36

LUNCH had gone by relatively smoothly for Norah. Nothing seemed amiss, no one suspected anything was wrong or bothered to pay attention to how flighty their Order's newest recruit was acting as her designated time to meet Wes, 5:45 on the roof, drew closer. She found herself aimlessly wandering the hallways of the upstairs, not wanting to really leave.

But if it was the only way to ensure Greyback knew she wasn't going to do this to him, then so be it.

Still, the idea of spending even a second amidst a crowd of Lord Voldemort's finest, let alone Rookwood and her own father, almost made her sick.

She'd been away from home now for…a couple of days, and no matter where she went, her fear and loneliness followed her like a plague in her mind, but at least here in the Order, she had Ollie and Tonks and Lupin to talk to, so she wasn't entirely alone now.

Norah was just walking past Brennan's room when she heard a low, guttural groan. She paused, her wolfish hearing perking up at the noise. It sounded like, and she couldn't be sure, but he was in the midst of another one of his migraines.

His door was open…

Norah hesitated, biting down on her bottom lip, painfully twisting her hands together as a low moan of pain came again. She knew a thing or two about monstrous headaches, always getting them the morning after each full moon every vicious moon cycle. She wasn't sure if he wanted company now.

He'd not been at lunch, almost to her disappointment, as she'd been hoping to talk to him.

Screw it. I'm going in, what if he's hurt, Norah thought determinedly to herself, steeling herself and gritting her teeth, preparing herself for one of his outbursts.

"Ollie?" she answered as she carefully poked her head inside the man's darkened bedroom, the curtains drawn and shrouded the place in the shadows. "You—you weren't at lunch earlier. Are you feeling all okay?" she questioned softly, her kind voice flowing through the room like a soft wind.

Silence. Then, though she couldn't see it, there was the rustling of what sounded like bedsheets and a horrible crash as the man swore under his breath a horrible curse word that she dared not repeat out loud to herself, though at the moment, it made Norah smile.

Norah winced at the sound. It sounded like he'd toppled over a lamp or a plastic cup or something. She felt guilty, knowing she'd probably startled the poor man.

Greyback was always telling her she was way too damned loud for a female wolf. That our she-wolves should be silent and listen, Norah thought bitterly to herself, before giving her head a curt shake to clear her mind.

Ollie rose to the floor, his black hair wild and disheveled, looking like it had a mind of its own, his darkening blue eyes narrowing as he looked around for the source of the voice, though his eyes softened as his gaze met hers.

"Norah? Is that you?" he asked in a raspy voice that sounded laced to the brim with grogginess and something else that she could not start to identify. At his question, she couldn't help the tiny smile that flitted across her mouth, though Norah wondered if Ollie could see it in the dimly lit darkness of the room.

"Who else would it be, Ollie?" she prodded gently, hoping her voice didn't sound accusatory. "Tonks and Lupin went home for a while until their next shift. They're covering the Department of Mysteries tonight. Sounds like you stay busy, still cleaning up the mess of what happened a while ago." She cringed, not sure what she was thinking of bringing up the Department of Mysteries to Ollie.

She felt him give a start at her words, surprised when the light from the lamp by his bedside flicked on, shrouding the room in a faint, yellow light, and she caught a glimpse of Ollie's tired, haggard-looking form. Norah cringed, hoping she'd not interrupted his sleep.

"I—I should go, I didn't mean to interrupt," she stammered, suddenly feeling immense guilt for waking him. Norah turned on her heels to go, though was startled when she felt the tempered grip of the man's hand on her shoulder, giving it a light squeeze.

"Don't go yet, Norah. Stay," he pleaded, the note of urgency surprising in his tone. It was enough to give her pause as she slowly turned to look at Ollie.

Norah felt her cheeks redden as she looked away, studying the hardwood floor in a far too engrossed manner.

Ollie quickly noticed her crestfallen and uncertain reaction and elaborated. He gave her a nervous smile that told the young witch he was trying his best here, but she'd have to learn how to trust with him. "I'm glad you came to see me. I…apologize if I'm…not too talkative. My…my headaches," he groaned, wearily rubbing his temples.

A pang of sympathy wracked through her heart, wondering if there was anything that could be done to help him. She couldn't even begin to imagine the headaches he would get, the natural mind-reader that he was.

Norah paused, not sure if she should even ask the question that was burning on the tip of her tongue, yet it tumbled out of her lips before she could stop it. "

Are they…are they bad?" she whispered, her innocent question drifting to him like a sweet lullaby.

"Extremely," he answered in what he hoped was a casual enough tone, though it wasn't enough to stop the brief note of bitterness in his tone seeping its way unbidden to the surface, though he flinched the moment he heard his new partner shirk away from him, and he ground his teeth, cursing himself for saying it.

He could have opted for silence and not burdened Norah with his problems.

Why hadn't he? Ollie could not help but to bring his eyes up to meet hers.

There was a fear there, as he had expected, her gaze lingering on the burn mark underneath his eye. Though he flinched as she asked a follow-up question, asking the one question that very nearly crushed his heart right there on the spot.

"Does it hurt?" she asked, closing off the gap of space, biting down on her bottom lip, and reaching up a shaking hand to caress the burnt, marked flesh that made him shudder.

There was a new emotion in the young woman's gaze that he could not quite identify.

What was even more strange, he thought, repressing a shudder of pleasure that went down his back, was how nice just the pad of her index finger felt. What did she mean then, 'did it hurt?' Did it hurt him to see the mark of his hideousness, his sin, his shame that he had brought to his family's name? Yes, it did hurt. But only sometimes.

"N—no," he stammered. Does it scare you, Norah?"

To his surprise, she cupped his chin in her grip and forced his head upward, forcing Ollie to meet her gaze.

"It doesn't," she whispered with a soft smile. "It seems rude for your own partner to be afraid of you, doesn't it? I—I'm sorry he did that to you," Norah asked, a slight remorseful lilt to her voice, trying to make the situation lighter for Ollie if she possibly could.

Ollie couldn't fight against the small, shy smile that graced his rugged features as the werewolf made it obvious that his appearance did not matter to her. Though he couldn't manage to guess for the life of him how in the bloody hell that could be right now.

The look he'd given her just now was almost enough for Norah to make her want to just…hug him. Norah was not afraid of Brennan, despite the man's burn mark and his rather volatile, unpredictable temper. She'd dealt with worse when at home while dealing with Greyback's savage temper. The difference between her partner appealed to her.

Ollie chuckled softly at the revelation she wasn't intimidated by him. She was the first, alongside Tonks. Not so much because her quip was funny, but because he was filled with unimaginable relief that his partner wasn't afraid of him. And…going to dinner with him. His palms almost broke out in a cold sweat.

It just made everything else not matter as much anymore. His fear of what Norah Jameson thought…his worry of driving her away, hurting her… It was all gone and in its stead was hope.

He…wanted to do something for Norah, in addition to taking her out to dinner tomorrow. Anything at all. Ollie glanced past her towards the outside world as the sun was slowly starting to dip beyond the horizon.

And it was then that an idea sparked in him.

"Do you want to see something beautiful, Jameson? Get out of here for a few minutes?" he said, sensing her hesitation and stammered, immediately trying to correct himself. "Only I—if you want," Ollie fumbled his words, cursing himself for being so nervous.

Norah bit down on her bottom lip, glancing nervously at the alarm clock on his dresser. She still had about maybe fifteen minutes before Wes had promised to meet her on the rooftop, but she could spare maybe five minutes before she'd have to make some kind of excuse.

"I'd like that," she started to say, only to have whatever she'd been about to say next interrupted by the sound of shuffling footsteps.

Both annoyed, Norah and Ollie's heads swiveled upright in the direction of the noise, more than a little bit flustered to find Lupin and Tonks poking their heads curiously in through the open doorway that Norah had foolishly forgotten to close behind her.

"Tonks. Remus," Ollie murmured darkly under his breath in a cordial enough voice, though there was no mistaking the hint of ire slowly creeping its way unbidden to the surface of his hoarse voice.

The pair of Order partners cautiously stepped over the threshold of the doorway that separated Ollie's room from the upstairs corridor. Ollie squeezed his eyes shut as Lupin wordlessly pointed his wand towards the lamp on his bedside table and lit the room.

His head throbbed and pounded against his skull as a surge of annoyance flooded his veins at the now-ruined moment with his partner, though he swallowed past the lump in his throat. When he did manage to regain control of his voice, though there was a slight tremble, he was relieved to hear that it was relatively calm, at least.

"Is there something Norah and I can help you with?" he growled, his tone sounding thoroughly disgruntled and put off.

A light seemed to ignite behind Tonks's eyes as her sharp, inquisitive gaze flitted from the blonde werewolf to the black-haired Legilimens though she merely offered a curt little smile and nodded.

"Molly says there's a ghoul lurking in the downstairs toilet that's giving her a hassle and chucking…well, you don't want to hear me say it," Tonks muttered sardonically, rolling her eyes to herself. "Since you're something an expert on Dark creatures, Ollie, can you handle it?" she chirped, though her gaze was fixated on Norah, how pink and flushed her cheeks were, and she almost looked guilty of something. She furrowed her brows and quirked one at her new friend's direction, but as Norah met her gaze, her eyes widened.

I know you're going to Jack's funeral, Jameson, Tonks silently communicated in their shared impossible telepathy, mindful to keep Ollie out. I know you don't want Ollie to know about it. This is me helping you out. Get up to that rooftop and don't linger around. I can only distract Ollie for maybe about ten minutes, but I think your friend is already waiting for you.

H—how? Even in her mind, her thoughts were stammering. Norah blinked owlishly at the pink-haired witch. She had thought she'd been careful not to reveal anything too suspicious, but she could see the flicker of the smug, if not slightly triumphant grin slowly snaking its way across Tonks's features, she'd been wrong.

Tonks merely offered her a light little shrug of her shoulders and winked at her.

The walls in this place have eyes and ears, my friend. You've got to learn how to close your mind off more if you don't want others to find out. Snape and Ollie aren't the only Legilimens in the Order, Jameson. I'm one, and so is Dumbledore. I don't blame you for wanting to not tell Ollie about wanting to go to his father's funeral but understand that I won't be covering for you later when you get back. Sooner or later, you guys are going to have to talk this thing out together. As partners. It's the only way to get closer to Ollie…

Norah quickly nodded in understanding, swallowing the lump in her throat as she felt something within her chest constrict a little bit. Truth be told, she'd not expected Tonks to be so understanding.

The young woman standing in front of her was quickly becoming a steadfast friend. Norah hoped it would stay that way.

Ollie's disgruntled voice came from beside her, pulling the young blonde witch out of her torpid whirl of confusing thoughts.

"Fine, fine, I'll help," he growled in a thoroughly displeased voice, though Norah swore something in the man's glacier cold blue eyes softened as he turned towards Norah to look at his partner. "I'm…" he hesitated, seeming to be doing some very quick thinking as he searched his brain for what to say.

Norah waited patiently for her partner to collect his thoughts.

"I'm glad you're letting me take you to dinner, Norah," he murmured at last in a low voice, a soft smile snaking its way across his pale, if not a little bit peaky features.

Despite his somewhat ill-looking appearance, made her heart give a flutter, though she couldn't tell if she was genuinely believing the man to be handsome in his own right, or if it was her initial discomfort at her part in her father's stupid scheme of vengeance.

Either way, it was enough to cause an unbelievable amount of conflict to churn within her conscience, not to mention her stomach. Norah blinked as she heard Ollie clear his throat, waiting for her to answer him. She felt the blood rush to her cheeks as she craned her neck upward to look the man in the eyes and blushed.

"Me too," she whispered, not sure what else to say to the man right now, and reluctantly tore her gaze away from her partner and toward Lupin and Tonks, or more specifically, at Tonks's hand.

The beginnings of a genuine smile curved her lips upward. Ollie, puzzled, followed the young blonde's gaze and once his gaze settled upon where Norah was looking, he too found himself smiling.

Which was surprising to him. He had thought, given the nature of both of his separate conversations with Remus and Tonks regarding the nature of their relationship, that he would take the news that his best friend and the unrequited crush was engaged to a werewolf poorly, but he found that not to be the case, and it confused Ollie.

He didn't know if it was because Norah was by his side or not, but he found himself smiling as he looked towards Tonks. "I think congratulations are in order, you two," was all Ollie said to her.

Now it was Tonks's turn to blush as she quickly met Lupin's gaze and smiled at her fiancé.

"Thanks," she started to say, her attention fixated on Norah as she spoke. "I'm actually glad I caught you here, Norah, I was hoping to ask if you'd want to be my maid of honor."

Her blush intensified as she nervously shifted her weight from one foot to the other upon seeing the dawning look of alarm and surprise on the young blonde witch's face.

"I don't really have too many women friends my own age that I hang out with, and well…considering what we went through last night…would you?"

Tonks bit down on her bottom lip while she waited for Norah to answer her. Norah eagerly nodded, touched that Tonks had thought to ask.

"Of course, I'd be happy to, Tonks. I'm happy for you both," Norah murmured quietly and opened her mouth to speak further.

Though, before she could so much as utter a single syllable, an alarming, hair-raising shriek emanating from Mrs. Weasley somewhere downstairs, wafted its way up the stairwell and into the room, causing the fine hairs on the backs of their necks to stand up.

"I guess that's my cue," Ollie snapped, letting out a low guttural groan from the back of his throat, rolling his eyes to himself, sounding as though he really didn't want to go and aid Mrs. Weasley in ridding the downstairs toilet of the ghoul, that sounded to all of the Order members as though it were making a godawful mess of the loo, that he was going to regret helping.

As he strode agitatedly towards the door in something of a huff, he glanced over his shoulder at her.

Norah couldn't be sure in the dimly lit room, as the lamp that Lupin had lit for what meager light it provided to send its light out into the room, as it cast an odd dancing shadow across his angular face, but she swore the ice in his eyes melted a little as he looked. He offered her a little half-smile Norah wasn't sure what to make of.

"Are we still on for night duty, Jameson?" he barked in a rough voice, causing Norah to turn her head away so he wouldn't see it.

He's beginning to sound like his old self, Norah thought. He probably doesn't want Tonks and Lupin to see his reaction, she wondered to herself.

"I'll be there," Norah promised softly, a shy smile snaking its way across her lips as she suddenly found herself unable to meet his gaze. She was a little bit relieved when the man was forced to tear his intense gaze away from her and jostle past Lupin and Tonks standing in the doorway, nudging Tonks's shoulder in the process upon hearing Molly elicit a pleading, shrill scream, begging for Ollie's help.

The trio watched Ollie barrel his way down the stairwell, shouting at the top of his lungs to Molly that he was coming to help, which in turn set off Sirius's mum's portrait screaming again. Lupin swore under his breath and ducked out of the room to go attend to her, which left only Tonks and Norah now standing in the doorway.

Norah wracked her brain for something to say to her new friend who had just asked her to be the maid of honor at their wedding.

"I…" Her voice trailed off as she searched for the right thing to say, and in the end, she found that her heart answered for her. "Thank you, Tonks. For—for everything you've done for me so far."

Tonks looked momentarily taken aback, though she quickly recovered and brushed it off with a wave of her hand to dismiss it.

"It's no problem, Norah. I know what it's like to feel all alone with no one you can turn to, but I hope you know you can trust me."

Norah swallowed as she dared to meet Tonks's gaze, and nodded.

She desperately wished that she could say the same to Tonks, though she felt as though everyone in this Order was well within her rights to distrust her, just on the basis of her being a wolf, and none of them even knew about the nature of her involvement in Greyback's scheme of revenge. She found she had nothing to say.

Tonks quirked a thin eyebrow Norah's way, chuckling and shaking her head to herself as another of Molly's screams from down below, coupled with Ollie muttering a few choice words of his own, reached their ears. Tonks let out a reluctant sounding sigh and reached up a hand to tuck a wisp of her pink hair back behind her ear.

"I'd better go and help them. Don't you have to get going?" she teased, a slightly playful smile tugging at the corners of her pink lips.

"Damn," Norah swore, immediately snapping back to attention.

Her mind had drifted yet again to thoughts of the new Italian place that Ollie was taking her to on Friday, though first, she had to suffer through his father's funeral and Father's company, and then after that, their first night duty later tonight together.

"I—I should go, Tonks, thanks again for everything. I—I'm looking forward to your wedding," she muttered, a note of urgency seeping its way into her voice as she turned on the heels of her boots to head to the stairwell that would take her out onto the roof of Grimmauld Place. "I'll be back. I owe you one!" she called out over her shoulder just as Lupin re-emerged on the topmost step of the stairwell, looking winded and disgruntled as he watched Norah Jameson disappear from his line of sight as he moved to stand alongside Nymphadora.

"Ollie fancies Norah, Remus," Tonks blurted out, stating the obvious that Lupin was already able to ascertain for himself earlier.

Lupin looked curiously at Tonks out of the corner of his gaze as the pair of them stood at the top of the stairwell, staring at the spot where Norah had stood talking to Tonks only moments ago.

"Isn't it obvious?" he chuckled lightly. "I don't think your best friend would have asked her to dinner otherwise, Tonks. Why does anybody ask someone out on a date? To get to know them."

Tonks quickly nodded her agreement with Lupin's statement, though her thin brows came together in a frown as she recollected what Norah had said when the two of them were down in the hole about Greyback, and her initial suspicions re-emerged to the surface.

She swallowed down hard past the lump in her throat.

"Did Ollie really beat Rookwood within an inch of his life that night, Remus?" she asked in awe under her breath as she motioned with a wave of her arm for Remus to follow her down the stairs to see what assistance they could offer Molly and Ollie in dealing with the troublesome ghoul in the toilet that had made a mess of the lavatory.

Lupin nodded, his expression slowly turning sour as his facial muscles pulled taut and rigid as the memory of how furious Ollie had been, how the man hadn't needed his magic and would have succeeded in strangling him to death with his own two hands had Lupin not stopped him.

"He almost did to Rookwood what he tried to do to Umbridge last night, Dora," Lupin explained somberly. "If I wouldn't have stopped him, he would have killed Rookwood, Dora."

"She—she's mentioned Greyback a couple of times, Remus," Tonks whispered as they drew closer towards the bathroom that was down the hallway. "I—I don't want to believe it, but what if we're right to be suspicious of her?" Tonks visibly winced and bit down on her bottom lip, hating even just saying it. "I don't think she would hurt him, but I—I just don't want Ollie or Norah to get hurt. If someone in Lord Voldemort's ranks is hurting Norah, don't you think we should tell him?" she asked, of course, referring to Ollie, since he was her partner, and hopefully, Tonks secretly prayed, more than just a friend.

In time, she reminded herself and waited for Lupin to speak.

Lupin shook his head thoughtfully in response.

"I don't think Miss Jameson is on Voldemort's side, sweetheart. We would know. I would know," he added darkly, visions of Greyback's face flitting through the front of his mind. "Besides," he added with a light little chuckle as he turned to face Tonks directly, placing his hands on either of her shoulders to steady her. "Maybe you didn't see it just now, but I did. Ollie's new partner had stars in her eyes when she was looking at him a few minutes ago. I think it's clear to all of us there's something there, and I don't think it's just because of your best mate's dashing good looks," he said. "Nope." He shook his head and playfully poked Tonks on the arm. "She likes him, his volatile personality and all. I think Miss Jameson may be what Ollie needs to—to break him out of his funk, Tonks."

Tonks nodded. "I hope you're right." There was a beat. A pause. "I'm looking forward to hearing how their date goes," she giggled, thinking this was the first woman Ollie had taken on a date.

Lupin nodded his agreement and turned away from Tonks to help Molly.

Tonks paused, not heading into the loo right away.

She could only hope her mate would listen to her advice. The pair of them were still smiling when they sauntered into the now-destroyed bathroom to find themselves face-to-face with the hideous ghoul that had been haunting the toilet of the downstairs loo, and a thoroughly disgruntled, disheveled looking Ollie and Mrs. Weasley.

Both of them were looking rather put off by Tonks's odd little half-smile at the thought of her best mate and this new girl on a date on Friday, though when Tonks was grilled by both of them, she just shrugged her shoulders, smiling, and refused to let them in on it.

Tonks hoped as she absentmindedly helped Lupin, Ollie, and Mrs. Weasley incapacitate the ghoul and repair the ruined lavatory that this girl would be the one for her friend. She could only hope so.