Little Phoenix (Harry Potter Fanfiction)

59. Training

"Up, Potter!" Moody shouted, banging on the door and jolting her awake.

"Coming!" she shouted, getting to her feet. She changed into muggle clothes with black three-quarter leggings and a tank top. Tying her hair in a high ponytail, she went out to the kitchen to eat. Moody had set a plate of eggs on the table and Nic dug in. When she'd finished, they went into the training room.

"Let's see what I'm working with," Moody decided. He pushed her so hard in the duel that she was sweating. Eventually he hit her with a curse she couldn't block. She was knocked back into the wall.

"Bloody hell," Nic groaned, getting up.

"You're fair for your age," Moody admitted. "But not good enough. A Death Eater would kill you in an instant."

"Then made sure they don't," Nic retorted coolly. He went at her for hours and hours until lunch. Finally he allowed her a break. They ate and she sat down in the library.

"By the end of the day, I want three rolls of parchment on dueling strategies," Moody ordered. Nic set to her work without complaint. By seven p.m, she handed the parchment over to Moody. "Good," he said. "You have the rest of the night to yourself." Nic nodded and went into her room. Once inside, she pulled out a book and read for a few hours. Then she went to sleep. Nic and Moody repeated this pattern day after day.

Moody didn't let up even in the slightest. If anything, he began going at her harder. When she showed up at Grimmauld Place, she was clearly very weary, but seemed happier than a lot of them had seen her. "Siri!" Nic cried, wrapping her arms around him tightly.

"Where have you been?" he laughed, returning her embrace.

"Order stuff," she replied. "Oh, it's so good to see you, Siri. I missed you."

"I missed you too, little phoenix," he replied. "And I think someone else has been missing you too."

"Nic!" Harry cried, running down the stairs and hugging her.

"Hey, Harry," she replied. Pulling away, she hugged Hermione just as tightly.

"Hey Ginny," Nic greeted, hugging the red-head. "Where're Fred and George?"

"Right here," they replied at the same time.

"Hey, boys," Nic greeted, hugging them too. "Mrs. Weasley." When she had greeted everyone, they all exchanged presents. Nic had gotten several advanced spell books and a necklace from Hermione.

They had all migrated downstairs and were halfway through a meal when Harry asked, "So where've you been all this time, Nic?" She glanced up at Sirius, unsure. He shook his head. Harry, who had noticed this exchange, sighed, "Right, top secret Order stuff. Great."

"Harry," Nic sighed apologetically. "I'm sorry. I would tell you if I could."

"I know," he sighed.

"Sorry I'm late," a voice behind them said.

"Tyriq," Nic greeted, fighting off a blush. Ginny smirked, but said nothing as Ty sat next to Nic. Lowering her voice, she whispered, "How'd it go?"

"They believed me," he replied stiffly, raising his sleeve enough for her to spot the black mark on his forearm. She flinched, reverting her eyes away from it. "You're worried."

"No, I'm scared," Nic admitted quietly. "I'm scared for you."

"You said you supported me on this," Tyriq whispered stiffly.

"I do, but that doesn't mean I won't worry and it doesn't mean I have to like it," Nic replied, grabbing hold of his hand and intertwining their fingers.

"We're going to visit Arthur," Mrs. Weasley said. "Would you two like to come?"

"No thanks," Nic replied with a small smile. "I'm going to spend the rest of the day with Sirius."

"And I need to get back," Tyriq sighed. "Promised my parents I'd be back before two."

"Wait, can I talk to you before you leave?" Nic asked quickly. "Privately?" He nodded and the two split from the group.

"What's going on?" Ty asked.

"Listen, I'm not going to be around school much," Nic explained. "Dumbledore is having me do...some stuff. I need you to look after Harry."

"Okay," he agreed. "I'll do my best."

"Thank you," Nic replied. "All right, you need to go."

"Bye," Ty replied, quickly kissing her cheek. When he was gone, Nic went and found Sirius.

"Hey," Nic greeted, knocking on the doorframe of his mother's room where he was feeding Buckbeak.

"You doing okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," Nic replied, giving him a genuine smile. "I'm...finally happy after everything that happened."

"I'm glad," Sirius replied, giving her a hug. "I missed that smile. Even when you were doing better, something about your smile was hollow, but now...you look really happy."

"I am," Nic chuckled, turning to the window.

"Woah, what happened?" Sirius exclaimed, noticing a scar Nic had gotten from training. Turning, she looked to see what he was talking about.

"Oh, that's nothing," Nic replied. "It's a funny story actually. I was dueling Moody and he tried to throw this curse at me and I threw another one back. Long story short, I was knocked into the wall and hit a sharp corner."

"Are you sure this training is a good idea?" Sirius asked. "You could end up seriously hurt."

"Sirius, I can handle this," Nic insisted. "I need to handle this."

"Nic, you're not emotionally stable," Sirius protested. "You're still on sleeping potions-"

"-for insomnia."

"-and anxiety potions."

"Actually I'm not," Nic countered, crossing his arms. "I stopped taking them around Halloween." When Siri began to speak again, Nic interrupted, "Sirius, I'm doing what I can! This is what I can do to help so I'm going to do it."

"Okay," Sirius agreed.

"I do have to head back, though," Nic sighed. "It was good to see you."

"You too," Sirius replied, giving her a hug. "Be safe."

"Always," Nic replied. "I'll come and see you when I can."