The Breakup Plan •James Potter• |editing|

❁Chapter 17❁

Chapter 17

"Nora, Nora, Nora!" Adria exclaimed as she turned around, a grin on her lips as she looked at the girl, a laugh escaping her lips as she saw Nora clad in a hoodie - she was certain she had stolen from James - and a pair of shorts, "aren't you freezing?"

"I'm alright," Nora chuckled as she approached the girl in the courtyard, her slippers the only thing shielding her feet from the snow that decorated the ground, "I slept in so I tried to get here as fast as I could, I needed to see you all before you left!"

"Well, of course!" Adria exclaimed, laughing softly, "I think James has already left though, I can't find him anywhere."

"What?!" Nora frowned, her shoulders slumping as she looked around the courtyard, the sadness in her stomach that all of her friends where leaving bubbling furiously, "why?!"

"I'm not sure," Adria tutted, throwing her arms tightly around Nora, "y'know, you could've came to my house, it would've been fun to have someone else join us!"

"I know, James said you would be more than happy to invite me, but I like the castle, as much as it is lonely, it really is like my home," Nora smiled softly, trying to mask her sadness as she bid Adria a goodbye, frowning as she made her way to the three boys she had grown closer to in the time between now and September, "have a nice Christmas, boys!"

"You two, Nora," Remus smiled, opening his arms which the Hufflepuff walked into, squeezing him tightly with a soft laugh, "are you sure you'll be alright here on your own?"

"Yes, I'll be fine," she mumbles as she pulls away, throwing her arm around a grinning Sirius, "I just wish I got to see James before he left."

"What are you-" Peter was cut off by Remus - not so subtly - shoving him, a grin on his lips until Nora turned with an odd look upon her features.

"Adria said he had already left, she hasn't seen him," Nora sighs, wrapping her arms around Peter in a hug, and soon did she rest her elbow on his shoulder as she talked with the boys, "he probably slept in, the idiot."

"Whilst that wouldn't be surprising, he wasn't in the dorm when we left," Sirius sighed, throwing a sympathetic smile at Nora who couldn't help but nod.

"Oh well, I suppose I just wasn't important enough," she shrugged, trying her best to wave it off, watching the frowns on the boy's faces deepen.

"Nora-"

"I need to go find Aubrey, I'll see you later," she waves, forcing the grin onto her lips as she pushes past the boys, looking for Aubrey in the crowd until she stumbles across Isaac and Blair.

"My fellow adventurers," she grins, slipping her arm around Isaac's waist who throws his arm around her with Blair grinning in front of her, "anything planned for Christmas?"

"Stay in bed all day and watch Christmas movies," Blair giggled, "hopefully my dad won't be too much trouble."

"Well, you could always come back here early if he is," Nora pointed out, "then again, of course it would be tough to leave your sister."

"Exactly, I hate leaving her with him," Blair frowned, shaking her head, "you alright, Nora, you seem down?"

"I'm fine, I suppose," she sighed, spotting Finn and Milo amongst the crowd and making a note to go and see them, "I just, I thought James would at least say goodbye before he left."

"Ah," Blair tutted, moving to throw her arm around the girl, "I'm sure he had a reasonable explanation."

"Yes, forgetfulness," Nora mumbles, "well I'll see you two later, have a nice Christmas!"