49 Wednesday, December 11th

After a long day of studies, Noelle threw her books down on her bed and set about changing into more comfortable clothing, excited for her dungeons and dragon's meet later that afternoon. The day had been subpar before that, although they had learned about a Blemish Blitzer in potions class, which was said to help with acne. Not that Noelle had any current issues with her skin care, she thought gratefully.

She finished clipping her hair back and admired the result in the mirror, gathering together her character sheets. Now ready, she turned in time to see Thoth fly into the room and land on the edge of her bed, dropping a white envelope on the comforter.

"What's this?" Noelle rubbed the owl's head, sitting beside him and turning it over. There was Professor Slughorn's seal in blue wax, which told her that this was a slug club invite of some sort.

Opening it, she pulled free a blue sheet of paper with silver filigree around the border. As she'd suspected, it was an invite to Slughorn's Christmas party the following week on the 20th. It also said she was allowed a guest.

She looked at Thoth, flashing him the letter. "What do you think? You and me?"

Thoth tilted his head and hooted curiously.

"No?" Noelle shrugged. "Guess I'll find someone else then." She stood and pocketed the letter. On her way out of the dorm, she brainstormed who that someone else would be.

"Brooke would be good for backup, especially since I'm not the most social with strangers… Kade would be fun but he'd likely run off and flirt rather than stick with me…"

"Hey, Noelle!" She heard her name called and turned around. Azraeyn ran to catch up to her in the corridor. He heaved in air as he came to a stop at her side.

Noelle smirked and rolled her eyes. "I would have waited for you to catch up. You didn't need to run."

He stretched and grinned. "I would run anywhere, no matter how far, if it meant I got to be with you."

Noelle's eyes widened and she looked away to hide her blush, beginning to walk once more. That had been the closest thing he'd said romantically since he'd admitted to returning her feelings. "So, what did you need?"

With his hands behind his head he walked alongside her, staring ahead. "Nothing. Just wanted to walk with you to dnd."

Feeling the edge of the letter in her pocket jab into her thigh she looked up at Azraeyn shyly. "Well, since you're here… Can I ask you something?" He looked at her, gauging the seriousness of the matter. He nodded after a moment and she went on. "Slughorn is having a Christmas party next week, to which I've been invited…" He smiled and said nothing. "And, I was wondering… Would you want to go with me?"

He thought for a long time, and Noelle was starting to worry that his answer was "no" or that he hadn't heard her. Then, "yeah, I'd like that."

Noelle felt a weight drop from her stomach and sighed in relief. Then, her relief turning into annoyance, she lightly punched his arm. "What took you so long to answer? Make a girl worry, why don't you?"

He rubbed his arm, looking surprised. "Ow! I was just thinking is all. Takes me a minute sometimes. I like to weigh the pros and cons before making an important decision."

She folded her arms. "Well, judging by how long it took you to decide, the pros must not have outweighed by very much." She pouted.

He took her hand and swung her around to face him, catching her off-guard. "Of course they outweigh the cons." He looked up and beyond her, pretending to tick off points. "Cons: spending an evening with strangers, people I potentially don't like, and having the make dreaded 'small talk.' Pros: I get to spend the evening with Noelle."

Noelle was sure her face would catch fire now. "R-right. Well, you made the right decision. The party is the 20th at 8pm."

"I'm looking forwards to it." Azraeyn smiled and together they walked to meet the others.

Whether he made the action consciously or not, Noelle noticed that, for the rest of their walk, he held tight to her hand.