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A nondescript teacup was sitting on the dirt away from anything so that it could be found by the right person. That person stepped up to the cup and bent down to it. She was in her late twenties, she had bronze skin with long brown hair. Her blue eyes scanned the area to see if there were any muggle onlookers.When she was sure that the area was completely devoid of life, she reached her hand out for the cup and in seconds, her and the cup disappeared. It was a brief moment of wind blowing through her hair and the uncomfortable tugging sensation in her belly button. Traveling by portkey wasn't ideal, she would much rather apparate, but apparating across countries was risky. The women had experienced one or two risky apparitions.She slipped the teacup into the pocket of her jacket. It would be active again to take her home after the dragon tamer seminar, although she really didn't want to return. She turned towards the direction of the Leaky Cauldron and started walking.A room was rented for her and it was only a short walk to where the seminar was held. She glanced at the watch on her wrist, she had some time to herself to unpack before she was needed at the seminar. She gripped her bag together in her fist and slung it over her shoulder.The Leaky Cauldron was bustling with the afterwork crew, taking advantage of the start of their weekend with a few drinks. It wasn't exactly busy but it wasn't empty. The girl weaved around the patrons as she made her way to the bar to speak to the bartender.He turned to her with a smile, he was an elderly gentleman with glasses perched on the end of his nose. "Can I help you?""Erm, I have a room reserved." She said, her Irish accent coating every word she said.The man pulled out a book and opened a page that must have been for the day's date. "Name?""Nora Cullen," She said, pulling off her gloves and slipping them in the other pocket of her jacket. It was quite cool outside, but quite warm in the tavern. The man took some time to find her name and look over the information."Looks like this is covered by the Norwegian Dragon Sanctuary." He commented before his eyes flicked to Nora. She smiled and nodded. The man reached under the bar and handed her a brass key with the number 4 on it. Nora reached for the key and the man extended his hand towards the stairs."It will be number 4, when you get to the top of the stairs, it will be towards the left." he said. "Dinner is served at 6 pm and breakfast is served at 7 am.""Thank you." Nora said before taking the stairs to her room.The rooms at the Leaky Cauldron weren't her favorite, but she wasn't one to turn down a free room. Even if that room was very dingy and could hardly pass as clean. There were cobwebs in the corner, crumbs on the window sill, but at least the four poster large bed was made with what looked like freshly clean linens.Nora set her bag down in one of the high back chairs and walked over to the bed. She fell on it facedown, listening as the old springs complained loudly. Taking a breath, Nora was pleased to confirm that the sheets were indeed clean, even though the mattress smelled a bit musty. It was nostalgic to her after years of spending the night in the Leaky Cauldron when she was in Diagon Alley school shopping and then the journey to King's Cross Station. That was where platform 9 and ¾ was and the Hogwarts Express.She rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling of the four poster bed. She wasn't sure why she was going to the dragon tamer seminar. She was never the type of person to take part in activities, not in school, not in adulthood.Maybe the other dragon tamers at the Norwegian Dragon Sanctuary could tell that it was becoming her time to leave as she usually did after a few years to a few months, depending on how much she learned at each location.Nora stood up from the bed and walked over to her bag. There was a dress in there that she was going to be wearing that night. It was a weekend seminar, that night was going to be a cocktail sort of thing. To get to know the other trainers and introduce each other before the actual seminar. It was bound to be awkward as some of the trainers from the other sanctuaries she worked at before would be there. It's not like she left with bad blood or anything.The dress she planned on wearing was at the top of her bag. She pulled it out. It was a black, satin dress that hugged her figure. It looked like it was creased from being folded in the bag. The creases were going to show up when she wore the dress. Nora grabbed a hanger from the wardrobe and brought the dress and the hanger to the bathroom.She knew there wasn't an iron and ironing board in the room, hanging the dress up while she showered would be the next best thing. The steam from the hot water would surely get the creases out. Nora hung the dress on the back of the bathroom door and turned on the shower. With one final look in the mirror, she got ready to take a shower.
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Nora stood before the mirror in the back of the door to the wardrobe and stared at her reflection. The steam from the shower did the trick on the black smooth material. Her hair hung down her shoulders, Nora kept it natural, which was long and straight. Her makeup matched her dress, she went with a smokey eye to match the dress.She wasn't looking forward to the seminar, but it would be best to show up just to further prove that there was no bad blood with the other dragon tamers. Well, it wasn't only for the trainers, sponsors were going to be there as well, which is one of the main reasons why there were dragon sanctuaries. Also, the pure reason why dragon tamers got paid and weren't volunteers. There were also wealthy wizards there, mainly looking to learn about the benefit of dragon sanctuaries.That was basically what she was told before coming to the seminar. There was a lot of information when it came to care of dragons that it was a multiple day sort of thing. Nora had no idea who exactly would be in attendance. She spent her time after Hogwarts traveling to the different dragon sanctuaries around the world. She was barely aware of the wizarding war of 1998 which further proved her distaste for that area of Europe. Even though the dark lord was dead, and all the death eaters were either in Azkaban, hiding, or trying to live a better life. Nora rarely kept up with the other dragon tamers of the different sanctuaries she had never been to before. Even though it was a smart idea, she liked to keep to herself and surround herself with the things she loved the most.Dragons.Nora sat in one of the chairs by the fireplace, she put her shoes on and started lacing up the straps. They were black stilettos with straps that tied around the ankles to keep her feet in place. It gave her an extra three inches, not like she needed it. She was average height, for a woman.With no other jewelry besides a watch on her left wrist, Nora decided she was ready. She slipped her wand in between her breasts, having no other way to carry it. Her room key and a bit of wizarding coins went into a black little clutch that she was going to be using.It was dark by the time she left. Nora hoped that she wasn't late, her plan was not to be early and not to be late. All she had hoped with it being introductions, that people would be standing around talking for a while before sitting down at their tables, hopefully she would get there when everybody was standing around.She was right.Men and women stood around in groups, conversing with each other. Some Nora recognized as old colleagues, even though she was used to them wearing casual clothes and not formal cocktail wear. Nora moved her clutch to her other shoulder as she walked around the different groups. Even though a lot of them had been old coworkers, she didn't feel like it was right to converse with them.A man walked up to her wearing all black with a tray in his hands. On that tray were glasses of white wine. He was a server, and he knew that she wasn't here when he first made his rounds. He brought the tray closer to her. Nora grabbed a wine glass and smiled at him before bringing the glass to her lips.There was a skeleton of a dragon suspended from the ceiling. Nora stared at it for a while, which gave her a chance to look at something other than feeling awkward. She had one arm crossed around her body to support her elbow so that she could hold her wine glass in the air. Her finger tapped at the glass as she started moving around the room. Along with the skeleton of the dragon, there were pictures of the different dragon sanctuaries, different types of dragons. Nora looked at the different groups of people, there hadn't been anybody from the Norwegian Sanctuary. Even though Nora was acting like a representative for the Norwegian Sanctuary, it looked like there were two or three people from each sanctuary."Nora!"Nora rolled her eyes at the sound of the male voice calling her name. She turned in the direction of the voice to see a man of Asian descent with white, blond hair. He was from the Chinese dragon sanctuary.Nora's finger tapped the rim of her glass as she tried to plaster a smile on her face as he approached her. "Zihan, how are you?"He opened his arms inviting her for a hug, but when Nora didn't make a move towards him, he dropped them awkwardly. "It's been so long! I'm so happy to see you but you don't look happy to see me."Shortly after her graduation from Hogwarts, the first place she went was the Chinese Sanctuary. She spent the longest amount of time there. Nora had history with Zihan, that was something she didn't want to revisit at all. She smiled in what she hoped was a pleasant way."Zihan, how long has it been?" Nora asked, extending her hand towards him. Giving him her hand seemed to be a big mistake because he pulled her into a hug. Which was what she was trying not to do. Nora knew that she would be more than likely seeing Zihan, she still hoped that she can fly under his radar and close herself off from him.There was still the opportunity of closing herself off from him."Is anyone else here?" she asked, scanning the room for anyone else from the Chinese Sanctuary. Not trying to be stereotypical, she was looking for people of mainly Asian descent. When she was working at the Chinese Sanctuary, she was the only one who wasn't from the area."It's been nearly four years, where have you been?" Zihan asked, grabbing her wine glass from her hand and taking a drink.Nora's eyes narrowed. Zihan looked over the glass, his brown eyes showing playfulness. Almost daring her to say something. She ignored it, folding her arms together across her chest."Well, I worked in Wales for a bit, then I went to Sweden, now I'm in Norway." Nora listed off the top of her head, there were only two Sanctuaries she had never been to. Although the The Macfusty clan seemed very protective of the Hebridge dragon reserve. The Wales dragon reserve is hidden, but it was an opportunity that fell into her lap, and she had to take it."Impressive, and in four years, how come you haven't settled?" Zihan asked and then he smirked. "I know someone who is available."Nora chucked. Another person in black came by with a tray and she plucked a wine glass off of the tray. When Zihan made a move to try and grab the glass, she held it out of his reach. Nora was average height for a woman, even higher with her heels. Zihan was below average for a male. The both of them stood the same height when they were wearing flat shoes, or no shoes at all."You took my last one, this one is mine!" She said, taking a drink. "I'm afraid I can't take up your offer, I'm too busy learning about dragons and taking care then.""Dragons, dragons, dragons." Zihan said and frowned at her. "It's always about dragons with you, why are you so interested in them, you would rather be around them than people.""See this is why the Chinese Fireballs always liked me best." Nora smirked at Zihan. "They can sense your disdain towards them.""My girlfriend says that too." Zihan said as he ran his fingers through his hair.Nora's face fell as she stared at him in shock. Girlfriend? Yet he was standing there trying his hardest to flirt with her, no matter how unwilling she was towards his advances."What?" He asked, now aware of the way she was looking at him."Girlfriend? You just said you're available!" She hissed in a hushed tone, not wanting to draw any sort of unwanted attention."Did I say girlfriend, I meant my friend who is a girl."Nora took a drink of her wine. "I somehow doubt it."Zihan never changed, that was the reason they never worked out in the first place, his constant flirting and messing around with other women when they were together. Who knows how many times he cheated on his current girlfriend? The only problem was, with being a strikingly beautiful male and being a dragon tamer, there were many women willing to take their clothes off for that. There were times where Nora had walked to Zihan's dorm and found him in bed naked with another woman, and stupidly, she let him waltz back into her life."You're unbelievable." She said, starting to walk away from the conversation, hoping to strike up a conversation with someone else besides Zihan."Please, let me explain-"Nora turned to face him. "No, let's just end this conversation here, there were no chances for me and you tonight. Let's just leave as old coworkers and mingle." she patted the lapel on his jacket before taking her old wine glass from him that still had wine in it. She finished the glass and with a smile, gave it back to him.There was nothing she wanted more than to leave this room. Her blue eyes scanned the room for a moment, before seeing a staircase that the guests were starting to head towards. As she got closer, she found a sign that pointed out that the dinner and all the rest of the seminar activities would be held up there. Nora looked over her shoulder to see Zihan looking at her and she continued up the stairs.If Nora was hoping to get in without drawing everyone's attention to her, there was no longer attainable. At the top of the stairs, there was a ballroom. There was a dancefloor with a big chandelier over the floor, around the dancefloor were tables covered with white table cloths. There was a podium with a projector screen on the other side of the dance floor. There were smaller groups of people in that room. There looked to be the host of the seminar, handsomely dressed, talking to some sponsors, but Nora couldn't be sure. There were also some other people who were already in their chairs.From where Nora was standing, there were small place cards at the table which confirmed her fear. Assigned seating. Which meant no one could sit where they wanted and Nora couldn't sit alone off to the side line. This wasn't exactly her comfort zone and she felt butterflies in her stomach. She brought her wine glass to her lips and took a drink before looking for her name among the tables. She really hoped she wasn't going to be seated next to Zihan.On the bright side there weren't that many people in the room so she didn't necessarily feel uncomfortable finding her spot. Even though Nora knew that everyone else would be in the same boat looking for their spot.There were some conversations in the big room, but nothing she could quite focus on. There was also light jazzy music playing from some unknown source. With magic, everything is possible.If she had something else to focus on besides looking for her name, perhaps she wouldn't be as on edge. That conversation with Zihan soured her mood, although her mood was already bad.As she walked past a table, she finally saw her name. There was a plate with an entree fork and a salad fork, a soup spoon and a knife. There was a water goblet and next to the water goblet was a wine glass. There was a smaller fork and spoon above the plate and then above those was a smaller plate. On the opposite side from the glasses was a plate with a bun on it."Oh, this is very fancy." She said to herself as she admired the place setting. Nora had never taken part in anything this fancy. She wondered if she was in the right room. Of course that was silly because there was a place card with the name Nora Cullen.With a final sigh, she moved to pull out her chair but someone else pulled it out for her. She turned her head to the person. He had flaming red hair that was pulled back tastefully in a bun. There were strands of hair that hung down at his ears. His freckled face was unreadable as he watched her guardedly. He wore a black suit with a red tie.It took her a moment to recover. "Thank you." Nora said as she stepped to sit into the chair. Before she sat down he pushed in her chair."I'm Nora." She said, extending her hand."I know." Nora was taken aback at his statement and she stared at him in shock for a while. After a moment, he glanced at where her name tag was sitting."Oh," She rolled her eyes at herself and let out a nervous chuckle. "Right, forgive me."He pursed his lips at her awkwardly as she stared at him wide eyed hoping he would introduce himself. He ignored her and moved to sit down next to Nora."Um, that spot is reserved for someone, we assigned spots." Nora said. She didn't want him to choose his spot only to have to move in a little bit."I know." He said.It was awkward silence for a moment as he took a drink from the filled water goblet."Okay...." Nora paused. "I'm not sure but I think dinner might be served soon." She glanced around, unfortunately, there was barely anyone in the room. Maybe a bit more than when Nora first walked in there.The man sighed and snatched the place card. "Not that it's any of your business but I am supposed to sit here too.""Oh really prove it." Nora said stubbornly. There was no reason for him to lie, he was being just as stubborn if not more than here."Why should I?" He asked, a smirk tugging at his lips."I can go tell the host." Nora countered. Not that she was really going to do that. It seemed like too much trouble and she wasn't going to stoop so low. The man rolled her eyes and pushed the place card into her hands. Nora's line of sight darted from the paper in her hand to his face back to the paper. She opened it.Charles Weasley
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Nora felt like she read the words on the paper, wishing they said something else but what they currently said.Charlie Weasley. She went to Hogwarts, but he was around three years older than her. They were also in different houses, Nora was in Ravenclaw house and Charlie was in Gryffindor. In Fact, all of the Weasley's were in Gryffindor. Because of the age gap between her and Charlie, she never spoke to him. The only reason she even knew him while she was in school was because he was Gryffindor's Seeker. Nora never interacted with him, and he never interacted with her.Nora's eyes flicked up towards Charlie's face before moving back down to the piece of paper."Are you having a problem reading?" Charlie asked, raising his eyebrow. He snatched the piece of paper from Nora's fingertips. She glared at his cocky face."So, what are you doing here?" Nora asked.Charlie scoffed at her. "You're kidding me, right?"Nora shook her head. "No, I'm serious."Charlie stared at her for a while, his fingers playing with the place card. "What are you doing here?" He asked her.It was Nora's turn to scoff at him. Only someone living under a rock wouldn't hear about her. Nora wouldn't go so far as saying she was famous, but she was getting a lot of attention with how many dragon sanctuaries she worked at and how much she traveled."Are you a sponsor, is that why they had you sitting next to me?" Charlie looked around to see if he would understand what was going on. He wondered if they sat a sponsor at a table full of dragon tamers."Are you for real?" Nora asked.Charlie ended his survey of the ballroom and turned his eyes on her. "You don't seem to be." He raised an eyebrow at her.Nora was taken aback; she really was starting to regret coming. She was the dragon tamer that never stayed in one spot, she traveled to the different dragon sanctuaries. She had only been out of school for around seven years and had been completely dedicated to dragons and her career. The benefit of dragons was that she didn't have to have small talk. They had their own way of communicating.Never in her life has she been so insulted. Granted, being a sponsor for a dragon sanctuary deserved the utmost respect among dragon tamers. Dragon Sanctuaries were also the reason dragons weren't running rampage in cities when they were sick or when they were babies. As adults, they are terribly shy and avoid areas where humans are most frequent. They also are only comfortable with their dragon tamers. Dragon tamer isn't even the right word, they don't really train, they were more like caretakers.Without even answering him, Nora closed herself off from the conversation, she turned her body away from him and crossed her leg over the other."Did I hurt your feelings?" Charlie asked, angling his head towards her.Nora sighed and tried to ignore him. She rested her chin in her hand that was closest to him."Nora, I'm talking to you," Charlie said, placing his hand on her shoulder and shaking lightly. She took a deep breath and looked at him."Well, you insulted me, what makes you think I want to continue this conversation?"Charlie pressed his lips together as he thought about what she said. "Well, you haven't really told me anything besides your name. You can't really be mad at me for not knowing why you're here and me guessing wrong."Nora gave Charlie a pointed look, raising her eyebrow. "Well, you haven't given me an answer either."Charlie clasped his hands together and steepled his pointer fingers, bringing them to his lips. "Well in all honesty, you and I are perfect strangers, there is no need to give you all of my information."Nora scoffed. "I don't know about you, Charlie, but that is kind of how you get to know people."Even though Nora herself wasn't an expert herself on meeting with people. Although Charlie takes the cake in not being able to get to know people. Nora couldn't tell if he was being difficult on purpose or if that was his personality. She wondered if he was here by himself or not, if he was that wouldn't be a surprise.Nora looked at Charlie, he had a smirk on his face, challenging her. He was clean shaven, but the coarse hairs on his mustache were slightly visible with the lighting. His ginger eyelashes were also slightly visible in the lighting. Nora would have been attractive to Charlie, if it weren't for his abrasive attitude.Charlie cocked his head. "What?"Nora shook her head. Thankfully in the time of the conversation between her and Charlie, the room started filling out and all the tables were full of people. There were more people at the table they were sitting at, so she didn't have to just have a conversation with Charlie. As far as she was aware, she only had to sit next to Charlie for that night, as it was a meet and greet kind of thing.The host was now at the podium, introducing himself and some of the seasoned sponsors. As he called their name, they stood up and got their applause from the other dragon tamers. They go over a power point that talks about the benefit of being a sponsor for the other wealthy guests who were considering sponsoring dragon taming.During the introductions and power point, Nora felt eyes on her face, and she couldn't tell if it was from Charlie or Zihan. She wasn't sure where Zihan was in the room, but knowing him, he would be watching her. When Nora took a look around, she met the brown eyes of Charlie. She dropped her eyes to her lap, but she still felt his eyes on her.What was his problem? Nora flicked her eyes back to him and he didn't avert his eyes like people usually do when they have been caught staring. Nora cocked her eyebrow and Charlie smirked and looked back towards the podium.Then the dinner was served, and Nora welcomed having something to distract herself besides the thought of having another conversation with Charlie. She looked around the table and realized she didn't know any of the people in attendance, but they were all absorbed in their own conversations and Nora didn't want to interrupt. Especially if she was just trying to get away from conversing with Charlie.After the plates were cleared, Nora was left with her wine glass and a napkin. She started folding the napkin in little, tiny pieces. She was starting to feel shy and skittish like it was time to go back to the Leaky Cauldron, maybe have a few drinks that were stronger than the wine and champagne they were serving.A lot of people were dancing now that dinner was over. As far as Nora could tell, the same exact music was playing as when she first walked in, but the guests seemed to be enjoying themselves."Would you like to dance?" Charlie was now standing, and he extended his hand to her. She managed to effectively forget his presence during the dinner. She looked at his hand for a moment before slowly placing her hand in his. "I'm not going to bite."Charlie pulled her up from her chair and to the dance floor. Nora took one of Charlie's hands and placed her free hand on his shoulder. His free hand went to her waist. Goosebumps raised up on her arms and back when she felt his fingers on her back. The satin on the dress was so thin it was almost like she could feel the rough pads of his fingers. Nora felt her cheeks heat up as she looked away from him.Charlie cleared his throat and Nora looked at him in response. "Dragon tamer."She looked at him in question."That's what I do for a living, I'm a dragon tamer." Charlie explained as they swayed to the music. Well, they were finally getting somewhere, after they had a very tense conversation, she wondered if he was trying to make amends after hurting her feelings. Nora wondered where he was located, there was a small chance he came in the older locations after she was there. So, he must be at the locations she had never been to. Chances are after nearly forcing that information out of him, Charlie wasn't going to tell her where he was working."Me too," she said, meeting his gaze. "I'm a dragon tamer too."Charlie widened his eyes to prompt her to continue."I don't really have a home location; I go with the wind." Nora explained. Which was true, the location she was at was the Norwegian location, but she was going to leave very soon.Charlie twirled her and she took the time to contemplate her next statement. Judging how Charlie was very tight lipped with his personal life, she decided to pick her words carefully."I remember seeing you at Hogwarts, have you been a dragon tamer since you got out of school?" She asked.Charlie laughed slightly, his hand tightening around hers as he did. "I guess you can say that I don't remember seeing you.""I was a Ravenclaw, the only reason I saw you was because you were a seeker."Charlie nodded in understanding. "Interesting," he said with a smile."What's that supposed to mean?" She asked. First, he insults her profession and why she was at that seminar and then he makes assumptions on her Hogwarts house."Ravenclaws are intelligent, book worms and stuff." He said after a moment. "Dragon taming just doesn't seem like the right career path for Ravenclaws."Nora colored in shame; she always did things that weren't characteristic of Ravenclaws. Which explained why she didn't have very many friends in her house. She never worked extra hard at learning and did enough to keep her grades up and the professors off her back. She spent her free time reading about dragons and daydreaming about traveling and seeing different creatures in the wizarding world."Maybe I was put in the wrong house." She said quietly hoping Charlie didn't hear her.He scoffed. "Don't be stupid, the sorting hat put you in Ravenclaw for something, it rarely makes mistakes."Nora sighed, she was just kidding, and he turned it into a lecture. She always got those kinds of lectures from her parents, but they always felt comfortable in their houses. That's why she never visited, never called out to them. She never got owls from them, and she never reached out as well."Do you ever miss your family?" Charlie asked. "You said you go where the wind takes you, I have the feeling that means you never go home.""I make my home wherever I am." She said with a shrug of her shoulders. "I consider myself a leaf blowing in the wind.""Maybe you haven't found the right place." Charlie suggested as he watched Nora.There was something about her that was alluring and frustrating to Charlie. Every time she talked, he wanted to challenge her, and he wanted to know more. He didn't want her to catch on. To know there was a weakness in Charlie Weasley was dangerous. Being closed off with walls built around him was a defense mechanism to him. Nora stared at Charlie's face, oblivious to the inner battle that was going on behind his poker face.Charlie separated from her, his fingers trailing along the underside of her arm as he brought her knuckles to his lips. "I'll leave you here, I am going to turn in for the evening, unless you want to accompany me back to my room."Nora flushed red as she glared at him. "I don't know who you think I am Charlie Weasley, but I don't do that!" She ripped her hand from his lips and reached for her wand between her breasts. She gave him a pointed look before turning away and walking back to the table to grab her clutch. Charlie stood in his spot as she looked at him one more time before disapperating.Of course, it was out of line to invite her to his room, but it was safe for her to leave angry. Rather than trying to reach out to him again. In a couple days Charlie was going to be back home in Romania away from there. Nora was going to be back well, wherever she worked. Charlie never found anything out except she was a dragon tamer.Since it was chilly out, Charlie apparated to the Leaky Cauldron. If he would have looked over at the bar, he would have seen Nora, with her back to him. She stayed true to herself and had something stronger than what they were offering at the seminar. Charlie carried himself up the stairs and locked himself in his room. He unbuttoned his suit jacket and tossed it on one of the chairs along with his tie. He collapsed on the bed and ran his fingers down his face.He hated being back home, he felt the best when he was in Romania. Being home brought feelings that he tried to forget. It was only two and a half years since his brother's death and that weighed heavily on his mind. He was better at running away rather than being around his family. Which hurt them and he couldn't bear to see them disappointed about his absence.But he couldn't just leave after the first day of the seminar.
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Nora found herself in the Ministry Department of Transportation sitting in a chair in front of the desk of another Weasley, Percy Weasley to be exact. The original tea cup that Nora had used when she traveled from Norway to Diagon Alley was sitting on the desk. Percy was overlooking her application for a portkey to Romania. At the Seminar, she learned they have different types of dragons there instead of one type of them and it seemed bigger.Charlie had avoided her during the remainder of the seminar as well. Not that, it bothered Nora. Charlie was an enigma, and it seemed like Percy was the same. There were a few pleasantries that were exchanged between Nora and Percy but it was silent as he looked over her application. It was so quiet, Nora could hear the muggle clock ticking behind where she was sitting. She tapped her fingers nervously on her knee caps. She was never turned away for traveling by portkey, but then again, no one ever did.Percy cleared his throat. "So, you're looking to get a portkey to Romania?" He asked. "Are you going to the dragon reserve?"Nora straightened up in her seat. "Yes I am.""Oh I know someone from there, I read on your file that you have been to quite a few." Percy observed. "Maybe this one will be your home?"Nora chuckled to herself quietly. "Well I doubt it, but I will let you know."Percy set down her paperwork and pulled out his wand. "What time are you looking at leaving?""Oh, um, anytime! I already gave notice to the Norwegian sanctuary of my resignation and the Romanian sanctuary of my arrival." Nora replied, bounding her knee in anticipation. Percy nodded and tapped the tea cup with his wand."This should be ready by 3 pm this evening. Do you need a portkey to pack up your belongings in Norway?"Nora shook her head. "No, I don't have much and I already have everything that I need.""Wow, you don't waste time." Percy commented.Nora shrugged at him. "I consider myself a leaf in the wind." She spotted a piece of lint on her knee and she picked it off. It stuck out like a sore thumb on the fabric of her black pants. She looked back up at Percy and smiled at him shrugging again.Percy raised his eyebrow. "Alright then, well you know the drill, make sure no muggles are around when you use the portkey. You will be transported fairly close to the Romanian sanctuary, there will be a marked path."That was odd, Nora had never been portrayed off location before. "You can't just get me right on location?"Percy shook his head. "I'm afraid not. There will be a giant building, you'll meet who you will be training with there and you'll be shown your dorm. You'll have the night off to unpack, your trainer will set you up with when to meet him."So she will be meeting with a man. Not that Nora was surprised, it was a male dominated profession. She hoped he wasn't a jerk. Nora nodded, taking the teacup in her hand. "Thank you.""Good luck." Percy said.Nora got to her feet and moved to leave the office. She pulled open the door just enough to slip out before it shut on its own. The chairs across the hallway from her were taken from other witches and wizards looking to travel by portkey. She nodded to them with a smile and turned down the hallway the way she came.She wanted to leave the ministry and get back to her room at the Leaky Cauldron and pack up her belongings. Nora couldn't just disapperate, but there were multiple fireplaces on the main floor to floo to the Leaky Cauldron. There was an elevator at the end of the hallway, she pressed the button to call it. It was a very fast elevator that moved all ways to get to the different levels to the Ministry of Magic.Nora had never really been to the different areas of the Ministry herself, but she definitely knew her way around the Department of Transportation. Percy Weasley wasn't the head for very long, he was the assistant to the minister for a while. After the war he eventually took over. That's just what Percy told her when she first met him when she transferred to the Norwegian sanctuary. She wondered what it said in her file that Percy had. For sure he had her application, but there must be some information on the different places she traveled and for how long. Nora wondered if it had all her past applications in there. Percy seemed like the type of bloke who was quite meticulous in that sense.When Nora got to the main floor, she steered in the direction of the fireplaces, dodging between the other people going to and from work. She couldn't imagine working in an office, she liked how she didn't know what to expect.She grew to love the smell of fire.There were cups by every fireplace full of floo powder. Nora grabbed a handful and stepped into the fireplace."The Leaky Cauldron!" Nora said as she tossed the powder at her feet, and she was swallowed up by the bright green flames. She held her breath as they came to her face and after a moment, they died down and she was standing in the large fireplace of the Leaky Cauldron.It looked somewhat busy, probably the lunch rush. Nora debated on getting lunch, but she didn't want to make it worse for them. She had some sort of snack food up in her room anyway, she could snack maybe until it calmed down. It was still early anyway; the portkey wouldn't be ready until 3 pm. Nora had to pack anyway so maybe that would kill the time until she had to leave.She was somewhat nervous about traveling to the Romanian sanctuary, well, she was always nervous starting in a new place. She was especially nervous when she traveled to China. She barely knew any Chinese and it was very different compared to London. At least within the sanctuary, there were other people there that could speak both English and Chinese, like Zihan, that would help her out. It was no different in Norway.On the bright side, she would be staying in a dorm, so she wouldn't have to worry about finding her own housing.Nora placed her duffel bag on the bed and opened it. Was an undetectable extension charm placed on the bag, so she had more stuff in the bag than how it looked. She folded up the clothes she wore over the past few days and put them on top of the piles of clothes. She didn't want to wash them at the moment, but she would have time to do that after meeting with her trainer.After her bag was repacked, Nora had nothing to do but wait. The one window in the room was large and it gave her the view of a busy muggle street in London. Perhaps she could kill time by muggle watching. But that wasn't interesting to her. Muggles were terribly dull.At a quarter to three, Nora slung her bag over her shoulder and shut the door to her room behind her. She made her way to the bar with her key, there was a different person working."Hi, here is the key to room 4," Nora placed the key on the bar."Do you need anything else?" The bartender asked. Nora shook her head and turned to an empty table. The time it took for her to give her key back didn't take as much time as Nora hoped. Which left her to sit alone and kill ten minutes.A male waiter walked up to her. "Is there anything I can get started for you, love?"Nora shook her head. "I'm just waiting until my portkey is ready." She took the portkey out of her pocket and placed it on the table. There was nothing going to be wrong with taking the portkey out of there while she was still sitting at the table. There was the dull roar of multiple conversations that were happening in the room. Nora couldn't focus on a singular conversation.It would have been nice if she could focus on a conversation so she would have something else to take her mind off of being awkward. Nora was only able to be herself around dragons. The nicest thing about dragons is they don't judge someone by how they acted.Nora glanced at her watch, bouncing her knee as she did. She had one more minute left. Keeping an eye on the watch, Nora all but counted down the minutes with her hand hovering over the teacup. Once the watch read three pm, Nora placed her hand on the cup and felt like she was being sucked into the cup.Then she found herself standing on the start of a hiking trail in the woods. In her time working with dragons, she knew it was never a good idea to hike alone in the woods where they lived. Nora herself wasn't sure which way was the Romanian Sanctuary, she looked over her shoulder to see if anything looked different behind her.It didn't.Nora sighed. "Perfect." Her very first day in the new sanctuary, well technically outside the sanctuary and she had no idea which way to go. It would have been easier if her trainer would have waited for her, but apparently, she was going to have to come to him. The trail was gravel and it sloped downhill slightly, it didn't look bad at all. Nora rolled the sleeves of her jacket up to her forearms and started down the trail in the direction she was headed.What started out as an easy hike, sloped even more and there were rough stairs carved into the ground. "They couldn't have let me portkey into the sanctuary, I'm going to have to hike with my luggage." Nora grumbled to herself as she started taking the stairs. It's not like the bag was heavy by all means, because it was non detectable, the weight was quite deceiving compared to how much stuff was in the bag.A dragon flew in the sky above her head, and she stopped walking to admire it in the sky. Nora shielded her eyes from the sun with her hands cupped as a visor at her forehead. She always envied them with their freedom to fly through the sky. Nora used to daydream that she could fly alongside them and never come back. It seemed like they were from another world.The dragon circled the forest a few times. She could hear the roar echo off the trees and feel the earth shake with the power behind its voice. Nora couldn't tell how big it was with how high it was in the sky, but she must have guessed that it was at least a year old to have the power in its voice. Butterflies erupted in Nora's stomach as she imagined herself flying with the dragon.When she lost sight of the dragon, Nora released the breath she didn't realize she was holding. Dragons were truly amazing. Even though Nora knew so much about dragons already, they never ceased to stun her. Everything they did made her jaw drop in shock.Nora sat down on the step to give her knees a moment to stop shaking. She always had the same reaction seeing a dragon, which was similar to the first time witnessing one. That is typical when someone comes across something they are passionate about.After Nora hiked for what seemed like forever, it turned out where she was walking in the right direction. She emerged from the woods to find the Romanian dragon sanctuary was surrounded by a mountain range. Nora did not know anything about Romanian georgeraphy to know what mountain range surrounded the area, but it did act as a natural barrier. She could see a cluster of buildings that acted as a small town. There were people out and about but Nora wasn't interested in that. Her eyes were drawn to the few dragons who were basking in the warm sun. It was still pretty chilly, they were taking advantage of the sunny day.She realized that she wasn't told which building to report to. All Percy had told her was that it was a giant building. She decided to head towards the biggest building among the cluster, either way if she was wrong, someone would be sure to point Nora in the right direction. Which would have been nice if Percy had done that a little bit better in the first place.Nora adjusted her bag to a more comfortable spot on her shoulder and started walking to the building. It seemed to be an administration and also had dorm rooms. Nora pulled the door open and walked inside. The cool wind gusted inside with her, it ruffled papers that were on the desk that was very close to the door. There was also a cork board behind the desk and the papers that only had push pins in the top also got ruffled due to the gust of wind. The first room was fairly small, with the desk closest to the door and then a hallway leading further into the building. Nora couldn't see very much down the hallway, but she imagined that's where the housing was along with offices. There was someone else in the room with Nora, he had his back to her, and he was standing at the desk, which had a lip that was slightly higher, so he wasn't leaning over to have a hard surface to write upon.His red hair was tousled and hung down his back and shoulders. The last time Nora saw the hair, it was up neatly in a bun. She let out a stunned breath. He didn't seem to notice her as he continued to fill out the paperwork. Nora took a couple steps towards him until she was standing at his elbow."You didn't tell me you worked at the Romanian dragon sanctuary." Nora said, looking up at him. He continued to ignore her; he didn't even glance up at her to acknowledge her presence. She watched his thick, ginger eyelashes flicker as he read the paperwork. She couldn't stop the jealousy as she admired his tangle of lashes.Nora shifted her weight impatiently. "Charlie?" She asked, trying to get his attention."How did you find me?" He finally asked casually, not looking up from the paperwork.She was surprised for a moment, finally she found her voice. "Parden?"Charlie finally looked up at her, the corners of his lips tugging down in a frown. "I said, how did you find me?"Nora raised her eyebrow and breathed the air in and out of her nose. "I was already planning on leaving the Norway sanctuary, I just chose this one on whim, I had no idea you were here."Charlie mimicked her and raised his eyebrow. "If I find out how you found out I was here and assigned yourself to me someone will pay. Follow me."Charlie turned away from Nora and began walking down the hallway. Nora yanked up her bag and had to run to keep up with him. "I'm paying for it now." She said under her breath hoping he couldn't hear her. Charlie stopped suddenly, causing Nora to run into his back. The muscles that made up his back were hard, almost as hard as running into a wall. There was no give that bodies tend to act, and it didn't feel all soft and fleshy. She gasped and jumped back. He turned towards her with a frown on his face, his jaw clenched and unclenched. Like he couldn't decide what he wanted to do with her. He tilted his head and looked at her standing before him. Even though Nora was average height for a woman, the heels she was wearing before deceived him of her real height. She was nearly as tall as him during the seminar and now she came to his shoulder. All of the Weasley children were tall, except for Ron and Ginny of course.Charlie watched the steadily increasing rise and fall of Nora's chest as her breathing picked up. Both of her hands grasped the strap of her duffle bag that was slung across her torso and settled on her hip, the opposite hip from the shoulder. For a moment Charlie felt bad for frightening Nora, but then he remembered his heart of stone and blew the air out of his lungs with his nose."Careful," he warned sternly. "Try to keep up."Charlie turned away from Nora, leaving her confused and frightened.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Coincidentally, Charlie led Nora to her room which was room number 4. He fished around his pants pockets for a moment before pulling around a tiny key. He turned towards Nora. "Don't lose this." She nodded in understanding. Charlie turned away before she moved her head so he didn't even see her nod. He unlocked the door and opened it."You won't have much time to settle in, but you can drop off your bag." Charlie explained, standing in the doorway of her dorm. It was just what Nora expected when she thought of the word dorm. She walked in and set her bag down in the doorway before turning back and walking out, taking time to lock the door. Charlie held the key up to her eye level. Nora took the key and put it in the pocket of her jacket, it seemed more secure than her jeans. The pockets of her jacket could be zipped shut. It seemed weird to Nora that they were focusing on keys instead of using their wands. In their profession, wands aren't completely necessary, but they were still used.At least Charlie was giving her a tour, if that could count as a tour. Charlie only spoke when it was necessary. He pointed out facilities for the residents to use. There was a common area with a large kitchen and dining area. There were also couches with a bookshelf. Charlie cleared his throat and Nora stopped looking around to look at him. "It's not much, but not a lot of time gets spent in here, people are usually out together and working with the dragons. There are also small kitchenettes in all of the rooms." He explained. Nora nodded to herself and looked around the room again. She could appreciate that it was cleaned, even though she didn't see herself cooking in here. The other employees must have been pretty good about cleaning up after themselves."How many people live here?" Nora asked.Charlie ran his finger through his hair and shook it out as he looked away from her gaze. "Uh, well I haven't really taken the time to figure that out." Charlie gave her a look that she thought resembled an apologetic look, but not quite. So Charlie wasn't just abrasive to Nora, he wasn't good at communicating with anyone. She wondered if he ever hung out with anyone. She couldn't picture Charlie to have a dorm here and be forced to socialize with the other residents. Then again, Nora couldn't picture herself doing that either. If Charlie did have a dorm, he kept that part of him silent. Zihan was the one to show Nora around the Chinese dragon sanctuary, he made sure she knew which dorm he lived in. Charlie was different, way different from Zihan. Zihan acted like a peacock, with his feathers fanned out to attract the attention of everyone. Nora was attracted to that, but it has been years, and she grew up.Nora shifted her weight from one foot to the other and Charlie leaned against the wall that was behind him, crossing his legs at the ankles. The silence was almost comfortable, but after a while with Nora looking up at Charlie every so often and meeting his eyes nearly every single time and then looking away, it got awkward."What mountain range surrounds the sanctuary?" Nora asked, desperate to cover up the silence between the two.Charlie looked out the window, from there he could see the snowcapped mountains. "The Carpathian Mountains." He spoke matter-of-factly.The way Charlie wasn't the first one to talk reminded Nora of herself, they seemed so similar, but there was a piece of himself that he kept hidden from Nora and he fought to keep that part of himself hidden.Charlie kept that piece of himself hidden very well. He sighed and pushed himself off the wall and started walking down the hallway that they came from. "Come, there are only so many more hours of daylight and such much more to see." He raised his fingers and beckoned her to follow him.At the end of her tour, night had long since fallen. She didn't expect to have a full tour that night, she had been hoping Charlie would have shown her to her room and then just showed her where to go the next day. It was late, and Charlie expected her to be up early in the morning, Nora doubted she would be able to settle in before going to bed.Nora shut the door to her room behind her and leaned against it. She was downright exhausted after being dragged all over the sanctuary. She would like to be introduced to the other dragon tamers, but maybe they were busy. They weren't at the moment; Nora could faintly hear the cacophony of voices on the other side of her door. Her room was fairly close to the common area. Part of her wanted to introduce herself, but a larger part of her wanted to go to bed.Wiping a hand down her face, Nora let out a chuckle, before getting to her feet. Bracing a hand on a wall, she kicked off her shoes and grabbed her bag. Nora didn't have any food, but she did have some dry goods in her bag. Along one side of the hall was the bathroom, it was very small, but the size didn't matter especially if it was just her. Thankfully there was a tub, Nora mainly showered but taking a bath once in a while was nice. The hallway opened up into a kitchen, with a relatively big fridge for the small space. There was a cooktop with 2 burners. Plus, the sink. There wasn't much counter space, but Nora could just put a cutting board over her sink as a makeshift counter. There were drawers and a cupboard under the sink, over the sink and over the stove.There was a doorway, which seemed to lead out to the bedroom living room area. There was a daybed which gave off the illusion of a couch with a rather large cushion to imitate a twin size bed. There was a small tv mounted to the wall and a desk under the tv. There was a closet, Nora pulled open the door and was pleased to see how big it was. She was used to the wardrobes back in her childhood home which would barely hold anything. She set her back on the desk and opened it. Nora pulled her wand out of the bag first and pointed inside the bag."Accio bedding."Folded sheets, a blanket, her pillows and pillowcases flew out towards her. Nora dropped her wand to try and catch the bedding before it fell to the floor. She wasn't worried about her wand, she was more worried about her bedding touching the floor that she had no idea the last time it was washed.Nora tried her best not to think about that, because if she dwelled on it too much, she wouldn't get any sleep. She would be cleaning all night until she was satisfied every surface was clean enough to unpack.Once her bed was made, Nora pulled off her jeans, so she was in her t-shirt and panties. That was good enough for her to sleep in, especially since she didn't feel like hunting for pajamas and stayed up later. Instead of collapsing in her bed, Nora walked over to the entryway to the room where the light switch was. When the light was off the room was only illuminated by the one large window in the room. The light of the moon gave the room a silver light. The window was a frosted privacy window and Nora wasn't sure the direction her window faced, but she was sure she was going to have to get curtains. Charlie did, kind of, show her the direction of the town.It was very small, mainly visited by the dragon tamers, but there were some local witches and wizards who called that place home. There were a couple dragon tamers who had their own homes there instead of living in the dorms. Those who lived in the dorms didn't have to pay nearly as much as having a house in town. Even there the benefits of living in the town made the price difference worth it. Nora was just starting out here, she knew it would be a long time before she considered living outside the dorms.Nora laid down on the bed, which was surprisingly comfortable. She wondered momentarily if they replaced the beds after someone moved out. Even though it was smaller than she used to. The beds at the Chinese sanctuary were full sized. However, in the Norwegian sanctuary, there were shared dorms. Nora lived with all of the women who worked in the sanctuary. Even though a lot of the women put up partitions and curtains around their bunks for some sort of privacy. There was only much privacy in a shared room with multiple bunk beds.It took a moment for Nora to fall completely asleep, her mind kept racing. A first night in a new space was always exciting for her and her mind wouldn't turn off. When she did finally fall asleep, it was like she was asleep for a few seconds. Nora was startled awake by someone pounding on her door. Nora stood up and yanked on the jeans she was wearing yesterday that still laid in a heap on the floor. The pounding on the door was deafening in her tiny dorm room that left Nora to yank a brush through her hair."Hold on!" Nora cried as she put some toothpaste on her toothbrush. She hastily brushed her teeth, while trying to tie her hair up in a ponytail. The pounding on the door didn't let up.When Nora was ready, she took a deep breath, before opening the door to Charlie who had his hand up in mid knock."It's about time you answered," Charlie said as he disappeared down the hallway. Nora took that as a sign to follow him, so she pulled her door shut, locking it before she shut it completely. By that time, she had to run to catch up with Charlie, who had already left down a hallway in the building that Nora was unfamiliar with.She sighed inaudibly; it was going to be one of those days."We need you to fill out paperwork," Charlie explained as he stared ahead. "Get you set up with pay, your room will be taken out automatically."Nora nodded to herself; she was very familiar with this process of work. Usually, the first day was filled with paperwork. It was always a few days before she started actually working with dragons."Since the person who takes care of the paperwork left, I will be filing these." he turned towards Nora. "Must be like you."Nora couldn't tell if Charlie was making a joke or trying to insult her."You don't look very well put together," Charlie commented as he sat behind a desk, motioning for Nora to sit in a chair in front of it."You didn't exactly tell me what time we were starting and woke me up, barely giving me time to get ready." Nora responded, running her fingers through her hair. She felt self-conscious. Yes, Nora had been wearing the same clothes she had been wearing the night before. But pretty much all blue jeans were the same, and if she remembered correctly, she had been wearing a jacket the day before. If they were going outside, she was debating on asking Charlie if she could grab her jacket. Charlie had his back to her as he checked a filing cabinet for the correct paperwork. Something told her she wouldn't be going outside that day.Nora bounced her knee as she waited for Charlie to find the correct paperwork. His hair was pulled back in a bun and she noticed a hoop in his left ear that hugged his ear lobe. Golden freckles spattered his neck and disappeared behind his black burlap looking jacket., which was stretched tightly around his back. But it didn't look uncomfortable. It just looked like something he wore all the time.Nora realized she was staring because he turned around with the correct documents and slammed them on the table to bring her attention back. She jumped at the slapping sound it made. She looked at the papers on the table and then her gaze moved up to Charlie's face."Distracted, aren't we?" Charlie smirked at her. It was like he knew where her mind was, and he enjoyed the power he had over her. Nora did not like anyone, especially males having power over her, in any aspect. She clicked her tongue in agitation as Charlie grabbed her a pen.Nora reached out her hand to take it from him and he ignored her outstretched hand and placed it next to the small stack of papers. She pressed her tongue to the roof of her mouth and started filling out the paperwork. Instead of waiting for her to finish, Charlie stood up from the desk and left the room. He didn't say a word, he just left Nora hanging. She jumped in her seat when he slammed the door behind him.She glared at the door, knowing full well that Charlie couldn't see her and then turned back towards the paper. The paperwork was pretty basic, it wasn't Nora's first time filling out paperwork like that. Part of the reason she was able to get into the Hebrides Dragon Sanctuary, because of her experience around Dragons.A lot of the paperwork was also asking her past experiences, why she left. Basic things that were usually on new hire paperwork. Payroll, where her Citizenship was, where she went to school, classes she studied, letters of recommendations from professors. Thankfully, the extraCare of Magical Creatures proved to be useful and then the talks about dragons with Hagrid, earned her the letter of recommendation. Even if he wasn't a full-time professor, he was still a part of Hogwarts staff.As Nora read the instructions on the next form of the paperwork, she spun the quill between her fingers. It was a habit Nora had formed when she was younger, all through school and even at home. The way to keep her focused was to keep her hands busy, even though the Professors found it distracting, but it was the only thing that kept her focused."What are you doing?" the sudden voice of Charlie's made her drop her quill. She looked over her shoulder to see him standing in the doorway. Charlie had one of his eyebrows raised and he was watching her in an amused look.She picked up the quill and gave the paperwork another looks to be sure that nothing was missed. "It's a habit I guess." She set the paperwork and the quill down and met his eyes over her shoulder again. "I'm finished."Without a word, Charlie walked around to the other side of the desk. He didn't take the time to sit down, he just sat at the desk. The fingertips of one hand were poised on the desk while he leafed through the paperwork with the other hand. Charlie seemed to have freckles all over, evening mattering the backs of his hands, even to his fingers. Her line of sight darted to the small stack of papers before he could notice that she was staring again.The hand that was on the desk pointed a finger somewhere at the bottom of the last page. "You forgot a signature here." he said and flipped the paper her way. She picked up the quill again and signed her name.Charlie took the paper and placed it at the bottom of the stack, he grabbed a paperclip and bound the papers together and put them in a large filing cabinet. "Welcome to the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary."Charlie was so abrasive that the nice welcoming made her confused. Nora never expected him to say such a nice comment, in fact she didn't think it was possible for something nice to come out of his mouth.Nora was out until late. She spent the day getting shown where their supplies were, such as leather mitts, feed, milk substitute, and other various things needed to care for dragons of all age ranges. When they came across a dragon that was living there, Charlie would quiz her on the type of dragon it was as if she wouldn't know and then give her the name of the dragon. Charlie used a different voice when he talked to the dragons. The look of fondness on his face when handling them reminded Nora of herself. She didn't think she would ever see that in anyone. Yes, she met some excellent dragon tamers, but none that were like herself. Charlie regarded the dragon like a friend or a loved one and then regarded other people as if they were dragons.Other dragon tamers were the complete opposite, they were cautious around the dragons because they understood that they were dangerous creatures. Which was fine because when working with giant creatures, it's always best that they are respected.After Charlie took her out and showed her more about the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary, Nora went to the general store to get some dry goods and some perishables. She could keep the dry goods in her room and a little bit of perishables in that fridge. Nora had a few pots and pans; they were still in her bag because she didn't really have time to unpack yet.By the time she got back to the dorm building, it was dark and there were people out in the common area, they were all hanging out and laughing. Nora could even smell the food that they were making. As she got closer to her door, she juggled the bags in her hands until she had a free hand and fished for the key in her jeans pocket."Hey, are you Nora?" A guy called from the kitchen. She glanced up at him but continued to try to unlock the door. The man stood up from the stool he was sitting on and walked her way. Of course, a time where she was forced to interact was when her door and key were being stubborn.As he approached her, her door finally was unlocked. Although at that point, it would have been rude to shut the door in his face."My name is Nico," he said, one of his hands casually in the pocket of his jeans and his other hand scratching his well-kept beard. Nora's eyes darted to the still loud room behind Nico and then to her door and back at him. "Why don't you meet everyone?"Nora had her arm curled around two paper grocery bags and her other hand on the door. The noise in the common area made her nervous. Meeting new people wasn't her strongest attribute, especially after Zihan cheated on her. People had a habit of doing that.Then again, she wanted to meet others, the only other person she knew was Charlie. But Nora didn't see herself trying to hang out with him for some sort of human interaction. If she did go to him for someone to hang out with, he would probably shut the door in her face.After a moment, Nora sighed. "Alright, but can I put my groceries away and maybe take a shower?"