There was something in the muggle world, celebrating love and only love on February 14th, spreading love to those who have boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands or wives. It was a day to be romantic and nothing else, that's how Nora has been understanding that holiday.
But it just wasn't the muggle world, it was also the wizarding world, everywhere she looked, she witnessed partners being affectionate with one another. She and Atticus used to make fun of those, sitting in hogsmeade and mocking others, but this year she could be one of those couples in hogsmeade, in a relationship with her brothers best friend, not difficult at all.
"Where are you taking Mcdonald?" Evan asked, the four currently eating breakfast together and talking about their plans. "Going to one of those restaurants, they're really in the valentines mood." Nora looked the boy up and down, seeing how fancy he was dressed for her, thankfully this holiday also landed on a Hogsmeade trip.
"How cute." Nora admired his efforts, patting him on the back. "But remember one thing—"
"Yes I already know, pay for the food to be a gentleman." Atticus said, remembering what they rehearsed last night when they do on dates. Nora nodded at the boy, turning to
van and regulus to see their plans. "Oh uh, I, I have a date yes." Regulus mumbled; loud enough for the three to cheer for him.
"Who is it?" Nora asked, wiggling her eyebrows. "Don't ask him that, he's already nervous as it is." Atticus told his best friend, hitting her arm.
"I can't be a nosy sister, for once?" Nora scoffed, hitting Atticus in the head, knowing if she touched his jacket it wouldn't end pretty for either of them.
"It's nothing romantic, Reggie and I are going to double date with Pandora Parkinson and Amber... what was her last name again?" Rolling her eyes at Evan, the two bid Nora a goodbye before getting out of their seats, Atticus creating contact with Mary and also leaving Nora to be alone, eating her bagel.
"Oh, look whose alone for once." Munching on her food and turning to see Severus scoot over to sit in front of her, Nora swallowed her food, giving Snape the middle finger.
"Says you," she scoffed, rolling her eyes. Nora knew she regretted saying that, watching Severus look over to the Gryffindor table to stare at someone particular.
"You regret what you said don't you?" Nora asked, Severus' eyes shifting back to the girl in front of her, guilt written all over her face. "She was my best friend. So yeah I regret it." He sassed, taking a strawberry off Noras plate.
"Well, it's your own damn fault." She told him, shrugging her shoulders. Severus shook his head, scoffing at the naive girl, a smug look on his face. "May I remind you, your ex-boyfriend was the cause of it all." Severus said, Nora furrowing her eyebrows.
"But he didn't cause you to call Redhead a.. y'know." She never had the guts to say the word, her mouth always twitching, even if she just wanted to see how it sounded, something in her always stopped her mouth from working.
"Yeah but—"
"Oi black," turning around to see Ravi Patil come over, Nora was a little confused why he was going to talk to her, handing her a little note. Nora looked at Severus, the lad shrugging his shoulders as Nora looked back at Patil. "I was told to give this to you." He said, wiggling his eyebrows at her.
"Did you read the—"
"I most certainly did." Patil cut her off, walking away to let her deal with the note. Nora knew it was from James, wondering what he had in mind to make Patil do a weird gesture.
"What does it say?" Severus eager to know, Nora cupping her hand over the parchment to prevent Severus from getting it, reading what it says.
Meet me at the Black lake
-j;)
He was smart for only doing his first initial, her stomach having the feeling of butterflies, biting her lip. She was glad she put on her best outfit for today, smiling at Severus.
"Have fun eating breakfast alone." Nora winked, grabbing the parchment and getting up from the table, fixing her buttoned down dress and hair; walking to exit the great hall.
She couldn't help but smile, a stupid grin that made her so happy to know she was getting to be one of those girls with their boyfriends. She was giddy, her stomach erupting in butterflies.
She wasn't the only one with grins, other girls looking like they were under a love potion, in awe of the world. As much as she didn't like surprises, they seemed to always hit her when she was least expecting, taking a shortcut to to the black lake that James showed her, walking down a little hill.
Stopping in her tracks when she saw James standing up with a blanket behind him, all kinds of food laid out, gasping at the gesture. James was holding a plate of chocolate covered strawberries shaped in a heart, wearing probably his best outfit yet.
"Happy Valentines day!" He exclaimed, gesturing her to come over. Nora couldn't believe her eyes, walking over to James, looking at him as he was ready to speak again. "I know strawberries are your favourite, I always see you eating them at breakfast, and you're a fan of Moonys milk chocolate so I thought dip the strawberries with the chocolate."
Nora walked towards him; James letting her sit down fist, coming to sit beside her as Nora took off her shoes to not let anything get on the blanket. Nora couldn't help have her cheeks flush red. "This is, this is beautiful James." Nora said in awe, turning to look at him.
Staring at his eyes and soon his lips, James inched closer to her, both thinking the same thing. His hands wandered onto her thighs, feeling the fireworks light up, looking at his beautiful eyes one more time.
It was times like these where she wish she could freeze time, two inches away from kissing each other but all she wanted to do was enjoy the moment she realized how special James is to her, knowing no other lad would do this for her.
James dipped his head into Noras, their lips molding together and moving in sync, eager. Its been two months of not kissing each other, and boy did James miss her delicate lips, leaning closer to each other. Nora wanted more, but she was still new to this, but for James, seemed like he has some practise.
"You, are beautiful." James said, breaking the kiss, still being so close. "And you are a romantic." Nora said, kissing one more time as James muffled through whatever he was going to say, breaking the kiss, her eye targeting the strawberries.
"Thank you for this, this was way better than what I pictured in my head." Nora said out loud, James handing her the strawberry to eat in his hand. "What's that supposed to mean?" He asked, Nora even more confused with what he was doing.
"Were you going to feed me the strawberry?" She asked, skimming over his question. "Moony said to feed you strawberries, I'm assuming this is what he meant— oh did I tell you? He knows." James said, going back to Remus, grabbing her hand to give her the strawberry.
"Well, regulus knew a long time. He also hates your guts but is happy for me." Nora said nonchalantly, James frowning at that comment. "Well... I guess that's fair." The boy mumbled out, Noras eyes widening at the taste of strawberries and chocolate together, loving hit melts into her mouth.
"Good huh?" He asked, already telling by her face. Nora muffled a yes, noticing sandwiches carved into hearts, looking at all the food that was prepared, absolutely fascinated by it.
Nora has never felt like she had appreciated James enough, always dishing him off in public and scared to be seen with him, when he makes her so happy about how he knows the little things about her. Such astute observations that he does and all she sees is someone she has learned to love and care for, knowing what they looks now.
James leaned on his arm to lay on the blanket as Nora sat with her looks straight in front of her, looking at James. "You have outdone yourself James potter. But watch, for your birthday, it'll be bloody beautiful." She warned him, handing him a chocolate strawberry.
"Don't think I'm not going to hold a grudge on that." He told her, a finger pointing at her jokingly. Nora giggled at him while the two sat in silence for a few minutes, enjoying each others company, the waves in the black lake feeling so soothing to hear and see.
"When was the first time you knew you liked me?" James asked, breaking the silence with a sentence that made Nora have goosebumps. She didn't even need to think about it, wondering if she should go first.
"The day you healed my wounds. Something about that day made me realize you have changed for the better, you aren't as arrogant, softer with people and are so warm-hearted that it made it hard not to like you. I still think about that moment y'know, what about you?"
"It was Bellatrixs' wedding. I forced mum and dad that we should go, there you were, in your dress and a flower crown being forced on your head. Even though you were frowning at your mother, something about that moment made me realize you are a girl like other. You're so feisty with everyone else, but if I play my cards right, you're a girl who grows soft for those she's close to."
Nora was stunned by the way of words James had, realizing she needed to read more if she wanted to sound that poetic. It was beautiful, her eyes watering a little of how beautiful this was, her smile never fading.
"Don't worry, it's happy tears." She told the boy before he got up to comfort her. "I'm just happy at the moment, and I'm glad I'm happy with you. Happy... what's this holiday called again?" She asked, her face scrunching up when she couldn't remember.
"Valentines day." James told her, smiling at her forgetfulness. "Yeah, whatever that means." She winked at the boy, both turning to enjoy the view of the black lake, in awe about today.
The next three hours had flown by, filled with laughter, happiness and teasing one another. James had already picked up Nora to take her into the black lake after she mocked the way he walks, strutting though the corridors, throwing her over his shoulder like it was nothing, Nora repeatedly apologizing.
Unfortunately for the two they had to wrap it knowing they were supposed to be in Hogsmeade, needing to be back at the same time as the other students. James and tucked everything back in the blanket and made it disappear with his wand, saying he'll deal with it later.
"You don't even know where it bloody went." Nora said, both walking back into the castle as McGongall does a headcount on them. "It's fine, if anything I'm sure it made it back to our dorms." He reassured the girl, entering the corridors; peace and quiet it was.
Walking with James suddenly didn't seem so bad, their hands still linked together, wanting to rest her head on his shoulder. It seemed like the end of a perfect day, seeing other couples so happy and in pure bliss. James kissed the top of Nora's head as he let her go down to her common room.
"You are.... amazing to me James. " Nora said, another way to express her feelings to him. James knew exactly what she was saying, him finding another day. "You are my everything Nora." He said, grabbing her cheeks to kiss her one more time, catching her off guard.
"See you later." He said, walking with a grin on his face. Nora stuttered to say goodbye, watching James walk away exactly the way she was mocking him, wondering if he was doing that on purpose, strutting through the hallway.
Turning back to head to her common room, Nora quickly said the password as she was bombarded by Atticus grabbing her shoulders. "You have failed me!" Was the only thing he said, shaking his head in embarrassment.
"What else is new." She scoffed, wanting him to specify what time. "We can't talk here," he said, gesturing to the couch being a snog fest. Grabbing the lad and taking him to the other room, it was clear Atticus and his date did not the go the way he wanted to, sitting down on the ground of the slytherin library area.
"What happened?" She asked, adjusting her dress while sitting. Atticus had taken a deep breath, looking at his friend. "The date was going well, I paid, and then she wanted to go somewhere more private, so I just assumed to have more alone time. But she meant snogging, I've never snogged in my life and didn't know what I was doing." He whispered, not wanting anyone to hear his problem.
Why do we always have the same problem?
"Yeah, I'm not great at it either." Nora said, grimacing. Atticus looked at her, his eyebrows wiggling. "What— who were you snogging today?" He asked, nudging her a little to the side. Nora hit his leg, immediately smiling.
"I think we just need more practise, you think Avery and Theodore could help?" Atticus suggested, only one of them will be able to learn, and it wasn't going to be Atticus. "Doubt it." Nora quickly said, both feeling slumped.
"But if McDonald didn't mind, then that's okay, was that your first time kissing her?" Nora asked, focusing on his problem more. "Second, first time was during the holidays." He explained, feeling embarrassed.
"Don't beat yourself up over it. It's not like we're like the other Slytherins, being with someone every other week. We can't do that stuff, you know that." Unfortunately for the pair, they weren't the type to shag and dump, something in them didn't think it was fair to play with one's feelings, especially after kissing each other, hating how it almost caused a wrench in their friendship.
"Yeah. You're right. I just felt like an idiot." Atticus had a glum expression on his face, Nora patting his head. "Don't worry, I'm in the same boat as you. Maybe she could teach you." Nora suggested, Atticus pulling his knees closer to lay his head on.
"Is your lad treating you properly?"! He asked, changing the subjects to focus on her. Nora titled her head while looking at Atticus, her face feeling hot. "He is, he's probably the first person to teach me how to care for someone— aside from you of course. It's refreshing y'know?" Atticus hummed at that, leaning back on the books shelves.
"Does Mary treat you right?" Nora asked. Atticus smiled at her, patting her thigh. "The question is, do I treat her right? It's hard being a boyfriend— or a girlfriend. I feel like an amateur but she isn't."
"Yeah, my lad is like that too, although he has—"
"Has been obsessing over the same girl for five years until he looked at you?" Atticus asks, almost as if he was dealing with the same thing. Noras mouth a little dry, nodding her head.
"Means you're the new light in his dim world Nora Black, you make it shine when nobody else does. You distract him from anything else." Atticus simply told her. It was just two friends with the same problems, looking at one another for help.
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I forgot how fun it is when I write Atticus and Nora in a scene together. Chapter 60 just had to be about love, I mean it was god damn time for them to kiss too.
See you soon!