— "NICOLE?"
The girl turned around, her face turning red at the sight of Cedric Diggory. She wanted to punch herself for this— he was clearly head over heels for her sister and it seemed like she liked him too, but no matter how much she tried she couldn't get rid of her crush on him.
"Looking for Aurora, I suppose?" Nicole questioned, shutting her potions book.
Cedric smiled, beaming at the girl. "Yes, actually! She said she was going to meet me at lunchtime, but I haven't seen her yet. Since you're her sister, I thought that you might have an idea where—"
"Behind you." the smile on Nicole's face was awfully big; and it looked quite peculiar on her.
Ron and Harry who were at the end of the table looked confused.
Aurora, who Nicole often saw in a scowl; was now smiling happily. It was as if her personality did a whole 180.
"Hi, Nic. Still trying to pass potions?"
Well, maybe not a whole 180. Still, Aurora changed ever since she appeared at the quidditch game wearing a scarlet shirt. It seemed like Cedric was a goon influence on her, and that's what pained Nicole so much. Having a crush on him was just... wrong.
"Yeah, Cedric was looking for you." taking her books and shoving them into her bag in a rush, Nicole quickly left the table to go somewhere else— anywhere else but there.
Aurora found this quite skeptical, but decided that there wasn't really anything she could do about whatever problem she was having. The girl chose to go with Cedric to the courtyard instead.
"Mate, do you think you should go after her? She seems a little upset." Ron stated, watching the short girl go out the great hall.
Harry shook his head. "We should probably just let her be."
—
"Broaden your minds. You must look beyond. The art of crystal gazing is in the clearing of the Inner Eye.Only then can you see."
Nicole sighed, trowing her book away. Trewlany didn't seem to notice, as she was rather focused on Harry, Hermoine, and Ron's table.
Today's lesson was crystal balls. They were supposed to be see the beyond in them, but all Aurora could see and hear was Nicole moaning and groaning infront of her.
"Nicole, focus." Aurora hissed, still wanting to ace the class. "Do you see anything?"
"All I see is a hoard of smoke." Nicole deadpanned, stretching her legs and yawning loudly. Dean Thomas laughed at this, and Aurora decided to just give up since Nicole was right. Divination was a load of rubbish.
"Oh, do you mind me trying?" Hermoine said from the other table. Nicole scrunched her eyes and looked over to her friend. She has been complaining thousandths of times about how she didn't like divination, and this definitely interested her.
"The Grim, possibly." Hermoine continued. Trewlany's mouth dropped open.
"My dear, from the first moment you stepped foot in my class... I sensed that you did not possess the proper spirit... for the noble art of Divination."
Aurora couldn't help but giggle.
"No, you see, there. You may be young in years, but the heart that beats beneath your bosom is as shriveled as an old maid's, your soul as dry as the pages of the books... to which you so desperately cleave."
This must have annoyed Hermoine, as she stood up and knocked the crystal ball over their table. The whole class was silent— Hermoine had never done something like that before.
"Have I said something?" Professor Trewlaney said innocently.
—
A few weeks passed by after that. Their final examinations came up, and Nicole had managed to nail Charms, Transfiguration, DADA, and got an okay grade at the rest of the subjects. She was just thankful that she didn't fail anything unlike the year before.
Aurora aced everything with flying colors, except for Divination and DADA.
It was a Saturday morning, and the tension between the golden quartet was high. They had known that this day was coming for weeks, but they were still terrified as if they only knew it now. Buckbeak was going to be killed.
"I can't believe they're going to kill Buckbeak. It's just too horrible." Hermoine started, breaking the silence.
"It just got worse." Ron mumbled. They all looked to where Ron was pointing, and there stood Draco, Aurora, and his goons. They were standing behind a rock, and Aurora seemed to look furious.
"I don't care, Aurora!" Draco said, shoving the girl away. Nicole gasped, wanting to do nothing except throw him over the Astronomy tower. "Now I'll tell you. Father said... I can keep the hippogriff's head.
I think I'll donate it to the Gryffindors' room. This is going to be rich."
They must have noticed that the Gryffindors were standing, since the boys smirked and looked up at them. "Look who's here. Come to see the show?"
Hermoine stormed down the steps and took her wand.
"You! You foul, loathsome, evil little cockroach!" she yelled, pointing her wand at his throat.
Aurora, who disliked Hermoine the most out of Nicole's friends looked at the girl proudly.
"Go, Hermoine." Aurora encouraged her. Mafloy shot her a glare; looking at the girl in disbelief. "You're really going to let her do this to me, Aurora?"
"You just shoved me into a rock." Aurora deadpanned. "Hermoine, punch him."
"Hermione, no!" Ron whispered. "He's not worth it."
She kept his wand on his throat, and Draco kept on whimpering like a baby.
After a few seconds of thinking, Hermoine pulled her wand away from him. The blonde started to laugh, which must have set Hermoine off because she turned around and gave him a really strong punch.
"YES, HERMOINE! YES!"
"Malfoy, are you okay?" Crabble asked. The minute Draco was up he started to run towards the castle while he held his now bleeding nose in absolute pain.
"That felt good." she smiled.
"Not good, brilliant!" Ron exclaimed, looking at the girl in awe.
"Are you coming down to Hagrid with us, Aurora?" Harry asked. He thought that it was only right to invite her— she's been working on his case a lot harder than they have been.
"I was on my way, actually." Aurora stated, walking down to the hut with the Gryffindors behind her. The incident with Draco cost them some time, which made them hurry a bit.
When they got to Hagrid's, they went inside the hut where the giant poured them some tea and offered some food. Aurora and Nicole both drank some tea, while the rest declined. They were too upset to eat.
"Look at him." Hagrid said from the window. "Loves the smell of the trees when the wind blows through them."
"Why don't we just set him free?" Harry suggested.
"They'd know it was me, and then Dumbledore... would get into trouble. He's coming down, you know? Dumbledore.
Says he wants to be with me when they..." Hagrid paused. "When it happens. Great man, Dumbledore." he turned from the window. "A great man!"
"We'll stay with you too, Hagrid." Aurora offered.
"You'll do no such thing! Think I want you seeing something like that? No. You just drink your tea and be off. Oh. Before you do, Ron—"
Hagrid walked over to a small container and took of the lid. He took something out and turned around, revealing a small rat in his giant hands.
"Scabbers!" Ron exclaimed breathlessly. "You're alive!"
"Keep a closer eye on your pets, Ron." Hagrid reminded.
"I think that means you owe someone an apology." Hermoine mused.
"Right." Ron pretended to think. "Next time I see Crookshanks, I'll let him know."
"I meant me!"
Aurora took a sip of her tea, whispering into her sister's ear. "Are they always like this?" she whispered.
"Yes. Unfortunately." Nicole replied.
At that moment, a jar on the table that was infront of the twins broke in half. The contents spilled on the table.
Aurora looked at it in shock, and there was a loud plop on her teacup.
"What was that?" Nicole asked cautiously, and Aurora reached into her tea and fished out a small black pebble. Hermoine snatched it from her hand and took a look at it.
While they were wrapped up in observing the rock, Harry was looking out the window. "Hagrid!"
He made his way over. "Oh, crikey."
Nicole pushed her sister away, peeking so she could get a look as well.
In front was Albus Dumbledore, his silver beard gleaming in the dying sun. Next to him trotted Cornelius Fudge. Behind them came the feeble old Committee member and the executioner, Macnair.
"It's late. Nearly dark. You shouldn't be here." Hagrid said quietly. He hurriedly went to fetch a blanket and tossed it over his loud pet in the corner. "Someone sees you outside this time of night, you'll be in trouble. Big trouble. Particularly you, Harry."
Before anyone of them could say anything, there was a knock on the door.
"With yeh in a moment!" Called Hagrid. "Quick. Quick!"
Everyone headed out the back door, but Harry stopped. "Hagrid. It'll be fine. It'll be okay."
"Go on, go on!"
Nicole tugged Harry away by his arm.
Hermione opened the door and looked around the garden. After a second of watching, they raced out the door and behind the large pumpkins.
They tried to listen to what was going on, but they really couldn't.
Hermione suddenly turned around, making Nicole and Aurora turn around simultaneously at the same time. They shout each other a glance, before looking back at Hermoine.
"What?" asked Harry, who now turned around as well.
"I thought I saw..." Hermione trailed off. "Never mind."
"Let's go!" Ron said, hurrying back up the hill.
They started up the sloping lawn toward the castle. The sun was sinking fast now; the sky had turned to a clear, purple-tinged gray, but to the west there was a ruby-red glow.
Ron stopped dead.
"Oh, please, Ron," Hermione began, not wanting to see what would go on.
"It's Scabbers — he won't — stay put —"
Ron was bent over, trying to keep Scabbers in his pocket, but the rat was going berserk; squeaking madly, twisting and flailing, trying to sink his teeth into Ron's hand.
"Scabbers, it's me, you idiot, it's Ron," Ron hissed.
They heard a door open behind them and men's voices.
"Oh, Ron, please let's move, they're going to do it!" Hermione breathed.
"Okay — Scabbers, stay put —"
They walked forward; Aurora, like Nicole, was trying not to listen to the rumble of voices behind them. Ron stopped again.
"I can't hold him — Scabbers, shut up, everyone'll hear us —"
"Ron, I swear. Once this is all over I will kill that thing for real." Nicole threatened, trying to get a glance.
The rat was squealing wildly, but not loudly enough to cover up the sounds drifting from Hagrid's garden. There was a jumble of indistinct male voices, a silence, and then, without warning, the unmistakable swish and thud of an axe.
Nicole placed her hand in her mouth in horror. She looked at the grasslands in shock, not knowing what to do. The girl felt Harry pull an arm around his shoulder; and Nicole let out a shaky sigh and gave him a hug.
She can't believe they killed Buckbeak.
There they stood, still in shock. Suddenly, a Raven flew on Nicole's shoulder. The girl started to squirm, shooing it away. They were having an emotional moment and a bird just suddenly jumps on her, which she found quite annoying.
"Oh, no." Ron exclaimed, dropping his rat to the ground. "He bit me! Scabbers!"
Aurora, who was all alone, looked at him in annoyance. The group had just felt really sad and he ruined the moment.
Ron turned around and started to chase after the rat, and Hermoine started to run after him. Then Harry.
Nicole and Aurora gave each other a look before deciding to run after them. They gained on Harry and Hermoine and had managed to catch up. After a few seconds of running, they had found Ron gasping while Scabbers was on his hand.
Nicole rolled her eyes, taking a few steps towards her friend. "Ron I swear to god I will kill you and that ra—"
Aurora yanked her sister by her sleeve. "You idiot. That's the whomping willow!"
The girl didnt even realize it, and started to take a few steps back. "Oh no.... oh no."
"That's not good..." Harry mumbled to himself, staring at the boy in fear. "Ron, run!"
Ron looked up and a sudden look of fear was plastered on his face. The readhead was shaking, but he managed to warn his friends first. "YOU FOUR! RUN! IT'S THE GRIM!"
Aurora looked behind her to see a giant black dog. Her hand immediately went to her sisters wrist; and she started to back her away.
However, the dog snarled. It growled and leaped over Harry and Hermoine, and landed beside Ron. It then raced right by and grabbed his ankle, pulling him away.
"Ron!" Nicole screamed, running towards her friend. While the trio were desperately trying to catch up on him, Aurora stood in shock, not knowing what to do at the moment.
She then decided to take her wand out, looking at the screaming Gryffindors in fear. "Accio Ron!"
She should've figured that it wouldn't work.
Harry jumped, reaching out to Ron's hand but missed only by a few centimeters.
"Ron! Ron!" Harry yells while Ron's screams started to become softer and softer.
"Damn!" Nicole exclaimed in frustration, helping Harry stand up. They were about to think of a new plan, until a large branch hit them all in the stomach. Hard.
The impact was so big that they had all fallen down several feet away to where Aurora was, and the Slytherin girl looked around frantically, not knowing what to do once again.
"Come on."
"What are you about to—"
Before Aurora could finish her sentence, the trio ran towards the tree in determination.
The girl looked horrified. What was it with Gryffindors and their small heads?
A tree branch came crashing down, and the three narrowly avoided it. But then, a much bigger branch went between them, which separated Hermoine from the two for a moment, but Nicole grabbed her immediately.
Another giant branch came to their direction once again, and Hermoine had instructed them to duck but Harry and Nicole froze; which caused them to get hit by the tree.
Aurora felt helpless watching her sister getting killed by the tree. Still, she only stood and watched. It was as if her whole body blanked out.
Nicole let out a moan of pain, while Harry struggled to find his glasses. The girl then screamed as the biggest branch went crashing down on them, which she narrowly avoided by pushing herself and Harry out of the way.
The girl then handed Harry his glasses, and when she did, a tree branch went into her direction once more. Instead of falling after getting hit, Nicole held on to the branch and started to scream uncontrollably as she felt her face get hit by a bunch of twigs and leaves. She could feel her lips bleeding.
Nicole then had a crazy idea.
She let go of the tree branch and fell to the grass. Nicole couldn't even groan as she jumped into the hole, and ended up in a dark area.
Seconds later, she felt Harry land on top of her, which made her moan in pain.
"Nic, I'm so so sorr—"
Then Hermoine landed on top of Harry, and Nicole felt everything.
"Get off me." she managed to croak out, still hurt from the branches hitting her face, falling into the grass, and now her friends turning her into a sandwich.
"Come on." Harry said, helping Nicole stand up.
After they were sure that everyone was okay, Hermoine spoke. "Where do you suppose this goes?"
"I have a hunch." Harry whispered. "I just hope I'm wrong."
The three of them continued to walk down into the tunnel and into a small corridor.
Soon enough, they were in a creaky old room with furniture lying around. Nicole gulped, realizing where they were.
"This is—"
"— the shrieking shack." Nicole whispered, looking around her. She wasn't one to believe haunted stories, but the ambience freaked her out a lot.
They heard the sound of Ron groaning, and decided to climb up the staircases that led to the sounds. Nicole was extremely nervous at this point, what if the dog somehow teared Ron into pieces?
"Ron!" Nicole exclaimed, running over to her redhead friend who looked terrified. She threw him into a giant hug, but Ron was still shaking.
"Not a dog," Ron moaned. His teeth were gritted with pain. "Harry, it's a trap —"
"What —"
"He's the dog... he's an Animagus."
Ron was staring over Harry's shoulder. Nicole, who still had Ron in a hug looked at the sight with fear.
A mass of filthy, matted hair hung to his elbows. If eyes hadn't been shining out of the deep, dark sockets, he might have been a corpse. The waxy skin was stretched so tightly over the bones of his face, it looked like a skull. His yellow teeth were bared in a grin. It was Sirius Black.
"If you want to kill Harry, you'll have to kill us too!" Ron said fiercely. He tried to stand upright but he fell down because of the pain coming from his foot.
"Lie down," he said quietly to Ron. "You will damage that leg even more."
"Did you hear me?" Ron said weakly, though he was clinging painfully to Nicole to stay upright. "You'll have to kill all four of us!"
"There'll be only one murder here tonight," said Black, and his grin widened.
Nicole held Ron protectively, pushing him behind her.
"Then it will be you!" Harry exclaimed, pushing Hermoine away and tackled Sirus Black to the ground. He slammed the grown man against the wall, and held his wand out at him.
"Are you going to kill me, Harry?" Black taunted.
"Expelliarmus!" Another voice bellowed. Harry's wand shot out of his hand and flew into the air and into Remus Lupin's hand. Behind him was Aurora, who looked frightened at the sight that was infront of her.
Then, the same Raven from minutes ago came flying into the room.
Harry scrambled to his feet, and Nicole pulled him away. Lupin's wand was still pointed at Black, who was lying on the floor with the same smile on his face.
"But then..." Lupin muttered, staring at Black so intently it seemed he was trying to read his mind, "... why hasn't he shown himself before now? Unless" — Lupin's eyes suddenly widened, as though he was seeing something beyond Black, something none of the rest could see, "— unless he was the one... unless you switched... without telling me?"
Very slowly, his sunken gaze never leaving Lupin's face, Black nodded.
"Professor," Harry interrupted loudly, "what's going on —?"
Before he could finish his question, Lupin was lowering his wand, gazing fixed at Black. The Professor walked to Black's side, seized his hand, pulled him to his feet and embraced Black like a brother.
"I DON'T BELIEVE IT!" Hermione screamed.
Lupin let go of Black and turned to her. She had raised herself off the floor and was pointing at Lupin, wild-eyed. "You — you —"
"Hermione —"
"– you and him!"
"Hermione, calm down —"
"I didn't tell anyone!" Hermione shrieked. "I've been covering up for you —"
"Hermione, listen to me, please" Lupin shouted. "I can explain —"
Aurora, who was the one who called Professor Lupin, looked at the sight in fear. She might have had an idea where Hermoine was coming to, but she didn't talk.
"I trusted you," Harry shouted at Lupin, his voice wavering, out of control, "and all the time you've been his friend!"
"You're wrong," said Lupin. "I haven't been Sirius's friend, but I am now — Let me explain..."
"NO!" Hermione screamed. "Harry, don't trust him, he's been helping Black get into the castle, he wants you dead too — he's a —"
Before Hermoine could finish it, Aurora did it for her. "Werewolf."
There was a ringing silence. Aurora seized this as an opportunity to push past the Professor and stand infront of her sister, who was turning red from anger.
"That's why he's been missing classes." Hermoine continued.
"How long have you two known?" Lupin asked, although he seemed incredibly calm.
"Since Professor Snape set the essay."
"Since your boggart was a full moon."
"Well, well, well, Hermione, Aurora." Lupin smiled. "You two really are the brightest witch of your age, I've ever met."
"I'm not," Hermione whispered. "If I'd been a bit brighter, I'd have told everyone what you are!"
"But they already know," said Lupin. "At least, the staff do."
"Dumbledore hired you when he knew you were a werewolf," Ron gasped. "Is he mad?"
"Enough talking!" Sirus shouted. "Let's kill him, Remus."
"YOU ARENT KILLING ANYONE!" Nicole screamed, stepping infront of Harry. Before anyone could say anything, the Raven landed infront of her, and instantly turned into a tall man.
Nicole's eyes paled.
"Dad— what are you doing here?"