chapter iv strangers in the night
***
CHARLIE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT AVERY'S ISSUE IS.
At first, he just thought she'd perhaps needed a bit of space. Being Head Girl, after all, wasn't a task she'd willingly taken, but rather just because it was something she couldn't turn down. Could you imagine what people would say of her if she'd refused the position of Head Girl? He understands. Avery's been put into a situation she wasn't too enthralled by. She needed her space.
So he gives her space. He doesn't try to be overly enthusiastic, because then it could just scare her off completely. And Charlie doesn't want that. He wants them both to be on some sort of even footing, to be mutuals, accomplices, friends. Because then it just makes everything else easier. They're Head Boy and Head Girl — they have to work together. Charlie's just glad that they can work well together, and that they actually get along.
But he wants something more? Something more exciting than just, hi, bye, you ready to go to breakfast? That bores him. He wants something more proactive. A fun friendship! If they were going to be roommates for the upcoming year, he wanted to enjoy it. You can't blame the guy for not wanting to be bored.
Anyways, Charlie's worried when Avery didn't show up the previous night after he'd gone to pick her up at Ravenclaw Tower. He went there, at approximately 7.27pm, waited for a solid fifteen minutes, then an extra five, then a few more. Charlie eventually realised that she wasn't going to come out of that portrait hole of a majestic eagle anytime soon. He thought she'd maybe had some extra business to attend to, like talking to some people in her house. She was Head Girl after all, and one thing Charlie noticed was that though she took up the role grudgingly, she still committed to her tasks with best effort. But he peeked through the open door leading to her bedroom, and saw she wasn't there. Her shoes weren't even at the door, so she hadn't come in at all last night.
Charlie frowns. This was the first morning that one of them hadn't came in, so he's worried about what could have happened to Avery. Did she get abducted? Kidnapped? But then, he knew she could take care of herself. She was one of the top students in Defence. It didn't stop him getting uneasy, though. Two weeks in and he'd already lost the Head Girl?
The door to the portrait swings open. Charlie, from his seat on the comfy sofa, springs to his feet, leaving an indentation of his behind in the maroon material. He's relieved to see that Avery entered, dropping her bag by the coat rack next to the door and slipping her feet out of her shoes.
At least she's not been abducted, Charlie thought.
"Morning," Avery greets Charlie, giving him a brief nod of acknowledgement.
Charlie is still shellshocked about her sudden appearance and how calm she seemed. Hello? You disappeared from me for an entire night? Nonetheless, he quietly tells her "Hey." Avery moves into the kitchenette, and Charlie rounds the coffee table to go follow in Avery's tracks. She begins making their coffees (which Charlie hadn't even noticed he'd lacked yet) and Charlie leans his elbow against the counter, taking note of small wisps of strawberry blonde hair escaping from her bun. He realised it was near a hundred percent tidier than the usual state of her hair in the morning.
Charlie bites his bottom lip. He feels hesitant about speaking, especially knowing how blunt she usually was with him. He just watches as she busies herself at the counter, paying no heed to him until she brandishes a hot mug of coffee towards him, giving him a quick, rushed smile. Charlie accepts it with a quiet thanks and begins staring at the gathering froth, trying to pluck up the courage he needed to talk. Where has that bold Gryffindor courage went to?
He notices Avery, seemingly unaware of his internal struggles, rummaging through the cupboards for cereal to go into the blue bowl she held. (They both had a free period that morning and slept in past breakfast.) Charlie clears his throat, running a fingertip around the rim of his mug. "Erm — where were you last night?"
Avery looks up at Charlie, pausing her scavenge shortly. She furrows her eyebrows, "What do you mean?"
He clears his throat again. "Like — why didn't you come back to our dorm? I waited outside your common room, but you didn't come and I was worried when you didn't come in last night.
"Oh." Avery says, recognition flashing across her features. "I was so exhausted, I just stayed in my old room for the night." She frowns slightly, "Sorry I made you wait."
"Uhm, it's fine. It's alright. No harm was done anyways. You're fine."
She gives him a slight smile — it was the closest she'd smiled at him yet, in their whole two weeks of being roommates. "You don't need to worry about me, you know. I can handle myself."
Charlie blinks a couple of times, before enclosing his hands around his mug and turns away from Avery, his eyes trained on the floor. "I know. I — I'm going to get ready."
As Charlie enters his room, the door slamming lightly behind him, Avery can't help but feel he seemed more upset than he let on, watching his ginger hair disappear out of view behind the shut door depicting his name. And she didn't know why, even though the exact reason was that she continued to detach herself from Charlie. And to be honest, Charlie was growing more and more tired of this distant behaviour he was receiving. She may have apologised, and she may have smiled, but there was something still so guarded about the way Avery Carmichael treated Charlie Weasley that he simply hoped would stop soon.
———
PROFESSOR RAKEPICK'S DEFENCE CLASSROOM always had a different kind of atmosphere to all the rest. Rakepick was energetic, lively. She was an encouraging teacher, though stern if need be. She did come off as brusque quite often, but that was mainly because it was sometimes the only way she could get things done in a class full of dimbos. Her class was filled with many objects that she'd discovered in her years of being a bank curse-breaker, and every so often it would be customary to see someone blasted into one of her picture frames having been the subject of a more powerful than necessary Stunning spell. By this point, Rakepick has taken note of the liability of her dear pictures, so secures them in place with a charm. Her picture posing in front of sleeping trolls will never obtain another dent or scratch ever again.
"But the thing is, Tonks, I just don't know why I'm getting the cold treatment?" Charlie Weasley sighs, dropping his guard momentarily before finding a curse get wordlessly thrown his way, flames growing the progressing flames on the folded edge of his shirt sleeve. "Shit." He says, fanning the flames as he narrows his eyes at her. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't set me on fire like that."
Nymphadora Tonks was smirking. "Why should I, when you can take care of yourself. A few flames never go amiss." She says craftily, scratching at her pink hair with the tip of her wand. Tonks glances around, checking to see Rakepick was occupied. Satisfied they wouldn't have their conversation interrupted, she looks curiously at Charlie. "So what is the problem, then? Like, explain the full thing to me. It'd be a whole lot clearer to me that way. You know, considering you just began blabbering to me non-stop while we've been practicing."
"Who's been blabbering non-stop?"
Charlie flinches as two hands clap onto his shoulders, taking him by surprise. He looks at the perpetrator in question with a look of deep disapproval, as there in front of him, tall-legged, caramel-skinned and wispy-haired, stood Roy Rothchild, moving around Charlie and playfully slinging an arm around Tonks' shoulders, a foxy grin on his face.
"Charlie," Tonks answers plainly. "About the Head Girl."
"Oh, Carmichael?" Roy's eyes widened as he, along with Tonks and Charlie, realised his voice perhaps hadn't been the most discreet. "Shit, that was close," He says, after sneaking a glance over to the other end of the classroom, where Avery seemed unbeknownst to her reverence within the conversation, practicing the wordless duel with her friend Juliet.
"Roy, what are you doing here?" Charlie asks. His hands were held in front of his face as if to say What the hell?, brandishing the folded edges of his school shirt, stopping short at his elbows. He wore a look of pure bewilderment; he seemed to be the only one out of the three standing there with an actual realisation that Roy wasn't meant to be with them.
"Uh — I'm joining you guys, of course?" Roy answers blatantly, mimicking Charlie's hand movements.
"What happened to your partner?" Tonks implores, still under the weighted arm of Roy's, who seemed to take great pleasure in using the pink-haired adolescent as an armrest for his towering figure. Tonks ducks down, releasing her weight from beneath Roy's and allowing him to fall at the descent of his armrest.
"Oh, her." Roy rolls his eyes after gathering his balance back, before shifting his gaze over to a brunette girl who, like Roy himself, found another pair to join. "Said she didn't like me, or whatever. Her loss."
Charlie cocks his head to the side, a sigh escaping his lips. "Roy, what did you say?"
Roy's hands flew into the air, only this time it wasn't as a mime of Charlie's but instead of his own offence. "Why do you always have to assume I did something?" He glares resentfully. He wasn't fooling anyone; the stare Charlie and Tonks gave him proved it all. Roy sighs, letting his hands drop back down. "Fine. I told her she was hot and then she got all pissy and stormed away. Like, what girl ever takes offence to a guy calling her hot?"
Reaching up on her toes, but still with plenty of force, Tonks smacks the back of Roy's ashen brown hair. He winces, clutching at his head, before shooting a piercing glance at his pink-haired companion. "Any girl with standards? Girls shouldn't have to feel happy at a guy calling her hot. That's class one objectification? And not to mention, a dickwad move. And you think you're slick!"
Roy's mouth gapes open, staring at Tonks as if she'd just spoken gobbledegook. He switches his head back and forth between Tonks and Charlie, seemingly at a loss for words. "Back me up here, mate?" Roy looks pleadingly towards Charlie, who only shakes his shoulders with defeat.
"Sorry, Roy. She's not wrong. You've got to treat the girls right." Charlie admits, looking at his fellow Gryffindor and best friend with caution.
"Wow, guys! Thanks for having my back!" Rory sighs into his palm. "Anyways, why was Charlie blabbering about Carmichael? Have you seen her best friend Dominique? She is so ho–"
"I swear to Helga, Roy, if you were going to call her hot I may rip your head off—" Tonks seethes, her eyes resembling a fiery stare.
"Okay, fine. Geez, no need to be so violent, little Hufflepuff." Roy ignores the blazing look he was getting from Tonks and turns his head onto Charlie. "Charles. Explain your issues. Well, one of them, I don't have all day. Let me be your life coach!"
Charlie cocks up an eyebrow at the sight of Roy with his hands splayed somewhat spiritually out in front of him, his eyes closed and his head tilted towards the sky as if contracting sunbeams onto his tan skin. (Like that was possible under the blocked ceiling of the Defence classroom.)
"Erm — no." Charlie answers bluntly. "I'm not doing that." He glances around the classroom, forgetting they were meant to practice wordless incantations, but seeing Professor Rakepick occupied with some other students. (Why was Rakepick never available when you needed her, Charlie thought. A distraction would be much appreciated. Having Roy as his life coach was something he felt he would regret.)
"Why not?" Roy frets. "I'm actually amazing at the whole life coach thing — just ask my sister!"
"I can't ask your sister, Roy." Charlie mutters haplessly. "And, because — there's nothing worth life coaching for?"
"Then what's all this issue between you and the Head Girl?" Roy scrutinises, placing both hands on his hips.
"There's no issue between us?"
"You tell me, then!" Roy says, ignoring Charlie and looking to Tonks. "Why does he need me as a life coach? It's not an easy job, you know?"
With a swift flick of her fingers, Tonks moved a stray strand of bright pink hair out of her eyes. "To be fair, I don't know much either. Charlie was about to tell me, before you came along—"
"There's nothing wrong!" Charlie says, an incredulous denial to his tone.
"Then what were you going to tell me?" Tonks asks, raising her eyebrows.
Charlie seemed to struggle for words, "I'm — I–"
"There's obviously something wrong, or you wouldn't be here moping." Roy says with a blatant roll of the eyes. "Now, Charles, I'm gonna ask you again: tell me your problems and I will solve them. Like I said, not all of them, because that would likely take a year to solve each and every one of them — but tell me what's wrong between you and Carmichael."
Realising there was no point in further extended this lost battle, Charlie sighs and rubs a hand across his face, his wand inadvertently pressing against it too. He looks up, dropping his wand hand by his side. "Fine. I'll tell you what's up."
Looks of pure glee and ecstatic joy fell across the faces of Tonks and Roy, but not before Charlie held a cautioning hand in front of him. "First, though, lets pretend we've been doing what's been told of us. I've seen Rakepick glance over here a couple of times."
Tonks wriggles her eyebrows, "Head Boy, shying away from tasks? Would've expected better, to be honest."
Charlie gives a light scoff to this. "Nevermind that. Roy, me and you will both act like Tonks got us with the spell. Pretend you're hurt, or whatever."
"Why Tonks?" Roy frowns.
"Because, you daft idiot, she's the only one who's perfected these non-vocal spells. Now, play hurt."
Roy did as he was told, doubling over in pretend pain (perhaps a bit more exaggerated than necessary — a few glances were thrown their way at the constipation-like noises Roy have off) and Charlie followed suit. When Rakepick walked past them, her red hair tied loosely at the base of her head, she gave a satisfied grin to Tonks and pretended not to notice Roy had joined them (because who cares when they're actually 'doing' the work?).
"There," Roy says as he jumps to his feet, a pleased grin on his face. "Now, tell us."
"Alright." Charlie begins, leaning against a wall. "So. Me and Avery always walk to breakfast and classes and such together if it's from our dorm, and even though we spend all this time accompanied by each other, even during our rounds, we've hardly spoke? Like, you would expect us to get closer or something but we hardly talk to each other, and it's always me who's the one that sparks up the conversation, but even then it's really short and blunt? She gets really distant and almost feels like she's not wanting for us to be friends or whatever and to be honest I'm not really... satisfied with that, I suppose. And it feels kind of personal? But I want us to be friends! That can't happen though, if she doesn't really give us the chance to be so."
"Maybe she's just a bitch?" Tonks suggests apathetically.
Charlie immediately shakes his head, squinting his eyes towards Tonks. "No, she's not. I've seen the way she is with other people and she seems pretty down to earth, but it's just kinda like she doesn't give me the chance to see that side to her."
"Maybe she has trust issues?" This idea of Tonks, however, made a curiosity grow within Charlie.
Huh. Tonks has a point. It would explain why she doesn't let us have a proper conversation without closing herself off completely, Charlie thinks. He glances over at Roy, who seemed to be in deep thought, his thumb rubbing his chin vigorously. "Roy?"
Coming to a close with his decision-making, Roy claps his hands on both of Charlie's shoulders, looking at him with a curious sense of sobriety. "Charlie, my ginger best friend. The very Head Boy and future dragon-dad. You, my friend, it seems to me that your problem is that you and Avery aren't on the same platform yet."
"Meaning?" Tonks asks with unknowing expression.
"What I mean, is that in order for Charlie and Avery to get on the stage to properly engage with each other they need to both be in the same mindset. Like, for example, I for one know that Charlie is freakishly happy in the morning. And that might set Avery's aura off, you get me? So, there needs to be a time where you both are in the same zone. Connected! There, that's the word." Roy finishes his explanation, looking happy with himself.
"So, you mean to say.." Charlie starts, "that for us two to finally get friendlier we both have to be mentally.. synced?"
"Yes!" Roy exclaims, ecstatic with Charlie's understanding. "That might be at lunch time, or during class, or most likely at night when you're both more relaxed and ready for bed. I don't really know myself, but you live with her, so you can probably see when she's most relaxed or in the zone, as I like to say."
"Well... I suppose it could be in the evening?" Charlie suggests. "She's always reading her books in the living area, so that could be when she's most approachable?"
"Brilliant! I'm so glad you're getting this! I'm an amazing life coach." Roy grins airily. "And like, you could make her hot chocolate or something too!"
"What if she doesn't like hot chocolate?" Charlie inquires.
"Then she really does have something wrong with her." Tonks alludes conspicuously.
"Okay... evening, hot chocolate... what else? What should I say to her?" Charlie says with a fretful frown.
Roy claps a hand over Charlie's shoulder. "That, my dear friend, is where it is then over to you. Be yourself! If it were me, I would be straight-up hi, let's talk!, but that's because I'm as blunt as a brick to the forehead. You, on the other hand, not so much. Just be yourself, mate. As boring and dragon-engulfed as you are."
Biting down on his bottom lip, Charlie nods at Roy's smiling figure.
"If you want, though.. I can talk to her myself?" Roy suggests, still seeing Charlie a bit hesitant. "I can work some of my Rothchild magic on her."
Charlie shakes his head rapidly. "No, no, no. Not at all. That Rothchild magic got you nearly hexed by your partner earlier on. And anyways, this isn't your battle."
Roy's eyebrows raised, a look of incredulous disbelief splayed across his features. "Mate. This has been my battle the moment I saw you and Tonks on the Hogwarts Express in first year and thought oh, a ginger and a Metamorphagus, this'll be fun! I've regretted many things through the years, but never being able to help you through an issue. It's why I'm your life coach!"
Tonks scoffs. "I will snog a ghost before I let you be my life coach."
Roy shoots a meaningless glare her way. "Ungrateful git." He looks back to Charlie, his gaze soft and kindling, "Are you sure you don't want me to talk to her? I mean, you got this either way!"
Charlie smiles gratefully. "I am. Thanks, Roy."
Roy grins. "Anytime. What's a life coach here for?"
Before Charlie responds, a voice calls out: Rakepick's. "Alright, everyone! Enough practicing." She says loudly. "Let's have some real action with these wordless spells. Tonks, you're up! And Rhodes, you against her. Seeing as you two are a few of the only ones to have mastered this. Get on with it!"
Tonks moves into the centre of the class, followed by Juliet Rhodes after having said something to Avery, her previous partner. Charlie glances over again Avery, whose laugh resonated in the far end of the classroom, having found humour in something Juliet said. It's been two weeks, and by this point they've memorised each other's daily routines. How much longer would it be until she'd begin smiling around him, like she'd done so to everyone else around her?
———
HAVING ROY ROTHCHILD AS A LIFE COACH IS SOMETHING CHARLIE HAD NEVER IMAGINED WOULD OCCUR TO HIM. Or better, deciding to actually follow the advice his vulgar best mate gave him. He looks at the two steaming mugs of hot chocolate in his hands, topped with whipped cream and marshmallows. It was a Molly Weasley approved recipe, and if Avery didn't like this then he would be on the same page as Tonks and think there really was something wrong with her.
Charlie's eyes focus on Avery's seated figure upon the sofa in the centre of the common room, her back facing Charlie while he was at the outset of the kitchenette. She'd brushed her hair out, and her strawberry blonde tresses flowed smoothly in a straight trail, stopping short above her shoulder blades. She wore a grey hoodie with a pair of black leggings, and Charlie had the feeling she was glad they didn't have rounds that night and wasn't obliged to stay in her uniform. Avery was on the sofa, her legs brought up to her chest as her eyes scanned the pages of the book she held. Pride and Prejudice, Charlie had seen passing by. She seems to always be reading that, he thinks.
Charlie takes a deep breath. Roy, I'm relying on you. He hopes this doesn't go awry. But then, it was just a bit of light chatter? There's nothing so bad about that, and Charlie hoped Avery thought so too. With a final self-assured breath, he takes careful strides forward, so as to not spill any of his marvellous mugged creations. One of his hands wobble as he places them on the coffee table, as Charlie hops onto the sofa end opposite from Avery and gives her a soft grin.
"Hi." He says, smiling.
"Hey?" She answers, slightly confused. She pulls the edges of her book to close meticulously and slowly, then bends down to pick up the hot chocolate mug between her hands, examining the item as if it were a foreign object. "What's.. what's this?"
"Hot chocolate!" He says, aiming to come off as encouraging. Charlie takes a distracting glance around the room, before refocusing his gaze on Avery. "I — erm — I thought we could... talk."
"Talk?" Avery questions, furrowing her eyebrows. "About.. about what? Is there any Heads stuff you know of? The Halloween Ball?"
"Uh, no..." Charlie trails off, picking at a dried bit of marshmallow at the rim of his mug. He thought she might have said that. "Actually... I just thought we would — erm — get to know each other a bit, I suppose? We've barely had the chance to talk, so I just thought... yeah." He gives her a hesitant smile, and Charlie tilts his head slightly as he looks over to Avery, who had the same guarded appearance he feared would come through.
Avery knits her eyebrows together, as if not understanding something. "But... what's the point? In us getting to know each other?"
Charlie can feel himself stiffening uncomfortably in his seat as the tension began to increase within the warmth of the common room. "I mean.. there's nothing wrong in it, is there?"
As she shakes her head, Charlie can tell Avery is thinking a bit much. The expression on her face depicts her being in deep thought, but Charlie doesn't understand why. He was pretty plain and clear. "Yeah, but.. we're.. we're co-Heads... we're not really meant to be friends?"
He squints his eyes at her. What the hell? For someone who seemed as smart as Avery, that was something really stupid to say.
"Come again? Just why aren't we supposed to be friends?" He inquires. Perhaps he came out as more brusque than necessary, but Charlie still had no regrets. He wanted to see just what exactly made Avery think like this.
Avery raises an eyebrow at him. "Like I'd already said, we're co-Heads. We're meant to be professional? Not friends."
Charlie's eyes are squinted, and he's looking at Avery like she's grown two heads. Because by Jove, it really seemed like she did. How could she deem something like this a fit enough reason to not make friends?
"But there's nothing bad about being friends?" He reasons, more straightforward than his usual state. Charlie was getting vexed. "You can be professional and make a new friend."
Avery is silent and she seems to have lost the ability to speak. Charlie sighs. He can't hold back his feelings much more. "I've refrained from saying this so far, but I can't keep it in any longer," Charlie asserts, his head shaking from side to side, "I know you've been giving me the cold treatment and I don't know why. What have I done? Tell me please, because I have no idea. And don't tell me it's any of this unprofessional bullshit because that's just a load of waffle, Avery."
"It's exactly that, though!" Avery says, her breathing growing more rapid. She's trying to avoid looking Charlie directly in the eye. "I don't see any point in forcing a friendship solely for the reason that we're roommates. It's unnatural."
"Can you give it up!" Charlie yells. It comes out as a yell, and he refrains almost immediately, but he knows it happened as a result of his restless patience and keeping his emotion locked up and Charlie knew it had to come out sooner or later. But he sees Avery flinch, and Charlie could've sworn something resembling regret flashed in her eyes. "I'm not forcing a friendship! At all!" Charlie bites down over his lip, before meeting Avery's eyes again, who avoided his meaningful stare as she looks down. He takes an inhale, calming down his raised voice. "Look. It's perfectly natural for us to get closer after sharing a dorm. There's nothing unnatural with wanting to make a new friend! I know you think otherwise and that I'm forcing this or that I might not be doing it for the right reasons. But nothing is as forced as making yourself think someone is befriending you for the wrong reason. Because I'm not. I would never do that. I do want to be your friend. And there's nothing unnatural about that." Charlie focused his gaze on a spot in the sofa, before stealing a small glance towards Avery's side. She seemed hesitant to speak. "I'm done." He says, sighing. He hopes this didn't ruin anything. But then, there didn't seem to be anything to ruin in the first place.
"That's the thing." Avery utters quietly.
Charlie looks up, slightly confused with her short response. "What?"
Avery looks up. Her teeth gnaw on the flesh decorating the inside of her mouth, and the silence lingering in the atmosphere is evident of her delayed reaction.
"It's.. it's in my nature." She mutters, so quietly that if Charlie hadn't been within close proximity with her on the couch that he wouldn't have heard it at all. "I like having friends and I love having people around me that I love, and that I can enjoy myself around! But it's always hard to let myself trust someone new that I just... shut down. And who knows, maybe being overwhelmed with all this Head Girl stuff was part of it. But I don't think it's such a significant factor... anymore." Avery sighs, taking a fleeting glance over Charlie's intently focused figure. "It's been so long since I've had to go and befriend someone new that I just... I don't know how."
"How to make friends?" Charlie asks. "Or how to let someone in?"
"Both, maybe."
Charlie draws in an exhale, and extends his palm towards Avery. She looks at it with her eyebrows furrowed, unsure of what to make of it.
"What? I'm not gonna do anything," Charlie jokes. Somewhat cautiously, Avery succumbs and places her palm atop of Charlie's, feeling the press of his cool fingertips close around her hand. He smiles softly. "You have a hard time trusting people and I understand that. Especially how you've been thrown into something as big as being the Head Girl. But it's like I said the other day during class — we're a team. We're supposed to help each other. Form a special bond. Which is why I will do whatever it takes to help you with this. And in time, you might find it within you to want to help me too. I want to help you, and I want to be friends with you."
Avery has to stop for a second and just look at Charlie. Not the Head Boy, not the dragon-lover, but Charlie. With acceptance glimmering deep within his cerulean eyes, she saw this exceptional guy. This kind, empathetic guy, with hair as blinding as the sun and a smile as contagious as disease — who is willing to give Avery another chance, even if she knew she wasn't deserving of it. Charlie is willing to give this another go. And perhaps, Avery should be too.
"I'm... sorry." She says. The apology comes slowly, and it's unfamiliar on Avery's tongue. But she thinks it's what Charlie deserves. It took her friends' reasoning and Charlie's own perception for her to see it, but she didn't have the right to treat Charlie like she did, even if it was because she felt uncomfortable in a position like this. It wasn't right to treat someone harshly just because you have your own trust issues, and Avery gets that now.
"About being really frosty with you, and keeping you at arms' length. And about this morning, too." She continues. Charlie's intent expression grew into a quizzical look. Avery raises an eyebrow. "Yes, Weasley. You might not have thought it, but I saw how hurt you looked at my attitude. I should've... thought about how you felt, and I didn't. I should've told you I was planning on staying the night somewhere else. These entire two weeks, I was so caught up with myself in dealing with all these changes and not wanting to be Head Girl and not wanting to... well, be your friend, I guess, that it didn't dawn on me how you would feel. It was selfish of me. It's not easy for me to make friends, but I shouldn't have let my own trust issues get in the way of your efforts. And for that... I'm sorry."
The corners of Charlie's mouth upturn into a soft, precious grin. "I accept your apology," He says sincerely.
"I'm not going to lie and say that it'll be easy, trying to get over these... problems of mine." Avery says cautiously. "New friends have never been easy for me. But maybe Dominique's right, and my friends are right, and you're right, and I'll be better off without it. I'll try my hardest to be your friend, Weasley." Avery lets out a deep exhale, and the smallest trace of a smile finds its way onto her face.
"I appreciate it, Avery." Charlie smiles. "Really. And I will help you out with it. That, I promise you."
Caught in the moment, Charlie almost spills his hot chocolate onto himself, forgetting he held it. "Shit," he mutters, cleaning the small amount of spilt liquid on his hand, his other hand breaking away from Avery's. He sees Avery hasn't had any of hers yet. "Have some!" He grins. "It's really good."
Avery holds it to her mouth, feeling the spread of the liquid on her tongue and the gooey marshmallow along with it. "You're right," She says with a smile, taking some whipped cream off with her finger. "It's good."
(Charlie sees Avery take another sip of hot chocolate, and there's no doubt that she's smiling from beneath her mug.)
Baby steps. It wasn't much, but it was a start. The start of a new friendship. One day at a time. One step at a time.
***
okay i wont lie,, this wasnt my fav chapter to write mainly cos i absolutely SUCK at writing out any kind of argument or tension-filled moment so like,, soz if that was shite lmao but hopefully after this things will start... looking up for charlie and avery?
i want u guys to see avery's development and how she becomes more trusting and the reasons for why she was like that so yea,, also tonks was here whoop what a queen and my bby roy! i love him :')
i hope you guys liked it tho, i have loads in store for them and it'll be an absolute whirlwind :')