—— ϟ ——
Noel was walking down the corridors back from feeding Padfoot when she saw Harry sitting down near a suit of armor. "How were your lessons?" Harry jumped at her voice obviously being deep in thought. She smirked and sat next to him on the ground.
"They went okay, I guess." He shrugged, internally debating whether Remus has told Noel anything about his acquaintance with Black.
"Noel?"
"Yeah?"
"Uh— has your dad ever mentioned that he was friends with my dad?"
Noel huffed out a breath and set her eyes on Harry. "He has, when I was little he would tell me about Hogwarts and he mentioned James once or twice." Noel answered honestly.
"Was he friends with Black?"
Noel hummed thoughtfully, "Maybe, they were in the same year and house. I wouldn't see why they wouldn't be."
"The last hogsmeade trip I found out that Black is my godfather. He was my parents' best man at their wedding. That he was their secret-keeper." Harry told Noel who was listening intently. "And apparently now he's looking for me." Harry muttered
"That must be really hard to digest Harry." She told him. "I'm very sorry for what happened to your parents. I know people praise you for being the one to defeat Voldemort but they never are sympathetic towards you losing your mum and dad and I am truly sorry." Noel said gently.
Harry bowed his head, willing himself not to cry because no one had ever told him that before, no one had recognized his loss and it feels so good to have the loss of his parents recognized.
"Thank you," he sniffed slightly. He felt a pair of arms go around his shoulder and he let her hug him. "It's okay to be sad, Harry. You are allowed to be sad, you can mourn for them for however long you please."
His tears were falling freely now, slightly wetting her shirt but she didn't let go of him and he didn't want her to.
He smiled bashfully when they pulled apart he wiped his tears and stood up and offered his hand to her. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Good night Harry."
January turned to February and Harry still didn't have his Firebolt back. They were due to play against Ravenclaw the upcoming match and Wood was worried they wouldn't make it to the cup if he didn't get his broom back.
Noel was spending a lot of time with her dad and when she wasn't she was in the cave with Padfoot. She had really grown to love the dog but knew it wasn't a good idea to tell anyone about him.
Harry told her that the lessons with Lupin were going well but they were moving too slowly, Noel simply told him to trust the process.
The day of the quidditch match everyone stopped to see Harry's Firebolt pointing and looking at it in awe. Noel stood behind Harry and looked at the broom with an unimpressed look, "Ah, so is this the new broom everyone's been talking about?" She asked him, Harry turned his head to look at her.
"Yes it is! Bloody brilliant in'it?"
Noel scrunched her nose, "I suppose if you really care about this sort of stuff. How much is it anyway?"
Harry gestured for her to bend down, and whispered the price into her ear. Noel's jaw dropped and stared at the broom in front of her. She took a step back, "I should not be near that thing! You know how much I can buy with that price? A brand new uniform, shoes and school books. All new 4 times!" She exclaimed.
Harry laughed at her shock, "You need to come and watch the game so you can see why it's the best in the market."
Noel huffed, snatching a slice of bread from his plate. "My house is the one that's playing Harry. Can't really expect me to go for the opposing team."
"No I suppose not, but you can cheer for the winning team." He smiled cheekily.
"Sure you can manage that broom, Potter?" said a cold, drawling voice.
Draco Malfoy had arrived for a closer look, Crabbe and Goyle right behind him.
"Yeah, reckon so," said Harry casually.
"Got plenty of special features, hasn't it?" said Malfoy, eyes glittering maliciously. "Shame it doesn't come with a parachute — in case you get too near a Dementor."
Crabbe and Goyle sniggered.
"Pity you can't attach an extra arm to yours, Malfoy," said Harry. "Then it could catch the Snitch for you."
The table laughed and watched as Malfoy stalked away. Noel had left as well; she was headed towards the staff table no doubt to talk to Lupin.
As the game started Noel decided to sit with her dad. They kept teasing each other about their houses and who would win but Noel watched the way the Harry flew and understood the appeal of the Firebolt when she saw how fast he was flying.
Just as Harry was going to grab the snitch she saw that three clocked figures were in the pitch making Harry stop and pull his wand out. Remus and Noel watched as he cast the Patronus charm, making Remus smile widened when he did it successfully.
"I told him to have patience." Noel told her dad. Remus turned to her and ruffled her hair. Everyone watched as Harry caught the snitch, resulting in Gryffindor getting closer to the house cup.
"That was quite some Patronus," said a voice in Harry's ear.
Harry turned around to see Professor Lupin, who looked both shaken and pleased. Noel was standing next to him bouncing at the balls of her feet. "Great job Harry!"
"That would be because they — er — weren't Dementors," said Professor Lupin. "Come and see —"
He led Harry out of the crowd until they were able to see the edge of the field. "You gave Mr. Malfoy quite a fright," said Lupin. Noel laughed when she saw lying in a crumpled heap on the ground were Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Marcus Flint, the Slytherin team Captain, all struggling to remove themselves from long, black, hooded robes.
Ron, who had fought his way through to Harry's side, doubled up with laughter as they watched Malfoy fighting to extricate himself from the robe, Goyle's head still stuck inside it.
"Come on, Harry!" said George, fighting his way over. "Party! Gryffindor common room, now!"
Harry lost sight of Noel and Remus when the rest of the team came to get for the party.
Noel and Remus walked together silently, only his cane making noise when it hit the stone. "You and Harry seen like great friends," Remus said, breaking the silence.
"I guess so. We didn't meet until this year." Shrugged Noel.
"How come?"
Noel scoffed, "I'm shy and he had a lot going on. We never shared any classes until now."
"He asked me if you and his dad were friends. I think it'll be nice if you tell him some stories about James and Lily." Noel told her dad. She knew James and Lily was something hard to think about for him but Harry didn't know anything about his parents and her dad did. It felt wrong that he didn't share those memories with their son.
"I think that's a good idea Noel. I'll have to ask him what he wants to know." Remus said thoughtfully, knowing that he would have to face those thoughts sooner or later.
They parted ways, Noel heading to her tower and Remus to his office to finish grading papers.
He had recently done the lesson for werewolves and it went better than he thought. He told them about what it means to be afflicted, what happens before, during and after a full moon. How to identify a werewolf and finally told them about all the laws against werewolves. He told them about the poverty and the discrimination they have to face even when they look like regular people days that aren't the full moons.
Many students had their eyes, ears and mindsets open when hearing about the harsh reality. Some feeling pity and others feel strongly about their beliefs that werewolves are animals.
The essay he assigned was fairly easy just asking what the difference between werewolves and normal timber wolves. As well as asking what they can do to change the lives for werewolves.
He really enjoyed the essays he's read so far and was pleasantly surprised when many of them said that they would help werewolves instead of harming them further. He was glad he was the one to teach this lesson, he was able to educate them properly.
Noel had heard about Sirius Black in the Gryffindor tower the next morning when all the teachers were bustling around anxiously trying to find out how he kept getting in the castle.
Harry had told Noel what happened, later hearing it from Ron who had become a sort of celebrity. Apparently Black was in the Gryffindor tower hold a knife to Ron's neck when he had woken up. They say that he had gotten in because Neville wrote down the passwords of the portrait door.
Harry and Noel were at the entrance watching Ron bathe in the attention. "Hmm, I feel really bad for Neville." Noel told Harry as he led her to the Gryffindor table. They sat side by side watching as everyone was in awe of the story.
"I do as well, but you know..." He trailed off not wanting to sound mean.
Noel sighed, pulling out her book, "yeah I know."
The owls came in and dropped the post, Neville received a red envelope, already knowing what it was he ran outside of the great hall before it could explode
Harry was too busy feeling sorry for Neville to notice immediately that he had a letter too. Hedwig got his attention by nipping him sharply on the wrist.
"Ouch! Oh — thanks, Hedwig."
Noel gave Hedwig a few belly rubs and treats as Harry read the letter.
Dear Harry and Ron,
How about having tea with me this afternoon 'round six? I'll come collect you from the castle.
WAIT FOR ME IN THE ENTRANCE HALL; YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED OUT ON YOUR OWN.
Cheers,
Hagrid
Noel knew she would have to wait for Harry to tell her to find out. She continued to read her book and Ron and Harry theorized about Black. She was also thinking about how he keeps getting in but nothing made sense.
Saturday came meaning it was Hogsmeade weekend. Noel had gotten used to her and Harry spending the time together while everyone else was gone but when she went to their usual meeting spot he wasn't there. She waited for about 15 minutes before realizing that he wasn't coming.
Disappointed, Noel made her way to the library. There she saw Neville who was beant forward on an essay that he looked like he needed some help with. She approached him and tapped on his shoulder, "Need help?"
Neville nodded furiously and together they worked on the essay on vampires for DADA. "Thank you so much, I had asked Harry earlier if he could help me but he disappeared." Neville said as he packed up.
"No problem, I'm glad I can help. Anytime you need help you can always ask me Neville." Noel told him with a warm smile.
"I will! I have to get going now, see you!"
Noel busied herself with finding a new book that she wanted to read as well as looking for one that she could read with Harry. The first book they started they had finished a couple of weeks ago, she didn't have the chance to look for a new one until now. She decided that she'll introduce him to 'Little Women', one of her favorites to read.
A little while later she saw Harry with Ron and Hermione so she didn't approach him to ask what he had done that day.
Although annoyed that he hadn't let her know that he would be busy that day, Noel knew that he had his own life and his own friends. She understood that it wasn't his job for her happiness. Knowing that, she will wait for Harry to approach her first.