Only two days had passed since Aurelian returned to the world of the living following his revealing and unusual conversation with the dearly beloved Lady Death.
Those two days, unfortunately for him, had been filled with headaches. He had to make many—truly many—statements and calm the tempers of half the castle.
The first and most intense interrogation, of course, came from his beautiful fiancées. As soon as the tears of relief subsided that night, Hestia and Flora demanded—with a mixture of fury and desperation—that he tell them absolutely everything, without omitting even the slightest, darkest detail about his disappearance during those three days that had been hell for them. Aurelian, knowing that discussing his title of "Fatebreaker" (however grand it might be) and his encounter with the cosmic entity would require time and a great deal of patience, promised them he would explain everything later, once things had calmed down.
They agreed very reluctantly, but imposed a new and strict rule that they would not break for the remainder of the school year. They would make sure to stay with him at all times—twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. If before the invasion they had barely left him alone and were famous for their clinginess, now the mere idea of being a couple of meters away from him caused them visible anxiety. They didn't leave his side for a single second.
Then came the faculty. Aurelian had to stoically endure a long, stern, and loud scolding from Professor Minerva McGonagall in her office. However, behind the strict demeanor and threats of eternal punishment, Aurelian could easily tell that the scolding sounded far more like deep concern for his well-being than actual anger.
To reassure the vice principal, Aurelian had to choose his words carefully, making up the occasional plausible lie about having been trapped under rubble in the castle's lower levels and having lost track of time due to a concussion while running through the Forbidden Forest. The tension in the office only eased when McGonagall noticed the scene before her: Hestia and Flora were clinging to Aurelian's arms like two koalas, glaring at the professor. Their eyes sparkled at every expression on the professor's face, almost as if they were daring the experienced witch to say anything to them for not respecting their classmate's personal space or for being present at the meeting. McGonagall, surrendering to the twins' intensity, simply sighed and let it go.
But the most tense encounter occurred shortly afterward.
As they walked down the second-floor hallway, they ran head-on into Albus Dumbledore himself. The headmaster, sporting deep dark circles under his eyes, stopped short upon seeing the young man. Unspoken questions hung in the air between them—suspicions, guilt, and secrets.
"Mr. Gaunt… I am infinitely glad to see that you are safe," Dumbledore said cautiously. "I believe we owe each other a long talk in my office."
"Headmaster Dumbledore," Aurelian replied politely. "I give you my word that we will have that conversation, but it will be later. Right now, I need to rest. I'm sure you understand."
Dumbledore nodded slowly, accepting the ambiguous response, and continued on his way.
It was at that very moment that Aurelian noticed it. As they passed by Dumbledore, Hestia and Flora turned their heads. They weren't looking at him with the condescension or slight annoyance with which they usually regarded all the other students or teachers they considered inferior. No. The gaze the twins fixed on the headmaster's back was one of hatred—pure, visceral hatred. The kind that chills you to the bone and promises revenge.
Aurelian remained silent until they turned the corner and were far enough away, making sure no one could hear them.
"All right," Aurelian murmured, looking at the two girls who were still clinging tightly to his arms. "What was that? What was with that murderous glare at the headmaster?"
Hestia frowned, clenching her jaw so tightly that her teeth almost ground together.
"Because Dumbledore is a foolish, useless, and very stupid old man," Hestia spat venomously.
Flora nodded fiercely, clinging even tighter to Aurelian's robe.
"When you disappeared, we were desperate to find you. We went to see him and asked about you. We demanded to know what had happened to you… and that damn fool wouldn't tell us a thing! He just looked at us with that stupid little smile of an understanding grandfather and left us in the dark."
Aurelian walked in silence, listening to every word, every insult, and every dark curse the twins hurled at the Archmage for making them suffer in that way. He could… almost understand their resentment; to them, Dumbledore was directly responsible for the agony they had endured for three full days.
Finally, they passed through the gates and reached the peaceful gardens of the inner courtyard. The afternoon sun illuminated the lawn, and a gentle breeze rustled the leaves of the nearby trees.
Exhaling a long sigh, Aurelian let himself fall onto his back on the green grass, pulling his girlfriends with him.
He settled in, gazing at the blue sky with his hands behind his head, and gave them a reassuring smile.
"That's enough, my darlings," Aurelian told them in a soft, deep voice, cutting short their torrent of insults. "Don't think about the principal anymore. It's an unnecessary waste of energy, and there's simply no point in letting him ruin our afternoon."
Hestia and Flora blinked; their expressions of fury melted away immediately at the warmth of his tone.
Quickly, they settled down on either side of him on the grass. Hestia rested her head on his right shoulder and Flora on his left, intertwining their hands across Aurelian's chest. Both nodded in unison, finally smiling genuinely, happy to have him there—alive, warm, and all theirs.
"You're absolutely right, my love," Hestia murmured, closing her eyes in the sunlight.
"Someone as stupid as Albus Dumbledore simply doesn't deserve a place in our minds," Flora concluded, sighing with the satisfaction of knowing her man was by her side.
The bustling lobby of the Ministry of Magic was packed with wizards and witches hurrying back and forth on their business, but the arrival of the young Lord Gaunt did not go unnoticed.
Aurelian walked with a steady stride toward the golden elevators, flanked on both sides by Hestia and Flora Carrow. The twins had taken their promise to be with him twenty-four hours a day very literally. They made their way through the Ministry lobby, holding his hands, pressed close to his sides like two beautiful and deadly shadows from which he had no intention of breaking free.
Having been directly involved in Gellert Grindelwald's assault on Hogwarts and having witnessed the climax of the battle, Aurelian had become a key witness. For this reason, he had been officially summoned by the Auror Office to testify and give his account of the events. Furthermore, his father, the Minister of Magic, had demanded to see him in his office as soon as he finished his statement.
As they waited in front of the golden elevator gates, Hestia and Flora intertwined their fingers with Aurelian's. The two turned their heads at the same time to look at him, and with radiant smiles that stood in stark contrast to the solemnity of their surroundings, they began to sway their joined hands from side to side.
Aurelian, feeling the gentle pressure of their fingers and letting their unusual good humor rub off on him, smiled back at them, savoring that brief moment of peace.
With the soft chime of a bell, the doors opened. They stepped inside, and the elevator took them directly to level two.
When they finally arrived and the gates opened at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, their previous calm vanished. Standing right in front of the doors to greet them was the veteran and paranoid Auror Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody.
The old hunter of dark wizards leaned his weight on his wooden wand and fixed his magical eye directly on the boy. His face contorted into a clear expression of displeasure and distrust.
Aurelian didn't flinch. He held Moody's gaze seriously, didn't lower his head, and simply walked past him without bothering to greet him.
Noticing the tension, Hestia and Flora turned their heads over their shoulders. If their beloved Aurelian didn't like someone, they automatically wouldn't like that person either. Both shot Moody a look of annoyance, venom, and haughtiness that would have made a lesser wizard back down.
Moody watched them as they walked away down the hallway. The Auror's magical eye spun wildly in its socket.
"Damn it…" Moody muttered under his breath, grumbling and cursing his luck at having to be the one to welcome that damn Gaunt brat. "And as usual, he's got those two creepy twins clinging to him like leeches."
With a snort, Moody tapped the floor with his cane and began striding after them to fulfill his duty of escorting them.
When they reached the end of the hallway, in front of one of the higher-ranking offices, they noticed Madame Amelia Bones waiting for them, standing by the doorframe with a thick folder under her arm. The stern Head of the Auror Department stood with a straight, professional posture, but upon seeing the young man accompanied, she raised an eyebrow in surprise.
She approached them, adjusting her monocle over her right eye.
"Mr. Gaunt, I appreciate your punctuality," Amelia greeted him formally, before turning her gaze to the two girls clinging to their hands. "However, I must admit I didn't expect you to bring company to an official witness interrogation."
Hestia gave her a polite smile.
"Don't worry at all, Madame Bones. We assure you that you'll hardly notice our presence."
Flora continued her sister's sentence seamlessly, without missing a beat, tightening her grip on Aurelian's hand just a little more.
"We'll just sit here quietly while you ask our fiancé your routine questions."
And, with an unsettling synchrony that would have made anyone unaccustomed to them break out in goosebumps, the twins finished the sentence by speaking at exactly the same time.
"All we care about is Aurelian."
Amelia Bones blinked a couple of times, processing the intense and unsettling devotion radiating from the two young students. As a practical woman of the law who prioritized efficiency above all else, she decided it wasn't worth starting a fight to try to separate them.
With a slow nod, Madame Bones stepped aside, letting them pass, and ushered them into her private office to begin the statement.
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