Chapter Two
Noemie stood in front of the mirror in one of the Gryffindor bathrooms. She tilted her head to the side, eyes tracking the new injuries on her face. She was allowed to heal anything that could be seen, which meant Noemie had become adept at healing charms. She could erase simple bruises and heal small lacerations, and even fix a broken nose. Hers had been broken five or six times, she couldn't really remember. Once was from Quidditch, the rest from her parents.

There was a small cut on her forehead, but cuts to the face tended to bleed profusely. The red slap mark was still present, along with a bruise blossoming on her chin. Luckily her nose wasn't broken this time. It was slightly crooked because of how many times it had been broken, which she didn't love, but she knew it didn't matter much what she thought of her own appearance.

Noemie carefully held her wand to the cut on her face, whispering a spell. She watched as her skin scarred and then the scar faded to next to nothing. Next she touched her wand to the handprint, and then to her chin. She cleared a bruise on her forearm as well, but knew that was the extent of what she could do. Under most of clothes, her skin was like a painting, varying shades of blue, purple, green, and yellow. Her back was no different, except for the cuts. She wasn't sure what her father hoped to achieve with the violence, or what it did for him. She could never fully understand.

It was the early hours of the morning, and Noemie had only just been released from her father's quarters. She was tired and wanted to sleep, but knew it was too risky to just go to bed with her injuries clearly visible. Alice would frequently wake her up to make sure she got breakfast, and there had been too many close calls when they were younger.

Once the injuries were gone and Noemie was in pajamas, she finally went to her own dormitory. She laid down in her four-poster bed, pulling the deep red duvet up to her chin, closing her eyes and letting out a breath. It was over. She was safe again, until the following Friday when her father summoned her again. It was only once a week that he called her, which meant he had pent up rage inside him that he needed to release. But he, like Noemie, knew it was risky to call her multiple times per week. It increased the risk that someone caught her out of bed after hours.

In the silence of the early morning, Noemie felt hot tears start to fall down her cheeks. She'd learned not to cry in front of her father, because it made things worse. In a sense, she should be used to the pain, but nothing ever really made it better.

She cried quietly until she fell into an uneasy sleep.

Only a few hours later, Alice shook her shoulder gently. Noemie groaned, rubbing her face tiredly. "It's too early," she mumbled.

"It's seven," Alice said cheerfully. "I let you sleep in for a whole thirty minutes."

"Alice…"

"Come on, Love, it's time for breakfast," Alice said, pulling open the curtains on her bed. "Wake up!"

Noemie left her eyes closed for about ten seconds before she sat up in bed, her light brown hair tumbling over her shoulder. "We've had six years of eating breakfast together," she told Alice. "Don't you think you could eat alone just this once?"

Alice rolled her eyes. "I'm not eating alone. I'm eating with you and Frank."

"Right, because I love eating alone with you and your boyfriend," Noemie said, shaking her head as she swung her legs out of bed.

Alice laughed, blushing. "He's not my boyfriend."

"Yet," Noemie said.

"Yet," Alice agreed. "If he doesn't ask me soon…"

Noemie smiled at her friend. "He will, I'm sure of it. You two are smitten."

Alice grinned and said, "Hurry up, you, we're supposed to meet him in the common room in five minutes."

Noemie had mastered changing in her dormitory. All she had to do to protect her secret was pull the curtains of her bed closed, change quickly and quietly, and emerge a moment later in a fresh outfit.

She stepped off her bed, smoothing her skirt as Alice sprayed perfume on her wrists. Noemie quickly brushed her teeth and hair and then said, "Alright, I'm ready."

Alice looped her arm through Noemie's and they walked down the stairs together. Noemie was always tense on Fridays, but on Saturdays, she felt like she could return to the person she was meant to be. Happy, cheerful, and the second-best chaser at Hogwarts (according to herself and James Potter).

Frank was waiting for them on the sofa. "Morning," he said, hopping up when he heard their laughter approaching.

"Good morning," Alice said sweetly, smiling at Frank.

Noemie watched as Frank's cheeks tinged pink, and a smile automatically appeared on his lips. "Breakfast and then studying?" he asked.

"Breakfast and then studying for you two," Noemie said. "I, on the other hand, need to do some pre-warm-up warm-ups to do."

"You quidditch players," Alice said, shaking her head. "Not even Potter is practicing this early."

Noemie just laughed and led them out of the common room and down towards the Great Hall. Noemie was a relatively private person and kept her friendships to a minimum. She was friendly with most people, but if too many people got too close, it would be harder to hide. Frank and Alice were two of her three exceptions, with James being the third. They were friends, even if Noemie kept them at a slight distance.

On a Saturday morning, the Great Hall was practically empty. Only a few early risers were present, eating quietly on their own. The large hall was not prepared for the boisterous laughter of Frank, or the giddy ramblings of Alice.

Noemie was content to sit with them and eat toast, but the whole time she thought only about the freedom flying would bring her. She felt the most peaceful up in the air, and playing quidditch was just another enjoyable way to be there. She could distinctly remember when she'd tried out for the team as a second year. She'd been even shorter than James at the time, and no one had really expected either of them to make the team. But they were good, better than some of the older students who tried out. She remembered James coming up to her, speaking directly to her for what was maybe the first time in their entire schooling. You're seriously good. Why don't I know you? is what he'd said, an impressed look on his face. Noemie had blushed and shrugged.

That had been the start of their friendship. She'd never take the place of Sirius, Remus, or Peter, but she sometimes thought James viewed her as a sort of sister, and she thought of him as a sort of brother. A teammate, someone who actually knew what she did for him and the team and appreciated it. She kept him at a distance too, of course, but with his charming smile and easy kindness, it was easy to be disarmed from time to time.

"I think she's lost her hearing," Alice said, looking at Frank with mock concern. "Noemie? Nooeeemmie?"

She blinked and looked at her friend. "Sorry, what?"

Alice chuckled. "Lost in thought again?"

"When is she not?" Frank asked, smiling kindly but also gazing at her with real concern.

"If you must know, I'm thinking about getting on my broom," she said, taking a bite of toast and trying to project the air of utter relaxation.

"There it is," Alice said. "Sorry we're keeping you from it, I just know you need nutrition to be a good quidditch player, that's all."

"And I'm always grateful to you for waking me up and dragging me down to breakfast," Noemie said teasingly, bumping her shoulder against Alice's gently.

Her friends laughed, and resumed their chatting. Noemie was careful to actually participate, not wanting to arouse any more suspicion about herself. Once they'd all gotten their fill, Alice and Frank went off to the library together, and Noemie shook her head a bit and smiled after them as she noticed their fingers touching as they climbed the stairs. She wasn't sure why they hadn't just bitten the bullet and started officially dating yet, because they'd basically been a couple for the last two years. But all in good time, apparently.

Noemie did go outside and fly for a while that morning, but knew she would need to get a start on an essay for her father's class that, if she didn't turn in, would result in a more severe punishment than she normally faced. So she climbed back to the Gryffindor tower and up the stairs to her dormitory to grab her bookbag. She brought it back to the common room, curling up in her favorite spot on the sofa in front of the fireplace. Being early September it wasn't too chilly outside yet, but Noemie ran cold so she was almost always in front of the fireplace.

A few hours later, hours that had been interrupted by lunch and then a request to play a game with Alice, it was time for practice. Noemie went up to her dormitory and changed into her quidditch gear. She relished the quiet walk down to the pitch before the craze of practice.

"Noemie! Poole! Hey, wait up!"

Noemie stopped as soon as she heard James's voice. She turned around, grinning as her friend jogged over to her. "Sirius, Remus, and Peter couldn't be bothered to come watch you play?" she asked, looking unimpressed because she knew it irritated him.

"Nah, they've got bigger fish to fry," James said, falling into step next to her. "Moony has to convince Padfoot and Wormtail to do an essay. Can you believe McGonagall's already given us an essay? We're barely a week in!"

Noemie laughed. "I mean, it's McGonagall. I don't know why you'd expect anything less, Mr. Auror," she said.

"Remind me why you're still in the class if you're not planning to be an auror?" James asked.

"A thirst for knowledge," Noemie replied. Her father never would let her drop such an important class, especially one that Professor McGonagall taught.

"Right, our secret Ravenclaw. You've infiltrated Gryffindor house pretty damn well," James replied.

Noemie shook her head. "Yeah yeah, whatever," she said. "How long are you going to work us tonight?"

"I booked the pitch for three hours," James replied.

"Three hours?" Noemie asked, horrified. "Potter, it's a Saturday!"

"I'm Potter now?" James asked, bemused.

"When you piss me off, yes," Noemie said.

"You'll survive," he said. "The current fifth years on the team? We'll see about them."

"Remember fifth year, when Mulvaney was captain?" she asked. "And he'd keep us until almost nine o'clock?"

James groaned. "At least I'm only keeping us until seven."

"Fair enough," Noemie said. She took a deep breath when they stepped outside, the fresh air immediately relaxing her. She felt her shoulders relax and she pulled her hair back while they continued walking to the pitch. They chatted contentedly on their way down.

As per usual, James and Noemie were the first ones to arrive at practice, and Noemie knew well enough that they would be the last ones to leave as well. They spent some time doing drills before the rest of the team wandered onto the pitch, laughing with each other and pushing their shoulders. James landed, but Noemie circled above a few times, not fully ready to be with the entire team again. She was a respected member, of course, and Noemie knew her teammates liked her, but she wasn't totally willing to join their antics. It was another way to keep distance that, if she really thought about it, she had no real desire to keep.

Noemie landed as James was saying, "-so starting earlier, training longer and harder than any other team here. That's the plan. You gotta stay on top of your schoolwork though because I'm not having McGonagall pull one of you for a bad mark."

There was a chorus of "Yeah" and "Okay, James" until everyone except Noemie had confirmed. "That means you too, Poole," James said teasingly.

"I'll get good marks if you do, Potter," Noemie said, smirking.

The team laughed, and they took off into the sky to begin practicing.