Was it strange that Aurora was hyper aware of how everyone else smelled? Or perhaps it was all in her mind and she perceived how others might smell so strongly that they actually started to manifest that way. “It must be natural then, like your blood contains lots of sugar that it just comes out of your pores and your hair.” Look, human biology wasn’t exactly her strong point in primary school so her knowledge wasn’t going to be any better now. “Does that mean that I smell like jam?” She hoped it would be strawberry in that case. Or raspberries. If a lack of judgment, a sense of silliness and a whole lot of love was what Anna was after then Aurora was her girl. “But that is what counts at school and after school and when trying to find a job and if my box doesn’t fit in their box then what am I supposed to do?” It was quite a serious conclusion for a usually carefree sixteen year old but one that would quite quickly become a very real situation in a years time.

“I guess so” she agreed with the sentiment about not wanting to be unraveled from her duvet in the dead of winter. Although Aurora was one of those people who didn’t really feel the cold, maybe it was the sunshine she radiated giving off heat. “But they don’t have to harm people when they’re protesting!” Baby mandrakes she could understand, it was all that Ander was capable of as a baby too. Screaming and crying and eating and pooping.

So what was supposed to be a study session to help the girls achieve the grades that they required was about to turn into a picnic in the library with some poor student who had been accidentally roped into their escapades. “I’ll ask” she giggled. “But maybe not crisps, they’re a bit noisy for eating when we are supposed to be concentrating.” Like those people who crunched noisily on popcorn in the middle of a dramatic scene in the cinema.

It wasn’t so much of a surprise that Anna didn’t understand what Aurora was trying to imply considering that she had no idea of it herself. It was debatable whether there was any logic to it at all. “No! Not with us it hasn’t because.. because we are basically one person anyway so we are a 2-for-1 deal and Solomon is the other.” The trio was sunshine and rainbows until the train and the sudden realisation it wouldn’t be the three of them forever and next term would be even worse when it was just the one of them. “You’d have to ask him” she shrugged sadly, she didn’t have the legilimens skills with him and couldn’t speak on his behalf but she was pretty certain that he’d want to bring another along.