● Noelle ●

At the sound of hearing her name called, Noelle briefly looked up as she dusted off her robes with one free hand, the other shakily supporting a weight of twenty pounds. Her arm was beginning to ache as she turned towards the voice that had called her, along with another, [i]‘Aiden from Hufflepuff.’[/i] Noelle’s mind flickered back, sorting out through her assorted memories in search of an ‘Aiden’. In a matter of seconds, it clicked. The half-asian boy, whom she’d once tutored in Potions. 

Another memory stood out much clearer than before, in their Sixth Year. Noelle was standing in as a Seeker for the Ravenclaw team, in the season’s last Quidditch match, Ravenclaw vs. Hufflepuff when the Team Captain, Aiden Ahn, had sent a Bludger at her and one of the Chasers. Moments later, as they’d swerved away and Noelle had spotted the Snitch, she locked in with the Hufflepuff Seeker in a race for the golden ball at a breakneck speed, and caught it at a hair’s breadth away from the other boy. However, only gasps and screams greeted her instead of cheering and as she turned around, she witnessed two heavy Bludgers colliding with Aiden’s body, shattering most of his bones. The distorted mess of a body that fell towards the ground and lay there as they descended would never leave her memories. 

And yet, here he was. The jackass that had collided with her, a Healer. She recognized his honey-brown hair and his tall stature almost instantly and felt her irritation surge. Hadn’t they been good friends while at Hogwarts? Hadn’t he helped her out once when Peeves had decided to drop a bucketful of balloons filled with various shades of neon paint on her head? For the rest of her Seventh Year, her hair had remained as a shade of rainbow mixed with pale blonde strands. As she neared the table and the girl that had called, Noelle’s pale green eyes settled on the nemesis of her days at Hogwarts. 

Miyu Kisaragi.

All at once, memories of neon blue, green, pink and purple colored locks of hair among the few, remaining blonde ones rushed back towards her, her ears filled with the giggles of ‘Rainbow Head’ and 'The Rainbowclaw'. A chilling glare was sent to the back of Miyu’s head as she thumped her heavy books down mere millimeters from his arm. A shame they hadn’t hit their target. She sat down unceremoniously next to the girl instead, a girl whose face matched with Noelle’s recollections of Artemis Nightwind. The girl hadn’t been much of a pest to her compared to the rest of the Gryffindors, though Noelle did find Artemis’ fiery persona slightly tiring to deal with. She hadn’t known the girl well but she had liked her and therefore made an effort to be nice to her, offering her help in subjects had she needed it.

“It’s been so long, Artemis.” A light smile accompanied her words as she surveyed the witch before her. “How’re you doing?” 

---

● Aiden ●

Aiden had long since switched tables at the call of his name, immediately recognizing the two familiar faces. Sure, he hadn’t been on particularly friendly terms with either of them, and hadn’t gone out of his way to make good friends during their days at Hogwarts. Quidditch had taken up most of his time, even after the devastating accident that had taken him four months to fully recover from. Luckily, that was during the summer vacations just before the start of their Seventh Year. Offering both of his former classmates a friendly, crooked smile as a way of greeting, His arms went up and waved a bit, flagging the busy owner down and ordering a round of Butterbeer, even for the new face that sat down at their table, thumping her books down. From the angle she’d placed them, the titles weren’t visible to him but all of a sudden, it clicked. 

It wasn’t until she started speaking that Aiden recognized her face and with that came a small tinge of sheepishness at having knocked her down. He remembered her face well enough, and her dimpled cheek as she smiled. Certainly he’d made her smile amusedly enough as Slughorn had griped at him for his mediocre potion. Nor had her eccentric choice of hair color escaped his memory, though he didn’t know the specific cause for that phenomenon. Aiden offered the disgruntled girl an apologetic smile and pushed a Butterbeer her way as an apology. He inwardly sighed as her scathing look towards him receded and she accepted the mug, instead pointedly avoiding Miyu. He absentmindedly wondered why as he turned towards the other two familiar faces.

Artemis Nightwind, the unruly Gryffindor he’d remembered quite well enough for her temper during Herbology and other classes they’d shared together. Her fiery attitude hadn’t give him the slip well enough and he remembered occasionally avoiding her or intentionally jabbing at her to provoke a reaction, only to deflect the blame onto someone else. Ah, the good ‘ol days. Aiden hoped she’d passed her fiery phase because he wasn’t sure he could handle it again. 

And at the other end, sat Miyu, the mischevious Slytherin. Unlike the other two, Aiden had had little to no problems with the boy. His pranks were entertaining and his legacy as resident prankster was only assuring entertainment whenever Miyu was around. 

“You haven’t changed much, Kisaragi.” Aiden spoke, his voice light and playful. “How’s life without Peeves to do your dirty work?” He paused for a moment, hiding a smile as he sipped his Butterbeer. "How has life been treating you guys, hmm? Are you still afraid of heights?" That last bit was obviously aimed at Artemis, the only non-flyer in the group.