"Stop touching it!" I growled and yanked my hand away from the medical witch who was getting very fed up with me.
"I have to touch to make it feel better, what part of that do you not understand?" I pouted and kept my hand cradled to my chest. I looked at her with venom in my eyes as I slowly let her take my hand. She dabbed on a thick yellow paste and I hissed with pain. She kept her grip on my hand.
"How's our little Nora doing?" Charlie ducked under the canopy that shaded the medical station.
"She's being difficult, but not nearly as bad as you, Char." I looked at Charlie when the woman turned away to get something.
Char? I mouthed. He waved his had to brush away my comment and I smirked. I had gotten burnt by the last dragon we had to wrangle. It was a nasty piece of work; the Hungarian Horntail. It looked mean and it's disposition was even worse.
"Well put some salve on it and get her back out here. She's going to ride with us as we transport them back to Hogwarts." I shook my head.
"No can do, Char. I don't fly." I looked at my hand as the lady wrapped it up in a bandage.
"Too bloody bad, you're going to learn." I shook my head.
"You can't make me." He crossed his arms and smirked with his stupid eyebrow up.
"You want to bet?" I sighed. He pulled me off of the exam table and to a small cabana where he pulled out two brooms.
"This isn't fair at all, you were a Quidditch player, and the last time I rode a broom, your brother hexed it and tried to be my shining night."
"And you're sure he doesn't like you?" He stuck his tongue out and I swatted at him. He handed me a fancy looking broom. "Only the best for dragon transport." I raised my eyebrow at him.
"You really think I'm going to be able to fly this?" He nodded.
"I'm a great teacher, Nora Black, trust me.
"You're a ruddy menace and I hate you Charlie Weasley." I yelled from where I was hovering ten feet off of the ground. He just laughed and told me to go higher. I slowly inched the handle up little by little the broom slowly rose. I kind of like it. I leaned forward and sped up.
"Slow up, you don't know how to stop!" I had gone into a nose dive and slipped off the broom back to the ground. I hadn't been far away for it to do any more than smart my bum. I got back on the broom and tried again. I shook away my reservations because what's the worst that could happen. I took the broom higher than I had before. My googles were around my neck and I pulled them on before zooming off into the sunset. Charlie appeared beside me.
"Now you're getting it! He got in front of me and I tried to get around him as we raced through the trees and around the paddocks where we even dodged dragon fire that spewed from between half melted bars.
"Get out of my way so I can beat you!" I joked as I looked for a place he wasn't ready to move. I dipped my broom down and went underneath him. The shock on his face was priceless. I smiled and he sped up so we were neck-and-neck.
"Weasley! Stop fooling around. We need to get these on the move on." The sleeping dragons had been put into enchanted metal crate we were flying all the way to Hogwarts. I had asked him why they didn't just put them on a train or apparate them there and Charlie shrugged and said it was above his paygrade. I mumbled about this being a ruddy awful plan as I helped cover up the Chinese Fireball's crate with fireproof canvas. Charlie came over and tied a rope to my broom handle and double checked it before we took off.
It was a long and tedious trip back to Hogwarts.
We landed far enough away in the Forbidden Forest that the students couldn't see us. The dragons were waking up from their stunning charms and it was a pain to get them back to sleep. The dragon fire lit up the night sky and I pulled Charlie back just in time to avoid getting singed.
"Thanks." I nodded and ran to help carry a blanket of eggs to the Chinese fireball.
I waddled back holding the corner of a blanket full of granite colored eggs. I saw Hagrid and waved before grabbing back onto the blanket. I helped slip the eggs into the Dragon's pen and ran over to hug Hagrid. I stepped back when I let go and giggled. "Hagrid, did you comb your hair?" He blushed and I noticed Madame Maxine looking at the dragons.
"You might like to try the same thing now and again." I pointed at the Beauxbatons' headmistress.
"Did you bring her here?" I watched her carefully but when I looked at Hagrid, he had such a lovey dovey look in his eyes at her and I wanted to gag. "I need to get back to work." I noticed a shimmering a little way away from Hagrid and walked towards it but my name was called out and I ran over to where I was needed.
It took a while before the dragons calmed down, but when they were all back to sleeping, Charlie and I rode the brooms up to Hogwarts. I handed mine back to him and he shook his head.
"I have a feeling that you're going to have some friendly competition and you're going to need a broom to race my brothers." I smiled and shoved the broom into my backpack. The undectable extension charm worked like a miracle. I jumped up and hugged Charlie who held me tight.
"Go tell Fred how you fee. He's oblivious sometimes. It's for the best." I groaned.
"If the situation presents itself, I'll ask him. I'll see you tomorrow Charlie." He tousled my hair and gave me a crooked grin.
"Take care of that burn or you'll have scars like me." I chuckled.
"Don't you know scars give me street cred? I gotta look tough."
"Bye, Nora." I opened the big oak door.
"Bye, Charlie." I slipped inside and sighed. There was silence and I walked up the stairs. My burn was itching so I started unwrapping it. There was a shuffle and a suit of armor was knocked over. I jumped and fumbled for my wand. I didn't reach it in time before I was crushed against someone in a hug. It was Freddie. He let me go a little and kissed my forehead. My heart hammered and I hugged him again.
"You act like you missed me or something, Freddie." He laughed and George stepped over the fallen armor. Fred's hands were still on my sides and my hands were still on his forearms. "George!" I smiled and Fred hesitantly let me go.
George hugged me and whispered, "Did you two kiss yet or not?" I shoved him away with a smile.
"That's none of your business, George." The boys escorted me back to the common room. Everyone was already asleep so I sat with the twins on the couch in front of the fire and talked about how my trip went. I didn't tell them about the dragons or the fact I now had a broom and could use it. They kept probing me for information but I wouldn't budge. I wasn't going to help them corner the betting pool with insider information. They had told me they were going to be taking bets on the Quadwizard tasks. I leaned on Freddie who put his hand so it grazed my leg. I unwrapped my hand and looked at the slick scar. It was bright pink and still stung. I grabbed my ointment out of my backpack and smeared some more of the goo on before rewrapping it. The twins both looked at me and then a look of recognition passed over their faces.
"Dragons! You brought dragons back!" I shook my head. Andi appeared with a burst of flame, she was always so dramatic. She landed on my shoulder and snuggled against me.
"You missed me too, didn't you girl?" I heard someone hurry down the steps and turned to see Harry, Ron, and Neville trip on the last step. They fell with a thud and I climbed over the couch to help them up.
I grabbed Neville's hand and the other boys helped each other up. I hugged Harry and Ron together. Neville stood awkwardly to the side and I grabbed him.
"Did you miss me, Neville?" I smiled and he turned red and nodded.
"Of course." I grinned and hugged him again. He was one of my best friends and I knew he needed me more than the twins or Harry did.
The clock chimed midnight and I needed to go to bed.
"We should be getting to bed, all of us." I gave a pointed look at the twins and they shrugged. I tousled Harry's hair and walked up to the girls' dormitory. Andi flew to my bed and I got under the covers. I touched my forehead and sighed. Freddie did like me.
The next morning I was up and back out at the dragons before daylight because Charlie had gotten me used to staying up late and getting up early. Charlie met me with a cup of coffee and I drank it without tasting it.
"Ready to get the stadium set up?" I nodded. The first task was tomorrow and there had been people working night and day since I left to get the platform the first task would be held on completed in time. Charlie and I were in charge of setting up the rocks for the champions to use as cover and the nest the dragon would be protecting.
We were both levitating the rocks and dropping them randomly and I started humming. I was concentrating on a large boulder when Charlie asked.
"Tell Fred last night?" The boulder landed hard and cracked.
"Bollocks." I fixed the rock and turned to look at the troublesome ginger. He smirked.
"Did you?" He raised an eyebrow and I shook my head.
"No, I didn't and it's none of your business if I did or not." I turned back around and went back to work. "I was thinking I'd wait until after the first task, anyway." I mumbled and built an outcropping that would be imperative to use as a way to get the golden egg with a clue for the next task.
Charlie let the Fred conversation drop and I was happy. It was weird to talk to him about his brother like that anyway. When the rocks had all been placed I looked around and sighed. This was a completely ridiculous task and it was much too dangerous for Harry, it was too dangerous for anyone really. Charlie put his hand on my shoulder.
"Harry'll be fine, we'll be here to help if things go bad." I looked up at him and pursed my lips.
"Harry's just prone to misfortune, I'm sure he's going to get the Horntail as his dragon and I wouldn't wish that on anyone." We walked out of the stadium to get lunch before we took our turn on the dragon watch.
"Miss Black!" Ludo ran over to me with a massive crate in his arms.
"Mr. Bagman, seems you've got yourself a handful there."
"Oh yes, oh yes. Mr. Weasley, if you'll give us some privacy, I need to talk to Nora alone." Charlie nodded and patted my shoulder before leaving. "Alright, now that he's gone, would you mind terribly grabbing the other side of this? We need to take it up to the judging panel for review." I grabbed a handle and was pulled down by the weight.
"What's in here?" I grunted as we walked to the school.
"The eggs with the clues for the first task. The school sponsors all have to review them and Mr. Fudge and Crouch will be there to oversee." I rolled my eyes, this would be fun. "Oh, and Nora, remind me to tell you about your next assignment. I believe you will enjoy it very much." I looked over at him and tightened my grip on the crate.
"What makes you think I haven't enjoyed dragon wrangling?" My hand was still bandaged and still itching.
"I just think that the next activity will be more your speed." I kicked open a side door and Ludo and I awkwardly walked up the stairs to Dumbledore's office.
"Mr. Bagman, why didn't we just use magic to carry these up to the office?" I panted. He was turning red in the face, too.
"Because there is to be no magical tampering with the clues nor the container they are in. It's in the rulebook."
"Soddy rule, isn't it?" I grumbled and sat the crate down on a table. The school officials crowded around and I ducked out before I could see what the eggs looked like. I needed to stay at least a little ignorant or else Harry would be trying to pump me for information. It was strange he didn't ask me about where I had been last night when I saw him…
"Nora," Dumbledore said quietly. He gestured for me to follow him to his desk.
"Yes, Professor?" He riffled through some letters on his desk and found the one he was looking for.
"I received this the other day and it was addressed to you. A very clumsy owl delivered it." I took the letter and tried to place the handwriting. "It seems you were very hard to find while you were gone." I tore open the envelope and smiled.
"It's from Remus and Sirius," I looked up at the headmaster who smiled.
"If you wish to take your leave, I believe we are very engaged here." I nodded and slipped out of the office without notice by anyone except Dumbledore. I read the letter as I walked down the steps. Sirius had gone back to 12 Grimmauld Place and he was cleaning it with Remus assisting. It was hard for Remus to find work and so he had taken up trying to reorganize the Order of the Phoenix to battle the imminent threat of another Voldemort character arising. I stopped while the set of stairs I was on moved. Sirius wrote that he had cleaned out a room I could use when I stayed with him. It was his brother's old room.
"Regulas," I rolled that name around and tried to place where I had seen it before but it wasn't coming to me. I went back to reading. He asked how the tournament was going and how I was doing as the Ministry's slave. Remus addressed my ever worsening relationship with the moon. I had sent him a letter after the night my arm popped out of place and back in. He was doing as much research as he could.
In closing, they told me to stay safe and have fun. Remus added that I shouldn't have too much fun but Sirius told me to have as much fun as I wanted. I grinned and put the letter in my bag. Andi cut through the air with a slip of paper in her mouth. She had apparently learned how to be a messenger while I was away.
I read off the note, "You are no longer needed for dragon watch, report to the stadium." I looked at my bird.
"They're going to have me running across the bloody island one of these days." She looked at me with intelligence but incomprehension. "Well come on then, no harm with you getting some fresh air."