After The War (Romione & Hinny fan fiction)

Stay Away From Me!

Noah ran a hand through his hair for about the 3657th time that afternoon.

Today, November 30th, 2019, for the first time in his life, Noah Nash was nervous.

Ugh.

He'd never been this nervous - or nervous at all.

He hadn't been nervous during the end-of-the-year exams.

Nor when he'd done his first Quidditch try outs and the captain read out loud the people that had made it on the team (and he hadn't even been selected!)

He hadn't been nervous last year, when Professor Turin had made him recite the moons of Jupiter in front of the class (the bloody planet has no less than 80 moons, for heaven's sake!) as a punishment for never being silent.
James still liked to remind Noah of that one whenever he had the opportunity, and Noah got in a bad mood every single time: He'd been arguing with Kat Gordon about the Kenmare Kestrels' new Chaser and still hadn't gotten over the fact that Kat thought he - the Kenmare's Chaser, not Noah - was some kind of Quidditch idol.

Noah smoothed his robes one last time and fastened the laces of his shoes.

"You ready, mate? It's taking you forever to get ready." James called from the door of the dorm, "You're going on a date, you know. You're not meeting the queen!"

"I'm aware." Noah muttered. He ran a hand through his hair one last time (the 3658th of that afternoon) before leaving the dormitory.

As he descended the stairs to the Common Room trying to look normal and relaxed, his eyes fell on Dominique. She was talking animatedly with a friend and her back was to him.
She had braided her silvery hair in two plaits, and Noah had the sudden impulse to run a finger on the pattern of her hair. He walked toward her with the intent of greeting her and her frie--
Wham!

Something knocked into him hard. He practically saw his balance wink evilly and leave his body.

"Hey, watch where you're going man!" Someone said, or maybe shouted, Noah didn't know because he wasn't paying attention. He was falling. When his body made contact with the floor a searing pain shot up his arms. His elbows and knees made impact with the floor first, since he'd tried to soften the impact.
He managed not to cry out loud, but he could feel tears threatening to spill and a very sharp pain in his limbs. His right wrist was pulsing.

"Noah? Oh my God! Can you stand?" Dominique's kind hands rested on his arm.

"Yes." Noah breathed, not really thinking about what he was saying.

"He can stand." Dominique repeated to someone, "Can you help me lift him?"

He felt hands beneath his armpits that hoisted him up. He winced in pain, and when he finally dared to open his eyes, he saw Dominique and her friend on either side of him. Oh God, he thought grimly, this was going to be the end of him.

Noah Nash, the boy who died of embarrassment.

He tried to put some weight on his legs, but the pain intensified like a thousand sharp needles. His knees gave out.

"Ouch." Noah drew in a breath as his body was moved around. It hurt so much everywhere. He had to bit his lip to keep his voice steady as he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind. "I can't stand. It hurts."

"We'll take you to the hospital wing." Dominique rushed to say. The two girls instructed Noah to drape his arms around their necks and to hold tight. Slowly, they helped Noah to make his way to the hospital wing on the first floor.

They descended way too many staircases before knocking on the hospital wing's door. The nurse, Hannah, opened only a few seconds later and eyed Noah's limp body.