People always came and go in her life; it was no secret that death will be coming to anyone around her, even if she never cared about them, their death will somehow affect those around them. Nora knew the risks of being a death eater, but it also meant keeping secrets of the truth of these killings against families in the wizarding world who have wizard or witch in their blood.
Never did she think to blame them, watching her friends become a death eater was something she pained to see, everyone she loves taking a risk in their life to survive one more day, or even one more hour.
There was no way to survive if you weren't a death eater in the dark side of the war, it was a unwritten rule, die or kill those people. She never thought she would have to choose, but thanks to Bellatrix immediately joining after her seventh year, the whole Black family had trusted their dark lord into something great. A army ready for war against whoever.
Her heartbeat was beating so fast she didn't have time to think, sitting on the edge of a bed, her foot tapping as she watched the closed door. Nora had been waiting patiently for something, worrying her to the end when the door opened, Theo's face filled of worry, Lucius beside him.
"It's time Nora." He spoke, his voice monotone and cold. His face was upright, where as Theo couldn't even look at Nora, his eyes wandering around the ground. She was confused, not understanding what he meant by that, a gush of cold air hitting her warm cheeks; shivers going the girls spine.
"For what?" She asked stupidly, regretting that question, not wanting to follow through with the plan. "Just come." Lucius demanded in an impatient tone, rolling his eyes.
She hesitated, of course; needing someone to say the words trust me, but nobody dared. She felt her feet begin to walk towards them, her arms suddenly getting goosebumps, exiting the room she was in for a while.
It was quiet in the manor, walking down the grand staircase, her legs feeling wobbly, walking in between the men. It seemed way too dark in the manor, curtains closed and an aura of nothing but dark matters. She was unsettled, following Lucius as the back of his neck hairs stood for a second, worrying her a little more.
They were going to the area where the meetings are held. Her head was going in a trance, connecting the dots as soon as she stood in the entrance with Lucius, needing to back out. It was too late, hearing a voice stop the meeting and point to her, it was Rodulphus, right beside her cousin, interrupting.
"Ah Nora Black, please join us and take a seat right beside your best friend." His voice echoed, her eyes shifted down the table, wide being when she saw him sitting there with his head down, ashamed of his actions.
"You came back out now Nora." Lucius told her, grabbing her arm to come and sit down with them. "But I'm not to be trusted." She hissed to her brother in law, Lucius scoffing at her.
"The dark lord said you are. Now sit."
"Does this girl ever wake up?"
Her eyes were still closed, interrupted by a sound of a yell, almost annoyed with the situation that was happening. "Will you two idiots shut up, she's obviously sleeping."
Her eyes fluttered, her head resting comfortably on a desk as five people stood around her with concern, forgetting where she was for a second, in a classroom, clearly missing a whole lesson about things she needs to know.
"Ah! She is awake." Her eyes were a little blurry, scoping them out to be Pettigrew, cheering for a second. "Fuck, what did I sleep through?" She asked, pinching the bridge of her nose, hearing a snort from her brother. "Ancient runes, Professor didn't even care." He explained.
Atticus and James were the most concerned ones, both looking at each other with weird looks, letting the other one speak. "Well, I'm awake now. Don't get your knickers in a twist." She mumbled, standing up out of her chair and grabbing her book bag, putting her books away.
"Well alright, but you also have detention next week." James said, pretending to not be so concerned, his face saying otherwise. "You lads can go, thanks for helping." Atticus said to them, specifically Lupin in this situation.
Her dream didn't feel like a dream, that aching feeling in her chest as she put her stuff away before leaving the class, Atticus knowing something was off. "What were you dreaming? You rarely dream so something is wrong." He stated, beginning to leave the class.
"I... I was going to a meeting, to be recruited by... him." She explained, biting her lip. "You were there too, which was the scariest point, Lucius said I was to be trusted and a good fit basically."
Atticus' face fell, stopping in his path, the gears in his head processing. "Nora, that doesn't sound like a dream, sounds like, that was a way he can communicate to you." He stated, his lip quivering a little bit when stating that.
"The fuck do you mean by that?" Nora snapped, walking towards Atticus, needing him to repeat that. Atticus clearly did not want to, being forced to, uncomfortable as they both began to find the two people that would know.
"It's true, it's a way to communicate with those he wants, I've experienced something like this. It's an easier way to get into your head, to mess with you." He explained in his own words, going down a couple flights of stairs, walking to the courtyard where the two liked to study, usually leaning against a tree with girls sometimes.
"That sounds like bullshit." Nora said unhinged, catching herself off guard. "Well it's not, can't you believe me this one time?" Atticus said, finding Avery leaning against a tree, Theo taking a nap beside him.
"Don't you two have class?" Avery asked, a little confused by their presence. "This was more important." Atticus said, Avery immediately waking up Theo from his sleeping session, both boys inviting them to sit down.
"What's wrong with princess over there?" They both asked at the same time, scaring themselves. Nora rolled her eyes, coming to sit beside Atticus as he let them do all the talking.
"Is it true, he can communicate with you through 'dreaming'?" He simply asked, not following up with any question as if didn't even take half a second for them to say, "yes," at the same time, immediately looking with Nora with concern.
"Is that why your arm also has a bruise?" Avery said, looking down at her wrist, knowing that's where Lucius had grabbed her in the dream, scaring her a little. "Shite." Theo sighed out, running a hand through his hair.
"This has to be a joke! I mean what the hell?" She asked, keeping her voice down to not attract attention. Theo and Avery shook their heads, taking a deep breath. "Same thing happened to us, who was in your dream?"
"Me, Lucius, Theo, Atticus, rodulphus and him." She explained, the boys being intrigued by that. "Well for me, I said I couldn't be trusted but my father said he trusts me—"
"That's exactly what happened to Nora." Atticus gasped, Avery immediately stopping his story. "Did you also fall asleep in class?" He asked, Atticus nodding for her, earning a hit to the arm.
"You were at your point of being vulnerable, he took advantage of that." Avery explained, trying his hardest to not scare her. "But I was sleeping? How am I being vulnerable?" Nora asked, confused.
"He just takes advantage of the situation, I was napping in the common room one time and woke up in a cold sweat. It happens to the ones he wants the most. And as I've been telling you two; he's after you now. Now more than ever."
She went silent for a moment, her heart skipping a beat, turning to Atticus who had his head down in shame. "How long has he done this to you?" She asked in a stern tone, feeling panicked.
"Maybe two times; one time I napped before Quidditch, another one I was in bed sleeping." He explained, mumbling a little. "This has happened twice to you and never told me? What the fuck?" Nora gritted in anger, her eyes looking at the other boys.
Emotions were running high, it was a final straw for her between her and the dark lord, now invading the one thing she has no place over. She wanted to choose her words wisely, not wanting to immediately yell at them and suddenly run away.
Running away won't solve her problems, she wasn't like her brother, Nora needed to confront the things that need to be dealt with. "Don't be blaming the kid, obviously he didn't say anything because of the reaction you're having Nora." Avery said, his hands gesturing all over the place.
Guilt hit her face, shamefully looking to the ground as Atticus easily shrugs it off. "It's fine, I was worried I was the only one to experience this." He expressed, Nora not knowing how to say sorry, only knowing how to pat someone on the shoulder and express with her eyes, trying to be sincere.
"But what do we do about these? I'm not trying to get these every time I feel like sleeping." He followed up, ignoring the pat Nora gave him, needing answers for the two. She put her arm down, placing them in her lap as she looked at the two lads, hoping for an easy answer to get her out of this.
At the same time she didn't want to hear the answer, not eager to know; the possibilities of stopping the dreams were rare, but something gave her hope that it would be different. "All you really have to do is just deal with them. Sometimes you can't even know he's doing it, I wouldn't be paranoid over this, it's not like you knows your darkest secret.
They were both dating Gryffindors, one half-blood and one blood traitor. That's a secret they need to keep for the rest of their life. Nora and Atticus turned to look at each other, registering the fact they will be in deep trouble for the things they've done if he ever learns to get inside someone's head.
Nora already imagined her death if her mother found out, died due to dating a blood traitor, nobody came to the funeral except the dark lord, knowing she was the cause for this. It seemed like a peaceful death, going into cardiac arrest at age 18, what a horrible way to go, some would think.
Snapping back to reality and shaking her head, none of this was good news to her, her stomach going into knots. "Well this did not help whatsoever." Atticus expresses, the one to get up in protest. "I agree." The brunette stated, getting up with her best friend, handing his bag to him.
"One tip of advice for you, before you two go." Theo urgently said, his fingers gesturing for them to come back for second. Nora turned back around, waiting for what he had to say, grabbing atticus' arm, making him head it too.
"Sometimes communicating works with him. But don't give off any information about yourself because he'll hold it to his advantage. Now go to class." He stated, dismissing them like students.
Nora let that sink in a little, squinting at Theo before she looked back to the direction she was headed, confusing as to what that meant, not wanting to ask if figure it out on her own. "Whatever." Atticus mumbled, feeling defeated a little.
"Atticus, wait." Nora hissed, trying to catch up to him. "I thought they would be more helpful, they clearly were not." He sighed out, scratching his head, hoping to have another solution.
"No I don't care about that," Nora said, grabbing his face to make him stare at her, her eyes growing sad. "Why did you never tell me about this? We're supposed to tell each other these things." Nora expressed, Atticus half heartedly laughing.
"I know about you and potter, Nora. You didn't think to tell me that, did you? After I've been telling you about Mary." His voice was cold and dark, clearly hurt by what she kept. "Yeah.. okay that's my fault. Only because I thought you wouldn't approve of him, that's why." Nora defended, biting her tongue in hopes he would believe him.
"Course I don't approve! But I'm not going to dismiss your happiness for someone whose special to you. Mary is a half-blood, we're in the same boat for disappointing our parents if they ever found out."
Her heart ached a little, wanting that go never happen for the two of them, shaking his head, not accepting what he just said. "They're never going to find out, we're going through this together Atticus, let's not turn on each other now." She whispered, forgetting they're in the middle of the corridor.
It had taken him a moment to control his breathing, his eyes not blurry anymore, almost frowning. "I'm just scared, more for you than me. It's clear you're practically a target for him." Atticus states, shaking his head in disbelief.
"I won't let him get to me then." Nora shot back, defending herself. It almost felt like she needed to say that, to convince herself more than Atticus, her eyes being desperate. Atticus didn't know what to say next, staring at his best friend, swallowing they fact they don't know what their parents are deciding for them.
But Atticus knows he'll have to fight for his life when he gets home, knowing his parents have already given him up long ago, and he doesn't have the heart to tell his best friend, only giving her a warm smile as his eyes become blurry for a second.
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hehehe, I feel like I'm running outta things to say at the authors note. Well for one thing, I start college in about 4 weeks soo im starting to write more frequently to have some chapters already written for you all <33