"Auror Blue"
by Christine Anderson
aka Lilly Malfoy

Blue has always been Penelope Clearwater's favorite color.

She likes blues that are warm and soft, like the sky over Hogwarts. And she likes the deeper, cooler blue of the lake as it reflects that sky. She likes it when the leaves are turning, in October, when the blue of that sky is so deep and bright that she can stare up at it forever. After a time it hurts to look at it, but it's hard to look away, too.

It's not that the sky would look that much different if she were home, it is only what it represents, here, that makes all the difference in the world. She sees freedom in the sky over Hogwarts, and that's why she will never stop looking up at it in wonder.

She likes Ravenclaw blue, the way it contrasts with the bronze in her house crest. She likes its feeling of history, of ages-old prestige. She likes, too, wrapping herself in it for Quidditch matches, the blue with its accents of bronze, likes the comfortable feel of the colors. She likes the way they fit her as Ravenclaw fits her, a subtle, simple rightness.

She likes these colors, but the blue she likes best of all is Auror blue. It, like the house colors of Ravenclaw, has about it a symbolism and a history that speaks to her soul. It is a deep royal color, unique to the Aurors and seldom seen elsewhere. Auror robes and Auror cloaks, Auror crests and shields, the ribbons upon their decorations and medals, and the wax which seals their documents... All that unique, otherworldly shade of blue, which sings in the soul of every Auror, saying to each of them as it says to Penelope Clearwater, You belong. You have passed the tests and been proven worthy, and you belong.