Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban Timeline

"He Holds the Moon"

ooo

"Your heart and my heart are very,

very old friends."

- Hafiz

HIPPOGRIFFS

After Transfiguration, Tristan and his friends trailed behind the crowd to the Great Hall for lunch.

As he was piling food on his plate, eager to dive into the scrumptious feast, he felt Harry squirm beside him. He tried to ignore him at first, but when Harry still wouldn't stop fidgeting five minutes later he shot his friend an exasperated look.

"What? What is it?"

"Nothing," Harry grumbled between bites.

Tristan didn't buy it. "C'mon, Potter, spill."

"Fine," Harry grumbled again. "I reckon it might not be the best time to say this, given Trelawney's death omen this morning and all that, but I sort of saw this massive black dog near the Dursleys the night I left..."

Ron dropped his fork with a clatter. Tristan halted with his spoon halfway to his mouth.

"It was probably just a coincidence," Hermione said calmly.

"Right," Tristan immediately agreed. Of course it was, he thought. Had to be.

Ron, on the other hand, looked at them both as though they'd gone insane. "If Harry's seen a Grim, that's… that's really bad! My uncle Bilius saw one a-and he died twenty four hours later!"

Hermione poured herself some pumpkin juice. "Coincidence."

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Ron sputtered angrily.

"Yeah all right, mate, calm down," said Tristan, getting annoyed with the hysterics.

"Don't tell me to calm down! Grims scare the living daylights out of most wizards!"

"There you have it — they see the Grim and die of fright," Hermione explained in a superior, know-it-all tone. "The Grim's not an omen, it's the cause of death. And Harry's still with us because he's not stupid enough to see one and think — right, well, I'd better kick the bucket then!"

Tristan snorted, nearly spilling juice out of his nose. Hermione shot him a mildly disgusted look as she grabbed her bag to take out her new Arithmancy book, all the while ignoring Ron, who was mouthing wordlessly at her.

"I think Divination seems very woolly," she said conversationally, flipping through the book in search of her page. "A lot of guesswork, if you ask me."

Ron's face turned crimson. "There was nothing woolly about the Grim in that cup!"

"You didn't seem quite so confident when you were telling Harry it was a sheep."

"Professor Trelawney said you didn't have the right aura! You just don't like being bad at something for a change!"

Tristan winced, "You really shouldn't have said that…"

Hermione slammed her book shut so hard, bits of meat and carrots flew everywhere. "If being good at Divination means I must pretend to see death omens in a lump of tea leaves, I'm not sure I'll be studying it much longer! That lesson was absolute rubbish compared to my Arithmancy class!"

She pinned Ron down with one last seething glare, snatched up her things and marched out of the Great Hall.

"Now you've done it, haven't you?" Tristan pushed his plate away and picked his bag off the floor.

"How's this my fault?" Ron shot back indignantly, looking at him with a scowl. "And where the hell are you going?"

"To tame the beast, obviously!"

Tristan jogged out of the hall to catch Hermione, who was already halfway across the entrance courtyard. For someone so small, she really covered a lot of ground fast.

"Why are you letting him get to you?" he asked as he fell into step with her. "You know Ron's always running his mouth."

"But he's right, isn't he?" Hermione hugged her Arithmancy book close to her chest. "I am bad at it, and I really can't stand it."

"You can't be perfect all the time, it's not fair on us mortals," Tristan joked.

She huffed a little. "That doesn't mean I can't try."

"You wouldn't be Hermione Granger if you didn't." He tossed an arm around her shoulders. "Seriously, though, you heard McGonagall — Divination's a meaningless branch of magic. Ron's just spooked, he'll get over it."

"He's still an insensitive jerk."

"Won't argue with you on that."

Harry and Ron caught up to them moments later and together they headed down the familiar path to Hagrid's hut at the edge of the Dark Forest for their first Care of Magical Creatures class. The whole way Hermione walked beside Tristan without acknowledging Ron. On the other side of Harry, Ron did the exact same thing. This was nothing new. Tristan and Harry were used to their spats.

Tristan cursed inwardly when he spotted Malfoy and his goons up ahead. Brilliant, he thought dryly. The one class he was most excited about and they had to have it with Slytherin. Just his luck.

Standing at the door of his hut, with Fang at his heels, Hagrid was waiting impatiently for his students to arrive. "C'mon now, get a move on! Got a real treat for yeh today! Great lesson comin' up! Everyone here? Right, follow me!"

They trailed after him as he led them around the edge of the Forbidden Forest, then further down the lawns until they were outside a kind of paddock.

"Everyone gather 'round the fence here!" They all rushed to comply to Hagrid's instructions, scattering around the fence in small groups. "That's it — make sure yeh can see. Now, firs' thing yeh'll want ter do is open yer books—"

"And how are we supposed to open these things?" Draco cut off coldly as he was pulling out his copy of The Monster Book of Monsters, which he had bound shut with rope.

Others pulled out their books as well and by the looks of it, everyone seemed to have found some way to forcefully keep their book subdued. Even Harry had tied his with a belt. Tristan stared at his own book wich was gurgling deeply but unbound.

Hagrid glanced around, looking crestfallen. "Hasn'… hasn' anyone bin able ter open their books?"

Tristan raised his hand. "I did!"

Hagrid cheered up a bit at that. "'Course yeh did, Tristan! Can yeh show everyone how it's done?"

"You just have to stroke them. Like this—" Tristan flipped his book around and brushed his fingers down its spine. The book shivered, then fell open and stayed quiet in his hands. "They're a bit feisty, but it's easy to calm them down once you've figured out the trick."

"Oh, it's easy, is it?" Malfoy glared darkly at him. "Maybe for a freak like you, but how would the rest of us have guessed we were supposed to stroke these monstrosities?"

"Monstrosities?" Hagrid repeated uncertainly. "I thought they were funny..."

"Yes, tremendously funny! Really witty, giving us books that try and rip our hands off!"

"Shut up, Malfoy," Harry hissed.

"Just ignore him," Tristan told Hagrid quietly. "I thought they were funny too."

Gathering himself, Hagrid cleared his throat, "Righ' then — so yeh've got yer books an' — an' now yeh need the Magical Creatures. Yeah. So I'll go an' get 'em. Hang on…" He walked away and into the forest.

As soon as Hagrid was out of sight, Malfoy continued his tirade, "God, this place is going to the dogs. That oaf teaching classes, my father'll have a fit when I tell him."

"Shut up, Malfoy," Harry hissed again.

"Careful, Potter," Malfoy sneered arrogantly. "There's a dementor behind you!"

Tristan took a threatening step forward. "I'll show you a dementor—"

"OHHH!"

They all cringed at Lavender's high-pitched squeal. She was pointing vigorously to the opposite side of the paddock where about a dozen creatures were trotting toward them. They had the bodies, hind legs, and tails of horses, but the front legs, wings, and heads of giant eagles, with steel-coloured beaks and large orange eyes.

Everyone backed away from the paddock while Hagrid secured the beasts' chains to the fence. Tristan, of course, couldn't resist moving in closer.

"Woah! Hippogriffs!"

"Righ' yeh are, Tristan!" Hagrid roared happily, waving a giant hand at the creatures. "Beautiful, aren' they?"

Beautiful didn't seem to do the creatures justice in Tristan's opinion. Their coats gleamed prettily under the pale sun, changing smoothly from feather to hair, all of different colours: stormy grey, warm bronze, pinkish roan, rich chestnut and inky black. Tristan had read plenty of books about hippogriffs; he couldn't believe he was actually seeing not one but several of them.

"So, then!" Hagrid rubbed his hands together with a bright grin. "If yeh wan' ter come a bit nearer…"

No one seemed to want to except Tristan, who was already as close to the fence as he dared to. Cautiously, Harry, Ron and Hermione came to join him.

"Now, firs' thing yeh gotta know abou' hippogriffs is, they're proud. Easily offended, hippogriffs are. Don't ever insult one, 'cos it might be the last thing yeh do. And yeh always wait for the hippogriff ter make the firs' move. It's polite, see? Yeh walk toward him, and yeh bow, an' yeh wait. If he bows back, yeh're allowed ter touch him. If he doesn' bow, then get away from him sharpish, 'cos those talons hurt."

The hippogriffs were tossing back their fierce heads and flexing their powerful wings. Tristan's cheeks ached from his broad grin. He was going to work with real hippogriffs, how incredibly wicked was that?

Wait until I tell Nora about this, he thought excitedly.

Like it could sense his excitement, one of the beasts locked eyes with him. Tristan felt a familiar stirring in the back of his mind as the hippogriff blinked its huge, orange eyes and crooned quietly, ruffling its bronze feathers.

"… I'll do it."

Tristan looked away in time to see Harry climbing over the paddock fence. Their classmates were already whispering about Harry's death omen in class. Lavander and Parvati, especially, seemed dead set on Harry going to get himself killed.

Hagrid untied the restraints of a grey hippogriff, tugged it away from its companions and slipped off its leather collar. The whole class held their breath as Hagrid guided Harry into what to do to earn the hippogriff's favour. At first, when Harry bowed, it didn't seem as though he would be getting it, but at last Buckbeak bent his scaly front legs and bowed back.

"Well done, Harry!" cried Hagrid, ecstatic. "Yeh can touch him now! Pat his beak, go on!"

Hesitantly, Harry reached out and patted the hippogriff's beak. Not a second later, Buckbeak had closed his eyes, obviously enjoying the attention.

A great sense of excitement and wonder bloomed inside Tristan's chest while he watched his friend climb onto Buckbeak's back, and then take off with it. He could tell Harry wasn't quite as sure as Hagrid about the whole thing, but he held on impressively as they flew around the paddock once before landing back on the ground.

Everyone broke into applause. All but Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. Those three were looking rather disappointed the hippogriff hadn't attacked Harry.

"Good work, Harry!" Hagrid roared over the loud cheering of the class. "Okay, who else wants to go?"

"No need to ask me twice!"

Hagrid had barely loosened the restraints on the other hippogriffs and Tristan was already bolting over the fence to find the bronze hippogriff that had locked eyes with him before. He bowed. The hippogriff bowed back and trotted over to nudge him lightly in the head with a friendly noise.

"Such a good girl," Tristan crooned lovingly, feeling the softness of her feathers under his fingers as he stroked her neck.

Hermione came up to his side. "How do you know it's a girl?"

"She told me. Her name's Bronzequill. C'mere—" He grabbed Hermione's hand and placed it on the hippogriff's beak. Her eyes widened with wonder.

"You can talk to them?" she asked excitedly, brushing her fingers down the hippogriff's beak. "Like you did with Fluffy?"

Fluffy was the three-headed dog that was guarding the sorcerer's stone during their first year in Hogwarts. When they decided to sneak past the dangerous dog so they could find the stone and protect it themselves, Harry, Ron and Hermione had screamed their heads off until they realised Tristan was petting the large beast as though it was a harmless little puppy.

"Sort of," Tristan said. "It's different, but yeah, more or less like Fluffy. Oh look, she likes you..."

Bronzequill had started to nip affectionately at Hermione's hair.

A sudden angry caw followed by a shriek had Tristan and Hermione nearly jumping out of their skin. Everyone was running to the side of the paddock. They followed the commotion, found Malfoy lying on the ground, clutching at a bloodied arm and whimpering hysterically.

"I'm dying! I'm dying, look at me! It's killed me!"

"Yer not dyin'!" Pale and frantic, Hagrid wrestled Buckbeak back in his collar. "Someone help me...! Gotta get him outta here!"

Hermione rushed ahead to hold open the gate while Hagrid picked Malfoy and hurried up the slope toward the castle as fast as his massive legs could carry them. The whole class went after them. Tristan hung back, figuring someone should probably round up the hippogriffs before they decided to take off on their own.

The rest of Nora's day went by uneventfully. Seventh years were only required to sit through classes according to NEWT's they decided to take and as such they had several free periods in order to study and practice. Other than Defence Against the Dark Arts, she'd decided to take Herbology, Care for Magical Creatures, Potions, Charms and Transfiguration. It was heavy workload, considering she would have to study the entire curriculum from first to last year for each class. She'd wanted to take Ancient Runes as well, if only because it was taught by Professor Babbling who she thought was brilliant, but in the end decided against the idea. Five NEWT's were enough challenge.

Liam was in all of Nora's classes, whereas Emma, not overly fond of scary-looking beasts, had chosen not to pursue Care of Magical Creatures and had dropped Potions due to her lack of talent for potion-making. Unlike them, Julia had a much lighter coursework as she wasn't very concerned about which NEWT's to take or even her grades since she planned on playing professionally after graduating.

Last period over, the four of them met up on the way to the Great Hall. Nora was starving, her belly wouldn't stop growling viciously.

She was in the middle of trying to decide what she was going to eat at the feast when she heard someone call out her name. Turning around, she found her brother and company sprinting down the corridor, all looking awfully distraught.

"What's the matter?"

"M-Malfoy…" Tristan paused to catch his breath. "Malfoy was attacked by a hippogriff in Hagrid's class this afternoon!"

"What?!" Nora and her friends all exclaimed at the same time.

Hermione, Harry and Ron nodded their heads furiously.

"What do you mean Malfoy was attacked?" Nora frowned. "Hippogriffs don't simply decide to attack people for no reason, they're very noble and friendly creatures. He had to have done something to make him angry."

Harry made a face. "He called him an ugly brute."

"Oh of course he did." Nora clicked her tongue in annoyance. She should've guessed. Hippogriffs were incredibly picky about etiquette and good manners. They wouldn't let anyone by them without a proper greeting, nevermind if someone insulted them to their faces. Malfoy was lucky to still be breathing.

"Serves the prick well if you ask me," Liam muttered not so inconspicuously. Nora swatted him in the arm when Tristan snickered. "What? You don't think so?"

She rolled her eyes. "How bad's the injury?"

"Dunno," Tristan said dismally. "Hagrid took him to the hospital wing straight away."

"I don't think it was that bad…" Hermione trailed off uncertainly.

"There was a lot of blood, though," Ron added with a frown.

"And on the first day too…" Julia sighed, shaking her head. "Poor Hagrid, he must be taking it pretty hard."

"With good reason," said Emma. "It doesn't look good, does it? I mean, one of his younger students attacked by a dangerous beast on his watch? The Ministry's going to have a field day once they get word of this."

"A hippogriff is not a dangerous beast." Nora couldn't stand when animals were blamed for the wrongdoings of humans. "Hagrid is a skilled handler of magical creatures, it's not his fault some students don't listen. He shouldn't be punished for their stupidity."

"That's not how the Ministry will see it, is it?" Emma tossed back, not unkindly, but more like she was stating a fact.

Hermione was twisting her hands nervously. "You don't think they would fire him, do you?"

The question gave Nora some pause. Although she knew Dumbledore wouldn't fire Hagrid, there was no telling what might happen if Malfoy's father got involved.

"Don't worry, love," she told Hermione, wrapping an arm around her shoulders to comfort her. "I'm sure everything will work out for the best."

"We were thinking of checking on him later. Wanna come?" Tristan asked hopefully, pleading blue eyes sparkling like sapphires.

Nora chuckled and ruffled his hair. "All right. After the feast, then."

They talked for a bit longer before following the crowd of students into the Great Hall.

Right after Nora had sat down, a shadow fell over her plate and she found Percy staring down at her from his nose. Percy had a long, slim face, splattered with freckles. His ears were slightly too big and his eyes a tad too close. He wasn't handsome, though he wasn't ugly either. For the most part he was a plain-looking young man who carried himself far too arrogantly and far too pretentiously, always puffing his chest out to better show off his golden badge.

"I trust you're feeling better, Cavanaugh," he said, all business-like. "Will you be doing your rounds tonight?"

"I am, Percy, thank you." Nora smiled placidly. "And yes, I'll be doing my rounds."

"Excellent. I actually have a few things to go over with you, but perhaps it's best we talk during the next Prefects meeting." He eyed the twins as though they were spies and he was about to disclose an important state secret.

Nora swallowed a laugh. "Can't wait," she told him.

When he was gone, Emma made an annoyed noise through her nose. "Merlin, he must think himself the king of England now, mustn't he? Cocky knob. Dunno how you manage to put up with him."

Nora shrugged as she began to load her plate. "He's not so bad."

"No reason to play nice when it's just us," Liam said, elbowing her playfully. "He's insufferable, admit it."

"You're insufferable," she teased through a mouthful of roasted potatoes.

He gasped dramatically, hand flying to his heart, "How dare you after I, so gallantly, offered to do your rounds for you yesterday."

"No one asked you to, did they?"

"Ungrateful wench."

"Smug scoundrel."

Emma laughed loudly, "Where do you two come up with these insults?"

Later that evening, after everyone had retired to their respective common rooms, Nora parted with the twins and met up with Tristan and the others at the bottom of the staircase so they could all head out.

It was such a familiar setting, she had to smile. Ever since Tristan started hanging out with Harry, sneaking around after hours and breaking school rules had become a fixture in her life as she tried her best to help them out whenever they came to her. More than once Ron had declared her an honorary member of the group. She was extremely flattered by it.

When they got to Hagrid's small hut, they knocked and waited.

"C'min!"

Hagrid was sitting at the scrubbed wooden table with Fang's head on his lap. Nora could tell he'd been drinking by the strong stench of alcohol in the room. He had a pewter tankard as big as a bucket set in front of him. His eyes were glazed and red-rimmed when he faced them.

"'Spect it's a record," he drawled thickly. "Don' reckon they've ever had a teacher who lasted only a day before."

"Come now, Hagrid, no one's fired you yet," Nora said gently, grabbing the tankard and going to empty it in the sink before he could have any more.

"No, not yet," Hagrid wailed miserably, clenching and unclenching his meaty hands over the table in sheer helplessness. "But's only a matter o' time, innit, after Malfoy…"

One unspoken look passed between Tristan, Harry, Ron and Hermione, and they all gathered around the weeping giant. Nora stood behind her brother's chair, leaning against the counter, arms crossed over her chest.

"How is he? It wasn't serious, was it?" Ron prompted gently.

Hagrid sniffed a little. "Madam Pomfrey fixed him best she could, but he's sayin' it's still agony… covered in bandages… moanin'…"

Tristan and Harry scoffed in unison.

"He's faking it," said Harry. "Madam Pomfrey can mend anything. She regrew half my bones last year. Trust Malfoy to milk it all it's worth."

"Yeah," Tristan nodded. "That git just loves attention!"

"School gov'nors have bin told o' course," Hagrid continued as though he hadn't heard either of them. "They reckon I started too big. Shoulda left hippogriffs fer later… done flobberworms or summat… Jus' thought it'd make a good first lesson… is all my fault…"

Nora tried to reason with him, "Nonsense, Hagrid. It was one stroke of bad luck, happens to the best. And besides didn't you tell everyone to be polite? Didn't you warn them how dangerous it would be to insult a hippogriff? If Malfoy chose to ignore your warnings, he must face the consequences."

Hermione was nodding her head fervently. "That's right, Hagrid, you did everything an experienced teacher would do! It was just bad luck!"

"We're all witnesses, we'll tell Dumbledore what really happened," Harry added just as eagerly.

Ron smiled in a valorous attempt to comfort the giant. "We'll back you, Hagrid. Don't worry!"

Tears had started leaking from Hagrid's eyes. Nora could see that he was deeply moved by their unconditional support. She wrapped her arms around his neck, simling softly as he responded by leaning his large head against her shoulder.

"Don't despair, Hagrid. You're not alone. We're all here for you, better or worse." He nodded with another sniffle. After another minute, she pulled away and patted him on his back. "Now, why don't you go and wash your face? Cold water will sober you right up."

Hagrid took Nora's advice to heart. Rather unsteadily, he hefted himself off his chair and staggered outside. Seconds later they heard a splash.

Harry glanced at the door worriedly. "Think he'll be fine?"

"I'm sure he will," Nora told him, dropping a kiss on the crown of his head that turned his cheeks pink.

Hagrid's hair and scruffy beard were dripping wet when he returned. He wiped water from his eyes, shaking his head like a dog and splashing them in the process.

"That's better. Listen, it was good of yeh ter come an' see me, I really—" He cut himself off abruptly, staring at Harry as though only now realising he was there. "WHAT D'YEH THINK YOU'RE DOIN', EH? YEH'RE NOT TO GO WANDERIN' AROUND AFTER DARK, HARRY!"

His thunderous voice seemed to shake the foundations of the small hut. They all jumped with the scare. Harry's eyes were wide as saucers, and even Nora shrunk a little when Hagrid's furious gaze fell on her next.

"AN' YEH, NORA...! YEH'RE THE HEAD GIRL! YEH SHOULD KNOW BETTER! TAKE THEM BACK RIGH' NOW, LASSIE!"

"At least I didn't let them come alone," Nora rebutted after the initial shock had passed. "Come along, you lot. Let's head back."

"AN' DON' LET ME CATCH YEH OUT AT NIGHT AGAIN!" Hagrid thundered out after them.

They only slowed down once they were finally in the courtyard. The night was crisp and cold so they slipped inside the castle and sought shelter under a warm torch.

Nora shook her head, still trying to make sense of Hagrid's outburst. "What in Merlin's name was that about? Since when does he care what time we stop by for a visit?" There was a suspicious pause, during which she caught Tristan's enigmatic look toward Harry. She squinted her eyes. "Spill, Tristan Alexander. And you too, Harry — right now."

"Well…" Harry rubbed the back of his neck, shuffling his feet. "Seems Sirius Black escaped Azkaban to come after me. I found out just before we left London."

"Sirius Black?" Nora echoed, voice rising an octave. She pinched the bridge of her nose, letting out a long, exasperated breath. "Honestly, why am I even surprised? Never a dull year with you, Harry." He had the decency to look sheepish. "Is that why the Ministry sent all these dementors? To protect you because they're certain he's coming here?"

"I suppose..."

She breathed out again. "Great. Then Hagrid was right, you shouldn't be wandering around after hours. It's far too dangerous."

"But you were with us the whole time," Tristan observed.

"I'm sure you could've handled Black if he'd shown up," said Ron with much conviction.

Nora was both touched and amused by their blind faith in her. "That's all very flattering, but I'm not entirely sure I'd like to take the chance and find out. You should all try to stay indoors after dark from now on. And, most importantly, do not go looking for trouble."

"We never go looking for trouble," Harry replied quickly.

"Evidence would argue otherwise," Nora teased.

"You're right," said Hermione, ever the most coolheaded and rational of the group. "I promise we'll be careful. We don't want anything to happen to Harry either."

"I'm holding you to that."

Tristan groaned in rather typical fashion, "Don't get all grown up on us now! You're supposed to be part of the group, remember? It's too late to back out at this point, you're far too deep in already."

Nora could only blurt a laugh because the little devil did have a point. Maybe there was a bit of Gryffindor inside of her too.

To ensure they went straight to Gryffindor Tower without any deviations, Nora escorted them all the way back, knowing by heart which hallways and which passages to take to avoid crossing paths with Filch or any of the teachers on patrol duty. No amount of pleading or whining would save them from at least a week's detention if any of them got caught out of bed so late. Head Girl or not.

It was almost midnight when she finished her rounds and fell into bed. Exhaustion weighted heavily on her mind and body, but as much as she needed sleep, she was terrified of closing her eyes. She knew all too well what awaited her once she did. Flashes of green light and blood-curling screams... Horrible things she was better off not remembering.

After tossing and turning for the better part of an hour, Nora finally gave up. She sat up against the headboard and looked over to the bed on her left hoping Emma might be awake. No such luck; she was out like a light, as were her other roommates. Not even Ophelia seemed to be around.

A glass of milk might help sooth the spirit, Nora decided. She threw on a robe over her nightgown and slipped out of the room.

The castle had grown darker. Most torches were out and the clouds hid the moon, shielding its light. Again, her knowledge of the castle proved an asset as she easily found her way to the entrance to the kitchens. It was just beneath the Great Hall, in a basement-like corridor decorated with food-themed paintings. The largest of them depicted an ostentatious fruit bowl. She tickled the pear on the painting and it released a giggle, morphing into a large green doorknob.

The kitchens were behind the painting. Much like the Great Hall, it was a greatly spacious area with a high ceiling and stone-flagged floors. Walls were covered with countless pots and pans, all shiny and immaculate. There was a large brick fireplace and set in front of it four long wooden tables. Usually, over a hundred house-elves could be found bustling around the room, cooking, cleaning or scrubbing pots and plates, however they had all retired for the evening. Nora expected this already since she was used to stopping by in the middle of the night. What she didn't expect was someone else to have had the same idea as her.

Sitting at the table closest to the fireplace, Professor Lupin was staring at a steaming mug cradled between his hands, a tired, pensive frown on his face. His head came up when she walked in and he immediately spotted her, frozen in the doorway. His frown eased into an amused smile.

"We seem to keep bumping into each other, Miss Cavanaugh."

Nora managed a nervous laugh. Hesitantly, she ventured closer to him and the fire, rubbing her arms to create heat. Lupin gestured as if to say "please sit", so she pulled out the chair in front of him and took a seat. Whatever he was drinking smelled something heaven, it made her mouth water.

Feeling slightly awkward and on the spot, she cleared her throat, "I hope you won't report me for being out of bed so late."

"Don't worry, your secret's quite safe with me." His voice held a hint of playfulness. "Trouble sleeping?"

"Something like that," was Nora's vague answer. "What about you, professor?"

"My first night in a strange room's always complicated, takes me a while to get used to." He drummed his fingers on the side of his mug. "Hot chocolate helps me sleep better. There's plenty left, would you like me to pour some for you?"

She didn't even think twice. "Yes, please!"

Lupin waved his hand toward the counter. At once, one of the top cabinets opened and out came another mug, then filled by the lone pot sitting on the stove before flying over to Nora, who was very impressed by the whole display of wandless non-verbal magic. She brought the mug for a sip, closing her eyes when thick, rich liquid met her tongue. She loved hot chocolate.

"I may not be much of a cook, but I do make a great cup of hot chocolate."

Nora hid a smile behind her mug. "Could that be because you've had a lot of practice making it for yourself?"

"I confess nothing," he quipped good-naturedly. "How's your brother? I heard there was an accident in his class earlier. I hope he wasn't hurt."

"He's fine, it was Malfoy who got hurt, though I'm not too worried about him to be honest. Malfoy has a bit of a theatrical streak." She couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes. Just thinking about Malfoy annoyed her. "Hagrid's the real worry. He might be taking the blame for something he shouldn't have to."

Professor Lupin hummed in agreement, "That is worrisome... I'm afraid the Malfoys aren't very reasonable people."

"Have you met them?"

"Our paths have crossed on a few occasions." Not pleasant ones, Nora thought when his face darkened grimly. Shaking his head, he finished his beverage and set aside the empty mug. "But I'm sure Hagrid will be fine. Professor Dumbledore wouldn't let anything happen to such a loyal and dedicated member of this school."

She sighed tiredly, "I hope so..."

Lupin studied her for a moment, eyes flickering back and forth across her face in a way that made her stomach twist anxiously. "You look very familiar, Miss Cavanaugh."

"Oh." She tucked a curl shyly behind her ear. "Well, maybe I remind you of someone."

There were times when Nora thought he looked a bit familiar too, like this morning in class, but she would've remembered if they'd met before. There's no way she could've forgotten someone like him.

They chatted for a little longer while she finished her hot chocolate and afterwards Professor Lupin insisted on walking her back to the Ravenclaw common room. The trip was quiet as even their footsteps sounded twice as loud in the dead of silence and they didn't want to rouse any of the sleeping portraits. Still, it felt comfortable, peaceful. At the door, he wished her goodnight with one of his charming smiles. She waited until he disappeared around the corner before going back in.

That night, when Nora finally closed her eyes and slept, instead of nightmares she dreamed only of hot chocolate and profound green eyes.