tippest och Unicornhorn [PRS]

“There are potions to help you”, he said, suddenly not sounding that harsh anymore. He knew, because of his mother, how much sleeping problems sucked. He still looked into her angry blue eyes. How could he hate her one second and the next not?
“But you can’t stay out here. Really”, he added, remembering his duty as a Prefect. That went over everything else - especially after that party.

“Trust me, it doesn’t help” she said dryly and sighed. Why did she even tell him about her problems? The only person she spoke with about stuff like this was Eric, and even then it wasn’t very often. She looked at him.
“Sure, whatever” she said expressionlessly and pulled off her skates.
“Night is ruined anyway” she said under her breath as she put on her shoes. At least he didn’t laugh at her. And to be fair, he had his duties as a Prefect.

Finally, she listened to him. It took some time, but she did. For a while Noel really thought that he had to spend the entire night telling her to get off the ice. He looked at her as she pulled of her skates and putted on her shoes.
“Don’t try to make me feel bad”, he said, still looking at her. “It’s my duty, you know that.”

“I don’t, I know you do” she said, still expressionlessly. She wondered what kind of punishment Snape would have in store for her tomorrow. She did not look forward to that meeting. She scratched her neck and looked over at Noel.
“At least Snape’ll be proud of you” she said and actually didn’t mean it as an insult. Must be fun to have teachers liking you, Audrey wouldn’t know. McGonagall liked her, because she was the only teacher, and person besides Eric, who knew about Audrey’s troubles. She had even turned the blind eye once when she caught Audrey in the castle during night. Maybe she could ask McGonagall to speak with Snape? But she didn’t want the rumour to be spread that she was someone who hid behind a teacher, she was just going to accept her punishment with her head held high. It wasn’t like it was going to stop her nightly visits to the lake.

He shrugged. Snape just expected his Prefects to do what they’re told.
“I won’t take points from Gryffindor”, he said when it had been quiet for a while. “Not that I think you’ll care or whatever, but still.” He figured that he should give her a break. Not because that was what he truly wanted - but it was the only thing that felt right. Noel had, he realized, a very easy, unproblematic life. Audrey didn’t seem to have it that easy, and he didn’t want to make it worse. (If she was going to be a bitch again, he would though.)

“You’re right, I don’t really care. The only thing I care about is getting enough sleep, which I probably won’t” she said and shook her head. She knew it wasn’t his fault, she just was really disappointed that she got punished for doing something that would be good for her. Of course, no one would believe that.
“I know that’s not your problem though” she added and pulled her hand through her hair. He only did his job, and it didn’t matter if it was her or not. It was probably more like the opposite, he had more fun catching her than anyone else.

It was like she could read his mind. It really wasn't his problem. Why didn't he take points from Gryffindor? She wouldn't care, no matter what. But he had already said that he wouldn't, so he couldn't take it back just like that.
"Well, if it's any help", he started, creating eye contact again. "I won't mind if you sleep the entire day tomorrow." He smiled gently at her, hoping that she would smile back at him and not come up with some snarky response.

Audrey nodded.
“Yeah, you’d like that right? Not having to listen to me for a whole day” she said, and laughed. It wasn’t mean or anything, actually a genuine laugh. She stopped when she came up to the entrance.
“Well, I guess our ways part here” she said and looked at him. She actually looked forward to her bed. She actually considered taking up on his offer, and stay in bed all day. However, she didn’t think Snape would appreciate it.

He laughed with her. It wasn't what he had meant - or was it? He couldn't remember anymore. Her laugh took his mind off of everything. All that he could focus on now was her. How stupid?
He walked a bit after her as they where on their way to the entrance. His teenage brain was on again and it only came up with strange and weird things to say, such as "you're really pretty", "I wish you were mine", and "do you want to go out with me?" His brain were still in those thoughts when they came up to the entrance. He walked up to her, meeting her sight. His brain was all hormonal and kind of stopped working for a while, so he couldn't come up with a logical response.
"I think you're really pretty", he blurted out, that being the only thing he could think off. SHIT! Right when he realized what he had said his face turned pink. He couldn't even take that back. He couldn't say that she wasn't pretty, that would be rude, right?

Audrey put her hand on the door handle to the huge oak doors, when she heard him speak. She was focused on her own thoughts, but she could make out that he said “you” and “pretty”. She stopped for a second, before she turned towards him. She wasn’t sure how to handle the situation, she had never been called pretty before. For the first time in her life, she was speechless. She coughed.
“So, apparently it’s not the inside that counts” she said and smiled. “I don’t think you’d say that if my outside reflected my inside” she added, and winked with one eye. She opened the door and looked back at him before walking inside.
“Well, at least now I know that you don’t hate me as much as I thought. See you tomorrow at breakfast” she said and started walking upstairs. As she walked, she wondered if she should have had handled the situation in a different way. She hadn’t been sarcastic, at least. Should she had said something about him? She hadn’t really though much about his appearance, except for his bluegray eyes, which she admitted to herself were pretty. Audrey stopped in the middle of one of the staricases. What if he thought that she had rejected him? She hadn’t really, she was just so freaking insecure. She had to talk to him the next morning about it. She cursed out loud before racing up the last staircase, and went into her bedroom. She threw herself on the bed and punched the pillow. Why on Earth did Noel affect her so much?