Chapter 3

Sir Nicholas floated impatiently between the trees outside the door to the Great Hall. Herbology got out at 5 o clock. It was much later than that. He nearly turned to head back inside when all of a sudden he saw THE BOY walking quickly, in his direction. Was he alone? Yes, he seemed to be.

"Oh no you should stay out of it, put it out of your mind, Nick," Sir Nicholas whispered to himself. "You shouldn't even be here. This isn't right, he's only a boy. But a legal boy...no! You can't! It shouldn't happen! You don't even have a real body anymore!"

"Is someone there?" the boy asked. He squinted in the dark night.

Nicholas shut up at once, and tried to remain still.

"Sir Nicholas, is that you?" he said. Crap. Him and his stupid ghostly, glowing, bobbing body.

"Ahem, why yes, yes it is, young man," Nick said, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible, as he floated down from the trees.

"Thought so. What are you doing hiding in trees?"

"I wasn't hiding. I was just getting some fresh air."

The boy cocked one of his eyebrows. "I didn't know ghosts could breathe."

Nicholas's cheeks tinged slightly. "In the figurative sense, you know. Just to get out of that stuffy castle. Away from the other ghosts. And the other...boring...students."

The boy nodded his head.

"Soooooo...." said Nicholas. "Uh....would you like...to take...a...walk?"

The boy shrugged. "I've nothing else to do. Zacharias and the others were playing Wizardopoly tonight but I had to stay late for Herbology."

"Oh...why was that?" Nicholas asked, listening intently, as they began to move across the gigantic lawn.

"Professor Sprout doesn't like me manhandling her plants, I guess. Anyway, we didn't really have much of a lesson. She mostly talked to Ginny, it was rather boring."

Nicholas drifted alongside the boy, staring at his face. It was quite beautiful, however normal it seemed. And the underbite was quite charming. Suddenly the boy looked up, and before Nicholas could look away, he asked, "What are you staring at? Have I got Ventricular slime on my face?"

Nicholas stammered, "Oh...n-no. I'm...I'm just...just trying to figure out where I've seen you before. I know I have. I just can't place it..."

"I remember." The boy spoke softly now, although no one else was around. "It was my second year. And you...you saved my life."

Nicholas's eyes widened. "I did?"

The boy nodded. "When the Chamber of Secrets was opened, and the basilisk was gradually petrifying people. We were in the hall, and we looked into the basilisk's eyes. But I looked through you. And we were both petrified. But not dead."

"You're Justin..." Nicholas started.

"...Finch-Fletchley," Justin finished.

Nicholas tried to let out a breath, and then remembered he was a ghost. He had been forgetting his ghostly ways as of late. "Well, can't say I'm much of a hero. I had no idea that was going to happen. And I was just floating there."

"You still saved me, " said Justin. "I've always been grateful for that. If you want to know the truth, I honestly don't even like ghosts. They scare me."

Nicholas frowned a bit.

"But after that, I became not so afraid. Of you at least. The Bloody Baron still makes everyone crap their bloomers."

Nicholas chuckled. "Even me, sometimes, Justin, and I can't even crap." The two laughed.

All of a sudden Justin stopped short. Nicholas didn't have enough time to stop with him, and jerked forward, right into him. He swooped out as quickly as he could.

"I'm sorry, Justin," Nicholas said apologetically. "I didn't realize you were stopping. I know nobody likes to have a ghost walk through them."

"Well I'm right at the edge of the lake. And it's all right," Justin said, half-smiling. "It didn't actually feel that bad. It felt...kind of...good." He quickly stared down into the depths of the lake, even though it was pitch black.

Nicholas stared at him. Did Justin really just say that? He opened his mouth to speak but...

"Well I should go to my common room, I've got a lot to do tomorrow and I should get a head start on sleep. It's a long walk back across the lawn, you know. Except you don't because you don't walk. Because you're...a ghost." Justin said all this very fast, and turned from the lake and started back towards the castle, at a quick pace.

"Wait," called Nicholas. "Do you want to..." and he realized that anything he really wanted to ask Justin would just sound stupid, and creepy, and he was a human boy after all.

Justin stopped, and turned around, hesitantly.

Nicholas paused. "I hope you do better in Herbology on Thursday," he said, finally.

Justin nodded. "Thanks." He turned to go, and then turned around again. "How do you know I have Herbology on Thursday?"

Nicholas made a gulping sound, and then said, "I'm a ghost, Justin, I can go through walls. I just hear things sometimes."

Justin shrugged. "Well thanks again." And he took off towards the school.

Nicholas gave a slight whimper as Justin walked away. When the boy was out of sight, he crossed his legs and lowered himself until he was hovering just over the grass in front of the lake. A black tentacle rose from the water, then splashed down, and back into the depths. Nicholas did not even notice. He just gazed at the castle, wondering which window was Justin's, and what he was doing at that very moment. Why had he taken off so suddenly? His words raced through Nicholas's head, 'It felt...kind of...good.'