34 Sunday

It felt weird to not be sitting with her friends at Hogsmeade. But, her Slytherin housemates and herself had agreed to meet and celebrate those who had successfully apparated, and encourage those who hadn't to keep trying. Noelle had told her friends that they were just having a house meeting. They probably would assume it had something to do with the Quidditch game coming up.

They were all trying to keep their voices down, watching the teachers at their table nearby. Sean patted her shoulder on his way to his seat and gave her a grin. He'd made it clear he was impressed on how quickly she'd picked up the skill.

Noelle knew her friends were likely finalizing Halloween plans since they only had a week left. Halloween itself would be the Tuesday after next. She planned to get her part to contribute on their last trip to Hogsmeade before the party itself.

Everyone was chit chatting amongst themselves and Noelle had honestly tuned many of them out until Margaret spoke up, eying Sean with a sly smile. "So what will our next practice be for?"

"Next practice?" Noelle raised an eyebrow.

Sean kept the smirk on his face. "Well obviously those who didn't finish the last lesson will continue there, but." He paused for dramatic effect, looking at each of them in turn. "I thought we might begin practicing more of our spells by dueling."

Noelle couldn't stop her jaw from dropping, remembering at the last second to keep her voice low. "Dueling? On school grounds? You'll get expelled for sure without a teacher's permission!" She hissed.

Sean narrowed his eyes at her. "No one is required to come who doesn't want to, however, if we get found out due to a rat, I'm not sure what will happen to whoever was responsible." He threatened and Noelle didn't need to read his mind to tell he meant it. It was amazing, his change so quickly from her friendly housemate to this intimidating snake. "Besides, we all have heard the rumors that Harry Potter meets up with Dumbledore from time to time. You think they're just having a lovely chat over some tea and crumpets? Because I think Harry is getting private lessons. And if he should be allowed to get prepared for some upcoming battle, so should we."

As usual Noelle was torn. While she still thought it wrong to go behind the professors' backs, Sean had a point about being prepared. She also liked the idea of keeping ahead or at least on the same level of training as Potter.

He seemed to be waiting for a response, but when she didn't give him one, he leaned back in his chair, looking calm once more. "As I said, everyone's free to decide what they want to do. We'll practice in the same place as last time." He looked at her once more, pointedly. "She'd better not rat us out. Can't have anyone with morality getting in the way."

Noelle was trudging back to the train stop, her feet sinking into the snow as she walked. Sean's last thoughts were rattling around in her own mind. Would he actually hurt her if he thought she'd been the reason for something going awry?

Either way, she'd have to decide what she was doing. Whether she'd join her housemates again or studiously ignore the fact anything was going on against school rules.

Someone grabbed hold of her elbow and she whipped around, wand drawn. Azraeyn quickly released her and looked at her in concern. "You alright? A little edgy today?"

Noelle blushed and put her wand away, walking briskly once more, both to distract herself and to keep warm. "Sorry, after what happened here with Katie I suppose I am." It was half truth.

He kept up with her pace. "Sorry again, didn't mean to startle you. I just wanted to tell you I'll definitely be coming to Kade's party." He smiled at her, clearly hoping for a good reaction, his dark brown eyes warming her from inside.

She slowly let a smile of her own creep onto her face. "Great, I look forwards to seeing you there then."