Chapter 8:

Dicsclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter!

There's been some bad times I've been through,
Damage I cannot undo.
Some things,
I wish I could do all over again,
But it don't really matter,
When life gets that much harder,
It makes you that much stronger,
Some pages turned,
Some bridges burned,
But there were,
Lessons learned.

-Carrie Underwood

The next morning Nora woke up bright and early to make sure she could squeeze in five minutes in the bathroom before helping her friends get ready for their dates. She put on a beige cowl necked sweater dress and black tights before applying a light coat of eyeliner and mascara. As she started to gather her things, she heard a loud knock on the door.

"NORA! Get out! We've got a shower schedule!" Aveline yelled from the other side of the door.

The young blond rolled her eyes and opened the door.

"Don't worry Ava you'll have plenty of time to get ready!" Nora said as her friend rushed pass her.

A few minutes later, Ava was out of the shower and sat down in the chair in front of the mirror.

"So what are we doing?" Nora asked with a smile.

"I have no idea what so ever." Aveline said laughing. "I don't want to seem too eager...but I don't want to look like crap either..."

Nora laughed. "How about we blow-dry your hair then? It'll look nice but not over the top."

"Work your magic!" Aveline said as Nora started the process.

After doing all four girls' hair, Nora went down to the common room, sank into an armchair and closed her eyes.

"Happy Halloween Satan!" Erik said as she shrieked in surprise.

"You scared the hell out of me!" She said catching her breath.

"I tend to have that effect on people." He said winking at her. "But why so tired?"

"I couldn't sleep...And I had to do everyone's hair this morning which was quite the ordeal." She said sighing.

"Well you look pretty good too."

"Why thank you Erik. You clean up pretty well yourself." She said with a smile.

"Was that a compliment? Is Norabel actually saying that I'm attractive?" Erik teased.

"Of course you are! I'm not blind! But you're kind of an ass." She said laughing.

"Maybe so. But one that you find attractive." He said with a smirk.

"Don't let it go to your head Porny." Nora said rolling her eyes.

"I can't make any promises." He joked. "You're quite attractive too. But a little stuck-up."

"Is this how the famous Landon charm works? You tell me I'm attractive and then you tell me I'm stuck-up?" She asked raising an eyebrow.

"Is it working?" He teased with a handsome grin.

"In your dreams Manwhore." She said hitting him across the arm.

"Well at least I gave it a shot." He said teasingly as they headed for breakfast.

A few hours later everyone was meeting in the entrance before leaving for Hogsmeade. Nora saw Nataleigh leave with Wood and Aveline leave with Roger. She smiled at her friends' happiness and enthusiasm but couldn't help feeling sad about her own single status. She spotted the two identical redheads and made her way towards them.

"Hey Weasleys!" She said with a smile.

"Hey Freckles." They both answered as Fred started to rub the back of his neck.

"Nervous?" Nora asked the corner of her lips pulling upwards at her best friends embarrassment.

"He's been fidgety since last night. He kept tossing and turning." George said with a grin.

"I did not!" Fred said sending a glare George's way.

"Well I sure did." Nora chuckled. "I couldn't seem to fall asleep last night. And I've got the dark circles to prove it!"

"Nervous about our wondrous date Miss DeBordeaux?" George teased.

"How did you ever figure me out Mr. Weasley?" Nora answered laughing lightly.

"I'm used to it, the ladies can't get enough of me." George said jokingly.

"Now you sound like Erik." Nora said laughing some more.

Fred couldn't help but grin at his friend's laughter.

"Are you making fun of my laugh again?" Nora asked trying not to grin as well.

"I'm only making fun of the fact that you laugh like a four year old." He said innocently.

"Fred Weasley take that back!" She said playfully hitting him across the arm and laughing some more.

At that moment Angelina joined the group. The moment Fred saw her he went back to rubbing the back of his neck.

"Hey Angelina." He said smiling at her.

"Hi Fred." She answered smiling back at him. "How are you two?" She added to Nora and George.

"I'm amazing, as for Nora's she sleep deprived so she's a little grumpy." George answered laughing as Nora rolled her eyes.

"Nice." Angelina simply said.

"Well we should get going, Norabel?" George said as he presented her his arm.

"Yes we should Georgie. Have fun you two." Nora said smiling at them as she took George's arm and left.

"Do you have a plan for today?" George asked Nora.

"I thought the guy took care of that on a date Georgie?" She answered teasingly. " I really want to go to Honeydukes...And then I don't really mind. I guess we'll be stopping by Zonko's."

"You know me too well Freckles!" He said swinging an arm casually over her shoulder.

"Seven years will do that." She said with grin.

"Has it been that long?" He asked.

"Yep! I moved when we were eight." She said nostalgically.

As she looked in front of them she saw a blond haired boy she knew too well. He turned around with a smirk on his face.

"Well if it isn't my favorite sister? I hear you finally had the sense to end it with Diggory." Nikolaus said.

"Oh shut it Niko! And it wasn't even me who ended it!" Nora said fuming with anger.

"Don't be so mad! We haven't spoken in two weeks!"

"There's a reason for that." She spat icily.

"What did I do this time? Make a rude comment about someone?" He asked smirking and crossing his arms over his chest.

"You don't know? He didn't tell you?" She asked.

"Ah come one Nora, whatever I did I probably didn't mean it. It's not important! Now, can you just forgive me so we can move on as usual?" He asked still smirking.

"Not important? Are you bloody kidding me Niko?" She said her voice rising. "You had me disowned! Father no longer considers me his daughter and doesn't want to see me anymore! This isn't one of your harmless pranks anymore Niko!"

"Nora...I'm so sorry I never meant for anything like this to happen!" He said feeling incredibly guilty.

"Well sometimes your actions have consequences!"

"I don't know what to say Nora..." He said his eyes full of guilt.

"Don't say anything. Not a thing!" She said icily as she left followed by George.

"Well that was fun." George said sarcastically.

"Niko's always a blast." Nora said rolling her eyes as they made their way towards Hogsmeade.

After spending a considerable amount of time in Honeydukes and Zonko's, George and Nora walked around Hogsmeade with no particular plan in mind.

"How can you dislike liquorice wands?" Nora asked bewildered.

"I don't know...I guess I just don't like them Freckles." He answered laughing.

"This relationship is not going to work." She said teasingly shaking her head.

"Well I always thought it was doomed." He answered jokingly while ruffling her hair. "Isn't that your mum and John?" George asked gesturing towards a couple walking towards them further down the street.

When her mother spotted them, she smiled and waved to Nora and George.

"Mum! Dad! What are you doing here?" Nora asked as her mother hugged her.

"Well there is a few things I wanted to talk to you about and it's always nice to see my babies." She answered with a smile as she turned to George. "Merlin you've grown! How have you been doing? Molly will murder me if I don't come back with a full report." She said teasingly as she hugged him.

"It wouldn't even surprise me." He answered chuckling. "And I'm doing great."

"Staying out of trouble?" John questioned with a slight smile already knowing the answer.

"Well let's just say we haven't gotten into anymore trouble than last year." George answered with a grin.

"Speaking of partners in crime...Where's Fred?" John asked.

"He's on a date. Report that to Mum please." George said with a mischievous grin.

"You're really an ass!" Nora said hitting him playfully across the shoulder.

"Language!" Brooke scolded. "How about we go to the Three Broomsticks to talk?"

"Sure." Nora and George answered.

A few minutes later they were all sitting at a table with four mugs of butterbeer.

"Not that I'm not glad to see you two but what's going on?" Nora asked.

"Well Nora" Her mother started as she folded her hands and her face twisted into a serious expression.

"You're not pregnant again are you?" She asked.

Everyone at the table laughed lightheartedly.

"No. I am not pregnant." She said with a smile. "Your sister wrote me a letter last week and I wrote to Cecilius."

"Oh..." Nora said staring intently at her mug knowing exactly what was coming next and not looking forward to it.

"Why didn't you tell us he was disowning you?" Brooke asked with a concerned tone.

"I thought you would be disappointed." Nora said not shifting her glance from her drink.

"Of course not!" Brooke answered astonished.

"If anything we're proud of you for standing up for what you believe in." John said kindly. "You will never be a disappointment to us Nora."

"I guess I didn't know how to tell you...And there's been so much going on." Nora said finally looking up at them.

"We know you and Cedric ended things if that's what you're referring to." Her mother said.

"First of all Cedric ended things and second how do you know?" Nora asked confused.

"Your sister's letter." John simply stated.

"I'm going to kill Megg! She always rats us out! She's being such a child!"

"It wasn't Megg, it was Nataleigh." George said.

"What?" Nora asked turning to her friend who had been silent until this moment. "How do you know?"

"I was kind of with her when she wrote the letter." George said as he started tapping his fingers on the table not daring to look directly at his friend.

"Seriously?" Nora asked. "And you never thought about mentioning any of this to me?"

"Nora! They did the right thing. We just wanted to make sure you're alright." John said.

"I'm fine! It really sucks and I'm pissed off that nothing seems to be going right but I'm fine!" She said.

"Alright then." Brooke said.

"That's it?" Nora asked.

"Yes. I'm not going to push it. How about a lighter subject of conversation?" She asked as everyone at the table laughed.

"Oh! Nat and I talked to Professor Lupin! He said you two were friends in school." Nora said as she took a sip of butter beer.

"You never told me that!" George said.

"You never told me you wrote to my mother so we're even." She answered with a smile.

"Remus told you that? What else did he say?"

"Not much...Just that you two were pretty close and that you'd spend time in the Gryffindor common room because you were friends with a girl named Lily and you dated a guy in Gryffindor."

Brooke choked on her butterbeer. "Did he say who?" She asked nervously.

"No..."

"Oh, well yes Remus and I were close. He was pretty much my best friend and so was Lily." She answered with a sad smile.

"But what about the guy? I mean you married Father a few months after graduation and you had us when you were eighteen."

"My marriage to your father was quite complicated." She answered.

"That's what Professor Lupin said. But I mean technically, I do know how babies are made, does this mean that we could possibly not be his? Because that would simply be perfect. And it would really explain a lot." Nora said.

"Sorry to disappoint you Nora, but you, Nataleigh and Nikolaus are definitely Cecilius' children. And I'd rather not talk about this now." Her mother said.

"Fine. You won't tell me who it is will you?"

"No."

"Do you know?" She asked turning to John.

"Yes. But if your mother doesn't want you to know I respect her wishes." He said.

"Is he the reason you never speak about your time at Hogwarts?" Nora asked.

"Norabel that is enough! Those are times I do not intend to relive especially not today." Her mother said firmly.

"Alright. Sorry Mum. I was just curious." Nora answered.

At that moment, the door of the Three Broomsticks opened and a certain Defense against the dark arts teacher came in.

"Speaking of perfect timing." George whispered in Nora's ear.

As Lupin saw the group he made his way towards the table.

"Well, well, well, you haven't changed a bit." He said with a smile as he saw Brooke.

"I wish I could say the same for you Moony but you're looking a wee bit wrinkly." She teased.

Nora and George spit out the butter beer they were drinking.

"MOONY?" They both questioned.

"It's just a nickname my friend's used at school." He answered.

"You're Moony?" George asked completely stunned.

"Yes...Why do you ask?" He asked looking suspiciously at George.

"It's a nice nickname. Most people call me Satan or Freckles..." Nora said nervously. "Wow..We should really get going. You guys have loads of catching up to do. Bye." She added kissing her mother's and John's cheeks.

"Don't forget to write! And it was nice seeing you too George!" Brooke called after them.

"You too!" He said as they exited the Three Broomsticks.

"He's Moony? As in THE Moony? From the map?" George asked as they started making their way towards Hogwarts.

"I guess. It isn't exactly a regular nickname." Nora said stunned.

"Wow. We really owe him so much." George said.

"Seriously." Nora said in admiration.

A/N: I UPDATED! I can't believe I even wrote this. I've been stuck in bed all week with pertussis (Whooping cough...not that it matters) and I've pretty much been coughing up a lung. The bright side is that my dear boyfriend, who's crappy computer I'm writing this on, is an ER resident so he's been taking care of me...Now enough rambling...Sorry...I know you all probably don't care :P I'll probably end up deleting this eventually...

This chapter doesn't have much going on but there are some clues about important things that will be revealed later on...Such as Brooke's old boyfriend...I find it quite obvious but I'm writting the story :P Also. I have pictures of the characters on my profile so check them out if you want and tell me what you think :) Once more sorry about mistakes, I'll be going over the chapters eventually. And my dear laptop is still in the shop...It's been forever. I have another chapter written so i'll be uploading that tomorow! Once more PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review! I love having feedback, it makes me so happy :) Thanks to everyone who's favorited the story and put it on alert! I love you all. Xoxo.

To Fat Old Sun: Thanks for reviewing! Angelina has bad timing...And I kind of dislike her :P

To 93 Diagon Alley: Thank you so much! I'm glad you like it!