"Nora, you look absolutely lovely." Hermione smiled as she finished my makeup. I looked in the vanity mirror I had conjured for the evening.
"Thank you so much. It's because of your makeup wizardry." She laughed and rolled her eyes. "I need to go down and get the band ready." I stood up and wobbled before taking a couple of clunking steps before growling and going to reach to take off my schools.
"One moment, just one more bit of wizardry for you my dear," Hermione pulled her wand out of her bag and ran it along my heels. Instantly, it felt much easier to walk in them. "Now walk normally." I took a step and it felt like I was walking in my regular shoes. I hugged Hermione.
"You are truly the brightest witch of the time." We walked down the steps to the main hall together. "Go meet your Bulgarian Prince Charming." She waved and went to wait for him. I walked to the green room, hoping that the band was in there and not still outside playing in the snow like children. Much to my relief, they were already lounging about looking over the set list I had suggested.
"Don't you look like a heartbreaker?" Callum flipped his long hair out of his face.
"Not as much as you all do in those ripped robes. Did you buy them like that or did you take them from a homeless wizard?" He threw a hand to his forehead, acting faint.
"Why do you treat me so? I bring my bandmates all the way to this school to play for a bunch of teenagers and ministry officials and you offend my fashion sense. I am hurt, truly." I rolled my eyes.
"Get over it, ducks. We have a ball to get on with. Come on, Dumbledore will take care of the instruments."
We walked down to the back room of the Great Hall. I heard Dumbledore announce the feast was to begin and there was a clattering of dishes and utensils. I led the band out to a table that was a little hidden from the main drag, couldn't have the band be mobbed now, could I? I left them to their meal and went to see my friends. Fred was sitting with his back to me but Angelina saw me, her eyes got wide and then a smile spread across her face as she waved. I waved back and went to walk to their table before Draco Malfoy pushed his chair back and hit me. I glared at him.
"Sorry, Black, didn't see you walking there." He sneered. I didn't even dignify that with a response. Thatch waved me over and pulled out a chair for me beside him. He was wearing black dress robes with a silver button shirt and red bow tie that went with his date's red dress robes. I smiled and leaned over Thatch to introduce myself.
"I'm Nora, it's a pleasure to finally be able to meet you in person, I am Anton."
"The pleasure is all mine." His voice was deep and he spoke slowly to pronounce everything correctly. "Thatcher has told me much about you."
"That's funny because he's kept you an enigma to me." I smiled and Thatch rolled his eyes.
"Let's get to eating shall we?" He suggested. "I would like to get to dancing as soon as possible." The clink of silverware and the low thunder of conversation filled the hall. I glanced up to see Harry, Hermione, and Cedric enjoying their meal. Pavarti, on the other hand, looked bored to tears. Harry needed to be a better date to her. I polished off my plate of roast beef and potatoes as Dumbledore gave me the signal to get the band ready. I excused myself and went to the table were the band had piled up dishes and desserts and cups. My shoulders sagged. They were so messy. I straightened my shoulders and walked over to the group of rock stars.
"You ready to play? You have to start out slow for the champions."
"We know, Pup," Callum clapped me on the shoulder. "We're professionals, after all."
"Go on then." I herded them to the side of the stage and then melted into the crowd of kids. I saw Fred and George standing with their dates but I didn't want to go over just yet. Harry and Pavarti danced with the other champions and I noticed that he was being expertly led around like a show dog by his date. After a few turns, other people joined in like Neville and Ginny. I saw Ron sit grumpily with Padma at a table. Thatch and Anton were gracefully waltzing around with smiles on their face and didn't notice the sideways looks they were getting from other students. The Durmstrang boys, however, hardly paid attention to them. I was too busy watching the other ball attendees that I didn't notice a boy from Beauxbatons move next to me.
"Would zou care zo dance?" I looked at him.
"Me?" He nodded and held out a hand. I took it and he expertly led me to the floor. He bowed to me and I curtsied. He moved with a grace I had never known as we swept through the crowd in a wide circle.
"Zou look very lovely, zis evening."
"Thank you, you look dashing as well." The song ended and the band played a rocking song. The boy and I danced around wildly, punching the air and I flipped my hair around. Soon, we had a whole group of people dancing. My cheeks were flushed and my head light as I left the group to get a drink. Harry and Ron were sitting at a table by themselves. I walked over with a cup of punch.
"You two are looking very lively." I sat down beside Harry and slurped from my delicate china cup.
"You seem to be enjoying yourself." Ron muttered. I leaned around Harry to answer him.
"I am, Ron, you would too if you got up and danced instead of moping like a dog with your tail between your legs." His face screwed up in frustration as he tried to think of a clever retort. Hermione walked over in her lovely Periwinkle robes.
"Hot, isn't it?" She smiled and sat beside Ron. "Viktor's gone to get drinks."
"Don't you mean, Vicky?" Ron sneered. I stood up when a slow song began. I wanted to dance with Fred and tell him something very important.
"Don't call him that…." I walked away from the lovers' quarrel. I saw Fred walking away from the crowd of people and knew it was my chance. It was the perfect moment. He looked at me and smiled. I rushed over to him but tripped on a chair leg and landed heavily upon the floor with the air knocked out of me. Fred kneeled down and helped me up. I dusted off my dress and flipped my hair out of my face.
"Guess that dramatic moment was ruined." I held out my arms for him to admire my dress. Sirius had sent me a sheer silver cocktail dress with purple embroidery and blue poms in lines down the skirt. My gloves went perfectly with them and my shoes were spot on.
"Would you like to dance?" I nodded and he pulled me to the floor and had a hand on my waist and the other still entwined in my hand.
"I want to tell you something." He slowed our pace and I swallowed my nerves so I could go on with my speech. "I'm reckless, and think I'm cleverer than I really am. I'm a smartass and I'm damaged. I didn't think you should have to put up with all of my problems." He went to say something but stopped to let me finish. "But you were my best friend even though I'm barking mad and I feel safe with you. I used to feel all twisted inside because I fought the way I felt about you. I don't do that anymore. I know you like me, even though I was cruel to you. I know we'll fight, I know we'll get angry at each other but I don't care because I know you'll always be my friend and nothing will change that. I really like kissing you, I love holding your hand. Being near you is what I want. Whether or not you feel the same, I'll be happy because I've told you how I feel and that's what I needed to do from the start."
"Are you done? I don't want to interrupt you." I nodded. "Good." He put his hands on the sides of my face and kissed me. I grabbed onto the lapels of his dress robes and pulled him closer. I heard people cheering near us and we pulled away to look around. I turned scarlet when I realized they were cheering at us. Fred let his hands drop to my hips and I smirked as he smiled at me. My lipstick has smeared off onto his lips and took my glove off before wiping it away with my thumb.
"There's no retreat now, everyone will know by the end of the ball." I pulled my glove back on before resuming our dance.
"That's fine with me. Maybe it'll keep the blokes away from you for a change." I noticed a tone of genuine relief.
"Why Freddie, I believe you're jealous." I rolled his eyes and the song changed. Angelina, George, and his date came over and we all danced around so wildly that we were given a wide gap of space from the other dancers. I hardly noticed when Angelina was whisked away by another boy or when George and his date went to somewhere a little more private. I kept waiting for Fred to ask me to go snog in the rose bushes but he never did. We only danced. As it grew closer to the conclusion of the ball, Fred and I were just swaying back and forth holding onto each other. I wasn't even tired, just so relaxed being able to know that I had told Fred how I felt and that he accepted everything about me without trying to change me.
Dumbledore dismissed us. I told Fred I'd meet him back in the common room after I finished helping the band pack up. They gave me hugs before heading out to hitch a ride on the Knight Bus from Hogsmead. The halls were silent as I walked back to the common room, my heels clicked against the floor. I hummed quietly and thought about Fred with a stupid grin on my face. I stopped when I heard someone talking angrily.
"Severus, we could recruit her for our side, she's a powerful witch."
"She is a child, a stupidly loyal child to her father and her friends."
"But she is a Black, they have been a large part of You-Know-Who's army before. I've been watching her. She is much further along than her peers." I knew the voice belonged to Karkoroff. Snape made an annoyed sound.
"He is not back for sure and you're already recruiting students from my own school, I will not listen to this." I heard Snap walk towards me. I looked around wildly for a hiding spot but found none. I tried to look like I hadn't heard anything and was just fiddling with the strap on my shoe. "Shouldn't you be in bed, Black?" His lip curled as he looked at me.
"I was on my way, sir, I had to see that the band was packed and out the door."
"Well then, get on your way."
"Of course, Professor Snape." I stood up and walked past him.
"And Black," I turned. "Your work on the tournament has been… acceptable." He struggled with a word that wasn't too kind.
"Thank you." I ran up the steps, narrowly missing the step that sucked your leg in to the knee. In the common room, Fred was sitting in front of the fire, leaning on his hand propped on the arm. He was asleep. I kissed his cheek before sitting beside him. I kicked off my shoes and he opened his eyes. I pulled my loose, wild hair out of my face and held it off my hot neck. Fred put his arm around my shoulders and I leaned against him. I sighed and watched the flames flicker.
"We really should go to bed." He pushed my hair aside and gently rubbed his thumb up and down on the soft skin of my neck. "But I don't want this night to end." He confessed quietly.
"It won't." We walked to the steps of the girls' dormitory. My shoes dangled from my hand and I was back to being much shorter than him. He looked down at me and grinned.
"What?" I reached up and brushed a lock of his red hair behind his ear.
"I am just very, very happy. Happy people smile." He kissed my cheek and straightened back up. "You should get to bed, we've had a full day." I nodded.
"Goodnight, Freddie." He held onto my hand as I walked up a few steps before turning. "What?"
"May I kiss you once more?" I nodded and he tilted his body forward. I glanced over his serene face with his eyes closed and didn't hesitate anymore to brush my lips against his.
The next day ushered in a new atmosphere, there was the usual post-Christmas lag but when I got ready, I had a smile on my lips thinking about Freddie waiting for me before we went to breakfast. I wore an excessively large set of petticoats over a vibrant violet dress and tied my hair up in a bun secured with a little magic and a hair pin from Sirius. I put on my charm bracelet that hardly ever left my side before walking out of the dormitory. The common room was quiet, everyone else was either still asleep or down at breakfast. Someone jumped out from beside the stairwell and I crushed my squeak when I saw it was just Fred.
"One day you're going to do that, and I'm going to hex you. You're just lucky I didn't have my wand out."
"Such a threat, if you weren't so happy about seeing me, I'd almost think you meant it."
"Let's go, you sod. I need to do more school work today."
"School work, schmool work. We must go out and enjoy the snow while its here."
"Freddie…" I whined as we walked down the stairs.
"Don't Freddie me, I've put my foot down and we must have some fun before you get swept up into the tournament tasks again."
"Fine, we'll see after breakfast. I'm not promising I'll go out with you. I have my reputation as a heart breaker to keep up." He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and smirked.
"Oh, dear, sweet, kind, Renora, you're reputation was ruined long ago after you started hanging around my brother and I." We laughed and walked around the corner. I bumped into someone and tripped. Fred caught me.
"Neville?" He was scrambling around to scoop up a pile of dirt into a clay pot.
"S-s-sorry, Nora." I dropped to my knees and helped him clean up.
"Why are we using our hands? Get your wand out, Nev." He fumbled for his wand and gripped it tightly. I had slipped mine out of my sleeve and pointed it at the dirt. Neville followed suit. "You're going to twirl your wand like its making a tornado and say Mundarus. Got it? You try it." Neville looked unsure but I nodded at him. "You've got this." Fred kneeled down beside me.
"Yeah, Neville, you can do it." His hand rested on my back. A nice spot of warmth through my clothes.
"Mundarus." Neville succeeded in getting half of the dirt in the pot but half of it just blew around. He had the most embarrassed look on his face as a couple more students walked past.
"Good job! Just try again to round up the rest of it." His rosy cheeks made it obvious he was frustrated but he looked at me and sighed. This time, he got all the dirt back in the pot and I noticed little green plants sprout before my eyes.
"Thanks," Neville picked up his pot and looked at the plants.
"What are those?" I stood up on my tip toes to see over the rim of the big pot.
"They're flash flowers. Grow every day to bloom and then decompose at night to grow again the next day."
"Did Professor Sprout give them to you?" Fred asked as we all marveled at the tiny curling stems straightened before our eyes.
"Me gran sent me the seeds yesterday, I just went down to get the pot and soil." I nodded, impressed.
"They look really interesting, I want to see them bloom some time." My stomach growled and I laughed. "But right now it seems I need to go eat." I squeezed Neville's arm to tell him goodbye.
"You're really amazing, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you should've been in Hufflepuff." My hand gravitated towards Fred's as we walked and my fingers loosely intertwined with his.
"I'm just nice. I'm far from everyone's friend."
"You'd be surprised how popular you are. Almost to George and I's level." I elbowed him in the ribs and his hand held onto mine tighter. "That's how it's going to be?" I pulled away from him and ran down the hallway a ways.
"Yes, and what are you going to do about it, Weasley?" I stuck my tongue out at him and took off running through the halls and down the stairs.
"You can run but you can't hide!" I ducked behind a statue in an alcove and watched Fred look around for me. I held my breath and waited for him to get into position before I pounced on him and we tumbled to the floor in a fit of cackles. My many petticoat layers spilled around us and I leaned down and gave Fred a sickenly sweet eskimo kiss which he scrunched his nose at.
"The bloody hell was that?" He chided teasingly. "I want a proper kiss." I shook my head in mock refusal.
"What's going on here?" Moody stood over us. His wild eye didn't look any less spastic from this angle. "You two carrying on like a couple of Poltergeists with all this poppycock." He grumbled as he swigged something out of a flask.
"Little early for that kind of potion, isn't it, Professor?" Fred said as he tucked his arms behind his head. I watched the professor's face. I knew it wasn't the real Mad-Eye, but I needed more proof than my own gut feeling.
"Black, Weasley, get on, no need to be dawdling in the halls anyway." There was an awful screech that rang through the hall and Peeves came bouncing into view.
"You called for a poltergeist, Professor doody moody." Peeves held onto the toes of his turned up shoes. I winked at him and he acted overly sheepish. "Here I am, reporting for duty, doody." While Moody was distracted by the ghostly menace's shenanigans, Fred and I snuck away to eat breakfast.
We sat down in the middle of a group of glum looking first years who had been talking about not being able to go to the ball.
"You didn't miss much. Just a bunch of prats acting like they knew how to dance." I said between mouthfuls of toast. "Really didn't miss anything."
"You're one to talk, Nora, everyone knows you're going with Fred now." Fred snorted his pumpkin juice causing peals of laughter to echo through the hall.
"Well, guess news travels faster than the Knight Bus around here." I went back to eating.
When I was done, the group of first years had flitted away to go spread more gossip and Fred held his stomach like he was too full of food to function. "I don't know where you just put all of the food you just inhaled." The large doors opened before I could touch them. Malfoy stood on the other side, his smile slid from his face.
"See you're out on a date with your own personal Weasley." I wouldn't let him make me mad.
"What's it to you, Ferret?" He scowled. Crabbe and Goyle stood behind him like his own personal trolls.
"It's funny really, Potter and Black have latched onto the Weasleys. Not marrying for money, are you? There's hardly enough to go around to begin with." Malfoy turned to laugh with his posse and I lunged at him. Fred had his arms wrapped around me and drug me away. I fought his hold until we were far enough away I wouldn't get to Draco.
"What was that about?" I crossed my arms and glared at Fred.
"It's just Malfoy, he's not worth it, and you already broke his nose once." I noticed his ears and neck were red, he was angry, too.
"You're mad about it! Should have just let me take care of him…" I pouted in a very mature fashion by tucking my arms tighter against me and looking down and away.
"We'll get him back, in our own way." I sighed and walked away. He caught up with me quickly. "Why are you mad?" His hand on my elbow didn't make me mad, his asking me why I was mad, did. I jerked my arm away too quickly.
"I'm not mad." My tone made it clear I was. He raised an eyebrow at me and gave me a look that told me to spill my guts.
"Really? Because you are a bloody marvelous actress then." I huffed and walked up the steps.
"I don't like that they can say that stuff about you and you're family."
"We can handle the Malfoys, we've been doing it for years. What's got your tail in a knot?" We were pressed up against the wall in an alcove. I looked into his eyes and chewed my lip.
"I want to protect you. From everything cruel, and dark. I want you to be happy and safe." He laughed and tucked some of my wild hair behind one of my ears.
"You're a little guard dog, you know that. I'm far from a china doll, darling." I giggled as he flexed his arm muscles that were hidden under his sweater. "See, I like it much better when you smile." Freddie kissed my nose and took my hand. "I seem to remember you making plans with me for after breakfast."
"After my homework gets a dent in it, then we will revisit the snow day. I must be above reproach by the Ministry, with the last two tasks coming up, they'll be watching me closer than ever to make sure I'm not cheating."
"I thought cheating was part of the tradition."
"It is, but could you imagine the hell that would go down if that got out? I can see the headline now. 'Black infiltrates Ministry' 'Black and Potter cheating streak continued'." Fred grabbed my hands that I was using as air quotes and stopped me outside the portrait of the Fat Lady.
"You really need to stop worrying so much about what the Ministry, Prophet, and anyone else for that matter thinks about you. What matters is that you like the person you are." I nodded we looked at the Fat Lady who was sniffling.
"That was the cutest thing I've ever seen." I pressed my face into Fred's side and smiled.
"We've upset a picture, I think we need to tone down our affection." I mumbled as I inhaled the scent of his cologne. Fred was looking down at me when I pulled away.
"Did you just sniff me?" I turned red and the portrait opened, George walked out with Lee and they both noticed the flush of my cheeks.
"Morning." George grinned at me and poked me in the ribs teasingly. "See you two have already had a full morning."
"Not particularly." I flipped my hair over my shoulder and walked into the common room. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting in front of the fire place. I had left my books in a cabinet in the corner because carrying them upstairs when I was just going to use them again so soon. Fred and I sat in an over-stuffed love seat and he watched me scowl while working on Divination homework. I ended up only finishing part of the holiday assignment and shoved it in the book before moving on to charms. I couldn't concentrate on that either.
"Stop staring at me, Freddie." He was leaning on the arm of the couch still looking at me with a bemused expression. "It's putting me off."
"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm only watching the way to run your quill against your nose when you're thinking and the way your forehead always furrows even when you know what you're doing."
"I am pretty irresistible that way." I caught myself rubbing my quill against the bridge of my nose and stopped immediately. I heard him let out a small sigh and got a quick glimpse at him. He was itching for something to do.
"I heard George say something about some new plans for some pranks, why don't you go work on those for a bit? I'll take a while here." I saw he was conflicted. Finally, his boredom won out and he kissed my forehead before leaving to go to the bathroom we'd taken over as our headquarters. I kicked off my shoes and stretched out my legs. I yanked my Walkman out of my backpack and put the headphones on to concentrate on the work.
When I came back to the world after a long vacation in the world of arithmancy, Fred and George were still gone and Ron was asleep with his care of magical creatures book in front of him. I slammed my book shut, causing several people to jump but Ron stayed asleep. I went up to my room and changed into clothes that were more acceptable to tromp in the snow with. I wanted to send a letter to Sirius. Andi was curled on my pillow I stroked her feathers and she buried her head deeper under her wing, she must have had a long night, too. Flouncing back down the stairs in trousers, my newest Weasley sweater and hat, I starting singing out loud.
"She's like the first girl on this earth that you want to touch." I hummed and danced through the common room. "And she sees me running." Everyone looked at me, some with smiles, others with concern for my sanity. Short trip to madness, it seems.
"I leave you alone for a few hours and come back to find you serenading about another girl? You certainly changed your tune fast." Fred and George had crawled through the portrait hole.
"You must be devastated." I smirked.
"Absolutely. George, I don't think I'll be able to go on with living after this tragedy, hold me." He collapsed into his brother's arms and sobbed dramatically.
"George, since your brother seems to be indisposed, would you care to escort me outside to play in the snow?" Fred was dropped to the floor with a loud thump and George stepped over him, holding out his hand.
"Of course," We exited the common room with Fred on our heels. "Are we going to share a warm butterbeer afterwards?" George threw a look at Fred who just rolled his eyes.
"That sounds wonderful." I wrapped my arm around George's waist. "We'll go take a nice walk in the snow, and share a butterbeer. You'll get a little foam on your lip and I'll ever so romantically wipe it off…" Fred burst between us.
"I know you two are just kidding but I can't take it." His hand pressed against my back and the heat seeped through my clothes. I pulled his down and kissed his cheek.
"You know you're the only redhead for me… besides Charlie." Fred poked me in the ribs. "Alright, you're even before Charlie but you need to grow your hair out longer if you want to jump in front of Bill." George was smiling as Freddie was getting flustered.
Andi chose that moment to fly into my chest in a comical explosion of feathers. I had been letting her watch old comedy movies and she had taken them to heart. I held me and she stuck her beak out with a limp note in her beak. I took it and tossed her into the air where she did some fancy flying to woo the audience before heading off on her next adventure. I peeled the note open, it was from Hagrid. The ink was tear stained and had soaked the paper. I felt my neck grow hot as I read it. The twins tried to read over my shoulder but I put it away.
"I have to go," I started running for a secret passage.
"Nora!" Fred yelled. "What's wrong?"
"We have an infestation."
I stormed out to Hagrid's hut, my face and neck red. The door banged open before I touched it with my outstretched hand.