—— ϟ ——
"What is your greatest desire?" Theo asked her.
"I want peace. I don't want to go in waves of being incredibly happy or depressingly sad anymore."
"There could be no peace for people like you Noel. Only misery or greatest happiness."
Noel looked down, unable to think of anything to say. "Are those the only two that I allow myself?"
"It's the only two you're willing to experience. It's what happens when you willingly surrender yourself to someone who puts your love and their responsibilities on a pedestal."
"Sometimes love isn't enough to stay."
"There are people that sacrifice their lover for the world and people who sacrifice the world for their lover."
"He was destined to be the hero, no matter if he fell in love or not."
"You've read Shakespeare Noel, the tragic hero always ends in—"
"Tragedy, yeah."
"Are you guys done with your very melodramatic therapy session?" Remus asked, raising an eyebrow as he leaned against the doorframe.
"I guess." Noel sighed heavily, "Dad, do you have any wisdom to bestow upon us?"
"We are selfish creatures, cariad, we will always crave what makes us whole. Grief and despair is inevitable, it's what we do with it that makes all the difference."
"If we're selfish by nature, then why is it frowned upon to act on selfishness? Why do we choose to be selfless and give ourselves to one another?"
"Because there are three things we want Noel; power, money and love."
Noel frowned and looked up at him, "will you ever tell me your tragic love story?"
"One day, now c'mon Mrs Weasley invited us to go over for Harry's birthday."
Noel lolled her head to the side but followed him out nonetheless. The summer weather was lovely, a stark contrast between the previous summer when it was dreary and cloudy. Nowadays, the only thing Noel really looked forward to was finally being able to wear whatever clothes she wanted.
Arriving at the Burrow where they would be spending the day, they joined the two families at the breakfast table.
The three greeted them all with good morning's. Noel had excitedly greeted Charlie Weasley who was home from Romania with a hug.
Madame Delacour had gushed over her outfit. Once again making Noel blush red.
"Oh, no, Maman, Noel iz vegetarian, she doez not eet meat." Fleur said, when she saw her mum passing Noel the bacon. Noel sent her an appreciative smile and grabbed some toast and fruit. There seemed to be a massive pile of presents on the table, everyone adding their own when they walked past it.
When Harry and Ron had walked down, everyone had been enjoying some tea while they waited for him. "Arthur told me to wish you a happy seventeenth, Harry," said Mrs. Weasley, beaming at him. "He had to leave early for work, but he'll be back for dinner. That's our present on top."
Harry sat down, took the square parcel she had indicated, and unwrapped it. Inside was a watch very like the one Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had given Ron for his seventeenth; it was gold, with stars circling around the face instead of hands.
"It's traditional to give a wizard a watch when he comes of age," said Mrs. Weasley, watching him anxiously from beside the cooker. "I'm afraid that one isn't new like Ron's, it was actually my brother Fabian's and he wasn't terribly careful with his possessions, it's a bit dented on the back, but —"
The rest of her speech was lost; Harry had got up and hugged her. He tried to put a lot of unsaid things into the hug and perhaps she understood them, because she patted his cheek clumsily when he released her, then waved her wand in a slightly random way, causing half a pack of bacon to flop out of the frying pan onto the floor.
"Happy birthday, Harry!" said Hermione, hurrying into the kitchen and adding her own present to the top of the pile. "It's not much, but I hope you like it. What did you get him?" she added to Ron, who seemed not to hear her.
"Come on, then, open Hermione's!" said Ron. She had bought him a new Sneakoscope. The other packages contained an enchanted razor from Bill and Fleur ("Ah yes, zis will give you ze smoothest shave you will ever 'ave," Monsieur Delacour assured him, "but you must tell it clearly what you want... ozzerwise you might find you 'ave a leetle less hair zan you would like..."), chocolates from the Delacours, and an enormous box of the latest Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes merchandise from Fred and George.
The house was getting a bit stuffy so Noel slipped out into the garden. She could hear the chickens out in their coop where they were being held for the time being. The stream trickled softly, splashing some of the rocks that were on the bank. She leaned against the wall of the house, making sure not to get herself dirty and took some deep breaths of the summer air.
She knew he was there even before he said anything.
"What are you doing out here?"
"It was really crowded in there. I was getting overwhelmed."
He hummed, walking over towards her.
"Happy birthday, Harry. Do you feel any different?"
"Yes actually. Now that I don't have the Trace anymore I can get things done much sooner."
"I'm sorry I didn't get you anything."
"You didn't have to." He said quickly. She ignored him.
"Nothing seemed right. I— I didn't want to get you anything too big or useless."
He gazed over at her. He didn't understand how someone could be so ethereal. She was quite literally a magical being, it seemed like everything was made to make her glow.
His heart began to beat quickly when she turned to look at him. The dress she was wearing perfectly matched her blue and green eyes. It was those eyes that captivated him when they first met and the same eyes that he dreams of and longs for.
"I thought maybe I'd give you something to remember me by, you know, in case I don't know, you stumble upon some pretty witch or something."
"There won't be any chances of me meeting anyone."
Noel huffed out a laugh, she lolled her head to the side and looked over at him. "You'll try to be safe won't you?"
"I'll try."
Noel nodded her and moved her hair to the side, she unclasped the locket, leaving just the hummingbird pendant. "Here, maybe this can be your little reminder of what's waiting for you." She said when she placed it in his hand.
"Thank you." He held the locket tightly in his fist. Noel tucked some hair behind his ear, her hand lingering on his cheek. Without thinking of the consequences, or the sensitivity that her heart was in, Noel kissed him.
She kissed him as if she had never kissed him before, fear and pain mixed with love and longing. He was kissing her back feverishly, this was all he had ever wanted.
Noel let go first, taking a step back, the breeze moving with her was like cold water being drenched on him, "Happy birthday." She said once more, turning her back and walking back into the house.
As Harry's birthday dinner would have stretched the Burrow's kitchen to breaking point even before the arrival of Charlie, Remus, Noel, Theo, and Hagrid, several tables were placed end to end in the garden. Fred and George bewitched a number of purple lanterns, all emblazoned with a large number 17, to hang in midair over the guests.
Hermione made purple and gold streamers erupt from the end of her wand and drape themselves artistically over the trees and bushes. "Nice," said Ron, as with one final flourish of her wand, Hermione turned the leaves on the crabapple tree to gold. "You've really got an eye for that sort of thing."
"Thank you, Ron!" said Hermione, looking both pleased and a little confused. Harry turned away, smiling to himself.
"Out of the way, out of the way!" sang Mrs. Weasley, coming through the gate with what appeared to be a giant, beach-ball-sized Snitch floating in front of her. Seconds later Harry realized that it was his birthday cake, which Mrs. Weasley was suspending with her wand, rather than risk carrying it over the uneven ground. When the cake had finally landed in the middle of the table, Harry said, "That looks amazing, Mrs. Weasley."
"Oh, it's nothing, dear," she said fondly.
"How's the miniature Horntail holding up?" Charlie asked Noel conversationally.
"He's good. I named him Mars. I've been meaning to ask you if the ones that were given in the tournament are charmed to be small? Is there a spell that makes him big again?"
"They are, I could write it down for you, it's a bit complicated with the wand movement."
"Oh, no, don't worry about it!" She waved him off, "I was just curious. How is Anala?" Noel asked, referring to the dragon she had healed.
"She's very well. I know we all sort of freaked out on you when you healed her but we all send our sincerest gratitude."
Noel smiled bashfully, "Please, it was...it was truly magical. I still can't wrap my head around it myself."
"Bill told me what you did for him and what you did for our dad, even George. Have you thought about, I don't know, telling anyone or using it for something?"
"I have, I just— Charlie, I don't want to be used. Me healing animals and people is really draining. I do it because it's for the people I care for. I sometimes imagine people demanding me to heal them and what if I can't? What if I just can't do it anymore? It sounds exhausting.
If I ever end up doing something with it, it would be something that I'm passionate about. I've been actually thinking about working with werewolves. I— I've seen my dad struggle, he hates the way he looks and if I can help anyone who is like him, anyone who is willing to show their flaws to me then I would be honored to help.
I want to do something, having this power, ability, would be useless if I didn't but I want to do it for the right reasons."
Charlie looked at her like a proud older brother who just witnessed their sibling walk for the first time. "That sounds really, really great Noel."
"Thank you."
Charlie looked down at his watch, "I wish my dad would hurry up and get here. Mum's getting edgy."
Noel turned her head over to look at Mrs Weasley who was trying to keep a conversation with Madame Delacour but kept looking over at the fence.
"I think we'd better start without Arthur," she called to the gar- den at large after a moment or two. "He must have been held up at — oh!"
They all saw it at the same time: a streak of light that came fly- ing across the yard and onto the table, where it resolved itself into a bright silver weasel, which stood on its hind legs and spoke with Mr. Weasley's voice.
"Minister of Magic coming with me."
The Patronus dissolved into thin air, leaving Fleur's family peering in astonishment at the place where it had vanished.
Noel and Theo looked over towards their dad who was already standing up. "We shouldn't be here," said Remus at once. "Harry — I'm sorry — I'll explain another time —" He grabbed Noel's wrist, while Theo followed; they reached the fence, climbed over it, and vanished from sight. Mrs. Weasley looked bewildered.
Arriving at their vine-covered home, Noel looked at her dad anxiously, watching as he paced up and down. "Dad, it's okay—"
"We're being watched." He said, staring out the window.
"What?" Noel asked, looking startled.
"The Ministry is probably keeping tabs on us now, I'm sorry I pulled you out of there, but I didn't want to risk anything."
Noel didn't understand, she understood why he thought the Ministry was watching them but it was so abrupt that she couldn't wrap her logical thinking around it. "We're actually fucked aren't we?"
"I'm afraid so." Remus sighed heavily, throwing himself on the couch.
"We're going to be okay, won't we?"
Remus looked up at her, she was standing in front of him, looking at him like she always did. Like he knew the answers to everything that she could ever ask, she clung onto everything he had ever said to her and it's a terrifying thing as a parent, because he didn't know. He didn't know anything.
"We'll be fine, Jellybean." He reassured. Noel physically relaxed and sent him an easygoing smile, she sat next to him, leaning her head on his shoulder. "Okay, Dad."