➥COMPLETED
Nova Black hadn't thought she would ever set a toe behind those thick castle walls she had fought to forget about during the past thirteen years, but here she was at Plattform 9¾, staring at the scarlet train in front of her with wobbly k...
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"NOVA! HOW are you doing?", asked Charity Burbage, catching up with Nova halfway through the corridor on second floor. "Haven't seen you in a while."
"Well, I was at the library, you know?", Nova chuckled. "That's what librarians do."
"I just know that you haven't been at breakfast or dinner or lunch in weeks", said Charity, lifting an eyebrow, as she threw a side glance at Nova. "Do you even eat?"
"I'm usually done with breakfast, before any soul in this castle is awake, and I usually skip lunch and have late night dinner."
"I see ..." Charity didn't sound satisfied with this answer at all. "Aurora and I wanted to ask you to join us in the Three Broomsticks the upcoming weekend. It's the last one before Christmas, maybe we could go shopping for last minute gifts."
"Oh ... Oh Charity, I ..." Nova's eyes grew wide, as her cheeks heated with a blush. "I'm not that much into Hogsmeade, to be honest ..."
Charity tilted her head, having her blonde curls bouncing, as she pursed her lips.
"Nova, you might be unaware of it, but you're no longer a student", said Charity. "I know you had a rough time at Hogwarts back then, but I promise you that Aurora and I will make sure that nothing like that or anything bad will happen to you when you're with us. You know, it's not good to get stuck in your past."
"A rough time, yeah", Nova muttered absentmindedly, rubbing her neck under her high ponytail. "I don't think you know —"
"No I don't", the blonde woman replied, and a smile softened her already friendly features even more. "We don't. Don't worry, we won't ask about anything of it. Aurora and I just want you to have a good time."
Still Nova didn't fully disagree, but nevertheless, she found herself sitting in a crowded and noisy pub on Saturday, as the daylight outside the windows slowly died, being replaced by the wonderful view of a village all dressed in shiny Christmas lights — and Nova herself was in the best mood she had had in years.
Aurora Sinistra and Charity Burbage were a pleasant company to have around, and it was ridiculously easy to let the past rest for a while, as her lips vibrated with laughter and her brain got comfortably dizzy from a row of shots she poured with her colleagues.
Looking around, she found some familiar faces in the pub, like the Professors McGonagall, Flitwick and Hagrid with no one else but the Minister of Magic himself in front of a large and sparkling Christmas tree. She didn't pay much attention to them, though, as her eyes caught the scarred and tired face of Remus Lupin in company of the Arithmancy teacher, the young Professor Vector, with her pale face framed with dark curls, and her bright blue eyes glued to Remus lips.
"He for sure sticks with a certain kind of woman", Aurora snickered, pouring another shot of Firewhiskey, as she followed Nova's gaze. "A shame that he's not much into the sinister type of woman."
"What do you mean?", Nova asked, quickly looking away as she noticed the movement of Remus eyes towards her.
"She doesn't mean a thing", giggled Charity, shaking her head in amusement. "It's drunk Aurora speaking, you shouldn't listen to her."
"Ah, but c'mon, the two of you", said Aurora, placing the glass back on the table. "You can't tell that he's an upgrade to our school, isn't he? Not a slimy popinjay like Lockhart had been — bless his damaged brain — but he's, you know, a man. We don't have that much of his sort cross our paths in the corridors."
"Sad, but true", Charity retorted with a shrug and a smile. "Severus isn't really the type of sunny boy that catches my eye."
"Snape catches nothing but the souls of his victims", Nova snorted, scrunching her nose.
"Don't be mean, he is —"
"Charity, do us all a favour and do not try to find excuses for Snape's behaviour", said Nova. "Whatever has happened in his past, he's a grown man now, and letting his anger out on innocent children is not an acceptable coping mechanism."
"You really don't like him, I see?", the Muggle Studies teacher assumed. "But the way you look at our newest staff member is telling me that your taste in men isn't something that Severus could compete to." She wriggled her eyebrows, and as Nova threw a help seeking glance at Aurora, she found nothing but amusement in the Astronomy teacher's eyes, while she nibbled on the straw of her drink.
When Nova returned to her room late that evening, her head felt pleasantly dull, and so she didn't much bother herself with a certain potion, or even getting much undressed. Getting rid of her coat and gloves, she kicked off her shoes and fell onto the mattress, closing her eyes, while her thoughts returned to the talk she had with her two colleagues down in the village.
For one thing they for sure were right: Remus indeed was a handsome, and his scars didn't do no harm to it. Indeed, they graced him with this mysterious aura of a man that knew how to deal with danger. A sexy trait, as Nova's tired mind, more asleep than awake, admitted.
Close to drifting away, Nova heard a faint knock on the door and her lashes fluttered as her eyes opened, already fully used to the darkness surrounding her. Getting out of bed, a dizziness accompanied her on her way through the room, feeling as if she was caught in free falling, when she stumbled forward and her fingers enveloped the doorknob, instantly steadying herself, as she hushed in a babbling voice, "Who is it?"
There was no answer, and Nova started to consider that her drunken mind had played tricks on her. Inhaling a breath, she was about to turn around and return to her bed, when another knock, a louder one, bursted into the nightly silence, and Nova froze on spot.
"Who is it?", she again asked, but she didn't really expect an answer this time.
Should she open? If it was Sirius, he wouldn't have knocked. Her brother wasn't known for his patience. Blowing up streets and stabbing paintings to a point close to beyond repair ... That was his way to handle things. No, if Sirius would have found his way into the castle again, he wouldn't knock on Nova's door, but blast it open and kill her without hesitation.
That didn't mean, though, that opening the door was a good idea anyway. But having a little glimpse wouldn't harm anyone, would it?
Carefully, Nova turned the doorknob, until she heard that soft click. Slowly she opened it inch by inch, until the gap between the door and the frame was large enough to have a glimpse on the cuss outside.
Unfortunately, there was no one to be seen.
Nova quickly pushed it shut and locked it again, exhaling a breath she hadn't noticed she had held in her lungs. Maybe she indeed had a shot too much today. It was really time to get some rest, and Nova fumbled on the scarf still around her neck, as she turned around to return to bed.
Almost did she scream, if it wasn't for a firm hand to clutch over her mouth, being faced with a stranger that turned out to be not even a tiny bit new to her at all.
