chapter v mr perfect & frost

***

AVERY'S LAST YEAR AT HOGWARTS HAS HIT HER WITH THE UNEXPECTED IN MANY WAYS.

But the thing with all these new changes, is that Avery has dealt with them. Some may deal weakly, some may deal above average-ly, and Avery might fit into that category too. Any time she'll have gotten a task assigned to her whether it by a teacher or help for any prefects, Avery will give her all to it, with every inch of her capabilities. Because she's dedicated and she'll swear to something and put her entire mind to it, regardless of what it entails. And it's gotten to the point that Avery thinks maybe, just maybe, becoming Head Girl wasn't so bad. The change wasn't so bad. It's brought upon a new feeling of accomplishment to her — the self-satisfied feeling getting through her tasks, the smile that crawls upon her face when she sees people excited about things she's planned (namely, the Halloween Ball). Though, she may have dealt with the work aspect of becoming Head Girl this year well, other things come by as more... difficult. In clear example, the boy by the name of Charlie Weasley.

     By now, she knows that it wasn't right of her to treat Charlie as she did. She didn't like the change, or the unexpected, but it gave her no right to be rude to anyone else. And she knew it would be difficult trying out this whole friends thing with Charlie. But its the least she owes him after being so insensitive. If she would give change another shot — now would be the perfect time. And the perfect time to make a new friend.

     Avery doesn't know it, but their previous nights' conversation put Charlie in a much more elated mood that following morning, because, not all seemed lost! All hope wasn't gone for them both to have a chance at being friends; last night proved just that. Charlie gets to the Gryffindor table, giddy jumps fuelling his steps. He sits down in front of Roy, conjuring up the largest of grins that he can muster.

     "Godric bless your mother for having you, Roy." Charlie voices abruptly, placing his palms flat against the wooden table, a satisfied sigh escaping her lips. Roy looks at his best friend, half a slice of toast still crammed in his mouth. He seems initially confused at what Charlie meant, but then a wide smile begins to curve its' way up his lips.

     "It worked then?" He exclaims joyfully. "She didn't go all cold-frosty-bitch on you?"

     "Well..." Charlie scrunches up the side of his face in denial to the statement, but proceeds, "At first, she did... we had, like, a bit of an argument about the way she was being but after that she kinda... came around? We got on an even footing, like you said and okay, maybe we still have a long way going until we're friends, but Roy! This is incredible, you truly are an amazing life coach, I'm sorry I ever doubted you—"

     "Hold up," A voice begins to approach them, and both Charlie and Roy turn their heads to see Tonks sliding her legs over the bench at Gryffindor Table and seating herself beside Charlie, her magenta hair shining like blinklights in the Hall. "Did you just say that Roy is an amazing life coach?"

     "I did!" Charlie answers, his voice definitive. "Me and Avery talked last night!"

     Tonks spoons some porridge ino her mouth, gulping down the scalding hot substance. She looks at them expectantly. "And?"

     Roy narrows his eyes at Tonks. "She didn't go all cold-frosty-bitch on him — well, he said they argued at first, but then they got on an even platform with each other. Just like I said!"

     Charlie sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose with his two fingers. "Are you really gonna call her cold-frosty-bitch from now on?" He says, his tone laced with exasperation.

     "Only if I have to." Roy replies indignantly, a smirk playing on his lips.

     "Okay," Tonks says, dragging attention back onto her and her raging war with trying to cool down the burning bowl of porridge. Once satisfied her tongue wasn't going to become disembodied, she looks at the two boys. "What next, then?"

     "What do you mean, what's next?" Roy questions disapprovingly. (He disliked having someone question his master-life coaching plans or, even worse, someone making him think.)

     Tonks sighs exasperatedly at Roy's disregard, and focuses her gaze upon Charlie, whose eyebrows were furrowed curiously. "You two talked," She says. "What now?"

     Charlie seems slightly taken aback by this question, his face contorting and discontorting as he ravaged his thoughts. "Erm — I mean, I guess we should... talk more?"

     "Exactly," Tonks says, a hint of self-assurance within her tone. "You want the two of you to be friends, so you guys should talk more. The question is how exactly will it happen?"

     "He should obviously wait for the right moment, shouldn't he?" Roy asserts confidently. "Exactly like my advice said yesterday, and it was successful."

     "Yes, but your advice was so yesterday, Roy." Tonks dismisses. "He needs to take the next step. You need to ask yourself questions on how you two can take things to the next level. For example, I have a hot date later on! And I couldn't have asked her out had I not found a way to get to that stage. So, yeah."

     "You have a date?" Roy says. "Who with?"

     "I'm not telling you!" Tonks giggles, wagging her finger in Roy's deplored face. "Anyways, Charlie, you need to go talk to her. Instead of waiting for the moment, he should seize the moment! Go after it yourself!"

     "Yeah, but — how am I gonna do that?" Charlie questions, staring at Tonks with deliberation. Roy looks aggravated Charlie was taking the advice of someone other than his official life coach. "I can't exactly interrupt her plans—"

     Tonks groans overexcessively. "You boys are so clueless!" Roy and Charlie look at her questioningly, then shifting their gazes to each other, plainly perplexed at whatever the hell the pink-haired Hufflepuff was frustrated over. Tonks raises her eyebrows at them, flames dancing within her hazel-sparked irises.

     "Okay." Tonks says, a definitive sigh escaping her lips. "Avery Carmichael is a Ravenclaw. And if you boys paid any attention, you would know the Ravenclaw quidditch trials are taking place this fine Saturday afternoon. And if you boys paid some more attention, you would know that one of her best friends, Rowan Hamilton, was the Ravenclaw quidditch captain. One plus one equals two, and—"

     "Avery is going to be at the quidditch trials!" Charlie exclaims, his mouth gaping open as the realisation dawned on him.

     "Took you long enough," Tonks rolls her eyes. Blatantly condescending as Tonks was being, her derisiveness didn't seem to affect Charlie, though, for he was beaming massively with this new revelation. "No wonder all the teachers prefer me to you guys. You two have next to no brains."

     "Excuse you!" Charlie scolds. "I'm the Head Boy! The teachers prefer me the most!"

     Tonks scoffs, a grin wobbling on her lips, "Yeah, and you can't even figure out the right moment to talk to a girl. You wish you were smooth, Charles."

Charlie grunts. Before he can retort, Roy cuts in, clapping his hands together conclusively.

"With that being said," He begins. "Tonks's advice is somewhat useful. Part one of Mission Make-Avery-Carmichael-Less-Frosty was a success." Roy grins, rubbing his hands together. "Now, onto part two."

———

TO AVERY, THE TYPE OF WEATHER BEING DISPLAYED is good enough marker of the type of day she feels she would have. Per se, typically, should the clouds be pissing down with rain, she'd automatically wake up feeling like she's been ground like a salt grinder, and would have to rely on the day ahead to hopefully have something encouraging in stock for her. On days like today however, where not a single wispy cloud is visible in the stark epitome of blue skies and the emerald tinted grass stands up on their ends, with the feeling being course yet reassuring beneath bare skin, Avery feels as grateful and elated as a house elf would when pleasing their master.

Today was no exception. As the story foretold, the sun was out, the clouds took a holiday, and the grass was here to play; and Avery felt great upon waking up. It was a Saturday, and she remembered she had to do some more prepping for the Halloween Ball, along with ensuring she's present at the Ravenclaw quidditch trials (Rowan would simply throttle her if she failed to show up) and lastly, to complete her homework. She did not want Kettleburn to think Avery not handing in her essays on time was going to become habitual, and even worse, having Charlie Weasley save her in front of an entire class again.

Ah, there it was. Charlie Weasley. To Avery, this boy truly was something else. He was one of the kindest, most patient and exuberant people she's ever met; yet last night she saw him snap in front of her, and she knew it was entirely her fault. She knew she had taken it a step too far — she was being selfish, rude, and completely unaccepting of his feelings. But here's the thing. He still remained patient with her — he still gave her another chance, when she'd been reluctant to give him one in the first place. And that perplexes her.

Truthfully, Avery begin to dislike herself for treating Charlie like she did. She had no right to do so, even if she was going through her own things. Charlie was being kind, and respectful, and she should have been too. But she tells herself that maybe, there's still time to make amends. She needs to give Charlie the chance she should've already given him.

And she needs to take the leap.

It's most definitely time to take the leap. She's come to the end of her cliff; baby steps won't work any longer, and she'll have to make the jump to take her on. Where exactly, she didn't know, but that leap would help her progress. And Avery only hoped that this progression — becoming Charlie's friend — would benefit her. Charlie had hope, and lots of it; she should take a leaf from his book now. She shouldn't demonise change so much — along with giving Charlie a chance, she knows she should also give change a chance.

Avery knew it wouldn't be easy for her, but by this point, that didn't matter. She'd been selfish enough — now it was time for her to be selfless. To make it up to Charlie.

     Avery didn't see much of Charlie that morning. She told him she had a letter she wanted to send before breakfast (one regarding the Halloween Ball, specifically, asking the Weird Sisters if they would play at Hogwarts for that night), so she told him to go on ahead, that she might see him later. She didn't know if he still had their last nights' conversation still ingrained in his mind, but she didn't talk much about it.

     So she went on to the Owlery, dressed in her fine Saturday attire of a black pinafore embellished with rustic buttons on the straps and a crisp white t-shirt beneath, a pair of red canvas shoes decorating her feet, with her bare legs being idled by the shallow warmth the sunlight so enthusiastically brandished. Avery loves sunny weather, and most especially being able to feel as if the whole world above was enveloping her in a revitalizing embrace. It reminds her of summers back in Thankerton when she's helping out at the McKinnie farm with her friend Eleanor McKinnie, where they would both sweat their hair out planting and fertilising crops in the blinding sun and be greeted with the rewarding sight of Mrs McKinnie and her ice cold homemade lemonade by the end of it. Even though she'd gotten used to spending most of her time in an entirely different part of Scotland, she still misses what felt like her second family back in Thankerton.

     (The pleasant weather also almost immediately reprimands Avery of her friend Rowan, and how she wished for the weather to be dry. She knew for certain that along with herself, this weather would be sure to gratify her muggle-born friend.)

     After her refreshing walk to the Owlery, and being met early by her owl Oban (who presented her with some pictures of Jeremiah in Copenhagen, enjoying the sightseeing before he would have to resume his Alchemy course, another being from her Uncle Douglas with a picture of him, his wife Laurel and their newborn baby girl, Abigail), Avery allows for her message to be pitched off with a smile. The smile lingers as she makes her way back up to the castle for her breakfast, before she had to do a double-take at seeing an odd shape in the grass. She cocks up an eyebrow as she recognises the figure to be Juliet; she was sprawled on her stomach, her hands flatly pressed in the grass and peering into the bushes ahead meticulously. Avery doesn't say anything; she knows not to disturb Juliet when she's so deeply focused on something, but understood when she saw a bedraggled-looking Argus Filch in front of the bushes, his head darting from left to right, in search for something he may never find. Juliet, obviously. Her pranks were never going to end — especially if she was in her last year of school.

     Avery grins to herself and moves on. (Okay, being the Head Girl, she probably should have intervened but Avery wouldn't rat on a friend like that. And in her defence, Filch probably deserved whatever the hell Juliet sprung upon him.) The Great Hall is bubbling with chatter and warmth as Avery takes her usual seat at the Ravenclaw table and starts chatting with her friends over a hearty plate of toast. Juliet arrives not long after, a twig entangled in her textured curly hair, grinning like an absolute madman.

"So," Rowan says, dropping her spoon beside her bowl. Her expression hardened, and she looks at them all with eyes wide, serious and beady. In preparation for the quidditch trials, she'd deployed her poker face and her honey blonde hair was tied back in a ponytail at the bottom of her head, small strands flickering out from the end of its short length. "You guys are coming to tryouts later on... right?"

     "I'm trying out, so, yeah, obviously." Eric says. From the looks of things, he seemed quite queasy and was trying to procrastinate consuming his porridge; the same couldn't be said for his quidditch captain, who'd already snarfed down three crumpets and two bowls of porridge. ("It's called stress eating, Eric!" Rowan exclaimed in fury. "Now eat something! I don't want to have you faint in the middle of my tryouts!")

     Avery nods. "Yeah, of course I am." She tells her. Rowan's expression lightens slightly. "It's at the top of my to-do list. I'll be there."

     "Brilliant," Rowan says, "What about the rest of you guys?" She looks to other five. Something told them that if they said no, they probably wouldn't get out of this hall alive courtesy of the fiery blonde seated with them. Nonetheless, they all made a similar sort of grimace at her frightening expression.

     "Sorry, Row." Hannah frowns. "Professor Sinistra was going to talk to me about how I can improve my astronomer readings." They all look at her with the most confused of expressions, and Hannah says it with a kind of glee that makes one think spending the weekend talking to your teacher about stars was normal. "The stars are saying today's the best day for it."

     "I have... homework," Julian says unconvincingly.

     "Professor Vector says the only way I can up my Arithmancy grade is by redoing that test today," Dominique sighs.

     "... Me too." Benjamin says hesitantly. Dominique gives him a strange look, and he only shrugs his shoulders. "What? I fell asleep in that first class and it went downhill since then."

     Rowan sighs. "And you, Juliet? Why are you abandoning me?"

     Juliet only grins once return. "You see, I'm busy. Doing... well, I don't really know if I should say so with the Head Girl right in front of me..."

    Avery catches a hold of the wary look Juliet was sending her and brushes it off with a chuckle. She remembers seeing Juliet bent over in the grass hiding from Filch earlier on.

     "If you think I'll take points from you for whatever prank you're doing, you've really not paid attention much these last couple of weeks," Avery tells her coolly. "Besides, I saw you this morning hiding from Filch on the way back from the Owlery."

     Juliet's chocolate-tinted orbs widen, and she looks at Avery with alarm. "You... did?" Avery nods with an amused grin, and Juliet allows for her shoulders to relax slightly. "Oh."

     "Yeah," Avery laughs, "Out of curiosity... what were you doing? Filch looked pretty furious. Not that I'm complaining."

     "That prick thought it'd be clever to take away my Walkman. But electrical devices don't even work in Hogwarts? Like, what an idiot!" Juliet exhales a furious breath, blowing an out-of-place strand of brown hair out of her eye-line. She begins to smirk self-satisfyingly. "So, I was only getting payback. As one should."

     "By doing what, exactly?" Avery asks, her eyebrows furrowing. "Making him run around like a headless chicken?"

     A wide smile spreads itself across Juliet's face, pinching at her cheeks. She cackles silently, before meeting Avery and the rest of her friends' bemused faces. "Here's the best part," Juliet begins with a near-evil grin, "That was only the first stage. To distract him. You see, I'm not alone."

     "You're not alone? What do you mean?"

     "Promise you won't snitch? You know, seeing as you're Head Girl?"

     Avery narrows her eyes at her friend. "Who do you take me for?"

     "Okay," Juliet inhales, before she adorned the same amused expression she had before. "I've been working with Fred and George Weasley."

     "Hang on... what?" Avery's face scrunches up disbelief, as she's left to stare into the face of her overjoyed friend. "How on earth does that happen?"

     "Right, basically," Juliet says, starting into what seemed to be a detailed explanation, "One day I saw both of the twins trying to pull a prank on someone but they failed because, hello? Have you seen the size of them? Right amateurs, so they are. Decent pranksters, but amateurs nonetheless. But I figured it's my last year and someone would have to carry on my legacy and make other people laugh, because who would do that when I'm gone? So anyways, I decided to teach them all my secrets and make them even better pranksters. Oh, and did you know? Their uncles were the Prewett twins which, just so you know, are some of the best pranksters to have walked these halls. So they definitely have the potential to become brilliant pranksters." She finished her long account with a satisfied smile, placing her arms gracefully upon the wooden table.

     Avery looks at her with widened eyes, seemingly taken aback. (She did just find out her close friend was now accomplices with the younger brothers of her roommate — the roommate she happened to want to now improve things with. God, she wished she could make it up to Charlie. The thought continued to reprimand her brain as soon as any associative detail was related to him.)

     "Okay, so... the Weasley twins are your apprentices now?" Avery says, "That still doesn't explain why you were sunbathing the wrong way earlier on.."

     "Yeah, so," Juliet says, "I was lying down in the grass because I was distracting him so he could be away from his office. That left my two apprentices, as you like to put it, to sneak into his office, take my Walkman back for me and whatever Filch took from them. And more, if they see something they like. I'm leaving that up to them."

     "So why can't you come watch the trials then?" Rowan intrudes, silently glowering.

     Juliet scowls. "That bloody cat of his didn't get the message when I lured Filch away from his office. She got to Filch and warned him about his office before the twins could sneak their way in. So, I have to try again and make sure the plans don't get foiled this way round." A smile graces her enticing, though disheveled, appearance as she adds, "And I have a date later on, too. So I'm fully booked."

     "A date?" Hannah gasps, "Who with? Your star chart didn't say you'd have another date until January!"

     "Well, your star charts are wrong," Juliet says, "And I'm not telling you guys. Yet," Juliet finishes off with a wicked grin.

     With an exasperated and run-down sigh, Rowan turns her gaze onto Avery. "You're the only that's coming to watch, then?" Avery nods, giving Rowan an assuring smile. "Thank Rowena."

     Thank Rowena for Avery.

———

THE CIRCULAR QUIDDITCH STADIUM PROVIDES its inhabitants with a reverberated gust of warm wind, shooting upwards and above the nearly endless rows of seats. Many folk wishing to try out for the Ravenclaw quidditch team were huddled at the outset of the quidditch pitch, listening to what the captain has to say, squinting their eyes and covering their foreheads to protect them from the somewhat blinding sunlight. (Perhaps this kind of weather wasn't the best idea.) Avery sends an affirmative thumbs-up to Eric Feng, appearing only as a tiny figure all the distance away in the pitch, yet his nervous disposition was still evidently seen. She chuckles from her seated position high up in the wooden stands, watching as Rowan instructs all the players. So engrossed in hearing the faint resonances of Rowan's shouts from way down below, Avery didn't seem to notice the approach of the person at her left.

     "Can I sit?"

     Avery jumps at this sudden approach and her head shot to her left, registering Charlie Weasley's unmistakable ginger hair at her side, clad in a grey t-shirt and denim blue jeans, where the lines of definition ran downwards his exposed arms. She let out a relieved exhale, clutching a hand to her chest.

     "Merlin, Weasley," She spoke, her voice a mere breath. "Don't do that."

     "Sorry," He apologises with a weak smile. "So — uh, can I sit? I hope I'm not interrupting anything..." Avery understands what Charlie is meaning when his eyes travel towards the book resting in her hand. She initially think about brushing him off and claiming she wanted to be alone but instead remembers the remorse she felt and how she wanted to improve things between herself and Charlie. She knew this was how. This was taking the leap.

"Sure," Avery says, allowing for a smile to grace her features, "You can sit." She puts the book aside, directing her body language back towards Charlie. "Rowan would kill me if she saw me reading during her first campaign as quidditch captain, anyways."

"Ah, of course." Charlie speaks as he perched himself onto the seat, glimpsing Rowan dividing the players into groups. "She won't kill me, would she? In case she thinks I'm snooping for Gryffindor?"

Avery raises an eyebrow towards him, "That's not what you're planning to do, is it?"

Charlie chuckles, loosely shaking his head. "No, not at all." He looks at Avery with a small smile. "I wanted to... talk. And, well, apologise."

Apologise? What on earth for? Avery had no idea what Charlie had to apologise about. She should have been the one apologising after her brusque treatment of him these last few weeks.

"What for?" Avery asks him.

"For snapping out at you," He says, a remorseful perk to his lips, "I should have... talked about it more calmer. But, I lost my cool. So, I'm sorry."

The fact that Charlie wanted to apologise for something Avery caused entirely, made an incredulous breath escape her mouth. Charlie really was unique.

Just then, Avery erupts into a fit of laughter, grasping onto her mouth. Charlie frowns at her uncalled-for reaction.

"What — what is it?" He asks her, his eyebrows furrowing. (But even though he was utterly perplexed at what was up with Avery, Charlie can't help but inwardly smile that she was laughing at something he said. Despite it being a heartfelt apology. It was a step on the right track.)

Avery calms herself, halting her laughter and looking at Charlie with a bemused expression. "You are... incredible, Charlie Weasley." She says.

Charlie's expression scrunches itself up further. "What do you mean?"

     Seriously, what did she mean by incredible?

Exhaling, she looks at him with widened eyes. "You're the one apologising for something I did." She says. "I was the one who made you break out like that, who made you feel like that. It was entirely my fault. I should be the one to apologise."

"You did apologise, though!" He asserts assuredly. "Now it's my turn."

Avery sighs. "How do you... do it?"

"Do what?"

"How are you... so kind?" Avery says, her voice tender. "I was rude, and blunt, and unwilling to give you a single chance when you're giving me multiple? I just — what makes you so effortlessly kind and giving?"

     Charlie smiles sheepishly, shrugging his shoulders. "I have hope," He begins, "That me and you can become great friends. Throughout this year, and maybe after Hogwarts too. We're 'forced' together, as you love to put it, so why not gain something extra out of this?"

     Avery nods her head slowly, grazing her teeth against her bottom lip. Charlie can see her lingering hesitance at what he was insinuating, and decided to take a small step back. Take things slowly; he knew Avery wouldn't be comfortable with this just yet, he knew it would take time. She may be taking a leap, but he had to take baby steps.

     "Okay," Charlie says. "This is going to take some time, so... tell me something. About how you're feeling." Avery furrows her eyebrows, and Charlie takes this as a cue to explain his motive, "I know what you're thinking. About us starting out at being friends, and that it's a little daunting. So tell me how you feel. To get it all out on the table, because thoughts and feelings are very different things."

     Avery inhales, "Okay." They had to start properly somewhere. If she would be eventually opening up to him, now would be the best time. "I've always been... scared of the unexpected. Of uncertain things, things that come out of nowhere. They... frighten me. I wanted this year to be something in the ordinary, I wanted my last year to not be so...
unpredictable. I didn't want anything to change this year. But then that letter came, and the unexpected happened. I didn't want to be Head Girl but now I am and people are saying I'm doing a great job of it—"

     "You are—"

     "Thanks." She gives Charlie a gratifying smile. "Now it's gotten to the point that I feel that maybe, just maybe, it wasn't such a bad idea, and that confuses me. Because I'm changing, and I don't know where that'll get me. It's all so... unfamiliar and I don't know how to walk this path. And then we factor in you, Mr Perfect, and–"

"Wait." Charlie stops Avery, an amused grin playing at the corners of his mouth. "Mr Perfect?"

"Well, yeah!" Avery adds blatantly, gesturing fervently at his figure. "You are the stark epitome of the perfect student and without a doubt the ideal candidate for Head Boy. Thus, Mr Perfect."

"Thanks?" Charlie quips, with it coming out as more of a question than he'd intended. He didn't really know if it was a compliment, judging by what Avery was about to follow with. (She clearly hadn't known the unprecedented trips he'd taken to the Forbidden Forest in previous years, calling him that name.) "But it's only fair I give you a nickname too!"

"Fine, then. Go ahead." Avery says, her eyebrows turned upwards.

"Let's see.." Charlie taps his finger against his chin mockingly as he wracks his brain for the perfect nickname. He grins, remembering something Roy had said earlier. "I know," He says, "Frost."

Avery scoffs incredulously. "Really?"

Charlie nods smugly — riling up Avery was proving to be somewhat entertaining. "It's only fair, seeing as how you were being pretty frosty with me."

"Alright, then." Avery says, clicking her tongue. "Fair enough." A small smile graced along her lips, and she couldn't deny that she felt inwardly elated that Charlie was joking about what she was like to him before. She was glad he didn't hold such grudges. "Mr Perfect and Frost."

     "Mr Perfect and Frost, it is." Charlie smiles. "Anyways, what were you going to say before?"

     "Oh, erm —" Avery takes a moment to think over her previous words, and a look of recognition flashed across her features. "Yeah. Er — so, you, Mr Perfect. I was already feeling so... disorientated by all this change, and I guess sharing with you was overwhelming. One change too much." She presses her lips together in a thin line and glances towards Charlie, leaning against his seat with his elbows and with an intent look of understanding. "But it still didn't give me the right to treat you the way I did, and I understand that now. Dominique and all the others tried to make make me see it sooner, so I suppose part of the credit goes to them."

"Well, maybe you are changing," Charlie says. "That doesn't mean it's such a bad thing, though. And even more so, you have all these people to help you adjust to these changes. Dominique. The rest of your friends." Charlie connects his eyes with hers, a look of firm intent within those cerulean orbs. "Me."

Avery smiles. A heartfelt, genuine smile. She was touched. Charlie Weasley did that, and she wasn't sure how. But she knew not to dismiss it anymore.

     "Yeah, I do," She says. "Thank you. For talking to me, and... giving me another chance. You're a good guy, Charlie."

Charlie. Another milestone for the books — Avery hadn't yet addressed Charlie by his first name, and the fact she'd made this change this soon into their growing friendship with each other made an unaware smile crawl onto his face.

"And I'm sure I can say the same for you, Avery. You know, when you're not being all frosty on me," Charlie says with a teasing smirk.

"Hilarious, Charlie," Avery scoffs playfully, a betraying grin splaying itself across her face.

    "My pleasure," He quips in return, "How's things from your side of the Halloween Ball?"

     "Not bad, I suppose." Avery answers, smoothing out the stray sunkissed flyaway hairs at the forefront of her hairline. "I sent my owl to the Weird Sisters this morning — that's why I didn't come to breakfast with you — and now I'm working on the name and posters for the Ball."

     "What were you thinking for the name?" Charlie asks in curiosity (namely to keep the stimulating conversation going).

      "I was thinking about the Phantasmal Ball," Avery says, pursing her lips. "The byline of the posters is going to be 'Saunter in the macabre moonlight', but I'm still unsure about the name. Don't want to make it sound too scary, you know? We want people to actually come to this ball rather than being frightened of it with a spooky name."

     "I like that byline," Charlie says with an encouraging smile. His face drifts into a bubble of thought, before turning back to Avery with an inventive grin. "What about the 'Spectral Ball'?" He suggests. "Spectre, like a ghost?"

     Avery's face lights up. "That's actually really good, Charlie!" She laughs lightly, marvelling at Charlie's suggestion. She makes a mental note to not forget the name and add it to her poster design. "I love it. It has a sort of calm but spooky aura to it. Well done!"

     Charlie grins. "Anytime. Happy to help."

     Charlie feels... happy. He was getting somewhere with Avery. She'd dropped her shield a little — she was being less reserved. He didn't know if it was as a result of being caught in the moment, or if she truly was warming up to him. Charlie hoped it was the latter. But before he could advance it any further, they both realised where they were; the quidditch stands, in the midst of the progressing quidditch trials, and they'd been so engrossed in their newfound conversation dynamic that they hadn't registered the fiery state of the blonde in front of them, floating tirelessly upon her broomstick at the edge of the stand.

     "Row?" Avery asks, addressing her friend who seemed to be shooting Charlie a deathly stare. "Everything alright?"

     "Just. Peachy." Rowan seethes through gritted teeth. She sighs, dropping her head down onto her chest. "It's horrible, Aves! I've only tried out half of the people yet but the only decent one was Roger Davies and Eric! Eric, I tell you! I can't deny, his quidditch practice over the summer did him good. Anyways, I think I'm gonna go cry in the changing rooms of there isn't a single decent quidditch player in this second lot of people I'm trying out."

     "You'll get them, I know you will!" Avery encourages, trying to reassure her friend. "You've got this."

     Rowan releases an exasperated sigh, and if she wasn't relying on her hands to hold her up on her broomstick she would've grasped at her face with them. She realises again that Charlie was sitting beside Avery, his hands leaning relaxedly behind him and his legs stretched out ahead of him.

     "Why are you here, Weasley?" Rowan spat, shooting unnecessary glares his way. "Snooping? It's a shame, because you seem like a decent guy and a team player too. So, why are you crashing my quidditch trials?"

     Charlie's eyes widened, slightly taken aback by Rowan's accusations. Perhaps he should've recalculated his decision when he decided that he, a rival quidditch captain, would sit spectator to another team's trials? But he wasn't snooping. Charlie didn't snoop. He opens his mouth, ready to defend himself, instead finding that words begin to be spoken but not from his mouth.

     "He's not snooping, Rowan." Avery says, assuring both her friend and defending Charlie. She was defending him! "Trust me. We were just... talking, I'm sure of that. Charlie's here to talk to me, nothing else."

     Rowan furrows her eyebrows, still not entirely convinced but able to take Avery's word well enough. She makes a plea to return back to the rest of the players awaiting their trial, after grunting disapprovingly in Charlie's direction.

     "Ignore her," Avery says dismissively, "Rowan can get... competitive. And really stressed out. She often gets quite brash in stuff like this."

     "You — uh — you defended me?" Charlie blurts, his eyes wide in disbelief. He'd never think Avery would so much as defend him — let alone against one of her own friends. They were hitting the milestones today!

     Avery shrugs nonchalantly, wanting to cover up the significance of her actions. (Okay, she didn't want to admit just yet that she was warming up to the boy — but it was happening, nonetheless) "It's like you said," She explains, "We're a team. Besides, now we're even."

     Charlie had to take a second to process her words — remembering that he did cover up for her forgetting to do her essay in Care of Magical Creatures. But he was still shellshocked; this was a big step. And if anything, it encourages Charlie more to keep trying with their friendship.

     When the trials were over and Charlie went back to see his friends, Avery had to endure Rowan's taunts and backlash over all the terrible tryouts. Lucky for the sassy quidditch captain, she did have a good number more players that actually had an alright tryout. (Not all was lost for Rowan Hamilton, apart from a large chunk of hair and patience) And even if Avery's already heavily occupied brain continued getting wracked with the gossip Rowan was bearing in hers, she couldn't help but feel... lighter. After that conversation with Charlie. She was glad that she didn't ruin things entirely. That she could still make it up to him. And she was glad that he was willing to help her make things better. Help her make a new friend.

As usual, Charlie is the one to pick Avery up from Ravenclaw common room at 7.30pm, and Avery obliges with a smile. Charlie is glad of two things; one, Avery not leaving him to wait for ages like the previous night and two, her greeting him with a smile. It was a new sign, one that tells them that, yes — things are on their way to improving.

(Okay, things between Charlie and Avery were getting better — but that isn't to say that Sir Cadogan wasn't still being an absolute arsehole whenever they entered their joint quarters. For a portrait, he was cheeky!)

     When Avery leans back on the sofa in the common room wearing her comfies, her legs brought up to her chest and writing on her parchment leaning against a hard book, she thinks the night will progress like how it usually would. She'd do some work, read a book or so, then get ready for bed. It's what she was used to. So, she was surprised when Charlie Weasley appeared at the coffee table in front of her, bearing two mugs of hot chocolate with cream spiralling upwards in a characteristic flick, and most especially his unmistakable grin.

    "What's this?" Avery asks, accepting her own mug into both hands after placing her work for the Halloween Ball down onto the coffee table.

     Charlie hops onto the opposing end of the sofa, similar to their positions the previous night. (Goodness, Avery wishes that something like last night wouldn't happen again. She hoped there would be no arguing again. That wasn't fun.) He smiles, sipping onto his own hot chocolate and wiping away the remaining cream on his lip. "I thought we could—"

     "Talk?" Avery finishes for him. She'd heard that line before.

     "Yeah," Charlie breathes out with a friendly upturn of the lips. "I figure that we're both always working on things at this time, when we should probably be relaxing right before bed," He chuckles, "So, yeah. Just talking. No shouting. Just... talking."

     "Alright," Avery says with a small smile. Her eyes linger on the hot chocolate cupped in her hands, it's warmth sending heated vibrations through her fingertips and spreading all throughout her person. She looks up, her eyes connecting with Charlie's. "Is this gonna become a regular thing?" She asks intuitively, "You, and me.. these hot chocolates?"

     Charlie shrugs, a grin lingering on his lips. "It wouldn't be so bad, would it?" He admits. "Friends, yeah?"

     "Yeah." Avery smiles. "It wouldn't be bad at all."

     (Avery knew for a fact she wouldn't regret this new occurrence. Molly Weasley's hot chocolate recipe was heavenly.)

     As Avery sips on her hot chocolate, chatting jovially with Charlie, she figure that perhaps something like this was what Avery needed. Yes, the relaxation and getting to know Charlie — but also because she reckoned it was about time she got over this... fear of hers. The fear of the unknown, the uncertain, that cloud plaguing her judgement whenever it came to new things. For heavens sake, she was going to Norway next year! If she were to get used to a whole country of new people, right now would be the best chance for practice. It was time for Avery to accept that maybe, change wasn't so bad.

***

ok i acc loved writing this chapter :') i thought i was gonna struggle making this at least 3000 words but it's nearly 6700??? what is wrong with my brain LMAO

i can't wait for avery to become more confident and for her and charlie to be babie asf 😤🥺🥺 i love them sm

i hope u guys liked this! as always, sign petitions, keep educated on all the happenings around the world, and keep up the support! it makes me so🥺💓