Shakespeare ❆ Sirius Black [1]

Chapter Thirty Seven

Getting back into their normal schedule once classes started up was harder for some than others. Some were still on holiday mode in their minds. Peter for example was having a hard time staying awake during classes as he had gotten used to staying up long and waking up late. Others spent their time stuck in their own minds and romantic entanglements. Nicholas and Henry were inseparable, and while to most it seemed completely normal, seeing the two together most of the time even before, to others, those like Nadia and Adam, they were very observant of their silent loving interactions.

Nadia herself was having a hard time. Getting back to classes was the easy part, but her schedule had some changes. She blamed James... He had managed to convince the Quidditch team, and more specifically Adam, to allow Nadia to train with them. And even McGonagall had given her approval once she was informed of how good Nadia would be for the position. James was adamant on having her as the team's Seeker next year and he was not letting go of it. After much convincing he managed to get Nadia to agree, and now every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon she joined the team in their practices.

Adam had said it was also quite helpful to him which made it a bit more of a valid reason to Nadia. According to him it woke up his competitive spirit to have someone else chasing for the Snitch, which he usually did alone during practices. And she had to admit, it wasn't like the whole thing was boring. She had a lot of fun, but still found herself regretting it when morning would roll around and her out of shape muscles still hadn't adjusted to the new amount of activity.

However, the two busy afternoons meant some other days of the week were designated for her to take the time and catch up on the work she most usually skipped out on doing after practice. Today was one of those days when Nadia found herself sitting in the Hogwarts library grumbling over the Potions essay she was trying to start writing. She muttered the levitation charm under her breath, making the crumpled up piece of parchment fly into the rubbish bin situated by one of the shelves full of books.

After trying to throw the essay beginnings she was displeased with by hand, she realized her aim was most certainly not going to get her a spot as a Chaser on the Quidditch team that was for sure. And after a scolding from Madame Pince on the mess she was making, Nadia decided it would be best to use magic from that point forward.

When she first came to Hogwarts, Nadia's test results were evaluated and she had a thorough discussion with both Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore about what she wanted in her future and which classes would be best to take to accomplish her goals. Considering her results from her fifth year examinations in Russia, which were the equivalent of Britain's O.W.L.s, were good enough for her to be eligible for any N.E.W.T. classes she may wish to choose. Luckily enough, Nadia had always had a clear idea of what she wanted to be once she left school, so the choice of which N.E.W.T. classes she should take was rather clear.

Having grown up with a witch as a mother, and a Muggle as a father, Nadia had been exposed to the Healers who worked in the Wizarding hospitals, but also to Muggle doctors, who too had interesting methods of healing. Nadia always wondered why some of the methods from both sides weren't mixed, or why Healers didn't adopt some of the Muggle medicine. She doubted that anyone who had a headache had the energy to brew themselves a potion or the patience to wait for it to be finished. Her father had introduced her to the Muggle invention of painkillers. Tasteless and efficient, Nadia much preferred them to the vile tasting potion her mother would brew her. And that preference had quickly passed on to her friends as well as some Gryffindors. If asked by the teachers Nadia would not confirm that the nickname bestowed upon her among the Gryffindors had become Pain Killer Dealer.