Moon Dust | Mattheo Riddle

Chapter 36: Changes

The summer air drifted through the forest, floating around swiftly in the breeze as Nova ran through the trees, manoeuvring her way through them. She was taking one last run in the forest before they moved to Grimmauld place in the morning. Dumbledore had encouraged them to move to keep Sirius' identity hidden and mostly to give the order of the phoenix a sort of home base.

Unfortunately, Grimmauld place just happened to be the grand townhouse Padfoot had grown up in. The one he'd fled from when he was sixteen because of his cruel parents and the one left to him after being the only living heir of the house. It felt wrong really, uncomfortable to be moving there when the place had brought Sirius so much despair growing up, but it was the only safe and hidden place they could go right now with everything that was happening.

The rumours were spreading like wildfire, of he who should not be named and his untimely reappearance. More often than not, over the past few months, Nova had been on edge, the colour of her eyes mirroring the feeling in an ambient violet colour. She couldn't stop thinking of Cedric, missing her friend, worrying about Mattheo, and how all this would be affecting him; hoping his father wouldn't try to get to him in any way. She was worried about Harry having to go back to the Dursleys on his own, especially after all the horrors and trauma he'd experienced with the tri-wizard tournament. Then there was her father and the torturous memories that were being brought up for him with the rumours. She could see it in his eyes, the downcast nostalgia, like he was anticipating some sort of attack, especially given the werewolf speculation surrounding them and the fact most dark creatures sided with the death eaters in the first war, which meant eyes were on them, untrusting eyes. There was also Sirius, having to move into his old house and relive his past all over again. Nova hated that, she wished there was somewhere else they could go, somewhere they'd all be safe but their options were scarce. Moreover, he'd never admit it but she could tell Sirius was reluctant to go back, he was on edge, just like the rest of them, if not a little more. It had been mostly Remus packing their belongings, getting everything in order while Sirius didn't have much to say about the situation, apart from the constant hinting on how much he despised it.

Nova had suggested the run in an attempt to take his mind off it, and her own. It was getting a bit much in all honesty, so when she finally felt the sun on her face, the breeze washing over her, she let out a deep breath.

There were birds above her, flying overhead with a gleeful tune as she dashed past them, jumping over a fallen log.

Her feet hit the ground with a bounce and she took off again, glancing over her shoulder to see the black dog sprinting after her, panting for breath. Much to Sirius' dismay, he found it hard to keep up with Nova now, though he tried not to let it show.

It was a little strange at first, getting used to running like this, but Nova was adapting quite quickly, having spent the past two months getting to this point.

After... the last task, everyone had been sent home a month early. Parents had been taking their kids out of school anyway–out of fear of the speculation of you know who, and the trauma over what had happened at the last task–to the point the teachers and Dumbledore decided it best to just let everyone go home. Which was ideal, Nova couldn't be there anymore, knowing her friend was dead. It just didn't feel right.

Things were better at home. Harry stayed with them for the first week of summer. Remus had had to fight for that, pestering Dumbledore into letting it happen but he'd managed to get a week before Harry was due to be sent back to the Dursleys. Remus and Sirius–as Padfoot of course–were waiting for them both on the platform when they got back to London and then barely left their sight the whole week.

Once Harry left Nova really started to feel it all. She couldn't sleep much and was restless a lot of the time. She needed to get herself out of her slump, and so she had to find something to distract herself.