CHAPTER THIRTY:

SLYTHERIN DUEL

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      "That wasn't necessary," Nova whispered as tears dripped down her face. Ron, who was still in Warrington's arms, made a grunt of pain at the punch, but otherwise didn't seem to notice. His eyes were locked on Nova, focused on the words that had just left her mouth. I'm in love with him. She didn't know if he was shocked, horrified, or a strange mix of the two. Maybe he decided she wasn't worth it. Maybe he wanted out. She would give him that. If he wanted out of her insane life, she would let him. But she would be damned if she let him leave without a fight. Which was why she held her head high and visibly calmed, like a sea of relaxation had passed over her. "Malfoy," she said softly, bringing his attention back to her. She hated the tears that threatened to fall in his eyes. "You're my best friend. You know that. You know you're important to me. Why can't you let me be happy?"

      "This isn't about whether or not I'm allowing your happiness, Nova," he argued, and the use of her nickname falling from him lips made her even calmer. "It's about knowing where your loyalties lie. I thought you were one of us."

      "You're denying that I'm a Slytherin?" Nova asked, suddenly hardened again. "The Slytherin House traits. Cunning. You think I've made a name for myself...became the Slytherin Ice Queen without being cunning?" Her words cut through the air like glittering ice picks, slicing through the look of betrayal on Malfoy's face. "Resourcefulness. You wouldn't even begin to comprehend what corners I've cut or things I've done to keep the people I love safe." At the mention of people she loved, Malfoy sneered in Ron's direction. "No!" Nova snarled, and the force of her voice brought all attention back to her. "This has nothing to do with him. This has everything to do with things I've done for Theo. For Blaise. For you," she spat out. "Ambition. My entire existence requires ambition. My father is Edgar Nott. You know what that means. What that entails. Because your father is the same."

      "This has nothing to do -"

      "How dare you tell me that I'm not on your side. I'm on the side that keeps Theo safe. That keeps you safe. I'm finding ways to fight to keep you alive. And if you can look me in the eye and tell me you don't believe me..." She trailed off and gave him a hard look, "then you never knew me at all."

      She only had about five seconds to stare at the defeated look on Malfoy's face before suddenly Ginny was breaking free of Reina's grip and sending a Stunner so wildly impressive that even Nova forgot her argument with Malfoy to appreciate Ginny's work. Once Ginny was free, Pansy released Nova to see if Reina was okay. She had a two second head start before Nova was pulling out her wand and sending off a Petrificus Totalus that had Pansy falling to the floor in a heap of frozen limbs and muscles. Ginny sent off another Stunner to Goyle, who flung backwards and left Luna Lovegood free. She sent a rather harmless but effective disarming charm to Malfoy, who watched his wand fly out of his hand with a look of bewilderment, as if a measly little Ravenclaw couldn't have had the power to do what she had just done.

      "Nasum vespertilio!" Ginny shouted at Malfoy when he tried to move. Nova watched Malfoy's horrified face for a second before the incantation set to work. His nostrils almost seemed to double in size and bogeys flew out of his nose, flapping around his face and leaving him blind. "Let go of Neville, you bloody oaf!" Ginny directed at Crabbe, who after seeing what Ginny had done to Malfoy, simply released Neville without much of an argument. "Petrificus Totalus!" She shouted at Malfoy for extra assurance he wouldn't go anywhere.

      Reina was standing again, the effects of the Stunner wearing off. Warrington had his wand out to Ron's throat, as if it would stop Nova from attacking if he had her boyfriend kept hostage. She heard Neville shoot an Impediment Jinx as Reina tried to rush over towards them, shouting something about how they'd live to regret their mistakes. She heard the sound of someone whacking Neville and heard his groan of pain, but she was focused on Warrington. "Someone put a silencing charm on her!" Nova snapped, annoyed at the sound of her voice. "And Warrington... let go of my bloody boyfriend."

    "Not a chance, Ice Queen," Warrington replied, tightening his grip around Ron. "You used to piss me off so much, you know? I never understood what the big deal of Nova Nott was. You had Draco pining after you. Blaise actually thinks he's your friend. And then Theo... Merlin, he's the dumbest of them all." Nova's grip around her wand tightened as his words hit her. "You think he's going to forgive you for this? He's going to hate you, just like your father does. He's not going to care if you're dead. And you will be, you know. Just like your lousy mother."

      "Ron, duck now!" Nova screamed. The force and volume of her voice caused Warrington to loosen his grip for just a second, allowing Ron to throw himself to the floor. "Stupefy!" She yelled, watching as he flew backwards into the room. "Stupefy!" she shouted again when he tried to stand. "Stupefy!" she screamed when his words truly hit her. "Stupefy!" Because he was right. Theo was going to hate her. "Stupefy!"

      "Nova, Nova..." someone was saying. It was Ginny, who was pulling her away from Warrington, who looked unconscious. "Stop it. You got him. We have to go." Ginny gently reached out and wiped a tear Nova didn't even know had fallen. "C'mon, Nova, we have to go."

      "Noba," Ron said, his voice garbled from the blood. "Noba, you're okay. We hab to helb Harry." He gripped her hand in his like it was a lifeline. After so many times when he was her anchor, now he was using her as his own. "We hab to go."

      "Is everyone okay?" Nova asked, surveying her friends as quickly as she could. She was already being shuffled out of Umbridge's office, Ron keeping her hand tightly wound in his. "Ron, oh Merlin, your lip."

      "I'b fine," he responded, squeezing her hand to assure her. The five of them rushed out of the castle, heading towards the Forbidden Forest.

      "How do you think Hermione's plan worked?" Neville asked doubtfully as they ran, their feet pounding on the ground. 

      "Hopefully well," Ginny replied. "It's Hermione. She'd know how to get out of something."

      Normally, Nova would have agreed with Ginny. It was Hermione Granger, the know-it-all from Gryffindor that had points taken away by Snape because she was the only one who knew the answers to some of his questions. But it was also Umbridge, who hated Harry Potter with a passion even more vicious than that of Draco Malfoy and his father. Nova just hoped that when they did find Harry and Hermione, they were free of any curses that would have damaged them emotionally. Being physically punished with a spell was one thing entirely, but emotionally was harder to recover from. 

      "Anyway, Harry, how exactly were you planning to get all the way to London?" Nova heard Hermione before she saw her, and the relief that they sounded generally unharmed nearly brought Nova to her knees.

      "Yeah, we were just wondering that," Ginny mentioned as the five of them stepped into the same clearing. It was when they were fully stopped that Nova could assess the damage done to her friends. Neville had an eye that was slowly blackening, Ginny had a series of scratches along her neck, and Ron was still bleeding from his lip. 

      "C'mere," she said softly to Ron, holding his face in her hand. He leaned into the comfort and familiarity of her touch. "Episky," she whispered, pointing her wand at his lip. She watched the busted part of his mouth seamlessly sew themselves back together, leaving nothing but the blood with no source in its wake. "There. You're okay. I'm sorry he punched you."

      "Nova -"

      "We'll talk about it later, okay?" she interrupted, desperately wanting to avoid the topic for just a few moments longer. "We have other things to worry about. "So, any ideas?" she asked, turning back to Harry and Hermione. "Getting to London from here isn't exactly easy."

      "How did you get away?" Harry asked in amazement. Ron, who had been holding Harry's wand and keeping it safe, stuck out his hand for his best mate to take it back. Harry looked lighter when it was in his hands, like he was less defenseless. 

      "Couple of Stunners, a Disarming Charm, Petrificus Totalus, and Neville brought off a really nice little Impediment Jinx," Ron said, able to talk normally now that the cut on his lip was fixed. He handed Hermione's wand back to her, trying not to be offended at the look of surprise on her face. "But Ginny was the best, she got Malfoy - Bat Bogey Hex - it was superb, his whole face was covered in the great flapping things. Anyway, we saw you heading into the forest out of the window and followed. What've you done with Umbridge?"

      "She got carried away," Harry mentioned, "by a herd of centaurs."

      "And they left you behind?" Ginny asked, impressed.

      "No, they got chased off by Grawp."

      "Who's Grawp?" Luna asked in interest.

      "Hagrid's little brother. Anyway, never mind that now. Harry, what did you find out in the fire. Has You-Know-Who got Sirius or...?" Ron trailed off.

      "Yes," Harry replied. Even Nova could hear the sadness in his voice. "And I'm sure Sirius is still alive, but I can't see how we're going to get there to help him." That stopped them. Getting out of Umbridge's office with a handful of Slytherins was the easy part. Now, they actually had to go do something without a plan in sight. They had to save someone from more than just a few Slytherins with anger issues. 

      "Well, we'll have to fly, won't we?" Luna asked, as if it was the easiest decision in the world. 

      "Okay," Harry snapped, turning to face Luna, "first of all, 'we' aren't doing anythingif you're including yourself in that, and second of all, Ron's the only on with a broomstick that isn't being guarded by a security troll, so -"

      "I've got a broom!" Ginny screeched in annoyance.

      "Yeah, but you're not coming," Ron replied. Nova fixed him with a surprised look.

      "Excuse me, but I care about what happens to Sirius just as much as you do! And if Nova gets to come, then I don't see why I can't either!" Ginny set her jaw so she looked more like her twin brothers than ever. Nova felt a pang of longing to see them.

      "Yeah, except Nova's not coming. She's staying here. With you. And Luna and Neville."

      Nova rounded on Ron faster than anyone could blink. "Ronald Weasley if you think for one second I'm staying here while you go off gallivanting off to save Black's life, then Malfoy obviously must have punched you hard enough to give you brain damage," Nova snapped, crossing her arms over her chest. "And speaking of which, did you see the Bat Bogey Hex Ginny managed to pull off? You know, the one you were raving about just seconds ago? Why shouldn't she come?" Ginny gave her a look of gratitude.

      "She's too -"

      "If you finish that statement with 'young,' I'm going to kill you Harry Potter," Ginny fumed. "I'm three years older than you were when you fought You-Know-Who over the Sorcerer's Stone." Ginny looked so strong in that moment that Nova actually felt the anger Ginny was radiating. "And Nova's right. It's because of me that Malfoy's stuck back in Umbridge's office with giant flying bogeys attacking him."

      "Yeah, but -"

      "We were all in the D.A. together," Neville said softly, a stark contrast from the harshness of Nova and Ginny's words. "It was all supposed to be about fighting You-Know-Who, wasn't it? And this is the first chance we've had to do something real - or was that all just a game or something?"

      "No," Harry stuttered, "of course it wasn't -"

      "Then we should come too," Neville interrupted. "We want to help."

      "That's right," Luna added, smiling happily as if she didn't have a care in the world.

      "Well, it doesn't matter anyway," Harry snarked through gritted teeth. Nova wanted to smack him. "Because we still don't know how to get there -"

      "I thought we'd settled that?" Luna asked in that placid tone of hers. Nova could see Ron seething in annoyance beside her and sent him a look that said if he dared yelled at Luna, Nova would have his head. "We're flying!"

      "Look, you might be able to fly without a broomstick but the rest of us can't sprout wings whenever we -"

      "Don't yell at her!" Nova demanded at the same time Luna commented, "there are other ways of flying than with broomsticks."

      "I s'pose we're going to ride on the back of the Kacky Snorgle or whatever it is?" Ron asked. Nova glared at him. "Sorry," he said after a few moments of Nova staring at him like she wanted to bash his head in.

      "The Crumple-Horned Snorkack can't fly," Luna replied, holding her chin up high. "But they can, and Hagrid says they're very good at finding places their riders are looking for." At Luna's words, Nova turned around hastily and saw the thestrals hiding in the forest, their glowing eyes pale white. Like she did every time she saw a thestral, she released a shaky breath. But unlike Nova, who showed apprehension at the magical creatures, Harry's eyes widened and he gently moved towards them. He was staring at them like they were his only hope.

      "Is it those mad horse things?" Ron asked, staring too far left to be looking at the thestral. "Those ones you can't see unless you've watched someone snuff it?"

      "Yeah," Harry replied, stroking the thestral's neck.

      "How many?"

      "Just two."

      "Well, we need three," Hermione said.

      "Four," Nova snarled. "You aren't going without me."

      "I think there are seven of us, actually," Luna mentioned airily, counting the amount of people with her fingers as if she wasn't sure. 

      "Don't be stupid, we can't all go! Look, you four" - he pointed to Nova, Neville, Luna, and Ginny, two of whom snarled angrily and the other two who started to protest -" you're not involved in this, you're not -"

      "ENOUGH!" Nova yelled, her volume loud enough to silence everyone. There was nothing but pure anger in her eyes. "You think you'll be able to do this without me? Unless you're forgetting, I'm the daughter of a Death Eater. There's going to be several there. Do you feel confident enough in your defense abilities to take all of them on? I know how they work. I know what they do. If you can't see that and realize it, then you're dumber than I thought you were. Also," she begun before Harry could cut her off, "you're forgetting that out of all of these people standing here, I'm the only one besides you who has seen Voldemort in his true form. I've seen what you saw that night Diggory died. Not having me there would be ridiculous, and you know it. Stop being stupid about this, Harry."

       Everyone stared at her for a few seconds in absolute silence. They were letting her words digest, seep into their thick skulls. Ginny was nodding in agreement, Neville looked like he wanted to be sick, and Luna was looking at Nova and smiling as if Nova was sprouting sunshine and wings. And Ron. Ron was looking at her like he forgot where it was she came from, like he wasn't bothered by it. His hand in hers squeezed even tighter and Nova released a breath she didn't know she was holding. He wasn't looking at her like he was disgusted, like she thought he might have felt back in Umbridge's office. He was looking at her with some sort of new understanding in his eyes.

      "Okay, fine, it's your choice," Harry said curtly after deciding there was no time to be spent arguing. "But unless we can find more thestrals you're not going to be able -"

      "Oh, more of them will come," Ginny replied confidently.

      "What makes you think that?"

      "Because in case you hadn't noticed, you and Hermione are both covered in blood," Ginny replied coolly in response to Harry's tone, "and we know Hagrid lures thestrals with raw meat, so that's probably why these two turned up in the first place..."

      Nova watched as a thestral moved closer to Harry and licked his sleeve, covered in the red liquid. Ginny was right. 

      "Okay then," Harry said, "Ron and I will take these two and go ahead, and Hermione can stay here with you four and she'll attract more thestrals -"

      "I'm not staying behind!" Hermione demanded.

      "There's no need," Luna said, smiling like she didn't have a care in the world. Whatever potion she was taking to stay so bloody positive all the time,Nova really needed to get her hands on some. "Look, here come more now... you two must really smell..."

      Harry turned. There were about seven thestrals flocking towards Harry like he was their parent, licking here and there on both Harry and Hermione's bodies. Harry clenched his jaw because his excuse hadn't worked, but he sighed in defeat. "Alright. Pick one and get on, then."

      It was significantly easier for Neville, Luna, Harry, and Nova to get onto the thestrals. It was simple to swing her leg over the thestrals's back and grip its mane in her hands so she wouldn't fall. When she looked back,expecting to see Ron on the thestral behind her, however, she found he and his sister gazing open-mouthed at Nova. She wondered what she looked like, sitting in midair. Hermione was looking around as if trying to deduce where a thestral was.

      "What?" Harry asked.

      "How're we supposed to get on when we can't see the things?" Ron asked.

      "Oh, it's easy," Luna said, sliding down from her thestral and walking over to the three. "Come here..." she trailed off, taking Ginny by the hand first and helping her get onto her thestral. Ginny looked down, wide-eyed and looking slightly terrified as she dangled. Hermione was a little more composed as Luna helped guide her onto a thestral, but her mouth did pop open when she felt something beneath her and still couldn't see it. Ron yelped in surprise when Luna helped him mount his thestral. Nova rolled her eyes. "They're harmless," Luna said to Ron when she noticed his hands shaking.

      "This is mad," Ron said after he had gotten used to sitting on something invisible. "Mad... if I could just see it -"

      "You'd better hope it stays invisible," Harry interrupted. Nova silently agreed. She'd give anything to not be able to see the winged creatures. It just reminded her of the day her mother died. "We all ready, then?"

      They all nodded their assents. 

      "Okay..." Harry trailed off. "Ministry of Magic, visitors' entrance, London, then." Harry told his thestral. "Er... if you know... where to go..."

      The thestrals did nothing for a moment. Just blinked uncertainly so much that Nova thought their plan wasn't going to work. And then, their wings flew open and the thestral carrying her crouched low enough for Nova's feet to touch the ground.

      Finally, her thestral shot up into the sky with the speed of a Snitch.

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IT'S BAAAAAAACK. I am relieved to get this chapter out to you guys after so long, but I also definitely needed the break from writing this. For those of you who don't know, I'm a full time college student with a part time job. Power isn't my top priority. I know you guys love this story, but I hate seeing nothing but "update" in my comments when I don't have the time or patience to write a chapter. Some nights I was up until two in the morning writing a paper or working the closing shift. Now that summer's here I'll have a little more time to write, but please remember that I'm busy. I love that you guys love this story. I love you guys. But I also have other things that I need to focus on sometimes.

Also, since it's been brought up in the past, I have the American version of OOTP because I live in California and bought it at a bookstore here. In all the American versions, Philosopher's has been changed to Sorcerer's. Believe me, I know the original title is Philosopher's Stone. But I'm going by the book I have, and the book I have says Sorcerer's. I'm sorry if that bugs you, but it's not my fault America published it weird. Blame the country. I hope you guys loved this chapter; I certainly loved getting back into the swing of writing Nova. I love you guys from the bottom of my heart!