Magic? || Years 1-5

The Ring: Year 3

Crouched under a table right beside Draco Malfoy was not the way Amisty was planning for their meet up to go.

She was having an internal battle inside her head. She wanted to be able to see him, but that would mean she would have to get closer to Draco.

"Noel, again?" Madam Rosmerta greeted him kindly, her cheerful voice edging on the verge of concerned.

"Hey, Rosmerta," He sighed. With a deep breath, she shoved away her mental argument and scooted closer to Draco.

"What are you doing?" He repeated, twitching away from her as a faint pink tinge dusted across his face.

"I need to be able to see," She hissed back, rolling her eyes. "Get over yourself, it's not like I'm filthy. There's more dirt on you than there is me."

"That's not -- " He started to protest, voice rising in volume a little too much for her liking.

"Shut up!" She snapped, hitting him hard on the foot so he would feel it through the black boots he was wearing.

He glared at her but closed his mouth.

"How's it going back at home?" Madam Rosmerta asked, placing a tankard of something Amisty couldn't recognize in front of him with a soft clink.

Judging by the harsh scent, though, it was very strong.

Closing her eyes for a brief moment, pressing her hand against Draco's ankle as a warning, she inched even closer.

Now she had a full view of the owner of the pub and her father. What she saw wasn't what she had been expecting.

Noel had changed drastically. His blonde hair, though it was curly, wasn't as tamed as it had been when she had first visited him. Then it had been relatively brushed, there were tangles but there weren't knots.

His eyes had turned muddy, lost and cloudy almost. And his clothes were worn like they hadn't been washed in days.

"Could be better, but I'm not complaining," He shrugged lightly, a wan smile making its way onto his face.

"I heard something happened with your daughter," Madam Rosmerta replied gently, pulling up a stool across from him. "I've seen her around. She looks just like Echo, it's shocking."

"I know, we couldn't believe it when she was born," Noel nodded, taking a long drink from the tankard.

"Anything you'd like to talk about?" She asked, a slight smile gracing her pretty face.

Noel opened his mouth to reply when a strangled sound left his throat and he buried his head in his hands. Amisty felt her blood run cold.

"I just wanted to make sure they were safe," His voice sounded broken as he struggled to get the words out. "I wanted us to be happy. I wanted to see Amisty grow up into the beautiful girl she is and go to Hogwarts and be embarrassed because her parents live in Hogsmeade.

"Go and drive her down to London so she could pick out whatever she needed for school. Let her get an owl and see her face when we say she could get one. Have her come home after school's over and tell us everything that happened.

"Have her come home at Christmas and we would tease her all about the gifts she'd get from boys because 'they like you, dear' All the drama, all the new friends she's made, all the people she fancied. All the teachers she liked and the ones she hated. All the trouble she'd get into because we all know the daughter of Noel and Echo River wouldn't be able to stay out of it for long.