Chapter 6 – A Clear Warning
Disclaimer - Harry Potter is not mine, no matter how many times I pray that that changes.
"You're doing it wrong," Zabini sneered.
Nora gritted her teeth and turned to look at her partner; a forced smile stretched across her face. "Can I ask you a question?"
Zabini's gaze darkened. "No."
Nora ignored her and continued. "Which one of us do you think got the O on her potions exam last year?"
Zabini rolled her eyes and shot Nora a withering look. "You did I'm guessing."
"Correct," Nora said with a sugary sweet smile. "So why don't you let me do the thinking from now on, okay."
Zabini huffed loudly and turned her attention on a clump of roots that she had been dicing before she had bothered Nora. Of all the people in the entire class, Stone had to put her with Zabini. A rock would have been more useful.
She peered into her cauldron and stared down at the cloudy grey liquid bubbling inside of it. Hate potions were the exact opposite of love potions and if a person were to drink a hate potion they would be able to see every little flaw of the person it was directed towards. Witch Weekly recommended that people should take them when trying to get over an ex-boyfriend.
Nora couldn't help but think how fitting it was that they were brewing up a potion that made you hate a person as she glanced over at Rose and Scorpius.
Nora let out an exasperated sigh as she watched Rose shift her body away from Scorpius as he reached for an ingredient near her hand. Rose was practically hanging off of the edge of her seat in what looked to be an attempt to get as far away from Scorpius as possible. Scorpius was pretending not to notice, his face the definition of cool and detached, but Nora knew he was upset over how Rose was acting.
Scorpius reached out to grab another ingredient for their potion, accidentally brushing Rose's arm in the process. Rose's arms shot away from Scorpius so fast that Nora barely registered it was moving and she couldn't help but glare at the red-head as she gave Scorpius a wild look.
Nora turned away, knowing full well that if she continued watching, she'd throw something very hard at Rose's head.
"It's a pity isn't it," Zabini said suddenly. Nora turned her head and raised an eyebrow in question.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
A small secretive smile graced Zabini's lips. "I'm talking about how our highly esteemed head boy and girl aren't getting along very well."
"And why do you care?" Nora questioned dryly.
"I care because Scorpius seems to be hurting because of it. Weasley is acting rather horrible towards him," Zabini replied, her smile now a smirk.
What the hell was she so pleased about? It wasn't like she had a hand in why Rose was acting like such an idiot. Nora stared at Zabini, eyes narrowed, a horrible feeling starting to settle in her gut.
Or had she?
Nora's eyes widened. "What did you do?" she hissed dangerously
Zabini continued to smirk. "I didn't do anything."
Nora bristled at her answer. "Alright. If you want to play this game, I'll happily play along with you. We both know what you were up to this summer, or on top of in your case," Nora said in a low voice and Zabini shot her an icy glare. "But Scorpius is far too invested in his family too toss you to the curb... at least for now."
Zabini instantly caught the threatening tone to Nora's voice. "Scorpius would never do anything to disappoint his family," Zabini snapped.
Nora leaned in closer to Zabini. "That was before he became friends with me," she replied with a broad grin. "I've been wearing him down you see, doing a little thinking as well, because I cannot, for the life of me, understand why you're holding on to a guy who doesn't love you so badly." Nora paused and leaned in close to Zabini so that her mouth was by her ear. "I'm going to find out what you're up to, Zabini," Nora said, her voice a whisper. "That much I can promise you."
Nora leaned back with a smile to see Zabini giving her a look that could make puppies cry. "The ministry has your wings clipped, Wilson," Zabini spat. "There is nothing you can find out without that pretty little head of yours."
Nora gave her a cold look. "I don't need to use my abilities to figure out the truth Zabini... and you know it."
"Do you know what's wrong with, Rose?" Al asked.
With a flick of her wand, Nora transformed the large rat in front of her into an ornate golden alarm clock that instantly began to buzz.
"Oh well done, Ms. Wilson," Gale said proudly from the front of the room. "Five points to Gryffindor."
Nora cast a quick silencing charm on the clock and looked at Al. "What do you think?" Nora said turning her head to look at Scorpius, who still remained subdued from their potions class.
"Malfoy," Al said with a sigh. "I thought he looked like he usually does."
Nora looked over at where Rose was sitting with Alice, who was trying to get Rose to open up about what happened during her potion's lesson; however the dark look on Rose's face easily told Nora that Alice wasn't going to get a thing out of her.
"Ugh," Nora said in exasperation. "This is all so bloody frustrating. I could have all the answers I need to fix this catastrophe of a love triangle between Zabini, Scorpius and Rose, in a good 15 minutes but now I have to be on my best behaviour so that the ministry of magic can sleep at night. I swear, when I find out who leaked my secret to the Prophet, he or she is going to wish until the day they die that they had kept their mouths shut."
Al reached out and grabbed one of her hands, wrapping it protectively in both of his. "Don't worry about that. Just concentrate on school or quidditch. You don't want to go stressing yourself out."
Nora sighed wearily. "You're right, as usual, but do you mind if I concentrate on you a bit more than everything else?"
Al chuckled as he ran one of his thumbs across her knuckles. "Believe me, I don't mind."
Nora laughed. "Didn't think you would. Now get to work. This is transfiguration, not designated time to flirt with your girlfriend."
Al let go of her hand and focused on the sleeping rat in front of him before waving his wand and muttering an incantation. With a slight pop the rat transformed into a very fuzzy looking toaster.
Nora snorted. "Nice one."
Al shoved her lightly. "Ha ha, chuckles," he said dryly and he waved his wand, changing the furry toaster back to into a rat. "So what's your plan for Zabini?" Al asked.
Nora frowned. She had already told Al about the conversation she had had with Zabini during potions. "I have no idea... but I do know she said something to Rose. Now I just need to find out what and we'll all be set."
"I don't think it will be that easy," Al laughed quietly.
"A girl can dream," Nora said with a sigh.
A knock on the door behind her caused both Nora and Al to turn around, along with the rest of the class, to stare at the student in the door way.
Gale shuffled towards the boy and gave him a smile. "Can I help you young man?"
"Professor Monroe wants Nora Wilson to meet her in her office once classes are finished," the boy said quickly. "At least that's what she told me to say."
Gale turned his head to look at Nora. "Are you available after class, Miss. Wilson?"
Nora had expected that she'd be visiting Monroe some time soon. They did have a few things to go over. "I'll be there."
Nora stood outside Monroe's office, staring at the large stone griffin in front of her with a scowl on her face. How was she supposed to meet with Monroe if she had no idea what the password was?
"Hello, Miss. Wilson," Monroe suddenly greeted from behind Nora and she wheeled around to stare at the headmistress. "I am sorry that I arrived so late. I had to send an owl to the ministry."
"Don't worry about it," Nora replied. "I was starting to think that you were expecting me to guess what the password was myself."
Monroe chuckled at her comment. "We'd be out here all night if that were true," Monroe replied as she walked past Nora and looked up at the statue that guarded the entrance to her office. "Tea cozy," Monroe stated clearly and the griffin statue suddenly sprang to life, moving its large stone body to reveal an old stone staircase that spiralled upwards. Monroe stepped forward onto the stairs and began to climb and Nora followed behind her.
Once inside Monroe's actual office, Nora couldn't help but notice a few new changes to the room. There was now a picture of McGonagall taking a nap in a large red armchair hanging on the wall amongst other headmasters and headmistresses from the past. The room also seemed to be lit up more by candle light then the light from outside, making everything in the room appear softer and more inviting.
Monroe glided over to the navy blue armchair behind the wooden desk at the back of the room and Nora stepped forward and sat in one of the chairs in front of it.
Monroe stared at her for a second, as if scrutinizing her for any imperfections or changes, before speaking. "How have you been, Nora?"
When it was the two of them, Monroe often lost some of the formal attitude that came along with being someone's superior, but she would never tell Nora anything about anyone else other than herself. Monroe had always been serious about her job and now that she was headmistress, Nora had a feeling she was being more serious than ever.
"I'm fine," Nora replied. It was true. She was absolutely fine. But definitely not good, or great, or effing amazing. People used the word fine when things were alright, but they were also aware that their lives could easily get a lot worse without much warning.
Monroe's eyes narrowed slightly, before lacing her fingers together and placing them on her desk. "You haven't been using your telepathy?"
"Not unless I can't help it," Nora replied honestly. "In the morning's it's harder to block people out."
Monroe nodded her head, accepting her answer. "I thought that that may occur. Feel free to let it happen if you like. Just do not make a habit out of listening in on other people's minds longer than you have to."
"Why? I'm not allowed to anymore," Nora questioned in confusion.
"You are still allowed to use telekinesis discreetly but the ministry restricting your use of telepathy worries me," Monroe explained. "For all we know, not using your abilities could have no affect on you at all or it may harm you."
Nora bit her lip anxiously as she began to understand what Monroe was talking about. "You're afraid that if I don't use my abilities often enough, all of the extra energy inside my head is going to build up until it pops, like a balloon with too much air in it."
Monroe nodded her head grimly. "I have been trying to convince Robert and other influential members of the ministry that it would be in everyone's best interest to give you a period of time to exercise your mind at least once a week, but they're afraid you'll get carried away," Monroe explained with a hint of frustration.
"Like a kid at the candy store," Nora muttered.
Monroe gave her an apologetic look. "I must stress, Nor,a that Robert Sampson is not as opposed to you as you may think, but others are."
"So he's being influenced by what other people think," Nora replied angrily. "Can't he grow a pair and run the country on his own."
"Making the right decisions is much harder when you have people to please, Nora," Monroe said seriously.
"Brilliant," Nora said, slumping into her chair. "I'm screwed."
"You will be fine as long as you stay out of trouble," Monroe replied sternly, "which means I would like you to stay away from anything that may cause you too much stress and to tell me whenever you are having issues with anything."
"I can look after myself," Nora replied stubbornly.
Monroe gave her a hard look. "You must tell me when you think your powers are changing in any way," Monroe insisted. "If so, I may be able to convince Robert that I must continue to coach you."
Nora looked at Monroe and she knew her professor was being sincere. She was worried about her and she was right to be. Her telepathy had already started to evolve and it had gone into effect the night Darius had fallen off of the astronomy tower to his death and only Nora and Scorpius knew that she had had a hand in it.
Nora remembered the crazed expression on Darius' face as he fought with the memories inside of his head. The memories she had purposefully put in there to incapacitate him and it had worked. Just better than she thought it would.
Nora had yet to use that ability again, even when Scorpius had offered to be her guinea pig, but now that she knew exactly how deadly she could be, she had flat out refused to ever try it again.
Nora looked back at Monroe. She had a feeling that her professor knew she had not told her the entire truth about what happened the night Darius died but she had no proof to say otherwise. And that was what everyone was so afraid of. Nora knew she could kill anyone she wanted at any time and the ministry would never find any evidence that she had been the killer, let alone at the scene of the crime. She was the perfect weapon and Nora knew that the ministry wasn't just scared of her.
"Nora?" Monroe asked snapping her out of her reverie.
Nora stared at her professor before replying. "Or Sampson could become even more freaked out and I could be locked away in a padded cell for the rest of my life. I am not going to promise to tell you everything professor. In no way am I ready to honour that agreement right now," she said seriously.
Monroe's eyes flashed as she caught the slight hint in Nora's statement. She hadn't confirmed or denied that her abilities were evolving but Monroe wasn't stupid and neither was Nora. If she admitted anything now, she'd be in a shit load of trouble, and Nora was not in the mood to deal with that at the moment.
"Nora," Monroe said her voice a warning.
Nora stood up from her seat, getting ready to leave, and stared directly into Monroe's eyes. "What professor?"
Monroe gave her a hard look and then sighed. Nora didn't want to keep things from Monroe, she really did trust her, but Nora knew she would have to tell the ministry anything Nora told her, something she wasn't about to let happen willingly.
"Please remember to do the calming exercises I taught you last year at least once a week and I've ordered the house elves in the kitchens to give you herbal tea every night, which you will drink," Monroe ordered.
Nora gave her professor a small smile. "Sure thing, professor."
"Alright, will everyone who is trying out for the beater position line up to my left and everyone who is trying out for the keeper position, to my right," Al called out, as he straightened the quidditch captain badge pinned to his uniform.
Nora, who was standing off to the side with the rest of the Gryffindor quidditch team, stared at the mass of students who had come out to try out for the team early that Saturday morning.
"Some of the kids trying out for the beater position are a bit small," Greyson said with a yawn and Nora snorted as she looked up at Dave, who's almost 6'4" frame towered over her.
"Ya, most of them are about half of your size Dave," Nora chuckled and Dave blushed slightly.
Lily sighed. "We all know that group of giggling girls in the back are just here to stare at the guys," Lily said disdainfully.
"Really," Greyson said with a mischievous grin before running his hand through his wavy hair. "Maybe I should grant their wishes and more."
Lily rolled her eyes and Greyson gave her a wink before sauntering over to the group of girl's, whose eyes all lit up when they saw him approaching.
"He's such a pig," Lily said in disgust.
"You're about the only one who thinks that Lil," Nora said cheekily and Lily shot her a glare before stomping off to stand beside her brother.
"How do you think he does it?" Dave said in awe as he watched Greyson lean in and whisper something in a pretty blonde girl's ear, causing her to blush profusely and all the other girls around her to stare at their friend enviously.
"Charms them until he turns them into puddles of goo? I think they're all practice for the day he's finally able to do it to Lily," Nora said with a smile and David let out a laugh of amusement.
"Alright, we will be doing the keeper try outs first," Al declared. "Nora, Lily and Greyson will run a few keeper drills with all of you and whoever is able to stop the most goals out of five and show the right amount of skill will be joining the team at the end of the day."
Nora strode forward to stand beside Al, Dave following behind her. Greyson, having heard Al's order, was bidding several farewells to the group of girls he'd been charming and Nora couldn't help but notice the dark look on Lily's face. Nora grinned as she turned to face all the Gryffindor's who wanted to become one of the newest members of the team.
"I'm going to tell you all now," Al said seriously, "that Nora, Lily and Greyson will not go easy on all of you, so if you would like to rethink trying out, now is the time to leave."
Several kids looked at each other and then at Nora, who was still grinning at them. A few muttered oaths were exchanged between friends before a few people stepped out of line and walked away, heads hung in shame.
"The idea isn't to scare them too much, Captain Al," Lily whispered to her brother and he gave her a severe look.
"I was thinning the group out a bit," Al explained. "There are way too many people here."
"Half of them are just girls waiting to see Dave flex his muscles," Nora added teasingly as she caught two girls staring at Dave longingly.
"What?" Dave exclaimed face flushing as he cast a nervous glance at the group of girls Greyson was walking away from.
Nora just smiled up at him before mounting her broom along with Lily and speeding up into the air, Greyson joining them soon after.
"I hope Hugh doesn't choke today," Lily said. "I have money riding on him becoming our newest keeper."
Nora stared down at the ground as the first person in line mounted their broom and soared towards the goal posts, wobbling the entire way.
Nora sighed. "From what I remember about Hugo's skills, I'd say he has a pretty good chance of making it."
For the next hour Nora spent most of her time flying around the pitch and scoring most of the goals she had attempted to make and trying to keep Lily from beating Greyson over the head, since he wouldn't stop commenting on how good her ass looked in the pants she was wearing.
She couldn't help but sigh in relief once the keeper try outs were done and Hugo had clearly come out on top, having blocked all of the quaffles thrown at him while everyone else had not fared as well.
"Good job, Hugh," Greyson congratulated as he mock punched his friend in the shoulder. "Every girl will be tripping over themselves to talk to you now."
Hugo snorted but he couldn't help but give his friend a pleased grin.
Nora ruffled his hair affectionately before turning her attention on the beater try outs, which were already well under way.
Dave, who was in charge of judging who would be best suited to be his new partner, was showing a third year how to best hold a beater's bat while giving the kid an encouraging smile.
"Dave is really the best at these kinds of things. He's always so patient with the younger kids," Lily said.
"And nice," Greyson said with a laugh. "All the girls are drooling over the idea of him actually touching them while he gives them all private lessons and he doesn't even notice a thing."
"Alice should love that," Hugo chuckled.
Nora watched as David mounted his broom and soared into the air while Al released a bludger from the case it was stored in. The bludger, once free, quickly rocketed upwards and Dave sped after it, pulled back the arm holding his bat and when he was close enough, he took a quick look at the targets that had been set up in the air before swinging his arm and hitting the bludger so hard that the sound from the impact echoed around the pitch. The bludger then sped towards one of the targets and destroyed it on impact.
Nora grinned. On the ground, David was everyone's favourite giant teddy bear but in the air, he was a beast.
A chorus of oh's broke out among the crowd and several boys mounted their brooms, eager to start hitting and breaking things immediately.
After another hour, Al had made the decision to pick Jamie Ferguson, a 4th year who was rather tall for his age and could fly like he was a bird. His hits weren't as accurate as Al would have liked but Dave had promised that he could easily fix that with some one on one coaching.
Once tryouts were officially over, everyone who had been watching in the stands had come down to join the people gathered on the pitch to congratulate Jamie and Hugo. Among them were Andy, Alice and Rose. Andy was attempting to give Jamie tips on how to improve his form, Alice was glaring at the girl's who kept batting their eyelashes at Dave and Rose was hugging her brother, embarrassing him profusely.
Nora frowned as she watched Rose. She still wasn't happy with her friend. The entire first week of school Rose had avoided Scorpius like the bubonic plague, while Scorpius had retreated back into his protective shell. However, Nora was hoping that things would change when the two of them had their mandatory head meeting tonight with Longbottom, who would not be pleased if they had not discussed a single thing he had told them to talk about.
Nora looked up at the stands, searching the rows of seats until she saw a figure sitting by himself, while staring down at the people converged on the pitch.
Nora turned and looked at Al. "If you need me, I'll be talking to Scorpius up in the stands," Nora said.
Al looked up at the stands and caught sight of Scorpius. He frowned slightly at the sight of him, for what reason Nora wasn't sure, but he nodded to show he understood.
Nora mounted her broom and kicked off from the ground, flying at an easy pace up to where Scorpius was sitting.
"Enjoy the show?" Nora asked with a smile as she carefully hopped off her broom and onto the bench Scorpius was sitting on.
"Your new beater is definitely not as good as the Weasley who had the position last year."
"That was Fred and Dave will have him playing like a pro in time for our first game, so don't you worry," Nora replied.
"Tennet could become a pro after we graduate. He really is good enough," Scorpius admitted.
Nora settled into the seat next to Scorpius and turned to face him. "I don't think he's interested, but we'll see. So, how are you? Any change with Rose?" Nora questioned, changing the subject of the conversation to one she preferred.
"If you count her actually looking at me without flinching, then sure," Scorpius replied miserably.
"Great," Nora said sarcastically. "And I still have no idea what Zabini did to turn Rose into a paranoid freak."
"Tatiana is never going to tell anyone a thing," Scorpius replied. "She's stubborn."
"She's more of a bitch in my books," Nora admitted causing Scorpius to laugh.
She smiled. "There we go. Do that during your head meeting with Rose and she'll be yours."
Scorpius became sullen once more. "I doubt that. We have to talk to Longbottom tonight and she has yet to even mention talking about what we're supposed to do."
Nora frowned. "Then corner her you idiot. Even Rose isn't stubborn enough to not do what she was told to do just because she's ignoring someone."
"You know I'm not good at that kind of thing," Scorpius admitted.
"So start practicing," Nora exclaimed. "Tell her that you need to do your work because you're not covering her ass and pretend like what she's doing doesn't bother you. Hell, make out with Zabini in front of her. That should really wake her up."
"You want me to make her jealous?" Scorpius questioned in confusion.
"Sure," Nora said eagerly. "We played the 'be yourself' card too early. It freaked her out to see you acting like a normal human being."
Scorpius scowled but ignored her comment. "Do you really think making her jealous will work?"
"I have no idea. But it's worth a try," Nora said with a shrug.
Scorpius sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Fine. I'll try to make her jealous, but I have a feeling that I am going to regret this."
A/N- Soooo, this chapter had a whole bunch of everything in it as well. This is the first chapter that is all from Nora's POV but this story won't be having a lot of that since it will be mainly from Rose's POV. Anyway, so we had some quidditch, Nora giving warnings to everyone's favourite evil bitch, Tatiana Zabini and getting warning's. Basically a whole lot of fun. Please read and review. Ciao!