The next day, Sirius awoke to his head pounding. James was already getting dressed.
"How do you feel?" James asked with a wicked grin.
Sirius made a face at him.
"So, still in love with the little French siren?" James teased.
Sirius looked confused.
"What are you talking about?"
James looked at him strangely. "Last night.....you told me...”
Sirius still looked baffled. "You told me you were in love with Noelle."
Sirius' jaw dropped. "Did I tell her?"
James shrugged.
"How can I talk to her now?" he dropped his heavy head into his hands.
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Downstairs at breakfast, the girls were already eating. When Noelle spotted Sirius, she smiled shyly. He quickly looked away. She stared back, confused. He avoided making eye contact with her and sat next to James.
"Do you know what's going on?" she whispered to Lily.
Lily shook her head. Noelle focused on the piece of toast in her hand. Tears pooled under her eye lids. Quickly she blinked them back. Its better this way, and you know it, the little voice echoed in her head. Noelle shook her head to clear it, and filled her mind with thoughts of her classes.
As the weeks passed, still Sirius barely acknowledged her existence. Noelle accepted it, even though inside it killed her. She renewed her friendship with Severus, even though Lily told her it was not wise.
"At least Severus knows I exist." She snapped angrily, then immediately felt horrible.
After apologizing a hundred times to Lily, she hurried to the library to meet Severus.
He was waiting at their usual table. He gave her a brief smile while she pulled her Potions notes out of her bag. Severus was the best in their year at Potions, and Noelle's efforts were less than admirable. She preferred Astronomy, where she could lose herself for hours in the dark tower, with no one to bother her. Severus, however loved the complicated mess that Potions was. He tried to describe it to her,
"It's such an exquisite process, a subtle art. Mixing ingredients together just so. It's like a miracle."
Noelle had never heard him speak so eloquently. But he had agreed to tutor her. As she worked on her essay, he glanced over at her several times.
"What is it, Severus?" she asked without looking up from her parchment.
"I was just wondering," he started.
"Oui?"
"Why is it that you don't talk to Sirius Black anymore? I thought you were starting to be good friends?"
Noelle's face turned red, then she looked up. "Non. We were never good friends."
Her face was unreadable. Severus quickly changed the subject.
"What are you doing for the Christmas holidays?"
Noelle'e eyes lit up. "I am going back to France. At La Maison de Lilas, my home, we have great parties and feasts until the New Year. It will be perfect."
Noelle looked nostalgic as she told him of the meals that were planned. He allowed her to daydream for a few moments.
"Okay...Back to work." He said trying to look severe.
She laughed gently and returned to her essay.
About a week before the Christmas holidays were to begin, Noelle's owl, Etoile dropped a letter into her cereal. He helped himself to a bit of bacon before flying off with the other owls. Noelle shook her head as she dried the parchment off. She read the note quickly, then again slowly. She crumpled it into a ball and dropped it on the table. Before anyone could see her face, she hurried out of the hall.
Lily picked it up, frowned when she saw that it was in French and dropped it on the floor. She ran after her friend. Sirius had seen this from down the table. He hung back from James and Remus as they left the hall. Stooping as if to tie his shoe, he smoothly picked the letter up off the floor.
His heart lurched when he read it. He followed his friends out of the hall, but rapidly swung left to head outside. He heard Lily calling for Noelle across the grounds. He knew Noelle better than she thought he did. If she didn't want anyone to find her, they wouldn't, but he was wise to her game now. He walked quickly to the lake. Scrambling over some tall boulders that bordered the shore, he saw her. As he approached, she turned to look at him,
"Me partir seul, Sirius." (Leave me alone) She said sharply to him.
He heard the tears in her voice. "No, I'm not going anywhere. I read the owl from your parents."
She choked on another sob.
"I know how badly you wanted to go home."
She turned to face him. "Pourquoi étés-tu si agréable a moi?" (Why are you being so nice to me?).
The question stunned him. He wasn’t sure he could answer. "What do you mean?"
"We have not exactly been friendly these past few months, n'est-ce pas? In fact, I have been rude sometimes."
"Noelle, I'm sorry. And you haven't been rude. Not at all. You've been ripped from a place that you are used to, and dropped into a completely new one. It's a new country, a new language and new people. I've been the rude one, and I'm sorry."
He hung his head, and a second later, looked back up at her. She was smiling through her tears.
He almost melted right there. Her smile made his knees weak. She reached over and touched his hand, and he felt warmth spread through his body.
"Thank you, Sirius." She sighed heavily. "But now, I do not know what to do. Should I stay here?"
Sirius was shaking his head. "Absolutely not. You'll come to James', with Remus and I. I think he's trying to work up the nerve to ask Lily."
Noelle laughed, "Oh la la, good luck to James!"
Sirius grinned conspiratorially, "She'll say yes if you do."
She thought hard, "Tres bien. I will go."
Sirius thought his heart would explode. "Good. We're leaving in two days. You have to convince Lily."
"I will try."
Sirius slid off the rock and held a hand out to help her. She looked hard at him.
"I am doing this for Lily."
Sirius smiled slyly. "Whatever you say."