tippest och Unicornhorn [PRS]

"Okay", said Noel. He looked at her as she walked out. He immediately felt awkward. Being completely alone in a room which was full of people who weren't; it was humiliating. Hell, he would even prefer to follow Audrey. Not that he could though, he couldn't enter Gryffindor's common room.
Eric shocked him. Noel hadn't even been sure that he would remember him. Eric seemed to be quite popular, and Noel... Well, Slytherins knew him.
"I don't know", he answered, shrugging. "Why?"

“It’s for... oh. I guess she didn’t tell you. Of course she didn’t” he said and sighed.
“It’s her 16th birthday today, and I wanted to surprise her” he said and leaned back in the chair.
“She isn’t a big fan of her own birthday” he said and smiled a little.
“She is tough, but it’s the little things that can break her, such as birthdays. I’m trying to get her used to the whole celebrating thing” he said and pulled a hand through his brown hair.

Noel quickly put two and two together and realized what the letter was about. She clearly didn't like her birthday and probably disliked receiving "happy birthdays" as well.
"Oh, really?" he said, awkwardly, not knowing what else he actually could say. Just to not be completely still he slowly nodded as he looked at Eric.
"Well... Uh, sounds cool", he continued after a while. "We'll come."

”Thanks mate, i appreciate it” Eric said with a smile.
“I’ll be in Three Broomsticks” he added. He was silent for a while. He took a deep breath and looked at Noel.
“How is she doing? She can be pretty.... intense” he said and he hoped that Noel would tell the truth, and not lie because he was her best friend.
“She has walls, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, and hard ones” he added and shook his head.
“I know it doesn’t excuse some of her behaviour, but at least there is an explanation, which I’m sure she hasn’t shared with you” he said and looked at Noel.

A genuine smile formed on Noel's lips. Helping Audrey to be happy felt... nice. He liked it. Was he a bad person because he only cared about her when he realized how shitty her life was?
"No, no, she's great!" he lied, still smiling. He didn't want to talk shit about the girl whose parents were dead to her best friend. It felt morally wrong. Like, really wrong. And Noel usually didn't care about that stuff.

Eric raised his eyebrows.
“Dude, no one has ever said “Audrey” and “great” together after being with her for two days straight” he said and grinned a bit.
“I love her to bits, but I know that she is as she is, hard to understand” he added and took a sip from Audrey’s glass.
“I just want to know if she is sad or anything, she is a bit down right now, and I can’t see her as much as usual with this project thing going on” he said and leaned back in the church.

Well, the only time he could remember Audrey being sad was... Last night. Not that she openly said "I'm sad", but he figured. He's not that dumb and emotionally blind.
"Actually", he begun, taking another sip of his pumpkin juice. "She was out skating last night. I thought she looked sad, but I don't know, really." He shrugged. How could Eric expect him to know if she was sad or not? It's not like he knew her.

Eric nodded.
“Yeah, I figured she would do that, she does that during the periods when she is a bit down. She has trouble sleeping during those times and skating makes her feel better” he said and shook his head. He glanced at Noel’s Prefect pin.
“I guess that she got caught” he said and nodded towards his chest.
“Sorry to trouble you with all these questions, I’m not expecting you to keep an eye on her, I just wondered if you had seen something” he said with an apologising smile.

When he saw Eric's eyes looking down at his Prefect pin he started to feel uncomfortable. Audrey was at fault for that. Before the project he loved showing that he was a Prefect, but Audrey showed him that noone actually liked them. Not that he'd stop being a Prefect for that, of course not, but it kind of removed all the fun with it.
"Yeah", he said, nodding. Felt guilty. "She's either discussing her punishment with McGonagall or Snape by now. Or both."
He gently put down his glass at the table and leaned back in his chair.
"No problem", he said, shrugging. Trying to seem like he didn't care about her. "She's your best friend, I understand."

Eric nodded and stood up.
“I know she is difficult, but if you want to get to know her, it’s possible. It just takes a while. She is more personal and open than she seems, as long as you ask the right questions” he said and turned to start walking out of the Great Hall when Audrey entered. She groaned, and Eric laughed when she came to them.
“You can’t avoid me forever, Happy Birthday!” He exclaimed and Audrey shook her head.
“Thanks, another year since my parents biggest disappointment” she grinned and Eric shook his head.
“I have to go, there will be cake” he said and Audrey rolled her eyes and sat down, and Eric left. She turned to Noel.
“So, what are we doing today?” She asked and leaned back in the chair.