Disclaimer: Anything relating to the Harry Potter stories belongs to J. K. Rowling. She can have my characters and ideas as well.
CHAPTER 15
Nora quickly walked towards the Gryffindor common room, hovering her trunk behind her. When she arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady she realized that she didn't know the new password to get in.
"Shit!" she said out loud. "How am I going to get in now? I'm going to have to wait until someone comes in or out of here."
Lucky for her, a minute later, James and Lily came strolling down the corridor together.
"Hey!" Nora called out, happy to see them.
"Hey, Nora." Lily said with a smile.
"Hey, what happened to you? Where were you today?" James asked as they approached her.
"Oh I missed the train." Nora explained. "I had to come through a portkey. I just got here." Nora had, in fact, missed the Hogwarts Express that morning. It was the last night of the holidays, and Nora and her mother had stayed up late talking and packing. When she woke up the next day, she realized that the train had just left. Fortunately, there was a portkey to the school very close to her house that she was able to get permission from the headmaster to use.
"Ah." James said nodding his head. "I was looking for you on the train. I thought maybe you were going to tell me…something." James cleared his throat and jerked his head slightly towards Lily without her noticing.
"Oh right." Nora said, understanding what he was talking about. "You wanted to know about the…assignment, right?"
"Yes." James nodded with a smile.
"Okay well I obviously didn't get a chance to work on it," Nora said, choosing her words carefully, "so I'll have to do tonight and give it to you tomorrow."
"What assignment are you guys talking about?" Lily asked, looking confused.
"Muggle Studies." James said without any hesitation.
"Oh okay." Lily said with relief. "I was worried for a second." They gave Nora the password and she headed inside. Nora walked through the common room, and was thankful to see that Remus wasn't in there. She was still a little embarrassed about what had happened in the hospital and didn't feel like facing him just yet. Thinking of that day reminded her of Sirius as well. Hmm...he isn't here either. Shelby and Michelle were sitting on a couch having an intense conversation. Nora didn't have any doubts that they were discussing the latest gossip going around the school. Nora waved them a hello and made her way up to the dorm. By the time she finished unpacking her trunk and changing into her pajamas, Lily entered the dorm. Nora realized that Shelby and Michelle would be coming up very soon so she decided to get started on her assignment right away.
"So how was patrolling with James?" she asked Lily casually.
Lily shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "Same as always."
"You know," Nora said as she rubbed some lotion onto her arms, "I never really knew James that well until this year. He's a really nice guy."
"Yeah," Lily said in an unsure tone, "if he wants to be."
"If he wants to be?" Nora asked. "What do you mean? Of course he wants to be. He's a good guy. I mean, I know he used to get in trouble a lot before with those pranks and stuff. But he hasn't done anything this year."
"I dunno." Lily said with a slight frown. "I have a hard time letting things go. So I still see that bullying, arrogant, player whenever I look at him."
"Oh that's so unfair." Nora said shaking her head disapprovingly. "He's not like that at all. And he's never been a player either. I mean girls go fawning after him. He never did anything."
"Well…okay." Lily said in agreement. "I'll admit he's not as bad as Sirius. At least I haven't seen him with anyone at all this year."
"You know," Nora began to say thoughtfully, "I haven't seen Sirius with anyone lately either…"
"Er…well I saw him chatting up Dana Abbott tonight at dinner." Lily said.
"You did?" Nora asked with some surprise. Dana Abbott? Is he nuts?
"Yeah. They seemed pretty…cozy." Lily replied.
"Oh." Nora said, sounding unconcerned. "Interesting." So maybe that's where he is right now; somewhere in the castle with Dana. Nora thought to herself as she tucked herself into her bed to go to sleep. Lily continued to talk to her for a bit, but most of what she said didn't really register in Nora's head. Her mind kept wandering off and she found herself thinking about the last time she saw Sirius, after she left him after the hospital trip. He wasn't in the greatest mood, and Nora thought maybe it was because she yelled at him about Remus. Well, I said I was sorry. She justified herself as her eyelids drooped down heavily. He was probably just tired and cranky…
Nora walked down to the common room the next morning and found James sitting on a couch, evidently waiting for her.
"So?" he asked when she approached him. "How was the assignment last night?" There were quite a few students coming in and out of the room, so James felt the need to still talk in their code.
"Oh…um…actually I think it was a little more difficult than I thought it would be." Nora said with an apologetic smile.
"What? What do you mean?" James asked, looking tense.
"Well, the directions were a little unclear." Nora replied.
"Unclear?" James repeated looking bewildered.
"Yeah." Nora nodded. "I think you might have to work a little harder on your part."
"Damn." James said, sounding defeated.
"But don't worry." Nora said quickly. "I think you have a pretty good chance. Just don't do anything stupid. And…be yourself."
"But I'm always myself." James said.
"Yes." Nora said meaningfully, "But, you have to be your non-bullying, non-arrogant self that doesn't talk to any other girls."
"Oh, shit." James cursed, not bothering to talk in code anymore. "Is that what she thinks of me then?"
"Well, I think she knows you're not like that deep down inside, but you probably made quite an impression on her these past few years so it's hard for her to forget things."
James shook his head miserably and Nora tried to tell him that it wasn't as bad as he thought. She told him that Lily would be on her way down soon so he decided to wait for her to go down to breakfast. Nora headed down herself to the Great Hall, where she saw Remus sitting alone at one of the tables. Oh good. Nora thought to herself. He's by himself. This is a good chance to talk to him before anybody else comes…like Sirius. As soon as he saw her, he waved at her to join him.
"Hey, how're you doing?" Nora asked as she sat down. How do I bring it up?
"Well, much better than the last time you saw me, that's for sure." Remus said with a smile.
"Oh, right." Nora said. Well, that was easy. She decided to cut right to the chase. "Listen, about what happened at the hospital…I wanted to apologize again for barging in on you."
"What?" Remus asked with a puzzled smile.
"I know I must've seemed really rude and awkward. I was just really embarrassed." Nora explained, her cheeks beginning to feel warm just thinking about it.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Remus said to her. "You weren't rude at all."
"But still…" Nora said earnestly. "I just feel like I totally invaded your privacy. I'm sure you didn't want anyone to know about it and then there I just came waltzing in."
"Nora please, just listen to me." Remus said in a serious but still friendly tone. "I really don't care if you know. I'm fine with it. In fact, I probably would've told you myself sooner or later."
"Really?" Nora asked him.
"Yeah. I mean, I'm not going to be able to hide it forever. And I consider you a pretty good friend and I know you're not the type that would've freaked out on me so I would've told you soon enough." Remus said.
Nora sensed his sincerity and felt much better. She started to eat her breakfast, feeling more comfortable with Remus than she had ever been before. Hmm. She thought happily. So he considers me a good friend…that's a step forward.
"So where's Sirius?" Nora asked him as she helped herself to a muffin. "I haven't seen him at all yet."
"You just missed him. He was here about a minute before you came." Remus replied.
"Oh." Nora said. "Well I guess I'll bump into him sometime today."
Nora had only finished her first two classes of the day, and she was already swamped with work. She had to run to the library right at the start of lunch so that she could check out a book for a History of Magic essay before anybody else in her class did. It took her longer than expected to find and by the time she was out of the library, there was only ten minutes left for her to eat. When she entered the Great Hall, she saw that most of the students were already gone. She looked around trying to see if anyone was still around that she could eat with, but didn't see anyone. She sat down at one of the many empty tables and put a couple of sandwiches onto her plate. As she was eating, she realized that she still hadn't ran into Sirius yet. Hmm, she thought to herself. I haven't bumped into him even once today. Well I guess I'll see him in Muggle Studies later on. She quickly scarped down the last of her sandwich and headed to her next class.
Nora actually caught herself feeling a little glad to be going to her Muggle Studies class later on that evening. Although she told herself she felt happy because it was her last class of the day, she knew somewhere inside that she really wanted to see Sirius again. I feel like I haven't seen him in so long! I think I got so used hanging out with him all the time last semester that now it just feels weird that I haven't talked to him yet.
Just as she was thinking this, she turned into a hallway and bumped right into someone walking in the opposite direction.
"Oh sorry!" It was Remus. "I didn't see you coming there."
"Neither did I." Nora said with a smile. She didn't mind bumping into him at all. They started to talk for a few minutes and just as Nora was laughing at some amusing story that Remus was telling her about what the boys did over the break, Nora saw Sirius walk right past them.
"Hey!" she called out to him and he turned around.
"Oh hey, what's up?" Sirius said very casually, as if he hadn't noticed her laughing with Remus when he walked by.
"Nothing much. I was wondering where you were." Nora said in a very friendly tone. "I was just telling Remus about how I haven't seen you the whole day."
"Oh." Sirius said, avoiding her eye. "Yeah, you must be…busy."
Before Nora could respond to him, Remus suddenly said, "Oh, I'm going to be late for class. I gotta run."
"Oh, right." Nora said to him. "I guess I'll see you later at dinner."
"Yeah." he said and then added, "Don't forget we have Prefect duty tonight too."
"I know, I didn't forget." Nora said with a smile and he turned onto the adjacent corridor and headed to his class. When Nora turned back to talk to Sirius, she saw that he was gone. What the hell? Nora thought looking around. Why'd he leave to class without me?
She walked down the hall into the classroom and saw him sitting next to James in the back of the classroom. She walked down to them and put her books down on the table right in front of Sirius, who had a book propped up in front of his face. James was busily scribbling down something in a notebook.
Nora sat down and turned herself to face Sirius. She pulled his book down from his face and asked, "Why'd you leave so quickly?"
He stared at her for a moment and then just shrugged indifferently and said, "I dunno. I thought I'd be late for class."
Nora looked at him puzzled. "Since when do you care about being late?"
"Since now." he said simply.
Nora frowned at him. "You don't seem to be in a very good mood."
"I'm in a great mood." Sirius said rather dryly.
"Doesn't seem like it." Nora said. She rested her elbow on his desk comfortably and said in a lighter tone, while absent-mindedly twirling a curly lock of hair, "So tell me. What's wrong?"
"What makes you think something is wrong?" Sirius asked her. He could smell the scent of her shampoo and found himself wishing he could twirl a lock of her hair as well. He leaned back in his chair, afraid that she was a little too close to him for him to handle.
"I dunno." Nora replied. "You just don't seem like yourself."
"Nope." Sirius said with a fake smile. "I'm being totally like myself."
Nora frowned at him and was about to say something when the professor started to address the class. Nora quickly turned around in her seat and Sirius let out a breath of relief. Shit. He said to himself. How the hell am I going to get over this? I didn't see her the whole day, and when I do, what is she doing? Talking and laughing with Remus. She knows about Remus now and she doesn't seem to mind his problem. He'll realize that and probably start to like her too…if he already doesn't. Sirius leaned forward into his seat and rested his head on his hand. He was close to Nora now and was staring at the back of her head, not paying attention to anything that was happening in the class. She was twirling her hair again. Why do I like her so much? There's nothing that special about her, is there? I mean, there are so many other girls in this school. Like yesterday, I was talking to Dana. She's pretty and she seems to obviously like me. So why would I like Nora more than her? Nora isn't prettier than her. She isn't nicer than her. She doesn't even like me. So what the hell is my problem?
Just as this frustrating thought was going through Sirius's mind, Nora suddenly turned around to face him. She didn't realize he was leaning so close to her and was taken by surprise. She moved away from him quickly, but it wasn't quick enough for her not to have noticed the very handsome features on his face.
Sirius raised his eyebrows at her as if to ask her what she wanted. Nora, who felt oddly flustered, couldn't remember what she wanted to say to him, so she just turned back around wordlessly. Wait a minute. Nora thought to herself. What the hell is my problem? It's just Sirius, you idiot.
She turned back around and asked him quietly, "Do we have Quidditch practice this week?"
Sirius stretched back in his chair and put his hands behind his head. He sighed heavily and said in a very unconcerned tone, "Why are you asking me? Ask the captain."
Nora, who suddenly contemplated to herself how easy it was for someone to look really good one moment and then a jackass the next, gave him cut-eye and turned back around.
Sirius leaned forward onto his desk again, letting out a sigh. He ran his hands in his hair and closed his eyes. What the hell am I doing? Trying to make her hate me or something? Why I am giving her so much attitude? I can't seem to control myself. It's just coming out involuntarily. I'm just not going to talk to her at all before I say something really stupid and regret it later on...
Their first Quidditch practice wasn't until the following week. As she was hovering on her broomstick, seeking the Snitch, she began to reflect on how she had never been so swamped with work before in her life. With Prefect duties, and practices starting up, she hardly had time to eat or sleep, and really didn't have time to contemplate why Sirius was acting so strange these days. She hardly saw him anyways, and just assumed he was busy with school as well.
Nora saw something fluttering in the distance. She peered down the pitch and saw Sirius flying in the same direction. She quickly flew towards the Snitch. It dropped down and Nora dove down and caught it with ease. She flew back up and Sirius was hovering next to her.
"Good catch." he said to her solemnly.
"Thanks." Nora said with a smile. She started to feel glad that he actually said something to her. He hadn't aimed a single Bludger at her head the whole practice, and Nora was strangely starting to miss the attention. Nora glanced down at the bleachers and saw that Remus was down there watching them practice again. She turned and was about to say something to Sirius, but he flew away just as she opened her mouth. Oh. She watched him fly away, feeling a little nettled. What's wrong with him? She thought frustratingly, still watching him. Why isn't he talking to me like he normally does? Did I do something to him? Is he still mad from that day at the hospital? He didn't seem that mad though. So what is it?
The next day when Nora entered the Great Hall for lunch, she saw Sirius sitting at a table with Remus and James across from him. There was nobody sitting next to him, and Nora decided she would try to figure out if there was something wrong with him.
Nora walked up to the table, patted Sirius's arm and said, "Hey, move over a bit." Sirius, who was slightly startled by her touch, moved over to give her some space, but Nora didn't sit down.
"What the heck was what?" she asked him angrily.
"What was what?" Sirius asked her back.
"You just shrank back from me like I have some disgusting contagious disease." Nora replied, still sounding angry.
"No, I didn't." Sirius said, turning back to his food.
"Yes, you did." Nora said sitting down next to him.
"I dunno what you're talking about." Sirius said quietly. Nora looked up at Remus and James and gave them an inquisitive look. They both just shrugged at her, not knowing what was bothering their friend. Nora eyed Sirius suspiciously, who was eating in silence. She purposely reached for the salt, which was right next to his hand. As soon as she reached for it, he quickly moved his hand out of the way.
"Aha!" Nora said pointing at him accusingly. "See! You just did it again!"
Sirius let out a short breath, dropped his fork on his plate and said, "I can't eat." He quickly stood up without saying another word and left the table.
Nora sat there, completely stunned. She turned to James and Remus and said, "Okay, what the heck was that all about? You guys have to tell me what his problem is."
A/N: Hehehe...well, I didn't have to change too much in this chapter...just added and deleted some stuff. Hope you like it! Let me know what you thought...
