Disclaimer: Anything relating to the Harry Potter stories belongs to J. K. Rowling. She can have my characters and ideas as well.

CHAPTER 12

Nora didn't feel like leaving her bed, but she forced herself to get up. It was two days after Bert had been attacked and Nora had spent the whole time underneath her blanket. She couldn't really remember how she even got to her dorm. Her memory was a little hazy; she remembered Sirius coming to the hospital wing and walking out with him. She wasn't sure if he was with her when she reached the common room or not. Once she got to her dorm, she just collapsed on her bed and when she woke up it was already late into the afternoon. She hoped that everything that happened was just a nightmare, but seeing Lily confirmed that it wasn't. The realization that she had just lost her best friend and didn't know if or when she'd see him again hit her hard. She cried the rest of the day and night, unable to stop the tears. The next day, she was drained. She couldn't move out of her bed, so she just slept.

"Hey Nora, are you feeling better?" Lily asked groggily, sitting up in her bed as she watched Nora get up from her bed and head to the washroom.

Nora just shrugged and went to the washroom to take a hot shower. When she came out, Michelle and Shelby were also awake.

"Hey, you're finally out of bed." Shelby said to her cheerfully.

"Yeah." Nora said quietly while patting her hair dry with a towel. She put on her school robes and gathered her books together. She wanted to eat breakfast and leave the Great Hall before scores of other students came in.

She was just about to leave when Michelle suddenly asked her, "Where are your glasses?"

Nora looked blankly at Michelle for a moment and then said, "They broke." She forgot about her glasses; they seemed like such a trivial issue now and she felt stupid for worrying about her eyes for so long.

"Oh…so can you see properly?" Michelle inquired.

"Yeah, I can see fine." Nora replied shortly, beginning to feel irritated.

"Oh…okay." Michelle said in a puzzled manner. Nora could tell she was exchanging a look with Shelby and it irritated her even more. She quickly left her dorm room and headed down to the Great Hall, hoping that nobody she knew would be down there yet.


"I told you guys it was a bad idea for me to go talk to her. She just ended up walking away from me and now she hasn't even left her room in two days!" Sirius said to James as they were both making their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

"I don't think it has anything to do with you, Sirius. Nora would've done the same thing if it was anybody else." James said.

"Well, I hope she comes out soon. We've got all this work to do for our assignment, too. Poor Yolk hasn't seen her in two days. We only have a few days left with him." Sirius said as he took out his egg baby from his pocket to check on it.

"Yeah, you know I think I'm going to miss Millie as well. I can't believe how easy it is to get attached to something like a stupid egg." James said with a smile. Just as they entered through the doors of the hall, Sirius recognized the back of Nora's curly dark brown hair as she was sitting on the edge of one of the tables.

Sirius nudged James and said quietly, "I think she's back."

"Let's go sit with her." James said. Sirius felt a little apprehensive at first, remembering what had happened in the library and then later in the hospital wing, but then quickly decided that he wasn't going to act differently around her. He had a feeling that she wasn't the type to appreciate too much sympathy, and he definitely didn't want to raise any suspicions if he started to act awkward around her. Well, anyways, I know she's definitely not interested in me in any way. He thought bitterly to himself. Plus, it's not like I am either…I don't think she's my type. I dunno why I was feeling so annoyed before.

Nora was buttering a piece of toast, and she could feel her stomach start to grumble. She was about to take a bite when she saw James come and take a seat across from her.

"Hey, Nora." James said with a warm smile. "It's good to see you. How are you doing?"

Nora just gave him a reluctant smile and a small shrug. She was about to take a bite of her toast again when she heard a "Hey, Four-eyes." coming from her right. She turned her head and saw Sirius sit down next to her.

"Oh, wait." he said with a slight frown, remembering she threw away her glasses. "Well what am I supposed to call you now?"

"Oh, I thought there was something different about you." James said with realization as he poured himself some porridge. "I didn't notice you're not wearing your glasses."

"Yeah, they broke." Nora said.

"Can't you fix them?" James asked her.

"I don't need them." Nora said, sounding a little sad.

"Oh." James said, looking confused. He looked across at Sirius, who was miming him not to ask about it.

"So, really now," Sirius started to say to her while piling his plate with muffins, "what am I supposed to call you?"

"How about Freak-eyes?" Nora said dryly.

"Nah, that doesn't suit you." Sirius said.

"Why would he want to call you that?" James said, looking confused again.

"Because." Nora said impassively, pouring herself some juice. "My eyes are a little freaky."

"What?" James asked, and Nora looked him straight in the eyes.

"Oh!" he exclaimed with a smile. "Hey! They're different colors!"

"Exactly." Nora said.

"Wow." he said. "That is so bloody cool. Sirius, have you seen her eyes? Look at them!"

Sirius couldn't help but grin and when Nora turned to him he squinted his eyes at her and said with a smirk, "Ah, they're not that cool. Nothing special."

"Hey, is that Nora?" Remus's voice suddenly came from behind Nora. She instinctively raised her hand up to her face to where she normally pushed her glasses back, but then immediately scratched the top of her eyebrow to cover it up. She gave Sirius a swift glance, and saw that he was looking at her a little intently, like he knew what she was trying to do. Nora felt her face glow a little with warmth as Remus took a seat across from them, next to James.

"It's good to see you again." he said, looking genuinely happy to see her. "How are you doing? Did you hear anything about Bert yet?" Nora quickly looked at Sirius again and saw that he was eyeing Remus a little.

"Not yet." Nora said, feeling uncomfortable, avoiding Remus's eye. She could now feel Sirius's eyes on her. "I'm going to see Dumbledore today to find out anything."

"Well I hope they find out what happened soon." Remus said as he helped himself to some breakfast.

Nora nodded her head slowly in agreement, and then gave Sirius a hard nudge in his side with her elbow.

"Eh!" he said in surprise. "Why'd you do that?"

"Stop it." she muttered, not looking at him.

"Stop what?" he asked her.

"Looking at me like that." she said quietly but sternly facing him.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Sirius said not-so-innocently. Inside, he felt his irritation start to rise, but then quickly dismissed it. What're you doing? It's just Four-eyes! Don't get all worked up over a girl… He gave her a quick sly glance and said, "So Remus, did you notice that Four-eyes lost two of them?"

"Oh yeah I did, actually." Remus said with a grin.

Nora could feel her face get warm again. What is Sirius's problem? Shit, I think he knows I like Remus. Oh no. What if he tells him? I better get out of here before he embarrasses me even more. She reached for her books and got up to leave.

"Why are you leaving so early?" Remus asked her. She looked down at Remus for a second and then averted her eyes to Sirius. I can't look at Remus. Sirius keeps watching everything that I do.

"I wanted to go talk to Dumbledore before class started." Nora said, still looking in Sirius's direction.

"Oh, hang on." Sirius said getting up from his seat. He pulled out Yolk from his pocket. "It's your turn to look after the little guy."

"Oh, right." Nora said taking the egg from Sirius. "Sorry, I forgot about him."

"That's okay. I took good care of him while you were gone. At least one of us is a responsible parent." he said as his trademark cocky grin resurfaced after so many days.

Nora gave him a little scowl and then looked down at Yolk sadly. "We have to give him back this Friday." She put Yolk gently in her pocket and sighed. "Well, I'll see you later."


Nora felt like the corridor would never end as she walked from Professor Dumbledore's office to her first class of the day. She had just been there to inquire about Bert. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything new that the headmaster could report to Nora. She left his office feeling incredibly disheartened, and lonely. Nora wasn't used to going to classes alone. She missed Bert. Who am I going to sit with in class now? She thought to herself sadly as she finally reached the classroom and walked in. And who am I going to eat, study and just hang out with? She looked around the room, seeing if there was an empty seat near someone she wouldn't mind sitting with. She spotted Shelby and Michelle sitting close to the front, but didn't feel like sitting with them, so she sat in the back of the classroom by herself. She opted to sit quietly in the back of most her classes that day. She didn't particularly feel like conversing with anyone anyways. It wasn't until she went into her Muggle Studies class that she saw Sirius and James sitting together on one side of the classroom that she didn't feel like sitting alone.

"Hey, is anyone sitting here?" Nora asked Sirius, whose books were on the empty seat next to him.

Sirius, who looked surprised for a moment, moved his books and said cheerfully, "I was saving it just for you, Four-eyes." Nora couldn't help but smile at him as she sat down.

"So Nora, tell me." James said to her. "You're a girl…"

"Yes I am…" Nora affirmed, looking at James a little confusedly.

"What is so wrong with me?" he asked her, looking bewildered.

"What do you mean?" she asked, still puzzled.

"Why won't Lily go out with me? You're a girl, so tell me why you wouldn't want to go out with me." said James.

"Did you ask her out?" Nora asked with surprise.

"Well…not recently." James said, looking sheepish.

"Oh." Nora said. "So how do you know she won't go out with you then?"

"Thank you, Four-eyes!" Sirius said exasperatedly and then turned to James. "See, this is what I've been trying to tell you."

"But I can't ask her." James said resolutely and then added anxiously, "I won't be able to take the rejection."

"Do you want me to talk to her?" Nora asked him.

"What do you mean? Like ask her if she'd go out with me?" James questioned her.

"Well I don't have to be so explicit. I can just hint at something and see what she says." Nora suggested. James thought it was a great idea and couldn't wait for class to end so that they could head to dinner where Nora would be able to talk to Lily.

When class was almost over James said to Nora, "Oh, by the way, don't forget we have Quidditch practice every day this week."

"Yeah I didn't forget." said Nora as she put her books away. "But why do we need to practice every day? Hufflepuff shouldn't be hard to beat. We have more than a week, too."

"Well, it's the last game before the holidays." explained James. "I thought it would be good to get the extra playing time."

"Besides," Sirius added, "it'll keep you busy. Keep your mind off of things."

"Oh yeah and also, we have Prefect duty every night." James reminded her.

"Damn, that too?" Nora asked wearily as they walked out of the classroom door.

"Yeah, Dumbledore wants everyone patrolling for extra security. Nobody is allowed outside of their dorms after hours." said James.

"Oh, and one more little thing," Sirius said with a grin, "we have to finish our assignment by this Friday."

"Gees. Looks like I won't be able to keep my mind on anything now." Nora said dryly.

She was about to turn in the opposite direction of the Great Hall when Sirius said, "Hey, where are you going, Four-eyes? Don't you want to eat dinner?"

"Not really. I'm not hungry." Nora replied.

"But you didn't come to lunch either." James said with a frown.

"Oh, yeah, but I really don't feel like—" Nora was protesting when Sirius yanked her arm and started dragging her towards the hall.

"Don't be ridiculous. Just come with us." he said then added quietly to her, "I'm sure there's somebody there that can make you feel better."

"Like who?" Nora asked him.

"You tell me." Sirius said with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Ooh, look." Sirius gave Nora a slight nudge and said softly so only she could hear. "Remus is already at the table. Why don't you go sit next to him?"

Nora glowered at him as they made their way to the table and said defiantly, "No. I think I want to sit with you instead."


Nora felt liberated while hovering on her broomstick during Quidditch practice a few nights later. It was so much easier for her to see while flying around and dodging Bludgers now that she wasn't wearing her glasses. She looked down at the bleachers to where Bert used to sit and watch them play. Everything she did somehow reminded her of him. She was still gazing down at the bleachers when she saw Remus walking towards it and sit down. He looked up, saw her, and waved.

She was about to wave back when a Bludger zoomed past her face, making her almost fall off her broom.

"Oi! Four-eyes, pay attention to the game!" Sirius called out to her as he flew next to her. He squinted his eyes at her and, "Are you sure you didn't need those glasses?"

"Ha. Very funny, Black." Nora said, glowering at him.

"You know, if you can't concentrate with certain people watching us practice, I'll just tell them to leave." Sirius said with a smirk.

"The only reason I can't concentrate," Nora said through gritted teeth, "is because you keep bothering me!"

"Hey, you two!" James's voice bellowed so that everyone on the pitch could hear him, "Flirt with each other on your own time! Sirius, get back in your position!"

Nora glared at Sirius, too angry to say anything and he just winked at her with a cheeky grin and flew to the other side of the pitch. Nora stole a look down to the bleachers and could see that Remus was trying really hard to stop laughing. I'm going to kill Sirius one of these days.


"You seem tired." Remus said to Nora as they met outside the common room to head to their Prefect duty rounds later that night.

"I'm exhausted." Nora admitted. "That practice was brutal."

"Yeah, I got tired just watching you guys." Remus said with a sympathetic smile.

"And Sirius didn't help much either." Nora added with annoyance. "He kept aiming those damn Bludgers at me."

"I noticed." Remus said. "He likes to bug you, doesn't he?"

Nora shrugged indifferently. "I think it's just become a habit with him now." she said and then added tiredly, "Oh, blast. I still have to stay up after this to finish our assignment for tomorrow."

They talked continuously the rest of their rounds and Nora had to constantly check herself from letting her mind wander. She kept noticing how nice Remus's eyes were and wondered what it would be like to kiss him. Ah, I wish I could tell you how I feel, but I'm too much of a chicken…

When they were finally finished and heading through the portrait hole to the common room, Nora was actually sad to be done. She looked across the room and saw that Sirius was already sitting on the couch with his books, waiting for her.

"Finally! I was wondering when you'd get back." Sirius said, eyeing them charily. "How was the long walk through the dark deserted corridors?"

"Dark." Nora said even-tonally, glaring at him. "And deserted."

"Yep." Remus said smiling tiredly. "Well, I'm drained, guys. I'll see you tomorrow." He started to walk up the stairs and then turned his head for a second and said, "You two kids don't stay up too late now, okay?" He winked at Nora and headed up.

Nora could feel her face get warm again and she gave Sirius a scowl as she plopped herself down on the couch next to him. "This is getting ridiculous. You both are going to drive me nuts."

"Ah," Sirius said, stretching back in the couch, grinning as usual, "it's not so bad, is it?"

"Yes, it is." Nora said grumpily, shoving his arm away from the back of her head. "Let's just finish this stupid thing."

"So that's it then." Sirius said when they finally finished their assignment about an hour later. "We're done."

"Yey." Nora said unenthusiastically. "Now maybe I'll be able to get some sleep again."

"Yeah." Sirius said. "You won't have to stay up so late with me working anymore."

"Thank goodness." Nora said. "You must be relieved."

Sirius shrugged. "I guess so." But Nora noticed that he looked a little depressed.

"What's the matter?" she asked him.

"Oh, nothing." he said getting up. "We've gotta give Yolkie back tomorrow too."

"Oh, right." Nora said as they walked up to the staircase together.

"Stupid egg." Sirius muttered and then said to Nora. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay." Nora said. "Goodnight." As she headed up to her dorm, she felt a wave of sadness drape over her, and she couldn't understand why.


A/N: Hmm...didn't need to change much in this one...just a couple of grammatical errors. Anyhoo, tell me what you thought of it! Next chapter should be up soon!