Aurelia's Story

“It's been a long year
Since you've been gone
I've been alone here
I've grown old
I fall to pieces, I'm falling
Fell to pieces and I'm still falling

Every time I'm falling down
All alone I fall to pieces

I keep a journal of memories
I'm feeling lonely, I can't breathe
I fall to pieces, I'm falling
Fell to pieces and I'm still falling”

Fall To Pieces, Velvet Revolver

Aurelia stumbled as she came out of the fireplace, drawing deep gasping breaths of panic. Albus rose from his chair, clearly alarmed. “Aurelia?” he questioned.

“Seal the fireplace, Uncle, quickly. I do not think he will follow me here, but still…”

Albus immediately realised what she meant and did so before taking Ariadne from her arms. “Voldemort, I presume?” he said heavily.

She nodded, and sank into the nearest chair and settled Gabriel into her lap before replying. “He arrived shortly after the Aurors left with Lucius.” Tears pricked at her eyes, but she continued. “Lucius made no denial of the accusations; in fact, quite the opposite. I have no doubt that he is already in Azkaban. Voldemort Apparated into the manor just as I was preparing to Floo to Tintagel with the twins.”

“Tintagel?” Albus replied, bemused. “Voldemort would not be able to find you there though, would he?”

“Thus the basis of its appeal. I know that whilst Lucius is in Azkaban, I will be entirely at Voldemort’s mercy. I cannot place Hogwarts and the students in danger by asking to stay here, and Tintagel will keep us safe.”

He nodded, and sighed deeply. “Will your grandfather and I be able to visit you?”

Aurelia bit her lip. “Yes, but if you would, dear Uncle, I would like one extra security measure. I would like you as Secret Keeper for myself and the twins being at Tintagel. There is no-one I would trust more.”

A tear rolled down his face as Albus assented. “I will perform the charm before you leave here today, and then inform Aberforth tonight.”

“And Harry,” Aurelia whispered, almost inaudibly. “I want Harry to be able to reach me if he needs to. I promised him, and I cannot let him down.”

“Very well, my darling child.” Tenderly, Albus kissed Ariadne on the head then rose to pace the room. When he stopped and faced Aurelia again, his face was even more troubled. “I have a terrible feeling about this parting, Aurelia.”

Gabriel gurgled happily in his mother’s arms, and Aurelia smiled tenderly through her tears. “If there were any other way, Uncle, I would do it. Were it only my safety in question, I would not give a damn; I would put myself at Voldemort’s mercy without a second thought. But no-one can guarantee that Voldemort would not harm the twins if he thought it necessary. Without Lucius to support me, I cannot be confident of keeping them safe.”

Albus inclined his head. “I do understand, my dear. I do not wish you to think that I disagree with you at all, or think less of you for doing this. Are you ready for me to perform the charm, now?”

Aurelia acquiesced, and Albus conjured a crib to lay the twins in whilst he performed the charm. They held hands with their non-wand hand, and touched their wands together with the other. Aurelia spoke first. “Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, do you solemnly swear to hold within your soul the information that Aurelia, Ariadne and Gabriel Malfoy are residing at Tintagel Castle?”

“I do,” Albus replied, as a golden mist of light began to rise from both wands.

“And do you solemnly swear to take the responsibility of being the only one able to release this secret, until absolved of this responsibility by Aurelia Malfoy or until death claims you?”

“I do,” he stated again, and with his words the golden mist expanded, swirling around them both before changing into a thick golden rope that bound their wands together before dissolving.

The two regarded each other wordlessly before Albus broke the silence. “It is done,” he said heavily. “Let us for now say farewell.” He kissed each of the twins gently on their foreheads, before turning to his great niece. “I hope dearly that we will not be parted for too long, my darling Aurelia.”

“That is my wish also, Uncle. I will never be able to find a way to thank you for all you have done for me, and I only hope you realise how dear you are to me.” Aurelia exhaled, then gathered the twins in her arms and Flooed away from her life as she knew it.

Aurelia Malfoy groaned as she tossed and turned in her bed. The twins were teething, and she had had precious little sleep in the last week. Slowly, she stumbled to her feet and opened the window of her bedroom so that the late spring air could flood the room. Aurelia breathed in deeply, and stared off into the distance as her thoughts overtook her consciousness. The months since Lucius’ arrest had passed far quicker than she would ever have expected. Ariadne and Gabriel were developing fast, and occupied the majority of her time. In fact, she had been mostly unaware of how time was passing in the outside world until yesterday when she received an owl from Harry. Since she had read what he had to say, she had been feeling deeply troubled, and more than a little guilty for hiding herself away from everything that had been happening. Sighing, she once again reread Harry’s letter.

“Aurelia,” it read. “I hope you and the twins are ok. I’m sorry about disturbing you, but I’m worried and I don’t know who else to talk to. It’s Draco; Lia, I know he’s up to something, but no-one believes me. Ron and Hermione think I’m being paranoid, and Professor Dumbledore is doing his bloody ‘believing the best in people thing’ again. I’m pretty sure he’s taken the Dark Mark, and he’s doing something in the Room of Requirement. I think Snape,” Aurelia chuckled as she saw where Harry had crossed out the phrase ‘greasy git’ next to Snape’s name, “is on it as well. Please, Lia, send him an owl or come up to the school or something, please. I’ll keep you up to date with what’s happening. Love, Harry.”

Aurelia inhaled slowly, breathing in the fresh air. She realised that this was something that she could not ignore, but re-immersing herself in the events of the war was already causing the aching pain in her chest that tightened whenever she thought of Lucius to increase ten-fold. Already, the pain was fighting its way to the surface, the pain that she had tried so desperately to ignore since the day her husband was snatched from her. Aurelia had grown so accustomed to Lucius’ constant presence, she had forgotten the agonies she went through in the two years before Voldemort’s return, having to live without the man she loved. Whilst now she had the twins to distract her, and she did love them dearly, they were no longer enough to take the pain away.

However, she could not use this as an excuse to ignore the situation which had arisen. With Lucius in prison, Draco was her responsibility, and she trusted Harry’s judgement enough to easily believe that Draco was indeed plotting something on behalf of the Dark Lord. After all, they did speak privately at the end of last summer, and Draco did seem much more withdrawn afterwards, looking back on events. Aurelia cursed herself as she realised that she had been too wrapped up in the twins and the events in her personal life to pay attention to Draco as she should have been.

As she sat down to compose an owl to Draco, she acknowledged to herself that she was taking a grave risk. Somehow, she had to indicate to Draco that she would support him in breaking away from the Dark Lord without compromising her position if he chose not to. It was a thin line to tread. Sighing, she wrote out the letter.

“Draco,” she wrote, “I hope this letter finds you in good health and spirits. I realise I have been more than a little negligent in my duties towards you of late, and for that I sincerely apologise, and hope you understand the reasons for this neglect. It occurs to me that we have not really spoken at all since your father’s arrest, and I wanted to take the chance to tell you that, in Lucius’ absence, should you need a confidant, I am here. The Order insisted I go into hiding with the twins for now, but any message you need to get to me can be done so via Professor Dumbledore. In fact, anything you would want to discuss with me as opposed to your father, you can do also with the Headmaster. You will find him much more understanding than you would perhaps imagine. Please think carefully over what I have said, Draco; I would not want you to make any mistakes you will end up regretting due to having no-one to talk with. All my love, Aurelia Malfoy.”


Yes, she nodded decisively, that would do the trick. She scribbled a reply to Harry as well and sent both notes off to Hogwarts. Aurelia had little time to muse though, for a keening wail from the next room told her that the twins were again awake and waiting to be fed.

A couple of weeks had passed, and Aurelia had had no reply from Draco. She hoped he had had the sense to talk to his Headmaster; frowning, she made a resolution to fire call Albus later in the week. However, fate intervened in the cruellest of ways. She was woken out of her sleep late at night by the fierce burning of the Dark Mark. Fearing for Harry, she fire called Albus’ office, but no-one answered. Aurelia was now beginning to panic. Throwing caution to the wind, she left the twins in the charge of the house elves and Apparated to the outer boundaries of Hogwarts. The wind whipped through her hair as she ran to the gates and began hammering on them. After a couple of minutes of fruitless pounding, she shot a Patronus off to the castle, and Remus Lupin came rushing down to answer it. When he saw her standing there, he threw open the gates and pulled her into a deep embrace.

“Merlin, Aurelia, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what to say,” he muttered sorrowfully.

Aurelia looked up at him, her eyes wide. “Is it Harry?” she asked, her voice trembling.

Remus stepped back. “You… you haven’t heard? Circe’s beard, I don’t know how to tell you this. It’s Albus, Lia. He’s…” Remus tailed off sorrowfully, unable to state the horrifying truth out loud.

Aurelia wailed loudly, piercing the silence. “No. No, not Uncle Albus, please…” Her face hardened as she regained her composure. She would deal with her grief when on her own. “Who did it, Remus?”

“Snape cast the actual curse, Lia, but Harry told us that Draco was supposed to do it, but lost his nerve at the last minute.”

“Harry was there?” she questioned.

“Yes, he’d been off somewhere with Dumbledore. From what I can gather, the Dark Mark was over the Astronomy tower when they returned. They flew straight there, and Harry told me that Albus petrified him under the cloak and faced down Draco. Draco had just lowered his wand when Snape burst through the door, and –“

Remus had said all he needed to. “Do the Aurors have them?” Aurelia asked, her voice wavering.

“No, they managed to escape the grounds and Apparate away. The majority of us were fighting the Death Eaters that Draco managed to smuggle into the castle, so we didn’t even realise what had happened at first.”

Aurelia stared at the castle, fiercely blinking back her tears. “I will be in touch soon, Remus,” she suddenly stated before Apparating back to Tintagel.

A black raven was waiting for her when she returned, a letter tied to its leg. It squawked haughtily as Aurelia untied the parchment with trembling hands before flying off instantly. She slit the envelope open, and recognised with a shock Severus Snape’s handwriting on the letter.