*＊✿❀Chapter 6 ❀✿＊* Over the next week, Nora was extremely busy with all her Prefect duties and her studies, she had to make a difficult choice. Play Quidditch or not? She decided not to, even though she was a pretty decent Seeker, she couldn't abandon her Prefect duties. But what ran through her mind in the middle of Astronomy late Thursday night, was Dakota and Jeremy. What had they been whispering about? Nora hated how much things changed after the fourth year, first, she can't play Quidditch, second, the Malfoy boy is driving her mad, and third, now her best friend and arch nemesis are talking? And the worst part was that they weren't arguing, they were actually talking, like normal people. But if there is one thing Nora knew about Dakota, was that she was anything but normal. After Charms class the next day, Nora went to meet Dakota. The day she had asked her to meet, Dakota hadn't showed up, so Nora was able to ask her to meet up again the next day, still didn't show up. So yesterday, Nora told Dakota that they needed to talk and this was the last time she'd be free, though it actually wasn't. Nora headed to the library on free period, she quietly walked in and settled herself into a chair at a free table. Or at least she thought it was free, until she saw a bag and a few books piled on the table at the spot across from her, just then, the owner of the bag and books came into view. Calvin Conner. "Oh, hello!" He said in a quiet but excited whisper. "Hello Calvin," She replied, "Is anyone sitting here?" "No, be my guest," He smiled and sat down. Nora nodded in thanks. "You haven't seen Dakota lately, have you?" She asked, lowering her voice a little more as Madam Pince strode on by. "Dakota Peters? No, not really. Only in Herbology, really. I did hear her talking about that Selwyn boy to her twin, Della I think it is?" This caught Nora's attention. "She was....? Did you hear exactly what she said?" "All I heard was: '-He told me he was up all night becau-' and then the Stinksap from the Mimbulus Mimbletomia sprayed all over her." "Hmm," Nora hopped back on her train of thoughts, Jeremy hadn't even told Nora why he was up late, why would he tell Dakota? "So, uh....The first Hogsmeade trip is coming up this weekend, do you want to go together?" He asked politely. Nora really didn't feel like spending her weekend around a ton of people in Hogsmeade, this was a thoughtful gesture though, she thought. "Oh....Well....I guess, sure." She said, it might do her some good to get out for the day, away from the other Slytherins and her Prefect duties. Calvin tried his best to hide his undying excitement. "Okay, I will uh, meet you at the gate on Saturday." And he packed his books back into his bag and left with a wave, basically skipping out of the library. "Hey!" Dakota called as she walked in, she got a rather large "SHHH!" From Madam Pince. Dakota imitated her as she walked over to Nora's table. "Was that Calvin Clever Conner that just walked out?" Dakota asked with a smirk on her face. "Clever?" Nora asked. "That's what the Gryffindors call him, the Weasley twins' made the name up." She explained, "Anyways...." "Yes, it was, and we're going to Hogsmeade this weekend together. He asked me." Nora said as she opened up 'One thousand magical herbs and fungi' and folded the corner of the helpful pages. "It's about bloody time you said yes. He's been crazy for you since what, the first year?" Dakota sighed, Nora nodded. "So what did you want to talk about?" And Nora explained all of what she saw and heard in detail, and by the end of the story, Dakota's eyebrows were almost up to her hairline. "-And what were you and Jeremy Selwyn talking about?" Nora had been dying to ask her this since Potions class last week. Dakota, who had her legs resting on the table and her chair titled back on it's two back legs, put her legs back down on the ground and all four chair legs on the ground as fast as she could. "Nothing-just we were....He just-" Dakota never had been very good at keeping secrets, especially someone else's. "You were talking in the middle of Potions, you've never talked to him-well, besides that one time you yelled at him for pushing me out of my seat in our second year, but you've almost never talked to him!" Nora said in a quiet whisper-yell. "Why do you all of a sudden care about who I talk to? And I've never heard you even say his first name. Do you-" "Don't even go there. Isma, Odette, Tryxi, Yasmin and Yvette have already all done that. I will not let my best friend picture me and that ungrateful, prideful, self-centered, arrogant, cocky, undeserving, unbelievably rude, lazy-" "Are you done yet?" Dakota asked, rolling her eyes. "-Entirely too tall jerk." "I was going to ask if you care about him," Nora tossed her hands up, "Did you not hear-" "SHHH!" Madam Pince came around the corner and forced them out of the library.
They walked down the corridor together, focusing less and less on where they were going the more they talked. "I asked her, you know," "Asked who about what?" Nora asked, an odd feeling prickled in her stomach. "Isma Pinkins, I asked her about you and Jeremy." "WHY?!" Nora demanded, she didn't mean to get so loud but she wasn't about to apologize for it. "She said you two have been spending an awful lot of time together...." Dakota smirked. Nora grabbed her thick black curls and felt like she was about to pull them out in frustration. "We're the Prefects for Slytherin! What do you expect?!" "Calm down, calm down. And if you think that me and Selwyn are trying to get together or something, think again. I'm already in a relationship." Nora's attitude shifted at once, from a shouting, outraged Troll, to a sweet and caring Pygmy Puff. "Aww, who are you dating?" She asked kindly. "Laveda Esk. She's in our year, a Ravenclaw. We met on the train and she asked me out last week. We're going to Hogsmeade this weekend as well." "Maybe me and Calvin can come along too," "Double date?" Dakota asked, barely containing her excitement. The girly part of Nora took over and she squealed, "Okay!" After getting lost in the Astronomy tower, Dakota and Nora headed back to the Great Hall, Nora had been there before Jeremy, which meant, yet again, that she would have to lead the first years to their Flying class. Nora decided to wait for a moment, to see if he would show up, but after five minutes she led them out onto the sunny and breezy grounds and left them with Madam Hooch. Nora then headed back to the library, she was going to try and cram in some extra time to finish homework. Though, she wasn't alone for long. Jeremy had peeked around the corner and sat down across from Nora. "Wow, you didn't even ask if that seat was taken," She said irritably. "I don't need to," He said as he pulled his bag off and and smacked it on the table powerfully, he pulled out a book and flipped through the pages. Nora gave him a sharp, death-glare. "Yes, you do." "Fine," He said, standing, "Is this seat taken?" "Nope," Nora smiled to herself. Jeremy scoffed angrily and sat back down. "Conner's been unbearable, what did you do to him?" "Why do you think it was me?" "He was acting all jittery in Defense Against the Dark Arts, raising her hand faster than ever and asking everyone about pretty much anything. And the whole school basically knows he likes you." Nora smiled again, glad that something had finally irritated this jerk. "He may or may not have asked me out to Hogsmeade this weekend, and I may or may not have said yes." Nora said, tossing her hair over her shoulder and out of the way of her book. Jeremy kind of just stared at her for a moment, oddly. "What?" Nora asked, after a bit it had become uncomfortable. "It just surprises me, I never thought you'd go out with him. He doesn't seem your type." He said simply. Nora tossed down her quill into her bag on the floor along with her books, she swung her bag over her shoulder and said, "I'll have you know, I decide who's my type and who isn't!" And she left, marching out of the library, followed by "SHH!" 's, and apologies from Jeremy. Nora didn't care, she just wanted to get in bed before cerfew. But when she spoke the password and walked down the spiral staircase, she found Jeremy already there. "Wait....How did you-?" "It doesn't matter right now how I got here, what matters right now is what I have to say." Nora finished walking down the few steps and walked right past him, but he grabbed her arm. She tried to pull it free but his grip was much stronger than it looked. "I'm so sorry. For everything. Being such a jerk, leaving you to all the Prefect duties, talking about you behind your back- "You talk about me behind my back?" Nora raised an eyebrow. "As I was saying," He said, shaking it off, "I think you need to know the reason why. "Oh, I already know why." She said. "You do?" Jeremy said, so surprised, he let go of her. "Yeah, it's because you're lazy." She said with an obvious shrug. "No, it's because I-"
