Beautiful stranger

[Melodie Lowe]

Nobody said it would be an easy recovery for Melodie, but she couldn't have fathomed it would be this hard. Melodie slumped onto the all familiar park bench in defeat. The streets of France had always brought comfort to the young woman, but also couldn't help but bring bad memories at the same time. Taking a deep breath in, Melodie tried to keep her composure, but it had become increasingly harder as she recollected the days events. Seeing her father the way he was hurt her, but knowing it was because of her made it hurt even more. Her hands cupped her delicate face as she looked down at her feet. She had been here so many times before. It was a place to think, a place to reflect. Melodie's fingertips traced a scar on her arm and she remembered how lucky she was to have survived, it didn't seem to boost her mood though. The street seemed almost like a ghost town as she looked out onto the cobbled path. She didn't want to be alone right now, but it didn't look like anyone else was around.

A small breeze lifted the veela's light moussey brown hair and Melodie managed to look up and was surprised to see a figure walking towards her. She mustered up a smile and shuffled over, just in case the stranger wanted to take a seat. She shouldn't have been so trusting, but perhaps she really was well on her way to recovery. It had been almost three months since the attack, and she couldn't hide away for the rest of her life. Melodie brushed back a whisp of her hair as she looked at the man, coming closer. "Hi" she said quietly, her slight French accent aplaying on the tip of her tongue as she spoke.

 

[Noah Snow]

Noah usually missed home when he was travelling around with his Quidditch team, but when he did come back Home to the Snow Manor he was suddenly reminded on why he hated it so much once again. His family was overbearing at times, especially his eldest brother Alphonse Snow who seemed to be seriously losing his mind this time. He was the Head and he was trying to pull an 'ultimate solution' thing and go after a lot of people that ought to just be left alone and forgotten about because fighting or killing them just wasn't worth it in the end. Noah didn't like to kill people anyways, he found it to be gross and heartless to harm someone who didn't deserve to be killed like an animal. And to top it all of why would his brother want to kill off such beautiful woman all the time?

Noah shook his head at his own thoughts, he was such a womanizer and he knew it was a problem most of the time. But he couldn't help it if he liked to appreciate lovely woman, they were like a gift to the world and deserved to be appreciated all the time. As Noah headed straight into a park for a quick walk to clear his head before he headed home to Alphonse once more, he stopped when he heard someone say hi to him. "Oh um, hello?" Although he never usually spoke to strangers even if it was a lady he stopped and got a closer look at this one, she was insanely pretty and almost seemed to draw him in without even the slightest attempt to. She almost reminded him of Alphonse's Ex-Wife Margaux a little and for that reason he somehow decided to stay and maybe converse with her. "Are you..here by yourself?" Noah's own French accent was thick, unlike his brothers and sisters he didn't really gravitate off to other Countries and learn other languages like they did. He mostly stayed in France unless he travelled with his Quidditch team, oddly enough he could tell she must have been French or had lived in France awhile. And she seemed to be alone, or maybe waiting for someone?

 

[Melodie Lowe]

Melodie was surprised as the young man took a seat next to her and greeted her back. She blushed slightly and managed a faint smile. Melodie wondered what to reply to his question, she hadn't been able to truly trust anyone since the 'incident' but she somehow waved that from her mind and spoke a little louder, trying not to come across as shy as she really was. "Yes I am, I just visited my family actually" she said, thinking it rather odd that she felt so comfortable talkinag to a complete stranger, but somewhat comforting to know she wouldn't be alone, at least for now. Paying close attention to the mans accent she could only gather he was from France. "Are you from France by any chance?" she said, turning towards him as she spoke. She wondered why he was even bothering with her, but it didn't take her long to work out, that little gift her mother had passed down to her seemed to have something to do with it, Melodie never quite knew whether she had turned on the veela charm or not.

"Oh, I'm Melodie" she said, holding out her hand for the man to shake, it seemed silly she had gotten so distracted she had forgotten the polite thing to do was to introduce yourself. Her Grandmere would be most upset if she had been there to see that she thought to herself. The cool breeze seemed to die down, and the bench dwellers got to glimpse the true beauty of France as the sun began to shine down on the romantic country. Melodie brushed back a piece of her hair again, a habit when she was nervous. It didn't help the matter that she couldn't help but think of the abupt way she had left the family home, she really shouldn't have taken her feelings out on her mother, it wasn't really her fault. Everything in her life had gone downhill in the last few months, luckily she was proud to say that things seemed to be picking up now, but only slowly, it was a very lengthy process. Melodie observed her new bench dwelling companion and noted his appearance, he surely seemed fit, and his face seemed awfully familiar. She wondered if she had seen him before, but soon enough it hit her. He was a Quidditch player for France. How could she forget? She had grown up watching the Quidditch and even now, living in Australia she still rooted for the French team.

 

[Noah Snow]

This girl was just a genuine sweetheart, she reminded him oddly of his younger sister Effie who was probably the most frail and delicate person he had ever met in his lifetime, at the same time this woman also reminded him of his niece Alyssa who seemed to sparkle in every situation she found herself in. "Oddly enough I'm here planning to visit family as well, were they happy to see you?" He asked gently, figuring that his abrasive and usual cocky attitude could be held off for a bit because she seemed a bit too sweet and frail for him to go around acting like he normally did with people. The woman asked if he was French and he nodded softly, she could figure that she was French as well by her accent and that she was visiting her family and such then again you could never be too sure with people these days, there were creepers all over the place now.

"Nice to meet you Melodie. I'm Noah Snow, you may already have recognized as a Quidditch player though." He shrugged his shoulders and scratched his cheek shyly, sometimes it was really awesome being known as a Quidditch player and other times it was a pain in the butt because fans were sometimes a pan in the arse. However Noah seemed to pick up on the fact that this woman seemed either a little scared or unsure around him right now, her aura was just not one that he felt alright about and he wondered if she was bothered by him talking to her so randomly like this or something. In fact he almost had half a mind to ask her if she had any Veela blood in her a moment ago because of the way she seemed draw him in, but he decided to keep that quiet until she was more comfortable around him, after all blood status was often a touchy subject for most wizards around here.

 

[Melodie Lowe]

"Nice to meet you Noah" Melodie said, genuinely. She showed her beautiful smile again, she couldn't help it, even when she had so much on her mind and so many things had gone wrong she still found that smiling made her feel all better. Melodie wondered what to say for a moment when Noah asked her if her family was pleased to see her. She knew that deep down they loved her and wanted to see her, but it was hard for them to be pleased when she had caused them so much grief and pain. It was hard visiting her family, after her father had miraculously got custody over her two sons she simply felt wrong being there. She wasn't supposed to be around Aiden and Lucas until she was fully recovered, and even though she felt no connection whatsoever to her sons, she still wanted to see them, they were hers after all. After staring into space for what must have been minutes Melodie blinked "Oh not exactly" she replied sheepishly. She felt like she should explain, perhaps she would wait and see if he asked.

Melodie blushed a little as Noah assumed she recognised him as a Quidditch player. "Of course I did!" she exclaimed, trying not to sound like a crazy fan girl, she really wasn't, that role was more suited to her mother. Of course her mother never spent hours stalking celebrities, she didn't need to, being totally in control of her veela blood, she had always found it easy being around men, even famous and good looking ones. Melodie often worried that her mother would run off with another man, her father didn't exactly have much going for him, especially now he was out of work. Melodie still couldn't comprehend the true love her mother and father shared, strong enough that her mother would abandon all pureblood values and marry a muggle for goodness sake! Melodie had never been bothered about her blood status, but she knew many people who were. She didn't see why people were judged on blood status, not what was on the inside. "So what brings you here Noah?" Melodie said, sparking up conversation.

 

[Noah Snow]

Noah was a bit concerned when Melodie told him that her family wasn't exactly happy to see her, he thought that all families enjoyed getting visits from relatives. Then he remembered his own family gatherings and allowed himself to calm down a little, his family could only stand seeing eachother in small doses themselves so then maybe it was something that a lot of families went through that with their families. "I don't see why they wouldn't, your like the sweetest thing since apple pie. Do you and your family not get along?" He asked with a soft smile on his face, as he displayed a minuscule attempt to flirt with the young woman. To his misfortune it was a habit he couldn't eliminate, he was a natural flirt and when he saw a pretty girl his head just went off into another dimension and he suddenly found himself flirting with her senselessly. So far she didn't seem like one of those mindless fans that wanted to him him alive so he relaxed and leaned against the bench with a soft sigh, it was so peaceful here compared to The Snow Manor back in Bordeaux that maybe some day if he ever moved out of the manor he would think of moving here. The only issue was that most Snows never left the manor and lived there their whole lives.

"So you must be a fan of Quidditch then?" Most people who recognized him that easily were usually either good fans of Quidditch or happened to have heard his name mentioned in the papers around here. He was known for Quidditch and for being a Snow, both were a honor but one did happen to get him into less trouble then the other one did because of his family's history for Dark Wizards and troublemakers people had a fun time making sure he stayed out of trouble. "Visiting family, getting away from Quidditch for awhile, scouting pretty girls...the usual." He chuckled to himself at the last part, it was something he usually did and he wasn't afraid to admit it. Noah was never as swift as Alphonse was when it came to attracting ladies but he was still pretty good at flirting and meeting pretty girls, and this was happened to be another pretty one. Even if she seemed just a little lost and lonely at the moment.

 

[Melodie Lowe]

Noah was obviously a little taken aback when Melodie spoke of her ill visit to her family, was it not a normal thing? Surely other families had their tiffs. Perhaps not as often as her own, but often enough. Melodie honestly didn't know what it was like to have a normal family, every time she thought she did something always came along and ruined it, whether it was her mothers foolish betrayal of her pureblood, her parents disappearance, her sister popping up out of nowhere or her fateful encounter, there was always something going on. Melodie couldn't help but blush with Noah's comment, although she should have been used to being told she was sweet. Her veela charm and the added bonus of working in a cupcake shop usually meant she was cute as a button. But to hear it from a stranger who had only known her five minutes was pretty blush worthy. Then she came to the big question 'Do you not get along?' Melodie shifted awkwardly on her seat. "We have our moments" she said, "Since my 'accident'" she said, using her fingers to motion quotation marks, "my family hasn't been the same. It was tough on all of them" she added, shaking her head slightly as she reminded herself that Noah probably didn't have any idea what had gone on with her in the past few months.

"I do like a bit of Quidditch, but its really my mums kind of thing" the young woman replied, lightly giggling at the memory of her mother jumping and screaming at the Quidditch teams when they scored. Melodie wasn't as suprised as many would be as to the flirty nature Noah seemed to have about him. It was that never miss an opportunity for a pretty girl attitude she had grown accustomed to after knowing Izaak most of her life. She had to smile about it though, Noah seemed like a nice guy, plus he was the first person to manage to put a smile on her face all morning. She needed to smile, after suffering through the family visit and being separated from her own sons for almost two months now. Melodie was sure she wasn't Noah's type, surely she wasn't confident enough or pretty enough to be. Guys like him could have any girl they wanted, why would they settle for a messed up and unwell girl like her?

 

[Noah Snow]

Melodie explained why she and her family didn't exactly get along and the whole time Noah kept his gaze fixed onto her with seriousness, she had said it was because of an accident. "What kind of accident?" Noah had thought that accidents brought families together, not make it hard on them and make it hard for them to be around eachother. Then again his family has never really suffered any kind of crisis that bad. Even when his father and mother were both pronounced dead they just rubbed it off as nothing, when your in a family filled with Death Eaters and Dark Wizards it was expected that they someday die and leave the family behind. "I guess I have no room to talk, my siblings and I don't exactly have the perfect relationship either." He was really close with Effie and used to be close with Zoe until she got older and much more cold-hearted than she used to be. The rest of his siblings were nothing but trouble waiting to happen, even Leon. Noah was pretty sure that he and Effie were the old too that strayed away from the Dark Arts and onto different lifestyles. She became a Professor and was now starting a family of her own while Noah was a famous Quidditch player who had no intention to start a family..yet.

"I'll be honest with you, sometimes I get sick of playing it myself. I hate it as a kid." He laughed at himself, until he was in maybe his third or fourth year at Hogwarts he hated Quidditch and would rather not have anything to do with it. But eventually he decided to try out for the Slytherin team and made it on as Beater, even since then he's been playing that position. Sometimes he figured he could always try for another job when he retired because he had excellent marks, but right now he was happy with his profession. "Do you work?" He couldn't see Melodie as a Quidditch player, she looked like she could be either a teacher or a shopkeeper, maybe a ministry official but he ruled out the more harsh and dangerous jobs out immediately.

 

[Melodie Lowe]

Melodie looked down at her feet when Noah asked about her accident. She shouldn't have been so embarrassed, she got asked about it all the time, and she had become so used to it because she had told it a hundred times. "I was attacked, in bleak street" she admitted, remembering that night still hurt her, especially since they still didn't know who had done it. "It was my own fault really, I shouldn't have been out at night, alone" she added, she still blamed herself, though she shouldn't have. She really hadn't done anything wrong, just wrong place, wrong time as they said. Melodie wasn't at all surprised to hear that Noah and his siblings didn't really get along. The young woman had only ever known one brother and sister who got along, her best friends Leah and Izaak of course. "I'm alot closer to my cousin actually" she explained, though that was understandable, she was at leat ten years older than her sister, and had only just met her a year ago. One of the reasons there was a rift in the family, Melodie was still finding it hard to accept her sister as part of the family she knew.

Melodie laughed with Noah as he spoke of Quidditch again, but was pleased once he moved on to ask her if she worked. The veela was quite proud of herself, being back at work and almost fully recovered. "I'm the new Divination Professor at Hogwarts New Zealand actually" she said, wondering if Noah knew of the place. "And I part own and work in the Sugar Mill in New Zealand too. Its a cupcake shop" she said, smiling at the thought of all of the colorful and tasty cupcakes at the Sugar Mill, almost as sweet as her as most people said. Melodie had always wondered what would have happened if she had followed in the footsteps of her mother and grandmother and become an Auror, but she always concluded she was much happier the way she was, she suited her job and enjoyed it just as much.