Disclaimer: Anything relating to the Harry Potter stories belongs to J. K. Rowling. She can have my characters and ideas as well.
CHAPTER 11
Nora was in shock. She still couldn't believe what had happened. She had been staying at his bedside ever since Madam Pomfrey had allowed any visitors. Nora could hear Professor Dumbledore speaking softly to his parents outside of the hospital wing, trying to explain everything that he knew about what had happened to their son. Nora was still replaying everything that had happened the night before in her mind, trying to make sense of it all…
Nora had just left Sirius in the library and headed towards the Gryffindor common room where she was supposed to meet Remus for Prefect duty. He was standing outside of the portrait hole, leaning against the wall waiting for her.
"Hey!" she called out to him. "Sorry I'm late. I was just in the library with—um, doing an assignment."
"Yeah, with Sirius, right?" he asked knowingly.
"Oh." Nora said, suddenly feeling stupid for trying to avoid mentioning Sirius. "Yeah. He was there too."
"So…did you guys get any work done?" Remus asked as they headed to their designated corridor for duty.
"Yep." Nora said.
"Really? That's surprising." said Remus.
"How?" Nora asked him.
"Sirius tends to get bored very easily." Remus replied with a smile.
"Oh, well yeah he does tend to stray off topic a bit, but I can usually make him come back around." Nora said with a smirk.
"I see." Remus nodded.
"I left him in the library." Nora said with a grin, "He didn't seem too happy about it. He hates working in the library. I guess we could work in the common room, but I just like to make him suffer a bit." Remus laughed as they made their way up the abandoned corridor.
"Doesn't seem like there's going to be any action up here tonight, does it?" Nora said. Since the egg incident yesterday, Nora had been dying of curiosity to know what it was that Snape had against Remus, especially considering the fact that he got along with everyone she knew. She tried to bring it up with Sirius, but didn't get any answers out of him. So, she decided to hint at the subject with Remus.
"So yesterday was a pretty hectic day, wasn't it?" she asked him casually.
"Yeah, don't even remind me." Remus said, shaking his head. "I still feel awful about it."
"I felt really bad for Sirius. He was really worried about our egg. And then that whole thing with his brother." Nora said, trying to lead the conversation on to what she wanted to know.
"Oh yeah, that whole thing." Remus said remembering. "I was thinking more of what happened with Michelle."
"Oh, right." Nora said, feeling a little frustrated. Is he still thinking about that? Get over it! She's not worth it!
"I didn't see her at all today. I have a feeling she might be avoiding me." Remus said.
"Well, she hasn't really gotten out of bed today." Nora told him.
"Really? Oh, damn. I feel terrible." Remus said guiltily.
"I'm sure she'll be okay." said Nora, trying to make him feel better.
"I was afraid something like this was going to happen." Remus explained, still sounding a little dejected. "I was really hoping she wouldn't say anything. I mean, I had a suspicion that she liked me…well, it was pretty obvious. But I swear I didn't lead her on or anything."
"Yeah, I'm sure you didn't." Nora said understandingly. "But you're just a nice guy. So any girl would probably get the wrong impression."
"Well, I don't know about that." Remus said and then mused. "Hmm. Maybe I should start acting more like Sirius and James."
"No!" Nora exclaimed quickly and Remus started to laugh. "Don't do that. One Sirius is more than enough, believe me." Nora went on to relate something that Sirius did to try and get out of his part of an assignment.
Remus, who was still laughing, looked up suddenly and said, "Oh, is that Sirius up there?"
"Where?" Nora asked, turning her head in the same direction as him.
"Oh, never mind. I think it's someone else." Remus said.
"Oh." Nora said quietly.
"Don't be too disappointed. I'm sure he'll be in the common room when we're done." Remus said with a grin.
"What?" Nora said, feeling agitated. "I'm not disappointed. I see him too often anyways!" Stop thinking that anything is going on between us!
"Right." Remus said, still smiling.
"No really, I—" Nora started to protest, but she couldn't complete what she wanted to say because Lily suddenly came running down the hall, her face paler than normal.
"Nora! Remus!" she called out. "Come, quickly! A student's been attacked!"
Feeling very alarmed, Nora and Remus set off with Lily and followed her across to the other side of the castle. Nora noticed that they were headed in the direction of where the Hufflepuff dorms were.
They stopped around a crowd of students congregated near the door of the common room and Lily urged them all to move out of the way. Nora and Remus walked right behind her and Nora saw James was already on the ground, crouched next to the fallen student. He got up as soon as he saw them and moved over a little to reveal who it was, and Nora gasped. Her breath was caught in her throat. She fell to the ground next to her friend and shook him.
"Bert!" she said, trying to wake him up. "Bert!" James held Nora's shoulders and she turned to him, her face white with fear, and said, "Oh my God. Is he—"
"Stand aside, please everyone." It was the headmaster. Several of the other professors were with him, and he bent down to Bert and said, "He is still breathing. We have to get him to the hospital wing." Professor McGonagall conjured up a stretcher and lifted Bert onto it.
"Did anyone see what happened here?" Dumbledore sternly asked the students standing around. Everyone's faces were blank and full of fear.
Nora was just standing in a daze, watching her best friend being led away. She couldn't move or even blink. It wasn't until she felt someone hold her hand that she remembered where she was.
"Nora." Lily said gently, pulling her hand. "Come, let's go sit somewhere. Do you want something to drink?"
"No." Nora shook her head still looking in the direction Bert had been taken away. James and Remus came and stood on the other side of her.
"You're in shock." James said, trying to reason with her. "You really need to come and sit down."
"I have to go with him." Nora said, unintentionally ignoring what James said.
"But I don't think they're going to let anyone go inside to see him until they know what happened." Remus said, looking worriedly at her.
"I don't care. I won't be able to stay here and wonder what's going on." she said, letting go of Lily's hand. "I'm going." She ran away from them, not turning back. She ran until she reached the outside of the hospital wing and slumped against the wall. She knew they weren't going to let her in just yet, so she sunk down to the ground and waited, hoping everything was all just a bad dream.
Sirius was playing a game of wizard's chess with Peter, still feeling a little grumpy from when he left the library. He was about to make a move when James, Remus, and Lily barged into the common room, all looking very tense.
Sirius got up from his chair immediately. He could tell from their faces that something was wrong. He also noticed that Nora, who was supposed to be with Remus, wasn't there. "What happened?" he asked them, feeling really concerned.
"It's Nora's friend, Bert. He was attacked." Lily said.
"Ernie?" Sirius said, feeling slightly relieved that there was nothing wrong with Nora, but still concerned none the less for her friend. "How? What happened?"
"Nobody knows." James said. "Lily and I just happened to be near that area when the two Hufflepuff Prefects came running to us, saying that they just stepped out of their common rooms to start their rounds and they found him, just lying there unconscious. So I went to go see what happened while Lily went to get Nora and Remus."
"Where is she?" Sirius asked.
"She was really upset." Lily said, "She just ran to the hospital wing. I doubt they'll let her in. She's probably just waiting outside."
They all sat around in the common room anxiously, waiting for any news of what might have happened. When they got tired of waiting in silence, they all started to speculate on what exactly could've happened to Bert.
"I'll bet he was attacked by someone from Slytherin. He's a muggle-born. Prime target." Sirius said bitterly.
"Well I know they're not exactly the nicest group, but I doubt any student would intentionally try to hurt someone that badly." Lily said, trying to be more rational.
"I don't know." James said, disagreeing with Lily. "I could name a few people that wouldn't hesitate to hurt someone."
"Yeah. Like Snape." Sirius said abruptly.
"Sirius." Remus said sternly. "You shouldn't single people out like that without any proof."
"I don't need proof." Sirius said heatedly. "I know what that greasy Snivellous is like."
"Okay guys." Lily said reprovingly. "Let's not argue about this. We can't say anything yet. Who knows? Maybe it was just an accident or something."
They hung around in the common room for a couple more hours, none of them able to sleep yet, and Nora still hadn't returned from the hospital wing.
"Maybe someone should go see if she's okay." Lily suggested.
"Why don't you go, Lily?" James asked her.
"Well, I was thinking maybe Sirius should go." Lily replied.
"Me?" Sirius asked, looking surprised.
"Yeah." said Lily. "We already tried telling her to come with us, but she didn't listen. Maybe you could try talking to her."
"Why would she listen to me?" Sirius looked confused.
"Because," Remus said, "After Bert, you're the one who spends the most time with her, so you probably know her better than any of us. And she's probably more comfortable around you."
"Well, wouldn't she feel more comfortable with a girl? Lily, I think you should go instead." he said, feeling uncomfortable.
"No." Lily said firmly. "I think she'd rather have you there. She never hangs around us girls anyways."
"Well, why doesn't Remus just go? He's better at making people feel comfortable." Sirius said and then added a little sullenly, "She'll probably be happier to see him instead of me."
"Don't be ridiculous." Remus said. "Trust me, she'd rather see you."
"I highly doubt that." Sirius said.
"Look it just makes sense." Remus tried to convince Sirius. "She already saw us, and we couldn't really do anything to help her out. You spend the most time out of all of us with her, and I know she's comfortable with you because she talked about you the whole time we were at rounds."
"I'm sure she was complaining about something." Sirius said dryly.
"Well…that's beside the point." Remus said, brushing him off. "But really, I think you should go."
"She's probably really upset." Sirius said, feeling anxious.
"Yes, exactly." James said, pulling Sirius up from his seat. "That's why you have to go."
"But what if she's crying or something? I hate seeing girls cry." Sirius complained while James pushed him towards the portrait hole. "I don't know what to do."
"Just go, mate." James said.
"Oh, wait." Sirius said, reaching into his pocket, "Can you baby-sit Yolk for me while I'm gone?" He handed James his egg and headed out.
"Great." Sirius muttered to himself as he made his way through the dark corridors. "What the hell am I supposed to say to her?"
"Hey, Four-eyes." Sirius said as he peeked his head into the door of the hospital room. He could see Nora sitting down in a chair next to Bert's bed, not moving her eyes away from his unconscious body. Sirius walked up towards the bed and looked at Bert. "How's Ernie doing?"
Nora shrugged. "The same. Still unconscious."
He sat down next to her and asked. "Did they figure out what happened yet?"
"No." Nora said quietly. Her voice sounded very strained. "They just let me come and see him about fifteen minutes ago. They're going to transfer him to St. Mungo's soon. Dumbledore's with his parents right now."
"Well, I'm sure he'll get better treatment there. They'll be able to figure out what happened." Sirius said positively.
Nora just nodded her head. She couldn't talk; she could feel her throat start to tighten. She was in too much shock to cry before, and could now feel the tears starting to well up in her eyes. She could hear voices outside of the room and knew they were coming to take Bert away. The door to the room opened and Mr. and Mrs. Aubrey were ushered in with Professor Dumbledore. Bert's parents' faces were pale and his mother's eyes were red and puffy. Nora and Sirius stood up from their chairs and moved out of the way. Nora saw that Mrs. Aubrey had started to cry again. She quickly left the room, afraid her own eyes would start to water up.
Sirius followed her out, unsure of what to do. Nora kept walking ahead of him. He could see her constantly wiping her face. Oh man. She's crying, isn't she. I told James that I hate it when girls cry. What do I do? He ran up to her and grabbed her arm.
"Hey, Four-eyes. Slow down a little." he said, still holding her. She kept her head down and Sirius gave her a handkerchief from his pocket. She took off her glasses and wiped her eyes. She was about to put her glasses back on when they slipped from her hand and fell to the ground. She looked down and saw that one of the lenses had cracked. She just stood there, staring pathetically down at her broken glasses. Sirius looked at Nora and then looked down at the glasses. Oh dear. That can't be a good thing for her right now.
He quickly bent down and picked them up. "I can fix these, don't worry." He took out his wand and she held out her hand for him to stop.
"No, don't bother." Nora said tiredly. "I don't want them anymore. Bert's always telling me not to wear them anyways." Nora could feel her eyes well up again. She took the glasses away from Sirius's hands, walked up to a garbage bin and threw them away.
A/N: Poor Bert! I just did of editing to this chapter...I would love to know what you thought of it!
