Once the flowers bloomed, the hot season came rushing. The day she got off of Hogwarts Express meant another additional two hours train ride to see her father’s side of the family. Four years of not meeting each other in person, Aurora was beyond ecstatic to spend the holiday with her lovely grandparents. So much to tell, from quidditch and race problems to boy issues. And when she finally arrived with her mother on her side, no one could stop her from spilling the beans. In her best ability to prevent the identity of the new boyfriend from slipping out, it did come out on the table once or twice causing the grown ups couldn’t help but to gave each other the look that she couldn’t decipher. Of course the stepdad wasn’t there, someone had to take care of the king, Lucifur. In addition to that, it would be quite awkward to introduce your new husband to the in-laws of your late spouse.

Right after dinner, sitting on the edge of the bed, she tried to pull out thingamabobs out of her new enchanted satchel. It was a great spend. You could fit an entire house and it would still be as light as a feather. If she were a famous person with tons of influence, it would be a must have item for anyone in any age spectrum. That was the beauty of magic among other things that could leave an everlasting fix. Bless her muscles for not having to overly contract to lift all of her belongings including the cauldrons that had no business being that heavy.

One cauldron out, then several ingredients in separate jars with some labels on them were thrown on the bed as well as a box of match and sticks. At least two of them were clear as a crystal, a jar of honey and some seashells. The others were a tad peculiar. They all looked like something that often makes appearances in alien sci-fi movies. She then set up the cauldron on top of the wiggly bed, intending to just do her potion business right there, on the comfort of her fluffy blanket. She was ready to start a fire. Brewing a potion in a magical household should not be a problem. Until her mother entered the room.

The sight of Aurora with a lit matchstick on her hand, casually trying to brew a potion on the irregular surface of the bed was enough to make her eyes wide. “No! No!-” Her mother’s sense of danger was sharp like a razor blade, she rushed towards Aurora, snatched the matchstick then put it out. As always, what seemed like to be a routinity, the woman would yell, “-are you planning to burn the house down? Do it on the floor and not in the bedroom!” And by its nature, the girl would respond with a whine, “But my bum hurts” At that point her mother was already starting to move the cauldron and its little stand out of the room, ignoring the dramatic wail about how sore it was to sit on the floor. Blame the long train ride almost a week ago.

“What are you going to make?” A voice shouted from outside the bedroom. Aurora was still on the bed, pouting. Nothing would change the mind of a Gryffindor alumni, hence the zero point to fight. “Bruise removal paste” She answered back. The girl gave up at last, slowly jumped out of the bed, tried to bring the five jars of ingredients at the same time by hugging them and walked out the door with a case of the sulks. Laid on the floor was a perfectly set up little potion corner, medium fire lit under the cauldron, a window was open for better air circulation. She plopped down with the jars across her mother.

The light was a bit dim, but it was still apparent enough that Aurora looked at her mother sceptically. “I thought you hated potion” She always got the impression of her mother’s dislike towards potion from the slight refusal to enter the apothecary shop. Maybe she was wrong. The way her mother put the three murtlap tentacles, then a jar of honey, inside the cauldron was really gentle, as if she was enjoying it. “Used to, your father made me tolerate it.” There was a faint smile that Aurora failed to notice. Instead, she was a bit surprised that her mother mentioned him at all. Most of the time she would act as if she didn’t hear it or shift the conversation immediately.

Once the five clockwise stirring were done, the cauldron was being moved off the fire by the soon to be third year. She awkwardly looked at her mother, not knowing how to respond to the previous statement. But knowing how the girl functions on a daily basis, it was hard for her to hold back her thoughts. So she asked, “Why did you like him?” It was quite a mystery as to why and how a grumpy quiet gryffindor fell in love with a loud and eccentric hufflepuff. Opposite attraction, they said. Just like how she grew to like a guy who cannot seem to express his feelings properly.

As if there were a lump in her throat, she struggled to answer, “Well, he was- pass me the bubotuber pus please-” The conversation wouldn’t go anywhere, as per usual. Aurora admittedly felt disappointed by the almost predictable outcome. Grabbing a jar of an icky yellowish green liquid by hand then slowly poured its content into the measurement cup. “I can put it in myself” The sour taste on her tongue as she poured two fluid ounces of nasty fluid into the cauldron. She just didn’t like the fact that her mother sometimes acted as if he never existed. Out of sight, out of mind. Little did the girl know, even after all these years and one more marriage, she was still in grief.

The weird smell combined with the consistency disgusted her a bit. It was a good thing that the final product would be a paste and not something that anyone should consume per oral. Three stirs, counter clockwise. The sound of the ladle in the tin cauldron wasn’t enough to fill the silence. There were only bits of fact here and there about her father, mainly from her grandparents. She was only two when that day strucked. Her memory of him was fairly limited and sometimes, she felt like they were disappearing. From the perspective of a barely teenager, the refusal to answer the question was because of secrets. What kind of dark secrets her mother tried to bury? “He was what?-”She asked, without lifting her eyes from the cauldron. “-Did you marry him for money?” What could be the motive behind the dark, twisted, terrible secret? A big life insurance policy was a possibility since it was a common reason. It was honestly an instant regret to accuse her own mother for something sinister with inexistent evidence.

Just as she was about to apologise for the out of line inquiry, a rather surprised voice cut in the line. “Wh-what? No!” A little bit more push, then the truth would come out sooner or later. A questioning, disapproval glare was thrown at the adult whilst both of her hands were busy moving the cauldron back on top of the fire. “Fine-“ Her mother finally spoke again, followed by a sigh. At the same time, her wand waved at the cauldron, then she proceeded to reduce the heat of the fire whilst Aurora let out a smirk in victory. And so it began. “-It was not instant, I met him when we were both in second year, he almost drowned himself in the lake because he wanted to high five the giant squid or something-”

This storytime would be a hell of a ride. A great way to pass the time for the potion to simmer instead of just staring at the void and listening to the ticking clock. She was amused at her father’s whim, perhaps it would be a good idea to do it herself if she weren’t scared of a big open water. There must be something special about the great lake, it was where her parents first met. Call it coincidence, Nicholas and her first real encounter was at the same exact place, though with a different scenario. “-As predicted, he failed and didn’t have the ability to swim, so I jumped in and saved him-” It was a dramatic, lovely, show stopping story, and Aurora was into it. “Like the little mermaid!” She said with a toothy grin on her face. As she saw a nod, she then clapped her hands together.

“-I disliked him at first, he was loud, always came up with witty comebacks that just made me furious. But then-“ Almost predictable. She knew what would come next. It must be the intense feeling of adoration after years of cat and mouse. “-in our fourth year he asked me on a date.” One thing she learnt from it was that potion was not the only thing that needed a long process to make, add some stuff in it, let it simmer. Feelings were all the same.

Then the tale continued. That first date did not go ever so smoothly. Her father, for whatever reason, flew on his broom towards the Gryffindor tower to impress his future wife but only got broken bones rather than a standing ovation due to falling. Silly kids in love, her mother casted a spell on herself, intentionally failing it just so she could be in the hospital wing with him all day all night without having to worry about curfew. They were young and reckless. Now she knew where she got her impulsiveness. This was one of the rare occasions Aurora saw her mother filled with emotions. She was happy, really passionate with the details, relieving every moment, but there was also a tinge of sadness in her words, the girl still couldn’t comprehend that.

Memories of the people you love do last forever. That was exactly what she wanted. Though the world forbade her to spend more time with him, at least she now could connect the dots together into a whole piece. Sure he was a weird one. Someone who did not have much sense of embarrassment. He was kind and caring, a person with a big heart. Her entire focus was drawn into the story as if it were a mysterious magnetic force that got stronger every second. It was fascinating. She now saw him as a real human with personality, not just a two dimensional character with a face. That lengthy recital of nearly twenty years worth of relationship in just one hour did the justice. But the main question will always stay unanswered. The one that she didn’t ask. What would life be like if he were still here?

And there were smiles on both of their faces. But then she noticed it, the dim light somehow accentuated the tears that threatened to spill in her mother’s eyes, “O-oh” and it erased the satisfaction feeling of getting what she wanted. “I’m sorry, are you okay?” A jolting guilt suddenly rushed in, that was enough to make Aurora get up and walk closer on her knees. “Yeah, these are happy tears don’t worry”. The feeling of finally letting go was overwhelming. Since his passing, it wasn’t easy to grieve properly when she had to be strong for her daughter. Sometimes reminiscing about the past isn’t always a setback to heal. Comfort was the only thing the young girl could try to provide, so she wrapped her arms around her mother as she profusely apologised.

“I am okay Rora, we still have a potion to finish” She let out a chuckle as she crushed six seashells one by one using a mortar and pestle. Though Aurora was still quite sceptical with her mother’s assertion, she made a valid point. The more they hug, the longer the potion to simmer, which could possibly mess with the ingredients. Finally letting go and went back to her previous position, the Ravenclaw then put three pinches of the seashell powder into the cauldron as well as the two measures of the even nastier mucus from flobberworms whilst her mother did occasional clockwise stirs until the consistency reached the intended goal. Once it turned paste-like thickness, a final wand waving came next by the adult and it was done.

“So-” The ex gryffindor broke out the silence as she put the paste into the container. “Who’s Nicholas?” Remember when Aurora couldn’t stop herself from spilling the beans about her Hogwarts life to the grandparents? Nicholas’ name slipped out multiple times, expectedly. She wasn’t the best secret keeper when it came to her own. Her cheek turned the reddest shade of red, causing her mother to smirk. Of course Aurora would do the best thing a twelve year old would do. She ran in the bedroom, closed the door, then pretended to sleep under the blanket. That would work. Yeah.