Noble was more paranoid about this visit than he was about any of the times she'd visited him — he lifted the anti-apparition charm on his workshop and popped out of the yard with a crack, arriving in the back garden of her aunt's house, which he had scoped out a week or two ago in order to be able to properly visualize it. He'd had to climb a nearby tree to see into the garden — (which had felt, frankly, absurd) — so was not too worried about being spotted, but still hurried to the back door.

He opened it; Rosalie had told him that it would be unlocked, and he was relieved to see that it was. Once he was inside, Noble felt an immediate sense of relief — he smoothed out the creases in his jacket. Being in a house this nice made him feel conscious of his clothing, which was fine but not nice, even if everything he was wearing tonight was fresh out of the laundry.

He'd bought a new cologne that he couldn't really afford, exclusively for this — he smelled like sandalwood and lavender. He was not sure if he hoped that she noticed or if he hoped that she didn't notice. He was nervous; he was anticipatory. He was hoping this would fix him.

"Rosalie?" he called, "I'm here."