it took a long time for aurelia to try to smile again. past one month, she didn't have a slightest idea about her surrounding. after a heartbreaking farewell to zenith, bradley had left for america seeing that he had nothing left in london. he wasn't thrown in azkaban as he had never tried to kill anyone and was constantly put under an imperius curse by his father.

all her life, aurelia has seen her loved one die for her which pained her a lot. even though she needed to stay strong, she didn't had the heart to. theodore felt helpless as there was nothing he could do to bring the smile back on her face. zenith was someone, he would always remember and he knew that zenith was super close to aurelia. but theodore had enough of aurelia crying over him and finally decided to confront her.

"hey." he smiled, walking inside the familiar hallways of 12 grimmauld place.

"theodore." aurelia greeted as a response, forcing a smile on her face. theodore immediately pulled her in a hug and pressed his lips on her forehead while rubbing her back.

"where's harry?" once theodore pulled away, he asked aurelia and walked inside the drawing room.

"upstairs. trying to get venus to sleep." aurelia answered, gesturing him to sit down on one of the couches. theodore fumbled with his fingers before he patted the space next to him and aurelia took it as a cue to sit down.

"what's wrong?" aurelia couldn't help but ask, her gaze fixed on theodore's fumbling fingers,"you look nervous."

"oh um, yeah actually. . . " laughing was the best way for theodore to ease the tension,"i was just wondering if. . . " aurelia looked at him expectedly, waiting for him to complete the sentence.

"i was just wondering if. . . " theodore took few deep breaths, earning an amused, light chuckle from aurelia.

"what were you wonders theodore?"

"if you would like to go on a date with me?" aurelia had to admit it was really cute of him to ask her out but before she could reply theodore beat her to it,"i mean you know we never really dated. and i just really, really want us to go on a date together. what do you say?"

"i would love to." aurelia shrugged with a small smile on her face.

"great." theodore grinned, pecking her lips,"so what are you waiting for? go, get ready."

"now?"

"of course."

"er. . . fine." aurelia smiled at theodore's excitement. while theodore waited, aurelia rushed to her closet, an unusual , wide smile lingering on her lips. 

she had no idea on what to wear so she decided to go with a simple yellow, over sized sweater and black jeans beneath them. she proceeded to french braid her hair and applied some light make up to get hid of the dark circles under her eyes. she was about to open the door when she felt a sudden pain arousing in her chest and the next second she was coughing perpetually. 

holding the door knob for support, aurelia carried herself to thr side table kept besides the bed and rummaged through the drawers until she found the vial of liquid zenith had given her. she chugged the whole vial before wiping her mouth with the towel. when she made sure she looked presentable and not too ill, aurelia walked out, putting up a smile on her face. harry had now joined theodore in the drawing room, talking about venus.

"i am ready." aurelia cleared her throat to have their attention.

"let's go then." theodore smiled, getting on his feet.

"harry-" aurelia started but was cut off by her brother.

"yeah don't worry. I'll take care of venus." harry assured causing aurelia to let out a small chuckle,"have fun."

nodding, aurelia moved outside in the hallway while theodore followed her and wrapped his arm around aurelia's waist.

"you look like a sunflower." theodore chuckled, placing a kiss on aurelia's cheeks.

"hey!" aurelia laughed, playfully hitting him on his chest, not knowing if she should take that as a compliment.

"i mean you look beautiful aurelia."

"thank you." aurelia smiled,"where are we going though?"

"just this restaurant i saw around the corner." theodore informed, already having the wizarding money exchanged with muggle money.

out in the cold weather, aurelia let out a shaky breath before linking her arm with theodore's. aurelia couldn't help but stare at theodore, the way he had that bright smile on his face which only flaunted his haughty features. both of them had came a long way, it felt surreal to even think about it.

finally reaching the small restaurant which only had few customers in the evening, theodore held the door open for aurelia to enter. it was warm and cosy from inside. theodore pulled out a chair for aurelia before settling on one.

"what would you two like to have?" a waiter, politely asked after they had completed scanning the menu.

"waffle sandwiches."

"same as her." theodore answered for himself. after the waiter left, theodore faced aurelia who looked lost in a deep thought.

"are you okay?" he asked , keeping his hand on top of aurelia's.

"yeah." aurelia tried to be cheerful, interlacing her fingers with theodore,"so much happened in past few years. it's hard to digest it all."

"just don't take it hard upon yourself." theodore smiled, bringing her hand closer to his mouth and placed a kiss on her delicate skin.

done with the date, the two of them returned to the 12 grimmaul place with faint smiles on their faces.

"oh your mum and dad are here." they heard harry's voice ascending downstairs,"now stop crying honey."

"what's wrong?" aurelia panicked, rushing towards the stairs.

"dunno. she has been crying for minutes now." harry shrugged, carefully passing venus to aurelia,"doesn't likes me anyway."

"let me." theodore offered,"till then you can go get changed."

theodore, with venus crying in his arms, walked in the drawing room and settled on the couch. just few minutes in her father's arms and venus already stopped crying, a small smile dawning upon her face.

"she just wanted her dad." harry chuckled, plopping next to theodore. a loud, thump sound made the two men look at each other with questioning glances.

"aura?" harry called, earning nothing but silence. panicking, theodore passed his little girl to harry before sprinting to aurelia's room. his eyes widened in horror when he saw aurelia lying on the floor with one of her hand clasped over her mouth while the other one on her chest.

"aurelia!" he exclaimed frantically, running by her side,"whats wrong?"

harry entered the room next, practically leaping upto aurelia. theodore tucked her against his chest and held her hands to find them covered in blood.

"aurelia." he gasped, patting her cheeks lightly to keep her eyes open,"aurelia, hold on darling."

"we need to get to st.mungos." harry said, panic and worry lacing his tone.

"no." aurelia choked out, her voice crumbling like a dry leave.

"are you out of your mind?" harry rasped,"i can't loose you aura."

"i'm not going anywhere." aurelia forced a chuckle, shortly cut by another cough,"harry, i'll always be here." she smiled putting her hand on harry's chest.

"what do you mean?" theodore was loosing it,"what are you hiding aurelia?!"

a tear escaped her eyes as she lifted her head up to look at the love of her life,"i am s-sorry." aurelia wiped some of the blood dripping down her lips,"i lied to you."

"about what?" theodore demanded, few tears leaving his eyes,"about what aurelia?"

aurelia closed her eyes for a brief moment, going back to the time zenith disclosed the secret he was keeping away.

"aurelia, there's something i need to tell you." zenith spoke after theodore had left as they complete celebrating one month birth anniversary of venus. with nervousness at the brink, he patted the empty space on the couch.

"what is it?" aurelia questioned taking a seat next to him.

"i am really sorry." he muttered mostly to himself before clearing his throat,"um. . . the day venus was born, the healer told me how weak you are. you were exhausted. you may look perfectly fine from the outside but from inside your organs are giving up."

aurelia was shocked ; she couldn't comprehend what that meant.

"it is because of the curse aurelia." zenith whispered.

"only one gets to live." aurelia interrupted him, a tear slipping down her cheeks,"yeah, that's what the prophecy said. only one out of voldemort, harry and i gets to live. and that is why dumbledore gave me the pendant so that harry gets to live."

"he didn't really know that the pendant was cursed-"

"that doesn't matters now zenith!" aurelia cried,"nothing matters now. does. . . does harry knows?"

"no. i convinced him that you're safe. nobody knows."

"how much time do i have?"

"not much." zenith blurted out.

"and i would definitely know once the day arrives."

nobody spoke a word after aurelia was done explaining.

"no, you can't leave me." theodore was the first to break the silence,"you just can't leave. there must be a way out."

"there isn't." aurelia whispered, quickly pecking his lips. harry wrapped one of his arm around her shoulder and cried on her shoulder.

"harry." aurelia sighed causing him to pull away and look at her,"thank you for being there with me. i love you."

"aurelia stop." he begged.

"you're just leaving us?" theodore whispered,"what about venus?!"

"i am sure you'll take good care of her." aurelia smiled, leaning towards venus to kiss her on her forehead. even venus was crying as if she was able to understand everything. aurelia faced theodore and held his hands tightly,"i am sorry. but i want you to move on. don't cry over me. don't waste your tears. you have your life in front of you theodore. live it."

"i wanted to spend my whole life with you aurelia." theodore cried, wiping the blood which was now sputtering out of her nose,"i want to spend it with you and only you."

"that's not possible." aurelia smiled sadly,"thank you for giving me the experience, thank you for showing me how beautiful love is. you made my life beautiful and i can't thank you enough. i love you theodore."

aurelia felt her eyelids getting heavy and energy straining off her body.

"i love you more." theodore whispered, hugging her closer. he was really broken. his body and mind felt numb. 

the girl who showed him what love was taking her last breaths in his arms. it brought back his haunting memories where he saw his mother die, right in front of his eyes. he always ends up loosing his loved ones. this was nothing different. he was helpless then and he was helpless now. he couldn't do anything to help aurelia. 

he couldn't blame anybody else but himself for the pain he was going through. he shouldn't have tried to give her a chance when snape had paired him with aurelia. he shouldn't let his walls down for her. he shouldn't have smiled. he shouldn't have fallen for her. but it wasn't easy. it was worth it though. he enjoyed every moment of being with her. 

she was the ray of sunshine which tore the darkness and touched his soul. 

a/n: epilogue coming soon. 🐒