𝕐 𝔼 𝕃 𝕃 𝕆 𝕎 | 𝐒𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐮𝐬 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤

13. H o m e

(N/A: We can all agree that Ben Barnes as Young Sirius Black is the ONLY choice - I'm dribbling)

Nora exhausted herself out by thinking so hard about too many things at once that she fell asleep for the whole journey. She woke up slowly and made her way onto the platform once she realised that the train was standing still. She made it sleepily up to the great hall and took her seat next to Poppy, Kate and their new room mate Ali.

Looking to her right, she caught a glimpse of Garrett, both of them looking at each other with a sad but friendly smile. "What happened?" Poppy whispered into her ear, looking over at Garrett. Swatting her away, Nora sighed and turned back to face the girls.

"Sad that I couldn't even last 4 months into a relationship because of the people I have around me! Before it was the other way around! I barely knew a bloody soul. Dating is dumb. It's a buggers game so I'm not bothering." Nora gave a casual shrug, picking up her glass of water.

"Okay... and now what really happened!" Kate snorted, folding her arms at how dramatic Nora was being suddenly. Nora had developed a lot more sass over the summer and the girls were itching to know why. Nora glared, looking at them a few times before putting down her drink and let a small sigh escape her lips.

"Sirius happened.." They all leaned forward and gasped wildly. "No, not like that you muppets!" She tried to shush them quickly, not wanting to draw attention to herself. She had enough of that last year. "Garrett thought that there was something more than a platonic friendship happening with him and I. Absolutely re-"

"True!!" the girls interrupted, grins plastered as they shook their heads. Nora groaned, flopping her head into her hands.

"Don't start... First Lily said this, now you three..."

Over on the Gryffindor table, the four Marauder boys managed to sneak into the hall just as the ceremony of new students were starting, the four of them crouching down behind the small first years as they slowly trudged down the aisle, stopping off at the benches where their friends were. On the way, Sirius glanced over at Nora, having only owled her during the summer and not seen her physically. He groaned loudly, a hormonal purr rumbling through him as he carried on looking her way. He mentally cursed that he let Garrett ask her out in the first place when suddenly he took a double take at her seating; surrounded by her girlfriends and not Garrett, whom was sat at the very far end of the table. Finally seated, Sirius leaned over his plate to catch one girl who knew everything about anything in that school

"Pst... PST! Evans... Lily. Oi Head girl. Finally! Thank you.. erm. Lovers Quarrel over on the Hufflepuff table? " Sirius whispered, tilting his head towards Nora's table. All the girls and boys, minus Lily, scrambled together to see a tired looking Nora sat far away from her boyfriend. All eyes suddenly snapped back over to Lily when she hummed slightly.

"Nora and Garrett broke up. When I say they broke up.. Garrett broke up with her because he believed Nora didn't actually like him enough." Lily kept her voice hushed, not wanting any of the gossip to spread. It was the last thing Nora wanted.

"The fuck! We've been owling all summer. Why didn't she tell me this?" Sirius scowled, his fist accidentally slamming next to his cutlery too hard, his eyes dark. Lily shot a disapproving look at him, unimpressed by his behaviour.

"Because it only happened last night Sirius..." Lily's voice went quiet, replaying the memory in her head of Nora arriving at hers via Floo Powered in a complete state of shock that night before, moments after Garrett dumped her before a date. Sirius eyes softened, his whole body fighting the urge to get up and punch Garrett into a pulp, putting him out of Quidditch season. Sirius felt a sobering feeling of relief wash over him however, a tiny smug quiver of a smirk danced at the corner of his lips. Since his friendship with Nora developed over the summer, so did his crush and now... he was bonkers for Nora, just like how James was for Lily. The difference was, Sirius wasn't sure if it would be okay or appropriate to jump on the opportunity so soon after Nora being dumped.

Back over on the Hufflepuff table after the ceremony was done, Nora caught a glimpse of a familiar laugh, like music playing in her ears, and grinned momentarily to herself. She looked over Ali's head and locked eyes with whom she was hoping to see. "Sure... he was definitely not the reason why you and Garrett split." Poppy sarcastically giggled, Sirius now watching them with a smirk which then suddenly grew into a grin when Nora blushed at Poppy's accusation, the girls laughing uncontrollably.

Having recovered from her friends purposely embarrassing her, she caught Garrett in the corner of her eye, scoffing with a eye roll before turning away and shaking his head. Sirius too caught onto that and was ready to pounce; thankfully Remus had caught on and soothed his hot headed friend, keeping him pinned to the bench. It was definitely a dramatic first night back to say the least.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

The first morning into the new school year had arrived. Nora was already up and down in the greenhouse, helping her head of house with classroom set up before she needed to head to Potions. Having missed her at breakfast, mainly due to how early in the morning she got there, Sirius found her on the map and leaned against the door frame.

"Good morning half pint! Didn't get much of a growth spurt over the summer I see!" His smooth voice was enough for Nora to snap out of her trance and felt an unexplainable warmth in the pit of her stomach. Smirking slightly, she turned around and was met with his doopy one back. She pulled off her gardening gloves and over to her best guy friend.

"No.. but I can see you've shrunk" She quipped back, the playful insult routine began. He grinned and pulled her into a python like hug. They chuckled together, enjoying each others company in such a natural fashion that he didn't even realise how it would have looked to an outsider. Nora's blush was warm, her cheeks sore from the continuous smiling. She was glad she found a male friend she was comfortable around, and despite all of her protesting that Sirius wasn't the reason for her break up with Garrett, she knew in the back of her mind it could be possible. Not wanting to push on that fact, she was happy to let fate decide. Letting go, Sirius lifted his bag back onto his shoulder and sorted his tie.

"You coming to Potions?" He brushed back his hair, the memory of him mocking her in the pub last year springing back into her mind, a small smile fluttering on her lips. She nodded and hollered to Professor Sprout that it was time for her class, bidding a farewell. The two of them walked to class, chatting animatedly yet quietly about Remus' transformation over the summer. Nora wanted to see it ever since she found out about it, but being the stress heads the four boys were, they banned that idea as soon as she told them she knew. Ever since, she had been determined to see it just once.

They reached the cold, dark dungeon, separating at the door as Sirius and James hid at the back whilst Nora and Lily sat front and centre. Nora was happy to be home and ready for the adventures to begin.