114: The Elf's Lunch and Complaints

"Hey, Nolan."

That evening during dinner, Harry Potter approached our little vampire. His face was pale, and he looked thoroughly unsettled. "Nolan, I need to talk to you."

And Nolan? Well, he couldn't care less about what the Boy Who Lived wanted to say—or what was troubling the bespectacled wizard.

He was preoccupied, carefully packing food into a wicker basket without even glancing up. "Can it wait, Potter? I'm busy right now."

"What's he doing?" Harry asked Miles, puzzled.

Miles shrugged, savoring the rare treat of milk pudding. "No clue. Maybe he's planning to have a picnic with Eve outside. Nolan does have a girlfriend, after all."

"Nolan, this is important. It's about Hagrid's… thing." Harry leaned in closer, lowering his voice to a whisper. "Hagrid's dragon hatched, but unfortunately, Malfoy saw it! You know how much Malfoy hates Hagrid. We think he's going to tell Professor Dumbledore any day now—"

"Don't you think letting Dumbledore know about this reckless situation is exactly what a friend should do?" Nolan replied casually, slipping swan-smoked sandwiches and rum pudding into the basket with precision. "I don't think it's wrong for Hagrid to have hobbies, but someone needs to stop him."

"I know, I know," Harry pleaded, his frustration mounting. "But we can't let Hagrid get fired over this! Nolan, you have to help. You can talk to Malfoy. I need you to convince him to let it go."

Nolan raised a brow and handed the finished basket to Eve. "And why would I do that?"

"For Hagrid, of course!"

"Oh, give it a rest, Potter. Hagrid isn't my friend." Nolan shrugged indifferently and gently took Eve's hand. "We're leaving now. You can try your luck with Draco yourself. Draco—over here."

Malfoy practically skipped over, his pale face lighting up as Nolan called him.

But as soon as Draco spotted the slender figure by Nolan's side, his expression soured immediately. He scowled and hissed, "Who let that Gryffindor near our Slytherin table?"

Nolan simply smirked, brushing it off as he walked hand in hand with Eve toward the exit. Before leaving, he called over his shoulder, "If you two insist on fighting, try using gentler spells. 'Levicorpus' is a good one."

Ten minutes later, Harry returned to the Gryffindor table—bruised, battered, and sporting a swollen nose from his scuffle with Draco.

Hermione barely glanced up, predictably unimpressed. "Failed, I assume? I told you Nolan wouldn't get involved."

"Because he's a Slytherin," Ron snapped, still nursing his own split lip from joining Harry in the scuffle. "He's obviously on Malfoy's side. He's not some special Slytherin—just a good-looking one. And you girls are blinded by it!"

"Oh, shut it, Ron! Do you want to make enemies of every girl in Hogwarts?" Hermione hissed, slapping a hand over his mouth in panic.

Harry sighed, running a hand through his already messy hair. "If Nolan won't help, we'll have to figure something else out…"

…

Meanwhile, Nolan and Eve had slipped quietly out of the castle, their hands entwined as they strolled under the soft glow of twilight. A delightful aroma of fruit preserves drifted from the basket in Eve's other hand.

"Are we going to the Forbidden Forest?" Eve asked, her large eyes blinking up at him as she rested her head gently against his shoulder.

"Scared?" Nolan asked softly, brushing a lock of hair from her face. "The Forest isn't as frightening as the upperclassmen make it out to be."

Eve shook her head. She wasn't scared. Nothing in this world, she believed, could harm Nolan.

"Are we going to see the creature you mentioned last time?" she asked curiously.

Nolan levitated a fallen tree trunk out of their path with a flick of his wand, not wanting Eve to trip over it. "A creature… but not a pureblood one. If you want to see pureblood fae, we can visit Ireland over the holiday. There are plenty there."

"I don't want to go to Ireland," Eve whispered, her fingers tightening slightly around his hand. "I'd rather spend the holiday at your home."

Her voice was soft, hesitant, as if worried he might say no.

"Is that alright?"

Nolan thought for a moment, then nodded. "Alright. But my family might not be exactly what you imagine."

"Do you have parents?" Eve asked softly.

"I did, but they turned to ash a long time ago," Nolan replied casually. "It's nothing to be sad about. You see, while vampires live long lives, they do have an end. By the time they had me, they were already bored of living."

"What a shame… They didn't get to watch you grow up," Eve murmured, her small hand fumbling slightly as she reached out to intertwine her fingers with his. After a bit of effort, she succeeded.

The two strolled through the forest, their fingers laced together in the fading light. It was a beautiful sight—save for one small imperfection. Eve's hand was warm, while Nolan's was cold.

"Do you have any other family?" she asked, her head tilted slightly as she leaned closer to him.

"Let me think… My sister Felicia, some of her dearly departed companions, our family's maid Miss Theresa, a demonic cat named Miss Nancy, Baron Dura—he used to play with me when I was little—and Mr. Dalric, who is always working out," Nolan listed them off one by one, ticking his fingers as he counted. "There's also my two dearly departed companions. One of them lives in London, though we get along well enough. Oh, and a necromancer named Stephanie—she visits for Christmas every year. I suppose she counts as family too."

"That's a huge family," Eve said, her voice tinged with admiration.

Nolan flicked his wand to shoo away a young spider crawling too close, then cast a Disillusionment Charm over them both. "Baron Dura always complains about it. He says it's exhausting seeing the same faces for hundreds of years—it gets boring. I'm not sure if that's true, since I'm still quite young."

"I can't wait to meet them…" Eve whispered, almost as if she were dreaming aloud.

They arrived at the small hut where the fae lady resided. The golden-haired woman sat contentedly in a chair conjured by Dumbledore, her bare legs dangling as she basked in the tranquility of the Forbidden Forest. Her expression was one of utter bliss.

Nolan arched a brow. "Are you on vacation in the Forbidden Forest, Ligeitoli?"

The fae startled at the sound of his voice, leaping to her feet. "Hey you vampire! Are you here to fight?" she hissed, her sharp teeth flashing.

Eve giggled at her reaction and placed the basket on the small wooden table, carefully unpacking the food piece by piece. "We brought you dinner, Miss Fae. Don't be so afraid of Nolan. He's the one who suggested we bring you something to eat."

"A vampire? Being thoughtful?" Ligeitoli eyed Nolan suspiciously, turning her nose up with an air of defiance as if to say she wouldn't touch the food.

But as the aroma wafted through the air, her pointed ears twitched slightly. Her gaze flicked to the spread on the table, her animal-like eyes betraying a flicker of longing. She muttered under her breath as if making excuses to herself.

"If I don't eat anything, the vampire might think I'm afraid of him. So… just a little. Just… a bite."

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