more classified you can get after 'vampires may have been involved'" Vulpes smiled at Aurora. "But you're probably right," he agreed. "It's probably better not to try and push it, just in case."

With a small stifled yawn Vulpes stood and stretched. His body felt oddly tight today, maybe he had too much excitement yesterday. "And, y'know," he added as he bent over to stretch his legs. "I'm glad to see you're in a good mood about this. Like I said before, about time you got some sort of closure on the incident." Vulpes stood back up and twisted his back, giving a satisfying sigh as he felt it loosen.

"So?" he asked. "What do you want to do today?"

Aurora furrowed her eyebrows and looked down at her feet.  What did she want to do today?  Usually she would spend her day by the lake drawing or exploring the grounds and forest.  Such things were a loner's paradise, but she had a friend now, so she could spend time with him.  That's what friends do, right?  Standing up, she ruffled her hair and packed the article in her bag.

She eyed Vulpes curiously and clenched her leather jacket closer as a cool breeze swept by.  It was a bit chilly for a mid-May morning.  "What do friends usually do on their day off?" she asked lightly, feeling a little silly as she did so.  She felt as if she were an alien or artificial intelligence learning about such things as human emotion.

Vulpes tilted his head and gave a sight shrug. To be completely honest, he wasn't sure what friends did together. From what he could tell they just sat around; talked and joked. All of which was an unknown to him. "Your guess is as good as mine," he smiled sweetly. "We could go by the lake and talk about life."

He shrugged again. "You know, 'what is the answer to the universe' and stuff like that. It's fourth-two, by the way." Vulpes let out a slight chuckle, unsure if she would understand the reference. "But I mean," he said a little quieter, and a little more seriously.

"I'd like to get to know you better..."

Aurora smiled at the suggestion.  The lake was her favourite place: how could she say no to that?  Aurora chuckled at 'what is the answer to the universe' and shook her head.  He would like to get to know me better? she thought, suddenly becoming more nervous.  Averting her eyes, she thought about all the things about herself that he could dismiss as being boring.

 There's not much about me that's interesting, besides my mother... she thought and bit her bottom lip.  Turning back to Vulpes, her nervousness subsided and was replaced by genuine curiosity.  Regardless, I want to learn more about him, so gather up your Gryffindor courage.

"Then, off to the lake," she said simply with a smile.