The Greatest Love, The Highest Sacrifice

Chapter 5 – Here Be Treasure

…proving myself another Countess

To the desperate declaration that

"My lord and master loves thee!"

What pregnant wonder is contained

Within these words;

And yet, "I know not".

Following Twelfth Night

The next weeks saw a definitive truce being reached between Norri and Draco, and an agreement of sorts between Draco and Ginny. The Slytherin Head Boy had begun his relations with Ginny in much the same style as he dealt with Ron – outright insults at every possible opportunity. But one lunch, when Ginny was running late because she had a Muggle Studies assignment to discuss with Dumbledore, Norri made it clear that if Draco didn’t put his act together, she would have nothing more to do with him.

"And then what will you do?" she asked, not totally serious, but wanting him to make a move in the direction she had gently been steering him. "I mean, you seem to be spending most of your time with us lately, and I’ve got a feeling the other Slytherins would hardly recognise you if you went back to hanging with them again. It can’t be that hard to be at least civil to her, Draco."

He had not looked impressed at her request, but then she had not expected him to be. Norri had been rather surprised that Draco chose to be with her so much, although she hoped that his reasons for doing so were the ones she attributed to him; the dragon kit, curiosity, the need for a real friend…and a certain redhead who he couldn’t say a civil word to, but couldn’t keep away from either.

"So?" she asked again, the butterflies in her stomach multiplying a thousand times over as she wondered how on earth she would manage all this if he didn’t agree. Draco was central to her plans and she couldn’t afford to lose him, but then so was Ginny, and she wasn’t about to throw away the deep friendship she shared with her in order to pander to Draco’s whims. He had to learn, and learn now.

"All right." Norri let out a sigh of relief, then narrowed her eyes as she heard his next words. "But I’m not promising no arguments. Just to be civil most of the time, and not to absolutely flatten her."

"Which you couldn’t very well do anyway, Malfoy," came the sound of Ginny’s voice from behind them. Draco started, and Norri looked on in satisfaction as a slow flush began to spread upwards from his neck. If Ginny noticed it herself, she gave no sign, but then, she was rather self-conscious about the fact that she’d turned slightly pink with satisfaction at getting one over Draco. Norri hoped that this was the beginning of many interesting developments, and she decided that there was no time like the present to let things move off to a start.

"Well, I’d love to stay and watch you two exchange platitudes, but I have some stuff to go over before our Potions test tomorrow," Norri said, inwardly calculating how long she could spend with Remus before she really did begin studying. "I’ll see you both tomorrow." And she walked out of the Great Hall, carefully making sure she didn’t look back at the two of them as she went.

Once out of the Great Hall, she pulled out her wand and activated the invisibility charm she used whenever she went to visit Remus. Quickly running up the stairs, she pondered to herself whether there was any chance that Sirius was going to be there.

"It’s been weeks since he came now," she thought, and then grimaced as she wondered whether he had come, but not told her. If he had repeated the stunt he pulled in first week…. But that was long ago now. Halloween had almost arrived and Remus’ birthday – ‘Oh, crap!’ she thought to herself, suddenly aware that she had totally forgotten to do anything for the said birthday. Stopping at one of the windows in the stairs, she opened it quickly and pointed her wand at the gardens below.

"Accio flowers!" she cried, and a beautiful bunch of jasmine and bluebells zoomed up into her waiting hands. Quickly she pulled the ribbon out of her hair and tied it around the makeshift bouquet. "It looks terribly gauche," she whispered out loud, then shrugged to herself as she continued up the stairs. "He probably won’t notice. Besides, it’s the thought that counts, right?"

Soon reaching Remus’ door, she tapped on it quickly, and then stood back to let him open it. She started in surprise when Sirius appeared, then began blushing as he took one look at the floating flowers and began laughing uncontrollably.

"Honestly, Norri," he said between choking breaths of laughter, "you’ve got to remember that you’re not wearing an invisibility cloak. You look like some kind of suspended florist delivery service. The flowers are just bobbing along beautifully…" he broke off again as his chuckles got the better of him.

Slipping past him and closing the door carefully so no one else could see her faux pas, Norri quickly muttered the ends to both the invisibility spell and the charm of illusion. Straightening up to her real height, she looked around the room for Remus. "Where is he?" she asked Sirius as she walked over to the wash basin and began filling a jug with water for the flowers.

"He’s just coming from Dumbledore’s office," Sirius answered, still caught up in his laughter. "We were going down to Hogsmeade to celebrate his birthday. Want to come?"

Norri came back over to where Sirius stood, her eyes sparkling. The idea of an afternoon out with Sirius and Remus had incredible appeal. They hadn’t spent time together as a threesome for at least a year. It would be wonderful. Her mind flitted briefly to the Potions test Snape was giving them the following day, but that wouldn’t be a problem. It also flitted to the Potions Master, but she wouldn’t let thoughts of Snape distract her from time out with her friends.

"I’d love to."

Sirius grinned. "Just as long as you don’t bring those flowers. Anyone who had been in the halls and saw them floating along must have thought that Remus had a secret admirer with strange tastes in deliveries."

"Oh, do shut up about the bloody flowers, Sirius!" Norri growled good-humouredly, and took a swipe at him.

Sirius caught her hand easily, and laughed again when she cursed and tried to get out of his grasp. Though not much shorter than he was, Norri’s strength was nothing compared to his own, and he easily kept a hold of her wrist, despite her struggles to escape him. His mind flew back to a day many, many years before, when he had played a similar game with a little girl, and been scolded by a redhead in a wedding dress for almost ruining his best-man’s suit. "Honestly, Sirius, James would kill you if you lost the rings. And if you dirty Elinor’s dress…" So much had changed.

So intent was he on remembering the past, Sirius did not think when Norri gave an especially hard yank against his grip, and he reflexively yanked back. With a gasp Norri flew from the arm’s-length distance she had kept from him, straight into his arms, with such force that the two of them were thrown several steps backward. In an attempt to steady himself, Sirius brought his other arm upwards, and around Norri’s waist. They teetered for a moment and then balanced. In that moment, Sirius looked down into Norri’s eyes, and she returned his gaze properly for the first time in six long years.

Norri’s breath caught in her throat as she stared deep into Sirius’ eyes. Six years ago she had seen the first glimpses of an idea, a feeling, that she had not wanted to credit with veracity, and in self-defense she had avoided his direct gaze ever since. She did not want to be forced to deal with what she might read, and not be able to shrug off. True, it had been when she was just starting to date Charlie properly, and she had been so desperate to have a normal life that she had chosen to ignore what she sensed in Sirius. And she had tried to justify it too, tried to put it down to the fact that he was in Azkaban and had not been around girls for such a very long time. She had refused to consider the possibility that the budding affections she glimpsed were based on anything more than gratitude to her for being the first person to believe his innocence; convinced as she was that this was the only reason why he would ever feel anything for her.

But now, looking into his eyes again, Norri was forced to accept the reality that this could not be the case. Sirius was a free man now, had been for several years. And he had never looked at any other woman, at least not that she knew of. Judging from the expression she was faced with, Norri finally accepted that she was the reason he had never been interested in anyone else. His feelings were overwhelming in their intensity – and it terrified her.

Shaking her head, she backed out of his embrace. He let her go as if he had been holding a firebrand, and for several moments they stood at arm’s length from one another. Not speaking, not moving, just exchanging the same unwavering gaze. Then something broke in Norri, and she turned away and headed for the door.

"Norri!" Sirius cried, sounding as if her name had been ripped out from inside him. "Norri, wait –"

"I’m sorry, Sirius," Norri said, not turning back, although she paused on her way to the door.

"Norri…please, I’ve wanted to tell you – wanted for a long time."

She spun around quickly, and looked at him. His face fell as he saw the denial in her eyes. They were filling with tears, and the fact that she was desperately trying to be casual about the whole business was not convincing in the slightest.

"Sirius…you’re my best friend -" but he wouldn’t let her continue.

"Norri, please!"

He moved forward, held out a hand for her to come back. But she shook her head, her whole body trembling.

"Sirius, I’m sorry, but I can’t…tell Remus – tell him - I’ll see him later – tell him – about the flowers…oh Sirius, I’m so desperately sorry."

And she was gone.

*

Norri charged down the stairs blindly, the tears which were now pouring down her cheeks almost obscuring the stairwell. Several times she nearly missed her footing. But she charged on, hardly knowing which direction she was heading in. Before she was aware of it, she came to a halt in front of a large statue, somewhere on the third floor. Pulling the ear of the gargoyle downwards, she stumbled into the small room behind the statue, and rushed over to the fireplace. Pulling out the box of ***, she started a fire with a wave of her wand, and threw a handful onto the flames.

"Professor Dumbledore’s office!" she sobbed.

At first glance, the room she saw was empty. Dumbledore did not appear to be there, although she could see Fawkes sitting calmly on his perch. A muffled sob escaped her, and Fawkes looked up, obviously searching for the source of the noise. His gaze reached the fireplace, and his eyes widened as he saw Norri’s tearstained face. Swooping down, he landed on a chair near the flames, and looked deep into Norri’s eyes. As Fawkes began the mind-merge, his calmness soothed Norri’s turbulent emotions.

What is it? he asked.

Oh, Fawkes, everything went wrong. Where is he? I’ve got to talk to him right away.

He’s coming, was the soothing answer, and as the mind merge completed itself, Norri was able to see with Fawkes’ eyes, through the door of the office and down the turret of stairs that Dumbledore was slowly ascending. He should be here any second now.

What do I do, Fawkes?

Tell the truth, said the bird quite simply, then sent another wave of soothing comfort through the merge to her. You know he’ll understand.

At that moment, the door of the Headmaster’s office swung open, and Dumbledore stepped through. He appeared to be conversing with someone else, but Norri had not seen anyone with him on the stairwell through Fawkes’ eyes, and in event she was too distressed to take stock of this finer detail. She opened her both to speak, but her voice came out in a strangled sob, and she drew in a shaky breath to try again. But Dumbledore had heard her, and he looked around the room, possibly expecting that she was actually waiting for him in person. As Fawkes had, he quickly lighted on the fireplace, and the sight he beheld led him to run up to the flames.

"Elinor, what is it?!"

"Oh, its everything!" Norri moaned in reply.

Dumbledore went deathly pale, and gripped the edge of the chair Fawkes was sitting on. The phoenix spread his wings and flew up to perch on his master’s shoulder. Still within the mind-merge, Norri could feel the bird extending his calming powers to Dumbledore as well as herself.

"Norri, what is it?"

She began brokenly, hardly knowing what she was saying, but desperate to have advice on what to do. "I went to visit Remus, only he wasn’t there – Sirius was. And we were being stupid, you know, the way things used to be. And then I fell, and he caught me, and then – he, well…and I couldn’t stay, I just couldn’t! So I left. He was begging me to come back, to let him explain – and I just – ran and now…what am I supposed to do now?" And she collapsed into muffled sobbing again.

Dumbledore sighed deeply. He looked somewhat relieved – obviously, he had considered Norri’s problem to be something less personal. But as the full import of the situation hit him, he became grave. Norri also noticed that he glanced over his shoulder, and a detached part of her mind wondered if there had been someone else with him when he came into the office. But she knew he would never betray her trust to anyone. He took a deep breath, and began to try and reach a solution.

"Elinor, I know how difficult this must be for you. But you understand, none better, how much we all need to work together in the next few months if we are to succeed against this newest threat. Things would be much easier if this hadn’t happened. But couldn’t you just…"

Norri shook her head. "You don’t understand! I’ve been trying not to deal with this for six years – six! And now I can’t ignore that its happened. We’ve been fighting about everything lately – he’s been treating me like a five year old. He’s even jealous of Harry, for heaven’s sake! And when it comes to Professor –"

Here she was hastily cut off by Dumbledore, who looked over his shoulder again, this time in evident concern. "My dear, I’m sorry to interrupt you, but I think you ought to know that I wasn’t alone when I came in just now. Professor Snape and I were having a meeting about the Slytherins and –"

Norri froze in horror. Dumbledore winced as her distressed but trusting expression changed to one of horror and…betrayed hurt. "How could you?!" she whispered, so low that only the Headmaster could hear her. And she disappeared.

*

Shocked as she was, Norri could not end the mind-merge with Fawkes on her own. Sitting in the statue room, she tried to shake his presence. But the phoenix would not let go of her, and despite her attempts to free herself, she was forced to remain connected with him.

Fawkes, let go of me! she cried out silently.

Sorry, Norri, but you have to stay. You need to hear this, was the impervious reply.

Do you have any idea how I feel just now? she asked angrily.

No, its one of the many benefits of not being human, came the smug but sympathetic rebuff. You need to hear this, I said.

Cináed would never do something like this, she said petulantly.

Cináed doesn’t have the power to do something like this. Besides, he knew that Charlie wasn’t the one for you just as well as I did. Its not an issue of who would or wouldn’t – its about what’s going to help you. Now, pay attention. And with this, Norri felt her eyes adusting again, until she was seeing with Fawkes’ eyes. The room was brighter somehow, and she could clearly see Dumbledore and Snape standing together in the middle of the room. Snape looked astounded, and rather shaken, Norri was surprised to note. Norri’s hearing took longer to adjust, but she was stunned when she finally heard the snippets of conversation.

"You know her, then?" asked Dumbledore.

Snape nodded, still shocked at the sight of the blonde girl he had last seen the night Cedric Diggory had been killed. "I’ve only ever seen her once," he said, "but I’ll never forget it. It was right after you made Black and I shake hands. He had already left, and when I reached the hall, he was in dog form, talking with her. She gave him something, then sent him off. And then she came over to me, and hung this around my neck." He lifted a chain from beneath his robes, and Norri could see the small silver cylinder she had spent so many hours working over. Snape was not to know, but it was identical to the one she had given Sirius. "And she said something about not being Lily, but caring…and then she disappeared." He paused, obviously caught up in his memories for a moment, then turned to Dumbledore with a burning intensity in his eyes.

"Who is she, Albus? I spent months thinking about her, wondering where she had come from, and how she could look so much like Lily Evans. And why she would give me something like this."

Dumbledore reached over and touched the cylindrical object. His face was still grave, and he was evidently surprised by what Snape had told him. No wonder, said Fawkes snidely, you never told him yourself, did you?

If he knew that I had given Sirius and Snape an Amorandis Charm, he would have killed me! came Norri’s reply.

And that would be a bad thing? asked Fawkes.

Shush, I want to hear what they’re saying.

"I’m not sure what this is, Severus," said Dumbledore, still examining the cylinder. "But I know that its safe, although I must admit that I’m worried as to what purpose it serves. Can you take it off for a closer examination?"

Snape shrugged. "That was one of the first things I tried to do, but I think the only person who can remove it is the one who put it there in the first place."

"I was afraid that would be the case," was Dumbledore’s heavy reply. "Don’t worry, Severus, you’re quite safe. Its Elinor I’m worried about." He paused. "And you said she gave something similar to Sirius?"

"Yes."

"Well, this is going to warrant further investigation."

Snape looked at the Headmaster, obviously considering whether or not to speak. But he cleared his throat and plunged in. "Headmaster, I’m sorry, but who is she?"

Dumbledore sighed. "She is Lily Evans’ little sister."

Snape gasped. "Lily had a sister?!"

"Yes. I believe you met her once. At Lily’s wedding. She was only eight at the time. I seem to recall that you danced with her."

That was when it all started, wasn’t it? Fawkes asked Norri as they both looked on.

I felt so sorry for him, Norri replied. He loved Lily so much…

So you fell in love with him yourself. Terribly practical you know, falling in love with a man at the age of eight and never really looking at anyone else from then on.

Norri bristled. Its not like I really had that much of a choice, you know. And its not like I didn’t try to get away from it – you know how much I tried to make things with Charlie work.

But it wasn’t meant to be, said Fawkes quietly.

No, it wasn’t, she agreed.

They both returned to the conversation again, but Norri did not want to hear what else was said. Snape’s interest – or lack thereof – in her would only further complicate the bind she had gotten herself into. ‘I just have to avoid him for as long as possible,’ she decided resolutely. ‘Remus will help me out.’

If you’re talking about Sirius there, I wouldn’t be so sure, Fawkes replied. You’d be surprised if you knew what Remus thinks of this whole business.

I’ll deal with that bridge when I come to it, she retorted, and then pulled out the mind-merge with a speed which caught Fawkes unawares, and thus prevented him from not letting her leave. Sorry, Fawkes dear, she said fadingly as she left, I need a bit of space without anyone else. And I have a Potions test to prepare for – oh, Lord! Why now?!…

She stood up from her seat in the statue-room, and stared at the fireplace briefly for a moment. "Too deep a knot for me to untie," she said aloud to herself, and then grinned ruefully. "Well, at least there’s someone else I’ll be avoiding for a while apart from Charlie. Its nice to have variety in life." She sighed quietly, then shrugged her shoulders in resignation. If things were meant to be this way, so be it. ‘You’ll have to work things out with Grandfather, you know,’ she thought to herself, and then shrugged. It could wait, and she really did need to study.

Casting the invisibility spell and her charm of illusion at the same time, Norri carefully stepped out of the statue-room, and made her way to the portrait of the Fat Lady. She reached it just in time to see the door swing open to admit Neville and Jordan. Slipping past them, she made it into the Gryffindor common room just before the door closed. Breathing a sigh of relief, she quickly ran up the stairs to her dorm. Finding it empty, she pulled the curtains round her bed and settled down with her Potions textbook. "Hopefully no one will come back in the next half hour, and then I can be seen again," she muttered to herself, and then settled down to work.

*

The next weeks passed by slowly. Norri tried to spend as much time as possible with Draco and Ginny, both to further her plans and to avoid having to see other people at Hogwarts. Despite the fact that she had received a message to visit Dumbledore’s office the evening of her Potions test, she had sent him an owl cordially declining the invitation ‘until things smooth over a little’. He respected her freedom too much to try and convince her otherwise.

If Sirius had come back to Hogwarts since their disastrous encounter, Norri was blissfully ignorant of the fact – and she intended for things to stay that way. She thought often of her old friend in those days, but it was always with regret and a singular determination to ensure that what happened between them never repeated itself. Until she felt comfortable about being with him, she was going to stay too busy to join any meetings or outings that took place; and she had a strong feeling it would be like that for some time.

Remus was as unsupportive as Fawkes had warned he would be. Although he obviously sympathised with Norri’s dilemma, and was furious with Sirius when he first learned what had taken place, he did not appreciate what he considered to be Norri’s childish behaviour. He also hated the idea of being an intermediary for his two best friends, simply because one of them would not see the other.

"So the man’s in love with you!" he yelled at Norri one evening when she had come to visit him. "And you don’t return his affections…that’s life! Deal with it, and make him do the same. Don’t bring it up again and we can go on as normal."

Norri had sighed in exasperation. "Remus, its not like that and you know it. Things have been increasingly tense ever since Harry’s fourth year, and the last few months have been almost unbearable. Its not like our plans will fall to pieces if the three of us don’t work face to face over them. And don’t tell me I’m childish – I don’t care. When Voldemort comes, I’ll see him. Not before. There would be no point in our being so uncomfortable working with each other that nothing got done."

And she would not hear any arguments to the contrary.

Harry, Ron and Hermione also noticed that something was up between Norri and Sirius. Normally when they went into Hogsmeade, he would try and meet up with them, and then they would get together with Ginny and Norri in The Three Broomsticks. The last few months, Draco had even made the occasional appearance, which Ron and Harry had dealt with on Norri’s firm insistence. But on their next visit, Ginny arrived at The Three Broomsticks on her own, with the weak excuse that Norri and Draco had decided to visit their dragon egg early, in expectations that it would hatch that day. Although Norri’s reasons for not turning up were unconvincing, it was Sirius’ reaction which clinched their thoughts on the matter. He slumped back in his chair, muttered something about being an imbecile, and then tried unsuccessfully to appear cheerful for the rest of the afternoon.

Ironically, though the egg had not being Norri’s real reason for avoiding The Three Broomsticks, their dragon egg did hatch that afternoon. She had just been trying to avoid Draco’s shrewd questions about why she didn’t want to see Sirius when a sharp cracking noise had attracted the attention of both of them. Looking down to the egg in Draco’s hands, Norri had let out a small squeal at the sight of a large crack at the top of the shell.

"Quickly!" she had yelled to Draco, pulling him towards the nest. "He has to hatch in here, where it’s warm!"

Draco had gently laid the egg down, and the two of them had hovered over it, as the hatchling slowly chipped its way out of the shell. The entire process took almost two hours, but Draco and Norri were fascinated by every second of it. At the end, they were presented with a circle of chipped eggshell, and a small, very proud dragon kit, about two hands long one hand span’s height from the ground.

Even when the egg had hatched, Norri was uncertain as to what kind of dragon their hatchling was. "Probably a cross between a Ridgeback and a Longhorn," she said to Draco. He thought it was a good assessment, but felt that getting an authority’s opinion was also a good idea.

"It’d be interesting to check it out with Professor Weasley, don’t you think?" he asked intently, watching for Norri’s reaction out of the corner of his eye. Her hand, which had been caressing the hatchling gently, stilled as she heard his words. But her tone was relaxed when she agreed with his suggestion.

"Sure. Makes sense – he is our professor and everything. Besides, we should let him know that the hatching process has begun."

"Is our kit going to be lonely without any of the other eggs hatched yet?" Draco asked.

"Don’t think so. After the initial excitement of being out of the egg at last, hatchlings normally sleep for a solid three or four days straight. Its pretty tiring breaking out of an egg when you’re still that small. Isn’t it, little fellow?" she added, leaning down towards the yawning dragon.

Draco grinned, and leaned against the edge of the nest. "What are we going to call it?" he asked.

Norri straightened up and looked at him. "Any suggestions?" she queried, knowing he would not have said anything if he didn’t have at least one of his own.

"Well, yeah. I’ve been looking into it, I must admit."

"O.K., so where’s the list?"

He pulled out a fairly long roll of parchment. Norri groaned inwardly – despite the fact that Draco had great taste in most things, she hoped this was not going to prove the exception to the rule.

"Let’s see now….well, I’ll just read them out, and you can tell me what you think…Raiden."

"Sounds like a little kid’s name – I can just see a squealing three year old being told off by his mother – ‘Raiden, stop doing that!’"

Draco laughed, but didn’t disagree with her. "O.K., no Raiden. Next – Joash."

"Are you being serious? Where did you pick up these names?! Joash, well, to me its like some kind of demon."

"That was actually the general idea." Draco commented, not looking at her.

"Great! I get stuck choosing names with a seventeen year old Slytherin who has a penchant for demons. Do you have anything civilised on that list of yours?"

"Hey!" Draco said defensively, "if you hate them all so much, you should have made your own list."

"Sorry, sorry," Norri replied, biting her lower lip. "What’s the next one?"

"Kaleo."

Norri had heard the name from somewhere before, and she chewed at her lip, trying to place it. "That’s Hawiian isn’t it?"

Draco looked at the piece of paper. "Yeah, it means ‘many voices’."

"Its not too bad," said Norri, then caught sight of the hatchling in the nest. It had been following the proceedings closely, though so far it hadn’t made any movements. But at Norri’s endorsement of the third name, it began thrashing around and making disgruntled clicking noises. Norri grinned. "Uh, I think our baby’s not too impressed with that one either."

Draco looked down at the hatchling and then sighed in resignation. "If picking a dragon’s name is this bad, imagine what its going to be like having kids!"

"Trust me," said Norri wryly, "choosing names for them is nothing like actually having them."

Draco smiled back slyly. "Yeah, but I don’t have to bother about that part." He looked at the list again. "O.K. I actually really like this one. Its Arabic, and it means thunder. Ra’ed."

Norri liked it, and so did the hatchling. It beeped once or twice, and made a funny whistling sound as it bounced up and down from its spot in the dragon nest. Norri leaned over and caressed its nose gently. "You like that one, huh? O.K. All in favour say aye? Ra’ed it is, then." And she looked at Draco in satisfaction.

As they walked back to the castle together, having waited until Ra’ed had drifted off into sleep, Norri teased Draco about the names.

"It’s a good thing we all ended up agreeing so easily," she said. "Things could have been complicated if you and I had totally different taste."

"We would have worked something out," he answered easily. "Its not like it’s a matter of life and death or anything."

His words reminded Norri of the fact that she was dealing with a matter of life and death, and her disagreement with Sirius was affecting the whole situation. She sighed deeply, and scuffed the ground with her shoes. Draco noticed how serious she had gone, and he held her up with a firm grip on her sleeve.

"Is everything O.K. with you?" he asked.

"What, you mean am I going to beat you in the Potions test we’re getting back this afternoon?" she asked in an attempt to be cheerful.

He grinned, but wouldn’t let the matter pass. "No, I mean it. I know there was a reason behind the fact that you avoided The Three Broomsticks today. Are you all right?"

She smiled at him. "I could just ignore you, or not answer, you know."

He laughed. "And then my curiosity would be aroused and I’d find some way of working out exactly what’s going on. I am a Malfoy, remember?"

Norri ducked her head. "Yeah, I remember."

Draco lifted her chin with his hand. "Hey, what is it?"

She looked away, but not before he saw that her eyes were filled with tears. "I had a fight with Sirius the other day," she said, deciding that half the truth was better then none. "And now I don’t want to speak with him for a while, but its really difficult to do it without involving Harry and all the others, and I just feel really uncomfortable about it."

He linked arms with her, not seeming to noticed how amazed she was at his understanding. "Don’t worry about it. If the others ask what is going on, tell them that you need to work a few things out. And if they persist, let me know and I’ll take care of it." He grinned fiendishly. "I haven’t had a real duel with Potter or the Weasel for a while now. I almost feel like I’m out of practice. You’d actually be doing me a favour by sending them along, you know."

"I’ll bet," answered Norri, but she laughed with him, thankful that she did have one friend who understood, or at least didn’t attempt to judge the way she was acting. That it was Draco had a peculiar sweetness all its own.