Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the HP books.
A/N: Merci beaucoup a les reviewers! AND THREATENING WORKS! I think some people didn't like the ending to the last chapter, because there are some Malfoy-haters out there. Oh well, I like Malfoy-as long as he's not evil, which he is not at this point in time. Some people said that there was too much drama, well, there is a lot of drama in this fic, but that's because it is of the drama genre…um, sorry? Don't fret, the fluff's a comin just you wait! And you can all say thank you tres much to PhoenixFlight72, the brand-new beta of UWS! Now the updates should be quicker, and I will be prevented from doing something stupid, like killing off canons or something insane like that. This chappie's a lot less depressing. Have fun!
Chapter 12: The Truth Comes Out-Without Veritaserum
As Malfoy pulled away from her, she still could not believe what he had just done. She stood there against the dungeon wall gaping.
"Right…um, thanks." He reached up and lifted her jaw with his hand. When she felt her teeth click together, that's when reality hit. If she had had ANY chance of redemption before at all, then it had now evaporated into the already thick dungeon air.
Nichole was boiling inside. This boy was absolutely indescribable! She shouted. She didn't care who heard her. Her reputation was as good as gone by now anyway. "WERE YOU JUST NOT LISTENING TO WHAT I WAS SHOUTING ABOUT BEFORE?"
"Probably not... no. Was it that important?"
"Now the school has an eye-witness to that rumor! It is no longer a rumor, but a fact!"
"And that's bad because…."
Nichole let out a cry of frustration and stomped back up to her room. She opened the door, and slammed it shut behind her. Try as she did, she couldn't keep the angry tears from running down her cheeks. She pulled the curtains around her bed and sulked for the rest of the night.
The next day was ten times worse than any other day that week had been. With an eye witness to Nichole's 'invasion of bubble' as she referred to it as in her head, people had gone wild. They no longer tried to hide the fact that they were talking about her from her. Some even were bold enough to ask her questions about 'what kind of snogger was Draco Malfoy?' She of course, ignored these. After what she would almost consider the longest day ever, she flopped down on her bed. A few hours later, Sarah entered the dorm, and settled down on her bed beside Nichole's. Could her life get any worse? She had no boyfriend, and any potential boyfriends thought she was a slut, as did the rest of the school. Her new friends had stopped talking to her, and instead were talking about her, and one of her best friends hadn't spoke to her in days, even though they shared a dorm.
Sarah came back to the dormitory unusually early, but she jumped right into bed, without a word or even acknowledgement to Nichole. When Nichole was sure Sarah had gone to sleep, she let out a sniffle she had been holding in for so long, and reached up to wipe her eyes with her hand. She immediately heard the quilt shuffle on the bed next to hers.
"See, I knew you weren't asleep. My question is, why do you think you always have to hide things from people who are supposed to be your best friends."
Nichole didn't answer.
"Nichole you have to talk to me. You ripped out my brother's heart and chucked it away without an explanation. A month ago you were acting like you wanted to marry him? What happened?"
Again, no answer.
"Well I don't know what to think anymore! At first, I thought it for sure had something to do with Harry Potter, but now, apparently you're prancing around with Malfoy, and snogging him in the hallway, so I assume it must be because of him! Am I right?"
…
"I'll take silence as a yes. And I'll also take this opportunity to say that I think you have gone mad, because everyone, especially you from hearing from Hermione Granger, should know that he is a vile prat. Why would you dump my caring brother to go after a creep like him?"
"No! It's not…that." Nichole sat up in bed and turned to face her friend. She wiped her face on the sleeve of her pajamas.
"She makes her appearance. What then?"
"It's…I don't know, it's a lot, A LOT of things…" Nichole wailed.
"Nichole! You barely even speak to me and Meghan any more, even before you broke up with Eric. You were spending a lot of time with Harry Potter, and Pansy saw you snogging Malfoy, what else is everyone supposed to assume?"
"Everyone assumed that I liked Harry, and that I broke up with Eric for him?"
"Um…Duh. Are you saying that's not why you broke up with him?"
"You know that's not true! I would never do that to anyone, especially Eric! I still love him, just not in a romantic way any more! I've changed, and I can't help that. We had no spark any more, and, I'll be honest, I don't really know what I feel for Harry right now, that's another reason why I broke up with Eric, to sort out my own feelings."
"Actually Nichole, since you don't care to let us in on anything lately, we know very little about how your mind is working at the moment."
"Yeah, emergency best friends conference. Now. It's time for you to spill. And by the way, you look like crap, just thought you'd like to know." Meghan had unexpectedly popped up from the other side of Sarah's bed. This surprised Nichole, because she hadn't even known that she was there in the first place. Sarah shot her a glare for the last comment.
"I'm sorry, I just don't…really feel like talking…about it."
Meghan cocked her head to the side and plastered an inquiring look on her face. "Well, I'm sorry, but you're just going to have to go and inform us what exactly 'it' is, or am I going to have to go steal some Veritaserum from Snape's stores? You don't really want to get me expelled, do you?"
"Look, Nichole, you were afraid to tell us about those dreams! And that you were magic! You thought we'd think you were crazy, but we didn't. Didn't you feel better after you'd told someone? We promise we're still your best friends, we'll do whatever we need to, to help you. Seriously, you've been acting all depressed lately. You have to tell us what's bugging you! Not to mention what would make you decide to go snog Malfoy..."
"I can't-"
"Yes you can! Sarah, you've had some training in Legilimens, right?"
"Meghan!"
"Excuse me! If you would just let me finish! I can't really explain what's bothering me because I don't even understand it myself."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"What it means is for you to shut up! Nichole, why don't you just tell us what you do know, and maybe we can help you."
"As for that other stuff, like your necklace, most wizards would know, they just wouldn't believe it. I guess you could say it's some sort of legend, most believe it to be myth. So did I until I heard my father-"
"Well, actually, maybe you can help me. It's all very confusing, and every time I ask for answers, I just get more questions."
"Shoot."
"Well, I was told that there was a common wizarding fairy tale-or myth of some sort that has something to do with this." Nichole reached under her pajamas and pulled out the necklace her grandmother had given her. The blue sapphire still sparkled as much as ever. Both Meghan and Sarah squinted, but Sarah immediately shook her head.
"No, I don't remember any sort of wizarding tale-and there are lots-that would have anything to do with that necklace. Where did you get it?"
"From my grandmother. Meghan?"
"No…I don't think so…unless. Perhaps…"
"What? Tell me!"
"Well, I remember very clearly when I was about seven years old, my uncle Georgie telling me a story at Saint Valentine's Day. Mum got very angry though for some reason, and made him stop. I never did find out the ending."
"Do you remember what it was called?"
"Well, no, but I remember that it was about a woman and two men. I don't remember exactly how it started out, but both of the men each gave the woman a gift. One was a magic pool of water or something, and the other was a magic bird."
"And how does this relate to my necklace?"
"Well, the pool of water could be seen as that jewel in the middle, and the bird, well, obviously is the bird. Duh."
"Wait, so did this girl just stay with both of the guys? Which one did she chose?"
"Well, it's like I said, I never did find out the ending!"
"Don't worry Nichole, I'm sure we could find it in the library somewhere. Besides it doesn't sound like it relates much to me. Why do you want to know about an old wizarding tale that relates to your Granny's old necklace anyway?"
"Well, I had, shall we say, an encounter, with Draco Malfoy after I got kicked out of potions last week, and he kind of said that all my questions would be related to my necklace, and that most wizards would know about it, they would just think it was a legend and not believe it was actually true. He was being rather annoying. I'm sure he knows something. He just won't tell me…"
"You had an actual conversation with Draco Malfoy? He hates all muggle-borns! Everyone made it sound like he was just snogging you for...well...the snogging."
"I know that's what I heard. But he seems to know a lot of stuff about me! It's freaky!"
"How and what does he know about you?"
"From his father apparently."
"His father's a Death Eater from what I've heard. All of that family has been bad news. I wouldn't believe a word he said, he was probably just trying to scare you."
"No, he wasn't lying. I could tell. And…" Perhaps that was what Draco had meant when he talked about destiny being dictated to you and you being helpless to change it. His father and all of his ancestors had been Death Eaters, or evil of some sort, and now he was expected to become one. Perhaps he really didn't want to become one…
"And?" Meghan raised her eyebrows.
Nichole shook her head. No, that part had been something Draco must have said for her alone to hear. It seemed too private to tell others. "Well, he knew about my visions, and he said something about me 'watching out because I would probably tie with Harry on the top of the Dark Lord's snuff list.'" she said, quickly reverting back to the note Malfoy had chucked her in potions class. She noticed too late that she had let slip something that she had not yet informed her friends about. Oops.
"What?" they both cried in unison. They seemed unsure which was more unfathomable. The fact that Nichole had had her life threatened, or the fact that, apparently, Nichole had 'visions.'
"Snuff-list? Why on earth would you be on a snuff-list of Voldemort's? I mean, it is true that he wants to kill all muggle-borns, but tie with Harry? What is he on about?" Sarah asked.
"Excuse me, Miss supposedly-is-intelligent-because-she-got-sorted-into-Ravenclaw, perhaps if you had been listening to Nichole, you would know why, and also be asking the more important question of VISIONS? What the bloody hell do you mean, visions? You mean you can see the future? God, I hope you don't go mad like Professor Trelawny!"
Sarah asked quietly, "Is it true? Can you see the future? How?"
Nichole swallowed. She wasn't sure if she was ready to tell people about her visions, but her stupid slip-up now meant that she would have to. "Well, yes, I can. Like, last week, I saw potions class, and…it wasn't supposed to turn out like it did. I wasn't supposed to get kicked out of class. I kind of…changed it."
"You can change the future?"
"Um…yes, kind of. I've only done it twice. Today and-" Crap. Spilling about her visions was one thing. Telling her friends about the Dementor incident was a completely different one. Maybe they didn't hear that last part…
"And?"
Damn. "Well, the first time I did it, it was unintentional. You know about those Dementors probably from Harry, Meghan. And, well, he was supposed to be the one to cast the patronus, but I saw it in my dream, and I did it before him. He was supposed to get expelled from school or something, but because I did it, he was fine. That was when I realized that the visions could be altered."
"Dementors?"
"You didn't hear? I thought-"
Meghan rolled her eyes, "Nichole, just because we're in the same house doesn't mean I talk to him all that often. Especially not about stuff like that. But you conjured a patronus? When did you learn that spell?"
"Uh…that…night?"
"You conjured a patronus on your first try?" Sarah was staring at her as if she had three heads.
"Yes."
Meghan laughed. "Well, it's not exactly surprising, is it? Nichole hasn't yet found a spell or potion, or subject, she has difficulty with."
Sarah furrowed her brow. "That's just strange. There sure are a lot of strange things happening to you lately. How do you have your visions anyway, do they just come randomly?"
"Well, yes. I don't know when they'll come. But they always come when I'm sleeping. It's like having a very fuzzy dream. And I always feel sick afterwards, but that's been getting better each time, thankfully."
Sarah appeared as if she had just solved a very difficult puzzle. "Wait…didn't Dumbledore tell you something about…gifts…and curses? Something about responsibility, and that you…god, I can't remember! In my fireplace, that night, when you first found out you had magic in you! Remember?"
Meghan's eyes lit up. "Yes! He said that he thought you had been given a gift. But that it might sometimes appear to be a curse. That you would learn to accept it in time! Nichole, maybe you being able to see the future is that gift! And if Malfoy said something, taking it with a grain of salt, about your necklace, maybe that does have something to do with it!"
"Nichole, when did these visions start happening? Did they start when you got the necklace?" Sarah asked.
"No…the first one I had was the night before. It was about my mother getting the phone call that my grandmother was sick."
Sarah sighed. "Well, at least it's something. Maybe the library will have information on ancient jewelry…"
"Oh god, not the library." Meghan rolled her eyes.
Sarah glared at her. "So…these visions have been bothering you. Is that it?"
Nichole sighed. How to explain everything? "Well, yes, but it's more the fact that everyone keeps acting as though they're keeping something from me, and every time I ask questions, they just refuse to tell me, and say 'when the time comes' or something of the sort. It just feels like there's something…looming over me, and I don't know what it is! Malfoy certainly does, but, like I said, he wouldn't tell me. By the sounds of it, it's not a good thing, which makes me anxious."
Sarah spoke in a comforting voice. "Well, I can tell you that there are a lot of things that have been abnormal about your entrance into the magical community; your dreams about Harry Potter, your insane ability to instantly master spells, and now your visions. Did you talk to Dumbledore?"
Nichole sighed. "Yes. Many times. He refuses to tell me anything."
"Our mums had been acting weird lately. And I remember hearing them talk about you a couple months back. Maybe there is something important about you."
Nichole let out a cry of frustration and shoved her face into her pillow. "I've deduced that long ago! What I don't know, is what 'it' is. I'm beginning to think Meghan's Veritaserum tactic might not be so ridiculous…"
"Well, it is. If we have anything to go on, it's that necklace that Malfoy seemed so interested about. If its like Nichole says, and he's not lying, that would probably be the best place to start. Since tomorrow's Saturday, I say we start there."
The girls sat in silence for a few more minutes before Meghan spoke up. " So…um, Nichole, since we're all best mates again, I kind of had a question..."
Nichole propped her elbow up on one of her knees and rested her head in the palm of her hand. "Is this about the whole 'me snogging Malfoy in the potions corridor' crap?"
"Um, no, but actually, let's talk about that first. I mean, I know there was that rumor at first, but me and Sarah knew better than to believe rumors." Nichole sighed. Thank god, she could just pass it off as a rumor. "And even after Pansy started spreading it around that she had actually seen you, we were still skeptical. But then Harry told us that he'd seen you two as well." Nichole's stomach dropped.
Harry had seen Malfoy snogging her. Her eyes widened.
Sarah watched the horrified expression slide across her face. "Then it is true! I can't believe-"
Nichole cut her off. "No! I mean, yes, it is true, technically, but it's not what you think! Oh god, Harry saw? What the hell was he doing down in the dungeons?"
"Okay, Nichole, how about you stop rambling and explain, otherwise we may have to disown you. Or check you into St. Mungo's." Sarah said, in a low tone.
Nichole sighed. "Alright, well, I was off to find him, because I thought it was him that had started the whole rumor. I was going to take Meghan up on her advice, and go give him a piece of my mind."
Sarah interrupted. "Oh, so this is how it starts, listening to Meghan's advice; smart idea that was. I think the evidence can speak for itself."
"Hey!"
"Anyways, when I got there, I started screaming at him, even gave him a good slap, you know the drill. It turns out he didn't even start it, which still has me mystified, I'd like to know who did. Anyways, all of a sudden, Pansy came barreling down the corridor, and the egotistical bum started scowling away. He said something about 'asking a favour of me' and before I know it, he has me pinned, and was snogging me! I tried to kick him, but he had me so shoved up against-"
Meghan shoved her hands in her ears, "LALALALALA! I CAN'T HEAR YOU! LALALALALA!"
Sarah rolled her eyes. "Alright, we get it. So Malfoy molested you in the hallway, good that that's solved. Too bad the rest of the school doesn't know."
"LALALALALALA" Nichole grabbed one of Meghan's arms and ripped it out of her ear. "Oh, so you're done discussing your sexual activities with Malfoy then?"
Nichole rested her head on her hand. "So I guess I don't need Marietta Edgecombe to ruin my reputation. I've managed to do so myself."
"Well, you did throw everyone for a turn. Heck, if it was Harry you had been snogging, at least everyone wouldn't be so confused. Everyone thinks-or thought-that you really liked him. And it's obvious he liked you. I don't know now."
"Well thank you for informing me that not only have I crushed Harry's heart, along with Eric's who is still hanging over my conscience, by the way, but now I am the school slut. Thank you very much."
"You're very welcome."
Soon the rest of the fifth year Ravenclaw girls had entered the dormitory, and when they saw her talking with Sarah and Meghan, they took it that Nichole was now functioning in society again. Questions bombarded her until late in the night until finally Nichole was feeling back to her normal, cheerful self gain. The girls were acting normal around her again, and not whispering, and Sarah, Meghan and her were best friends again. If only she could patch things up with Harry, then her life would be near perfect again.
However, there was also the issue finding Malfoy, and beating him very hard so he would understand all the trouble he had caused her. But as they say, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
Nichole awoke to find Mandy poised on the end of her bed. "Wake up sleepy! You need to have a nice big breakfast, because I know you have hardly been eating in the past few days! Sarah's downstairs waiting for you, she said something about the library after breakfast."
Nichole stretched and yawned. Her stomach rumbled. She had skipped dinner again last night. "I am quite hungry, now that I think of it."
"Oh, and there's one more thing you might be interested in."
"What?"
Mandy smiled. "The list for this year's Quidditch team is posted!"
Nichole got dressed in record timing, and shot down the stairs of the girls' dormitory. After the nice, uninterrupted sleep she had had last night, she was fully rejuvenated, and hoped that today would be a lot brighter than the rest of the week had gone. Now that her life was relatively normal again, she was actually quite interested to see what had come out of her impromptu try-out. She saw Sarah waving her over to one of the couches near the window. She waved back, and traveled over to the bulletin board. She scanned through the list of players for the Ravenclaw Quidditch team quickly. Her smile widened when she saw her name.
She, Nichole Caligan, ballerina dancer, was going to be a beater!
A/N: I hope you liked it, please REVIEW! Don't stop now, just cause I am being nice and not dangling the next chapter in front of your nose! I need to update my other fic, My Robin, and I'm starting my new job this week, so hang in there!
Oh yeah, fyi, I started posting this fic on so if you see it there, under the name proud2beinsane, it's mine. Someone already used my first e-mail address, so I had to make another one to get an account there. Hmm... But still, I made the pretty banner!