IN RUINS- James Potter

chapter sixty five

"Well alright, I'll see you around." She said, walking back to McKinnon and Evans. Nora didn't respond, James catching up to her as the entered the castle now, uncertain if they were going to go their own way now until dinner.

Nora turned to James after walking in a corridor, close to the moving stairs for him, her walk now going to be longer back to the common room.

James rested his hand on her cheek, forcing her to look at him, concern written all over his face. "You know I would do anything for you Nora." He reminded her, a soft smile appearing on her lips before she nodded. James gave a half hearted smile, worried for her as he kissed her cheek, knowing she wasn't in the mood for an actual kiss.

"You will always matter in this world, not as a Slytherin, not as a black, or a Pureblood, but as Nora, the feisty little girl." He teased, his hand slowly letting go of her cheek, letting her hand alone in the hallway.

Sighing deeply, Nora walked to the direction of where the common room, hoping to not see a lot of people, her heart feeling tight enough to suffocate and make her collapse. She hated how she was stringing people along to make them see her pain, subconsciously feeling the way she wanted to and hoping nobody would judge her for it.

James would never though, that's what she hoped.

Being lucky enough to not get bullied from someone, the girl tried to ignore the looks some gave her, mostly the girls that would typically whisper behind her back and laugh. It was always the blonde ones to do so as well.

The walls seemed darker, her goblins seemed meaner, a disappointment look growing on her face as she walked into the common room, silence everywhere. For once she craved the organized chaos that would happen, yearning for a first year to be yelling at Severus about something while Evan laughs at it.

None of it.

Her first thought was to check on the boys, noticing none of them were downstairs, making her way up their dorm stairs, first finding her brother and Evan, making sure they were okay.

It goes without saying that boys are messier than girls, but based on her dorm compared to her brothers, that's wrong. The door was already slightly opened, 3 boys laying on their beds, one snoring and the two silent.

Looking over to Barty crouch looking towards the door and giving a small smile to Nora, she gave a sincere nod to the lad, Evans head off the bed as he snores, regulus staring at a picture frame on his bed.

"Regulus, they're serving lunch if you want to come with me." Nora softly spoke, fibbing a little about lunch. The boy turned, his eyes were sadder than usual, Nora saw a moving photo of her and him, outside their house together when they were younger, Nora carrying him on her shoulders.

A photo Narcissa must've taken, loving her camera and always taking photos when nobody is looking. Nora had the same one at home on her dresser, wondering why he kept that one at Hogwarts.

"Where'd you go?" He asked her, noticing her jacket on. Reaching into her pockets, James getting Nora a few things, throwing a piece of candy on his bed with a crooked smile. "Hogsmeade, figured you needed some chocolate, I have some for you too Crouch, if you want?" Nora panned over to the lad, forgetting he was also in the room.

Nora didn't let Barty answer, throwing him a piece anyways. "Nora are you not at all effected by what they're saying about us?" Regulus asked, sitting up in his bed now. His hair was messy, eyes dark and droopy, it was like looking at herself, not getting any sleep the past few days. Sure she seemed fine, but she felt how regulus looked.

It scared her a little.

Sighing and walking over to her brother, regulus made room for her to sit down, admiring how comfortable his bed seemed, a little jealous. Nora took one good look at her brother, wishing they were still younger as she began to speak.