Nicole Stevens: Roses and Mistrust

For a few moments I sat there only seeing the mist, then, suddenly shapes started whirling in the ball. I saw a black cloaked figure step into a fencing room. I knew it was a fencing room because it had swords hanging all over the walls. His hood fell back and I saw jet black hair framing a cruel and pale face. Then the mist consumed the image and another one appeared. A man with pale blonde hair and skin knelt down. His face reminded me strongly of Draco's, the same high-cheekbones, same hair. I was instantly sure that he was Draco's father. The one difference was that Draco looked beautiful and proud, while this man looked arrogant and ominous. Then I saw him rise and the black-haired man reappeared with him. They conversed, but I could not hear what they were saying. I saw Draco's father raise the sleeve of his robe and show a black mark to the man. The mark was that of a skull with a snake coming out of the mouth. I knew it instantly; the Dark Mark. Then, that man was Voldemort! Voldemort touched the mark, tracing it with his forefinger. Then I suddenly realized the truth of this vision, Draco's father was a Death Eater.

This time the mist cleared and no more images came. I fell out of my chair and onto the floor. Professor Trelawney rushed over to me and helped me to stand. "What is it dear? A vision of some sort?"

I nodded slowly, "Uh, may I please be excused? I need a glass of water."

"But--" Professor Trelawney looked extremely disappointed but she let me go. I walked away from her and down the ladder from the trapdoor. I hurried down the spiraling staircase rubbing my temples. I continued rushing down corridors, not paying attention to where I was going. I suddenly ran into a very solid something. Looking up I saw a door moving slowly closed and a gargoyle hopping in front of it. Then I saw that I had run straight into the headmaster.

He was looking at me with an amused expression, "Hello, Nicole," I noted the use of my first name. "Would you like to come into my office? You look like you need to sit down."

"Thank you, sir." He turned around and led me over to the stone gargoyle.

"Sugar Quill," he said. It was obviously a password, for the stone gargoyle suddenly sprang to life and moved aside. A door was revealed as the stone moved aside. Dumbledore walked in and I followed after. There was a set of stairs that were slowly spiraling upward. The old man walked onto them and signaled for me to do the same. The steps stopped moving for us to move on. When we were both standing on the bottom step, the stairs started moving upwards again. When we arrived at the top landing, Dumbledore walked through the door and I stepped in after him.

His office had to be the most interesting that I'd ever seen. It had portraits of previous headmasters and headmistresses hanging on the walls. Some of them were awake and looking curiously at me, while some were snoozing in their frames. There were funny little noises coming from objects on various shelves. Several shelves were filled with books, and in one corner a golden perch held a huge and beautiful bird; a Phoenix. It reminded me of my dream with the snake and bird. Dumbledore sat down at his desk and gestured for me to sit in the chair across from him. I obliged.

"So, Nicole, may I ask what you were doing in the corridors during class time?"

"I was in divination and we were gazing into the crystal balls. I saw a vision."

"Indeed? Would you kindly tell me of your vision?"

I considered it. I wondered vaguely if I should tell Draco first, but I decided to talk to Dumbledore about it. "Sir, I saw Lord Voldemort. I saw him walking into a fencing room. Then I saw Draco Malfoy's father. He knelt at Voldemort's feet. Then, he stood and showed Voldemort the Dark Mark on his arm. Voldemort traced it with his fingers."

"You saw Lord Voldemort with Lucius Malfoy?" he asked quickly.

"Yes, Sir. I think that he may be a Death Eater."

"Ah, so you saw all of this?"

"Yes, Professor Dumbledore, I did."

"I should've known," he muttered, more to himself than to me. "I have known Lucius was a Death Eater for some time, but that he was that closely consulting with Voldemort, I had no exact knowledge of."

"Uh, Professor?"

"Yes?"

I was still dying to know what my painful dreams meant, so I decided to ask about them. "Professor Dumbledore, how much do you know about dream analysis?"

"I know quite a bit. Why do you ask?"

"Because, a while back I had these painful dreams. Like, one was that I was playing Quidditch and this one bludger kept pelting at me. It wouldn't go for any other player. Another was where I was in a graveyard. I was tied to a headstone and Voldemort used the Cruciatus Curse on me. When he touched my forehead it burned. There was another with a black-haired boy and a Basilisk. In that dream there was also a Phoenix, like yours," I waved my hand at the bird on the perch. "And I killed the Basilisk with a sword while the bird poked the snake's eyes out. Then the snake bit me, and I was saved by the bird. Its tears healed my arm. Then I jammed a fang into a book on the ground."

"Oh? And you remember them all vividly? Odd. I think that I may be correct in guessing that you have a strong mental link with Harry Potter. He contacted me near the end of the summer about some dreams that he was having. Your dreams fit his descriptions perfectly. You might have been sharing his dreams. Please do not mention this to him. And do not mention your vision to him either. The only person that you may share your vision with, would be Draco Malfoy, and then only if you wished to tell him. Please do not speak of your dreams openly. I will speak to you again. Good day Nicole. Your next class will be in fifteen minutes, you can still be on time."

"Thank you, Professor," I said as I got up and walked out the door. I hurried down the moving stairs and out the bottom door. I nearly ran down to Defense Against the Dark Arts. I was first to arrive in the classroom, besides the teacher, that is.

When I walked in the door the teacher looked up quickly and said, "'Ello, why are you 'ere so early? Class does not start for ten minutes."

"I left my previous class early and met with the headmaster. He sent me ahead."

"Oh, oui. Excuse me, I meant to say 'yes'."

"Aucun problem. Je parlez français," I said, though with a heavy accent.

"Oui? Trés bon, Manquent Stevens," she replied.

I sat down at the front desk and waited in absolute silence for the rest of class to come. Harry walked slowly in and saw me sitting at the front desk. He rushed over to me and sat down. "Nicole, are you alright? When you left, I wondered where you'd gone."

"I'm fine Harry. I walked right into Professor Dumbledore and he invited me to come into his office."

"Good, I'm glad you didn't get lost."

As the rest of the students started filing in, Professor Delacour stood up. "'Ello class. I am pleased to see you all. Today we are going to learn 'ze Scepter Spell. 'Zis spell is used to disable a wand. It was developed by the Greeks in 1389, and is called the Scepter Spell because they used Scepters instead of wands, but 'zis spell works 'ze same on wands. 'Ze incantation is Petrico Sceptero. To make your wand work again, use Sceptero Reparo. Choose a partner. Off you go, 'zen." I chose to work with Harry.

"Right then, Nicole, you go first."

I raised my wand in my left hand, and Harry put his wand on the table, "Petrico Sceptero!" Harry picked up his wand and tried to use 'Lumos'. It didn't work, so we knew that I'd done it right. He put his wand back down on the table and I said, "Sceptaro Reparo!" Harry picked it up and used 'Lumos'. The end of his wand lit up this time and he put it out with 'Nox'.

I set my wand down on the table and he said, "Petrico Sceptero!" I grabbed my wand and attempted 'Lumos'. Yet again, it didn't work. "Alright," he said as I lay down my wand, "Sceptero Reparo!" Then I tried 'Lumos', and the spell worked.

"Good job," I said before putting out my wand's light.

"Class, it is time to go! I am assigning no 'omework again, so be 'appy!" The class cheered and packed up.

I turned to Harry and said, "I have to go to the library. I know where it is. Tell me when Quidditch tryouts are, okay?" He nodded and I walked out of the classroom.

I went up the marble staircase and turned a corner. I saw two huge, open wooden doors and walked through them. The library was musty-smelling and full of books (surprising, huh?). I went over to a back table that was mostly hidden. Setting my book bag down at the table, I went over to the Arithmancy section and looked through the books. I found one titled 'Sequences and Meanings of Numerology'. I pulled it out of the shelf and flipped through it. The text was small, but I could read it. I brought it back to my table and sat down reading it.

After fifteen minutes of reading/working on the chart, I felt a hand press into my shoulder. Looking up I saw Draco standing above me. He was grinning down at me. He pulled the heavy book from my hands, and shut it with a snap. Then he casually tossed it on the table, out of my reach. "Doing homework, Nicole?"

"What else would I be doing? Wait, no, don't answer that. I don't want to know what you might come up with."

"Wearing my necklace?"

"No. In fact, I'm probably never going to."

"Really? Did you like my poem?"

"It depends."

"On what?" he asked silkily.

"Well, whether or not you came up with it, I doubt you did, if the words came from your heart, if you have one, and if you'll leave me alone."

He smirked, "I have a heart. I don't let it show, because my father feels that it is a weakness to show your heart."

"And do you agree?"

"Not entirely. There are times that I think my father has the correct measure of things, and then....there are the times I feel that it is best to disobey my father, and show my true feelings," he told me quietly.

"I'm betting that now isn't ones of the second times," I said with a false air of cheerfulness. He pulled out the chair next to me and sat down, all in one swift motion.

"And how would you know?"

"Just a hunch of mine."

"Well, it would be. You don't know my father or me, when it comes down to it. You might know what I act like, but you don't truly know me. You never give me a chance to talk with you, or get to know you. So you certainly aren't getting to know me."

"Or like you," I added to his sentence. "That is because so far you've acted like an insufferable, sarcastic moron."

He chuckled quietly, "Moron, am I? If I were a moron, I'd be trying to charm Pansy Parkinson. And, though you might not have noticed, I'm not going after her."

"Go away, leave me be, get out, sod off, move your presence elsewhere, put your person in another area, just flat-out don't stay here," I snapped. "I have work to do."

"As do I, which could be why I came in here in the first place. And, besides, I'm a Prefect, you can't tell me what to do." I raised my eyebrows skeptically.

"You intend to actually do work? That's a first."

"First or not, it's true. I have Arithmancy homework, as well," he reached languidly for my book. I moved my hand in front of his, blocking it. He looked at me and smiled cruelly. "So, am I going to have to tell the librarian that you're not sharing the books?"

"No, because if you do I'll tell her you're stalking me."

"Stalking you? Ha! Of all the words I've listed that's not one of them, infatuation, maybe, but never stalking. I am simply admiring your beauty and talents."

"Oh, right. Name one reason that you're 'infatuated' with me, besides that I'm pretty or intelligent."

"You happen to be interesting and," he paused and I tapped my fingers on the table in mock impatience, "and overall faultless." I laughed loudly, earning a reproving look from the librarian.

I lowered my voice to a whisper and retorted, "I have a fault, and it is that I sit here and listen to you. You go on and on about nothing in particular, and berate me with rhetorical questions and annoying notations of why you won't leave me alone. Yet, all the while, all you're doing is glossing over the fact that your jealous of Harry, because--" He slapped my face. I put my fingertips on my stinging cheek

"How dare you?" he whispered in a dangerous voice, "I am not jealous of Potter. The one thing I envy is you, and that is it. Nothing else." He stood up and strode swiftly out the door. The librarian hadn't seen him slap me, but she regarded him with a cold gaze as he left. I grabbed my book and bag, and then went to check the book out.

Walking up to Gryffindor tower, I thought of everything Draco had said. He had been open with me, well, as open as he ever was. And, still I had blocked him out, with a forcefulness that I did not know that I possessed. Had I been too harsh? Well, if he wouldn't leave me be, then I would have to make him.

"Tempus," I said drearily to the Fat Lady. The portrait swung forward and I stepped through it. Harry was sitting with Ron, doing homework, hopefully, but it wasn't likely. I walked over to them and asked, "When are the Quidditch tryouts? I think I'll try just for the fun of it."

"Saturday, Ron's going to try out for Keeper, and Alicia is Head Girl, so she can't play Quidditch anymore. That means you can try for Chaser."

"Great," I said wearily. I plopped down onto the chair next to them.

"Nicole, what happened? You have a red mark on your face," Ron asked as he wrote.

I rubbed my cheek, "Never mind. It's not important."

"Yes, it is," Harry interjected. "What happened?"

"Nothing," I snapped moodily.

"C'mon, tell us. Did you fall on your face?" Ron inquired brightly.

"No, and no."

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"Stop interrogating me about it! I told you it's not important!" I half-shrieked causing the other people in the Common Room to stare. "Just leave me alone about it, Harry."

"I won't. Tell me what happened. Malfoy?" he guessed.

"Yes."

"What'd he do?"

"I'm not going to tell you."

"Yes you are, Nicole."

"Don't tell me what to do."

"Tell me, please, I need to know," Harry said quietly, touching my arm.

"If I tell you, you'll be upset."

"What's upsetting me is that my own girlfriend won't tell me what happened to her, so I can go fix it," his voice rose a bit in frustration.

"Look, I insulted Malfoy. He hit me. End of story. You can't fix it."

Harry stood up and said, "Don't tell me that I can't fix it. I can and I will." I shook my head at him. Ron, who had figured out that this was a boyfriend/girlfriend thing, had left to go to his dormitory. "I've been told that I can't fix things all my life, I won't let this be one of those times." He walked out of the portrait hole.

Sighing, I walked up the girl's staircase. I wanted to talk to someone, someone who didn't have boy hormones on the rampage. So, I went up to Hermione's room and knocked.

"Come in," she answered from inside. I went in and waved a hand at her. She was sitting at her desk writing something. "What's wrong, Nicole?"

"Oh, my boyfriend's gone to beat up someone, I was slapped, the librarian thinks I'm crazy, I'm having weird dreams, and my life sucks. Other than that, my life's just peachy."

"Harry's gone to beat someone up?"

"Yep."

"Someone slapped you?"

"You bet."

"You're having strange dreams?"

"Totally."

"And what do you mean your life sucks? You have a boyfriend, who--."

"Is gone to beat someone up."

"Who adores you. You're smart, funny, pretty, and nice."

"So what? That doesn't stop my life from sucking," I said flopping down on her bed. "I'm still having major problems. All of the major ones include boys."

"So who's Harry gone to hurt?" she asked worriedly.

"Malfoy," I said shortly.

"And why is that?"

"He slapped me."

She nodded and then gasped, "But, Malfoy's....he's a Prefect! He can't hit you! And, Harry certainly can't kill a Prefect. It's against the rules."

"You know what, Hermione? I don't think he cares that it's against the rules. In fact," I said, my voice rising in hysterics and paranoia, "I don't think ANYONE cares about the rules!"

Hermione's eyes widened, "Shh, Nicole. Calm down, it's not that bad."

I took a deep breath, "Your right. I need to take a walk. Want to come down to the lake?"

"Yeah, sure," Hermione said standing up from the desk. I had an odd suspicion that she was only coming to make sure I didn't try to drown myself while I was down there. We walked down the stairs and into the Common Room.

Ron rushed over to us and asked, "Where's Harry?"

"Don't ask, Ron," I said. He looked like he wanted to, but he refrained. We left him and walked out the portrait hole. Hermione led me down the staircases and out the huge front doors. We walked across the large expanse of grass in a surprisingly short time.

In ten minutes we were walking around the edge of the lake. "So, tell me the whole slapping story from the beginning."

"Alright," I started telling her the story. She nodded as she listened, occasionally putting in a 'right' or a 'yeah'. As I finished, we were nearly halfway around the huge lake.

"Yes, I see why Harry would be upset. He does tend to react badly when it comes to telling him that he can't do something about the problem."

"Tell me about it," I muttered. We stopped at a tree and stood in the shade. I saw a figure approaching and nudged Hermione, who had been looking at the ground. She looked up. It was Harry.

He walked over to us and said to Hermione, "I need to talk with Nicole alone." She nodded uncertainly and walked away, shooting a questioning look over her shoulder at me.

"So, have you finished being overprotective yet?" I asked, not looking at him, but at the black water of the lake.

He looked down at the ground, "I suppose I did overreact. I'm sorry."

"You should be. Well, did you find him?"

"No. I ended up walking around the castle thinking and cooling down."

"So, you're cold now, are you?" I asked teasingly.

He smiled at me and said, "I guess so. But, I bet you could warm me up." I laughed and thumped him on the arm. He leaned against the tree and looked out at the glassy surface of the lake.

I poked him in the small of the back and said, "What're you going to do to make it up to me?"

He looked over at me, his green eyes alight with laughter. He pushed me onto the grass and lay down on his stomach next to me. I lie on my back and looked at the sky. Harry put his arm around my waist and drew me closer to him. Then he pushed himself up on his arms and looked down at me. Harry bent his head down and kissed me lightly. As he rolled onto his back I sat up and consulted my watch. "Dinner started fifteen minutes ago."

"We'd better go, or Ron'll eat all the food." He stood up and held out his hand to help me up. I took it and we walked hand-in-hand back to the castle.