A walk after a Feast. on Quidditch Pitch

Emery Kijewski-Jareau

June 07, 2015 9:52 PM

A walk after a Feast. by Emery Kijewski-Jareau

Maybe she did want to be alone? He wasn’t sure. She smiled when he agreed to leave the hall with her, but was it a genuine smile? He wasn’t so sure. Girls were so complicated that sometimes he wondered if he should bother at all. But then he looked at Ava again and he already knew that wasn’t really an option. Just looking at her made his heart beat faster. He didn’t know what sort of magic she had over him (it was both annoying and amazing), but he couldn’t help himself and do whatever it was that she needed or wanted from him.

“I suppose the pitch it is then.” Emery commented since that was the one that she had any sort of thought towards. Emery only ever went out to the pitch whenever Chloe forced him to watch a game. He wasn’t one for sports (and really, neither was Chloe, but she liked to support people and be out with the crowd), even though Chloe was on a fit kick and was making him workout with her. But fresh seemed like a good idea and they would probably just sit around and look at the stars (that’s romantic, right?). Besides, he had never been down to the pitch after dark and it might be kind of neat.

“Fees?” Emery asked rhetorically as he thought about whether or not someone would have to pay to apparate. “No, I don’t think there are fees for when you actually do it.” Emery answered. His parents apparated all the time and he was fairly certain they never got a bill on it or anything. “I know that you have to pay for lessons and probably for the test to get your license. And if you don’t have a license and you’re caught Apparating, you get fined. But I can’t imagine having to pay for every time you apparate. I wouldn’t even know how they would keep track of that anyway.” He was fairly certain people had to pay for portkeys, but he thought for sure that Apparating was free so long as one had the correct license.

“Why do you ask?” Emery asked. He supposed that since they would be Of Age soon enough that they would have to go through lessons and pay all the fees for them that she was worried about it, but it seemed a little out of the blue to ask about it now.

When they finally made it out into the Pitch, Emery thought it was time to ask what exactly was wrong. “Ava, did I say or do something to upset you?” He asked. “I mean, when we started talking, you seemed, you know, happy. Like you. But after a while it felt like something happened and you, you know, stopped being happy.” Ok, he probably could have phrased all of that in a more articulate manner, but his brain didn’t always seem to work properly whenever Ava was around. He really did hate this whole ‘hormones’ and girls thing. He felt flustered and stupid all of the time now. And, the worst part was, he didn’t even think Ava noticed.

6 Emery Kijewski-Jareau A walk after a Feast. 259 Emery Kijewski-Jareau 1 5

Ava Fletcher

June 08, 2015 5:57 PM

A talk after a Feast. by Ava Fletcher

As Emery answered Ava’s question about apparating she watched his face very carefully. There was something really intriguing about it, and her eyes studied the way each perfect freckle on his face stood out, glancing back to his green eyes when he was done and nodded. “I suppose that makes sense, that would get ridiculous if people were getting charged every single time they apparated!” The idea was a bit ridiculous, especially if she considered the number of magicfolk there were in the wizarding world who apparated and likely used apparation as their means to get around. The practice would soon become obsolete, it would be like putting a tax on walking around, she supposed, hardly fair at all.

“No reason,” Ava replied. “Just wondering.” The information conflicted with the excuse she had just conjured up for Charlotte not coming to visit her, and she was still having a hard time trying to digest it. If it was free, quick and easy to do, then why didn’t she pop in every now and then just to check up on her. Ava understood not being able to now, but surely a visit on her sixteenth birthday was worth the trip, and seeing her at least once a week when she’d been in elementary school and dealing with those mother-daughter book club bullies would have been more than welcome. She frowned and looked down at her feet as they drew nearer to the Pitch.

Ava blushed slightly when Emery asked if he had offended her in anyway. She didn’t know how he could think that since he was probably one of the sweeter people she had ever met in her life. “Not at all!” she exclaimed reaching out a hand to catch his arm. “I hate that you could think that!” She smiled sadly at him. “I doubt you want to hear it, so I won’t bore you with the details, but it’s just stuff with my mom. Stupid stuff.” She let go of his arm and found a seat on the grass of the pitch, leaning back on her elbows to look up at him. “This hurts,” she complained. And though she was talking about the position she was sitting in, if she were reading a book in which a character had said that, she would have analyzed it as the character talking about the relationship or lack thereof she had with her mother.

“Come sit,” Ava pulled herself up to a sitting position and patted the ground next to her. After the long trip to Sonora followed by the feast and all the speculating that Ava had done, she felt worn out. It was odd to think that she’d passed most of the day sitting and she didn’t want to take this time to stand and stretch her legs, but the walk over to the Pitch had done that enough, and it was getting late, the sun had already begun to set and the night sky was already coming out. She covered up a yawn. “We’re starting Advanced classes this year,” she said. “Hard to imagine that five years have passed so quickly! We’ll be taking our RATS and then we’ll be out of here.”

She turned to look at Emery. It was so weird to think that in two years time she wouldn’t be seeing her friends on a daily basis anymore, that she would be making new friends and new experiences at Healer training. She didn’t know what to think, but she did know that she didn’t want to talk about it much. That was a conversation for next year, or maybe never. She was sixteen and young and not supposed to talk about such morbid subjects like never seeing her friends again (though she was certain that she’d at least try to keep in touch with them). So instead of continuing down that path, she moved on to a happier one. “You know, you’ve been so great these past few years. You and Chloe and Emrys. I’m really glad I met you.”

10 Ava Fletcher A talk after a Feast. 258 Ava Fletcher 0 5

Emery

June 10, 2015 4:18 PM

This is going well. by Emery

Well, it seemed his thoughts on Apparation were agreed upon by Ava, which is good, he thought. It was good that they agreed on things, right? It meant that they could have conversations or even disagreements, but as long as they agreed on some things, then they could get along just fine. His mother told him that communication was everything. That was probably the most honest and overused saying ever. But, having watched his parents together for so long, it seemed the phrase was right. His parents weren’t perfect. They fought, sometimes more than what was comfortable to Emery, but they always talked through it. His parents were also very open to their kids about everything. Since Emery could remember, his mother had been honest about where he came from. Since Chloe was little, her dad had been honest about her mother. When Angel and Ayita came into their lives, Emery and Chloe were sat down and everything was explained to them. Everything was always talked openly, which is probably why things with Chloe seemed so confusing.

“Oh, ok.” Emery commented back. He thought there ought to be a reason for asking about it, especially out of the blue, but he didn’t want to push her on the subject either. Communication was one thing, but forceful questioning was completely different. And, for all he knew, she might have read something on the wagon that she just remembered she had a question about. Knowing Ava (and sometimes Emrys and Chloe), anything was possible.

Relief washed over him when Ava rejected any such thing of him offending her. That made him feel better (and so did her hand! But he wasn’t going to focus on that…). Her moods had seemed subtle but swift during their conversation all evening and Emery thought for sure it was something that he had said or done to cause her to feel down about it. Emery frowned when Ava spoke up about her worries. “I don’t think anything dealing with a mother is stupid.” He said, his frown deepening when she said that it hurt while sitting down on the grass. After everything that has happened with his own family (not just what happened to Chloe, but with Angel and Ayita too), things with family, however trivial they seemed, were big deals.

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want too.” Emery advised while he took a seat next to her. This sure does feel a little intimate… Emery thought when he was sitting close to Ava in the darkness of the pitch. He gave a chuckle when she started talking about the end of their Sonora days. “Our parents gave us the ‘future’ talk over the summer. They said now is the time to start looking into colleges to see what we need to do in order to get accepted and stuff.” Emery told her. He didn’t mind the talk and he even went to local colleges near home with Jeff to grab pamphlets for him to review.

Emery was thrown when she made her last statement. He gave an awkward laugh, feeling uncomfortable with the compliment. “Uh...I’m glad?” He wasn’t sure how to respond to that and so he voice had the questionable sound to it by going up at the end of it. “I mean, you guys have been great friends to me too.” he added. It was weird thinking he didn’t really become friends with anyone until his second year when Emrys and he started all over again and with Emrys came Ava. Still, they were great friends and with Arnold as another roommate/friend, Emery thought he had done pretty well here. “Are you getting sentimental on me?” He asked, quirking an eyebrow at her.

6 Emery This is going well. 0 Emery 0 5

Ava

June 10, 2015 8:55 PM

Quite well, I would say. by Ava

While it was nice to hear that Emery didn’t think that stuff with her mother was stupid, Ava didn’t know to what degree she wanted to talk about it with him. Emery was nice enough, but she didn’t feel comfortable being around her friends when she wasn’t being upbeat around them—it was like Emery had said, she was the happy friend, not the one who complained abut not being able to see her mother while said mother was at work. She didn’t feel as though she were allowed to be sad, because if she were then her friends would think she was mad at them when she wasn’t and the last thing Ava wanted to do was make them feel bad for something they couldn’t help, so she was glad when he said she didn’t have to talk about it if she didn’t want to. She did want to, but she didn’t want to bother him with her tale of woe.

So instead of replying with the story, she just nodded. “Thank you,” she said, ducking her head down a little bit so that her hair hid her face. She didn’t want Emery to see the tears that were forming in her eye and press her to tell him the details anyway, so she shifted the hands she was leaning on slightly and then brought them back up to move her hair around, arranging it so that all of it fell to the side of her face that Emery was on, glad for the darkness that was settling in around them.

Emery’s chuckle though startled her slightly and she turned so that she could see his outline out of the corner of her eye. “Ooh, the ‘future talk’,” she said, trying to keep her voice upbeat. “Sounds ominous. I haven’t really discussed anything with my grandfather yet, I think he knows I’m going to follow in Charlotte’s footsteps and be a Healer, but I can’t help but feel that he’s hoping I do something else. What does your future entail?”

Ava felt a hot rush flick through her stomach as her mind went back to that mystery girl Emery had experimented with, the 2.5 kids, and the house with the white picket fence. She could just see it now, Emery’s perfect wedding with the faceless girl, Chloe there with a sparkling gem of a boyfriend, Emrys there with Charlotte, Ava there with ten cats. Yep, she thought to herself over-dramatically. If I can’t get over this kissing thing, that is what my romantic future holds for me.

Either way, she was glad to hear that Emery reciprocated the friendship feelings that she had expressed and when he arched an eyebrow with her jokingly she blushed again and rolled her eyes, giving him a friendly push. “Me? Sentimental?” she laughed and raised a hand, running it through her hair, arranging it so that it was out of her face. The tears which had previously been forming were dried now and the corners of her eyes crinkled, slightly stiff from them. “I think I’m entitled to be a little sentimental every now and then, don’t you?”

10 Ava Quite well, I would say. 0 Ava 0 5

Emery

June 13, 2015 10:37 PM

With a few hiccups... by Emery

Ava was being evasive, even with how she was holding herself physically. Whatever it was that was hurting her with her mother was far greater than Emery really thought he could help with. His family had issues, but none of them were his expertise and he certainly never really dealt with any mother issues. He couldn’t see her face but he felt like she was having a moment and he wasn’t sure what to do. He wanted to put his arm around her and to tell her that it was going to be okay, somehow. But he was scared to touch her. He wasn’t sure what sort of reaction Ava would have if he tried that route.

Even so.... she was hiding herself from him, which isn’t what friends do, right? And she was in a bad place, so it was his duty to help her, wasn’t it? While Ava strategically placed her hair over one shoulder, Emery wrapped his arm around her shoulders for a quick squeeze. “I know that whatever it is with your mom has you really upset and maybe it’s not something that I can really help with, but…” Emery paused, unsure if he should really say anything. “Maybe you can talk to Chloe about it. She’s been having a really rough time with her biological mother. She hasn’t really spoken to anyone about it, but I think you two might be able to relate to some things, maybe?” He wasn’t sure if Chloe would actually talk to Ava about anything that happened, but if both girls were having mother issues, then it seemed they were probably the best people to confide in.

“Yeah, you’ve seemed pretty set with what you planned on doing since the day I met you. I’m not surprised your grandfather hasn’t yet.” Emery agreed. “My parents are just really big planners and having everything in place. I guess it’s what’s helps keep a house of five kids, one being deathly ill, sane.” Emery commented. He didn’t really mind discussing his future. He knew what he wanted to do and now he knew what sort of options he had. Chloe was less than enthused by the talk and he could only assume it was because she didn’t think it very necessary at this point in life.

“My future is Veterinary school for magical and non-magical animals.” Emery answered with a shrug. “My mom’s a Magizoologist, er, was one anyway, before she became a teacher. I grew up with animals on the brain, I guess.” He smiled. “I still haven’t decided on a school, but there’s plenty of time for that, I guess.”

Emery laughed and held up his hands as though in surrounder. “Okay, okay, that’s fair.” He agreed. “Everyone deserves their moment. I’m sure it’ll be much worse for all of us next year anyway.”

6 Emery With a few hiccups... 0 Emery 0 5

Ava

June 14, 2015 9:09 PM

Boo! by Ava

Though the initial touch was startling, Ava felt her body relax as Emery gave her a side hug and some kind words and advice about maybe talking to Chloe about what had happened and she nodded, remembering how Emey had briefly mentioned Chloe’s summer earlier when they had still been eating. “Yeah, maybe,” she said. She wasn’t really overly desperate to talk to anyone about the summer, really, but the idea sounded good when Emery suggested it and she was reminded once again how utterly Emery he was.

“Papa always said that someone who likes animals and who is liked by animals is someone to be trusted. And now I’ll have someone to to take care of all my cats,” Ava thought. Then she slapped her hand over her mouth as she realized she had said that out loud. She gave an uncomfortable laugh as she felt the pink creep into her cheeks and smiled sheepishly. “That’s cool though that you want to do what your mom does too,” she said. “I’m guessing you’ll be taking Advanced Care of Magical Creatures then. Are you dropping any of the other classes?”

“I’m taking the full course load plus one,” she admitted. “And even though that kind of sucks, I think I’m looking forward to taking on Herbology. Are you doing an independent study?” When Ava had needed to make the decision on what she was going to take over the next two years, she had wanted to drop one of the classes so that she could take on an independent study in herbology which she needed to get either an O or an E in, in order to continue on to Healer’s school. However, as it turned out, she hadn’t been able to part with any of her classes as all but COMC were requirements for Healer training and she liked to have COMC as it helped her cope with leaving her cat home with her grandfather.

She smiled, pleased with being able to make Emery laugh. “In that case I look forward to not being the only sentimental one around here,” she joked. “Otherwise I’m going to look like an idiot because I know when I have to say good bye to you guys I’ll be bawling my eyes out.”

Ava wasn’t normally one for crying, and when she did cry she didn’t like people to see her so she was almost certain she was only kidding as she said those words, but part of her also realized that leaving Sonora was going to be a big step in her life—not one she was sure if she was ready for or not. Some days she still felt like a first year, thrust into a world where talking doorknobs were no longer only normal in a Lewis Carroll book.

10 Ava Boo! 0 Ava 0 5

Emery

June 17, 2015 8:27 PM

I know, I know. by Emery

Emery thought about any time that Ava had ever confided in him for anything remotely emotional but he couldn’t really think of a time. If Ava was like Chloe in that she avoided such things, it wouldn’t really surprise him, but it was a little hurtful. Emery wasn’t much of a talker, but he did talk if something was bothering him and someone was kind enough to ask. He had just assumed such things were reciprocated with his friends. He really hoped he took up his suggestion and she spoke with Chloe. Emery was aware of what was going on, but Chloe had refused to really talk about what happened. If she wouldn’t talk to him, maybe she would talk with her female friends. And maybe it would really be beneficial to Ava to have that confidence in someone too.

His green eyes looked confusedly at her when she clamped her hand around her mouth. He had no idea why she would be embarrassed by her comment. Everyone had cats. He laughed though because her reaction was overly dramatic in such an accidental way that he couldn’t help but find it utterly adorable. “Yes, I will take care of your multiple cat home.” Emery stated. He was certain that she was only joking considering the fact that she was going to be a Healer and wouldn’t have much time at home, but then again, maybe she just wanted a reason for him to come around? It was a nice thought anyway.

“Well, aren’t you also following in your mom’s footsteps?” Emery asked. “Anyway, my mom’s job is so much better than my dad’s. He always comes home exhausted from all the marketing he has to go through each day.” Emery was proud of his father’s success, but growing up, his mother had a passion for animals that grew between people. Ayita was in school for Magizoology and Emery would go into Veterinary school. Who knew yet about Chloe or Harper. “I’m still taking all the main courses.” Emery admitted. Even if he didn’t have to, the Aladren in him refused to allow him to drop anything.

“Oh wow, you’re taking an independent study too? That’s crazy.” He commented. He probably could have done that as well, but he didn’t want to feel overwhelmed next year. “Most of the schools that I looked at, their undergraduate programs offer the programs that may not have been offered in our secondary studies. So, I don’t really have to take any Independent Study, thankfully.” Emery explained.

"I can't confirm that I will cry, but I'm my sister will." He teased. Emery didn’t really want to think about the end of Sonora quite yet. It was a frightening idea that in only two short years he would be starting college and be an official adult with actual responsibilities. Plus, he wouldn’t see his Sonora friends anymore and he had grown so close with them. Well, ‘anymore’ just meant daily. He was sure they would all keep in touch and see each other still.

Not wanting to go down that road just read, Emery stretched and stood up, holding his hand out for Ava to take. “We should probably head back in, I’m sure the First years are already making their way back to the common room.”

6 Emery I know, I know. 0 Emery 0 5