tippest och Unicornhorn [PRS]

Eric walked away and that left Noel and Audrey alone. She immediately seemed to be in a better mood, for some reason. She joked and he fake-smiled. It was probably funny - but his headache was terrible. Hell, if it weren't for his dreams to work at Gringotts - he would never attend the class ever again. He entered the Great Hall and sat down at a table near the exit.

Audrey started eating, and decided to break the silence. She didn’t like silence, except for chosen silence. But this was not chosen.
“So, why put yourself through the pain of Arithmancy?” she asked and put a piece of meat in her mouth. She studied Noel, who was a bit blurry, but she saw his eyes as clear as a day. She wondered why. She returned to her plate, waiting for an answer.

He also began to eat and didn't mind the silence at all. It was quite nice actually. It didn't bother his headache. Audrey, of course, broke the silence.
"Oh, I have to read it to be able to become what I want in the future", he said at first. Had he ever told anyone but Snape about his future plans? "I want to be a Curse-Breaker, either for Gringotts or the Ministry." Most people probably thought that Noel dreamt about working in an office or something like that - but he had always wanted to be a Curse-Breaker. It sounded fantastic, and cool.

Audrey looked at him.
“That sounds cool” she said and kept eating. Since he didn’t keep the conversation going, she assumed he was fine with the silence. She had already started to think about the evening, and what to do. The bed in the Room of Requirement had been much softer and nicer than the one in the Gryffindor Tower, so she considered going back there. She leaned back in the chair and looked around the room. She reacted when an owl landed on the table. There was a letter tied to its leg, with a few post stamps on it, which usually meant that a muggle had sent it. She took it from the owl and opened it. She was surprised to get post two days in a row.

Noel continued to eat and enjoyed the silence. He took a sip from his drink as an owl landed on their table. It wasn't his owl, and he only got post once a week, which meant that it was for Audrey.
"What does it say?"

Audrey sighed.
“Just my….. legal guardian responding to the teachers’ letter about my little episode” she said and groaned. Fortunately, Audrey could stay at Hogwarts during Christmas and she didn’t need to see the warden or orphanage until the summer. She leaned back in her chair.
“She always knows how to destroy my day” she said and took a sip from her drink.

He swallowed the food that he had in his mouth as he listened. Uh, he had almost forgotten about her sucky family. Or, not family. She didn't have a family. It really sounded horrible. And it was horrible, too. He couldn't imagine his life without his parents. They did everything for him.
"That sucks", he just said, not knowing what to say. He wasn't the most supportive person.

Audrey nodded.
“That’s an understatement” she said and laughed, shaking her head.
“She’s a moron, writes me just for the show. She doesn’t care of any of us, she just need a good facade for the donations she gets” she said and took a sip of her drink.
“Fortunately, I’ll be of age next year, at least in the eyes of the wizard world, which means that I can get the hell out of there the second I turn 17” she said and shrugged. Only 364 days left.

He didn't really believe her. How horrible could a person be? Perhaps Noel had too much belief in humanity, though. He didn't comment on it though, afraid of starting another discussion.
"Where do you spend christmas?" he asked, breaking the silence after a while. He guessed that she didn't spend it at the orphanage; but maybe at Eric's, or some other friends.

“Usually at Eric’s”, she said, taking a bite of her food.
“But he’s going abroad this year, so I’ll probably spend Christmas here, no way I’m going home” she said and shook her head. She took a sip of her drink.
“How about you?” she asked and looked at him. Christmas at Hogwarts was actually pretty nice, since most of the students left to go home, which meant there were not many students in the castle.