September 16th, 1891: 11:23 AM, Courtyard
Nora scribbled on her scroll as the sun shone upon Hogwarts. The four friends had decided to study outside for the day, since it was so rare that they all had a break at the same time on such a beautiful day.
Well, Nora had decided to study. The other three seemed to be actively avoiding it. Sebastian had a snitch that he continuously tossed into the air, letting it fly a few inches before grabbing it swiftly. She wondered if Sebastian was interested in joining the reinstated Quidditch team. He definitely seemed to enjoy showing off to the people walking by.
Poppy was working with paper, but it wasn't for an assignment. She was folding her parchment into animals, then enchanting them to move around. She had about seven made so far and seemed way too delighted for Nora to stop her. Every time one came to life, she would play with it for about a minute before making a new one.
Ominis was...well Nora wasn't sure what he was doing. He was leaning against the tree with his eyes closed. It was almost as if he was asleep. She thought it was sort of cute the way a few of his hairs dangled from his head. Plus, he looked as if he hadn't slept too well again, and he definitely deserved some rest.
Sebastian apparently disagreed, as he took a spare quill and brushed Ominis' nose with it. Ominis let out an aggravated sigh. "I'm awake, Sebastian."
"Come now, Ominis. We're supposed to be studying."
"Oh, I suspect you've been studying real hard, haven't you?" Ominis said as he opened his eyes.
"Guys, we have an essay due in Hecat's class. She said we're getting some hands-on experience with boggarts next week." Nora pleaded. She found it difficult to focus with the amount of distractions the others were creating. Poppy's animals, Sebastian's snitch, and Ominis being...well that wasn't really his fault, he always distracted Nora.
"Hands-on experience, you say?" Sebastian said, smirking at her. Nora saw Ominis' face contort in disgust. "Sounds like an enjoyable class to me."
"Don't you have a paper to finish about the Elixir to Induce Euphoria to write?" Ominis asked him in an annoyed tone. Sebastian looked at Ominis, then looked back at Nora with a confused face. Nora shrugged, unsure of what to say to remedy the situation.
"You know, for someone who seems so focused on schoolwork, you don't seem to be getting anything done." Sebastian pointed out. He wasn't wrong, as Ominis had spent most of their "study" session relaxing against the tree. Ominis sighed, tilting his head in a different direction.
There was an uncomfortable silence. Nora could almost see the tension between the two Slytherins. Sebastian decided to pick at the grass, grabbing a blade and tying a knot with itself. His mouth was a bit downturned as he stared at the blade he fidgeted with.
Ominis, however, had a cold expression that covered his entire face. Despite the fact that he looked upset, she couldn't help but notice the way the shadow of the leaves covered his face, letting the sun only shine on his milky eyes. She wondered if anyone had ever told him how truly beautiful he was. His side profile seemed as if someone had taken a paintbrush and made quick strokes, allowing for little to no imperfection. She scanned over his lips, which she had practically memorized the look of by this point. They had a subtle cupid's bow shape to them, and they were practically never chapped. And, oh...his eyes. Some might disagree, but Nora found that Ominis' eyes were his most breathtaking feature. She often got stuck looking deep into them, looking for any sort of hint towards what he thought. However, they were simply a fogged window into his mind, veiling it and obscuring his innermost thoughts.
As Nora was about to fall deep into her trance, Ominis abruptly stood up, pulling out his wand. He began to walk towards the castle, running his hand along his hair as he followed wherever his wand was taking him. Nora yearned to follow him, but decided to hang back with Poppy and Sebastian, who seemed just as confused by his sudden departure as she did.
-
9:27 PM, Astronomy Tower
That evening, Nora felt the cool breeze lightly running through her hair as she entered her Astronomy class. She knew to appreciate this gentle wind, as her feelings toward it would change during the winter months.
The astronomy tower had always been one of her favorite places to study. Sure, it was freezing during the winter, but during warm nights Nora found herself gazing into the stars without instruction. Prior to coming to Hogwarts, she hadn't known much about the small sparkles that glittered across the sky. However, she now found herself engrossed in discovering as much as she could about them whenever given the opportunity.
Nora sat down next to Poppy and Sebastian as Professor Shah called out to everyone. "Attention students, tonight we will be observing an extraordinary event. Please partner up with someone and turn to page twenty-three in your textbooks."
Poppy turned to Nora, uncomfortable. "Do you mind if I work with Amit tonight? It's not that you aren't good, I just can't seem to get certain things right."
Nora smiled and nodded. "No worries, Poppy. I'll work with Sebastian."
Poppy smiled and rushed over to Amit, who was very difficult to get as a partner since he was so advanced in the subject. Nora turned towards Sebastian, who smiled at her. "And then there were two."
-
10:12 PM
Sebastian groaned in frustration as he attempted to search the sky using the telescope. "Why is it that meteor showers are so difficult to find when you're in Astronomy?" He said in an annoyed tone as he stopped looking through the telescope.
"Geez, you're worse than Poppy! Let me have a go." Nora snorted, nudging him out of the way. As she peered into the telescope, she looked around, trying to locate where the meteors would be coming from.
"So, Nora. I was wondering if you had any update as to why Ominis is angry with me?"
"I already told you, Sebastian. He hasn't mentioned you at all when we're alone. In fact, I barely saw him alone today." Nora said, letting go of the telescope as she took notes regarding the location of the meteor shower origin. "I think he's just being Ominis."
"Ominis has never been short with me, at least not in an angry way...Well, if you don't count the scriptorium...or the Catacomb...or that time I accidentally transfigured his enchanted quill into a butterfly." Sebastian listed. "You know, maybe he does have a reason to be upset with me. But, if he were mad at me for that, he would have told me by now! It's not like Ominis to keep his opinion quiet." Nora frowned at Sebastian's statement. Yes, Ominis was vocal when it came to disagreements, but he rarely was ever wrong about those thoughts.
"Look, you know how he is with me sometimes. He's like that with everyone but you. You have some sort of way with people, you always have. Your connection to him is beyond mine. Could you please just ask him what's wrong for me? I'll do anything!" Sebastian begged.
Nora sighed. Sebastian would only pester her about the subject until she finally gave in. "I guess I could talk to him."
Sebastian's eyes lit up. "You know you're my favorite, right? Out of everyone here, you're my favorite."
"Mhm, and that's why you're so focused on fixing your relationship with Ominis." Nora teased. However, Nora couldn't help but feel a little excitement over speaking with him privately, away from listening ears.
-
September 17th, 1891: 1:53 AM, Hufflepuff 6th Year Girl's Dormitory
Some nights, Nora's previous "adventures" seemed to feel a little too real for her own liking. On this particular night, Nora could almost hear the rocks that crushed Professor Fig months ago. She rolled onto her side, tears falling onto her pillow. In just moments, her favorite Professor had been destroyed. She could have stopped it. She should have stopped it.
She felt a sob involuntarily leave her mouth, and she immediately covered her mouth with her hand. Her dorm mates couldn't know she was crying, especially Poppy. Poor Poppy would stay up the entire night making sure she slept peacefully. Nora needed a private place to think about this. Deek was likely in the Room of Requirement cleaning away, and the embarrassment of being caught in the bathrooms almost made Nora puke.
The Undercroft!
It was perfect. Practically nobody knew of the area, and Nora could also bring some schoolwork to do to possibly distract herself.
Nora quietly stepped out of her bed, careful to avoid the creaking floorboards scattered across her room. She slowly put on her satchel and grabbed her wand, walking out of the dorm into the Common Room.
-
2:07 AM, Undercroft
Nora unlocked the Undercroft door, wiping her eyes. She had done her best to go the entire walk without crying in order to keep silent under the disillusionment charm. As the door shut behind her, she slid down it, letting out the tears that were practically preventing her from seeing anything. She sniffed, rubbing the side of her face with the arm of her pajamas.
"Eleanora?"
Nora jumped at his voice. Of course he was there. The one time she didn't want to be around anyone, and he was there. She hadn't seen him right away, but now that the tears were let loose, she saw him sitting against the wall, holding a book. He still had his uniform on, except for his robe which was draped over a barrel. His sleeves were rolled up a bit. Normally, seeing him would fill her with a giddy warm feeling, but all Nora could think about was how precise Ominis' hearing was. Had he heard her crying?
She attempted to speak normally, despite the large lump in her throat. "Sorry, I just wanted to get some homework done." She said, her voice breaking halfway through.
Nice going, Davies. If he didn't know before, he knows now.
"I understand, I was working on the same thing. Sebastian snores were a bit of a distraction from my reading." He held up the book in his lap. It appeared it was his Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook. "If you'd like, I could teach you some more Braille since we're both here."
Nora definitely didn't want to pass on the opportunity to learn more Braille. She walked across the room, wiping the tears away hastily with her sleeve. If they were going to be close, he didn't need to hear her crying next to him the entire time.
She sat down across from him, and Ominis paused for a moment. "If you're comfortable, you may need...I think it would be better if you were a little bit closer to me." He said, as he smoothed down his cloak, making room for her to sit.
Nora felt that little jolt she got around him sometimes. Was he asking her to get closer for another reason? Surely not, but Nora liked to imagine that he was. She shifted over until she was practically centimeters from his body. Her breathing deepened as she tried to resist the urge to lean against him. It was like his body was a magnet, and she was a helpless piece of metal.
"Give me your hand." This again. Nora quickly placed her hand on the book, and Ominis placed his on top of hers. The same warm feeling she felt in Defense Against the Dark Arts came back, and she welcomed it. The way their hands fit seemed almost as if they were two broken pieces of a vase that finally were joined together. Her breathing grew shaky, as butterflies attacked the inner walls of her stomach.
As he gently pulled her hand towards the opposite side of the book, Nora felt her arm touch his. The electric shock occurred again, only this time it was stronger. Her mind raced with many feelings at once. She didn't know how to name any of them, but they were all emotions she wanted more of.
Nora noticed that Ominis wasn't asking her anything. "This talks about ridikkulus, correct?" Nora breathed out. Ominis nodded. Nora looked over at him.
His normally pale skin was a light shade of pink, and he seemed different. Nora noticed his eyes were displaying some sort of emotion, but she couldn't discern what it was. However, the main thing Nora noticed was he was breathing faster than normal. As embarrassed as she was about it, she had previously stared at his torso enough to notice that he was breathing differently. Was he nervous?
No, Ominis is never nervous. She looked back at their hands, which were slowly running over the page. Ominis was muttering the words that their fingers crossed out loud, but his voice was covered by the sound of Nora's heart pumping wildly in her chest. She didn't understand what was happening, or why it was so very strong. However, she tried her very hardest to pay attention to the words on the page, attempting to stifle the warm feeling in her chest and the tangled mess in her stomach.
-
3:49 AM
"We should probably get back to our dorms." Nora said, stretching. As she did, she could feel the pain of leaning against the Undercroft wall for nearly two hours. It definitely was not going to disappear with sleep.
As she stretched, the cold air suddenly hit her bare arms. She winced audibly at the shock as she looked at her satchel (which hadn't been opened once), wondering if she brought a sweater.
"Are you alright?" Ominis asked, closing his book as he stood up.
"Yes, it's just a little bit colder than the Hufflepuff dormitory. I must have forgotten my sweater." She sighed, annoyed with her stupidity. All she had brought in her satchel were scrolls, quills, and a textbook. She had never come to the Undercroft without her uniform on, so she'd never realized how chilling it was in there.
There was some movement behind her, and as she looked over her shoulder, she saw Ominis holding out his uniform sweater he had on a few moments before. All he had on now was a white button-down and a tie. His hair was a little bit messy, presumably from the sweater. He had his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and his tie was loosely held together by a knot, which was by the center of his chest. Her face quickly grew red. "I'll trade you for my robes." Ominis muttered, his face still the light pink from earlier.
Nora stood up as she picked up the cloak from beneath her, and handed it to him shakily. She took the sweater and pulled it over her head. It smelled like pine, mint, and a hint of freshwater. The scent was cool and sharp against her nose. "Um, thank...thank you Ominis." She stumbled over her words, barely able to even process them before they came out. He nodded, putting his cloak on and reaching into the pocket of his trousers and pulling out his wand. "Shall we head back?"
Nora would have given anything to be able to stay in the Undercroft. She wished neither of them were bound by time, and that they could have stayed in the empty space forever. She let out a small sigh before standing up with her bag, and walking towards the door to the Undercroft.