Disclaimer: This Fan Fiction is based in the Harry Potter book written by J.K. Rowling. I do not claim ownership of the characters or the world of Harry Potter. I've tried not to mess with the "official" story, so the things that happen in the books also happen here.
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The Espen Norum Chronicles: Year Two
Chapter 01
It was early August and the summer holiday had started in earnest. Espen Norum was excited! The moment he'd been waiting for the last month had finally arrived; Dennis was coming to visit for a couple of days. Espen had been hyped ever since Hugo, his owl had arrived with a letter from Dennis weeks ago, asking if he could come over sometime soon. Espen had sent Hugo back straight away with his reply; YES!
Now, Espen stood in front of his bedroom window on the second floor, looking at the road stretching from the house, waiting for a dust cloud to appear in the distance, signaling that a car was approaching the house. Espen's bedroom was like most twelve year old boys' bedrooms. It had one single bed, one large wardrobe with a suitcase laying directly in front of it half emptied. Espen had started to put away its content ever since he came home for the summer, but the knowledge that his best friend was coming for a visit for a week, had shoved that to the back of Espen's priorities. He had managed to unpack one of his most treasured items, which he had posted on the wall above his bed. It was a photo of six boys, arm in arm and all smiling for the camera.
Like most pictures in the house, the subjects were moving instead of the frozen photos of the muggle world and even though it was in black&white, Espen could see the colors in his mind as clear as day. On the far left stood a blond boy with large, round glasses. He was a lot shorter than the other five boys on the picture, but that didn't seem to bother him. That boy, was Benjamin, one of Espen's closest friends. Next to Benjamin on the picture, stood a larger boy, both in height and size in general. He was chubby, with darker skin than the other boys, like a dark tan. He had messy, neck-long black hair and kind, brown eyes. This was Jimmy Peaks, possibly the one of his classmates that Espen knew the least. Next to Jimmy stood the tallest of the boys, Nathan Radford. Nathan had short, blond hair, and smiling from ear to ear and laughing.
To Nathan's left, stood Espen himself. His younger version smiled and winked at the camera with his green eyes. With an arm around Espen's shoulder, stood the boy that Espen was expecting to arrive at any moment now: Dennis Creevey. Dennis had mousy brown hair with slight curls. He had deep, brown eyes that Espen could look into for hours when he looked at the picture. To the far right on the picture stood Nigel Wolpert, a little shorter than Espen and Dennis, with strawberry blond hair and icy blue eyes.
This picture of the six boys, was Espen's most prized possession. He'd gotten it last Christmas as a gift from Dennis and his older brother Colin, who had taken the photo. Colin was a strange character, at least Espen thought so. Espen felt like Colin knew a lot more than he let on, especially concerning Espen's feelings for his younger brother. From the very first moment Espen and Dennis had met, Espen had felt a connection between them. They were friends, sure, but his feelings for Dennis was something... more. Espen didn't really know how else to explain it, not even to himself. His feelings towards Dennis had gone so up and down during their first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry that it confused Espen more than anything. It hadn't helped that right before the summer holiday started, Colin had given Espen a cryptic message.
`Don't give up on him yet. He is holding himself back, but just give it time. He cares for you more than you realize, Espen.' Colin had said with a sly smile. Ever since that moment, Espen's thoughts had been at an uproar! He and Dennis had been circling around each other for months, none taking the initiative to make the first move. Now it was too late. Dennis had a girlfriend, Angela, and Espen couldn't do anything other than support Dennis. He had to do what Colin said. Give it time and maybe things would change, but for now he was going to spend the week with Dennis. The boys would have the house for themselves most of the time as his mother still worked pretty long hours at the Ministry of Magic.
Back by the window, Espen started to get restless. The drive from the station wasn't that long! They should be here any second now, he thought for himself. He glanced down at the floor, where Dennis' bed had been prepared for him. They had an own guest room if Dennis wanted that, but Espen hoped he would sleep in Espen's bedroom. That meant that they could talk and joke all night, and maybe...
In the distance, Espen finally saw the signal he'd been waiting for. A dust cloud was approaching the house via the dirt road. As soon as the car came into view of Espen's bedroom window, Espen sprinted to the open bedroom door, entered the hall and almost flew down the stairs! As he put his hand on the handle, he heard the bangs from the car doors being closed. He took a breath. He didn't want to seem too excited to see him. One more for good measure aaaaaand... open.
"Espen! HI!"
Espen couldn't even react before Dennis ran over to him and hugged him to hard and tight that it felt like Espen had been body tackled by Dennis. His hair was shorter than last he saw him, cut down to around his ears, almost like a buzz-cut, but with more hair on top. It really suited him, as it brought his deep brown eyes more into the natural light, making them sparkle slightly. Those deep brown eyes...
"It's so good to see you!" said Dennis, grinning wide. Espen couldn't help but to smile wide as well.
"Good to see you too. You have any bags or anything?"
"Don't worry boys, I've got it." Said Madeleine, flicking her wand. Dennis' suitcase levitated out of the trunk of the car and floated the short distance to the door.
"It's so cool that you can do magic outside of school!" Dennis said in awe as he saw his suitcase fly by over his head.
"I am the only one here permitted to do so though." Madeline said half strict, half-jokingly tone as she gave Dennis a wink. "You must be starving after the trip, Dennis. I'll cook up something for you, while you get comfortable in your room."
"I've set him up in my room, mom." Espen pitched in and closed the door behind them all.
"Have you now..." Madeleine said and gave the two boys one quick glance. "Well, you can show Dennis your room then, won't you chère?" Madeleine asked as her wand made Dennis's suitcase float up the stairs. Espen felt his face go warm for a second when his mom used her pet name for him, but it didn't seem like Dennis paid much attention to what was said, as he was staring around the entry hall in awe.
The Ambroise family wasn't one of the wealthiest pure-blood families, but had several houses and mansions across Europe. This had house had been given to Madeleine by her grandfather, Léon Ambroise in his last will and testament. As most magic homes, muggle-repelling charms had been placed all around the property, preventing any unwanted muggles to see any magic going on close to the house. This was for the best, as the first thing one saw when entering the house was a chandelier with beautiful crystals, floating in mid-air. Magic held the chandelier floating ten feet in the air, slowly rotating. The entry-hall had several portraits of wizards and witches who all gave Dennis a nod and welcomed him.
"Welcome, dear boy!" a white haired man closest to the door said in a cheerful demeanor. "Who's there?" an old witch with incredibly thick glasses shouted on the far end of the wall, "I can't see who it is!" "A visitor!" a large man said excited with a deep voice, "I haven't seen you here before. I hope you find the house satisfactory."
"Umm..." Dennis said unsure and looked nervously at Espen.
"You're all overwhelming him, give him a brake." Espen laughed as he started to walk the stairs. Dennis soon followed.
"This is like the Hogwarts all over again..." Dennis said as he looked at the many portraits and floating chandelier.
"You get used to them. The trick is to not get talking to them. If you do, great-great grandfather Matthieu will talk your ears off!"
"Which of the portraits is he?" Dennis asked looking back, probably so he would know which one to keep a distance to.
"The one that hoped you'd find the house satisfactory. He built the house, you see."
They reached the second floor and walked in the still open door to Espen's bedroom. "Do you want your own room or do you want to sleep in here with me?" Espen asked concerned. "I've made room for you in here in case-"
"I'd love to stay in here with you!" Dennis said, smiling wide. "Cool room. Is that a quidditch poster? I still haven't seen a live match! Colin said I would see one at Hogwarts. I hope I get to see one this year. Colin said it's incredible to watch!"
"That reminds me, where is Colin?" The question about the second Creevey brother had just popped to mind.
"He is in... what's it called- Barton visiting his friend Evan while dad's working his new job. I can't believe dad got the promotion!"
"Ohh, right!" Espen said, suddenly remembering why Dennis had asked to come over. Mr Creevey had worked as a milkman for several years, but had received a promotion a month ago, to Staff Manager. "Well deserved."
Dennis had sat down on Espen's bed, just looking around the room and soon located his most prized possession. Dennis didn't say anything, but smiled warmly at the picture.
"Colin wanted me to have it first, but I really wanted you to have it. I mean, Colin takes a ton of photographs, so I have enough of them, even the moving ones." He glanced over at Espen, still with the warm smile. It made something inside Espen stir, something deep inside him.
Espen sat down next Dennis on the bed, suddenly feeling very nervous for some reason.
"How are things with... umm- Angela, was it?"
"Ohh, good, I think." Dennis said a little sheepishly, "I haven't seen here since the last day of school, but write each other every now and then. She has an owl too, so it's a little quicker than to send it with muggle mail."
"I've been meaning to ask, when and where did you two meet?"
"Colin introduced us. She is Evan's sister, you see. She had seen me with Colin and asked Evan, to ask Colin, to introduce us." Dennis laid back in the bed as he talked, putting his arms behind his head. This lifted Dennis' shirt slightly, revealing some of the pale skin underneath. Espen had to concentrate to not stare, as the stirring inside him started to boil slightly. "We met a couple of weeks before the second trial and we had our first- umm, kiss the day of the second trial, after breakfast." Dennis blushed slightly as he mentioned the kiss. Now it made more sense to Espen. So that was why he had been late to the second trial!
"So that's why you were late that day! But why did Colin-" Espen thought out loud and Dennis nodded.
"He, umm, caught us kissing you see. Colin and I had decided to go down to the trial together after breakfast, but Angela pulled me aside and I asked Colin to wait. It took a little longer than expected, so he came looking for me and- well, caught us in our first kiss."
"So that's what happened!" Espen had to laugh a little. "When the two of you came down from the castle, Colin tried to say that he'd caught you during your first kiss, but you stopped him from it." Even though his tone was light and he laughed out loud, Espen felt a little hurt. Dennis had kept her a secret for months before telling him, Dennis' best friend, about something as major as a first kiss!
"That sounds about right." Dennis said, his face a little red.
Looking at Dennis, Espen remembered the horrible gut-drenching feeling, when he'd seen Dennis and Angela kiss in the hall. Had he felt that way just because of their friendship? The stirring inside of him now told him different, but he had to keep that in check. He wouldn't let that come in-between their friendship, even as it got harder and harder.
"BOYS!" a voice came from downstairs. "THE FOOD IS READY!"
"Come on, let's get something to eat." Espen said and got up from the bed, with Dennis following suit out the still open door and downstairs.
Madeleine had filled the table with everything good to eat! Egg, bacon, sousage, beans, tomato, potatoes, mushrooms and bread filled the not so small table. Madeleine smiled warmly at Dennis, who had grabbed a little bit of everything within reach.
"So what plans do the two of you have today, Espen?" Madeleine asked kindly as she flicked her wand and three glasses and a pitcher of lemonade appeared on the table.
"I don't know. Maybe we can practice flying a little in the back yard. What do you say to that, Dennis?" Espen chuckled as he looked over at Dennis. They hadn't really done much flying at Hogwarts, other than the mandatory flying lessons, and Espen had a sneaky suspicion that Dennis wanted to fly more, without the strict supervision of Madam Hooch. Dennis couldn't really speak, as he had his mouth chuck full of food, but he nodded enthusiastically. Madeleine chuckled at the sight as well.
The day was spent flying in the back yard. The Ambroise house had a huge yard, full of trees and flowers. Madeleine liked the pure nature, so she kept the yard in a wilder shape than most muggles liked to. The grass was longer and the bushes wilder, which came in handy as they were softer to land on. Or in their case, fall on. Neither of the boys were particularly good at flying. The only Gryffindor boy their year that was any good at all, was Nathan, as his dad was a professional Beater on a quidditch team. As to themselves, after many hours of flying and falling, their bodies were beaten and sore.
"At least I have more of a hang of it now." Dennis said weakly and rubbed his shoulder.
"You really improved your landing on the last one there!" Espen laughed, "Mom never liked that bush anyway, so it's alright. You want to head upstairs? I have a stock of Exploding Snap in my room, I think." Espen asked as they put away the brooms in the broom shed.
"Yeah, that would be fun. Maybe we can try to beat our record in building and not losing our eyebrows as well!"
They walked upstairs to look for the cards, but Espen couldn't find them.
"I know I have them here somewhere... Ahh, they are in the study. Come on." Espen lead Dennis down the hall from his room and in the door at the end. Dennis whistles loud and long as they entered. The room was almost as high as the entrance hall downstairs, but this room was almost like a tower. It was circle round with bookshelves on every single wall. In the middle, in front of the room's only window, was a large, old desk with an even older looking chair behind. The desk was full of parchment rolls and stacks of paper.
"There it is..." Espen mumbled as he grabbed the cards from one of the drawers. "Let's go downstairs. I don't think playing with exploding cards is a good idea in he-" Espen stopped. Dennis stood in front of the desk, holding a picture frame in his hands.
"Is this your mom and dad, Espen?" He asked, looking at the picture. Somehow, his dark brown eyes seemed even darker, almost sad, when he stared at the picture in his hands. Dennis was right. Espen knew that picture well. He walked around to Dennis' side so he could look at the old photograph as well. Unlike most pictures and photographs in the house, this one hadn't been treated with magic, so the subjects were frozen in which time it was taken.
The photograph depicted two people, one woman and one man, embracing each other. The woman, easily recognizable as a younger version of his mother, had her eyes closed, as she hugged the man and her head resting on his chest. The man was tall, with dark hair and thick eyebrows. He had a slightly unshaven look, but not wild. He had kind, warm eyes and smiled while holding the woman in his arms. The last photograph ever taken of Madeleine and the love of her life, Esbjørn Norum, before he passed away.
"Yeah. That's my mom and dad." Espen said weakly. He had looked at the photograph many times during the years, imagining what their life had been like during their months together. One thing that had been burnt into his mind, was the look of pure happiness on his mother's face in the photo, something he hadn't really seen on her in real life.
"You really look a lot like him, you know. "Dennis said, studying the photo. "I bet, if it had colors, he would have had your green eyes and brown hair. It even had the shape. I guess, this is a good way to see what you'll look like in a few years, huh.
"I think you're right about that." A voice came from the door, and they both looked up. Madeleine stood in the doorway, smiling faintly at them. "He looks more and more like him with each passing year. You didn't get much from me, in the looks department at least." She walked over to them and gently took the photograph from Dennis' hands. She let her hands caress the frame for a second. Espen noticed the same look in her eyes as he'd seen in Dennis' eyes, as if they had turned darker for a moment, but when Madeleine carefully placed the photograph on her desk again, she smiled warmly at them both. "It's starting to get late, boys. You two should get ready for bed soon. I thought we could go to Diagon Alley tomorrow and get the school supplied and such. How does that sound?"
"That sounds great, mom." Espen said faintly. He felt a lump in his throat all of a sudden and found it a little hard to talk, so it came out a little weaker than intended. His mother seemed to have caught up on that, as she took hold of her son, and gave him a long hug. When she finally released the hug, her tone was like normal again.
"You two go play your game. I have some paperwork to finish before I go to bed. Try to not burn your eyebrow off this time, alright?" She gave Dennis a wink, who smiled in return. Espen still felt the lump in his throat, but it didn't feel as bad as before. Hugs are wonderful things, he thought. Their ability to take away pain in moments like this, was remarkable. Maybe even unique.
"Yeah mom. We'll be careful. Good night."
Please check out my other stories here at Nifty. Both are fanficitons like this one, set in an already existing world with original characters, referencing the canon storyline.
The Becomings of Wardens -Dragon Age (finished) : http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/celebrity/becomings-of-wardens/
Boys of the Mage-Templar War - Dragon Age : http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/celebrity/boys-of-the-mage-templar-war/
The Busking Boy : http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/celebrity/the-busking-boy