Heir of Gaunt

Chapter Nine

November 6th, 1891: 3:10 PM, Room of Requirement

"Alright, I've finished grooming these puffskeins. Where do you want the excess fur?" Poppy asked as she stood around a group of bouncing puffskeins.

"Just place it by the loom." Nora answered, her mind far away from the cool breeze of the vivarium. She had come here to relax (and to satisfy Poppy, who was begging to come back), but there were so many things clouding her train of thought that relaxation wasn't an option.

She thought about her love life, if she could even call it that. She didn't have any experience with boys, as the ones in her muggle hometown found her "strange," to say the least. There had been multiple encounters where she performed accidental magic as a child, and it had gotten to the point that before she was accepted into Hogwarts, the neighboring family had hung bits of garlic around their house to "protect" themselves from her. It seemed silly to look back on, but at the time, Eleanora was extremely embarrassed of her unique ability. She was practically an outcast in her village, with only her mother and father for company. She had spent the majority of the summer holiday writing letters to her friends just to cope with the loneliness she felt at home.

Her lack of social interaction made it hard for her to understand people in general, much less boys. Romance was a topic she knew nothing about. She wasn't sure what Garreth had planned for the next day. Would they hold hands while they walked? Would they share a butterbeer, or order separately? Would they kiss? She couldn't tell if her heart sunk or soared at the thought of him kissing her. Nora had never kissed anyone before, and never did she ever think her first kiss would be with Garreth Weasley.

There was also the fact that she still wasn't sure as to why Ominis was so angry with her. She had tried her hardest over the past few weeks to leave him alone in hopes that he wouldn't have to face the flashbacks he had been struggling with. Maybe she hadn't avoided him hard enough, and he was angry with her for involving him in her love life.

Well, technically Poppy was the one who told him.

She looked over at her friend, who was currently carrying an armful of puffskein fur towards the exit of the vivarium. Nora still didn't understand why Poppy had lied about Garreth's crush on her. She sincerely doubted that Garreth had been in love with her for as long as she had implied, and saying so only seemed to bother Ominis.

"I have a question." Nora called out, following her out of the vivarium.

"I have an answer."

She took a deep breath, trying to approach the subject in a non-accusatory manner. "You told Ominis and Sebastian that Garreth has been in love with me for a very long time. Why did you tell them that if you knew it wasn't true?"

Poppy shrugged innocently, laying the fur on the loom's table before turning to lean against it, facing Nora. "I mean, it might be true. We don't know how long Garreth has liked you for."

"Then why did you imply that we did know that?" Nora pressed.

"I thought it was obvious. Ominis was practically seething with jealousy, Nora."

Nora felt her entire face burn as she realized what her friend was saying. "No! I...if he...he would have already..." She stuttered, not sure exactly where her sentence was supposed to go. She looked at Poppy's smug expression and knew that no matter what facts she presented, she wasn't changing her friend's mind. "Why else would he have gotten so angry over a simple date?"

"Honestly, at this point, he's colder to me than he was to Sebastian after the catacomb incident." Nora sighed, trimming some dying dittany leaves to leave room for more to blossom.