(The Potters and the Prisoner of Azkaban, act three, chapter thirteen)

𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹

"What's on your mind?" Theo asked Nora as the two of them sat by the Black lake. It was in the afternoon and the sun was softly shining on their faces. There was only a month of school left, and besides getting bad news after bad news, Nora did not want to leave.

For the last three years Hogwarts had been a home to her and Harry, and now they had to go to Privet Drive again for two whole months. In other words, torture.

"Remember that day of my panic attack?" Nora questioned, looking sideways at him for a few seconds before looking back over the lake.

"Yes, I do." Theo nodded, grabbing her hand and softly brushing his thumb over her fingers, making the girl let out a soft sign.

"I need to tell you something, but you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone else. Especially not Malfoy or something." Nora said and Theo nodded at her with a frown as he felt her hand shake, not being able to stop feeling nervous for what she was about to tell him.

"Of course. I promise." Theo answered, reassuring the youngest Potter.

"Harry and I weren't allowed to go to Hogsmeade because neither of our legal guardians signed our permission form. Well, our uncle probably would've signed it if we didn't blow up our aunt, but well you see things happen when you hear someone talking badly about people you love, you know?" Nora said, more than asked.

The Potter girl did not feel guilty about what had happened with Marge at all. The woman had had it coming.

"Damn right, she had it coming." Kol commented with a proud smirk on his face.

"What happened to her again?" Damon asked. "Did they ever find her?" He personally would find it very amusing if she was still flying around somewhere, still blow up.

"They found her and turned her back to normal." Jeremy answered his question.

"Yes, the Minister said it when Nora and Harry arrived at the Leaky Cauldron." Stefan added and his girlfriend hummed.

"Wish I had a picture of it, tho." Caroline muttered.

"So, we sneaked out." Nora continued. "I don't know if you heard from Malfoy what had happened." The girl paused, looking at the Nott boy if he knew what she was talking about.

"Yeah, someone invincible had attacked him and his two little followers with snow balls." Theo nodded. "I wish the guys and I could've been there. It would've been amazing."

"It was." Nora grinnend.

"You?" Theo gasped, sitting up more straight.

"And Harry, but yes." Nora nodded, conforming his thoughts.

"And you did not invite me. How dare you!" Theo gasped, dramatically, making the Potter girl let out a genuine laugh. One she hadn't had in a long time.

"It was kinda a live in the moment thing. He was making comments on Hermione and Ron."

"Wait! How come the two of you were invincible?" Theo wondered out loud.

"Okay another thing you can't say to anyone."

"I promise on Aldo!" The boy sweared.

"Who's Aldo?" Nora asked with a laugh.

"My owl."

"You're promising on your owl?"

"He's very dear to me!" Theo defend himself.

"Invisibility Cloak."

Theo let a gasp out once more. "Oh Merlin! Can I borrow it? Merlin, it would be perfect to prank Malfoy and Goyle and Crabbe!"

"I have a feeling that will be Kol's first question to my dear daughter as well." Elijah slightly shook his head softly as he could already imagine the damage that would bring, but Kol immediately disagreed.

"That's not true. I would ask her first who I'd have to kill." The youngest Mikaelson brother replied with a 'duh' tone.

"Of course, but I do have to ask Harry first. It's his cloak as well." Nora spoke, getting a nod from understanding in return. "So we were walking around Hogsmeade with Ron and Mione under the Invisibility Cloak, when we saw the minister, McGonagall, Hagrid and the woman from the bar, uhm, what's her name?" The girl thought for a second until the name came into her mind. "Oh, right, Rosmerta. They were talking about Sirius Black and us - Harry and I."

Theo didn't miss how her voice turned sour for a few seconds as she spoke the criminal's name.

"So Harry and I followed them inside, and of course they didn't know that we were listening in on their conversation, because of the cloak, but as I said before, they were talking about Sirius. And so we found out- that uh- Sirius Black is Harry's godfather." Nora spoke, her voice full of hate once again as she spoke the man's name.

"Merlin." Theo spoke.

"And he's- he's my father." Nora finished.

"Your what?" Theo's voice came out louder than he intended, drawing the attention of a few birds nearby, which flew away in alarm.

"My father." Nora repeated, her tone sharp, but her expression was a mix of anger and sadness. "Apparently, he's been my father all along. No one thought it was necessary to tell us."

Theo sat in stunned silence, his mind racing to process her words. "But... how? I mean, why didn't anyone—? Are you okay, Nora?"

"I'm fine." The girl faked a smile as she looked up at him.

Theo frowned, not buying the facade for a second. "Nora, you don't have to pretend with me. This is... a lot. You don't have to be fine."

"I promise. I'm fine. I had a lot of time to process it." The girl lied.

"If I hadn't know her or Sirius, I seriously would've believed her." James spoke, but as her uncle he saw right through her.

"She's starting to lie more about her feelings." Lily muttered, knowing that was the start of a very slowly building up mental breakdown.

"I'm gonna kill Dumbledore and Fudge." Sirius spoke, if they had just given him the chance of a fair trail, even used a truth serum if that would've been necessary. But every passing second, he just realised how much of his daughter's life and Harry's he had been missing out on and for that he would eternally hate the people who caused that to be.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ

The girl figured if she could be honest with Theo about her father, she could tell her brother and friends about her date with Theo as well —with lots of encouragement from Cedric, of course.

"Come on, Nora," Cedric had said earlier that day, leaning casually against a tree in the courtyard. "You faced down a troll in your first year and survived a giant snake with Harry last year. How hard can it be to tell your friends you like Theo Nott?"

"You say that like it's the easiest thing in the world." Nora replied, folding her arms across her chest. "I know they don't like the Slytherins. I just don't want them to hate me for liking one."

Cedric shook his head, a patient smile on his face. "Nora, they're your friends. They might be surprised—maybe even annoyed at first—but they're not going to hate you for having feelings for someone. Especially not someone who's been good to you. If Theo makes you happy, that's what matters. Besides, you're one of the bravest people I know. You've already done the hard part—deciding how you feel. Telling them is nothing compared to that." Cedric spoke to her. "You're tougher than you think, Nora. And if they give you trouble, remind them you're a Potter. Stubbornness is in your blood."

"Yeah, you can say that." Lily spoke, looking at the Potter twins in the room, who were smirking at each other.

Oh, how many times they had heard that from their mother!

Nora couldn't help but grin at that, even if it was a little shaky. "Fine. I'll tell them. But if they start giving me strange looks, I'm dragging you into it."

"Deal." Cedric said with a wink.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ

So after dinner was done that evening, Nora told her brother and her two best friends that she wanted to tell them something. While they patiently awaited for her in their common room, Nora went to get Cedric. "I need someone who I already know is gonna be on my side, sorry." The girl spoke as they made their way up to the Gryffindor tower, and when they got inside, they saw the three waiting for them by the couch.

Just a few steps away, Fred and George Weasley lounged on the adjacent couch, clearly catching up after dinner but now watching the new arrivals with keen interest.

"Well, well, what's this?" Fred grinned, his eyes darting between Cedric and Nora. "A surprise meeting? Are we not invited?"

Nora rolled her eyes, though a small smile tugged at her lips. "You two could at least pretend to mind your own business sometimes."

"But where's the fun in that?" Fred shot back, earning a chuckle from Cedric.

"Stay if you want, but keep your mouths shut." Nora warned, though there was no real bite in her tone.

The twins exchanged mischievous glances but nodded, clearly planning to stay and observe, not knowing how much one was going to get hurt by Nora's words later.

Cedric gave her a reassuring nudge. "You've got this."

Taking a deep breath, Nora turned her attention back to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Her brother's green eyes were focused on her, concern flickering in them, while Hermione was already sitting up straighter, sensing the seriousness of the moment. Ron looked less patient, his arms crossed as he leaned back into the couch.

"So," Nora began, her voice only slightly shaky, "there's something I've been wanting to tell you all. And I brought Cedric because, well... moral support."

"That's actually so smart." Caroline smiled, turning to her two best friends. "I'm doing that from now on."

"That sounds mysterious." Harry said, though his tone was gentle.

Ron grinned. "Just spit it out, Nora. What is it?" He turned to Harry. "I've never seen your sister this nervous in three years, mate."

Nora shot him a look before glancing at Cedric, who nodded encouragingly. "Okay, here goes. I've been... seeing someone. Spending a lot of time with him."

"Her nerves are practically burning a hole through the screen." Damon smirk, finding this more amusing than anyone else in the room.

Hermione's brows furrowed slightly, but her expression remained calm. But anyone could tell that the girl was curious. "Who?"

Nora hesitated for a moment, then blurted it out. "Theo Nott."

The reaction was immediate. Ron shot forward in his seat, his face full of shock. "What? Theo Nott? As in slimy Slytherin, friends with Malfoy, pure-blood maniac Theo Nott?"

The room erupted into chaos. Ron's outburst was loud enough to make even Hermione wince, and his words were sharp and cutting. "Have you lost your mind, Nora? Of all the people you could've picked, you went for him? He's probably laughing about this with Malfoy right now!"

"Ron!" Hermione scolded, her tone clipped. "Don't be ridiculous. You don't even know Theo." She wasn't exactly fund of Malfoy and his friends either, but she also knew that her best friend wouldn't do something stupid as trusting him if she wasn't sure that he was indeed thrust worthy.

Ron glared at her. "And you do? I don't need to know him to know that he's bad news. He's a Slytherin, Hermione. They're all the same."

"Painful, Ron." Regulus spoke, rolling his eyes at the Weasley boy, but not actually being mad at him. He knew that many people had the same opinions of anyone from Slytherin like Ron's. He had gotten used to it be now.

Harry remained quiet, his jaw tense as he processed the news. His green eyes flicked between Ron and Nora, his expression unreadable. "Ron," he finally said, his voice steady but firm, "let her explain."

"Theo's not like Malfoy or his goons, hell he doesn't even like that bleached blond. He's different." Nora spoke.

"Is there actual prove that he bleached his hair?" Elena asked.

"I hope they test it out!" Bonnie replied enthusiastically.

Harry raised an eyebrow but stayed quiet, while Hermione frowned thoughtfully. "Different how?"

"He's kind. He listens. And he doesn't care that I'm a Gryffindor and he's a Slytherin." Nora said quickly. "We've been getting to know each other, and... well, I like him. A lot."

Silence stretched between them, and Nora's heart pounded. Ron looked like he was about to explode, but Harry spoke first. "If he makes you happy, that's all that matters."

"Wait, what?" Ron blurted, looking at Harry in disbelief. "You're okay with this?"

Harry shrugged. "If he makes Nora happy, I'm okay with it, yes."

Ron opened his mouth to argue, but Hermione cut in. "I agree with Harry. If Theo treats you well and makes you happy, that's what's important."

Nora felt a wave of relief and smiled, her shoulders relaxing. "Thanks, Hermione. And Harry. That means a lot."

Ron crossed his arms, grumbling under his breath. "I still don't like it. But if he makes you happy, I'll try to keep my mouth shut. But if he hurts you, Nora, we'll have words."

"Good." Nora said with a small laugh. "Because I'm not changing my mind."

Fred, who had been unusually quiet throughout the entire exchange, stood abruptly from the couch. His usual grin was nowhere to be seen, and his face was set in an expression that Nora couldn't quite place—hurt, frustration, maybe even anger. Without saying a word, he turned and headed straight for the portrait hole, not looking back once.

George hesitated as he reached the portrait hole, his hand resting against the frame. He knew exactly why Fred had stormed out. Turning back to the group, he caught Nora's worried expression and the confusion etched on her face.

"Look," George began, his tone softer than usual. "don't take it personally. Fred, he's just got some things on his mind. I'll handle it."

Nora tilted her head, narrowing her eyes slightly as she nodded. The Weasley quickly ran after his brother while Nora turned to Cedric. "Did I say something wrong?" The Potter girl questioned, being the only one obvious to what had just happened, well except for Ron, who was looking down at the food on the coffee table in front of them. Fred had been his usual self seconds before, and now she couldn't stop herself from worrying about him.

Cedric gave Nora a comforting smile, though there was a hint of hesitation in his eyes. He could tell that Nora was clearly unsettled by Fred's sudden departure, but just like Harry and Hermione, he had an idea why the older Weasley twin had left. But what they didn't know was that Fred's feelings for Nora were something that had been developing for a long time and the only one who really knew about that was now out looking for his twin brother.

"You didn't do anything wrong." Cedric said softly, his voice reassuring.

"She really was blind." Jasmine spoke, a small smile tugging on her lips, knowing that Nora and Fred would make up, but it was just the fact that her daughter was so obvious to Fred's feeling made her remind her of someone.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ

Hi guys, be sure to comment and vote if you want. I love reading them and your support keeps me so motivated! Thank you so much for reading and I hoped you enjoyed the chapter!

Be sure to comment and vote if you want. I love reading comments and your support keeps me so motivated. Katherine xoxo

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ

WORDS: 2605

POSTED: MONDAY 27/01/2025

WRITTEN: MONDAY 27/01/2025