— NICOLE DROWNED HERSELF INTO HER STUDIES.
Hermoine was pleasantly surprised the moment she saw Nicole reviewing her potions notes one day. However, it seemed like potions wasn't really her strong suit. Sure, she was okay, but at least she wasn't failing.
Aurora had seemed to be much closer to Cedric Diggory over time, much to Nicole's dismay. She often saw the two of them talking in the courtyard, with Aurora reading a book and him pestering her non stop. Nicole was quite annoyed (her friends noticed her being more snappy than usual, too) and decided to focus more on her potions and care of magical creatures grades and Quidditch.
Soon, it was two weeks before the end of the term. The sky lightened with white lights, and the Hogwarts grounds were covered in snow. Christmas was coming.
Nicole and Aurora had to stay in Hogwarts since their parents were busy training in Ireland. After their talk in the Sytherin common room, Nicole was back to not avoiding Aurora anymore, much to the teachers dismay. They loved the short moment of peace wherein the Hwang twins weren't at each other's throats during classes.
Luckily, Ron, Hermoine and Harry were staying at Hogwarts too. Some of her friends in Ravenclaw decided to stay, and so did the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Nicole had some company, and she managed to make her father send him a firebolt for Christmas.
Aurora had company too. Blaise Zabini, Pansy Parkinson, and Draco Malfoy decided to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas. Cedric Diggory, who was now making her laugh all the time was also in Hogwarts for the holidays.
"You sure this is going to work?" Harry asked nervously. The two of them were in the boys dormitory all alone since the rest were on their way to Hogsmeade. Nicole and Harry decided that they would start their track from there to the village.
"If it doesn't, who cares?" Nicole giggled. "It's not like we'll get expelled for trying to sneak in the village or something."
"Just, stay close to me." Harry stated, fixing his jacket up. Nicole nodded at this while she fixed up her coat one last time, tying the belt tight to her stomach. As she finished, she shot her best friend a thumbs up, this being his sign to prop the invisibility cloak over her head.
The two of them moved skillfully towards the courtyard, and headed out of the castle and into the direction of Hogsmeade. The moment they stepped into the snow, the sight of the Weasley twins building a snowman came into view.
Nicole started to breathe heavily when they looked at each other, smiled, then nodded, then walked towards their direction.
"Harry are you sure the invisibility cloak really makes us invisible?" she whispered really quietly. Before the boy could reply, the twins made a quick move and lifted the two of them up. George was carrying Nicole while Fred carried Harry away.
"Guys, let us go!" Nicole exclaimed, trying to kick herself out of George Weasley's grip. It was no use, he was really buff.
"Clever, you two." Fred says.
"But not clever enough." George added. "Besides, we've got a better way."
"Guys, seriously. Stop. We're trying to get into Hogsmeade." Nicole scolded,
"We know." they retorted and continued to drag them to wherever they planned to.
"Don't worry."
"We'll get you there. We'll show you a quicker way."
"If you pipe down." they said at the same time. Nicole was confused at the two— her and Aurora never finished each other's sentences. She found this trait of theirs quite funny.
"Oh. Bless him." Fred mumbled when Harry accidentally stabbed his toe into a rock.
"Let us go! Come on, guys. Don't..." Harry mumbled, now starting to feel quite annoyed. All he wanted to do was to go to Hogsmeade.
"If you guys don't let us go I will beat your ass—"
"Now, Nicky dear." Fred stated. "No need to get mad."
"Come and join the big boys." they say as they pulled off the invisibility cloak from the pair.
When the invisibility cloak was off them, they were met with Nicole's face that was red in anger. Harry seemed to be annoyed, but oh boy— Nicole was absolutely pissed.
"Before you scream at us Nicky dear.." Fred trailed off, taking something out of his pocket. "We have a present for you two. Share it."
They shoved a blank piece of parchment into Harry's hands. He looks down at the paper, and back up at them confused as hell.
"Merlin knows how much I love your pranks but I will kill the two of you if you guys just dragged away for this piece of—"
"What's this rubbish?" Harry interrupted her with an annoyed look.
The twins laughed. Party because Nicole was getting really riled up and party because Harry was confused.
"What's this rubbish, he says." George smiled.
"That there it's the secret to our success." Fred added, smiling proudly.
"If this is some sort of prank and this thing ends up blowing up on my coat—"
"We can assure you—"
"— it wont blow up—"
"—This time."
"It's a wrench giving it to you believe me." George says.
"But we've decided your needs are greater than ours." Fred said, pointing at the two. Nicole looked confused, why was she included in this? There wasn't a mass murderer around the castle chasing her.
Fred turns to his twins and gestures at the parchment. "George, if you will."
George pulled out his wand and waved it high. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
Nicole watched as red lines and words started to appear in the parchment.
"Messers Moony, Wormtail, Crowsfeet, Padfoot and Prongs... are proud to present the Marauder's Map." The two of them reads the writing at the same time.
"We owe them so much." George said.
Harry unfolded the famIliar sketch. Nicole's eyes widened as she peeked on his shoulder. "Hang on. This is Hogwarts. And that—"
"No." Harry interrupted. "Is that really...?"
"Dumbledore."
"In his study."
"Pacing."
"Does that a lot."
Nicole looks at the map in awe as she saw the names of multiple students and staff of the school listen on the map, moving. She looked back at Fred and George as she realized what it was.
"So you mean this map shows..."
"Everyone." Fred said proudly.
"Everyone?" Harry questioned, still not believing it.
"Everyone."
"Where they are."
"What they're doing."
"Every minute."
"Of every day."
Nicole wished she and Aurora could do that thing too.
"That's amazing!" Nicole exclaimed, no longer angry than she was before.
"Where did you get it?" Harry asks.
"Knicked it from Filch's office, of course. First year." Fred says, as if he was reminiscing the moment.
"Now listen, there are seven secret passageways... out of the castle. We'd recommend—"
"This one." they say in union, pointing to a spot at the map.
"The One-Eyed Witch passageway."
"It'll lead you straight to Honeyduke's seller."
"You best hurry." Fred reminded them. "Filch is heading this way."
"Oh and Harry, Nicky dear, don't forget. When you're done, just give it a tap and say..."
"Mischief managed. Otherwise, anyone can read it." the twins say as they tapped their wands back into the map and it turns into a normal piece of parchment.
"Thanks, you guys." Nicole smiled, not knowing why she was so angry before. Fred smirked, crossing his hands. "We told you Nicky dear, there was no need to be agitated."
Shooting each other a grin, they ran towards the snowman.
"Who's there?" the voice of the caretaker was heard throughout the halls. Harry quickly swung the cloak over him and Nicole, and the girl moved closer towards him due to the two of them being taller than they were in first year.
—
"Are you sure we're here?" Harry whispered to Nicole, who was holding the map. Nicole ignored him, instead moving the tile on top of her so they could see the room that they were in.
"It's Filch." Nicole whispered, dropping the piece of stone, to cover the two of them. When Harry told her that Flinch was gone based off the map, she pushed the tile out of the way completely and climbed out. When she was outside, she looked behind and offered Harry a hand, and he took it and pulled himself up beside her.
Harry then threw the invisibility cloak around their shoulders, in case someone decides to show up.
After following the directions in the map, they went out through the back door in the candy shop. There were thousands of candies around them, but Hermoine and Ron weren't in sight.
As she was trailing her eyes around the shop, Nicole spotted Aurora.
With Cedric Diggory talking to her.
"Come on, Harry." she whispered, waking over to the pair. Aurora put down a pack of what looked like a giant chocolate wand and Nicole quickly snatched it away while she was distracted. The two of them navigated their way outside the shop, not before Harry stole Neville's lolipop.
"Do you reckon Hermione and Ron are in—"
"— the shreking shack. Yeah." Nicole finished. Harry nodded, and the two of them walked a few blocks and were met with Hermoine and Ron standing infront of a fence and overlooking a building.
"It's meant to be the most haunted building in Britain. Did I mention that?" Hermoine asked, looking at the building with curiosity.
"Twice." Ron chuckled.
"Do you want to move a bit closer?" she asks.
"To the Shrieking Shack?" Ron questioned after a moment of surprise. "Actually, I'm fine here."
"Well, well. Look who's here."
Nicole and Harry both simultaneously shot their heads towards the source of the voice. Draco Malfoy was walking over towards the pair with his two goons trailing after him. "You two shopping for your new dream home? Bit grand for you, isn't it, Weasle-Bee? Don't your family sleep in uh... one room?"
Nicole's face turned red with anger. "I'm going to kill him. Please tell me we can kill him, Harry. No one's going to see us." she whispered. The Weasley family were really great company and Nicole didn't like hearing them being insulted like that.
Harry didn't say anything. He was just as mad too.
"Shut your mouth, Malfoy." Ron hissed.
"Uh, Not very friendly. Boys, I think it's time we teach Weasle-Bee how to respect his superiors." Draco grins, fixing his collars while Crabble cracks his knuckles threateningly.
Hermoine chuckles dryly before stepping infront of Ron protectively. "Hope you don't mean yourself!"
"How dare you talk to me!" Malfoy hisses. "You filthy little mudblood!"
That was the last straw for the two of them. Nicole grabbed a rock and threw it at Draco's face, which hit his forehead and caused him to bleed. Harry, who seemed to take a calmer approach, threw a snowball.
"Who is that?" Draco cried, being his overdramatic self. Nicole was about to throw another rock but Harry stopped her and handed a snowball instead. "Don't stand there! Do something!"
"What?" Crabble yells in confusion.
Nicole pulled the hat over his other goon while Harry pulled Crabble's pants down and gave him a hard kick in his arse. The of them stayed close together to make sure none of their body parts would be spotted.
Nicole started to spin the other goon's scarf around, then finishing it off by shoving his face into snow. The two of them then went to Draco, holding a foot each, and dragged him across the snow and into the shack.
The Slytherins ran away and Nicole started to play with Hermoine's hair, while Harry played with Ron's hat.
"You guys." Hermoine laughed. The two of them burst into a fit of laughter as they shrugged the coat off, smiling at their friends.
"Bloody hell you guys. That was not funny." Ron was catching his breath while Hermoine was still giggling.
"But Nicole. Wasn't throwing a rock a bit too much?" Hermoine questioned after they had all stopped laughing. Nicole just shrugged, looking at her friend.
"You heard what he called you, Mione. He deserved it. At it isn't like a bleeding forehead would kill him."
—
Nicole put Harry's scarf that she borrowed around her neck, just enough for her face to be hidden. Harry had his hoodie on. Although the invisibility cloak was a good idea, the two of them couldn't breathe properly whenever they were inside it so they decided to ditch it instead.
"Those weasels! Never told me about any Marauder's Map." Ron said after the pair had explained how they came in. Hermoine, however, was looking worried. "But Harry isn't going to keep it. He's going to turn it over to Professor McGonagall. Aren't you?"
"Sure. Along with his Invisibility Cloak." Ron said sarcastically. Nicole let out a giggle, before they stopped in their tracks.
"Oh, Look who it is. Madam Rosmerta. Ron fancies her." Hermoine joked.
"That's not true!"
Nicole, however, was more concerned at the fact that Professor Mcgonagall, who was sure that they were in the castle, was right infront of them. The girl quickly put Harry's scarf around her face to hide it.
"Professor McGonagall!"
"Cornelius!"
Nicole noticed the minister of magic. He visited their house frequently.
"Allow me, minister. Sorry about that."
"Rosmerta, my dear. I hope business is good." Fudge smiled, while the the woman Ron fancied looked annoyed. "It'd be a lot better if the Ministry wasn't sending dementors... into my pub every other night!"
"We have... We have a killer on the loose!" the minister whispered.
"Sirius Black in Hogsmeade! And what would bring him here?"
The four teenagers who were giggling were now tense. Nicole patted Harry's shoulder as they listened closely to whatever the adults were talking about.
"Harry Potter..."
"Harry Potter?" the lady asks, confused.
"Shh! Come."
Nicole felt her hand being brushed off. Hermoine and Ron turned around to see the boy invisible again, with his footprints walking into the door the minister walked into.
"Harry!" Hermoine exclaimed, following the footsteps. Harry went into the pub and followed the teachers.
The trio were about to follow until the shrunken heads stopped them into the door.
"I say, no underage wizards allowed in today!" It concluded. "Shut the damn door!"
Nicole ignored the heads, walking over to where Harry went up to. However, Mcgonagall almost spotted her which prompted her to go order a butter-beer instead.
"No underage wizards allowed today." the guy at the counter deadpanned before she could even place her order. Nicole was about to say something until two big men took her arms, carried her away, and threw her into the snow.
"Ouch." Nicole mumbled, rubbing her bum. Hermoine and Ron were in a seat together, both staring at their friend in horror. The girl dusted the snow off her coat and walked towards her friends.
"You should have listened, Nicole." Hermoine scolder her as she dusted the snow away. Nicole groaned, her eyes trailing around her. The frown on her face went deeper when she spotted her sister and Cedric Diggory together again.
"Look at him." Ron mumbled annoyedly. "He's having a go at your sister, Nic!"
"That's a little inappropriate." Hermoine mumbled. "He's a fifth year and Aurora is in her third!"
"That's just two years." Nicole said dreamily. She found Cedric really handsome, and sure, she was jealous of Aurora, but she wasn't going to steal him or anything. The girl was sure that her tiny crush on the fifth year would disappear soon and everything would be back to normal. Probably. Hopefully. It still bummed her out that the first boy she found attractive preferred her sister over her.
"Do you think they're about to snog?" Ron whispered, pointing at the two laughing students.
Nicole punched him in the chest.
Once Aurora (who was oblivious to their staring) and Cedric left, they only stayed in silence, waiting for Harry to come out of the pub.
"Look!" Hermoine whispered, pointing to the footprints walking over to the other direction. The group of carolers were knocked down; which made Nicole inhale a breath. That didn't look good.
"Sorry, sorry. Excuse me, excuse me, sorry." Hermoine said, walking past them.
"Merry Christmas!" Nicole exclaimed, taking out 20 galleons and placing them into a pot. They quickly moved past the people and followed the footsteps into the forest.
They looked around anxiously, wondering where Harry ended up.
Then Nicole heard it. Sobbing. Harry was sobbing quietly.
The girl stood; she wasn't good in situations like this. Hermoine and Ron seemed to freeze, which prompted the girl to walk over the footsteps and stopped where it stopped. Infront of a large rock.
Nicole kneeled over and held her hand out, reaching for the cloak. Once she was sure it was really him, she pulled it off and was met with Harry, who's eyes were red.
"Harry, are you okay?" Nicole questioned. She didn't know what to do. "Harry, what happened?"
Harry slowly looked up from the snow, his green eyes meeting her brown ones. "He was their friend... and he betrayed them." he said in disbelief. "He was their friend!"
Nicole didn't know what to say.
"I hope he finds me." Harry started once again. "Because when he does, I'm gonna be ready! When he does, I'm gonna kill him!"