Hermione, Ron, and Harry went to Hagrid's Hut. Nova, who already knew the tale he was going to tell, opted out of going.

She already knew about Dumbledore's plan with the Giants. She already knew they were trying to get the Giants on their side, nearly succeeding. Unfortunately, they're siding with the Death Eaters. 

Besides, she didn't want to look Harry in the eyes. 

The next few days, the tension would break a knife in half if one were to cut it. 

"Hello, Nova," Harry said politely, catching her eye as the Golden Quartet walked to Hagrid's lesson. His heart skipped a beat as her honey eyes gazed into his. However, his stomach dropped to the floor as she looked away.

"'Ello, Harry," Nova replied, pulling the ends of her Pa's sweater over her hands. She needed to cast the cloaking spell on her hand, but with Harry being less than a foot to her left, she didn't want him hearing. 

"How is your hand?" Harry asked as his eyes drifted from her lips to her hands that were hidden beneath the sweater. 

"Alright," Nova stated. 

A blind man could see the tension in the air. Both yearned for the other to say something else, but neither did. 

"So . . ." Harry trailed off awkwardly, the tension nearly suffocating him. 

Ron and Hermione walked behind them in hopes of escaping the awkward air. 

"What?" Nova asked as her black converses hit the ground. 

"How have you been?" Harry asked. 

Behind him, Hermione facepalmed and Ron groaned. 

Luckily, Hagrid saved Harry from further embarrassment as class began. 

"We're workin' in here today!" Hagrid called happily to the approaching students, jerking his head back at the dark trees behind him. A dead cow was thrown over his shoulder. "Bit more sheltered! Anyway, they prefer the dark. . . ."

"What prefers the dark?" Nova heard Malfoy say sharply to Crabbe and Goyle, a trace of panic in his voice. "What did he say prefers the dark — did you hear?"

"Monsters," Nova said in a dark voice, scaring the living daylights out of Draco. "They lurk in the shadows, waiting for their prey. Much like a rapist."

Nova walked away from Hermione, Ron, and more specifically, Harry. 

"Wassup, boys?" Nova called as she stood between Blaise and Theo. 

"Why aren't you with Saint Potter?" Theo questioned. 

"Well, hello to you too, Theodore," Nova grumbled. 

"But seriously, what's going on with you two?" Blaise whispered. 

"Nothing."

"Nothing?" Theor raised an eyebrow. "He is literally staring at you like a lost puppy."

Nova turned her head to look at Harry. 

Sure enough, he was staring at her. His emerald green eyes held a sad and longing look. Nova held his gaze for a moment before turning back to the boys. 

"How unfortunate for him." Nova shrugged. 

"That was not nothing!" Blaise hissed. "Normally you would wink at him, causing Saint Potter to become a stuttering mess."

"Things change, I guess."

"You guess?" Theo asked, affronted. "You're in love with him. What the bloody hell happened?"

"You're in love with Blaise," Nova stated, causing both boys to turn red. "Long story short. I kissed him. He didn't say or do anything. I left. We haven't talked about it. Basically, I've been rejected."

Blaise and Theo began to laugh loudly. People around them turned to look, but shrugged and disregarded them. 

"Him? Reject you?" Blaise laughed.

"He is either stupid or you're pulling our leg." Theo joked. 

"Maybe it was a miscommunication," Blaise suggested. "Bloke has been in love with you for five years."

"Clearly he hasn't. We got into a fight because . . .I don't really know the reason. He told me I was confusing and the problem. I told him that I'm sorry I didn't come with instructions and that he didn't have the ability to understand them anyway. I called him oblivious. He called me complicated." Nova gave an extremely simplified version. "I basically told him I have been hinting towards my feelings for months. He still didn't get it. I marched over to him, grabbed him by his tie and kissed him."

"How was it?" Theo asked. 

"Oh Merlin . . ." Blaise breathed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. 

"Amazing!" Nova breathed dreamily but quickly snapped out of it. "It doesn't matter now. When I pulled away, he didn't say or do anything for almost a whole minute. I left. He hasn't brought it up since."

Theo turned to glare at Harry. 

Lucky for Harry, Hagrid came back before Theo could pummel him. 

"Ready?" said Hagrid happily, looking around at the class. "Right, well, I've bin savin' a trip inter the forest fer yer fifth year. Thought we'd go an' see these creatures in their natural habitat. Now, what we're studyin' today is pretty rare, I reckon I'm probably the on'y person in Britain who's managed ter train 'em —" 

"And you're sure they're trained, are you?" said Malfoy, the panic in his voice even more pronounced now. "Only it wouldn't be the first time you'd brought wild stuff to class, would it?" 

The Slytherins murmured agreement and a few Gryffindors looked as though they thought Malfoy had a fair point too. 

Nova, who adored Hagrid, even agreed. However, she would not stand disrespect towards Hagrid. 

"Ya know, Malfoy," Nova sneered. "I wonder if your father ever trained you to be anything other than a racist Death Eater. But then, I remembered that the only thing you'll ever be in a racist pansycake. You prey on the weak, much like your father. Perhaps it as something to do with a malfunction in the lower section, particularly in the size-"

" 'Course they're trained," Hagrid said, cutting across Nova. He sent her a warning look.

"So what happened to your face, then?" demanded Malfoy. He eyed his cousin wearily. He missed her. They never had the best relationship, but he missed knowing if he needed to, he could always go to her. 

"Mind yer own business!" said Hagrid, angrily. "Now if yeh've finished askin' stupid questions, follow me!" 

He turned and strode straight into the forest. Nobody seemed much disposed to follow. Nova began to march into the forest with Blaise and Theo following. Harry, Ron, and Hermione not far behind. The class followed them but hung back by several yards.

"I'm warning you, Potter," Theo growled lowly. "Break her heart, and you won't live to fight You-Know-Who."

"Theodore!" Nova reprimanded. 

"What?" Theo asked exasperatedly. 

"Don't play coy." Nova hissed, raising her eyebrow. "Blaise, grab your boyfriend."

"We aren't dating!" They in unison. 

"You should work on that!" Nova called as she jogged to catch up with Hagrid.  

"Gather roun', gather roun'," said Hagrid encouragingly. "Now, they'll be attracted by the smell o' the meat but I'm goin' ter give 'ema call anyway, 'cause they'll like ter know it's me. . . ." 

He turned, shook his shaggy head to get the hair out of his face, and gave an odd, shrieking cry that echoed through the dark trees like the call of some monstrous bird. Nobody laughed; most of them looked too scared to make a sound. 

Hagrid gave the shrieking cry again. A minute passed in which the class continued to peer nervously over their shoulders and around trees for a first glimpse of whatever it was that was coming. And then, as Hagrid shook his hair back for the third time and expanded his enormous chest, Harry nudged Ron and pointed into the black space between two gnarled yew trees.

A pair of blank, white, shining eyes were growing larger through the gloom and a moment later the dragonish face, neck, and then skeletal body of a great, black, winged horse emerged from the darkness. It looked around at the class for a few seconds, swishing its long black tail, then bowed its head and began to tear flesh from the dead cow with its pointed fangs.

Most of the class didn't see them. 

Harry remembered what Nova had called them.

Thestrals. 

They're only seen by those who have witnessed death. 

"Oh, and here comes another one!" said Hagrid proudly, as a second black horse appeared out of the dark trees, folded its leathery wings closer to its body, and dipped its head to gorge on the meat. "Now . . .put yer hands up, who can see 'em?"

Nova's hand floated into the air. Harry's followed not long after. Theo and Neville had also raised their hands. 

"Yeah . . . yeah, I knew you'd be able ter, Nova, Harry," he said seriously."An' you too, Neville, eh? An' —" 

"Excuse me," said Malfoy in a sneering voice, "but what exactly are we supposed to be seeing?" 

"Thestrals, you fucking idiot," Nova sneered to her cousin. It was low enough for only him to hear. 

"Thestrals," said Hagrid proudly and Hermione gave a soft "oh!" of comprehension at Harry's shoulder. "Hogwarts has got a whole herd of 'em in here. Now, who knows — ?"

"But they're really, really unlucky!" interrupted Parvati, looking alarmed. "They're supposed to bring all sorts of horrible misfortune on people who see them. Professor Trelawney told me once —" 

"No, no, no," said Hagrid, chuckling, "tha's jus' superstition, tha's, they aren' unlucky, they're dead clever an' useful! 'Course, this lot don' get a lot o' work, it's mainly jus' pullin' the school carriages unless Dumbledore's takin' a long journey an' don' want ter Apparate —an' here's another couple, look —"

 Two more horses came quietly out of the trees, one of them passing very close to Parvati, who shivered and pressed herself closer to the tree, saying, "I think I felt something, I think it's near me!" 

"Don' worry, it won' hurt yeh," said Hagrid patiently. "Righ', now, who can tell me why some o' you can see them an' some can't?" 

Nova's hand was in the air before he could finish his question. 

"Nova?" Hagrid asked beaming at her. 

"Thestrals can only be seen by those who have witnessed death, by those who have watched someone die. However, one must understand what it means." Nova explained. Her eyes darted towards Harry then back to Hagrid. "If an infant or small child were to witness a death, they wouldn't see thestrals simply because they wouldn't understand the complexity of death at the time."

"Tha's exactly right," said Hagrid solemnly, "twenty points ter Gryffindor. Now, thestrals —" 

"Hem, hem."

Nova stiffened and clenched her hand that was sore from last night's detention. She clenched her jaw in irritation. If this bitch destroyed Hagrid, she'd destroy her. 

She stood several feet away from Harry. Her pink cloak greatly contrasted against the forest making her stick out like a sore thumb. 

Hagrid, who had never heard Umbridge's fake cough before, was gazing in some concern at the closest thestral, evidently under the impression that it had made the sound. 

"Hem, hem." 

"Oh hello!" Hagrid said, smiling, having located the source of the noise. 

"You received the note I sent to your cabin this morning?" said Umbridge, in the same loud, slow voice she had used with him earlier, as though she was addressing somebody both foreign and very slow. "Telling you that I would be inspecting your lesson?" 

Nova's anger grew by the minute. The way Umbridge spoke t Hagrid did not help. 

"Oh yeah," said Hagrid brightly. "Glad yeh found the place all righ'! Well, as you can see — or, I dunno — can you? We're doin' thestrals today —" 

"I'm sorry?" said Umbridge loudly, cupping her hand around her ear and frowning. "What did you say?" 

Hagrid looked a little confused. 

"Er — thestrals!" he said loudly. "Big — er — winged horses, yeh know!"He flapped his gigantic arms hopefully. 

Professor Umbridge raisedher eyebrows at him and muttered as she made a note on her clipboard," 'has . . . to . . . resort . . . to . . . crude . . . sign . . . language . . .' " 

"Well . . . anyway . . ." said Hagrid, turning back to the class and looking slightly flustered. "Erm . . . what was I sayin'?" 

" 'Appears . . . to . . . have . . . poor . . . short . . . term . . . memory . . .' "muttered Umbridge, loudly enough for everyone to hear her. Draco Malfoy looked as though Christmas had come a month early; Hermione, on the other hand, had turned scarlet with suppressed rage. 

"Oh yeah," said Hagrid, throwing an uneasy glance at Umbridge'sclipboard, but plowing on valiantly. "Yeah, I was gonna tell yeh how come we got a herd. Yeah, so, we started off with a male an' five females. This one," he patted the first horse to have appeared, "name o'Tenebrus, he's my special favorite, firs' one born here in the forest —" 

"Are you aware," Umbridge said loudly, interrupting him, "that the Ministry of Magic has classified thestrals as 'dangerous'?" 

"Are you aware the brightness of your cloak is considered 'dangerous' for my eyes?" Nova mocked. 

"Miss Black-" Umbridge began with a raised eyebrow. 

"It's Lupin-Black," Nova said innocently.

Harry's gaze met hers and he smiled. Nova gave him a small smile in turn, but looked back at Hagrid as he answered the toad's question. 

"Thestrals aren' dangerous! All righ, they might take a bite outta you if yeh really annoy them —"

" 'Shows . . . signs . . . of . . . pleasure . . . at . . . idea . . . of . . . violence . . . ' " muttered Umbridge, scribbling on her clipboard again. 

"Hem, hem," Nova imitated Umbridge perfectly. Everyone's attention was on her. Remus's jumper shielded Nova from the cold. 

"Yes, Miss Black?" Umbridge questioned as she glared at Nova's appeal. More specifically, her black ripped jeans. 

"It's Lupin-Black, bish," Nova corrected innocently. "I would just like to ask you to refrain from using your voice, or talking in general. Your voice is damaging my eardrums, and I'm trying to pay attention to my real professor."

"No — come on!" said Hagrid, looking a little anxious now, as he attempted to take the attention off of Nova. He hoped it would ease Umbridge's punishment on her. "Imean, a dog'll bite if yeh bait it, won' it — but thestrals have jus' gota bad reputation because o' the death thing — people used ter think they were bad omens, didn' they? Jus' didn' understand, did they?" 

Umbridge did not answer; she finished writing her last note, then looked up at Hagrid and said, again very loudly and slowly, "Please continue teaching as usual. I am going to walk" — she mimed walking — Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson were having silent fits of laughter— "among the students" — she pointed around at individual members of the class — "and ask them questions." 

She pointed at her mouth to indicate talking. Hagrid stared at her, clearly at a complete loss to understand why she was acting as though he did not understand normal English. Hermione had tears of fury in her eyes now. 

"You hag, you evil hag!" she whispered, as Umbridge walked toward Pansy Parkinson. "I know what you're doing, you awful, twisted, vicious —" 

"Erm . . . anyway," said Hagrid, clearly struggling to regain the flow of his lesson, "so — thestrals. Yeah. Well, there's loads o' good stuff abou' them. . . ." 

"Do you find," said Professor Umbridge in a ringing voice to PansyParkinson, "that you are able to understand Professor Hagrid when he talks?"

Just like Hermione, Pansy had tears in her eyes, but these were tears of laughter; indeed, her answer was almost incoherent because she was trying to suppress her giggles. "No . . . because . . . well . . . it sounds. . . like grunting a lot of the time. . . ." 

"Now, now, Pug-face," Nova sneered. "We all know you simply lack the brain capacity to understand. It's okay to admit it."

"Miss Black, hold your tongue!" Umbridge snapped. 

"No thanks. I find holding my tongue is rather unsanitary-" Nova sassed, but Blaise had pulled her to the other side of the group, away from Umbridge. 

"Er . . . yeah . . . good stuff abou' thestrals. Well, once they're tamed, like this lot, yeh'll never be lost again. 'Mazin' senses o' direction, jus' tell 'em where yeh want ter go —" Hagrid continued. 

"Assuming they can understand you, of course," said Malfoy loudly, and Pansy Parkinson collapsed in a fit of renewed giggles. 

Professor Umbridge smiled indulgently at them and then turned to Neville. 

"You can see the thestrals, Longbottom, can you?" she said. Neville nodded."Whom did you see die?" she asked, her tone indifferent.

"Neville, do not answer that," Nova demanded stepping forward before Blaise and Theo could stop her. 

"This is gonna be good!" James exclaimed. "Oi! Someone get the popcorn!"

Neville happily obliged.

"It is not your place to tell another student what they can and can't do," Umbridge said in a sickly sweet voice. 

"Have you ever considered your question may be a bit personal?" Nova raised an eyebrow with her arms crossed. 

"It's a small question, dear," Umbridge replied sweetly. 

Hagrid continued with his lesson as Nova argued with the toad. 

"It's not a small question!" Nova objected. 

"My grandad," Neville said boldly, sending an apologetic look towards Nova. 

"And what do you think of them?" Umbridge asked, waving her stubby hand at the horses, who by now had stripped a great deal of the carcass down to the bone. 

"Erm," said Neville nervously, with a glance at Hagrid. "Well,they're . . . er . . . okay. . . ." 

" 'Students . . . are . . . too . . . intimidated . . . to . . . admit . . . they. . . are . . . frightened. . . .' " muttered Umbridge, making anothernote on her clipboard. 

Harry's hand wrapped around Nova's wrist, pulling her to the back of the group. 

"No!" said Neville, looking upset, "no, I'm not scared of them — !" 

Harry's hand interlocked with Nova's has he began to rub soothing circles on the back of her hand. The anger Nova held faded from a deadly wildfire to heated embers. 

"It's quite all right," said Umbridge, patting Neville on the shoulder with what she evidently intended to be an understanding smile, though it looked more like a leer to Nova. "Well, Hagrid," she turned to look up at him again, speaking once more in that loud, slow voice, "I think I've got enough to be getting along with. . . . You will receive" — she mimed taking something from the air in front of her —"the results of your inspection" — she pointed at the clipboard — "in ten days' time." She held up ten stubby little fingers, then, her smile wider and more toadlike than ever before beneath her green hat, she bustled from their midst, leaving Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson in fits of laughter, Hermione actually shaking with fury, and Neville looking confused and upset. 

Harry watched in admiration as Nova's fingers moved slightly. He knew what she was doing. By the looks on Blaise and Theo's faces (that held wicked grins), they did too. 

Umbridge was pushed forward by an invisible force. Then she flew into the air. Her body jerked up and down, up and down before being placed back on the ground. 

Umbridge's hair went every which way and she looked around frantically. She was no longer composed but looked a mess. 

As Umbridge attempted to straighten herself out, leaves zoomed towards her. 

She ran screaming in terror.

Nova grinned up at Harry, and he returned it looking in her amber eyes. 

Harry's gaze drifted down to her lips. If only he could . . .

Nova pulled her hand from his grasp before running to jump of Theo's back. 

Harry's heart sank. 

***

For the next two weeks, Harry and Nova remained at odds end. 

One night, while Harry was planning lessons for D.A. and Nova was at detention, there was a meeting in the library. 

"Wassup, Gryffindorks?" Theo called, plopping himself into the chair next to Hermione. 

"Theo!" Blaise hissed. "Stop! You're embarrassing us!"

"That's what you said when I ate the cake when we were seven!" 

"It was a mud cake! We were at a pureblood ball!" Blaise hissed, kicking the leg of the chair Theo was tipping causing him to fall. 

"What are you two doing here?" Hermione asked quizzically. 

"We are here to help plan Operation Harova!" Theo hissed. 

"Do you have any ideas?" Blaise asked, sitting next to Fred. 

Due to being in Dumbledore's Army, the group has grown closer. Not close enough to say they were family, but close enough to consider each other friends. 

"We could put truth serum in their goblets," Ron suggested. 

"Boring!" Theo sang. "We should hex Harry so every time he tries to deny his feelings his feet get bigger."

"Why not hex, Nox?" Hermione asked. 

Fred, George, Theo, and Blaise looked at her as if she had grown three heads. 

"Are you mad?" Fred shouted in a hushed whisper. 

"I value my life," George added. 

Blaise pulled out a stack of one-inch binders. 

Operation Peter Pan

Operation Harova

Operation Lion Ceremony

Operation Pride

"Why the bloody hell did you bring this one?" Theo hissed as he hid Operation Peter Pan. "It's extra top secret!"

"It was with the other ones!" Blaise defended. 

"What's with the binders?" Ron asked. 

"It helps us organize our plans. Operation Harova is getting Noxxy and Harold together. Lion Ceremony is there wedding-"

"No!" Ginny yelled, pulling out her own binders. "I already have their wedding planned! And their honeymoon! And why Nox is awesome!"

"Too bad! We have our own!" Theo stated grinning cheekily. 

"What is 'Operation Pride'?" Hermione asked. 

"Our protest with Nox that supports the LGBTQ+ community," Blaise answered. 

"Bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed as he opened their binder about plans to get Harry and Nova together. "How many plans did you come up with?"

"500." They answered in unison.

"Now!" Fred said grinning wickedly. 

"Let's get cracking!" Ginny finished as she stuck her tongue out at George, who was upset he didn't get to finish for his twin. Ron patted George's shoulder sympathetically.