Nicole Stevens: Roses and Mistrust

I looked remarkably pretty, I thought. I walked into the bathroom and brushed my teeth, before heading back to my room and throwing my toothbrush into the trunk. I grabbed my calendar off the wall and put it in with my toothbrush. Snapping the lid of my trunk closed, I walked out into the kitchen.

I yawned and opened the fridge looking for the milk (we had many muggle appliances, I even had CDs and a CD player). I grabbed it and the eggs. Then, I set the milk on the table and started cooking some scrambled eggs. In about fifteen minutes the eggs were finished cooking and I had poured some milk for me to drink. I sat down at the table and ate. By the time I'd finished, my parents had come down.

"What're you doing up already?" asked my mother, yawning. "We don't have to leave for at least a couple of hours." She began making breakfast for herself and dad.

"Oh, I just, sort of, woke up earlier than I had meant to." I excluded the dream as always. "I'm going up to the library to check up on something." I put my glass and plate in the sink, and I left. I walked up the stairs and into the hall. Then, I went into the library. I intended to do a quick bit of research on the snake from the chamber in the dream. "Oh!" I suddenly thought of what book I could look in.

I went to the "F" section. Searching quickly I found the book. It was red and leather-bound, the title was gold and it proclaimed the book to be 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'. I sat down in a large armchair by the fireplace (which didn't have a fire burning). I went through the "A" section, and found nothing regarding the snake. When I got to the "B" section, however, I saw the word basilisk.

The first recorded Basilisk was bred by Herpo the Foul, a Greek Dark Wizard and Parselmouth, who discovered after much experimentation that a chicken egg hatched beneath a toad would produce a gigantic serpent possessed of extraordinary dangerous powers.

The Basilisk is a brilliant green serpent that may reach up to fifty feet in length.......

That was all I needed. The snake I had seen in the dream was a basilisk. But, that still left some questions unanswered. I shut the book and brought it downstairs. I walked to my room and put it into my trunk. It was now about nine, because it had taken me half an hour to find and read the book. We would leave in an hour for Platform Nine and 3/4. I grabbed my broomstick and went outside, with a "be back in a while" to my parents.

I walked outside and inhaled the morning air. It was overcast, and the dew was still fresh on the ground. The smell was one of moisture and dirt. I loved that smell. It reminded me of rain. I hopped on my broom and flew over to the pine trees again. I did my usual workout, zooming back and forth between the trees.

When I'd finished, I landed and went back inside. I walked quickly to my room and set my broom on the bed. Then I went back into the kitchen and asked, "Hey, will you help get my trunk to the car?" Unlike most wizarding families, we owned a car. It was a forest green Mercedes.

"Oh, you're right Nicky. We'd better get your trunk outside quickly," my father said standing up. He came with me to get my trunk. I picked up one end and he picked up the other. We walked slowly with the trunk out the door of my room, and down the back porch, to where the car was parked. My father set down his end and opened the trunk of the car, with a tap of his wand. Then he picked up my trunk again and shoved it into the back. We walked back inside.

"Alright, Lydia, it's time to go. Nicky, go to your room and double check that you have everything. We'll be outside in the car." He walked out with my mother and I went to my room. I grabbed my broom from the bed, and my schoolbag, which had a book, a water bottle, some money, my wand, my uniform (to change into later) and a piece of paper with a quill. My mother had taken my owl, Verita, out to the car.

I ran outside. I ran to the car and jumped in the backseat and put my bag and broom on the floor. "Okay, let's go, Dad," I said to my father, who was driving. He started the car, and we were off. I turned to the cage beside me that held Verita. I reached in and stroked her beautiful honey and brown feathers. She nipped my finger playfully and hooted. Then she ruffled her feathers happily.

I turned to look out the window, watching the scenery fly past. There were buildings outside the window, and people walking on the sidewalks. There wasn't too much traffic so it only took us about forty-five minutes to get to the station.

We parked as near as we could, and my father got out and grabbed a trolley for my trunk. I got out after my mother, as my father was pulling my trunk out onto the trolley. I set Verita on the trolley, too. He pushed it in front of us and we walked up to the platform. "Alright, Nicky, you go with your mother and I'll follow behind you with your trunk." I nodded and my mother and I walked over to the barrier between platform nine and ten. We leaned against it casually and fell through. I stood up and looked around me.

In front of me was a large, red steam train. There were students and parents crowding he platform. My father followed behind us and we walked to the nearest train door. A man was standing there helping get the trunks aboard the train. He greeted us and put my trunk in the storage compartment. I turned to my parents and said, "Well, I have to go. I'll see you at Christmas Break, maybe. Bye."

"We'll see you soon, Nicole," my mother said.

"If you need anything, just send Verita, with a letter, alright?"

"Yeah, sure," I reassured. "Bye." I walked up the steps onto the train. I brought my book bag with me onto the train (I'd left my broom with my luggage). I walked down the corridor looking for an empty compartment. About halfway down, I ran into Draco Malfoy. "Oh, not you," I said sadly.

He smirked and blocked my way with his arm. "Me. So has Potter abandoned you, yet?"

"No, you jerk. Now, get out of my way," I took out my wand and pointed it at him, "or I'll curse you."

"Oh, is that so? As you may or may not have noticed, I happen to be a Prefect," he tapped the silver badge on his chest, "so I'm not going to move just because you tell me to. I guess you're just going to have to wait for Potty and the Weasel to come and save you."

"I guess I won't have to wait very long," I said pointing over his shoulder. Harry was walking down the corridor towards us. "So, all your little game has done is waste time."

"What are you doing, Malfoy?"

"That happens to be none of your business, Potter."

Harry grinned slyly, "Actually, if you're annoying Nicole, it is my business." I smiled at him. "Malfoy, you're blocking her way. Move."

"Make me, Boy-Who-Lives-To-Save-Girls-From-Guys-Like-Me." Malfoy had turned his back on me, so I shoved past him. He grabbed my arm and whispered into my ear stirring my hair, "You're not going anywhere, Nicole."

I turned around so that my face was about three inches from his. "Draco," I said sweetly, "move." I brought my foot up behind me and kicked him in the shin.

"Aack!" he yelled, hopping ungracefully. I stepped back from him and walked to Harry. Malfoy was on the floor clutching his shin. There would be a nice bruise there when he went to bed later. A present from me to him.

"Hi, Harry. Nice to see you again. Thanks for helping."

"No problem. Nice job kicking him. Let's go." He put his arm around my shoulder and we walked to Ron and Hermione's compartment. "Hi, guys. Sorry it took us so long. We had a Malfoy pest infestation. He wouldn't let Nicole go."

"It's fine. Hi, Nicole," Ron said, "Did you give him a nice thrashing?"

I assumed he meant Malfoy, "Oh, yeah. I gave him a gift from all of us with love."

"What? A hexed hat?"

"Better."

"A cursed sandwich?"

"Better. I kicked him in the shin," I replied nonchalantly. Ron looked overjoyed, and Hermione looked startled. I sat down with Harry across from them. "Hey, Hermione, I brought a book for you to have. It's called, 'Magical Schools of America' and it's by a man named Mandoreth Theldin. I thought you might like some background information on all the schools."

Hermione lost her look of disapproval that she'd worn when I said I'd kicked Malfoy, to be replaced by a look of absolute excitement. "Oh! Thanks so much, Nicole!" She hugged me so tightly it was hard for me to breathe.

"It's okay Hermione, it's no problem. But, it'll be a problem if you strangle me." She let go and sat back down. Hermione started reading the book. "So, how's everything been since Diagon Alley?"

"Well," Harry said, "Nothing happened to me, except staying at Diagon Alley. What about you, Ron?"

"Er, I finished my potions essay that I'd left a bit late. And, I saw some Chudley Cannons robes that I wanted to buy, but I didn't."

"Chudley Cannons?" I asked, turning to Harry.

"Quidditch team," Harry explained, "Ron's favorite."

"Oh, right."

We talked like that for an hour before a lady came pushing a candy trolley. She stopped at our compartment and asked, "Anything to eat?"

"Yeah," I dug through my bag for the money I'd brought.

"Here," said Harry, "I'll get it, Nicole."

"No, Harry. You already paid for my ice cream. I'll get it." I brought out my money and bought pumpkin pasties, chocolate frogs, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, and cauldron cakes. Harry and Ron bought some too, but Hermione was too immersed in her book to care about food. "Thanks," I said as the lady left. "Hey, Hermione, d'you want a pumpkin pasty? I've got plenty."

"Thanks, Nicole, I'd love one," she held out her hand and I gave her a pasty. She kept reading as she ate.

We ate and discussed Quidditch, Hogwarts, and how many ways we'd like to hurt Malfoy. "Well," said Ron excitedly, "I'd love to curse him with a Boil Curse. Or, maybe use Jellylegs on him. That'd be good."

"I think a Tarantallegra Charm would be wonderful. Him dancing around everywhere would be great. But, I bet it'd hurt a lot, with that nice bruise I gave him. Even better."

"Yeah, or we might use leg-locker curse. He'd have to jump around everywhere, very ungracefully. Like what he did to Neville first year."

We laughed loudly at that. But, we were interrupted by a knock on the door. I stood up and came face to face with Draco and two extremely bulky boys. He smirked cruelly.

"Oh," I said, "you finally gained your composure." I did an imitation of him when I'd kicked him. "You're very funny when you're in pain."

He scowled at me and grabbed me by the waist, pulling me out of the compartment. His friends closed the door behind me, and stood in front of it, keeping anyone from coming out. Draco pinned me to the wall. I felt his chest rise and fall as he breathed. His heartbeats were normal paced. He smelled like cold air and rain.

I was nearly a head shorter than him. It was a bit of a disadvantage, but I couldn't help that.

He bent his head down to look into my eyes. I stared stonily back at him. "Well," he hissed, "look what I managed to snag. So pretty and vivacious. Isn't it sad?" I felt his soft breath on my face, as I tried to focus. I couldn't overpower him, he was too strong, and I couldn't kick him, because he was pressing me into the wall full-body. Besides, he had his friends to look out for him. I couldn't very well just stand here, either. So, I remained silent. "So sad, that she had to go running to Potter." He spat Harry's name in disgust. "I really thought you were pretty. In fact, I thought you were beautiful. And, if you hadn't refused me point-blank, I would've been nice about this. But, you had to fight me. Not a very good idea on your part. Now, I'm not giving you a choice." He leaned down further. Well, there was one place I could kick him, but I doubted that his cronies would stand for that. They looked plenty capable of murder. I didn't want to chance it. Did I?

He spoke again, nearly making me jump. His face was probably only eight centimeters from mine. When he spoke it was so soft that only I could hear him, "So, Nicole, you don't have a choice. No one's here to save you, now. There's just me and you."

"Mal-," he kissed me. It hadn't dawned on me that he was waiting for me to open my mouth. His kiss was slow, letting me feel every moment of it. It was unhurried, like he could go on forever, without missing a beat. He deepened the kiss. I felt his lips on mine. It felt wonderful. What!? His kiss had so much feeling in it; rage, jealousy, lust, and laughter?! I slowly kissed him back, without knowing. Well, maybe he'd stop. My lungs needed air badly. I couldn't breathe and I was feeling dizzy. But, maybe that wasn't just from lack of air. No! I couldn't like him! I liked Harry! Right?

He stopped, but didn't let go of me. I breathed in and out slowly trying to catch my breath. He rested his cheek on my own. His chest rose and fell, still steady. His cheek was slightly cold compared to the warmth of mine. He waited for me to catch my breath before saying softly into my ear, "Better, wasn't it?" I didn't move or speak. I just stood there, still being pressed against the wall. He moved his head back too look at me. His stormy, grey eyes sparkled and shone. He was beautiful. There's not another word capable of describing him. He radiated a sense of power that I hadn't ever felt. He wasn't smirking or scowling, just looking at me. He was just staring at me. The first thought that came too my head was 'Angel Boy'. Well, maybe a fallen angel, but an angel none the less.

Against all my senses that told me to stay there, with his body against mine and be silent, I spoke, "Please, let me go." My voice held no note of the internal struggle I was having. It sounded distant even to my own ears.

"But, you don't want me to, do you?"

I didn't move to answer him. I just stood looking up into his face. Then, I decided that I was going to tell the truth, "Personally, no. I'd love to stay here all day, but I really need to leave."

"Why?" he asked softly. "You don't want to go, there's no one here making you go, Nicole."

"I know," I said sadly, "but, I have to go. It's not because I am being forced to, but because it's the right thing to do."

"Who cares about the right thing? You don't, and don't pretend you do, because I know you don't. I certainly don't care. If I did, then this wouldn't have happened. Who else?"

He knew perfectly well I meant Harry, but he wanted me to say it straight-out.

"Draco, I'm sorry, but I won't explain. Now, let me go." I put my hands on his shoulders and pushed gently. To my surprise, he stepped back. Motioning to the boys blocking the door, they moved and left the corridor. He stood where he was as Harry and Ron rushed out, Hermione following after. Draco's friends disappeared into a compartment further down.

Harry and Ron rushed over to Draco; Harry knocked him to the ground and held him there as Ron pulled back his fist to punch him. Draco looked surprised at the sudden onslaught. "Stop!" I yelled running to them. I shoved them both out of the way and let Draco get to his feet. "Go, Draco," I said coldly. He stood up, brushed off his robes, and quickly made his way down to the compartment his hunch-backed followers had disappeared into.

I suddenly leaned against the wall, crying. Harry and Ron (who had gotten up by now) rushed over to me, but Hermione stopped them, "Go," she muttered to them in almost the same tone I'd had when ordering Draco to leave. They reluctantly went into the compartment, leaving Hermione and me in the hall alone. She knelt down beside me and asked, "What's wrong Nicole?"

"He kissed me and....and I- I enjoyed it!" I sobbed into her shoulder. She froze suddenly and pulled away.

"He WHAT?!"

"I told you. He pulled me out and pinned me to the wall and kissed me."

"French?" she asked.

"Hermione!" I said loudly, before answering quietly, "Yes."

"Wow! Oh, um, sorry. And, that's a problem, because he's not Harry?"

I thought this over for a second. "Uh, yeah. And I, uh, well...I kissed him back," I muttered.

"Oh, dear. That's not good. Are you going to tell Harry?"

"Should I?"

"I dunno'. Maybe, but he'll probably want to kill Malfoy more than ever. I'm not sure. Just, wait for him to cool down. Give him a week, or so." I nodded and we stood up. I walked into the compartment first and sat down beside Harry.

He turned to me and hugged me. I inhaled his scent, a mix of soap and laundry detergent. He pulled back and asked, "What's wrong? What'd he do?"

I wiped my eyes and answered carefully, being sure not to say one word of false information, "He insulted me, sort of, and you and I just couldn't do anything." Well, it was kind of true.

"Oh. Alright." I sat in silence for half an hour while the others talked. It was now one o' clock.

"We had better get dressed now. Boys, go away and change somewhere else," Hermione said bossily.

"Aww! I wanted to say and watch!" said Harry laughing. Ron laughed, too, but Hermione was adamant and kept telling them to get out. Finally they did, and we changed quickly into the grey skirts, white blouses, and black robes. I stuffed my other clothes into my book bag and sat down. My black shoes matched the uniform perfectly.

Harry and Ron came back in, dressed in their uniforms. Harry sat down next to me again and said, "The uniforms are a bit boring aren't they?"

"Yeah, but they're comfortable, too," I said. There was a knock on the door, as two red haired boys stepped in. They were twins.

"Hello, Ron. Hi Harry, Hermione," the taller of the twins said.

"Hey George. Nicole these are my brothers, Fred, and George. They're in their seventh year."

"And still making trouble," Fred said. "Who's the pretty girl?" he said laughing.

"I'm Nicole Stevens. Fifth year. I moved here from America."

"Do you have a boyfriend?" asked George, being very blunt. What!? What was he playing at?

"Excuse me? That really happens to be none of your business, I don't care if you're related to Ron or not."

"Yeah, maybe, but if you don't I'm free."

"What? Well, I sort of do," I said. I wasn't sure if Harry was my boyfriend, so I just used the stand-by. "If you want second opinion to check for sure, ask Harry."

"Harry?" George asked. Harry looked at me questioningly. I shrugged at him. If he wanted to tell them something, it was up to him.

"Well, Nicole and I are, sort of, kind of, maybe, going out," Harry said. It seemed like he had tried to delay getting to the point.

"Darn, well, it was worth a try. Alright, then. C'mon Fred I saw Angelina and Alicia in a compartment down the hall," and with that final word, the twins left.

Harry turned to me and said, "So, do you want to make it official? I mean, the twins'll be spreading it around like wildfire, and it might as well be true. Will you be my girlfriend, Nicole?"

I considered it. "Definitely." Harry smiled and put his arm around me. It was oddly comforting sitting there. I forgot all my worries about Malfoy, and what I'd tell Harry (if I'd tell him). Everything was perfect. Well, mostly.