10 Saturday
Noelle yawned, reading through her books for class. Students around her chattered in the courtyard, making plans to go to Hogsmeade. It was hard to believe they'd been back at Hogwarts already a week.
Brooke sat next to her, drawing, and Paul next to her. Kade was nowhere to be seen as of yet. Noelle just hoped there wasn't some surprise Dungeons and Dragons session she was missing. She sat up at the thought, anxious.
"Kade was supposed to meet us here wasn't he?"
Brooke looked up from her notebook. "He'll be here. You know him, he's usually just a little slow getting places." She looked back down at her work, a chibi girl riding a broom.
"That's looking really good by the way." Brooke smiled back at her.
Just then, Kade came around the corner, wearing his casual clothes which were, as usual, very nice. He had a button down shirt on and a nice pair of jeans, with his hair slicked up in front. "Hey guys."
Paul sat up straight and made a place for him to sit down. "Where have you been?"
"Well." Kade looked at them each in turn. "There was gossip in the common room so I was listening in. I guess Harry Potter has been seeing Dumbledore a lot this week. People are debating if he's in trouble and serving his time out there, or if he's getting private lessons of some sort."
Noelle felt a twinge of jealousy. "I would be surprised if he were in trouble with Dumbledore. He loves that kid. It's more likely the latter, or something else entirely."
Kade nodded. "Anyways, on another note," He turned to face Noelle. "Azraeyn is having another session tomorrow night after the trip to Hogsmeade. You want in?"
"Sure!" She jumped on the opportunity eagerly and the others looked at her curiously. She blushed. "I had a lot of fun the last time." She looked at Brooke and Paul. "You two should come sometime."
Paul shrugged. "Maybe."
Brooke went back to drawing. "I don't know if it's really my thing."
Kade spoke up again. "Good luck with that, I've been trying to get them to join for two years."
"Still," Noelle concluded, "I'm excited."
Sunday
It was time for everyone to go to Hogsmeade. Noelle was getting flashbacks to their first trip and how they'd had to practically hold the teachers' hands as they were shown around. After that it became more and more casual and kids could go whenever they wanted on the weekends. Now, once again, teachers escorted the students, glancing around as if they expected trouble.
Noelle glanced around. The once prominent wizard's town now looked bleak and dreary. Zonko's joke shop was all boarded up and the Shrieking Shack looked even more downtrodden than normal. Noelle frowned. What was everything coming to?
Still, they turned the corner and the student's brightened. Honeydukes at least was still open, bright lights pouring out the windows, illuminating the sweets there. Everyone quickened their step. Noelle just wanted to get her hands on some butterbeer.
For a few hours, everyone ate and drank and forgot their worries before heading back to the school. Many of them spent their allowance to buy more snacks to bring back to their dormitories. That was another thing Noelle liked about Hogwarts, there was never a shortage of good food.
Noelle sat amidst the group in a tavern. Beastmen and humanoids of all shapes and sizes sat around them at separate tables, drinking tankards of ale. Noelle took it all in, again impressed by Azraeyn's ability to control the illusion to such a magnitude.
She felt herself drawn towards him. Maybe it was his power, maybe it was his good-looking half-elf character. Either way she was attracted. And judging by the way things had been going downhill between herself and Robert, she could see herself instead going another route. She and Robert had already talked once about the possibility of seeing other people and making sure of what they wanted before committing fully to everything a long-distance relationship entailed. Under the table, she moved her boots closer to Azraeyn, inwardly hoping that their closeness might spark something between the two of them.
He moved at the same time she did and their feet touched. Quickly Noelle retracted her boots and blushed as he looked surprised and then laughed. "You playing footsie with me Noelle?"
She shook her head rapidly. "No of course not! Don't flatter yourself!" The others looked at the two of them with smirks but shortly returned to their drinks and idle chatter.
In reality, they all sat in the courtyard after having returned from Hogsmeade. Most students had returned to their dorms to enjoy their spoils from the day, leaving them the courtyard to themselves.
Kade, a half-vampire, raised his glass. "To another victory!"
Faith, the catfolk pulled a knife. "I wouldn't be so sure."
Everyone turned to the door where she looked. Sure enough, the thieves they'd taken out earlier walked into the tavern, looking beat up but ready for a fight.
"They just don't know when to quit…" Noelle stood, pulling her bow from her back and kicking over their table as the thieves noticed them and drew their own weapons.
Using the table as a shield, she would notch an arrow and then pop up long enough to shoot. She was a surprisingly good shot, and soon the enemy looked like walking pincushions.
Faith ran at them and slashed rapidly with her knives, Yori smashed anyone who came within range, Kade was working on casting a flame spell which lit up the room, and Azraeyn was parrying with his sword. Altogether they swiftly took out the enemy.
Noelle put her bow back across her shoulders and half-listened as the bartender both thanked and berated Kade, for saving his bar and destroying it respectively. She went and looked down at the thieves and tried not to fidget when Azraeyn came to stand next to her.
"You ready?"
She looked up. "For what?" She felt her temperature rising again.
"To go back to the real world again."
She wanted to say no, that she much preferred this world to the one where things got darker and darker every day. If it was like it had been before then perhaps, she might be ready, but it wasn't.
He looked at her with a raised eyebrow and she sighed. "Ready."