Simple Circumstance

Rating - T+ / PG-13+

Genre - Romance, Drama

Disclaimer - This story is, of course, a work of fanfiction. I do not own the Harry Potter series. I am not, in any way, close to or connected with J.K. Rowling, nor do I claim to be. My characters (Nina Fey, Elizabeth Bennet, Felicia Wentworth, Alexander Brooks, etc.) are clearly mine, and Ms. Rowling's characters (Oliver Wood, Fred & George Weasley, Katie Bell, etc.) are clearly hers. They've simply been blended together to create this story I now hold dear to me :)

Summary - Nina Fey is brilliant at magic; Oliver Wood is brilliant at Quidditch. They may be Housemates, but their paths are the least likely to ever cross. However, simple circumstances say otherwise.

A/N - I do love the Harry Potter series and wish to stay true to the original storyline. However, as most fanfics go, there are aspects that would have to be tweaked considerably and there are some parts, details, events, etc. that I made up. Hopefully, I haven't butchered the characters beyond recognition, but I think everyone has their own interpretation of the characters and this is mine for this story (however far off from the original works they may be). I've had this idea brewing in my mind for the longest time, and to be honest I was hesitant in posting this story at all. But after watching the last Harry Potter movie not too long ago, I found a spark of inspiration (and courage) and decided to post. Regardless of reviews or number of readers, I will stick to my initial goal of completing this story. But if I somehow managed to make this story entertaining for you as a reader then I believe I've succeeded a small goal as a writer :)

Chapter 1 – A Memorable Start

Angelina Johnson was not amused.

She sat amongst the compartment full of boys with a sense of helplessness as the Hogwarts Express gradually left King's Cross Station. In less than 5 minutes of sitting down with the lads, she already felt as if she had enough doses of testosterone for the day.

"You do realize that there's a girl in this compartment, don't you?" she asked, raising a brow at the four teenaged boys surrounding her. Three of them were actually speaking with such earnest interest that it was rather shocking. One, quite frankly, couldn't care less.

"Y'know, since you're a girl I reckoned you'd be interested to hear what guys have to say about the girls in our school," George Weasley grinned that infamous grin he shared with his twin.

"Could it be that you're feeling a bit self-conscious hearing what some of Gryffindor's eligible bachelors have to say about the pretty girls at Hogwarts?" Fred piped in curiously.

The fact that Angelina sat in between the two twins made it awfully convenient to hit them both by the arm simultaneously which, in turn, caused a simultaneous 'ow!' in such a fashion that only twins could pull off.

"Don't push it," her tone was one of warning, though it border-lined between playfulness and reprimand. "I hardly call you two 'eligible bachelors' with how you behave on a regular basis. And you, Alexander Brooks," she turned her attention to the sandy-haired teen in front of her who only stared back with a spark of amusement behind his dark blue eyes, "you're already taken, if I'm not mistaken. And you, Oliver Wood," she turned her attention to their brown-haired Quidditch Captain who flicked a disinterested glance her way from his copy of Quidditch Daily, "I think you're the closest thing to being a 'bachelor' out of all of you, but you haven't stepped out of the almighty world of Quidditch long enough to really find out."

"You're a kill-joy."

"And you're an immature dork, but I'm best friends with you anyway."

The boys hid their chuckles to themselves, though Fred was the only one who pouted and turned his attention away elsewhere to find something else to say.

"Point taken." A question pivoted to what popped into his mind. "Speaking of being taken—how's things between you and Lizzie Bennet anyways, Alex?"

"What? Oh." He found all eyes on him. Even Oliver snuck a curious look his way. It wasn't every day that one of his best mates actually gets serious with a girl, after all. "I suppose it's going over rather well so far. I don't have any complaints."

As the boys took the response with a nod of satisfaction or acceptance, Angelina could only glance between them all in disbelief and confusion. Just 'well so far'? 'No complaints'? Nothing else? Just a shrug and a boyish smile—that's it?

"Boys," Angelina muttered with mild exasperation as she settled her gaze out the window. Judging from the start they already had, she could tell it was going to be quite the trip to Hogsmeade Station.

— ~ —

At eleven o'clock exactly, the Hogwarts Express began its trek to Hogsmeade Station. And at eleven o'clock exactly, Nina Fey took a step onto the scarlet-colored train and breathed in a sigh of relief.

"Cutting it rather close now, aren't we?" one of the train's guards observed as he allowed her up the steel steps.

The ebony-haired teen smiled back sheepishly, her cheeks flushed from both embarrassment and her previous haste. "Making my last year a memorable one, sir."

He chuckled and shook his head before continuing down the aisle behind him. Nina stood there for moment and heaved in another breath. It certainly was a memorable start for the year: a delayed airplane, bumper-to-bumper traffic, and an adrenaline rush later she managed to actually board the Hogwarts Express by the mere skin of her teeth. How that actually panned out, only Merlin knows. But nonetheless, she repeated that phrase—'thank Merlin'—to herself as her breathing settled to its normal rhythm.

With her navy tote bag hanging on shoulder, Nina walked down the narrow aisles in search of anyone remotely familiar. Younger faces were amongst the compartments she peeked into, mostly first years and the occasional bubbling second year. Excitement and anxiety could be seen about their faces and she smiled to herself. The memory of her own first year seeped into mind and, truthfully, a part of her missed those days.

As she got to the further end of the cart, upperclassmen's faces became more distinguishable. She squeezed past a pair of Hufflepuffs down the narrow aisle and continued to peek into the compartment windows to look for her friends. Laughter boomed from the next compartment over, and from the jumble of voices mixed into the air she could make out who they were.

She peeked through the windows, much like she had done many times already, and noted the packed compartment. It was the Gryffindor team, to be exact; minus Harry Potter, though she did see him, Hermione, and Ron a few compartments back. A small smile made way on her face as she lingered at the open door, her dark eyes catching the gaze of her friend's.

"Nina," Angelina Johnson greeted happily. "Searching for the other two?"

She smiled and nodded her head. "Have you seen them?"

"You just missed Alex. He was going to see Lizzie and Fee, actually. I think they're a few compartments down, so you can't miss them."

"Thanks, Angie. I'll see you guys at dinner then?"

With an affirmative nod from the fifth year girl, Nina smiled in passing and continued on down the aisle. But as she looked up after a few steps forward, she found herself subconsciously taking a few steps back. The frown making way across her face became difficult to withhold.

"Well isn't this a pleasant surprise. I wasn't looking forward to bugging Wood because of some bullshit meeting, but I'm glad that I went against my better judgment. How was your vacation, my little Fey?"

"Fine," she replied thinly.

She felt herself back into the wall. His steps continuing towards her and she could feel a rush of heat prick the back of her neck as she grew flustered.

"Y'know, I'm still shocked to see you act so cold to me after all this time, Fey. I mean, it is our last year and all. Shouldn't we act a little more civil towards one another?"

"This is civil, Flint."

The Slytherin smirked to himself. "So it is."

"Problem, Flint?"

Flint kept his distance once the other Gryffindor stepped in the way. Nina stepped back as well when she felt a gentle nudge to her side. At that point she realized she was no longer against the wall but in the open space of the aisle. But, for whatever reason, she remained where she stood for a few moments longer.

"Your pompous little Head Boy called a meeting in his compartment," Flint explained begrudgingly. "Prefects, Captains, and all the likes. That includes you and all the other little acclaimed House Captains. However inept their skills may be…"

"Finally admitting that you're shit at Quidditch, aye?"

"Sod off, Wood. Just be thankful I went out of my way to actually tell you."

"I humbly thank you for the nice invitation." Had Oliver Wood not been so peeved, he might've bowed his head with faux-gratefulness. "Is that all? Or are you gonna be any more of a pain in the arse then you already are?"

"My job's done for the day." Flint glanced past Oliver and smirked. "Looking forward to seeing you in classes this year, love.

Nina frowned and watched him walk away down the aisle. Oliver refrained from showing a look of loathing. He turned to head back to his own compartment but soon stopped short when his eyes caught sight of the girl beside him.

"Lizzie and Felicia are down there," he told her with polite nonchalance. "Three or four compartments down."

Nina snapped out of her daze and caught sight of the Gryffindor Captain in front of her. She noticed what direction he was pointing in and nodded her head.

"Ah… right. Thanks, Oliver," she smiled weakly at him and turned to head down the narrow walkway.

Oliver watched until she stepped into a compartment a ways down from his before rejoining his friends.

— ~ —

"Nina!" voices in unison called out.

A quiet laugh bubbled in the back of her throat as she stood in the middle of her best friends' tight hug. "I missed you guys too."

"I almost didn't recognize you!" Felicia Wentworth grinned as she pulled away. "You've grown out your hair over the break."

Nina smoothed out her newly swept bangs by habit. "Just a change of pace."

"Well, regardless, you look great," Lizzie Bennet commented with a smile.

"You two as well. Merlin, it's been almost three months and it feels like I'm missing everything."

As they settled back into their seats, Nina noticed the sandy-haired teen sitting beside her friend. She casted a knowing glance between them and smiled. "Joining us for the trip today, Mr. Brooks?"

"Well, I reckon having a guy joining you girls this year would be a bit of an interesting mix this time around." He stood up to give the girl a quick hug in greeting. "You girls are a curious group to be with from what I've seen."

"And here I was thinking that you were just here for Lizzie."

"That was another plus to the plan."

Nina smiled to herself and placed her bag in the storage space overhead. During the last few weeks of school the previous year, it had become a usual occurrence to have Alexander Brooks join them from time to time. Not that she minded having him around. If anything it was the opposite. She quite enjoyed his company.

Alex had a charismatic sense of character, well-grounded yet rather goofy when he chose, which was often. He also had an odd knack of understanding the female psyche when talking about miscellaneous things. Of course, this by no means meant that he was immune to having 'male moments'. He was, after all, still a guy.

"We were starting to worry that you missed the train altogether," Lizzie remarked as Nina took a seat beside Felicia.

"Yeah, you're usually here before any of us board the train. No one said they had seen you when we asked. We weren't sure whether to be suspicious or worried."

Nina took off her black-rimmed glasses and rubbed her eyes tiredly at the mere thought of it all. "My flight got delayed so I got to London a lot later than I would've liked. The traffic on the way here wasn't any help either, so I'm lucky I managed to board at all."

"Flight?" Alex asked with a quizzical look.

"I live in California," Nina explained with a small smile. "I fly into London every year through the Muggle airlines."

"I see. Y'know, I've been meaning to ask you about that myself. Your accent is a bit muddled at times. I couldn't figure out where it was from, really."

"Seven years surrounded by English accents, Irish brogues, and Scottish burrs tends to do that to an American from what I can tell. Can even hear a bit of Welsh in there if listen closely enough." Felicia joked.

"No kidding," Nina chuckled. She shook her head and shared a look between her friends. "How were your summers then?"

Lizzie snuck a glance at the teen beside her and smiled. "Ours was actually quite nice."

"Quite nice indeed," Alex smirked.

"Oh, Merlin—you two act like newlyweds already," Felicia sighed.

"Come now, Fee. If we really were newlyweds we would snog shamelessly in front of you both without a care in the world."

"Alex," Lizzie muttered, her usually cool cheeks livening up to a reddened tint.

"What? You want to snog in front of your friends right now?" he asked with another grin while leaning in rather close to the caramel-haired teen.

"Oh Merlin's sake, there's kiddies in the room, you two!" Felicia yelled as she covered her and Nina's eyes. Nina responded with a laugh and a playful tug to her friend's hand.

At that moment neither of them caught the flustered-faced Lizzie glaring playfully at the smirking Alex in front of her. She gave him a quick peck on his lips and a soft nudge away from her.

"You're a jerk."

"Couldn't help it, love."

Lizzie noticed her friends across from her and let out a quiet laugh. "Guys, he was just kidding. It's safe."

"Y'know I love that you two are together and all but try and keep it under PG, won't you?" Fee asked in a teasing tone.

"PG?" Alex asked with another inquisitive glance between the girls.

"Keep it so we don't have to say 'Please God' and cringe whenever we see you two together."

"I'm surprised you remembered that Muggle tid-bit I mentioned last year," Nina said, more amused than impressed.

"You two…" Lizzie sighed.

But Alex kept in stride and chuckled. "I had a feeling staying with you girls would be rather entertaining."

Nina and her friends continued on with their chat as the time went by—mostly random things along the lines of new classes, new faces, new gossip from both the Muggle and wizarding world. Even Quidditch was mentioned for a brief moment on Alex's part, seeing as he felt there should be a small snippet of manliness in all the girly talk. (He was surrounded by three 17 year-old girls, after all). But, for the most part, it was a rather enjoyable chat on nonsense amongst friends.

It wasn't too long after Fee's tale of her family's recent summer escapades around Asia that the witch pushing the treat trolley came by, asking in her usual sweetly tone, 'anything from the trolley, dears?' Alexander Brooks saw for himself how mean of a sweet-tooth the girls had from the numbers of chocolate frogs, licorice wands, jelly slugs, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans boxes, and other different treats they had laid out beside them.

"Do you girls always get this much sweets?" he asked as he helped himself to a pack of peppermint toads resting atop the small pile between him and Lizzie.

"It's one of few our basic traditions at Hogwarts," Lizzie beamed. "Indulge on the variety of treats on the treat trolley."

The petite blonde across from her nodded her head. "We've done it ever since we all met on the train ride when we were first years. The candy broke the ice for us."

"Ah, sounds a bit familiar actually," he chuckled.

"How so?"

"Candy always seems to bring little kids together, doesn't it? That's how I met Wood, anyways, during the first day at Rosemary Prep. He was eating a packet of licorice wands during the break and I sorta… well, just took some 'cause I was hungry. Oh, come on—you girls must've done something like that when you were kids," he added when seeing their smiles of disbelief.

"You stole candy from Oliver Wood?"

"I was five," he muttered. "But that's not my point. I stole his licorice wands, he punched me in the stomach. Five minutes later, he ended up sharing them with me anyway and we've been chummy ever since. Candy brings wonders to the world."

"For five year-old boys, maybe," Lizzie laughed.

"Wonders nonetheless, though," he grinned.

"So that's how you and Wood met. I've been curious about it myself, to be honest. But I didn't realize you two have been best mates for this long."

"And I assume you girls have been close-knit since first year?"

"'Course! We met seven years ago exactly. Well, me and Lizzie met on the platform, but we met Nina when we were looking for compart—"

Felicia's explanation was soon dashed as the train gave a sudden jolt, lurching the teens forwards or back from their seats. In another quick moment, the sudden screech of protest on the train's breaks rung through their ears, shaking the whole compartment and almost knocking them out of their seats.

"The bloody hell was that?" Alex grumbled. Despite his irritation and confusion, a sincere look of concern gleamed in his dark blue eyes. "Are you girls alright? Lizzie?"

The flicker of lights caught their attention for a moment, but they muttered their replies confirming they weren't harmed beyond their startled conditions.

"I'm fine," Lizzie smiled weakly and glanced out the window.

The rain beating the glass had worsened over time, making it impossible to make out anything that was on the other side. Even after wiping off the fog caked onto the windows, Lizzie realized it was a lost cause trying to figure out the dark outlines in the distance. Whatever it was, it certainly wasn't Hogwarts.

"Do you think we've broken down?"

"In all the years that the Hogwarts Express has been running, I've never heard of it actually breaking down."

"'Course. I mean it's magically run after all," Alex added in a manner of reassurance.

Silence fell upon the small group as they tried to make sense of the sudden odd circumstances. From the surrounding compartments up and down the aisle, they could hear the excited chatter meandering into the cool air. Apparently their confusion and apprehension was a shared sentiment amongst all the other students on board.

"There must be something going on," Lizzie sighed as she fidgeted in her seat.

Nina nodded her head slowly in agreement and stared out the aisle windows in search of anything that would garner much interest. She soon stood up from her seat and reached for the compartment door. As her fingertips grazed the handle, the lights in their compartment flickered and died, casting an eerie dark blue glow upon the confined space.

"Honestly, if this is some type of joke someone's pulling then it isn't funny at all. What the hell is going on?"

"Don't know," Nina muttered as she reached once more to slide the compartment door open.

"Nina, wait. Maybe we should just stay…"

Lizzie's words faded. The air around them turned frigid and tense. Every breath felt like a blow to their lungs. Fog appeared before them as they exhaled and for a mere moment, it was as if their tongues had been bewitched, unable to utter a simple sound, a garbled word.

Alex fought whatever invisible boundary set within him to stand up, ready to shake Nina's shoulder to break her from her daze, but every move was excruciating, as if a heavy anchor was in his chest weighing him down. The door had opened a few inches, but Nina stood in her place, unmoving and silent. Her gaze deadlocked on her slim fingers hanging on the door's handle, her face most poignantly blank. Before Alex could even get the chance to raise his arm, a dark shadow appeared from the corner of his eye. He couldn't even find it in him to utter a word of protest as he realized what it was before them.

Nina felt her body grow cold. Her fingertips blanched with numbness. Her breathing turned shallow, her heart rattled beneath her ribs. But she felt so lightheaded, so weightless. She felt hollow.

Enough.

It was a sudden unperceived blow to her chest that caused her to inhale sharply. Her knees buckled from under her and she slid against the door, her heart still racing and her eyes transfixed on the nothingness in front of her. Before she realized it, her vision had gone dark and her surroundings seemed to have gone dull.

Enough, she heard the voice inside her mind once more.

She shut her eyes at the mere memory until it no longer took any effort to keep her eyes closed. Her friends mumbled her name and simple words as they watched on helplessly, but they could only stay where they were, frozen and paralyzed.

It seemed as though the Dementor had lost its interest at seeing the girl pass out before it. With an arid hiss of disappointment, it moved on to the next few compartments until it left the train's cart altogether.

Nina felt herself drifting between that thin line of consciousness. Blurred figures constantly reappeared in her sight, constantly in that indecisive state of mind. Words were choppy and incoherent.

"…get help…"

"…hear me…?"

"What… happened…?"

"...Dementor…"

"…rest… help…"

But she made out one clear voice that accompanied yet another indistinct face.

"You'll be fine. You hear me, Nina?"

As generic as those words were, she couldn't help but find comfort in the confidence of that tone, the strong reassurance that was supporting it so fully. It was rather soothing, she thought.

"You'll be fine."

And she believed in that voice. Whoever it was.

— ~ —

"We need to wake her…"

"…tried… ten times…"

"…here… station…"

Nina heard the sounds of rustling and people speaking to each other once more. Realization struck her instantly and her eyes fluttered open. She shot up in her place but the abrupt lurch was met with a harsh sting penetrating the top of her skull. Her friends watched her with a range of bewilderment and relief in their eyes.

"Nina—!"

"—you're okay!"

Their tight embrace only confirmed Nina's previous suspicions. She had kindled a small hope in her, thinking that what happened was nothing but a bad dream, an awkward—yet troubling—reverie. But her new-founded awareness didn't soothe the unease that remained embedded in her bones.

"How… long was I out?"

"About two hours," Felicia replied with brows furrowed in worry. "We've already arrived at Hogsmeade Station. We were starting to think we would have to have Alex here carry you out if we couldn't get you up."

"I'll be fine. I'm alright," she murmured blearily, rubbing her face into the sleeves of her sweater.

"What happened earlier, Fey? With that Dementor and all?" Alex voiced in a solemn but concerned tone. "Do you even remember it?

"Well… yes. But I-I don't know—I mean, I was at the door and I opened it a bit, but then I froze up. Everything in me just felt so cold. I couldn't move, I couldn't even think. I can't really explain it that well, but I just felt… empty."

"It's the effect of the Dementors," Fee reasoned quietly. "You got the brunt of it because you were standing at the door…"

"I suppose that's true," Nina murmured, almost cringing at the unsteady thumps beneath her chest.

Lizzie and Alex shared a look of apprehension between them while Felicia only rubbed her friend's shoulder soothingly.

"Here," Alex motioned something in her direction and upon looking up she realized that it was a small bar of chocolate.

"What…"

"It'll help you feel better after encountering that Dementor. One of the professors came by to check up on you and mentioned it. Told us specifically to make sure you eat some."

"Isn't that Lizzie's though—?"

"Nina, don't even worry about petty things like that right now. You clearly need it more than I do at the moment. And if you say another word about it, I'll force-feed you myself."

With a weak smile, Nina took it and nodded in thanks. She took small bites at first, not particularly in the mood to eat anything after what had just happened. But as the chocolate melted in her mouth, she felt the uneasiness in her stomach diminish. It didn't even occur to her that she had ravished the chocolate entirely until she caught the amused looks on her friends' faces.

"You're looking a bit better now. You're not as pale anymore. And you've certainly got your appetite back," Lizzie humored.

Alex let out a conspicuous cough and motioned to the door. "I'm just… gonna wait outside and let you change and whatnot, Nina. We really ought to get going."

"T-Thanks, Alex," she smiled sincerely as he walked past, to which he only grinned and ruffled the top of her hair.

"It's bad karma not to help out a girl, Fey."

"Me and Lizzie'll go with you too," Felicia added. She gave her friend a comforting smile. "We'll wait outside for you. Don't take too long, alright?"

Nina nodded her head and got her bag from the storage space above her. Lizzie stayed for a few moments, watching her friend's movements with a scrutinizing stare and apprehension deeply seeded in her voice.

"Are you sure you're feeling better?"

"Better than before, yes." She noticed the flicker of concern in Lizzie's cerulean eyes and smiled back reassuringly. "I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."

"Alright. We'll be outside then."

Nina watched as the compartment door slid close before allowing the heavy sigh to leave her lips. True, she felt immensely better thanks to an unlikely little sweet, but the memory of those previous effects stung just as hard as the experience. Why it affected her as harshly as it did, she had no idea. Of course she was standing at the doorway—but why couldn't she even move? Why couldn't she even feel anything?

The thoughts continued to loiter about in her mind, taunting her with a mystery that she would probably never understand, haunting her with a memory that constantly made her wince. But she put in her best effort to look as if it hadn't.

After running her numbed fingers through her long dark locks, she began to change into her Gryffindor uniform. It didn't take too long considering she already had on her black stockings underneath the skirt of her blue floral dress. With her crème-colored sweater and dress neatly folded into her bag, she tucked her white button-up blouse into her skirt and slid on her school's charcoal-grey sweater. She traded her brown laced boots for a pair of simple black oxfords and placed them neatly into her bag as well. Another pang of lightheadedness struck her as she reached for the compartment door, but she shook off the feeling and headed down the aisle for the exit of the train.

The rain created a thin layer of noise over the chatter going about the station. A few groups of students lingered under the overhang of the station, waiting for friends to step off the Hogwarts Express as well. Nina spotted her own friends waiting near a pillar and flicked the hood of her robe up to hide from the rain.

Just as she reached Lizzie and Fee, so did another person trailing right behind her.

"I heard my little Fey fainted not too long ago," Flint mused aloud. His own cronies stood a short distance away, smirking and grinning in a pompous way that only Slytherins seemed to master.

"Sod off, Flint. Leave her alone," Lizzie frowned.

"Guys, let's just go," Nina tried to persuade quietly as she stood between them.

"I'm only showing my concerns towards a friend. You don't have to be such a bitch about it, Bennet."

Alex scowled, instantly stepping between the Slytherin and his girlfriend. "Watch your mouth, Flint. Nina doesn't need your shite concern so leave her alone. Call Lizzie a bitch again and I'll bloody hex you myself."

"Alex," the girls started in flustered unison. But Nina was the one who managed to get her words to stick.

"Just move on," her voice almost pleaded. "He's a troll. You know he's doing this on purpose."

Alex wasn't the slightest bit convinced that he could leave it as it was. But he saw the look on Lizzie's face—a concerned expression that tottered between pleading and uncertainty—and exhaled in hopes that it would help vent his anger.

"Listen to your girlies, Brooks. They're a smart bunch, these three," Flint smirked.

He sent the Slytherin a cold glare that could've matched up to the prick's House standards and placed his hand on the small of Lizzie's back. "Let's go."

Nina frowned at the Slytherin Captain before her, unable to say or do anything else. Once her friends turned to leave, she followed their steps, not once thinking to look back behind her even after the Slytherins' jeers.

"Should've expected that much. What's a pathetic Mudblood like that gonna do?"

Alex heard his words and whirled around to punch the bloody bastard himself. But before he could even think of such a reaction, he and the girls turned around only to catch sight of Nina Fey—possibly one of the most kind-hearted and non-confrontational Gryffindors they had ever met—pointing her supple wand of cherry wood and unicorn hair at the small space above Marcus Flint's Adam's apple. And judging from the offensive stance she took, she was by no means joking.

"Never call anyone that," she warned coolly.

The look in Flint's steely eyes hardened. "Turning into a fierce little Gryffindor witch after all this time, are you? As much of a turn-on that is, it doesn't change what you really are. You're no better than him," he sneered in a voice that only they could hear over the beating of the rain. "Half-bloods are no better than Mudbloods like him."

He showed no inkling of intimidation in his body language, even with the tip of her wand thrust against his throat. Slowly, she lowered her arm and pocketed her wand in her robes, the intense blaze in her dark eyes unwavering.

"You're no better either, Flint."

Perhaps it was because of the incident earlier that caused her to stand there, staring at the tall dark-haired teen with such contempt. Perhaps it was because of that brief void of any valid emotions from earlier—a rapid buildup, if you will—suddenly rushing through her veins that created such a terrible imbalance of reason. She was angry; rightfully so, in fact. Yet on a normal basis she would never act upon such anger. Truth be told, Nina Fey was never angry—or rather she rarely ever showed it, if at all.

"Not gonna finish what you started, Fey? How unlike you."

But in that moment, she could only ball her hands into fists as she resisted the urge to slap Marcus Flint in the face for saying such rubbish to her. Felicia noticed the silence that fell between them, with only the heated glares in their eyes to continue with the quarrel. She walked forward and grabbed Nina by the elbow.

"Nina, c'mon."

The world around them seemed to have roused from its short-lived standstill. Voices belonging to miscellaneous people arose from its former quiet state and time seemed to have continued to inevitably tick on for everyone present.

Nina exhaled and followed her friends to the carriages. Lizzie and Alex lingered behind this time, making sure Flint didn't say or do anything else. But his silence was kept as he watched them walk down the path with a small smirk playing across his face.

For the most part, Nina felt much better once she stepped into Hogwarts Castle. There was something about the orange glow, the smell of burning candles, the myriad of stars enchanted into the stone ceilings of the Great Hall. It left the feeling of home that was like being engulfed a warm embrace, smothered with kisses of recollections and good times.

With the sorting finished and the choir's welcoming song coming to a subtle end, their Headmaster rose from his seat and went on to list the upcoming news for the year. New professors would step in for the old ones: Rubeus Hagrid for Care of Magical Creatures, which earned a hearty round of applause on behalf of the Gryffindor House. And a new face was introduced amongst the group of teachers as well: a Mr. Remus Lupin, Professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"Hey, that's the guy from earlier," Fee pointed out quietly in surprise.

"You're right," Lizzie rose her brows. "I wouldn't have pegged him for a Professor at first glance. I bit scruffy in appearance, to be quite honest."

"Makes sense how he knows so much about the Dementors though," Alex shrugged. He noticed the confusion surfacing on Nina's face and continued, "He's the teacher who checked on us on the train earlier. Told us about the chocolates to give you when you woke up."

"My only hope is that he better than our last DADA teacher…"

Alex snorted. "Gilderoy Lockhart? The bloke was a bloody menace as DADA professor last year. The first years could've probably done a better job."

"I think any of us could've done better, for that matter."

Nina nodded her head slowly, smiling in silent agreement at her friends' words, and turned her attention back to the Headmaster's speech. For a while, she felt a pair of eyes on her, watching. Her dark gaze wandered up to the teacher's tables ahead of them and found Professor Lupin staring in her direction before flickering his eyes to a young, raven-haired teen a ways down the table.

That's right… she went on to think. Harry passed out as well, didn't he?

For a short while, Nina stared in between the two of them, delved into deep thought and wonder. Worry, of course, for Harry—she had no doubts his experience with the Dementor was no better than her own. But there was also a small sense of gratefulness towards the Professor, even though she hadn't rightfully met him quite yet.

Their Headmaster's words began to lose meaning in Nina's mind, but she shook her head to make the whirling thoughts cease. It was at that point that he had confirmed everyone's thoughts: Hogwarts would, in fact, play host to Dementors for the year—courtesy of Azkaban Prison and the infamous Sirius Black. The mere mention of the dark creatures was enough to make Nina sigh to herself, already feeling the dull ache radiating at the sides of her head.

"You alright there Nina?"

Nina smiled back wearily and gave a gentle rub to her eyes. "Yeah. Just a bit tired is all."

Fee gave a reassuring pat to her friend's shoulder before turning her eyes back to Dumbledore as he began to conclude his small speech. As Nina slid her black frames back up to the bridge of nose, she tried to focus intently and do the same.

Yet as she sat there, she still felt the faint sense of being watched. Her eyes roamed around the room briefly, even back to the teacher's tables at the very front of the Hall. But she quickly dismissed the idea, musing to herself that it was just her imagination and her tired body playing tricks on her perceptions.

Edited: 8/30/2014