Chapter 11: Anger

"S… sorry?" Everything felt surreal. She must have heard wrong. There was no way that her parents had been murdered.

"You heard correct," Corvus said. "Black killed Peter Pettigrew and 12 Muggles on the 1st of November in 1981. He exploded the street in the middle of the day. They only found Pettigrew's finger."

"No, no, no, it was an accident," Nora was in a shock.

"No, it wasn't Nora," Corvus said gently. "Here's the newspapers of the time."

Nora read the headlines. 'BLACK MASSACURED 12', 'HE JUST LAUGHED', and 'BLACK HAS BEEN CONVICTED'. Nora read the lines: 'Black murdered his friend.' '"After the explosion, he just laughed!" by stander states.' 'Muggles believe the massacre was due by a gas leak.'

"H… how long ha… have you known?" Nora asked. She felt numb.

"The morning after you told us. I had to confirm the fact," Corvus confessed.

Rage woke up in Nora. The atmosphere became electric: "Y… You have known a… almost a whole year!? W… Why didn't you tell me!?"

"I t… tried to. I just couldn't make myself to tell you. Especially since the attacks and all were going on," Corvus felt ashamed.

"T… That's not an e… excuse! This i… is my parents w… we are t… talking about! About m… my family!" Nora screamed. She had never felt so angry. "I had e… every right to k… know!"

"I know, I've spoken with Astoria-"

"A… ASTORIA KNOWS!?"

"Yes, so does Michelle and Olivia. I told them once I found out."

Nora started to shake with rage. She wanted to harm Corvus, punch or kick him, even hex the boy. She wanted to break something. She wanted to scream, but kept her voice quiet and even: "S… so are y… you telling me t… that everyone b… but me knows?"

"Sort of yes," Corvus had never been that clumsy with his words.

"W… why none of y… you told me?" Nora asked, her voice cracking.

Corvus couldn't find the words to answer.

"Y… you know," Nora's voice was weak. "Out of a… all the people I t… trusted you to a… always be h… honest enough to t… tell me the t… truth about e… everything even if it h… hurt. Not blabber it a… around for e… everyone else to h… hear. Not to w… wait almost a y… year to f… find out the t… truth."

Corvus was about to speak, but Nora stopped him. "No, d… don't. I don't w… want to hear it." Nora felt betrayed. "P… please just g… go, leave."

"Nora, I –"

"LEAVE!" Nora screamed, and Corvus left.

For the first time in Nora's life, she skipped a lesson and went to the lakeside. Nora didn't care even if it rained and heavy wind messed up her head. She screamed, till no voice came out, and collapsed to cry on the ground. After rising up to sit, Nora saw large black dog. "Oh, h… hello, s… sorry a… about t… that." Nora felt embarrassed for being seen. "C… can I p… pat y… you?" The dog seemed to understand Nora and came closer. The dog's soft fur calmed Nora down.

"A… are you h… hungry?" Nora asked and took two ham sandwiches out of her bag. The dog ate them with dedication. It must have been hungry, Nora thought. It was too thin, for its own good. "Do y… you want to k… know why I was w… well you k… know?" Nora blushed. She felt silly for talking to the dog. But the creature didn't mind, and just playfully pushed her on the shoulder, which Nora took as a yes: "My f… friend j… just t… told me t… that my parents w… were actually mur… murdered almost t… twelve years a… ago, b… by Sirius Black a… as he d… destroyed that s… street."

Nora took a deep breath before she continued: "I c… can't talk a… about this w… with my f… family, since my a… aunt is the o… only one, who k… knows I'm a w… witch, and she h… hates magic. She j… just got m… married, and h… her husband d… doesn't know the t… truth about m… me. A… and n… now I don't kn… know how to f… face my friends, sin… since I'm so angry with t… them! They k… knew for a y… year and d… didn't t… tell me a… anything!"

Something changed in the dog's face and posture, but it still sat beside Nora in the heavy rain and allowed the girl to cry her eyes dry.

Corvus felt awful, but he had done what he had to. He just couldn't forget the hurt look from Nora's eyes.

"What took you so long?" Michelle asked. They had Herbology together.

"I told Nora the truth about her parents."

"Oh, I thought you had spoken with her already," Michelle said. "But that explains a lot. She seemed surprisingly calm about the fact that the Black escaped. Plus, now that I think about it, she didn't even know, who he was."

"Well, Sherlock," Astoria huffed.

"How do you know about Sherlock Holmes?" Michelle asked, feeling puzzled.

"Nora lent me the book, after you two spoke about it."

"Oh, how did you like the books?"

"They were surprisingly good. Oh, but more importantly, how did Nora take the news?" Worry was visibly seen from Astoria's eyes.

"Not good," Corvus confessed. "She was furious. She got even more angry when she learned that you and Olivia knows the truth."

"Well, I can't really blame her," Michelle said. "I mean we have known almost a year now about this."

"Yep, I told you to tell her," Astoria pointed out. "Many times."

"Do you think she'll be mad at us too?" Michelle wondered.

"Yes, since you also knew and didn't tell her."

Michelle cursed under her breath in French. "Well, let's give her time, she'll calm down eventually," Michelle tried to sound hopeful.

"I guess, it helped with Daisy last year," Astoria recalled.

"Yes, but she wasn't that angry. Trust me, you didn't see her," Corvus said, recalling the look on the girl's face.

The herbology lesson went by slowly. Corvus didn't care too much about the subject, but still wrote down the notes obediently. Michelle and Astoria kept whispering to one another through the lesson, until Professor Sprouts had to take away some House Points from both of them. At the same table Ben gave them puzzled look.

After the lessons they started to head towards library, to borrow some books for their homework. On the hallway they saw Olivia: "Hey, have any one of you seen Nora? She never came to History of Magic lessons. I'm worried about her, what if something happened to her, just like last year?"

"Corvus told her about her parents," Michelle explained. "She was shocked after hearing the truth, so I think she skipped the lessons on purpose."

"Oh, how did she take the news?"

"As you can see, not very well," Corvus said, feeling frustrated.

"Should we look for her and talk?" Olivia asked.

"I don't think that's good idea Liv," Michelle sounded sad. "She's mad at all of us for hiding things for almost a year."

"Yes, but last year it was just attack after attack. There wasn't really a peaceful enough time to tell her something this big. I mean she had lot on her plate, and the year ended up with her being petrified. We couldn't just tell her that before the holidays!"

"That's not how she sees it Liv. It's about her family after all," Michelle frowned. "Though I hope she'll come to see things from our perspective."

Nora came back to the common room late in the evening. She was soaking wet. Water dripped down from her hair and clothes. Her eyes were all red and swollen from the crying. Her throat was sore after all the screaming and crying. The girl felt numb and lost. Her head ached from the emotional turmoil and hunger. "Are you okay Nora?" Gwendoline Hedgeflower asked. She was Nora's dorm mate.

"Y…yes, I'm f… fine," Nora lied, and went to shower. The hot water warmed her up and helped little with the headache. After washing up, Nora tied her hair quickly into a ponytail and changed on pyjamas but had no plan of staying in the dorm yet.

"Hey, Norra! Everyone was lookin' for you! You weren't in tee afternoon lessons. Are you alrig't?" Daisy asked, worry shined through her face and voice.

"Y… yeah, j… just peachy," Nora muttered, never stopping, once again leaving the Common room. Nora kept walking until she arrived in front of the painting filled with fruits. Nora took a deep breath and tickled the pear, entering in the kitchen.

"Ms. Wilkins," lady house-elf greeted the girl. "How are you my dear?"

"H… hello, Nittie. I'm f… fine." Nora answered. "I w… wanted to th… thank you for a… all the delicious f… foods that y… you make."

"Oh, you're most welcome dear," Nittie said, blushing.

"Umm… I w… was also w… wondering i… if I c… could have s… something to e… eat. I ha… happened to m… miss the dinner." Nora said, feeling embarrassed.

"Of course, is chicken alright with you dear?" Nittie asked smiling.

"Y… yes, th… that sounds l… lovely," Nora smiled mildly. "Oh, h… how a… are you Nittie? H… how was y… your summer?"

Nittie was little taken back by the question, but the small being smiled brighter than ever before: "Oh, I'm very good. The summer was great. I learned a ton of new recipes that I'm going to try this year. We managed to clean the castle extra well this year, all the way from top to bottom."

"T… that sounds g… good. I'm s… sorry if I s… sound rude, b… but can you o… or do y… you ever w… want to l… leave the c… castle? To s… see the w… world?"

"No, not really," Nittie answered. If she hadn't known Nora being from muggle family, she'd have been offended by the question. "We house-elves live by working and serving. Hogwarts is good and safe place to serve. Some elves live with miserable families. I'm just happy with my life is in here, this is my home."

"Oh, I u… understand," Nora smiled.

"Good. But now dear", Nittie clicked her fingers together and serving of chicken and rice with bread came in front of her: "Eat."

"Y… yes, th… thank you." Nora said. She sat down and started to eat. The chicken and rice tasted like heaven in her mouth. "T… this tastes s… so good. Is t… this done b… by one o… of your new r… recipes?"

"Yes, it is, extra herbal chicken with béarnaise sauce. The rice has been cooked and fried with seasoning and vegetables," Nittie said proudly. "Do you like it?"

"I l… love it," Nora answered. Eating every last crumb.

"That's good," Nittie felt satisfied. "But now Ms. Wilkins, you should go and get some rest. You look exhausted.

Nora blushed, but agreed: "Y… yes, y… you're right. I'll s… see you l… later then N… Nittie, and t… thank you f… for food a… and everything."

"Good night, dear. Sleep well."

Corvus hadn't slept well. He had turned around in his bed almost all night, recalling the conversation he had had with Nora, and thought all the things he should have said. He hoped that Nora would talk to him again soon, recalling the month she had been furious with Daisy.

He walked down to the breakfast. He noticed Nora sitting in Hufflepuffs table, and Olivia and Michelle eating in Gryffindors one. He gave questioning look towards Olivia and Michelle. Both shook their heads, so Corvus walked towards them.

"Morning, how's she?" Corvus asked.

Olivia grimaced: "Awful. She refused to even acknowledge us."

"If you look at her face, you can see, that she has been crying all night." Michelle pointed out. She was filled up with worry.

"Yeah, she seems really sad and angry" Olivia sighed: "I've never seen her so angry. She wasn't like that last year with Daisy."

"Well, can you really blame her?" Astoria asked behind them.

"Oh, morning Tori. But no, not really, we should have told her as a group as soon as we found out," Olivia said.

"Oui, but it's always easy to say so afterwards," Michelle stated: "But I can't really blame her. If it was me, I'd hex all of you."

Small smile came on Olivia's face: "Yeah, I can clearly see you doing that."

"Did you try to talk to her?" Astoria asked.

"Yes, if looks could kill, she'd stabbed us to the chest. She acted as if we didn't exist." Smile faded away from Olivia's face.

"Well, that's brutal." Astoria grimaced.

"Any ideas, how can we make her forgive her?" Olivia wondered.

"Maybe giving her time?" Michelle suggested.

"Begging her to forgive us?" Astoria thought.

"Trying to reason with her?" Corvus asked.

"Try all three?" Olivia said.

"How did she take your apology yesterday Corvus?" Astoria asked.

"I didn't apologize." Corvus confessed, feeling his ears burning.

"WHAT!?" All of the three girls cried out.

"You didn't apologize?" Michelle whispered, feeling furious.

"Well, no wonder she wants to murder us," Olivia stated.

"For a genius, you are an idiot when it comes to relationships," Astoria pointed out.

"I know," Corvus agreed. "I just couldn't find a right time to apologize."

Michelle hit both of her hands on the table: "How about saying: I'M SORRY! You JERK!"

"I would have said that if she'd let me," Corvus defended himself.

"You should have forced her to listen to you," Olivia pointed out.

"Should I apologize to her now?" Corvus asked, getting ready to rise.

"NO!" All three girls cried out again.

"The moment is already gone, you need to let her calm down a bit now," Olivia advised.

"Yes, at the moment she won't listen to anything you say," Astoria hinted.

"Oui," Michelle huffed. "She's rightfully furious."

Without none of them noticing Sinead walked to them and put a note in between of them: 'Hey, what have you done to Nora?'

"Nothing, we just had a fight," Olivia answered, articulating clearly.

'Well, make up soon, I hate seeing her unhappy.'

The group gave her a sympathetic smile."Yeah, we neither," Corvus said.

"Norra are you certain that you're alright", Daisy carefully asked after Herbology lessons. She had noticed that Nora had ignored Olivia during the whole lesson, and the atmosphere had been really intense.

"Y… yes. A… Absolutely p… positive," Nora answered shortly.

"Okay," Daisy exchanged worried glances with Matthew. The boy just shrugged. "You just don't seem like your usual self."

"S… so what?" Nora asked. She still felt angry and hurt.

"It's not a bad thing, just wanted to state that out."

Nora didn't bother to answer. She didn't want to talk to anyone. She knew she was acting childish; she just couldn't help it. The betrayal had hurt her more than she could've even imagined.

"Um, so do you 'ave any hopes for Charms lessons?" Daisy desperately tried to keep on the conversation.

Nora stopped and turned around to look at her friend. Her eyes were serious and lips narrow: "N… no, none. A… anything e… else you w… want to know?"

"No, nothin', sorry for askin'," Daisy piped out.

"S… sorry," Nora muttered, she knew she shouldn't have slashed at Daisy. She continued walking.

Daisy sighed but decided to stay silent, as they entered to Charms classroom. Ravenclaw students hadn't arrived yet. She decided to share a seat with Matthew.

Nora sat on her own. Shortly Ravenclaw students arrived in the classroom. Michelle took a seat next to Nora, but said nothing, which Nora appreciated.

For Nora the lesson went in silent. She wrote down some notes, and did her best to concentrate on Professor Flitwick voice. She was glad that in their first lessons they didn't do actual spells. Nora wasn't certain if she could have handled doing magic, since her emotions ran all over the place.

When the lesson ended she was the first one to get out of the door, but unlike the others, Nora didn't go to Great Hall for lunch, instead she went to the kitchens to get herself something to eat. She also asked from Nittie to give her something for the giant dog that she had met the day before and headed towards the lake. Many students avoided the place due the chill weather.

She sat down on the grass, opened her hair, and allowed wind to make it fly. Nora was happy, that it was no longer raining, and sun shined a bit behind the clouds. She took out her packed lunch and started to eat. The lake calmed down her inner turmoil. About half an hour later the large black dog approached her, and Nora took out some meat from her bag: "H… here this's for y…you. I thought y… you might be h… hungry", Nora told the dog and smiled mildly. The waved its' tail and started to enjoy the meal.

Nora started to tell the dog about her day. How she had acted like a child and whined the whole day. How she refused to talk to her friends, since she wasn't ready to forgive them yet. She told the how she was scared that the man, who had murdered her parents was out there. At the end Nora laughed hysterically: "I m… must be l… losing my m… mind." and cried few tears. Everything was too much for her at that moment. The dog sat there by her side, never leaving her alone.