Disclaimer(do you even do disclaimers when it's based on a TV show?): I do not own House of Anubis

Hey everyone! This is my first HoA fanfic, and I hope you like it! When season 2 starts in a few days(Yay) I'm going to try to do more things canon. Enjoy!

"Does anyone know if Jerome's okay?" Alfie asked, walking into the common room. The prom was just yesterday, and all that chaos about the cup business. Alfie had to pretend to be dying! At least Amber was there to beg him to live. After that night all of Sibuna had been wondering if the house would explode the next day. However things seemed to be for the most part normal. Mara and Amber were sitting on the couches. Mara had a thick book in her lap and Amber had a glossy magazine. However Mara appeared to be more alert from the moment Alfie mentioned Jerome's name.

"What do you mean?" Mara asked.

"It's just he's been real secretive lately," Alfie replied.

"Probably just working on his latest scam then," Amber piped in, not even lifting her gaze from the Teen Vogue magazine she was reading.

"No, I would know," Alfie snapped defensively. Amber raised a perfect eyebrow. "I'm sorry," Alfie said. "My love," He quickly added in. "It's just that he's been acting weird in a different way,"

"Weird how?" Mara asked casually.

"He's been doing more pranks than usual. Without me. That's what he does when he's trying to distract himself. He's trying to get his mind off something," Alfie said. Amber's eyes flickered to Mara for a second. She covered her hand with her mouth and leaned to whisper in Alfie's ear.

"Maybe it's because of what happened yesterday," She whispered. Alfie thought about that. Yesterday was chaotic, but they won right? They have the cup. Nothing to be upset about. Alfie shook his head, something else was bothering his best friend.

Amber squinted, and Alfie could see the wheels turning in her blonde head

"Ooooh! Maybe he's in love!" Amber squealed in delight, dropping her magazine.

"What? That's ridiculous," Alfie shook his head. Amber's eyes flickered to Mara.

"Well, I don't think it's ridiculous. Don't you agree, Mara?" Amber said.

"Well, I mean," Mara blushed. " Um, it's really none of my business, ooh what magazine is that, Amber?" reaching for the magazine. Amber rolled her eyes. She looked impatient.

"Who would he even be in love with?" Alfie asked. Amber looked at Alfie, incredulous. Alfie wondered if he forgot to compliment her new lip gloss or something.

"Are you blind?" She stood up, looking insulted almost and snatched her magazine from Amber. She shoved it into Alfie's hands. "Read this. Maybe then you'll figure it out," Alfie dropped the magazine as if it burned him and instantly stood up.

"Actually I need to go. I need to brush my…" Alfie was going to say teeth, but then he remembered when Fabian said the same thing and it seemed like a lame thing to say. "Feet,"

And then Alfie left.

Amber sighed.

"If he wasn't my boyfriend…" Amber trailed off. Then she turned to Mara.

"What?" Mara asked innocently.

"You know you're really pretty, Mara," Amber said. Mara raised an eyebrow at Amber.

"Thanks?" Mara said it like a question.

"And smart. That's probably why Jerome fancies you," Amber said.

"What?" Mara looked confused. "Is this a joke?"

"Well then again," Amber said, pretending as if she wasn't interrupted. "Maybe he likes you because you have a certain dark side," Amber theorized.

"Dark side?" Mara questioned.

"You know, when you fancied Mick when I was dating him and cheated on that test," Amber said, matter-of-factly. Mara blushed and looked down.

"I- I'm sorry Amber. I-" Mara stuttered.

"Oh, Mara! I'm not still upset over that! I'm over Mick remember? I was only saying. I was just trying to see what Jerome sees in you. And I was wondering if you saw anything in him," Amber said.

"Amber!" Mara said. "I don't fancy Jerome and he definitely doesn't-"

"Poor Jerome! You don't feel the same way. That explains why he's been acting so strangely. L'amour sans retour," Amber sighed dramatically, miming wiping a tear out of her eye. "That means unrequited love,"

"Jerome doesn't fancy me!" Mara said. Amber rolled her eyes at the other girl. Mara had to be joking. She couldn't be this oblivious. Why was Mara denying this? Amber smiled when she figured it out.

"Mara. I know why you can't believe it. You're afraid I'll tell Mick, and he'll become upset, right?"

Amber nodded sympathetically, willing Mara to spill.

Mara sighed. Amber wasn't listening to her. Mara tried to think of a way she could respond to which Amber will actually listen.

"Amber, even if Jerome did fancy me. What makes you think I feel the same way?" Mara asked. It was the wrong thing to say.

"I never said that I thought you felt the same way," Amber said slowly. Crap. "Why? Do you?" Amber asked, her doe-brown eyes widening.

"No!" Mara said, a little too quickly to be believable. Amber didn't look convinced. "No, of course not," Mara said more firmly.

"Are you certain? I promise I won't tell Mi-" Amber said.

"Of course I'm certain!" Mara interrupted. "I'm dating Mick. And you're wrong, Jerome doesn't fancy me!"

"But the way he acts around you.." Amber trailed off. Mara froze. You bring out the best in me, Mara Jaffray. Mara shook her head. A friend would say that. Amber was staring at Mara.

"You're spacing out. You're thinking about him , aren't you?" Amber said.

"No! I was just thinking about how ridiculous you're being," Mara said. Amber pouted.

"I'm not dumb ,you know. I may not be the 'biology babe' ,but I do know chemistry when I see it," Amber smiled at her corny joke. "I think you and Jerome would be cute together," Amber said softly.

"Of course you would think that," Mara spun around. "Because than Mick would be single, right?" Mara glared at Amber. Guilt tugged at her. Mara knew she was being mean and unreasonable. But now Amber put these thoughts in her head and no matter how hard she tried, Mara couldn't shake them out.

"No," Amber said, sounding a bit hurt. "I'm dating Alfie. Mick and I are friends. You know that," Mara had a few more things to say but they were mean and she knew she would regret saying them later. Amber meant well.

"Jerome doesn't like me," Mara said, trying to sound confident and sure of that statement. It sounded more like she was pleading. Mara walked(or ran) upstairs and into her room. Luckily Patricia wasn't there, probably ran to hang out with Nina again. Mara had the room to herself. She lied down on her bed. A storm of thoughts rushed into her head. Jerome wouldn't, shouldn't, and couldn't like me. Mara reassured herself. But a tiny voice whispered. But does he? Mara shook her head and absentmindedly traced the multicolored foam letters that spelled out her name on the headboard of her bed, trying to clear her head.

Mara didn't know where it came from, maybe from her subconscious, or maybe from the part of her that was slightly Amber, but a very scary thought somehow entered her mind. Maybe. Mara thought. Maybe the idea that Jerome fancies me is so unnerving isn't because I don't care for him. Maybe the reason it's so unnerving is because I do care for him. And if there is a slight chance he truly does care for me, I'll begin to hope. Mara pushed that thought away as far as she could. She put the thought into a little bag in her mind and tied the bag shut with a knot to be looked at another time. She couldn't think of that now, especially since she didn't know for sure whether he did.

Mara believed in things that were logical. There was no logical reason for her to fancy Jerome. Sure he made her laugh, he was a hell of a good chess partner, and she felt like she could be herself around him but that's how people are supposed to feel about their friends, right? There was nothing wrong with liking to be around Jerome. There was nothing wrong with enjoying his presence.

Mara just realized that for a very long time she was wondering if Jerome fancied her. And for a brief amount of time, she wondered if she fancied him.

She hadn't even given a thought to Mick.

Nina sat crosslegged in a circle with the members of Sibuna. Amber, Fabian, Jerome, Alfie, Patricia. Joy was there as well, since she was involved with all of this in the first place. Nina decided it was time to get this meeting started. No one ever officially voted Nina to be the leader. Maybe it was because she was The Chosen One, maybe it was because she could devise clever plans, or maybe it was simply because she made a good leader. Either way everyone just assumed that she should be. It was an unspoken decision that she was and everyone accepted that.

"Okay, so hopefully this will be the last Sibuna meeting for a very long time. We got a chance to celebrate yesterday," She saw Fabian, her new boyfriend, smiling at her and she blushed.

"Guess this means our lives are going to be a bit boring now," Jerome smirked.

"Are our lives ever boring?" Alfie asked, smiling mischievously at his best friend.

"True. But I meant with the 'grand' mystery," Jerome said.

"But this isn't over. Rufus is eventually going to realize he wasn't granted eternal life," Fabian reminded them. Nina nodded.

"That's why I called this meeting," Nina said.

"Well yeah, but that's going to take some time, right?" Patricia said. "It's going to be a few years before he notices he's still aging," Joy ran a hand through her hair.

"I don't know, Trish," Joy said. "We shouldn't underestimate him. He's not exactly stupid, is he?"

"True. But how's he even going to find out? I mean, soon," Amber said.

"I know," Nina said, nodding. "I know, we'll probably be okay for a little while. I just think that we should still watch our backs, you know? Rufus Zeno is still out there," Jerome shudders.

"Not to mention-" Nina was interrupted by a booming voice downstairs.

"It is ten o' clock. You have five minutes precisely, and then I want to be able to hear a pin..drop!"

The group stared at Nina. She shook her head. "That's all basically I wanted to say. You can go, no reason to get in trouble by Victor," Everyone except her and Amber emptied the room. Fabian stood at the doorway.

"Goodnight Nina," He said, blushing slightly. She smiled at him. "Goodnight, Fabian," He left.

Nina stood up and sat on the edge of her bed. "Goodnight, Ams," She said to the blonde. "G'night," Amber said.

Nina kicked off her shoes and crawled underneath the covers. Soon she fell asleep. When she woke up again ,it was still nighttime. She brought herself up to a sitting position so she could see what exact time it was on the clock.

"Hello Nina," A strange voice said. Nina suppressed a scream. A woman was sitting on the edge of her bed. She couldn't really tell what the woman's face looked like. It was blurred out like she was looking at her underwater. This was when she realized it was a dream. She wondered if it is was one of her weird intuitive dreams that usually had Sarah. Nina held her breath, trying to imagine what this one meant, if it meant anything. It had to have something to do with The Cup. They stared at each other for a very long time.

"Nina," She finally said, breaking the silence. "I want-"

"The Cup," Nina finished for her. "You want the cup, don't you?" The woman looked at her for a second. Her features were beginning to clear. They weren't as blurred out. She had long dark hair and a timeless face. She wore a silver circlet on the crown of her head. Her neck was adorned with many amulets of different shapes and colors but they all seemed to pulse together in harmony. She was surrounded by a faint bluish glow. The woman laughed.

"The Cup?" She raised an eyebrow. "The Cup is of no use to me," Nina knit her eyebrows in confusion.

"I don't understand. What have you come to tell me?" Nina asked. The woman smiled at her. She wagged a finger at Nina, mockingly.

"If you did not interrupt me then you would already know," She chided.

"If you don't want The Cup, then what do you want? We don't even have the Elixir," Nina said. The woman waved her hand in the air, shaking off Nina's words.

"I do not care for either The Cup or the Elixir," The woman said. Nina's hand reached instinctively to her locket that lay underneath her cami. She stopped herself before the woman noticed. Nina opened her mouth to speak.

"Then what-" Nina started to say, but the woman was already gone.

She woke up.

"So do you don't have any idea what she wanted?" Fabian asked at breakfast after Nina explained her dream to him.

"I don't know. She actually laughed when I asked if it was the cup that she wanted," Nina said.

"Maybe she's not necessarily the bad guy?" Fabian offered.

"What do you mean?" Nina asked.

"Well let's look at the facts. All she said was "I want" before you interrupted her right?" Fabian said, analytically. Nina nodded. "Maybe she was going to say something like 'I want to talk to you,' or something of the sort. We know nothing of this woman. We don't have to assume the worse. Okay, this will sound like nonsense, but maybe she's related of Sarah somehow. Maybe she's her friend," Nina shook her head.

"No. There was just something about this woman that rubbed me the wrong way. She's bad news. I'm sure of it. If only I knew what she wants. At first I thought she might've wanted the amulet but that couldn't be it because I'm the only one who can use it," Nina said.

"Maybe she didn't know you were the only one," Fabian said.

"Maybe," Nina didn't sound sure. "What if-? What if this was just a stupid dream? We had an exciting week, it could've just been a normal dream," That sounded logical enough.

"But Nina-"

"It has to be a stupid dream. I've never even seen this woman before in my life," Nina said. That cute little frown that Fabian always had when he was thinking started to play on his lips.

"Nina," He spoke softly, slipping his hand into hers. "You know that isn't true. If you really thought that then you wouldn't be worried about it,"

Nina sighed. Fabian was right. "I know," Nina said, running her free hand through her hair, knocking a couple of the bobby pins out. "I'm just frustrated. Before with all our clues there was usually something or somewhere we could go to. This is a dead end,"

"Hey," Fabian said, pinching a strand of Nina's hair that came loose from lack of bobby pins. He tucked it behind her ear. Nina blushed. "We'll figure it out," Fabian said reassured. "We always do," Nina smiled at Fabian. He really was adorable. And sweet. She noticed they were unconsciously leaning toward each other. She leaned a little closer. He mirrored her, closing the space between Nina and himself. Nina's eyes started to close as her lips began to part slightly.

"Ugh," Someone said. "People eat in here," Nina recognized the voice as Jerome, who was just walking in.

Longest chapter in any story I've ever written. I'm going to sound totally cliché here and do whatever everyone else does. Ask you to review : ) And remember, flames belong at a summer campfire, not here! Constructive criticism is nice too. If you have any suggestions on where you want the story to go, tell me! :D

XOXOXO,

Monique