Nora sat at the end of the Ravenclaw table, staring unseeingly at her plate. She felt awful; it was his entire fault. How could he have done this to her? The breakup wasn't even the horrible part - it was the way he did it which was painful. Had he done it cleanly, it wouldn't have hurt so badly… maybe. The idiot hadn't even had the guts to tell her straight out, or even why he wanted to break up. Nora, however, has a suspicion, but it didn't ease the pain. It had only happened a week ago, but it still hurt like hell.
"Silv?"
Nora looked up, feeling a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Oh... hey Ness..." she said quietly. Her Gryffindor and childhood friend, Vanessa, sat beside her, concern etched in her eyes. "You okay?" Nora shrugged. "I guess," she mumbled. "You sure?" Vanessa asked, her eyes flicking from her friend's eyes to the full plate on the table and back again. "You haven't touched anything on your plate." Nora shrugged and pushed it away. "I'm not hungry." "You haven't been sleeping, either." Vanessa pointed out. "Just drop it, okay?" Nora snapped, making her friend jump. "Sorry..." Vanessa mumbled, shifting in her seat under Nora's scrutinizing gaze. There was a long silence in which the girls sat at the table, Vanessa feeling rather worried about her friend.
"So…" Vanessa cleared her throat and glanced at her friend, "Are you ready for Binns' class?" Nora rolled her eyes. "Never. I hate that class." "Yeah, I know. If only he would realize he was dead, and let the school be." "Ness, that's never going to happen." Nora said, raising her eyebrows. Vanessa shrugged. "Hey, a girl can dream, can't she?" Nora smiled. "Only if one has brains." Vanessa gasped in mock hurt. "I hate you!" She whined, "I thought we had something special Silver…" she turned away, pretending to cry. "I love you…" Nora smiled and made a heart with her hands. "Heart?" She placed the heart over her own. Vanessa glanced at her in a miserable way, then brightened and immediately returned the gesture. The girls laughed and Vanessa placed a hand on Nora's shoulder with a smile. "We should get going." "Yeah…" Nora sighed and stood, picking up her bag.
The girls walked out of the Hall, discussing their plans for the day. "I'm dreading Transfiguration…" Vanessa moaned, "We have to turn a melon into a muskrat and I'm still horrible at transforming fruit into animals." "Along with everything else." Nora joked. Vanessa pulled her hair. One of Nora's fellow Ravenclaws walked past them and her heart sank. It was him. "Ass…" Vanessa muttered under her breath. Nora didn't say anything. "Want to meet outside at first break?" Vanessa asked her, breaking the silence. "Sure." Nora shrugged. "See you then." Vanessa gave her friend a brief, but tight one-armed hug and walked towards the dungeons for her potions lesson. Nora watched her walk away with a small sigh, and then headed up the marble staircase towards the charms classroom.
"I'm so fed up with boys." Nora said, tossing a rock into the lake. "Uh-huh." Vanessa looked up at Nora with an amused smile. "No, seriously." She turned to her friend, who was polishing her glasses on her robes. Vanessa grinned. "Liar." "No, I'm seriously done with boys until I get a job." "Sure, Silver." Nora rolled her eyes, but smiled all the same. "What about Sirius?" Vanessa asked, placing her glasses back onto her face. "I recall a certain someone having a crush on him when she was younger…" "Black?" Nora's brow furrowed. "Vanessa, he'd never be interested in me like that. Besides, I'd just be a number to him. Girlfriend number 7354." "There aren't that many girls here, Nor." "I never said they were girls that were here currently." Nora argued. Vanessa laughed. "C'mon, give him a go. I know for a fact he's very interested in you." She smiled mysteriously – or so she hoped. "Have you and Remus been talking about me in your 'study sessions?' " Nora demanded. "Not exactly…" Vanessa grinned. Nora eyed her suspiciously. "What have you-?" "Oh! There's the bell!" Vanessa jumped up and grabbed her bag. "See you at lunch Silver, and please eat something this time." She said and ran off towards the castle, feeling bewildered.
Nora didn't go to the Great Hall for lunch. Instead, she went to the library.
She sat in the back of the library, reading a book. "Excuse me." Said a voice behind her. Nora jumped and looked around at a Seventh-year Gryffindor boy with raven black hair, astonishingly blue eyes and a roughish smile. "Black?" She asked warily. "Hullo Flam." He winked. "You weren't at lunch today." "I'm not hungry." Nora mumbled, turning back to her book. Sirius walked around the table and sat in a chair in front of her. Nora reluctantly set her book aside and looked up at him. "What do you want?" She asked. "Only to look upon the beautiful blonde Ravenclaw of my dreams." He smiled. Nora's eyes narrowed and told him to do something, which was extremely rude. Sirius only laughed. "I thought you might say that." He grinned. "What the hell are you doing here?" Nora snapped, "I didn't think you even knew what a library was." Sirius laughed. "You learn a lot when your best friend is Remus Lupin." There was a small silence. "So, you and your boyfriend broke up, did you?" Nora's insides turned to ice. She was going to kill Vanessa. "Oh, do you think your friend told me?" Sirius raised his eyebrows, apparently catching the dark look on her face and seeming to read her mind. "No, no. It wasn't Owens. I overheard a few of the guy's friends talking. What was his name?" Nora didn't speak. "Oh, yes, Alex." Sirius continued, as though Nora had answered him. "What did he do?" He now turned his attention to Nora. Nora's eyes narrowed. "That's none of your business." She said coldly. "That bad, hm?" Sirius frowned, falling silent. "What'd he do, cheat on you?"
At her silence, Sirius glanced across the library and Nora swore she saw his eyes harden. "That him?" He jerked his head over to a group of boys not too far from them. "The one with the long hair?" Nora nodded in silence, spotting Alex among his many friends. Sirius pulled out his wand, and pointed it at Alex. Before Nora could say a word, a cluster of books flew towards Alex and started beating him about the head and body. He cried out in alarm and covered his face with one arm and groped for his wand with the other. "Stop it!" Nora hissed. "Certainly." Sirius said brightly, lifting the books above Alex's head, and with a wave of his wand sent them crashing down upon him. Alex looked their way as Sirius stood, twirling his wand between his fingers.
"So, you thought you would hurt a pretty girl like Flam, did you?" Sirius called loudly across the room. Everyone in the library looked up at him. Madame Pince hissed at him to be quiet. Alex's eyes lingered on Nora for a moment, then he glared at Sirius. "That's none of your business." He snapped. "Oh, I think it is." Sirius raised his wand and sent Alex flying into a table of first-years, who squealed, and scuttled out of the way. Alex scrambled to his feet and pointed his wand at Sirius. "Expelliarmus!" He yelled. Sirius dodged the jynx and his own spell hit Alex in the stomach, sending him to his knees. "You know, I don't enjoy torturing people who aren't Slytherins…" Sirius said casually as Alex pointed his wand at him. "But I do believe you are the exception." He added, dodging the slug-vomiting hex. "You-" Alex hissed, but Madame Pince broke in, looking livid. "ALL OF YOU!" She shrieked, "OUT! OUT!!"
"This isn't over, Black." Alex hissed as his friends helped him out. "Oh, I think it is." Sirius said, and hit him with the slug-vomiting hex. "BLACK! OUT! GET OUT OR I WILL CALL THE HEADMASTER!" Madame Pince screamed. "Yes ma'am." Sirius said, and grinned at Nora. "This is exactly why I never come in here. Toodles." With that, he turned and left the library. Nora sat, stunned for a moment. "Sirius is interested in you…" Vanessa's voice echoed in her mind. She quickly gathered up her stuff and rushed out of the library after him. "Black!" she called, running to catch up with him. "Black! Sirius!" Sirius turned as she caught up with him, breathing heavily. "Why… why did you do that?" She panted. Sirius raised his eyebrows. "I thought it was obvious." She stared at him in confusion. "What?" Sirius rubbed the back of his neck, looking suddenly very awkward. "I hate it when a girl gets hurt by some deadbeat guy." He smiled nervously. "Besides, I like you." Nora's eyes widened in surprise. "I'll just be another girl to you, though." She argued. "No you won't." Sirius frowned. "Is that what you think of me?" "I…. umm…." Nora blushed nervously.
There was a very awkward silence. "I'm sorry, Sirius." She sighed, rubbing her face, trying to think. "Its just…" "I know, he hurt you." Sirius smiled. "Look I… Thank you." She looked up at him. "Thank you for what you did back there. I… I appreciate it. Really." Sirius's smile widened. "Anytime, Flam." "Nora." Nora corrected. Sirius nodded. "Nora." He agreed. He held out his hand. "Carry your bag?" Nora smiled up at him as the bell rang for their next class. "Will you walk me to potions?" she asked as Sirius slung the bag over his shoulder. "And risk being late to Defense Against the Dark Arts?" His eyes twinkled. "Certainly… Nora."