Dead or Alive?

Laura walked into the grossly decorated cafe, wrinkling her nose in disgust of the amount of pink in the room. She walked over to an empty table, dodging a few people. The place was oddly packed...much to Laura's bewilderment...why would anybody want to come here?

Laura had only come here because it was the LAST place Death Eaters would be...and she didn't want to take any chances with them. She was still in hiding, they were still after her. She didn't want to let her parents down, she didn't want to break any promises.

Unfortunately, she had already broken one. 'If we die, find your godfather, go directily to him. Nowhere else.' She couldn't find him though! The promise she had took five years ago was difficult. She didn't even know if he was alive or dead!

Without even thinking, she held her face in her hands, almost crying. Almost. She hoped that nobody saw her, that they would just ignore her as usual, or then she may be seen as weak. And she was not weak...

How gross is this? Aurelie thought as she dodged into the tea shop to avoid some weird and whacko dude following her. She frowned as she saw a girl looking like she was almost about to cry.

Mustering up all her courage, Aurelie tapped the girl on her shoulder. "Umm...hi, are you okay?"

Laura stiffened, and slowly looked up at the girl standing behind her. She looked a bit older than Laura, but wasn't an adult; maybe sixteen.,...seventeen?

She opened her mouth to say that everything was fine, but ended up blurting out. "No, everything sucks,"

"Marvelous," Aurelie said with a wry smile. Sliding into the booth, she added, "And would you like to talk about it?"

(OOC: LOL, I'm "twelve" in the RPG. Second year. )

(OOO: oops,sorry,forget I said that )

Lara shrugged her shoulders, trying to figure out whether the girl was nice or not. Trustworthy or not. She finally came to a conclusion, and stuck her hand over the table in greeting. "Well, I'm Laura. Laura Nickel."

(OOC: Lol, all is forgiven )

Aurelie shook the girl's hand. "I'm Aurelie, Aurelie Bones," she said, smiling. "And you never said whether you wanted to talk about it or not...."

Aurelie blushed. "Sorry if I'm being all....nosy."

Laura shook her head at her embarassment. "Your not, Aurelie," She assured. "I guess I should talk about it...."

After a few minutes of debating, she nodded her head. "Okay, well, first of all, do you know a guy named Remus Lupin?"

"Um....yes...." AUrelie said. "He was a werewolf that died." She cocked her head. "Right?"

Laura's cheeky face changed into a devestated one. "Oh...He's-He's...He's dead...." There was nothing else she could say. "Oh....do you-do you know where he's buried or any other information?"

She couldn't believe it. After all this time she told herself that she shouldn't get her hopes up, that Uncle Remus was probably dead anyway or she would have been with him by now. Yet, for some ridiculous reason, she still had hoped that he was alive. She had hoped that he would be alive and that would be it....Stupid, stupid girl....

"I-I'm sorry," Aurelie said awkwardly. "I think that he was buried in a graveyard in Ireland, with his wife. His son's still alive, though."

Laura looked a bit hopeful again. "He has a son?" And then she smaked her forehead. "Of course, Teddy," She then shook her head. "I'll have to visit."

She was almost in tears, though. She now had no guardian whatsoever. No guidance through life, nothing. Nada...Although, she had a cousin...She had to cling on to that little ray of hope. She had to. Or she'd probably become suicidal...not that that wasn't a bad idea...but still....

"Thanks," She then shook her head. "He was a great man."

"I'm so sorry," Aurelie said again. "I didn't mean to hurt you....if it makes you feel better, he died a great man...."

She smiled a watery smile. "It's fine-I wanted to know. It's better knowing then wondering. Now I can move forward,"

She then added. "He died fighting for a better future, he knew what he was getting himself into. Your right, he died a great man."

Laura leaned back. "So, do you wanna hear the rest of my sad story or do you just wanna call quits?"

"Sad story," Aurelie offered. "You spill, and I'll spill." She hesitated. "Uh...you go first. It's probably sadder than mine."

Laura sighed. "Okay," She began. "My parents were auroras, they captured many Death Eaters and fought hard against them. They even taught me a couple of tricks. The Death Eaters hated them. So, of course, on Christmas day they broke into the house and killed my parents in front of my very eyes," She exhaled shakily. "I was only eight."

She blinked, then continued. "I tried to run away, because I promised them that I would, but the Death Eaters were quicker. They used the Cruciatus curse on me twice and Barty Crouch jr gave me a scar," With that fact, she unrolled her sleeve to show an ugly, red scar going from her elbow to her wrist.

She shuddered. "I managed to get away, and have been hiding ever since. I was looking for my godfather-Remus Lupin-but I didn't know whether he was alive or dead...well, now I know...Anyway, I've been living in the Shrieking Shack recentley because Death Eaters have tried to kidnap me once...actually it's twice now, because a Death Eater almost kidnapped me in the graveyard when I was visiting my parents."

She paused for a second. "I didn't even know where they were buried. I didn't even go to their funeral." She looked up. "Pretty bad, huh?"

(OOC: LOL, we both have a scar from our elbow to our wrists!)

Aurelie nodded sincerely. "That really sucks," she said. "I have a scar like that too." She revealed hers, which wasn't red, but white and raised. "Okay, for my story...."

"I was born into a middle-class family. We weren't rich, we weren't poor. In You-Know-Who's reign, my father was told to join the Death Eaters because he had access to a great many things, and all of my family save my little brother, sister and me, could throw off a Imperius Curse. So the Death Eaters hired another group to administer the dementor's kiss to my little brother."

Aurelie grimaced. "It wasn't...a pretty sight. It was only three years ago. My eight-month-old brother-kissed by a dementor. The only kiss that he ever got from someone other than his family." She gave the faintest hint of a laugh. "My brother looked like a zombie, and my mother pitched him off a cliff.

"I wasn't too happy about that. More like I was very upset about that. I ran, away, and got this-" here she pointed at her scar, "-when I fell on a rock and sliced open my arm." Unconsciously, she rubbed her arm, wincing slightly. "My mother became insane after that, crazy and delirious. She's in St. Mungos right now."

Aurelie gave a derisive laugh. "And you know what's really screwed up? I just found out that my favorite aunt, the one that I worshipped because she was so nice and sweet and understanding- she was part of the group that killed my baby brother." She smiled-no, grimaced-at Laura. "How do you like my life now?"

Laura grimaced. "That is so horrible....I'm really sorry." And it was actually geniune-for once. "I was an only child. But I don't know whether that makes it better or worse..."

Her curiousity picked up. "What about your father? What happened to him?"

Aurelie shrugged. "He's alright. A little depressed most of the time, but alright." She grinned. "We both have sob stories."

Laura gave a small smile. "That sounds nice in a weird way," She then gave a sigh. "I only talked to my parent's grave now, but before I knew where they were buried I didnt talk at all. Just silent all the time..."

"Darn, that's sad," Aurelie said, giving the other girl a sympathetic hug. "Well, I'm here to talk, if you want to." She looked around the frilly shop. "In this...weird...shop...."

(OOC: I have actually found out that I'm in first year at Hogwarts...)

Laura laughed. "That you are right about! This shop is definately weird...and not in the good way!" She looked around the room, wrinkling her nose in disgust. "Too much pink, I think."

Aurelie giggled and then looked up awkwardly at the cupid that was now singing, "WHAT A HAPPY COUPLE TO BE!"

"Do you feel like this is...somewhat weird?" she giggled.

Laura nodded. "I've got a feeling that Madam Puddifoot was suffering from a mental illness when she made this shop! I mean, seriously; cupids? Pink everywhere? Gooey, cheesy romance? Please!"

Aurelie snickered. "Yeah!" she said. "I mean, honestly! What kind of girls go here? Poor boyfriends, that's what I say!"

She smirked. "Exactly," then she laughed. "We have been here for a while, though, so maybe we should order...Better not get crazy lady mad at us because we're 'loitering'...."