tippest och Unicornhorn [PRS]

He shook his head, still keeping eye contact with her. Their lives were so different - it was pretty much impossible for her to understand his point. Magic would never mean the same thing for her as it meant to him.
"You won't understand", he said as he started to crack his knuckles. "Really. You won't."

“Wow, thanks for believing in the stupid muggleborn” she said sarcastically and looked at him. She shook her head.
“Never mind, I’ll just ask Eric instead” she mumbled and looked out the window again. She studied the students down there, most of them had disappeared from the school grounds, it started to get cold probably. She looked over at the Forbidden Forest, where the trees crowns shifted in the wind. She hadn’t been much in the Forest, except during controlled circumstances. She wondered how it would be like during night.

He realized that he’d probably sounded quite rude. But she would never be able to understand - they had two completely different lives. They would always look differently at life and they wouldn’t have the same opinions about magic and such.
“You’re not stupid”, he said, holding in a sigh. “I didn’t mean it like that. But trust me, you won’t understand.”

Audrey shrugged.
“Sure, whatever” she said and stood up straight. She tightened her hairband and felt the flask in her pocket as she moved. She still wasn’t sure if she was going to try it, but something that the teachers themselves gave to her couldn’t hurt, right? She wanted to ask Noel about it, he clearly knew something about it, but now was probably not the right time. She made a mental note of checking the books after the substance, mostly because she wanted to know what it contained. She looked over at Noel. The tension had built up again between them, and she had no idea how to break it down again. The morning’s panic attack had helped, but she didn’t want to go through that again, there had to be another way.

Noel didn’t know what to say and he felt the awkwardness grow between them. Things were so great just minutes ago - he didn’t understand how that could’ve changed so fast. Right in that moment he’d rather be anywhere else in the world than where he was.
“I need a break from the project”, he said when it had been quiet for a while. Dumbledore’s project could go to hell, for all he knew. “I’ll see you at dinner or something.” He didn’t wait for a response or a goodbye, he just turned around and started to walk away.

Audrey looked at him when he spoke, and didn’t say anything as he turned around.
“So much for wanting to stay in the project” she muttered, and thought back to this morning, when Noel had confessed that he actually wanted to keep the project going. Audrey shrugged, and shook her head. There was a sting in her stomach. Noel knew a lot about her right now, and if he was pissed….. She took a deep breath. If he said something, he would get to feel the full Audrey force, that was for sure.

Audrey went back to her bedroom, grabbed her skates, and went downstairs. She went out through the doors and walked down to the lake. The area around the lake was empty, fortunately. She froze the lake with her wand, and switched shoes. She started to move across the ice, and noticed how Eric and John came down to watch her. She waved, and they sat down in a conversation, but she went into her own world.

He walked down to the dungeons and entered the common room. The air in there was special somehow; it felt better to breathe. True Slytherin-air. He looked out over the room and saw that it was empty. None of the green armchairs were occupied and he couldn’t even see one little student studying. He guessed that Hogsmeade had taken a lot of students and the nice weather had taken the rest. At first it made him feel incredibly lonely, that he was the only one there; but he realized that alone time was a thing that one should appreciate.

He went into his dorm, which was also empty, and picked up a book that he still had in his bag. It was some muggle book about wizardry. It was nice to laugh at, he thought. When he went out of his dorm again he found William in one of the armchairs. For once he was alone. It was a strange sight (and that’s really something, considering that they’re at Hogwarts.)
“Noel!” he smiled at him and gesticulated to show that he should come over. Noel walked up there and sat down in the armchair next to him.
“Heard about the incident this morning”, William continued, raising his eyebrows. Of course he had heard all about it, Noel thought to himself. He felt bad for Audrey. It had to suck to be in her situation.
“I’m sure that I can talk to Snape so he’ll pull you out of the project”, he said shortly after, not waiting for a response. “She’s a fucking maniac! They can’t make you hang out with her, that’d be insane.” Noel nodded slowly, being at loss for words. Of course he didn’t want to quit the project; he enjoyed being with Audrey (mostly.) But how could he possibly tell William that?

Audrey stopped after a long time, and skated to the edge of the lake. She smiled at Eric, who now was alone, and sat down with him.
“So, where’s Noel?” Eric asked and Audrey shrugged.
“He needed “a break” from the project. I guess it’s perks of being a Prefect” she said and Eric looked ar her.
“Really? It sounds more like an excuse to get out of the project, I thought he helped you” he said and Audrey shook her head.
“So did I. I was right, you can’t trust anyone” she said dryly and changed to her shoes again. Eric looked worried.
“It’s okay, he won’t tell anyone. I hope.” She said and stood up. She said goodbye to Eric and went into the castle, and was met by lots of students. She held her head high, and those who chose to look at her funny or laugh, she just glared at to make them shut up. She needed to keep her pride up for the next couple of days, at least that was her plan.

She went up to the Gryffindor common room, and threw herself in one of the armchairs. A girl who also played in the Quidditch team sat down next to her, and they started to talk about their chances of taking home the Quidditch Cup again. At least the Gryffindors were nice to her, it was always something.

"I think I can handle it", Noel said, smiling. Not wanting to admit that he enjoyed the project. William shrugged and said something about Hogsmeade and then he was gone. Noel could breathe out. He didn't like to be dishonest; it made him feel bad. Made him afraid that some sort of karma would hit him sooner or later. It probably would, anyway. Didn't matter if he avoided lying. He started reading his book and occasionly, when students dropped in, he said hello and then turned his gaze down to the pages again. He read until it was time for dinner. He was quite nervous about facing Audrey again. He'd been a bit rude, to be honest. It wasn't his intention, though. It just happened.

He walked out of the common room and went up the stairs, exiting the dungeons. He didn't see Audrey in the Entrance Hall, and he guessed that she wasn't in the Great Hall already. It was still quite early. He leaned back against a wall, waiting to see her coming down the stairs.

Audrey took a shower, and changed clothes. Her trousers had gotten blood stains on them and she had been a bit sweaty after the skating. She put on a pair of black trousers and a blue top, which matched her eyes. She looked at herself in the mirror. The top was pretty low cut, exposing her scar a lot. She looked at it and shrugged. After today, it wasn’t really the worst thing in the world. She put on a pair of shoes and went out.

She walked down the many stairs from the top floor, and wondered if Noel was going to be grumpy now, too. She hoped not. He had changed so suddenly, which bothered her. She walked down the final staircase and saw him in the entrance hall, probably waiting for her. She was still deciding what approach she was going to have. She came up to him, and cleared her throat.
“So, dinner” she just said, looking inside the Great Hall.