The Girl Who Fought | h.p |

Nova's Announcement

Once Lupin had left, the conversation continued. 

"Are you sure you're okay, Harry?" said Hermione, watching harry anxiously. 

"I don't get it. . . . What happened?" said Harry, wiping more sweat off his face. 

"Well — that thing — the dementor — stood there and looked around (I mean, I think it did, I couldn't see its face) — and you — you —" 

"I thought you were having a fit or something," said Ron, who still looked scared. "After you stepped in front of Nova, you went sort of rigid and fell out of your seat and started twitching —" 

"And Professor Lupin stepped over you, and walked toward the dementor, and pulled out his wand," said Hermione, "and he said,' None of us is hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks. Go.' But the dementor didn't move, so Lupin muttered something, and a silvery thing shot out of his wand at it, and it turned around and sort of glided away. . . ." 

"The silvery thing was a wolf," Nova murmured quietly. Her statement went unnoticed. 

"It was horrible," said Neville, in a higher voice than usual. "Did you feel how cold it got when it came in?" 

"I felt weird," said Ron, shifting his shoulders uncomfortably."Like I'd never be cheerful again. . . ."

"That's what a dementor does, Ron," Nova said softly. It was rare Nova showed any emotion, but as she looked at her friends, her eyes shone with concern. 

Ginny, who was huddled in her corner looking nearly as bad as Harry felt, gave a small sob; Hermione went over and put a comforting arm around her. 

"But didn't any of you — faint?" said Harry awkwardly. 

Nova stood and walked over to Ginny. Harry instantly felt cold and alone. 

"Hey, Gin, do you wanna take a walk with me?" Nova asked a shaky Ginny, as she calmed down. Ginny gave a small nod, hugging herself. Harry watched as they walked out. Nova with her arm around Ginny, trying to warm her up. Tearing his eyes away from Nova, Harry turned back to Ron. 

Nova and Ginny walked to the girl's lavatory. Once the door was locked, Ginny's facade broke. She fell to the floor crying. Nova quickly brought the younger girl into a hug, hoping to make her feel better. 

"Hey, Gin," Nova began in a calm and soft voice. "It's alright."

"N-no it's not," Ginny sobbed. "I felt like I-I w-was i-in the Ch-Chamber again."

"Hey, it's okay not to be alright," Nova stated. "It's okay to fall apart. It's okay not to be happy."

"I-it's my fault that p-people w-were h-hurt!" Ginny sobbed again.

 "No, it's not. Gin, Voldemort took advantage of you." Nova said in a motherly tone. "It just shows he is a ruthless and cruel man. No. He isn't even a man. He is...he is... he is a booger."

Ginny gave a small shaky laugh. 

"Gin, you are a fucking queen. You slay every day. It's okay to have bad days. It's okay to have days where all you want to do is blast music in your room, curl up under your blankets, wrapped in someone's hoodie, and satisfy your chocolate craving." Nova informed Ginny. The young redhead looked up at Nova with her chocolate eyes. 

"How do you do it?" Ginny asked, whipping the tears from her eyes. 

"Do what?" Nova asked. 

"You're so put together. You never break. You laugh and make jokes." Ginny said. "Even with what's happening right now. Everyone is treating you like a monster, but they don't affect you."