Disclaimer: It's exactly the same.
The Demon Hunter and The-Boy-Who-Lived
Ch 3:
A month went by in the same way. Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Nicole became good friends. They were rarely seen apart except at night and in the early morning. Nicole always disappeared during that time and always said it was detention but Harry knew better. Something was up with her. Harry fell harder for her during this month, it was the day of the Hogsmeade trip, and he was planning a way to ask her out. Everyone but him was sure that she liked him.
The four friends were sitting in the Three Broomsticks. As usual they were making fun of Snape and having a good laugh. However, Harry was getting slightly nervous. Then Harry got up the nerve. "Nicole, can I talk to you outside for a second?" he asked slowly.
"Yeah, sure," she responded and the two of them made their way outside. As soon as they got there, Nicole looked strangely. Then she seemed to recover.
"Nicole, I've been wanting to ask you if…" however, he was cut off as she ran at a hooded figure.
She lunged at him and shoved him to the building. Nicole took the hood off his head and grinned evilly. It revealed a small man and Harry felt a wave of hatred go through him.
"Pettigrew old buddy," she said savagely. From her robes she somehow pulled out a long sword. "It's been a long time."
Suddenly, from all over, people surrounded them. "Demon Hunter," Peter somehow squeaked out.
"That's right, Demon Hunter. The girl that can kill you with the twist of a neck," she said still looking at him madly.
"Oh, yes. The rogue Demon Hunter that broke every possible law to get where she is now," he said letting out a squeaky laugh.
"Oh, that hurt," she said sarcastically as she pushed the sword harder onto him. "I know what will hurt more, though."
"You wouldn't dare," he said grimacing.
"Oh, I think I would. Think of it as revenge for leading me to torture and pain and the death of my family," she said pulling up the sword. "I think a little red will go with your face. She pulled the sword along his face as he bled. " How about you tell me where your master is?"
"No," he squeaked. "Don't kill me."
"What's the matter? Caused so many deaths but your scared of a little blood."
"It's not my fault your parents were killed. It's yours," he said laughing. "If you weren't busy playing with the Dark Lord. I know he had fun."
Nicole pressed the sword harder. "So it was my fault I was tortured and tortured and tortured," she said.
"And raped?" Pettigrew said again, laughing. There was murmering from the crowd as he said that.
"That's what he told you?" she asked. "How about he tried to offer me power and him. I said no he tried, I fought, he laid their clutching you know what." Pettigrew looked at her surprised. "Oh, he didn't tell you that. In that department he's not very strong. Now for the body." She drew blood from him with the sword.
"Please, don't kill me," he whimpered.
"Hmmm…boring. I need more blood," she said. Then she drew the sword away and went to swing it. Right before it she was about to send into his stomach a voice yelled, " STOP!"
She turned away to see Dumbledore. "Oh, it's you," she said. "I was sort of busy."
"What are you doing?" he asked, furious. It was the first time Harry saw him furious.
"My job," she answered vilely.
"You're the Demon Hunter, you don't kill humans," he said.
"He's not human, he's demon. I kill the evil. This one's evil. It's time for vengeance," she said.
"You do not deal out vengeance." He said quietly.
"THEN WHO WILL?" she roared. "I played by the rules. It never worked. I went 'rogue' as they say it. It worked. Nothing gets done by being nice," she continued to scream.
"You don't beat evil with evil," he said gently.
"Last time I believed that, my family was killed. If I didn't follow the rules they would be alive!" she screamed. " Seven years of demon fighting and nothing worked better than going against the rules!"
"You're the most powerful and longest living Demon Hunter ever but if you keep going this you'll end up dead," he said, losing his patience again.
"I don't care if I die if it makes the pain stop. As long as people are safe my mission is fulfilled. I can't wait to die!" she said, water appearing in her eyes. She tried to recover. "The bigger the threat I am the better. The sooner my mission is over, the sooner the pain will be, and the sooner I die!" Nicole screamed.
"You can't think that way. Your needed on this side and if you keep going on this path, you'll end up on their side," Dumbledore said.
"Why can't you all just leave me alone. I'm in control of myself," she let out.
"You weren't when David was killed," Dumbledore said. Nicole just sat there, her mouth open, and she kept trying to say something.
"Maybe if you told us the Voldemort was back then it would never happen!" she exploded. "Voldemort came back and we didn't know. He came after me and I could have protected everyone if I would have known. My little brother wouldn't have been attacked as I was letting loose on the demons!"
"As a fourteen year old you expected to even survive?" Dumbledore asked.
"I did and I could have done more," she said quietly. "I know I'm not the great and wonderful Harry Potter but I can hold my own," she said and ran back towards the school. Harry stepped out of the crowd and walked up to Dumbledore.
"You know she's probably right," Harry told him. "You get no where following the rules." Then with that he set off after her.
After a few minutes of looking, Harry found her at Hogwarts, in the Great Hall. "Hey," he said and sat down next to her. She looked up and he saw her cheeks were dripping tears.
"When does the pain stop?" she asked quietly as she looked back down.
"I don't know. I'm still going through it," he said. "All I know is friends make it better." He moved closer to her to put his arm around her to comfort her. To his surprise she laid her head on his shoulder.
"I know I die early. It's my prophecy. It'll be before you kill Voldemort," she said sadly.
"How do you know I'll kill him?" Harry asked quietly. "The prophecy said I'll either kill him or he'll kill me."
"Are you kidding? You'll do it, like you always do. You never fail," she said smiling at him.
"My number's up," he said. He looked away then laughed a hollow laugh. "We both live cursed lives. I'll probably die at the hands of Voldemort, how will you die?"
"Nice question," she tried to joke. "I'll die at the hands of Voldemort leaving my true love with the need of vengeance. Yet again I'll probably leave someone to die. That would be the only one to miss me. No one even knows I exist."
"How about me?" he asked quietly, as he got closer.
"You'll miss me?" she asked, her too getting closer. Their faces were only centimeters away from each other and moving closer.
Then when their lips almost met Harry whispered, "Very much." Softly they started kissing. It got more and more heated and soon they were making out. When they separated in what seemed like too soon to both of them they just gazed into each other's eyes. Then there was a clearing of throats and they both turned to see practically the whole school watching them, amazed. Dumbledore was in front.
"Mr. Potter, Ms. Marmer will you come with me?" he said and Harry and Nicole followed him into the next room.
"What do you want?" Nicole asked in a mock sweet tone.
"I want to apologize to you. I know what you say is correct but you're young. Nicole, you're a very powerful girl and if you go to the wrong side then it will be twice as hard. Even if we were to kill Voldemort there would be another Dark Lord to defeat," Dumbledore said tiredly. "Harry may win against Voldemort and he might be able to beat you but I don't think he'll want to. That's what I thought and this previous scene proved it."
"I get it Professor. It was just so hard and I've been fighting for so long. I can't wait for it to end," she explained sadly. Harry put his arm around her slowly.
"I believe you'll have a break from the pain now," Dumbledore said smiling. "Just don't become like your parents. Even if Lily said she hated James the year before, they fell in love and you had to cover your eyes everywhere you turned for fear of facing a certain kissing couple." Dumbledore said, laughing.
"You ruin my fun," Harry said sarcastically.
"Well, you may leave now," Dumbledore said and they were off.
"We have two hours until dinner," Nicole stated.
"What should we do?" Harry asked innocently. They looked at each other quickly then started running to the Gryffindor common room. It was a bad choice. As soon as they entered the common room they were swamped by Gryffindors. They all either questioned them or sat back. Noticing that their previous plan was ruined they made their way to Ron and Hermione, holding hands.
"Together, huh?" Hermione asked.
"Demon Hunter, huh?" Ron asked.
"Yeah and yeah," Nicole answered taking a seat on Harry's lap after he sat down. There were no more seats left.
"Rogue Demon Hunter?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah," Nicole answered again.
"So, are you going to give any more details?" Ron asked.
"I stopped following the rules. I killed the evil, not just the demons," Nicole explained. "The role of Demon Hunter is to kill the evil demons, vampires, and monsters. There are rules like no killing humans. Except when the rules were made humans weren't as evil as they are now," she muttered. "I think that in this time the Demon Hunter should hunt all evil, so that's what I do. They tell me to stand back and if I don't want to, I lunge."
"Oh," Ron said. "How about the story of the whole together thing? One moment you're screaming you want to die, the next you're making out with my buddy over here."
"I chased after her, comforted her, we shared the whole die early theme, and the rest you saw," Harry said.
It was Hermione's turn to say, "Oh." Everything quieted down for a minute and the silence became awkward.
"So how about Snape yesterday? Was he particularly greasy or what?" Ron asked to start a conversation.
"Nah, he was just as greasy as usual," Nicole replied.
"When will we ever stop making fun of him? There are other things to talk about," Hermione complained.
"Or do," Harry said with a mischievous smile. He glanced at his watch. "One hour, plenty of time," he muttered. Then he disappeared into the boy's dormitories.
"So when are you guys going to start going out?" Nicole asked smiling a little mischievously.
"What? Us?" Hermione asked a little skeptically.
"Don't tell me you weren't thinking about it?" Nicole asked smiling. Hermione hesitated as Ron glared at Nicole.
Then Ron spoke up," You know, you ruined it. I was going to ask her after dinner but you had to ruin it?" He glared at her and Nicole burst out laughing.
Hermione looked a little shocked but then she shrugged it off and smiled. "I will." It was Ron's turn to turn to her, shocked.
"You will?" he asked.
"Yes," Hermione said smiling and Ron smiled back. Harry coming down the stairs with two broomsticks soon interrupted their smiling match.
"What's with the smiling?" Harry asked.
"Ron and Hermione are now Ron and Hermione," Nicole explained.
"Finally, I was waiting for it to happen since 4th year when Ron got all jealous of Krum," he said smiling. "Now let's go."
"Are we flying?" Nicole asked nervously.
"Yeah," Harry replied. Nicole looked a little scared. "What's the matter?"
"I have height fright. I really don't like them. I'll fight a Death Eater without a wand but no heights for me," she said.
"What are you scared of?" Harry asked sincerely.
"Falling. I always feel like I'll fall," she said.
"I'll hold you tight in front of me" he promised gazing at her in pleading.
"You won't let me fall?" she asked smiling.
"Never," he said pulling her up. "I'll never let you fall." She looked up at him and then started laughing. Harry looked at her, hurt.
"I'm so sorry," she said still laughing. "It jus reminded me a movie."
"Movie?" Ron asked, confused.
"Moving pictures that tells a story," Hermione explained.
"Yeah, It was the Titanic. The part when their in the freezing cold water and the guy dies while holding her hand and she goes 'I'll never let go, Jack, I'll never let go' then she drops him into the water," Nicole said, holding back laughter.
Harry smiled a little. "It does have a certain resemblance. But I won't let you go, seriously."
"Okay then, let's go. We only have a half an hour.
~~~~~*********~~~~~
After the romantic half hour, the four of them headed into dinner. As they walked into the Hall, many heads turned to find two couples. One, bickering best friends turned boyfriend and girlfriend and the other the Demon Hunter and The-Boy-Who-Lived. As they sat down Dumbledore stood up.
"I'd like to announce that there will be three dances this year for the students in years four and up. The first will be on Halloween, the next on Christmas, and the last on Easter. The Halloween Dance will be of muggle dress," Dumbledore said and there was an eruption of cheers. The professor quieted them down with the raising of his hands. "The dances will be preferably a couple dance."
At that, Dumbledore sat back down and food appeared on the plates in front of them. Harry turned back to his group of friends. "Wow, there hasn't been a dance since the Yule Ball in our 4th year," he said.
"What changed this year?" Nicole asked curiously.
"There were a lot of requests from the prefects and I talked to Dumbledore," Hermione said. "I'm surprised he agreed."
"Why's that? He always liked us best," Ron commented.
"Yeah whatever. So the first one's muggle dress and on Halloween and probably at night. That's not the safest plan," Nicole muttered more to herself than to anyone. Then she turned to her newfound friends and said, "There are demons, really bad demons, scouting this area. They've been quiet for a long time but who knows how long they'll stay that way. Right now Voldemort may be able to control them but a party might draw them out." She laid back in thought for a second.
"Sounds like some more fun," Harry muttered sarcastically. "Tell me, why is there always so much trouble every time we come back to Hogwarts. I mean, last year it was Voldemort torturing me for information on the stupid prophecy. Now this year it's demons and Voldemort."
"What fun," Nicole said, sighing. She looked down at her food and started to eat slowly and then slightly faster. "I've got to get going. Forests to see and demons to slay, if I'm lucky I may get a challenging vampire." She pushed her food to the side and started going up the stairs to the Gryffindor common room.
Harry looked after her then began to follow. Ron and Hermione looked after him but then decided to go back to their meal.
Harry caught up with Nicole right before she entered through the Fat Lady. "Hey, wait up," Harry said as he caught her arm. They entered into the common room together.
"What do ya want?" Nicole asked at the foot of the girl's staircase.
"I was just wondering if I could help you with your hunting duties," Harry said as they stood together. He watched her face for a reaction and found it quickly. Her face had swept into a look of worry and she looked skeptical. "You don't really think I'd get myself hurt, do you?"
"Anyone can get hurt. You don't know how many times I have come back bleeding and hurting. I'm used to it and I still get hurt. I can't let anyone risk him or herself. Anyone," she explained.
"Oh come on," Harry said angrily. He had survived repeatedly. Now, his new girlfriend wanted to take a risk and leave him home, safe. "Voldemort has been after me since I was one. I can handle myself."
She looked at him for a second, still a little worried. "Alright then, but if you die it is so not my fault. Follow me; I have to give you weapons and other gear."
Harry hesitated. "I can't. Guys aren't able to get up the girls' staircase."
"I'm not going up there. I have a private room for that stuff," Nicole said smiling. "How else would I keep suspicions down? Of course that is of no se now since everyone knows who I am because of my little breakdown."
Nicole went down to the side of the staircase and knocked three times and then two. The side of the staircase swung open revealing a large room with balance beams, punching bags, and most of all, weapons. Harry's jaw almost hit the floor in surprise. Nicole laughed.
"You might want to keep your mouth closed or you'll let in flies," she joked. They walked inside the room and the door swung closed. Nicole walked over to the closet and opened it to reveal a lot of weird looking gear. She threw off her robes and underneath she had black leather pants and a black sweater on. On her feet, she had her traditional combat boots on. "You'll need dark, comfortable clothes," she told him.
"You call tight leather pants comfortable?" Harry asked holding in a laugh.
"Yep. Who says you can't look good while fighting the forces of evil?" Nicole said. She continued, " Now your clothes…."
However, Harry interrupted her. "Already done with. Hermione always gets on my case for sticking with dark. Of course, to make her happy I had to buy some khaki," he said as he took off his robe showing a dark gray, long-sleeved shirt and black jeans. "What now?"
Nicole laughed. "I always knew you were the guy for me. Well, we need the gear. Let's see," she said as she turned back to the closet. "You can keep your wand in your back pocket but you'll need some place to keep a knife. Here you go." She threw a strap to tie around his leg and handed him a knife.
"Cool," he commented as he got everything together.
"As for me, a few knives, my wand, and my sword," she said and she too got her gear on. She paused. "What happened to Pettigrew?"
"Some wizards grabbed him as you ran off. Wormtail's finally getting what he deserves," Harry explained. Nicole nodded and harnessed the sword to her back. Suddenly, it disappeared and Harry jumped in shock. "What just happened?" he asked.
"It's charmed so it only shows when it is put in my hand," she explained. "Let's go." Harry sighed and followed his girlfriend out of the castle and into the Forbidden Forest.
The Demon Hunter and The-Boy-Who-Lived
Ch 3:
A month went by in the same way. Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Nicole became good friends. They were rarely seen apart except at night and in the early morning. Nicole always disappeared during that time and always said it was detention but Harry knew better. Something was up with her. Harry fell harder for her during this month, it was the day of the Hogsmeade trip, and he was planning a way to ask her out. Everyone but him was sure that she liked him.
The four friends were sitting in the Three Broomsticks. As usual they were making fun of Snape and having a good laugh. However, Harry was getting slightly nervous. Then Harry got up the nerve. "Nicole, can I talk to you outside for a second?" he asked slowly.
"Yeah, sure," she responded and the two of them made their way outside. As soon as they got there, Nicole looked strangely. Then she seemed to recover.
"Nicole, I've been wanting to ask you if…" however, he was cut off as she ran at a hooded figure.
She lunged at him and shoved him to the building. Nicole took the hood off his head and grinned evilly. It revealed a small man and Harry felt a wave of hatred go through him.
"Pettigrew old buddy," she said savagely. From her robes she somehow pulled out a long sword. "It's been a long time."
Suddenly, from all over, people surrounded them. "Demon Hunter," Peter somehow squeaked out.
"That's right, Demon Hunter. The girl that can kill you with the twist of a neck," she said still looking at him madly.
"Oh, yes. The rogue Demon Hunter that broke every possible law to get where she is now," he said letting out a squeaky laugh.
"Oh, that hurt," she said sarcastically as she pushed the sword harder onto him. "I know what will hurt more, though."
"You wouldn't dare," he said grimacing.
"Oh, I think I would. Think of it as revenge for leading me to torture and pain and the death of my family," she said pulling up the sword. "I think a little red will go with your face. She pulled the sword along his face as he bled. " How about you tell me where your master is?"
"No," he squeaked. "Don't kill me."
"What's the matter? Caused so many deaths but your scared of a little blood."
"It's not my fault your parents were killed. It's yours," he said laughing. "If you weren't busy playing with the Dark Lord. I know he had fun."
Nicole pressed the sword harder. "So it was my fault I was tortured and tortured and tortured," she said.
"And raped?" Pettigrew said again, laughing. There was murmering from the crowd as he said that.
"That's what he told you?" she asked. "How about he tried to offer me power and him. I said no he tried, I fought, he laid their clutching you know what." Pettigrew looked at her surprised. "Oh, he didn't tell you that. In that department he's not very strong. Now for the body." She drew blood from him with the sword.
"Please, don't kill me," he whimpered.
"Hmmm…boring. I need more blood," she said. Then she drew the sword away and went to swing it. Right before it she was about to send into his stomach a voice yelled, " STOP!"
She turned away to see Dumbledore. "Oh, it's you," she said. "I was sort of busy."
"What are you doing?" he asked, furious. It was the first time Harry saw him furious.
"My job," she answered vilely.
"You're the Demon Hunter, you don't kill humans," he said.
"He's not human, he's demon. I kill the evil. This one's evil. It's time for vengeance," she said.
"You do not deal out vengeance." He said quietly.
"THEN WHO WILL?" she roared. "I played by the rules. It never worked. I went 'rogue' as they say it. It worked. Nothing gets done by being nice," she continued to scream.
"You don't beat evil with evil," he said gently.
"Last time I believed that, my family was killed. If I didn't follow the rules they would be alive!" she screamed. " Seven years of demon fighting and nothing worked better than going against the rules!"
"You're the most powerful and longest living Demon Hunter ever but if you keep going this you'll end up dead," he said, losing his patience again.
"I don't care if I die if it makes the pain stop. As long as people are safe my mission is fulfilled. I can't wait to die!" she said, water appearing in her eyes. She tried to recover. "The bigger the threat I am the better. The sooner my mission is over, the sooner the pain will be, and the sooner I die!" Nicole screamed.
"You can't think that way. Your needed on this side and if you keep going on this path, you'll end up on their side," Dumbledore said.
"Why can't you all just leave me alone. I'm in control of myself," she let out.
"You weren't when David was killed," Dumbledore said. Nicole just sat there, her mouth open, and she kept trying to say something.
"Maybe if you told us the Voldemort was back then it would never happen!" she exploded. "Voldemort came back and we didn't know. He came after me and I could have protected everyone if I would have known. My little brother wouldn't have been attacked as I was letting loose on the demons!"
"As a fourteen year old you expected to even survive?" Dumbledore asked.
"I did and I could have done more," she said quietly. "I know I'm not the great and wonderful Harry Potter but I can hold my own," she said and ran back towards the school. Harry stepped out of the crowd and walked up to Dumbledore.
"You know she's probably right," Harry told him. "You get no where following the rules." Then with that he set off after her.
After a few minutes of looking, Harry found her at Hogwarts, in the Great Hall. "Hey," he said and sat down next to her. She looked up and he saw her cheeks were dripping tears.
"When does the pain stop?" she asked quietly as she looked back down.
"I don't know. I'm still going through it," he said. "All I know is friends make it better." He moved closer to her to put his arm around her to comfort her. To his surprise she laid her head on his shoulder.
"I know I die early. It's my prophecy. It'll be before you kill Voldemort," she said sadly.
"How do you know I'll kill him?" Harry asked quietly. "The prophecy said I'll either kill him or he'll kill me."
"Are you kidding? You'll do it, like you always do. You never fail," she said smiling at him.
"My number's up," he said. He looked away then laughed a hollow laugh. "We both live cursed lives. I'll probably die at the hands of Voldemort, how will you die?"
"Nice question," she tried to joke. "I'll die at the hands of Voldemort leaving my true love with the need of vengeance. Yet again I'll probably leave someone to die. That would be the only one to miss me. No one even knows I exist."
"How about me?" he asked quietly, as he got closer.
"You'll miss me?" she asked, her too getting closer. Their faces were only centimeters away from each other and moving closer.
Then when their lips almost met Harry whispered, "Very much." Softly they started kissing. It got more and more heated and soon they were making out. When they separated in what seemed like too soon to both of them they just gazed into each other's eyes. Then there was a clearing of throats and they both turned to see practically the whole school watching them, amazed. Dumbledore was in front.
"Mr. Potter, Ms. Marmer will you come with me?" he said and Harry and Nicole followed him into the next room.
"What do you want?" Nicole asked in a mock sweet tone.
"I want to apologize to you. I know what you say is correct but you're young. Nicole, you're a very powerful girl and if you go to the wrong side then it will be twice as hard. Even if we were to kill Voldemort there would be another Dark Lord to defeat," Dumbledore said tiredly. "Harry may win against Voldemort and he might be able to beat you but I don't think he'll want to. That's what I thought and this previous scene proved it."
"I get it Professor. It was just so hard and I've been fighting for so long. I can't wait for it to end," she explained sadly. Harry put his arm around her slowly.
"I believe you'll have a break from the pain now," Dumbledore said smiling. "Just don't become like your parents. Even if Lily said she hated James the year before, they fell in love and you had to cover your eyes everywhere you turned for fear of facing a certain kissing couple." Dumbledore said, laughing.
"You ruin my fun," Harry said sarcastically.
"Well, you may leave now," Dumbledore said and they were off.
"We have two hours until dinner," Nicole stated.
"What should we do?" Harry asked innocently. They looked at each other quickly then started running to the Gryffindor common room. It was a bad choice. As soon as they entered the common room they were swamped by Gryffindors. They all either questioned them or sat back. Noticing that their previous plan was ruined they made their way to Ron and Hermione, holding hands.
"Together, huh?" Hermione asked.
"Demon Hunter, huh?" Ron asked.
"Yeah and yeah," Nicole answered taking a seat on Harry's lap after he sat down. There were no more seats left.
"Rogue Demon Hunter?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah," Nicole answered again.
"So, are you going to give any more details?" Ron asked.
"I stopped following the rules. I killed the evil, not just the demons," Nicole explained. "The role of Demon Hunter is to kill the evil demons, vampires, and monsters. There are rules like no killing humans. Except when the rules were made humans weren't as evil as they are now," she muttered. "I think that in this time the Demon Hunter should hunt all evil, so that's what I do. They tell me to stand back and if I don't want to, I lunge."
"Oh," Ron said. "How about the story of the whole together thing? One moment you're screaming you want to die, the next you're making out with my buddy over here."
"I chased after her, comforted her, we shared the whole die early theme, and the rest you saw," Harry said.
It was Hermione's turn to say, "Oh." Everything quieted down for a minute and the silence became awkward.
"So how about Snape yesterday? Was he particularly greasy or what?" Ron asked to start a conversation.
"Nah, he was just as greasy as usual," Nicole replied.
"When will we ever stop making fun of him? There are other things to talk about," Hermione complained.
"Or do," Harry said with a mischievous smile. He glanced at his watch. "One hour, plenty of time," he muttered. Then he disappeared into the boy's dormitories.
"So when are you guys going to start going out?" Nicole asked smiling a little mischievously.
"What? Us?" Hermione asked a little skeptically.
"Don't tell me you weren't thinking about it?" Nicole asked smiling. Hermione hesitated as Ron glared at Nicole.
Then Ron spoke up," You know, you ruined it. I was going to ask her after dinner but you had to ruin it?" He glared at her and Nicole burst out laughing.
Hermione looked a little shocked but then she shrugged it off and smiled. "I will." It was Ron's turn to turn to her, shocked.
"You will?" he asked.
"Yes," Hermione said smiling and Ron smiled back. Harry coming down the stairs with two broomsticks soon interrupted their smiling match.
"What's with the smiling?" Harry asked.
"Ron and Hermione are now Ron and Hermione," Nicole explained.
"Finally, I was waiting for it to happen since 4th year when Ron got all jealous of Krum," he said smiling. "Now let's go."
"Are we flying?" Nicole asked nervously.
"Yeah," Harry replied. Nicole looked a little scared. "What's the matter?"
"I have height fright. I really don't like them. I'll fight a Death Eater without a wand but no heights for me," she said.
"What are you scared of?" Harry asked sincerely.
"Falling. I always feel like I'll fall," she said.
"I'll hold you tight in front of me" he promised gazing at her in pleading.
"You won't let me fall?" she asked smiling.
"Never," he said pulling her up. "I'll never let you fall." She looked up at him and then started laughing. Harry looked at her, hurt.
"I'm so sorry," she said still laughing. "It jus reminded me a movie."
"Movie?" Ron asked, confused.
"Moving pictures that tells a story," Hermione explained.
"Yeah, It was the Titanic. The part when their in the freezing cold water and the guy dies while holding her hand and she goes 'I'll never let go, Jack, I'll never let go' then she drops him into the water," Nicole said, holding back laughter.
Harry smiled a little. "It does have a certain resemblance. But I won't let you go, seriously."
"Okay then, let's go. We only have a half an hour.
~~~~~*********~~~~~
After the romantic half hour, the four of them headed into dinner. As they walked into the Hall, many heads turned to find two couples. One, bickering best friends turned boyfriend and girlfriend and the other the Demon Hunter and The-Boy-Who-Lived. As they sat down Dumbledore stood up.
"I'd like to announce that there will be three dances this year for the students in years four and up. The first will be on Halloween, the next on Christmas, and the last on Easter. The Halloween Dance will be of muggle dress," Dumbledore said and there was an eruption of cheers. The professor quieted them down with the raising of his hands. "The dances will be preferably a couple dance."
At that, Dumbledore sat back down and food appeared on the plates in front of them. Harry turned back to his group of friends. "Wow, there hasn't been a dance since the Yule Ball in our 4th year," he said.
"What changed this year?" Nicole asked curiously.
"There were a lot of requests from the prefects and I talked to Dumbledore," Hermione said. "I'm surprised he agreed."
"Why's that? He always liked us best," Ron commented.
"Yeah whatever. So the first one's muggle dress and on Halloween and probably at night. That's not the safest plan," Nicole muttered more to herself than to anyone. Then she turned to her newfound friends and said, "There are demons, really bad demons, scouting this area. They've been quiet for a long time but who knows how long they'll stay that way. Right now Voldemort may be able to control them but a party might draw them out." She laid back in thought for a second.
"Sounds like some more fun," Harry muttered sarcastically. "Tell me, why is there always so much trouble every time we come back to Hogwarts. I mean, last year it was Voldemort torturing me for information on the stupid prophecy. Now this year it's demons and Voldemort."
"What fun," Nicole said, sighing. She looked down at her food and started to eat slowly and then slightly faster. "I've got to get going. Forests to see and demons to slay, if I'm lucky I may get a challenging vampire." She pushed her food to the side and started going up the stairs to the Gryffindor common room.
Harry looked after her then began to follow. Ron and Hermione looked after him but then decided to go back to their meal.
Harry caught up with Nicole right before she entered through the Fat Lady. "Hey, wait up," Harry said as he caught her arm. They entered into the common room together.
"What do ya want?" Nicole asked at the foot of the girl's staircase.
"I was just wondering if I could help you with your hunting duties," Harry said as they stood together. He watched her face for a reaction and found it quickly. Her face had swept into a look of worry and she looked skeptical. "You don't really think I'd get myself hurt, do you?"
"Anyone can get hurt. You don't know how many times I have come back bleeding and hurting. I'm used to it and I still get hurt. I can't let anyone risk him or herself. Anyone," she explained.
"Oh come on," Harry said angrily. He had survived repeatedly. Now, his new girlfriend wanted to take a risk and leave him home, safe. "Voldemort has been after me since I was one. I can handle myself."
She looked at him for a second, still a little worried. "Alright then, but if you die it is so not my fault. Follow me; I have to give you weapons and other gear."
Harry hesitated. "I can't. Guys aren't able to get up the girls' staircase."
"I'm not going up there. I have a private room for that stuff," Nicole said smiling. "How else would I keep suspicions down? Of course that is of no se now since everyone knows who I am because of my little breakdown."
Nicole went down to the side of the staircase and knocked three times and then two. The side of the staircase swung open revealing a large room with balance beams, punching bags, and most of all, weapons. Harry's jaw almost hit the floor in surprise. Nicole laughed.
"You might want to keep your mouth closed or you'll let in flies," she joked. They walked inside the room and the door swung closed. Nicole walked over to the closet and opened it to reveal a lot of weird looking gear. She threw off her robes and underneath she had black leather pants and a black sweater on. On her feet, she had her traditional combat boots on. "You'll need dark, comfortable clothes," she told him.
"You call tight leather pants comfortable?" Harry asked holding in a laugh.
"Yep. Who says you can't look good while fighting the forces of evil?" Nicole said. She continued, " Now your clothes…."
However, Harry interrupted her. "Already done with. Hermione always gets on my case for sticking with dark. Of course, to make her happy I had to buy some khaki," he said as he took off his robe showing a dark gray, long-sleeved shirt and black jeans. "What now?"
Nicole laughed. "I always knew you were the guy for me. Well, we need the gear. Let's see," she said as she turned back to the closet. "You can keep your wand in your back pocket but you'll need some place to keep a knife. Here you go." She threw a strap to tie around his leg and handed him a knife.
"Cool," he commented as he got everything together.
"As for me, a few knives, my wand, and my sword," she said and she too got her gear on. She paused. "What happened to Pettigrew?"
"Some wizards grabbed him as you ran off. Wormtail's finally getting what he deserves," Harry explained. Nicole nodded and harnessed the sword to her back. Suddenly, it disappeared and Harry jumped in shock. "What just happened?" he asked.
"It's charmed so it only shows when it is put in my hand," she explained. "Let's go." Harry sighed and followed his girlfriend out of the castle and into the Forbidden Forest.