The Threads That Bind Us

Chapter 6

The only person Fidelity told about the Room of Requirement was Ava. She had considered keeping it to herself but hated to keep anything from Ava and was dying to tell someone. Although Fidelity would have liked to have the room all to herself, she was happy to share it with Ava.

It was already the second week of October which meant the first Hogsmeade visit. The last time Fidelity had seen Noah was in the library when they decided to go to Hogsmeade together so she knew that she would need to talk to him beforehand.

On the morning of the Hogsmeade visit, after she finished her breakfast, Fidelity sauntered over to the Slytherin table to find Noah. He was sitting with his friends, of course. Fidelity was nervous, and didn't want to interrupt, but she spoke anyway.

"Hey, Noah," Fidelity said enthusiastically.

Noah turned around as his friends sniggered. He smiled when he saw Fidelity.

"Hi, Fidelity!" Noah stood up. "Doing alright?"

"Fantastic. And you?"

"That's brilliant. I'm doing well, thanks."

"Are we still going to Hogsmeade together?" Fidelity asked.

"Of course! As long as you still want to."

"Oh, definitely." Fidelity looked up at Noah shyly.

"Would you like to meet outside the school in an hour? Then we can walk to the village together."

"That's perfect, I'll see you then!"

Fidelity walked out of the great hall at a normal pace, but once she was out, she sprinted all the way to the Hufflepuff common room. She would need to get ready and she wanted to look nice.

Fidelity waited outside the castle, having arrived five minutes early. She felt awkward standing there alone but she would rather be early than keep Noah waiting. Apparently, Noah had the same idea.

"You're a bit early."

Fidelity turned around to see Noah. "So are you." She smiled.

"Shall we get going?"

"Sure."

Fidelity found it easy to talk to Noah, and he felt the same way about her. Fidelity told Noah about her family, her ambitions, and her favorite books. They also talked about Quidditch.

"Who's your favorite team?" Noah asked.

"The Appleby Arrows. Who's yours?" Fidelity replied.

"The Falmouth Falcons."

They continued on about quidditch for a bit until Noah said, "Enough about quidditch. I want to learn more about you! Tell me, what's your favorite magical creature?"

"No! Enough about me! I've already told you plenty. I want to hear about you!" Fidelity said sincerely. "But probably mooncalves ... or maybe nifflers. Actually ... I can't pick, I love them all." Fidelity added. "But seriously, tell me about yourself. I don't even know your last name! What's your family like?"

Noah laughed. He looked down at Fidelity admiringly but she didn't notice.

"Well," he began, "My last name is Draven. I have one older brother. He's nineteen, his name is Luke. He's also a Slytherin and so are my parents."

"Okay, Noah Draven, youngest child (like myself), one older brother, family of Slytherins." Fidelity reviewed aloud. "What are your career interests? Plans after Hogwarts?"

"I'd like to work for the Ministry. Maybe even be Minister one day. I just know that I would like to make a change, and that's easier to do if I'm in an important position. I feel like there are so many things that could be done to better our society. But nobody is actually implementing changes."