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Morning had come and Noel woke up with high spirits. As she made her way down to breakfast the hall was empty as it usually was on Sunday mornings. She grabbed a blueberry scone and some tea. She didn't stay long in the hall trying to get to the library early as she was in dire need for new reading material.
Madam Pince was a strange character in Noel's opinion. In all honesty the woman seemed to enjoy the silence that the library provided than the actual children in there as she had a tendency to scold anyone who talked over a dying whisper. Noel was quiet on her own so she had never been on the receiving end of the heated glare from the librarian but she had seen it before and it was truly vile.
Remus had sent Noel a letter of book of recommend-ations. He had been enjoying his job at the community library and sent Noel tons of book titles he had read so she could read them as well if he thought it was something she would enjoy. They had similar taste so almost everything that he had sent over, Noel had enjoyed most of them except for a few that she had had to abandon, for either being dreadfully boring or they were hard to get into.
Noel gently ran her fingers though the worn out spines and made her way to the Muggle Literature section. Noel enjoyed works by Jane Austin and Emily Brontë as well as Shakespeare. Her favorite book was 'Little Women'; it was one of the first books she had read to Harry.
When she spotted 'Julius Cesar' the book that was first written on the list of her dad's recommendations, Noel grabbed it in triumph and made her way towards the courtyard after checking out her book.
The weather was nice. Noel had always preferred the cold. It was easier to bundle up then feel like she was melting from the inside. She sat down under her usual willow tree; the branches provided some shade from the early morning sunlight.
Noel was halfway done with her book when she noticed an unusual shade blocking the light. Looking up, her face broke into a soft smile when she saw Harry and Hermione standing there.
"Hello Harry." Noel greeted him softly, moving to the side, as he approached her and sat down.
"What is it?" She asked when she saw the expression on Harry's face, when he didn't answer she turned to Hermione who was chewing on her lip anxiously.
"I met with Hagrid last night." Harry said. Noel nodded, encouraging him to elaborate.
"How did that go?"
"Dragons." Harry said plainly. Noel furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.
"Dragons?"
"The first task is dragons. Big, fiery, scaly dragons. They were huge Noel. How am I supposed to get past one of those." Harry said, distressed.
Noel stayed quiet for a few minutes trying to remember the rules of the tournament. She knew that the champions were allowed to use their wands only so Harry had to find a spell that would help him. A spell that he was capable of mastering easily.
"Do you have something to retrieve?"
"I'm not sure. Charlie said that they requested nesting mothers." Harry told her. Hermione had now joined them by sitting on the blanket.
"Okay so you would have to retrieve an egg." Noel said with a tone of obviousness.
"An egg?" Harry asked, surprised.
"Harry, have you learned to do the summoning charm?" Noel asked, ignoring his surprise. Harry looked down. "Not yet," he muttered.
"Harry, you could use your wand for anything that you need. What if you use the charm on something?"
"Like your broom!" Hermione imputed.
Noel nodded eagerly. "You know how to fly on one naturally, Harry. Just practice the charm for the time being and you can summon your broom the day of."
Harry nodded his head in agreement, looking a lot less scared at the idea. "Thank you. The both of you."
"We'll practice everyday after lessons. We'll find an empty classroom and practice until you nail it down," Hermione told him.
"Just give me a shout, Harry. I'll be happy to help." Noel told him, book marking her page and standing up.
The library was slightly fuller than it was when Noel had gone earlier in the morning. Sitting at the table trying to do some research she noticed that Viktor Krum the Dumstrang champion was sitting at a table a little far away.
"Oh no, he's back again, why can't he read on his stupid ship?" said Hermione irritably as Viktor Krum slouched in, cast a surly look over at the trio, and settled himself in a distant corner with a pile of books.
"Come on, we'll go back to study hall. . . his fan club'll be here in a moment, twittering away. . . ." And sure enough, as they left the library, a gang of girls tiptoed past them, one of them wearing a Bulgaria scarf tied around her waist.
Noel stifled her laugh and shook her head at the girl's antics. "They really like him, huh?" Noel asked the two who turned to look at her weirdly.
"I can see the appeal. I mean quidditch players? Hot." Noel shrugged nonchalantly.
Hermione rolled her eyes and walked briskly towards the Great Hall as Harry stood in place with a face of surprise.
Noel laughed at his expression. "C'mon Harry. Things to see and do." She said as she pushed him to continue walking.
"Are you going to tell Cedric about the dragons? If Karkroff and Madam Maxine were there I'm willing to bet their students already know." Noel told Harry as she watched Cedric with his friends at the Hufflepuff table.
Harry turned to look as well. "I'll tell him when he leaves. I don't want to be strangled by death glares at the moment."
Noel rolled her eyes at his dramatics, "Whatever you say Harry."
"Harry. Do you know how to dance?" Noel asked a few minutes later.
"Noel, how am I supposed to know how to dance?"
"You should add it to the list of things that you need to learn." Noel suggested.
"Oh yes, because learning to dance is so easy. I'll just sign up for the classes that Hogwarts offers." Harry replied sarcastically.
Noel smiled. "I can teach you! My dad taught me and the waltz is 3 beats. Not too hard." She said excitedly.
Harry ducked his head at the idea of dancing with Noel. An unfamiliar warth flowing through him. "A-alight." He cleared his throat at the hiccup.
Noel smiled brightly, leaning in to kiss his cheek as she stood up. "Great! It'll be great. I'll see you later."
Harry felt his face flush as she walked out. He felt eyes on him and turned to Hermione who was raising an eyebrow at him.
"What?" He asked, clearing his throat.
Hermione sighed, but shook her head as she laughed. "Nothing Harry."
After their morning class. Harry and Hermione had Herbology while Noel had Arithmancy. They met up in an abandoned classroom to help Harry learn the summoning charm.
Harry tried with all his might to make various objects fly across the room toward him. He was still having problems. The books and quills kept losing heart halfway across the room and dropping like stones to the floor.
"Concentrate, Harry, concentrate. . . ."
"What d'you think I'm trying to do?" said Harry angrily. "A great big dragon keeps popping up in my head for some reason. . . .
"Okay, try again. . . ."
Hermione left after a while so she could get to class and it was only Noel and Harry who had his spirits lifted now that he skipped Divination.
Noel watched from the windowsill as Harry let out a frustrated groan as the book he was trying to summon fell halfway to him.
"Let's try something else." Noel suggested.
Walking up to him she stood directly in front of him. She tilted to her head as she analyzed him. "Close your eyes." she told him. Harry opened his mouth to protest but she shushed him and repeated her request.
Noel put both of her hands on his shoulders. Harry tensed under he touch but slowly relaxed as the steady weight of her hands stayed there.
"I want you to empty your head." Noel whispered to him.
"How?"
"Whatever pops into your head, make it go blank."
As Harry emptied his head, he felt more relaxed and less tense. His arms hung at his side and his legs felt like jelly, the only way he wasn't floating away right now was because Noel was still holding onto him.
"You swing your arm too much when you cast the charm. You're too frustrated Harry. You need to relax, don't work yourself up okay?"
Harry nodded mutley and slowly opened his eyes back up again when Noel finally let go. She stood next to him as he lifted his hand and this time when he summoned the book it reached the end, placing itself gently in Harry's hand.
Harry laughed breathlessly as Noel praised him. "Great job!"
They continued practicing until it was finally dinner time. Harry felt 100 times better than he had when they first started.
The following morning Noel and Luna walked down to the stands alongside everyone else to watch the first task. Harry and she had worked to the brink of exhaustion the night before. She was confident that Harry would have success getting his broom but what she was worried about was the actual dragon itself.
Animals are unpredictable, they behave a certain way to feel safe and if they feel threatened they will strike back. If the coordinators requested mothers, those mother dragons will try to predict their egg with everything they have even if they don't know it's a fake. Noel was upset when she learned that they're using dragons for the tournament.
Using animals for entertainment purposes as the contestants are allowed to harm it should be considered animal abuse.
As they got closer to the stands they could hear the students talking and cheering. Luna linked their arms together so they wouldn't get lost in the crowd of growing students as they made it to the stadium.
Luna and Noel made their way towards the back of the stands so they weren't too close to the dragons. Noel recognized it to be a Swedish Short-Snout.
Cedric was the first champion to come out. From where Noel was standing she saw him emerging from the tent looking clammy and unlike himself. Noel winced and grimmanced every time the dragon blew fire towards him when he got to close. The crowd gasped collectively when his sleeve caught fire.
Finally after about 10 minutes Cedric transfigured a large rock into a dog which successfully distracted the dragon but as he got closer to the egg she saw him and burnt his face. A few more minutes of struggling he got the egg and ran towards the tent when the trainers had tied the dragon back up again.
2 minutes later a Welsh Green was put out. Noel felt her heart burst. She remembered when her grandfather showed her a picture of one when she was smaller. He had a friend that was a Dragonoligist and Lyall had become so infatuated with the dragon that he ended getting a tattoo for it.
Fleur was next and she enchanted the dragon so it could fall asleep but when it let out an exhale of smoke when it snores causing her skirt to light on fire. She quickly extinguished it and received her egg.
After Fleur was Krum who faced the Chinese Fireball. He had decided to use the Conjunctivitis Curse blinding the dragon so it was easier to reach the egg. Noel was saddened as the dragon let out screams of pain. She had collapsed when her vision was taken. Noel had to fight the urge to go over to the trainers to make sure she was okay. She would have to go after Harry's turn, who was the last contestant.
Noel watched anxiously when Harry walked into the stadium. He looked so much smaller than the Hungarian Horntails who had begun to defend herself the minute that it saw Harry. The crowd gasped as Harry tried to sneak his way over to the egg but ended up getting burnt.
Noel shook her head confused why Harry wasn't doing anything logical. They had practiced the Summoning Charm the previous day so why wasn't he summoning his Firebolt?
Finally, he moved behind a rock and lifted his wand. His sharp voice cut through the silence of distress. He had finally, finally summoned his broom who came zooing towards them. The crowd cheered when Harry mounted it and made a lap around the dragon. Noel covered her eyes scrunching her face in despair when Harry got too close to the dragon.
The dragon swung her tail at him and pulled at the chains that were keeping her in place. Harry flew up higher taunting the dragon until she reared back and spread her big black wings. Noel peered through her fingers and a second later Harry was zooming under the dragon to get the egg.
The crowd cheered and applauded as Bagman announced Harry's success. Noel stood on her tiptoes to catch a glimpse of Harry but the people below her were blocking the way. She saw the dragon keepers lure down the Horntail. Noel bit her lip and turned to Luna who was clapping next to her.
"I'm going to go talk to them. I need to know if she'll be alright." Noel told her. Talking about the Chinese Fireball who she could still hear faintly.
Luna nodded her head. "I'll see you for dinner okay? Be careful."
Noel maneuvered her way around the crowd and finally made it to the clearing where the dragons were being held. She looked around and spotted Charlie who she remembered meeting at the Burrow.
Anxiously Noel made her way towards him, she tapped his shoulder and stepped back when he whipped around to see.
He looked down at her confused with a mixture of surprise on his face. "Noel! How are you? What are you doing here?" Charlie asked, waving a hand around.
"I wanted to see if she was okay." Noel pointed with her chin to the group of trainers that were surrounding the injured dragon.
Charlie sighed, a deep, sad sigh that Noel took sympathy for.
"I don't know. We don't think the curse is reversible. She's an older one of ours so we don't have a lot of options." Charlie admitted sadly. "When Dumbledore owled me to bring some over I knew it was for the tournament but I didn't want any of them to get hurt."
"I wouldn't want them to get hurt either. Do you think you can keep her like that? She's a mother isn't she? You can't put her down. What about her babies?" Noel asked.
"We have other mothers that would take them in. It's a dragon, Noel. No matter how much I would like to keep her and try to help her adjust, it would be near impossible."
Noel nodded but she felt drawn towards the dragon. "Does she have a name? Or do you not name them?"
Charlie chuckled but turned to face where Noel had her fixed eyes upon. "Her name is Anala."
"'Fiery,' really?" Noel laughed.
"We thought it was fitting."
"Of course."
Charlie looked down at Noel and noticed her fidgety hands. "I'm sure we'll figure it out, Noel. Don't worry."
"Do you think I can get closer?" Noel said quietly, already making her way towards Anala.
"Noel, be careful! She's incredibly sensitive! Noel!" Charlie tried to stop her but Noel was already in front of the cage by the time he yelled for her again.
Noel put her hand out in front of her to smell. She had her eyes screwed close in discomfort. She huffed at Noel but didn't move to attack. Noel took that as a win and gently pet her. Not too sudden that it'll startle her but gently, letting Anala know she meant no harm.
Noel hadn't realized it had gotten quiet. The trainers had their wands up but made no movement to get Noel out in case it angered the already uncomfortable dragon.
Noel tilted her head and smiled gently as Anala laid her stiff head down. Like a puppy the dragon pushed her scaly nose to Noel's hand.
Noel felt a sensation she had never felt before course though her body. It was like the time she had gotten her wand 4 years ago. A deep and sensitive warmth swam through her veins. Her head felt light but she felt as steady as ever. Her hands felt warm and very gradually both her hands went up to the dragon's eyes.
Noel watched in awe as a golden mist wafted around the two. Anala's eyes relaxed and as she slowly opened them a beautiful deep shade of yellow and orange was staring at her.
Noel gasped and caressed the scales of the dragon who looked around the forest.
Noel removed her hands and looked down at them in confusion and a little bit of fright. Her head turned sharply when Charlie's hand landed on her shoulder. "C'mon Noel." Charlie said softly. Helping her up.
As they got close to the castle Noel broke the silence. "I've never done that before. Is that even possible? Did you see the mist?" Noel asked Charlie nervously, needing reassurance that she wasn't imagining things.
"We all saw. It was odd. Everything had gotten quieter and I felt so relaxed, almost entranced. The mist was coming out of your hands like water."
"What does this mean? I've never heard of this? What's this called?" Noel asked, distressed. "There are alchemists and elementalists and born legilimens, but people born with gold mist who heal?!" Noel said shrilly.
Charlie nodded his head sympathetically.
"I can take you to Dumbledore if you like," he suggested.
Noel shook her head frantically. "No, I need to go see if Harry is okay and I want to tell my dad before letting Dumbledore know."
"How long have you known Harry?" Charlie asked Noel as they walked closer to the castle doors.
"I met him last year on the train. He actually thought I was new." Noel smiled at the memory of Harry's look of embarrassment. At the time she had thought it was a little offensive but she couldn't blame him. Her dad was the new profesor that year, he could've thought that she had transferred with him.
"When you came over to the burrow you had only been friends for a few months?" Charlie asked mildly surprised.
"Yeah, when he asked me to come over I was really shocked and confused because we hadn't talked a lot during the summer and I had interpreted that our friendship was only school based." she shrugged.
"He talked about you an awful lot. I thought you were as close as he is with Ron and Hermione." Charlie admitted to her.
Noel looked at him doubtfully but said nothing as they were now in front of the castle.
"I have to get back but stay in touch alright?"
"Thanks Charlie." Noel said. Hugging him good-bye, going inside the castle who had the halls filled with buzzing excitement. She had realized that she hadn't told Harry congratulations yet so making her way to the Gryffindor common room she waited until someone from the house could call Harry out for her.
A 3rd year named Colin Creevey eagerly nodded his head at her request and a few minutes later walked out an exhausted looking Harry, who slightly stumbled out of the portrait.
"Noel!" Harry smiled immediately when he saw her. "Where've you been?"
"I went to go check if the dragons were okay."
"You checked up on the dragons?" Harry said with a tone of disbelief.
"Well yes. Krum had cursed one of them and I had to check if she was okay!" Noel explained.
She noticed his mood drop immediately and wracked her head around trying to understand why he was suddenly upset. "What's wrong?"
"You checked up on the dragons first. What about-" Harry cut himself off.
"What Harry?"
"I fought one, and you went to go check if it was okay before you saw me."
"I made sure you were in the tent before I left. I heard the scores and I saw Ron and Hermione making their way towards you. You and Ron have been fighting and I assumed that he would be apologizing so why would I put myself there when I knew I would be able to see you later?" Noel asked him. She told him calmly but she had repeated herself that she doesn't feel comfortable when Harry is with his friends.
Noel likes Harry and maybe as time passes she warms up to his best friends but as of now she can see the way they get annoyed with Harry when he's with her. She had accidentally overheard a conversation between the 3. Noel knows when to insert herself and when not to. A few years of teasing from the school children have taught Noel that she needs to remove herself before she gets hurt, again.
Noel feels uncomfortable or unwanted with Harry's friends, it might be because they don't like her or it might not have a reason but she had told Harry this multiple times and she doesn't quite understand why every time this conversation comes up he's upset at her.
"I've told you before that I like being with you, Harry. I don't see the need to be there when your friends, best friends are with you." Noel exasperated.
Harry didn't understand. She had told him this before, and he tried to understand but it was hard when one day she's fine when they all sit together for a meal but the next she's saying that she feels unwelcome.
"But I want you to be there." Harry replied. "I thought I've shown you that I like spending time with you and that time isn't limited to just us, it can be with other friends, it can be outside of school; for the holidays and Hogsmede weekend."
"How's your arm? Did Poppy heal your burn?" Noel asked as she noticed Harry's arm in a sling.
Harry's face showed a small flicker of annoyance at the change of subject but looked down at his arm and shrugged. "It feels fine, she put a paste on it, so I'm assuming the burn will heal alright."
"Can I try something?" Noel asked him apprehensively. She doesn't know how the healing works, maybe it only works on animals, maybe it only works on females or maybe it won't ever happen again and this was a one in a lifetime coincidence that has left her confused and spinning her head trying to figure out what was wrong with her.
Harry nodded his head and let Noel get closer. Noel took a deep breath and tried to concentrate on his arm and all the other abrasion he might have gained from the task. She avoided eye contact, his emerald green eyes pierced into hers and sometimes when she was with him Noel felt like she might drown.
Gently, Noel grabbed both his hands which were littered with cuts and bruises and held them in hers. She blushed lightly at the closeness.
She focused on his breathing, she could hear every inhale and exhale he took, she counted how long he held his breath and if she moved her fingers she would be able to locate his pulse point and feel his beating heart.
She wasn't scared this time around, when she felt her heart rate starting to pick up and the lightheaded feeling, she welcomed it with an innocent curiosity. She watched as the mist left her hands, it shaped into ropes of mist that wrapped themselves around Harry's hands and up his arms.
Noel looked up at Harry's gasp. His eyes were widened and his mouth agape but he wasn't looking down at the mist he was looking at her.
"Wow..." He whispered.
Noel let his hands go and stepped back, she pushed her hair back and sighed heavily. "It happened with Anala- the dragon that Krum cursed."
"Has it happened before that?" Harry asked.
Noel shook her head. "Now I know it's just not animals, or just females. We'll have to do some trial runs. See if this is a permanent thing. I need to owl my dad."
"Ron and I are going to the Owlery to send a letter to Sirius! You can come with us." Harry said, his face lighting up.
"Fine, yes let's go now."
"Okay stay here while I get Ron."