47 Monday, November 18th

Noelle had continued practicing nonverbal spells in her time off and felt she was doing fairly well at it. Several had come almost naturally to her, though she had no practical use for it yet.

Now, in charms class, they were learning the Muffling Charm, or Muffliato. The charm's purpose was to muffle a conversation to outside listeners who would try and eavesdrop.

"More people in school ought to be using this one." She thought back to Snape and Malfoy's conversation, not for the first time. "Not that it would do them a whole lot of good with me around."

Several things had stuck with her over the past couple of weeks. She still thought about Hermione's dilemma, and about Hagrid and Aragog, Azraeyn, and of course about Malfoy. But, as Hagrid had told her, worrying would do her no good, and she tried to block out the worry where she could. As for the things she could deal with, she found that she had not gotten any further there either.

Azraeyn and her were on good terms and speaking and sharing letters once more, but since he had admitted his feelings, nothing more had progressed. Neither of them had spoken on where they wished things to go, and they hadn't been alone since that night to have the chance. Still, despite wishing for more, Noelle also felt comfortable in their companionship, glad for the chance to get to know him better before jumping right in to anything.

As for Harry Potter and his group, Noelle felt strangely warmer towards them. After all, she'd never really hated them, only the fanbase that surrounded them. But, as she looked across the room at Hermione, she only felt a kinship to the girl. They both were attending the same school, same classes, and dealing with the same relationship dramas that came along with teenagehood. The only things separating the two was the popularity, and Noelle herself. And, though she didn't like to think about it, Noelle was popular and well-known for her own reasons, being a daughter to Bellatrix, and due to her recent run-ins with plants and Malfoy.

"Now!" Professor Flitwick clapped his hands together, startling Noelle from her concentration. "I would like each of you to find a group, four to each, and then split off in two and two in order to practice this charm. Take turns trying to listen in to one pairing while the others practice muffling. Good luck!"

Before she could change her mind, Noelle strode forwards, stopping in front of Hermione. "Hey."

Hermione looked up and quirked a brow. "If it isn't my potions partner. I wasn't sure if we would ever be on speaking terms." She smiled slightly and Noelle felt her cheeks warm with embarrassment.

"Would you like to partner up?"

Her surprise now doubled, Hermione nodded dumbly, a look Noelle wasn't used to seeing on the girl. "Sure."

"I could ask my friends to be our other pair." She offered, pointing to where Brooke and Kade were staring at her with wide eyes.

Hermione agreed and Noelle went to ask them. They tried to question her, equally surprised that she had taken the initiative to speak with Hermione, but she brushed them off, saying she would explain later.

The four went into an unoccupied corner of the room and split off, Kade and Brooke ready to try the charm first. They tried several times unsuccessfully, casting the spell and then talking idly amongst themselves. Then, Brooke tried for her second attempt and suddenly her and Kade's talk about the weather became obscured. Noelle clapped and the two jumped, not having noticed themselves that the spell had worked. Kade took a bow as though he had done it, and Noelle rolled her eyes, waving for Brooke to end the spell.

"Our turn." Noelle turned to Hermione. "Would you like to try first?"

She nodded and waved her wand. "Muffliato."

Noelle looked towards Kade and Brooke and tested it out. "Did it work?"

She knew the answer even before they gave her a thumbs up. She could hear it herself, a clouded echo of her own words at the edge of where she and Hermione stood. Hermione ended the spell and motioned for Noelle to try. Before she began, she looked to Kade. "You try it too."

Turning back to her partner, she also found she had no trouble with the charm. "Muffliato." Again, the cloud snapped into place around them. "Nice!" She exclaimed excitedly.

Hermione smiled. "Well done."

"Thanks." Noelle tucked her hair back behind one ear. "I'm sorry I'm not the most talkative of lab partners."

Next to them, they heard Kade distinctly, asking, "did it work?" loudly.

Noelle shook her head at him as Hermione responded. "It's alright. I just assumed you were like me and took your studies seriously."

"I do!" Noelle defended. "It's just… I don't know, you always seemed so… Out of my league?" She didn't say aloud that she didn't agree with said "leagues," nor that she didn't care to be in one, yet she was surprised when Hermione laughed.

"Out of your league?" She stopped and looked at where Harry was, across the room. "What? Because of him? The Chosen One and all that?" She shook her head. "Harry has a destiny sure, and he's done some good here, as have we all, but I wouldn't say I'm out of anyone's 'league.' I'm here to learn, same as you, even if we have to save the world along the way." She said it as a joke, meant to make Noelle more comfortable, but she knew Hermione's words had some truth to them as well.

"So maybe from here on out, we could be… friends?" Noelle tried out the word and found it didn't taste sour in her mouth any longer when applied to the girl.

"I have been told that I need more time with social interaction and less with books." Hermione considered. "Though, I do find books to be rather good company." She argued with the notion. Then she smiled. "I think I'd like that."

Noelle realized then that the spell had fallen at some point during their conversation, and her other friends were looking on in amazement. "Oh would you two cut it out?" She grinned.