Bye Bye Blues ((Esmeralda))

[Aurora Chan]

((Sorry for the wait! I finally dragged up something within me to write this uber long post! Don’t feel the need to write as much, and I hope it’s okay. ))

Aurora looked up at the sky squinting as the bright sunlight gleamed from above like a golden jewel and smiled widely to herself, not bothering to bring a hand up to shade herself from the intense glare of the heat. Aurora could now see a very good reason to Ari’s increased grumpiness, coupled with being dragged unwillingly to Diagon Alley with the rest of the family. However, although Aurora sympathised with Ariane’s preferences, she had to admit she didn’t wish the sun to go away; on the contrary, Aurora loved the sunshine, because it helped raise her spirits when she peered out of her window. For a lot of people, it meant easy access outdoors, not being constrained to the indoors (not that that had ever stopped Ari), but for Aurora, a girl who didn’t enjoy being under the sun, or being out in fresh air for that matter, it was the concept of cheerfulness the sun brought. That didn’t mean she had a grudge against the rain though. Aurora certainly did not welcome bad weather in the same avid way Ari seemed to do, but she found she needed it sometimes; needed the emotions the rain invoked within her, like how the beautiful sunshine ignited her cheerfulness and positivity. Aurora had found over time that for her, the rain represented a new beginning, washing away old sins and troubles to make way for a clear day. Rain was her hidden sorrow when she found herself wallowing in her own pity during those rare times, her sadness represented and emphasised with every drop that hit the ground with a defining pitter-patter. Rain was her darkness which could also light the way and help her grow. That was how Aurora felt whenever there was rain, and that was also why she was the only one who understood why Ariane craved for it so much.

Weather undoubtedly raised several varying emotions within Aurora, differing with each type, and it also reminded her most of her cousin. Ariane, like Aurora, went with the day, the flow of the wind. Neither could help how the skies made them feel, impacted upon their everyday lives. Aurora smiled to herself again as she let her head drop back to gaze in front of her, noting the passing people with distant interest as they walked by her still figure in the middle of the alleyway, too busy to acknowledge her presence. Aurora found her mind wandering back to how the rest of her family was right now, and chuckled to herself at the hell Leo was probably going through, having been forcefully frog-marched by their parents to Madam Malkins for new school robes. He was growing at an incredible rate, and although four years Aurora’s junior, was already a few centimetres taller than her, resulting in needing new clothes and shoes constantly. It had irked Aurora at first, mainly because Leo kept talking about his newfound height and comparing themselves in the mirror, but she was genuinely glad to see her brother growing up physically as well as mentally. Leo had always hated clothes shopping, but when he did resort to having to go, he spent forever on choosing the desired items. Aurora was no doubt the quicker shopper despite being a girl, delving into various boutiques and emerging five minutes later with the things she had set out to buy; there was no dilly-dallying in the world of Aurora’s shopping, because she didn’t enjoy it in the first place. She wanted to get things done swiftly, so she could go home and waste that extra time in front of the television. Hence why she simply refused to follow Leo and their parents to Madam Malkins, and instead, had chose to stay with her cousins, much to Leo’s aggravation. The two were rarely separated, but Aurora had insisted, pointing out that Leo didn’t need her help with choosing school robes; they were all the same, depending on which house you were in. All that remained was for him to get fitted, and Leo had conceded defeat after a while, going off with Jenny and George in a dismal manner.

Aurora had originally been with Ari and Harmony, but she felt she ought to give her cousins some time alone together; back at home, they rarely had that opportunity, because there were six of them living in that space now, and apart from Mr Chan being at work during most of the days, the house was full to the brim with people. So, making a rather lame excuse to Ari and Harmony about having to buy a specific book by herself whilst they visited the sweets store, Aurora had speeded off before they could protest, hence why she was in Diagon Alley alone now, wandering aimlessly past the shops. Her eyes occasionally found something interesting to look at, and sometimes she entered a shop to browse lazily, but Aurora had never been a shopping person, and going around looking at things she wanted but couldn’t have because she shouldn’t spend money on unnecessary things was, if anything, painful, and boring too. Looking down at the only bag in her hand, Aurora smiled at the book she had ended up buying after escaping from her cousins; it had initially been an quickly-thought-of excuse, the ever-so-important book, but it had turned into reality when she spied a novel she had been wanting for a long time in a book store. Aurora had always been a bookworm, and spent hours in the library when she was at home during the holidays; her favourite shop to be in was no doubt one which stocked books. Her house was littered with so many books she and Leo shared, and it was a good thing Ari and Harmony cared for reading too. Aurora rarely bought books, due to free access to them at the library, and she was never one to waste money, but this book belonged to a collection she had, and she had deemed it worthy enough to buy.

Smiling to herself excitedly, Aurora decided that she might as well get started on the book, because there was nothing else for her to do anyway. She had promised she’d meet Ari and Harmony at Madam Malkins in half an hour, and that was plenty of time to kill. Wandering around, Aurora looked for a bench somewhere so she could sit and enjoy her new book – she was much too lazy to stand. Finally she found an empty seating area and gratefully sat down, immediately pulling out the novel from her bag and setting it on her lap, admiring the brand new cover, unblemished and waiting to be scratched. Aurora loved all sorts of fiction books, muggle or magic. This particular one was of the wizarding world, since she had bought it from a shop in Diagon Alley, and the cover displayed a moving picture of the main characters of the story. Feeling anticipation crawl up her throat, Aurora couldn’t suppress a bright grin as she settled down comfortably and opened the novel to the first page in delight. She had been thoroughly engrossed in the book for about five minutes, already reading each page ravenously, fingers skimming the edges with impatience, when somebody sat down beside her, causing her to look up despite dying to know what happened next on page thirty. Aurora found herself blinking in surprise as she saw the familiar face of a younger girl with brunette hair, and immediately her lips smiled in recognition. Never been one to be shy, Aurora spoke up friendlily, temporarily neglecting her book. “Hey, don’t you go to Hogwarts?” She asked in curiosity, carefully closing her book and memorising the right page. Aurora ran her eyes promptly over the younger girl, trying to place her in her head. She wasn’t from Hufflepuff, otherwise Aurora was sure to know her name, and she wasn’t a Slytherin either, because they stood out in Aurora’s mind more so. “Which house are you in?” She tried again, ploughing onwards despite having not earned an answer yet. “Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, right? You’re definitely not a Huffle, like me. Second year? Third year?” Aurora giggled with a grin on her face, shaking her head in apology. “Ah, sorry, I should really introduce myself first. I’m Aurora Chan. Hufflepuff, going from fifth year into sixth. Nice to meet you. I can’t wait to get back to Hogwarts in September!”

[Esmeralda Mendez]

((Sorry it took so long, you can blame my cousins for hogging up the computer ))

Ezzie didn't know exactly what she was doing, walking into the Leaky Cauldron this afternoon. She had no business to be done in Diagon Alley, nor did she have any money to spend there. She was even wasting very valuable time here when she could be in the park making money for her music. (Even though it wasn't much, it still made a huge difference to a teenager in a homeless shelter.) But somehow, through all the madness of coming here today, Ezzie felt it was just the right thing to do. Somehow, Diagon Alley held good things for Ezzie today, she just didn't know how. She sighed as she wandered around aimlessly.

Later on, Ezzie's traveling led her into the shop of Flourish and Blotts, where there were barely any people walking around the store. Ezzie wasn't surprised. Hogwarts letters didn't come for a matter of weeks, so the need to buy school books didn't come yet. The only person in the shop other than her and a small handful of random people she barely knew was a strange, depressed looking bookkeeper that looked close to tears sitting behind the counter. Ezzie felt sorry for the woman, but walked on. She eventually found herself immersed in a rather interesting book Ezzie knew she couldn't buy. When Ezzie was just about finished with the first chapter, she closed the book and placed it neatly back onto the shelves. She turned to walk out of the store when she stumbled upon a small velvet pouch. She looked inside to find mounds of gold inside, much more than the small pouch should have been able to hold. She also found a beautiful ruby necklace that must have been worth a fortune. Ezzie knew that if she just walked out of here with this pouch, she would probably be set for life, but she knew it just wasn't right. She walked over to the desk where the depressed looking bookkeeper sat.

"Excuse me," Ezzie said politely. "But I just found this small pouch on the ground and wondered maybe if you had a lost and found or something I could put this in?"

The woman gasped and whispered, "Where did you find this?"

"It was on the ground, just over there." She said, understanding dawning on her. "And by the look on your face, I'd say you've seen this before?"

"Are you kidding?” She said, her voice much louder than before. "It was my grandmother's! She died ages ago, and left this baby to me in her will, only nobody could find it!"

Ezzie smiled, the feeling of a good deed filling her up with warmth.

"Is the necklace still in there?" She said, making it hard to believe this woman had looked so upset just minutes before. Ezzie handed her the pouch and watched with a bright smile as she opened it, her hands shaking. After taking a good look inside, the woman looked back up at Ezzie with watery eyes.

"Thank you so much.” She whispered. "I wish there was more I could do for you than this." She handed her a card that looked kind of like a muggle's driver's license. The top of the card read "Flourish and Blotts Gold Card Member" in gold writing. In smaller, but elegant looking silver writing the words "Includes twenty-five free books per month for card holder's entire lifetime courtesy of Flourish and Blotts Owner, Olivia Swanson" were printed under it. The information under the card was blank until the bookkeeper, (and apparently owner of the shop) Olivia Swanson tapped her wand on the card. Soon enough, the card contained all Ezzie's personal information, including a moving picture of her, at Flourish and Blotts.

"The picture comes in handy; it shows exactly where you are and what you're doing." Ezzie didn't know what to say, so she just stood there looking like an idiot until Olivia said,

"Just go buy yourself a book!"

Ezzie ran off to the section where her book was, and hastily took it back off the shelves. She practically skipped back to Olivia's desk where she tapped the card with her wand and smiled yet again.

Ezzie walked with a skip in her step all the way to a small bench where only a girl sat. She sat down in a vacant spot next to the girl and began to read. She had not gone farther that three sentences when the girl spoke up and said,

“Hey, don’t you go to Hogwarts?”

Ezzie smiled and told the girl that she did. Ezzie thought she had seen the girl before, but wasn't exactly sure where. She seemed like a nice person though, definitely worth getting to know.

“Which house are you in?”

Knowing she wasn't going to get to read her book just yet,(which was perfectly fine, she had plenty other opportunities.)She closed it up and briefly took notice to the fact that they were reading the same book when she said,

"I'm in Gryffindor, going into third year." The girl giggled.

“Ah, sorry, I should really introduce myself first. I’m Aurora Chan. Hufflepuff, going from fifth year into sixth. Nice to meet you. I can’t wait to get back to Hogwarts in September!”

Ezzie smiled. Aurora and Ezzie definitely did share the same views.

"I know what you mean! September couldn't come soon enough for me; it’s so boring around here! By the way, I see that you and I are reading the same book. Do you like it so far?" Ezzie waited for a response from the soon to be sixth year Hufflepuff named Aurora.

((I know I shouldn't have written so much, but this idea came to me, and I couldn't think of any way to shorten it. Oh well! Hope your eyes are okay after this ;D))

[Aurora Chan]

Aurora tilted her head and wondered if Ariane or Leo would recognise this girl, since they were in the same house. “Gryffindor, eh? My cousin and brother are in Gryffindor too.” Aurora beamed, taking in the facts about her with interest; she always loved meeting new people. “Third year is a good year.” She nodded more to herself than her companion. “I hope you have fun then. After that it’s a bit more stressful, what with OWLs and NEWTs.” Aurora thought back to a few years ago when she was this girl’s age; she had changed a lot during the transition from second to third year. Aurora had become more mature, wiser and more understanding in just a few months. At the same time though, she had managed to remain her usual upbeat, positive and bubbly self. It was within that Aurora had changed the most, and her thinking and views had never been the same since. She sometimes wondered what had brought about the sudden difference, but she had always put it down to puberty and growing up from child to teenager. Although there were times Aurora was sadder than her old, naïve self, she had to admit that the change had been overall good for her. You couldn’t live life with too much innocence. “I’m sure you’ll be fine though. Do you know what you’re planning on taking yet? I suppose it’s too early for you to be thinking about what you want to become when you’re older at the moment, but maybe you’re one of those ambitious types… um…” Aurora ceased her laughter with a small frown. “Oh, I never did catch your name.” She giggled softly, before glancing down at the book the Gryffindor was talking about.

“Wow, what a coincidence!” Aurora laughed with amusement, eyes twinkling as she handled the book carefully. “Yes, I’m really enjoying it so far. I only just bought it today, and I couldn’t wait to get home to start it. I’m impatient when it comes to reading.” Aurora admitted with a chuckle. “Well, I think the author is fantastic, don’t you? Such a good plot and interesting characters. Have you ever read the other ones in this series? I have the whole set. They’re some of my favourite wizarding books.” Aurora imagined the overflowing bookcase situated in the loft back home, and smiled fondly to herself. Although the shelves were brimming from top to bottom, causing Aurora to remind herself to get her father to extend it sometime soon, the books were all neatly stocked in alphabetical order of the authors’ surnames, and the case was split clean in two, one half for muggle books, the other for wizarding books. All of them were fiction novels rather than textbooks; those were shelved in the living room, along with Mr Chan’s medical books. The loft was the special home of fiction novels, and Aurora and Leo loved and treasured it.

Thinking of her father’s work suddenly made Aurora remember that her mother was returning to work for the Ministry this year, like she had once done before she had given birth to Aurora. It was true that now with four children, there was more reason for Jenny to stay home and care for them, continuing her role as housewife, but since all four teens housed most of the year at Hogwarts, Jenny had a lot of spare time on her hands. This had been noted specially since Leo joined Hogwarts last year, and Mrs Chan had been rather bored for a long time with nothing to do sitting at home. Now with Ariane and Harmony, they had two more mouths to feed, so Jenny returning to work made more sense. During the last few months of Aurora’s fifth year, just before Lorraine had been murdered, Jenny had managed to reacquire her old job successfully, and Aurora could tell her mother couldn’t wait to be of use somewhere. She had never been the type to sit around all day. “So, do you read muggle books too?” Aurora added as she zoned back into the conversation with the Gryffindor, smiling friendlily.

[Esmeralda Mendez]

“Third year is a good year.” Aurora said, nodding a little. “I hope you have fun then. After that it’s a bit more stressful, what with OWLs and NEWTs.” Ezzie thought about those horrible testes that were to come. Ezzie was going into fourth year and after that, she had the owls exams to deal with. Ezzie really didn't worry herself much about the exams though, she had always been very clever. Somethimes, she even thought she had been sorted into the wrong house, what with all that about Ravenclaws being so smart and cunning. That was Ezzie, for sure. Then however, she remembered the traits that made a Gryffindor. Bravery, courage, and all the rest. Ezzie was brave indeed. It took a lot of guts to do the things she did. It wasn't like she had a choice, though. Her parents had abandoned her, leaving her with nothing but a Hogwarts letter. They thought they had killed her, but she survived. She had the strength to go on with her life. She had the bravery to go a full month, living on the streets. All alone, watching as little children walked by, holding their parents hand. It hurt, but she had the strength and courage to keep going with her life. Eventually it all payed off, she was off to Hogwarts, where she would have food and a warm bed every day. When she came home, she even managed to find a nice shelter she could settle down in. Ezzie figured that was what made her a true Gryffindor after all.
“I’m sure you’ll be fine though. Do you know what you’re planning on taking yet? I suppose it’s too early for you to be thinking about what you want to become when you’re older at the moment, but maybe you’re one of those ambitious types… um…” Aurora ceased her laughter with a small frown. “Oh, I never did catch your name.” She giggled softly, before glancing down at the book Ezzie had in her hand.
"Oh gosh, I'm sorry1" Ezzie gave a small laugh. "I'm Ezzie Mendez."
“Wow, what a coincidence!” Aurora laughed with amusement, eyes twinkling as she handled the book carefully. “Yes, I’m really enjoying it so far. I only just bought it today, and I couldn’t wait to get home to start it. I’m impatient when it comes to reading.” Aurora admitted with a chuckle. “Well, I think the author is fantastic, don’t you? Such a good plot and interesting characters. Have you ever read the other ones in this series? I have the whole set. They’re some of my favourite wizarding books.”
"I absolutley love this book. I've only read a couple of pages, but it's already got me hooked. I haven't read any of the others, but as soon as I'm done with this one, I'll make it one of my first priorities." Ezzie smiled.

“So, do you read muggle books too?” Aurora added, looking like her mind had been elsewhere.

"Oh, I spend a scary amount of time at the library near home. The librarians know me very well over there." Ezzie turned over the book in her hands. "What about you? Do you read a lot of muggle books, or just wizarding books?"

[Aurora Chan]

“Nice to meet you then, Ezzie.” Aurora smiled, and then realised with a jolt that this girl was probably one of Harmony’s acquaintances, being in the same year. “Oh, do you know a Harmony Chan then? I’m her cousin. She’s a Hufflepuff, quite shy, but she looks a lot like me. People say she looks like me more than her sister.” Aurora frowned a tad at her own comment, having always wondered if Ari truly minded this fact. It was blatantly true, the distinctions of features between Aurora and Harmony. They both had the same round-ish face and high cheekbones, despite she having her black hair past her shoulders and Harmony’s extremely short. Aurora had always worried that Ari would take this to heart, but had never asked her best friend about this matter. Ari was generally honest, perhaps brutally so, but Aurora knew her well enough to know that she was in denial of a lot of things; this fact seemed to be one of them.

Aurora smiled with amusement when Ezzie stated she was enjoying the book a lot, and nodded in concurrence. “You should.” Aurora’s enthusiasm was hard to miss. “They are brilliant… Though I say that about most books. I’m such a bookworm.” Aurora admitted with a good-natured laugh. “Are you much of a bookworm yourself? I suppose it runs in the family for me.” Aurora told Ezzie, thinking back on the passion for reading her parents also held, and the other bookcase situated in the living room that held the many textbooks of the house; mostly medical, for her father’s research and work purposes. Being a healer at St Mungo’s was a demanding, tiring job. Aurora knew she would never want to be one. As much as she loved helping people, she didn’t like science and anatomy much. She wasn’t scared of blood or anything, just scared of the responsibilities that being a healer held. Putting someone else’s life in her hands scared Aurora, though she didn’t think of it a lot. Plus, her grades in Herbology and Potions had been dismal so far, reflecting her lack of affinity for science. Aurora supposed that that certainly hadn’t run into her blood, but Leo seemed to be showing positive signs. Aurora didn’t hate Herbology, she just sucked at it, and the same was said for Potions, though her main source of hate was directed at Professor Snape.

Aurora turned to Ezzie and smiled with a nod, books always a good subject to discuss with her. “I read anything and everything fiction.” Aurora grinned with a laugh. “I have a whole collection filled with both, really. I am a witch, true, but I can be so much of a muggle sometimes, though I am a pureblood. What about you?” Aurora was curious, although she didn’t judge people by blood, like many Slytherins did. It didn’t matter to Aurora, a person themselves defined their personality, and nothing else. “Ah yes, my local library knows me very well too.” Aurora laughed in glee at the memories of her last sixteen years. Often the librarians would find her curled up in the corner of the building during weekends off school, immersed in a book even by the time it was about to close. They didn’t want to shoo her out, but they had to, and they had to do it all the time.