A/N: Hope you still enjoy reading my story. =) (and reviewing it) *hint*
*hint*
Chapter 37: Sibling Rivalry and Quarrels
Nora woke due to an unknown movement on her bed. She slowly opened her eyes and found herself staring in two pairs of brown ones. Not really knowing how to react, she compromised by giving a large shout, rolling off of her bed and landing painfully on the ground. The owners of the brown eyes quickly went over to her and helped her up.
"Why does everybody have to sneak up on me all the time?" muttered Nora angrily while brushing herself off.
"Aw, we didn't mean to hurt you. We were just wondering how you were!" said a voice Nora recognized all to well. She looked up and saw Parvati and Lavender standing in front of her, smiling broadly. Nora grinned.
"I should've known," she said as she hugged both girls. Parvati and Lavender smiled.
"We just wanted to see you again," said Parvati. "It seems like ages." Lavender nodded, but her face turned serious shortly after.
"How are you doing?" she demanded. The two girls looked at Nora, pity in their eyes. Nora shrugged.
"I'm all right, I guess," she replied. "I've been better, of course. LILY!" She shouted when she had looked at her now empty bed.
"It's all right," said Lavender, trying to calm Nora down.
"Where is she?" Nora demanded.
"Harry came in a while before to take her for a walk with him, Ron and Hermione and Terry," explained Parvati.
"Why didn't anyone tell me? If you two hadn't been here to tell me I'd probably have freaked out!" she said.
"Well, we didn't want to wake you up, you looked so tired," Parvati told her and Lavender nodded.
"I do not look tired," muttered Nora. The other two girls laughed.
"You stubborn little cow," said Lavender, while giggling.
"Well, that is what I'm known for," said Nora proudly. The other two girls giggled even more.
"Come on, let's get you cleaned up," Parvati finally managed to choke out over her laughs as she and Lavender grabbed Nora by the arms and dragged her into the bathroom.
More than an hour later the three of them finally exited the bathroom, Nora all showered, dressed and completely ready to start the day. She wondered why Parvati and Lavender had insisted on doing her hair, make- up and clothes but the thought was soon forgotten when they headed for breakfast. . . lunch, actually.
"So where did you guys go yesterday?" asked Nora. "I saw you in the hall but an hour later you were all gone."
"Well, Terry, Lavender and I got another explanation from Harry, Ron and Hermione about your part in the defeat of You-Know-Who," began Parvati.
"Yes, and then we got a tour around the castle and a large midnight snack," finished Lavender.
"Sounds like fun," said Nora as they entered the Dining Room. "I was stuck playing stupid, mind-killing games with my little sister."
"Lily told us Draco was there as well, so it couldn't have been that bad," Parvati told her as the three of them sat down and food instantly appeared on the table.
"Yeah, I guess. If he hadn't been there I'd have run away screaming and tearing my hair out after the first few games," Nora said shrugging. Parvati and Lavender watched her with a look that said We-Know-You-Love-Him- So-Stop-Pretending-And-Acting-Like-You-Don't. They held that look for the first few minutes during which Nora tried to eat her breakfast, but it was impossible while Parvati and Lavender's eyes were boring through her. Nora put her knife and fork down and sighed, hating her best friends for telling the two that she had gone out with Draco.
"I don't love him, all right? It was just a stupid mistake. A rebound thing. Stop staring," she said, trying to avoid the looks Parvati and Lavender were giving her. "Stop staring," she repeated.
"We're not staring, nor did we say you love him," replied Lavender.
"You didn't say it but it's so clear you might as well have written it all over your faces," Nora told them. She sighed again, not wanting to talk to them about this. What had occurred between her and Draco was between the five of them, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Draco and her, and Padma and Justin, who had been around when the two of them had started dating. Parvati and Lavender could be so nosy sometimes and, now that they knew, the rest of Hogwarts were bound to know within a day as well. Gossip spreads quickly, especially if it's from the two Gryffindor girls.
"So we think you still love Draco, it's no reason to get all offended. Only you know how you feel, we're just guessing here," Parvati said. Nora shrugged and began eating again. When she was nearly finished the doors to the Dining Room opened and in walked Draco, looking very messy. He had not done his hair, nor had he shaved or bothered to get dressed properly. Nora tried hard not to laugh, but the sock on his ear looked highly ridiculous, as did the shoe on his left hand.
"'Morning," said Draco groggily.
"Morning," replied Nora, trying very, very, very hard not to laugh, or at least trying hard to stifle it a bit. Parvati and Lavender suppressed giggles, too, but they got up, grabbed hold of Draco and dragged him out of the Dining Room saying things like "Oh dear, that won't do," and "Let's get you dressed properly, now shall we?" Nora wondered vaguely what they were on about, first dressing her all up and now Draco. She finished her breakfast and walked outside, noticing, to her annoyance, that the beautiful weather from the days before had already left and that it was now replaced by gray skies that rumbled faintly every so often. Nora looked around, in search for her sister or the others, but they were nowhere to be seen. So, left all alone in a large area, she walked over the clearing, chose a nice spot and lay down, watching the clouds move overhead and birds fly by. Nora wondered how long it had been since she had done this. Not counting the weeks here in the Concave Castle, she figured it must've been a pretty long time ago. Above her the skies slowly turned from gray to dark gray. She liked lying on her back and watching the sky, it always made her forget her problems, and the time. Nora had no idea how long she had been lying on her back and was completely lost in the sky until she heard a pop next to her and her outlook of it was obstructed.
"You're blocking my view, Draco," she said, staring straight into his blue/gray eyes, which were looking down on her and had replaced the sky.
"Tell me, how long are you planning to stay out here?" he asked, ignoring what she had said. Nora shrugged.
"As long as I want to," she told him.
"Yeah, well, you better get inside before it starts raining or you'll go all weird again, and this time I'm not dragging you back in nor am I going to help make a potion to cure your cold."
"You look a little flushed," stated Nora bluntly, ignoring his lecture.
"I had to make quite a sprint to escape from the clutches of Parvati and Lavender," he said shrugging.
"Now who forgot to use the form of Apparation?" she asked smiling, still lying on the ground and looking up at him. Draco rolled his eyes.
"All right, so I forgot, but it's only the first time," he said, smiling back. The sky rumbled dangerously again.
"DRACO!" called out two voices, belonging to Parvati and Lavender. The color drained from his face and he gulped. Nora grinned at him.
"You'd better run or they'll catch up and put make-up on you or something," she told him. Draco gulped again and a second later his face was no longer blocking the sky and his footsteps could be heard. Nora rolled over on her stomach and watched him run away in the direction of the Quidditch Pitch. "APPARATE, YOU MORON!" she shouted and a second later Draco was gone. Nora shook her head and rolled onto her back again, watching the sky. A minute later Parvati and Lavender were standing beside her, looking very red in the face.
"Not fair," said Lavender pouting.
"You guys know how to Apparate," added Parvati. Nora grinned and then got up; Draco was right. If it began raining and she was in it, the rest of her day would be completely ruined and she really didn't want that. Together the three of them walked back to the castle, there they would figure out what to do next.
~*~*~*~
"So where are our parents?" asked Hermione as she walked into the Entrance Hall with Terry, Harry, Lily and Ron.
"I think they're meeting with Dumbledore in his office," replied Terry. The main doors opened and they turned to heads to see Nora, Parvati and Lavender walk in.
"Hey," the eight of them said together. They all laughed before Parvati and Lavender immediately rushed to Harry and Ron to start a snogging session. To Nora's relief Hermione and Terry didn't begin one and she walked over to them, giving Lily a big hug first.
"Hi, Terry. Long time since I've seen you," said Nora happily. Terry smiled at her.
"Yeah. It's been what. . . 5 months?" he said, looking at Hermione, who nodded. Terry turned back to Nora. "So, how've you been? Enjoyed the trip a bit before you were dragged here?" He asked. Nora grinned, feeling so unbelievably relieved and happy that he wasn't acting weird like their families and Parvati and Lavender. And he also didn't look at her with pity and sympathy, he just looked. . . normal. His looks, actions and words didn't keep reminding her of her troubles and she was grateful for it.
"Yeah. It was pretty interesting. What about you? Were you able to manage so long without Hermione?" Terry chuckled as Hermione blushed.
"It's been difficult without her, mostly because she was the smartest one and had to help us with the tasks, but I'm spending every hour of this next week with her to make up for the lost times," he replied. Nora smiled, pleased that at least Hermione had found the right guy. 'Ah, in denial now are we?' said the little annoying voice that seemed to have come back again. Nora ignored.
"Well, then, I won't be getting in your way," she said, already knowing it was going to be a lonely week; Harry and Parvati, Ron and Lavender and Hermione and Terry together all the time. 'It'll just be us, then' she told the little annoying voice. 'All righty!' it exclaimed happily. Inwardly Nora groaned and sulked, but on the outside she appeared happy and mirthful, like always.
"Say, where's Draco?" asked Hermione suddenly, looking around the Entrance Hall where only the eight of them stood.
"He Apparated away to escape from Parvati and Lavender. They were getting him all groomed and dressed up and stuff. It was very weird. They kept insisting on doing my hair and make-up," replied Nora, her wondering thought about the two girls returning to her. "I wonder why. . ." Hermione looked uncomfortably at her shoes and then at Terry, who urged her on. "What?" asked Nora suspiciously.
"Well. . . erm. . . well, you probably already know we told them about you dating Draco and how you broke up and stuff. . ." began Hermione softly, not wanting the others to hear. She looked pleadingly at Terry again but he shook his head.
"Yeah, so?" said Nora, confused by Hermione's behavior. Her best friend sighed.
"Well, when we finished telling them, they immediately began forming a plan to get you two together again," finished Hermione hurriedly. Nora rolled her eyes and sighed as well.
"Have you any idea what their plan is?" she asked. Both Hermione and Terry shook their heads. "Well, whatever it is, it won't work," Nora said defiantly. Hermione looked behind her, pretending to glance at something, and rolled her eyes with a suppressed smile, then she faced Nora again.
"So Draco's hiding somewhere now?" questioned Terry, bringing their conversation back to the original topic. Nora nodded.
"Should we go look for him?" asked Hermione. "Who knows where he hid himself and how long he's going to stay there before he thinks it's safe to come back out." Nora shrugged and glanced at Parvati and Lavender who still had not stopped snogging Harry and Ron.
"Uh-oh," she said, looking around the Entrance Hall frantically.
"What? What is it?" asked Hermione, following wherever Nora's eyes darted.
"Lily. I've lost Lily. I cannot believe I just lost her!" said Nora desperately. "We've got to go find her, Merlin knows where she may have gone off to, and, truth be told, this isn't the safest castle." Hermione and Terry nodded.
"But where do we look first?" asked Terry.
"Just open every door you find," came Nora's frenzied reply.
"All right. And do we tell those four?" he questioned, pointing to Harry, Parvati, Ron and Lavender. Nora shook her head.
"No, they're too busy. Just us. All right. Search," she said and ran towards the first door and opened it. "Not in the Dining Room," she said as Hermione moved over to a door a well.
"Hey! A bathroom!" she exclaimed, but hurriedly added, after Nora's glare, "Not in here." And she closed the door again. Terry went over to the door closest to him and was about to open it when both Nora and Hermione sprinted over to him and blocked it.
"What?" he asked. "I thought we were supposed to open every door?" The two girls nodded.
"But not this one, honey," replied Hermione. "Fluffy's behind there." Terry's eyes widened.
"Fluffy?" he asked. Nora and Hermione nodded. "Three-headed Fluffy!?" more nodding. "This place is just too creepy," he muttered. Yet more nodding. "All right, let's do this systematically, shall we?" Nora shrugged, but Hermione beamed. "Where do you think Lily could have gone off to?" Nora shrugged again.
"I don't know. She usually just stays with Harry, it's almost impossible to separate them," she replied wearily, scanning the Hall again.
"We'll just have to search the whole castle like you said, then," said Terry in a voice full of dread. Nora nodded slowly and walked over to the next door, opening it to see if Lily was inside there. Hermione and Terry followed her example and slowly, very slowly, they checked behind every door in the castle they could find and dared to open, not liking the things they saw in half of the rooms.
An eternity later the three of them entered an empty Entrance Hall, all of them looking horrible. Hermione's hair had gone completely out of kilter and was sticking out in every direction. Most of Nora's hair had fallen out of the neat bun Parvati and Lavender had fashioned for her when she had woken up and Terry's hair was just very messy. Their faces were smudged and their clothes were covered in dirt and dust.
"I am never going on stairs that don't look safe, ever again," muttered Terry grouchily.
"Well, at least you haven't fallen through those stairs ever before," muttered Nora, just as grumpily.
"I told you those stairs looked familiar," said Hermione.
"Well how was I supposed to know the stairs had repaired itself!? I thought it was still broken after we fell through it the first time!" exclaimed Nora.
"It hadn't done much of a job repairing itself, then," grumbled Terry, brushing his clothes.
"And we still didn't find Lily," said Nora frantically.
"Well, we haven't checked outside yet. Maybe she's somewhere in the grounds," said Hermione soothingly. "Let's go check there, ok?"
"Fine. But if she isn't wounded or in mortal danger I'll blow my top and perhaps even hurt her myself," threatened Nora. "And I seriously mean that," she added. Hermione gave a frightened smile and then led them outside.
"What time is it?" asked Terry. Hermione glanced at her watch.
"7 o'clock," she replied grumpily. They walked down the front steps and slowly crossed the clearing, looking everywhere around them.
"NORA!" came Lily's happy shout. Nora grumbled threateningly, her eyes blazing, and Hermione quickly grabbed a hold on her, just to make sure she wouldn't go hurt her little sister as she had said. Nora glared as Lily and someone who appeared to be Draco came into view. After 15 minutes the two were about a few feet away and they would've come even closer if Hermione hadn't warned them.
"I wouldn't come any nearer if I were you. She's bound to hurt someone," she said indicating to Nora while still holding on to her. Nora shot a glare at her best friend before looking fiercely at her sister again.
"Why? what's wrong?" asked Lily. Hermione groaned; it would have been better if she had not said a word, because this was when Nora exploded.
"What's wrong? What's wrong!? I'LL TELL YOU WHAT'S WRONG! I SPENT THE WHOLE DAY SEARCHING THE ENTIRE FREAKING CASTLE FOR YOU WITH HERMIONE AND TERRY! I WAS BESIDE MYSELF WITH WORRY! I WAS HYSTERICAL! YOU TOTALLY RUINED OUR DAY!" bellowed Nora, still being held on to by Hermione. She took a few deep breaths and then went on shouting. "HERMIONE AND TERRY WANTED TO SPEND AS MUCH TIME AS POSSIBLE TOGETHER WHILE HE WAS HERE BECAUSE THEY HADN'T SEEN EACH OTHER FOR WEEKS, BUT THEY DIDN'T GET TO BECAUSE THEY WERE SO NICE TO HELP ME LOOK FOR YOU AFTER YOU JUST RAN AWAY WITHOUT EVEN NOTIFYING ME, OR ANYONE ELSE, FIRST! I THOUGHT YOU HAD ENTERED SOME ROOM AND GOTTEN KILLED! YOU - YOU - you're hopeless," she finished in dislike, looking daggers at her little sister. Draco stood there, a bit uncomfortably. He had thought Nora would've been happy to see her sister, but from the looks of it she was bound to kill her the minute Hermione and Terry let go.
"Well can you blame me!? I was bored! You just acted like you didn't see me so I thought I'd go walk around the grounds for a bit! It's not my fault! It's yours!" shouted Lily back. Nora's look blazed with fury and the other three, Draco, Hermione and Terry, wished Lily hadn't argued.
"My fault!?" shrieked Nora, beside herself with rage. None of the other four had ever seen her look like this. It was definitely terrifying. "My fault!?" she repeated. Lily nodded defiantly. "Is it my fault that you're a little ungrateful brat who just runs away without telling anyone, who takes everything for granted and who drives everyone insane with whatever she does!? Is it!? Is it!?"
"Like you're so perfect! You don't even want to watch me for one second! You'd rather spend that second with your so-called 'friends'! And don't even get me started on how 'cheerless' you always look! You're just doing it for the attention! You think that people will take pity on you if you just cry the whole time! But I'm not falling for it! I know you're just an attention-seeking hoar who thinks she's popular and loved by everyone! I bet Dean committed suicide instead of being killed by a Death Eater! I bet he killed himself because he didn't want to be with you anymore! He probably hated your guts like everyone else does!" screamed Lily. Nora made a swift movement with her arms and a second later she was free of Hermione and Terry's grip while they were lying on the ground. She took a threatening step forward and Lily took a step back.
"You say all this about me," Nora said softly, but menacingly. Lily gulped. Draco just looked as if he were on the verge of wetting himself. "Yet still you wish to be like me. On the inside, you know as perfectly well as I do, that you have just describe yourself. . . you. . . attention- seeking hoar, is it? Now get out of my sight before I hurt, or maybe even kill you, as I first intended to," she finished. "And don't you ever dare to talk about Dean like that in front of me, ever again, or you won't live to tell the tale." Lily looked completely on the verge of tears.
"I HATE YOU!" she shouted, Nora just smiled sweetly at her, though, if looks could kill, Lily would've been less than dust already. "I WISH YOU HAD BEEN KILLED THAT NIGHT WHEN HOGWARTS WAS ATTACKED INSTEAD OF THE OTHERS! YOU SUCK!" Then she ran past Nora and towards the castle. "I HATE YOU!" she screamed one last time, turning around to yell at her sister.
"WHO SAID I DON'T LOATHE YOU!? ALL YOU ARE TO ME IS A BLOOD-SUCKING INSECT THAT I CAN'T GET RID OF BECAUSE YOU'RE RELATED! ONLY VOLDEMORT IS WORSE THAN YOU!" bellowed Nora, than she gave Lily the finger before Apparating away to a random place and crying like she always did when she didn't know how to handle of the emotions washing over her and when Dean's name was brought up, and what Lily had said made everything ten times worse. She would be there crying for one of the longest times in her life.
~*~*~*~
"This is hopeless!" exclaimed Hermione after a long silence. She and Terry had gotten up a long time before. "How on earth is she to stop mourning if everything in her life goes wrong!?"
"Should we go look for her?" asked Terry, still a bit terrified after that shocking scene. Hermione firmly shook her head.
"No. She's got to cool off first, but at least she got to shout a bit, though I don't really like that she let it all out on Lily. Usually she just dances in the rain or lies on the ground and watches the sky to relieve herself of all her anger," muttered Hermione, more to herself than to the others.
"Wait, she watches the skies to forget her problems?" asked Draco, becoming more and more confused about Nora. He had never seen this side of her, ever before. Hermione nodded absentmindedly.
"Yes. She says it's soothing for her, I agree, though. But, this is the first time she really waged a war to let her anger go," she replied. "But I can't say she wasn't given a reason. Really, Lily should have told someone she was going to explore the grounds."
"But when can we go and look for Nora?" asked Draco, not caring much about Lily.
"She'll come back to us when she feels better," replied Hermione curtly, before walking off to the castle, sighing loudly.
"Good to see you again, mate," said Terry glumly, before walking off after his girlfriend, leaving Draco standing by himself in the sunset, looking rather befuddled.
"Good to see you again, too," he said, though Terry was too far off to hear. Draco wondered if he really should leave Nora alone to let her cool off, or if he should go look for her to soothe her like he desperately wanted to. He decided to obey to Hermione and leave Nora alone for a while, but after a few hours he would go look for her, whether he was allowed to or not.
~*~*~*~
"Where are Nora and Draco?" asked Harry the second Hermione and Terry entered the Entrance Hall. Lily was in his arms once again. "Lily wouldn't tell me," he added.
"Well, look who finally took some time off of snogging to talk to his friends," snapped Hermione, in danger of losing her temper as well.
"Like you never snog Terry," said Ron, a bit offended.
"Not in public, no," Hermione shot at him.
"Where are Nora and Draco?" Harry asked Terry, deciding to ignore Hermione.
"Nora Apparated off somewhere and Draco. . . er, we kind of left him out in the clearing," Terry replied.
"Why? What happened?" asked Ron. He, Harry, Parvati and Lavender looked at Terry with interest.
"They didn't fight, did they?" asked Parvati.
"Yeah, 'cause that'll mess up our whole plan," Lavender told them. Hermione looked at the two girls in disbelief and then rolled her eyes, but luckily nobody saw.
"No, they didn't fight, but Nora and Lily had an immense row," Terry answered. Lily smirked.
"I bet she's off somewhere crying now, is she?" she said, looking quite smug with herself. Hermione, her temper very close to the surface, blew a fuse, but she remained calm, though in a Professor McGonagall-like way.
"First of all, Lily, that's not a real accomplishment," she began, rounding on the little girl in Harry's arms. "Second of all, it is definitely not something to be proud of and third of all, it disgusts me you acted this way."
"What? What did I do wrong?" asked Lily offended, glaring at Hermione.
"Well, you know, you said that Nora always acted like you weren't there and how she didn't even want to watch you for a second, but that's really because of you," Hermione told her.
"How!?" exclaimed Lily.
"How? Because you always run to Harry. When you first see Nora again, after a really long time, you run to her, give her a hug and then immediately jump into Harry's arms. She just guessed she should leave you alone so you could stay with him the whole time," Hermione said with the air of explaining global warming to a three year old. Lily said nothing for a few seconds.
"Yeah, well, she should quit crying all the time and acting all miserable," she replied glowering.
"Well then, let's see you handle the loss of the guy you loved with more than enough disappointments along the way," said Hermione. "No offence to you, Draco," she added smiling, looking at the him.
"None taken," he replied, smiling in return. Lily said nothing.
"You shouldn't judge your sister if you have no idea what she's going through," lectured Hermione. Lily defiantly looked away.
"She shouldn't have yelled at me and embarrassed me," she said, her voice trembling.
"I know. That was very erroneous of her, but she really was worried about you," said Hermione soothingly, calming down a bit. "You should have seen her, storming through the castle, worried something terrible had happened to you."
A/N: Wrihihiterrrrs Blohohoooock (yet again)
"I didn't mean the things I said," whispered Lily.
"Neither did she," replied Hermione.
"Really?" Hermione nodded. "Because I'm really happy she's still alive and that she's my sister," said Lily, trying to apologize for her behavior. "She taught me many things. You know, every summer we'd stay out at night and watch the stars, and Nora always came running with a first-aid kit whenever I got hurt," she said, smiling at the memory. "And whenever our parents went out and she had to watch me, she'd always order pizza and throw out the food mum had cooked in advance." Lily giggled but soon stopped. "I made her cry," she stated softly. "She's done so many things for me and I made her cry. I really am ungrateful," she whispered.
"You're not ungrateful. That's just the way things go. During fights you only remember the worst stuff about the other person and forget all the good things. But it'll all blow over, I promise," said Hermione.
"But you don't have any brothers or sisters. . . are you sure?" asked Lily hopefully. Hermione nodded.
"I may not have any siblings, but Merlin knows how many times I've argued with him," she said dryly, indicating towards Ron, who grinned. "You just need to let Nora cool off a bit and then, when she's ready, she'll come to us."
"Can't I go to her now? I bet she's already cooled off. Please, can I go see her now?" begged Lily.
"We don't know where she is, sweetie," Hermione told her. Lily's hopeful look faltered.
"None of you?" she asked looking around. The rest all shook their heads, even Draco, though he had a large suspicion where Nora was hidden. "Oh."
"Let's have dinner first," suggested Ron, they all agreed, even Hermione, too tired to argue with him. Ron smiled happily and bounded into the Dining Room.
Dinner passed as a fairly happy event as they all filled their stomachs with the delicious food. Draco, the only one not joining in on the conversation, was forming a plan in his mind. He would try and win Nora back. Tonight. He knew of the plan Parvati and Lavender had formed, but, well, that one totally screwed up so he was making one of his own. He was aware of the fact that Nora had had another horrible day but if he didn't do it tonight he'd probably never be able to muster such courage again. Inwardly he grinned, outwardly. . . he did too.
"What are you so happy about?" asked Hermione, watching him suspiciously. Draco choked in his food out of shock.
"What?" he finally managed to splutter. Hermione looked at him as if he had just burst into singing love songs.
"I said: what are you so happy about?" she repeated.
"What? Oh, nothing," said Draco hastily, mentally slapping himself on the forehead for his obviousness.
"All right, then," said Hermione but she kept glancing suspicious looks at him for the next few minutes. When dinner was finally finished Draco rushed out of the Dining Room, stopping in his tracks upon reaching the main stairway. He turned around and waited for Hermione. When she had finally exited the Dining Room as well, he beckon her over.
"What is up with you?" she asked looking at him, not really knowing what to think of his weird behavior. The others were a few feet off, all lost in their own conversations. Draco didn't really want to confess his plan to anyone, but he needed her confirmation, she was the only one who'd know, and it wasn't that awful to tell Hermione, she was one of the very few people he trusted with this.
"I have this plan," he began and to his relief Hermione looked serious, not as if she were about to burst into laughter. "But I need to know. . . does she still love me?" butterflies collected in his stomach as he waited impatiently for the answer, which would decide if he'd be happy for the rest of his life or dead miserable. Hermione did not need to ask to know who he was talking about.
"She loves you as much as you love her, which is a lot more than I had expected," she replied. It was Draco's turn to look suspicious. "The Amulet," Hermione answered, responding to his unasked question. "It transfers the feelings and thoughts of the person into me whenever they touch it."
"Oh," said Draco, feeling a bit more uncomfortable, but after a few seconds the plan hit him on the head with a sledgehammer and he returned back to his hurried state. "But she does love me, then?" Hermione nodded. "Thanks." And then he ran up the stairs.
"Draco," said Hermione and he turned around. "It's about time you took the initiative," she told him. Draco smiled and then ran up the stairs again. Terry walked over to Hermione.
"What was that all about?" he asked, watching Draco.
"Confidential," replied Hermione, smiling at the spot where Draco had been seconds before.
Draco burst into his bedroom and walked over to one of his nightstands. He grabbed the picture of Nymphirah that he had taken out of his pocket when Parvati and Lavender had began grooming him.
"Wish me luck," he told the picture before putting it carefully back into his pocket. "I'll definitely need it," he added muttering. After giving his room another quick scan for anything he might need to take with him, he ran out of the hall again and down the stairs, three steps at a time. To his relief the Entrance Hall was now empty and he made his way to the kitchens. After getting lost in only a few minutes he remembered the form of Apparation and Apparated into the kitchens, nearly landing on one of the house-elves.
"Terribly sorry," he told it, after it had dropped a tray full of dishes on the floor. "I'm really, really sorry," said Draco again, but to his relief the house-elf just beamed and began cleaning up the mess, as if it had just received a very nice treat.
"Is you liking some food, sir?" asked one of the other house-elves, walking up to him. Draco nodded.
"Yes, and could you put it in a picnic basket or something?" he asked. The house-elves all nodded and then ran off, only to return with all sorts of dishes piled full with food and putting them carefully in a large basket, that looked more like a small bathtub than anything.
"We is all done, sir," said a house-elf and Draco thanked them before grabbing the picnic basket and Apparating himself in the middle of the large clearing and sitting down on the grass. He carefully set the picnic basket down and looked glumly at the sky. All of a sudden his great plan to win Nora back seemed silly and stupid and he had no idea why he ever thought it'd work. Maybe he should just eat the food himself and go straight to bed?
"I need help," he muttered to himself, wondering how on earth things had gone so completely wrong this year. "I don't know what to do." 'Simple,' said a little voice inside his head. 'You go over to her, comfort her, say you love her and she's yours again.' "I have a feeling it's not going to be that easy," murmured Draco. 'Fine, don't do as I say, see if I care,' huffed the voice and it went silent. Draco gazed at the stars, feeling incredibly hopeless. "I NEED HELP!" he shouted at the twinkling lights. No one answered his call. Draco kept looking at the sky but he still didn't get any answer. "Hopeless," he muttered.
"Talking to yourself, are you? The first sign you're going insane," said a familiar voice beside him. Draco looked to his side and blinked. He rubbed his eyes, looked and blinked again. He blinked for the third time. "Look, if all you're going to do is blink I might as well leave right away. I don't have all night, dear brother," the voice said impatiently. Draco reached out to touch her hair, but his hand went through her. He let his arm fall limply to his side.
"You're here," was all he managed to bring out.
"Quite the observer, aren't you?" Nymphirah told him, smiling.
"Why are you here?" he asked. "HOW are you here?" She laughed.
"Well, you're shout for help didn't go unnoticed and I was allowed to guide you, but only this one time." She replied. "Now, I don't have a whole lot of time here, so you need to tell me what's wrong."
"I don't know what to do. She hates my guts," he answered. Nymphirah shook her head and laughed again. Draco frowned; he could not see what exactly was so funny, other than the fact that he was talking to his sister, who had been killed five months earlier, and that she was here laughing at him, but that was actually just weird, not funny.
"She doesn't hate your guts, Draco. She was just humiliated back then, but that's all blown away. Now she just loves you, like you love her," Nymphirah told him.
"Really?"
"Yes. Now you Apparate to her, give her something to eat and comfort her, then it'll all be all right," said Nymphirah, smiling at him. Draco looked at her.
"Why haven't you visited earlier?" he asked. "I miss you."
"We're not allowed. It's a strict rule that we, the dead, cannot be seen by the living, unless it's to help them and then we give them hints and clues of their fate, and that is done mostly in their dreams. Good luck, Draco," she said.
"Wait," said Draco. "Stay with me? Always?" he asked. She smiled.
"I'll be watching you whenever I can. Tell mum I love and miss her and that she really has to quit crying about me all the time," said Nymphirah. Draco smiled.
"I will," he replied.
"Oh, and Draco?"
"Hmm?"
"Thanks for telling me about the time you slipped and rolled down four flights of stairs before crashing through the banister and falling down two stories until finally landing on the rug in the hallway at home. I needed a good laugh, especially those few days after my death," she told him.
"You listen to me?" asked Draco.
"I always do. I just love it when you tell me about the stupid things you've done that day," answered Nymphirah, laughing, her blue sapphire eyes blazing with spirited fire.
"Yeah, well, at least I can still do stupid things since I didn't get myself killed," replied Draco, smirking playfully at her.
"Cheater," said Nymphirah. "But I still love you." Draco chuckled.
"I love you, too," he told her.
"You better. Now go to Nora, she'll be needing you," said Nymphirah and she began fading away.
"Watch over me!" said Draco, watching her fading figure floating upwards.
"I'll always watch over you," came Nymphirah's whispered voice. "Always." And Draco was left sitting all alone once again. 'All right,' he thought. 'It's now or never.' He grabbed the picnic basket and Apparated away, missing Nymphirah even more now that he had seen her.
A/N: Another chapter done. It was a bit shorter, but I thought I'd extend it just for you guys. I seriously hope you enjoyed reading it and now that you're all down here you might just as well give me a review and make me really, really happy. =)
Chapter 37: Sibling Rivalry and Quarrels
Nora woke due to an unknown movement on her bed. She slowly opened her eyes and found herself staring in two pairs of brown ones. Not really knowing how to react, she compromised by giving a large shout, rolling off of her bed and landing painfully on the ground. The owners of the brown eyes quickly went over to her and helped her up.
"Why does everybody have to sneak up on me all the time?" muttered Nora angrily while brushing herself off.
"Aw, we didn't mean to hurt you. We were just wondering how you were!" said a voice Nora recognized all to well. She looked up and saw Parvati and Lavender standing in front of her, smiling broadly. Nora grinned.
"I should've known," she said as she hugged both girls. Parvati and Lavender smiled.
"We just wanted to see you again," said Parvati. "It seems like ages." Lavender nodded, but her face turned serious shortly after.
"How are you doing?" she demanded. The two girls looked at Nora, pity in their eyes. Nora shrugged.
"I'm all right, I guess," she replied. "I've been better, of course. LILY!" She shouted when she had looked at her now empty bed.
"It's all right," said Lavender, trying to calm Nora down.
"Where is she?" Nora demanded.
"Harry came in a while before to take her for a walk with him, Ron and Hermione and Terry," explained Parvati.
"Why didn't anyone tell me? If you two hadn't been here to tell me I'd probably have freaked out!" she said.
"Well, we didn't want to wake you up, you looked so tired," Parvati told her and Lavender nodded.
"I do not look tired," muttered Nora. The other two girls laughed.
"You stubborn little cow," said Lavender, while giggling.
"Well, that is what I'm known for," said Nora proudly. The other two girls giggled even more.
"Come on, let's get you cleaned up," Parvati finally managed to choke out over her laughs as she and Lavender grabbed Nora by the arms and dragged her into the bathroom.
More than an hour later the three of them finally exited the bathroom, Nora all showered, dressed and completely ready to start the day. She wondered why Parvati and Lavender had insisted on doing her hair, make- up and clothes but the thought was soon forgotten when they headed for breakfast. . . lunch, actually.
"So where did you guys go yesterday?" asked Nora. "I saw you in the hall but an hour later you were all gone."
"Well, Terry, Lavender and I got another explanation from Harry, Ron and Hermione about your part in the defeat of You-Know-Who," began Parvati.
"Yes, and then we got a tour around the castle and a large midnight snack," finished Lavender.
"Sounds like fun," said Nora as they entered the Dining Room. "I was stuck playing stupid, mind-killing games with my little sister."
"Lily told us Draco was there as well, so it couldn't have been that bad," Parvati told her as the three of them sat down and food instantly appeared on the table.
"Yeah, I guess. If he hadn't been there I'd have run away screaming and tearing my hair out after the first few games," Nora said shrugging. Parvati and Lavender watched her with a look that said We-Know-You-Love-Him- So-Stop-Pretending-And-Acting-Like-You-Don't. They held that look for the first few minutes during which Nora tried to eat her breakfast, but it was impossible while Parvati and Lavender's eyes were boring through her. Nora put her knife and fork down and sighed, hating her best friends for telling the two that she had gone out with Draco.
"I don't love him, all right? It was just a stupid mistake. A rebound thing. Stop staring," she said, trying to avoid the looks Parvati and Lavender were giving her. "Stop staring," she repeated.
"We're not staring, nor did we say you love him," replied Lavender.
"You didn't say it but it's so clear you might as well have written it all over your faces," Nora told them. She sighed again, not wanting to talk to them about this. What had occurred between her and Draco was between the five of them, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Draco and her, and Padma and Justin, who had been around when the two of them had started dating. Parvati and Lavender could be so nosy sometimes and, now that they knew, the rest of Hogwarts were bound to know within a day as well. Gossip spreads quickly, especially if it's from the two Gryffindor girls.
"So we think you still love Draco, it's no reason to get all offended. Only you know how you feel, we're just guessing here," Parvati said. Nora shrugged and began eating again. When she was nearly finished the doors to the Dining Room opened and in walked Draco, looking very messy. He had not done his hair, nor had he shaved or bothered to get dressed properly. Nora tried hard not to laugh, but the sock on his ear looked highly ridiculous, as did the shoe on his left hand.
"'Morning," said Draco groggily.
"Morning," replied Nora, trying very, very, very hard not to laugh, or at least trying hard to stifle it a bit. Parvati and Lavender suppressed giggles, too, but they got up, grabbed hold of Draco and dragged him out of the Dining Room saying things like "Oh dear, that won't do," and "Let's get you dressed properly, now shall we?" Nora wondered vaguely what they were on about, first dressing her all up and now Draco. She finished her breakfast and walked outside, noticing, to her annoyance, that the beautiful weather from the days before had already left and that it was now replaced by gray skies that rumbled faintly every so often. Nora looked around, in search for her sister or the others, but they were nowhere to be seen. So, left all alone in a large area, she walked over the clearing, chose a nice spot and lay down, watching the clouds move overhead and birds fly by. Nora wondered how long it had been since she had done this. Not counting the weeks here in the Concave Castle, she figured it must've been a pretty long time ago. Above her the skies slowly turned from gray to dark gray. She liked lying on her back and watching the sky, it always made her forget her problems, and the time. Nora had no idea how long she had been lying on her back and was completely lost in the sky until she heard a pop next to her and her outlook of it was obstructed.
"You're blocking my view, Draco," she said, staring straight into his blue/gray eyes, which were looking down on her and had replaced the sky.
"Tell me, how long are you planning to stay out here?" he asked, ignoring what she had said. Nora shrugged.
"As long as I want to," she told him.
"Yeah, well, you better get inside before it starts raining or you'll go all weird again, and this time I'm not dragging you back in nor am I going to help make a potion to cure your cold."
"You look a little flushed," stated Nora bluntly, ignoring his lecture.
"I had to make quite a sprint to escape from the clutches of Parvati and Lavender," he said shrugging.
"Now who forgot to use the form of Apparation?" she asked smiling, still lying on the ground and looking up at him. Draco rolled his eyes.
"All right, so I forgot, but it's only the first time," he said, smiling back. The sky rumbled dangerously again.
"DRACO!" called out two voices, belonging to Parvati and Lavender. The color drained from his face and he gulped. Nora grinned at him.
"You'd better run or they'll catch up and put make-up on you or something," she told him. Draco gulped again and a second later his face was no longer blocking the sky and his footsteps could be heard. Nora rolled over on her stomach and watched him run away in the direction of the Quidditch Pitch. "APPARATE, YOU MORON!" she shouted and a second later Draco was gone. Nora shook her head and rolled onto her back again, watching the sky. A minute later Parvati and Lavender were standing beside her, looking very red in the face.
"Not fair," said Lavender pouting.
"You guys know how to Apparate," added Parvati. Nora grinned and then got up; Draco was right. If it began raining and she was in it, the rest of her day would be completely ruined and she really didn't want that. Together the three of them walked back to the castle, there they would figure out what to do next.
~*~*~*~
"So where are our parents?" asked Hermione as she walked into the Entrance Hall with Terry, Harry, Lily and Ron.
"I think they're meeting with Dumbledore in his office," replied Terry. The main doors opened and they turned to heads to see Nora, Parvati and Lavender walk in.
"Hey," the eight of them said together. They all laughed before Parvati and Lavender immediately rushed to Harry and Ron to start a snogging session. To Nora's relief Hermione and Terry didn't begin one and she walked over to them, giving Lily a big hug first.
"Hi, Terry. Long time since I've seen you," said Nora happily. Terry smiled at her.
"Yeah. It's been what. . . 5 months?" he said, looking at Hermione, who nodded. Terry turned back to Nora. "So, how've you been? Enjoyed the trip a bit before you were dragged here?" He asked. Nora grinned, feeling so unbelievably relieved and happy that he wasn't acting weird like their families and Parvati and Lavender. And he also didn't look at her with pity and sympathy, he just looked. . . normal. His looks, actions and words didn't keep reminding her of her troubles and she was grateful for it.
"Yeah. It was pretty interesting. What about you? Were you able to manage so long without Hermione?" Terry chuckled as Hermione blushed.
"It's been difficult without her, mostly because she was the smartest one and had to help us with the tasks, but I'm spending every hour of this next week with her to make up for the lost times," he replied. Nora smiled, pleased that at least Hermione had found the right guy. 'Ah, in denial now are we?' said the little annoying voice that seemed to have come back again. Nora ignored.
"Well, then, I won't be getting in your way," she said, already knowing it was going to be a lonely week; Harry and Parvati, Ron and Lavender and Hermione and Terry together all the time. 'It'll just be us, then' she told the little annoying voice. 'All righty!' it exclaimed happily. Inwardly Nora groaned and sulked, but on the outside she appeared happy and mirthful, like always.
"Say, where's Draco?" asked Hermione suddenly, looking around the Entrance Hall where only the eight of them stood.
"He Apparated away to escape from Parvati and Lavender. They were getting him all groomed and dressed up and stuff. It was very weird. They kept insisting on doing my hair and make-up," replied Nora, her wondering thought about the two girls returning to her. "I wonder why. . ." Hermione looked uncomfortably at her shoes and then at Terry, who urged her on. "What?" asked Nora suspiciously.
"Well. . . erm. . . well, you probably already know we told them about you dating Draco and how you broke up and stuff. . ." began Hermione softly, not wanting the others to hear. She looked pleadingly at Terry again but he shook his head.
"Yeah, so?" said Nora, confused by Hermione's behavior. Her best friend sighed.
"Well, when we finished telling them, they immediately began forming a plan to get you two together again," finished Hermione hurriedly. Nora rolled her eyes and sighed as well.
"Have you any idea what their plan is?" she asked. Both Hermione and Terry shook their heads. "Well, whatever it is, it won't work," Nora said defiantly. Hermione looked behind her, pretending to glance at something, and rolled her eyes with a suppressed smile, then she faced Nora again.
"So Draco's hiding somewhere now?" questioned Terry, bringing their conversation back to the original topic. Nora nodded.
"Should we go look for him?" asked Hermione. "Who knows where he hid himself and how long he's going to stay there before he thinks it's safe to come back out." Nora shrugged and glanced at Parvati and Lavender who still had not stopped snogging Harry and Ron.
"Uh-oh," she said, looking around the Entrance Hall frantically.
"What? What is it?" asked Hermione, following wherever Nora's eyes darted.
"Lily. I've lost Lily. I cannot believe I just lost her!" said Nora desperately. "We've got to go find her, Merlin knows where she may have gone off to, and, truth be told, this isn't the safest castle." Hermione and Terry nodded.
"But where do we look first?" asked Terry.
"Just open every door you find," came Nora's frenzied reply.
"All right. And do we tell those four?" he questioned, pointing to Harry, Parvati, Ron and Lavender. Nora shook her head.
"No, they're too busy. Just us. All right. Search," she said and ran towards the first door and opened it. "Not in the Dining Room," she said as Hermione moved over to a door a well.
"Hey! A bathroom!" she exclaimed, but hurriedly added, after Nora's glare, "Not in here." And she closed the door again. Terry went over to the door closest to him and was about to open it when both Nora and Hermione sprinted over to him and blocked it.
"What?" he asked. "I thought we were supposed to open every door?" The two girls nodded.
"But not this one, honey," replied Hermione. "Fluffy's behind there." Terry's eyes widened.
"Fluffy?" he asked. Nora and Hermione nodded. "Three-headed Fluffy!?" more nodding. "This place is just too creepy," he muttered. Yet more nodding. "All right, let's do this systematically, shall we?" Nora shrugged, but Hermione beamed. "Where do you think Lily could have gone off to?" Nora shrugged again.
"I don't know. She usually just stays with Harry, it's almost impossible to separate them," she replied wearily, scanning the Hall again.
"We'll just have to search the whole castle like you said, then," said Terry in a voice full of dread. Nora nodded slowly and walked over to the next door, opening it to see if Lily was inside there. Hermione and Terry followed her example and slowly, very slowly, they checked behind every door in the castle they could find and dared to open, not liking the things they saw in half of the rooms.
An eternity later the three of them entered an empty Entrance Hall, all of them looking horrible. Hermione's hair had gone completely out of kilter and was sticking out in every direction. Most of Nora's hair had fallen out of the neat bun Parvati and Lavender had fashioned for her when she had woken up and Terry's hair was just very messy. Their faces were smudged and their clothes were covered in dirt and dust.
"I am never going on stairs that don't look safe, ever again," muttered Terry grouchily.
"Well, at least you haven't fallen through those stairs ever before," muttered Nora, just as grumpily.
"I told you those stairs looked familiar," said Hermione.
"Well how was I supposed to know the stairs had repaired itself!? I thought it was still broken after we fell through it the first time!" exclaimed Nora.
"It hadn't done much of a job repairing itself, then," grumbled Terry, brushing his clothes.
"And we still didn't find Lily," said Nora frantically.
"Well, we haven't checked outside yet. Maybe she's somewhere in the grounds," said Hermione soothingly. "Let's go check there, ok?"
"Fine. But if she isn't wounded or in mortal danger I'll blow my top and perhaps even hurt her myself," threatened Nora. "And I seriously mean that," she added. Hermione gave a frightened smile and then led them outside.
"What time is it?" asked Terry. Hermione glanced at her watch.
"7 o'clock," she replied grumpily. They walked down the front steps and slowly crossed the clearing, looking everywhere around them.
"NORA!" came Lily's happy shout. Nora grumbled threateningly, her eyes blazing, and Hermione quickly grabbed a hold on her, just to make sure she wouldn't go hurt her little sister as she had said. Nora glared as Lily and someone who appeared to be Draco came into view. After 15 minutes the two were about a few feet away and they would've come even closer if Hermione hadn't warned them.
"I wouldn't come any nearer if I were you. She's bound to hurt someone," she said indicating to Nora while still holding on to her. Nora shot a glare at her best friend before looking fiercely at her sister again.
"Why? what's wrong?" asked Lily. Hermione groaned; it would have been better if she had not said a word, because this was when Nora exploded.
"What's wrong? What's wrong!? I'LL TELL YOU WHAT'S WRONG! I SPENT THE WHOLE DAY SEARCHING THE ENTIRE FREAKING CASTLE FOR YOU WITH HERMIONE AND TERRY! I WAS BESIDE MYSELF WITH WORRY! I WAS HYSTERICAL! YOU TOTALLY RUINED OUR DAY!" bellowed Nora, still being held on to by Hermione. She took a few deep breaths and then went on shouting. "HERMIONE AND TERRY WANTED TO SPEND AS MUCH TIME AS POSSIBLE TOGETHER WHILE HE WAS HERE BECAUSE THEY HADN'T SEEN EACH OTHER FOR WEEKS, BUT THEY DIDN'T GET TO BECAUSE THEY WERE SO NICE TO HELP ME LOOK FOR YOU AFTER YOU JUST RAN AWAY WITHOUT EVEN NOTIFYING ME, OR ANYONE ELSE, FIRST! I THOUGHT YOU HAD ENTERED SOME ROOM AND GOTTEN KILLED! YOU - YOU - you're hopeless," she finished in dislike, looking daggers at her little sister. Draco stood there, a bit uncomfortably. He had thought Nora would've been happy to see her sister, but from the looks of it she was bound to kill her the minute Hermione and Terry let go.
"Well can you blame me!? I was bored! You just acted like you didn't see me so I thought I'd go walk around the grounds for a bit! It's not my fault! It's yours!" shouted Lily back. Nora's look blazed with fury and the other three, Draco, Hermione and Terry, wished Lily hadn't argued.
"My fault!?" shrieked Nora, beside herself with rage. None of the other four had ever seen her look like this. It was definitely terrifying. "My fault!?" she repeated. Lily nodded defiantly. "Is it my fault that you're a little ungrateful brat who just runs away without telling anyone, who takes everything for granted and who drives everyone insane with whatever she does!? Is it!? Is it!?"
"Like you're so perfect! You don't even want to watch me for one second! You'd rather spend that second with your so-called 'friends'! And don't even get me started on how 'cheerless' you always look! You're just doing it for the attention! You think that people will take pity on you if you just cry the whole time! But I'm not falling for it! I know you're just an attention-seeking hoar who thinks she's popular and loved by everyone! I bet Dean committed suicide instead of being killed by a Death Eater! I bet he killed himself because he didn't want to be with you anymore! He probably hated your guts like everyone else does!" screamed Lily. Nora made a swift movement with her arms and a second later she was free of Hermione and Terry's grip while they were lying on the ground. She took a threatening step forward and Lily took a step back.
"You say all this about me," Nora said softly, but menacingly. Lily gulped. Draco just looked as if he were on the verge of wetting himself. "Yet still you wish to be like me. On the inside, you know as perfectly well as I do, that you have just describe yourself. . . you. . . attention- seeking hoar, is it? Now get out of my sight before I hurt, or maybe even kill you, as I first intended to," she finished. "And don't you ever dare to talk about Dean like that in front of me, ever again, or you won't live to tell the tale." Lily looked completely on the verge of tears.
"I HATE YOU!" she shouted, Nora just smiled sweetly at her, though, if looks could kill, Lily would've been less than dust already. "I WISH YOU HAD BEEN KILLED THAT NIGHT WHEN HOGWARTS WAS ATTACKED INSTEAD OF THE OTHERS! YOU SUCK!" Then she ran past Nora and towards the castle. "I HATE YOU!" she screamed one last time, turning around to yell at her sister.
"WHO SAID I DON'T LOATHE YOU!? ALL YOU ARE TO ME IS A BLOOD-SUCKING INSECT THAT I CAN'T GET RID OF BECAUSE YOU'RE RELATED! ONLY VOLDEMORT IS WORSE THAN YOU!" bellowed Nora, than she gave Lily the finger before Apparating away to a random place and crying like she always did when she didn't know how to handle of the emotions washing over her and when Dean's name was brought up, and what Lily had said made everything ten times worse. She would be there crying for one of the longest times in her life.
~*~*~*~
"This is hopeless!" exclaimed Hermione after a long silence. She and Terry had gotten up a long time before. "How on earth is she to stop mourning if everything in her life goes wrong!?"
"Should we go look for her?" asked Terry, still a bit terrified after that shocking scene. Hermione firmly shook her head.
"No. She's got to cool off first, but at least she got to shout a bit, though I don't really like that she let it all out on Lily. Usually she just dances in the rain or lies on the ground and watches the sky to relieve herself of all her anger," muttered Hermione, more to herself than to the others.
"Wait, she watches the skies to forget her problems?" asked Draco, becoming more and more confused about Nora. He had never seen this side of her, ever before. Hermione nodded absentmindedly.
"Yes. She says it's soothing for her, I agree, though. But, this is the first time she really waged a war to let her anger go," she replied. "But I can't say she wasn't given a reason. Really, Lily should have told someone she was going to explore the grounds."
"But when can we go and look for Nora?" asked Draco, not caring much about Lily.
"She'll come back to us when she feels better," replied Hermione curtly, before walking off to the castle, sighing loudly.
"Good to see you again, mate," said Terry glumly, before walking off after his girlfriend, leaving Draco standing by himself in the sunset, looking rather befuddled.
"Good to see you again, too," he said, though Terry was too far off to hear. Draco wondered if he really should leave Nora alone to let her cool off, or if he should go look for her to soothe her like he desperately wanted to. He decided to obey to Hermione and leave Nora alone for a while, but after a few hours he would go look for her, whether he was allowed to or not.
~*~*~*~
"Where are Nora and Draco?" asked Harry the second Hermione and Terry entered the Entrance Hall. Lily was in his arms once again. "Lily wouldn't tell me," he added.
"Well, look who finally took some time off of snogging to talk to his friends," snapped Hermione, in danger of losing her temper as well.
"Like you never snog Terry," said Ron, a bit offended.
"Not in public, no," Hermione shot at him.
"Where are Nora and Draco?" Harry asked Terry, deciding to ignore Hermione.
"Nora Apparated off somewhere and Draco. . . er, we kind of left him out in the clearing," Terry replied.
"Why? What happened?" asked Ron. He, Harry, Parvati and Lavender looked at Terry with interest.
"They didn't fight, did they?" asked Parvati.
"Yeah, 'cause that'll mess up our whole plan," Lavender told them. Hermione looked at the two girls in disbelief and then rolled her eyes, but luckily nobody saw.
"No, they didn't fight, but Nora and Lily had an immense row," Terry answered. Lily smirked.
"I bet she's off somewhere crying now, is she?" she said, looking quite smug with herself. Hermione, her temper very close to the surface, blew a fuse, but she remained calm, though in a Professor McGonagall-like way.
"First of all, Lily, that's not a real accomplishment," she began, rounding on the little girl in Harry's arms. "Second of all, it is definitely not something to be proud of and third of all, it disgusts me you acted this way."
"What? What did I do wrong?" asked Lily offended, glaring at Hermione.
"Well, you know, you said that Nora always acted like you weren't there and how she didn't even want to watch you for a second, but that's really because of you," Hermione told her.
"How!?" exclaimed Lily.
"How? Because you always run to Harry. When you first see Nora again, after a really long time, you run to her, give her a hug and then immediately jump into Harry's arms. She just guessed she should leave you alone so you could stay with him the whole time," Hermione said with the air of explaining global warming to a three year old. Lily said nothing for a few seconds.
"Yeah, well, she should quit crying all the time and acting all miserable," she replied glowering.
"Well then, let's see you handle the loss of the guy you loved with more than enough disappointments along the way," said Hermione. "No offence to you, Draco," she added smiling, looking at the him.
"None taken," he replied, smiling in return. Lily said nothing.
"You shouldn't judge your sister if you have no idea what she's going through," lectured Hermione. Lily defiantly looked away.
"She shouldn't have yelled at me and embarrassed me," she said, her voice trembling.
"I know. That was very erroneous of her, but she really was worried about you," said Hermione soothingly, calming down a bit. "You should have seen her, storming through the castle, worried something terrible had happened to you."
A/N: Wrihihiterrrrs Blohohoooock (yet again)
"I didn't mean the things I said," whispered Lily.
"Neither did she," replied Hermione.
"Really?" Hermione nodded. "Because I'm really happy she's still alive and that she's my sister," said Lily, trying to apologize for her behavior. "She taught me many things. You know, every summer we'd stay out at night and watch the stars, and Nora always came running with a first-aid kit whenever I got hurt," she said, smiling at the memory. "And whenever our parents went out and she had to watch me, she'd always order pizza and throw out the food mum had cooked in advance." Lily giggled but soon stopped. "I made her cry," she stated softly. "She's done so many things for me and I made her cry. I really am ungrateful," she whispered.
"You're not ungrateful. That's just the way things go. During fights you only remember the worst stuff about the other person and forget all the good things. But it'll all blow over, I promise," said Hermione.
"But you don't have any brothers or sisters. . . are you sure?" asked Lily hopefully. Hermione nodded.
"I may not have any siblings, but Merlin knows how many times I've argued with him," she said dryly, indicating towards Ron, who grinned. "You just need to let Nora cool off a bit and then, when she's ready, she'll come to us."
"Can't I go to her now? I bet she's already cooled off. Please, can I go see her now?" begged Lily.
"We don't know where she is, sweetie," Hermione told her. Lily's hopeful look faltered.
"None of you?" she asked looking around. The rest all shook their heads, even Draco, though he had a large suspicion where Nora was hidden. "Oh."
"Let's have dinner first," suggested Ron, they all agreed, even Hermione, too tired to argue with him. Ron smiled happily and bounded into the Dining Room.
Dinner passed as a fairly happy event as they all filled their stomachs with the delicious food. Draco, the only one not joining in on the conversation, was forming a plan in his mind. He would try and win Nora back. Tonight. He knew of the plan Parvati and Lavender had formed, but, well, that one totally screwed up so he was making one of his own. He was aware of the fact that Nora had had another horrible day but if he didn't do it tonight he'd probably never be able to muster such courage again. Inwardly he grinned, outwardly. . . he did too.
"What are you so happy about?" asked Hermione, watching him suspiciously. Draco choked in his food out of shock.
"What?" he finally managed to splutter. Hermione looked at him as if he had just burst into singing love songs.
"I said: what are you so happy about?" she repeated.
"What? Oh, nothing," said Draco hastily, mentally slapping himself on the forehead for his obviousness.
"All right, then," said Hermione but she kept glancing suspicious looks at him for the next few minutes. When dinner was finally finished Draco rushed out of the Dining Room, stopping in his tracks upon reaching the main stairway. He turned around and waited for Hermione. When she had finally exited the Dining Room as well, he beckon her over.
"What is up with you?" she asked looking at him, not really knowing what to think of his weird behavior. The others were a few feet off, all lost in their own conversations. Draco didn't really want to confess his plan to anyone, but he needed her confirmation, she was the only one who'd know, and it wasn't that awful to tell Hermione, she was one of the very few people he trusted with this.
"I have this plan," he began and to his relief Hermione looked serious, not as if she were about to burst into laughter. "But I need to know. . . does she still love me?" butterflies collected in his stomach as he waited impatiently for the answer, which would decide if he'd be happy for the rest of his life or dead miserable. Hermione did not need to ask to know who he was talking about.
"She loves you as much as you love her, which is a lot more than I had expected," she replied. It was Draco's turn to look suspicious. "The Amulet," Hermione answered, responding to his unasked question. "It transfers the feelings and thoughts of the person into me whenever they touch it."
"Oh," said Draco, feeling a bit more uncomfortable, but after a few seconds the plan hit him on the head with a sledgehammer and he returned back to his hurried state. "But she does love me, then?" Hermione nodded. "Thanks." And then he ran up the stairs.
"Draco," said Hermione and he turned around. "It's about time you took the initiative," she told him. Draco smiled and then ran up the stairs again. Terry walked over to Hermione.
"What was that all about?" he asked, watching Draco.
"Confidential," replied Hermione, smiling at the spot where Draco had been seconds before.
Draco burst into his bedroom and walked over to one of his nightstands. He grabbed the picture of Nymphirah that he had taken out of his pocket when Parvati and Lavender had began grooming him.
"Wish me luck," he told the picture before putting it carefully back into his pocket. "I'll definitely need it," he added muttering. After giving his room another quick scan for anything he might need to take with him, he ran out of the hall again and down the stairs, three steps at a time. To his relief the Entrance Hall was now empty and he made his way to the kitchens. After getting lost in only a few minutes he remembered the form of Apparation and Apparated into the kitchens, nearly landing on one of the house-elves.
"Terribly sorry," he told it, after it had dropped a tray full of dishes on the floor. "I'm really, really sorry," said Draco again, but to his relief the house-elf just beamed and began cleaning up the mess, as if it had just received a very nice treat.
"Is you liking some food, sir?" asked one of the other house-elves, walking up to him. Draco nodded.
"Yes, and could you put it in a picnic basket or something?" he asked. The house-elves all nodded and then ran off, only to return with all sorts of dishes piled full with food and putting them carefully in a large basket, that looked more like a small bathtub than anything.
"We is all done, sir," said a house-elf and Draco thanked them before grabbing the picnic basket and Apparating himself in the middle of the large clearing and sitting down on the grass. He carefully set the picnic basket down and looked glumly at the sky. All of a sudden his great plan to win Nora back seemed silly and stupid and he had no idea why he ever thought it'd work. Maybe he should just eat the food himself and go straight to bed?
"I need help," he muttered to himself, wondering how on earth things had gone so completely wrong this year. "I don't know what to do." 'Simple,' said a little voice inside his head. 'You go over to her, comfort her, say you love her and she's yours again.' "I have a feeling it's not going to be that easy," murmured Draco. 'Fine, don't do as I say, see if I care,' huffed the voice and it went silent. Draco gazed at the stars, feeling incredibly hopeless. "I NEED HELP!" he shouted at the twinkling lights. No one answered his call. Draco kept looking at the sky but he still didn't get any answer. "Hopeless," he muttered.
"Talking to yourself, are you? The first sign you're going insane," said a familiar voice beside him. Draco looked to his side and blinked. He rubbed his eyes, looked and blinked again. He blinked for the third time. "Look, if all you're going to do is blink I might as well leave right away. I don't have all night, dear brother," the voice said impatiently. Draco reached out to touch her hair, but his hand went through her. He let his arm fall limply to his side.
"You're here," was all he managed to bring out.
"Quite the observer, aren't you?" Nymphirah told him, smiling.
"Why are you here?" he asked. "HOW are you here?" She laughed.
"Well, you're shout for help didn't go unnoticed and I was allowed to guide you, but only this one time." She replied. "Now, I don't have a whole lot of time here, so you need to tell me what's wrong."
"I don't know what to do. She hates my guts," he answered. Nymphirah shook her head and laughed again. Draco frowned; he could not see what exactly was so funny, other than the fact that he was talking to his sister, who had been killed five months earlier, and that she was here laughing at him, but that was actually just weird, not funny.
"She doesn't hate your guts, Draco. She was just humiliated back then, but that's all blown away. Now she just loves you, like you love her," Nymphirah told him.
"Really?"
"Yes. Now you Apparate to her, give her something to eat and comfort her, then it'll all be all right," said Nymphirah, smiling at him. Draco looked at her.
"Why haven't you visited earlier?" he asked. "I miss you."
"We're not allowed. It's a strict rule that we, the dead, cannot be seen by the living, unless it's to help them and then we give them hints and clues of their fate, and that is done mostly in their dreams. Good luck, Draco," she said.
"Wait," said Draco. "Stay with me? Always?" he asked. She smiled.
"I'll be watching you whenever I can. Tell mum I love and miss her and that she really has to quit crying about me all the time," said Nymphirah. Draco smiled.
"I will," he replied.
"Oh, and Draco?"
"Hmm?"
"Thanks for telling me about the time you slipped and rolled down four flights of stairs before crashing through the banister and falling down two stories until finally landing on the rug in the hallway at home. I needed a good laugh, especially those few days after my death," she told him.
"You listen to me?" asked Draco.
"I always do. I just love it when you tell me about the stupid things you've done that day," answered Nymphirah, laughing, her blue sapphire eyes blazing with spirited fire.
"Yeah, well, at least I can still do stupid things since I didn't get myself killed," replied Draco, smirking playfully at her.
"Cheater," said Nymphirah. "But I still love you." Draco chuckled.
"I love you, too," he told her.
"You better. Now go to Nora, she'll be needing you," said Nymphirah and she began fading away.
"Watch over me!" said Draco, watching her fading figure floating upwards.
"I'll always watch over you," came Nymphirah's whispered voice. "Always." And Draco was left sitting all alone once again. 'All right,' he thought. 'It's now or never.' He grabbed the picnic basket and Apparated away, missing Nymphirah even more now that he had seen her.
A/N: Another chapter done. It was a bit shorter, but I thought I'd extend it just for you guys. I seriously hope you enjoyed reading it and now that you're all down here you might just as well give me a review and make me really, really happy. =)