Secrets Revealed

Chapter 27

Hello, there, this chapter is brought to you by major procrastination and maybe a little writer's block. Sorry about not updating in like a month. My bad. Anyway, I'm sure you want me to shut up. Happy reading! 

~Many Weeks Later~ September 1st

Nova plopped down onto the seats of the compartment she had chosen with a huff. This summer had turned out to be very stressful. After Astra had shown up out of the blue fourteen years after her sudden disappearance, she had refused to speak with her for the rest of the summer. Nova had stayed with Sirius in his childhood home of Number Twelve Grimmauld place. Remus had come to check on them now and then to make sure they hadn't killed each other.

The mere thought of the reason Astra had disappeared made Nova clench her teeth in anger, but it also confused her. When they were growing up, Astra was always the voice of reason. Yes, she had joined them on various occasions for a good prank, but on many others she would try to talk them down from a particularly wild prank. For her to just up and leave like she did without telling anyone was very unusual. Even if she was searching for the relics, she would have at least told them before she left and write letters once in a while. 

Nova didn't know what was going on and it bothered her a lot. Something else was going on with Astra. Something that she wanted to keep the others out of. She wouldn't disappear off the face of the earth without a valid reason. Nova growled in frustration as she looked out the compartment window before closing her eyes and falling asleep.

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The breaking of the train had Nova jolting awake as they came to a stop at Hogsmeade's station. She quickly stood with her satchel containing the relics she had collected. She wouldn't be letting them out of her reach if she could help it. The rest of her things were in her lodgings from the year prior. 

She quickly caught a carriage with a few students and faintly noticed it had started to storm. Nova couldn't shake the foreboding feeling as they neared the school. 

Of course being a staff member, she had been informed about the tournament taking place this year, but something told her to stay alert and cautious this year. 

The carriage came to a halt and she stepped out to hold the door for the three students that she had traveled with. After they had gotten off and started walking the rest of the way to the school, Nova turned to the thestrals that had pulled the carriage and gave them each a few pats on their necks.

"Thank you." She muttered softly before taking her leave and walked into the Great Hall. She took her seat besides Severus at the teacher's table with a frustrated huff.

Severus looked over towards the white haired woman besides him in curiosity. She wore an expression of irritation on her face that had her purple eyes glowing slightly.

"Was your summer that bad?" He asked after a few moments of debating on talking to the woman at all.

"Somewhat. The first half was great! Then things went downhill from there." Nova all but growled in a low tone as her predatory gaze watched over the students in the hall. Dumbledore proceeded to give his speech. "How was your summer, Severus?"

"Dull. Not that that's anything out of the ordinary." He replied in his usual monotone voice.

"You need to live a little, Sev." Nova stated bluntly as she turned towards him. "Get out more. Have an exciting adventure. Go out of your comfort zone."

The man just looked at her as if to remind her who she's talking to. 

"Maybe you should try wearing something other than black for once?" Nova smirked as she noted the man's usual outfit. He just gave her a small glare and looked at her own dark clothing.

"Says the woman who dresses in black every chance she gets." He sassed back. "Even when we were younger you hated most colors. Merlin forbid you wear your house colors."

"Touche." She replied. She looked down at her outfit. She always dressed more casual than the teachers with her black skinny jeans, Queen shirt, combat boots, and her leather trench coat. The outfit was mostly black. He was right. Whenever she got the chance to be out of uniform, she would most likely opt for her dark clothing. 

Suddenly, the doors burst open as the lightning struck. Nova looked on in distaste for the loud noise and started to gently massage her temples. Louder for her with her advanced hearing as she growled slightly at the noise. She glared at the source and to her surprise her gaze found the rough face of Mad-Eye Moody.

 Nova had met the man once before when Astra had gone to her Auror training class but forgot her lunch at their apartment. When she showed up, the man had not looked happy with her, but they had later made amends when they were in the Order together. However, this Mad-Eye did not smell like the last one. He smelled differently. It may have been a while since she had seen Mad-Eye, but Nova had never forgotten a scent before and scents, if they changed at all, never changed as much as the Mad-Eye look-alike. 

Nova looked at him in suspicion while Dumbledore introduced him to the students before returning to his original speech about the tournament that was to be taking place on campus that year.

The students had mixed feeling about the news of the tournament. Some were shocked, some others were scared, many were excited, and a lot of them were disappointed because there would be no quidditch. When he mentioned the age limits, Nova smirked as she saw a certain pair of twins gape in disbelief. They started to whisper back and forth and nodded simultaneously. To Nova, it was very amusing. They reminded her of James and Sirius when they were the twin's age.

When everyone was dismissed, Nova quickly retired to her quarters. 

Wow. That was a bad ending to the chapter, but honestly I couldn't think of anything else.