Winter Nights

Avaria Lockwood

~Mommy- Keystone Ink Apprentice~ Bartender~
 
Messages
1,228
OOC First Name
Jess S
Blood Status
Mixed Blood
Relationship Status
It's Complicated
Sexual Orientation
Heterosexual
Wand
Curly 9 Inch Swishy Walnut Wand with Meteorite Dust Core
Age
3/3/2034 (26)
Ava was ready for a night of adventure. After the moon had risen high in the sky and she was sure her father was asleep, she slipped silently out of bed and grabbed her new backpack. She had been sneaking out all week. And tonight, she wouldn't be doing it alone. She made it to Vader's house in no time, climbing silently into his window. She tiptoed over to his bed, smiling as she saw him sleeping soundly. She grinned before bouncing on top of him. "Shhh!" She chided as soon as his eyes opened. Let's go, she mouthed before hopping off him. She winked at him before disappearing out his window again. She hit the ground and turned to make sure the boy was following her.
 
Vader had spent close to the first week of being back at home sleeping, the end of the semester had exhausted him so thoroughly, that for a few days he’d really only gotten out of bed to eat and use the bathroom, but things were better, his sleep was normal once again and Vader was so unwilling to let himself fall back into those patterns again. He was startled awake when someone jumped on top of him, his eyes opening quickly in shock before realising who it was that was in front of him, ”Helene?” he whispered but she was already hopping off him and out the window. ”Helene?” he repeated a little disorientated but getting himself out of bed regardless. He grabbed some jeans, his shoes and a jumper and the familiar red cap that Helene had bought him and climbed out the window after her, sparing a small glance towards Padme as he climbed out of the window, putting his shoes on as he got outside and began following her. ”Helene, what’s going on?” his tone was heavy with sleep as his mind seemed to slowly catch up to where the rest of him was. Vader rubbed his eyes slightly but, despite how tired his body felt, and how his mind seemed slowly, he was very much awake and curious as to what she wanted to do. What she was doing.
 
Ava grinned widely, suppressing a giggle as Vader joined her. "Shhh!" She hushed him, taking his hand and attempting to lead him away. "Come on, I've been off somewhere all week and you need to see, too." She explained. It was a twenty minute walk out past town and into the woods, and another twenty to get where she was going. But she'd brought snacks and things to drink. She gave him her best pouty face, trying to convince him to come with her.
 
Vader let her take his hand and begin leading him off somewhere. He followed behind her like she wanted to and then moved a little quicker so he could be in step with her. The boy smiled a little tiredly at his friend. He’d always miss sleep for Ava, but he had to wonder about where it was that they were going, ”Are we heading somewhere specifically?” the boy couldn’t help but ask with a curious expression. He could hear the tiredness on his voice and wondered if he sounded like that a lot this year, there had been points for him where he just hadn’t had the time to even think about it. ”Are things going bad with your dad?” the boy asked with a tentative tone, he knew that the holidays were hard for Ava and that would likely explain the excursions that she was having and the fact she was having a lot of them during every night. Vader hoped she wouldn’t mind him asking about it, and wouldn’t mind really if she didn’t reply about it.
 
Ava smiled as Vader came up beside her. "Yep! You'll see when we get there!" She giggled, skipping along happily and swinging their hands between them. She gave him a warm smile as he asked about things with her dad. "Everything's going good. We've talked and worked it out... I think. We're just.... always away so I wanted to explore home a bit more. And tonight I just wanted to show you my new favorite place." She gave his hand a squeeze. "You can go back to sleeping in a few hours." She reassured him playfully.
 
Vader rolled his eyes a little at her, he didn’t tend to enjoy surprises but he did trust Ava whole heartedly so he could at least trust that she wouldn’t lead him anywhere bad. He was pleased too that things with her father seemed to be better that they had worked everything out or as near to everything as was likely possible for them. He would miss her in the nights she might’ve spent with him at sleepovers together but he was pleased that she and her father had worked things out slightly, Ava deserved the best. Vader was also keen to find her new favourite spot. At the comment about sleep he nodded, ”I’m the master of functioning on little sleep!” he boasted, though as much as the lack of sleep had worried him, now it was better and now he was never going to let himself wall into that matter again, he could make jokes. ”The first night I got home from school, I slept like 16 hours?” the boy told his friend, ”My parents woke me up thinking I had a cold or something,” Vader said, his sleep upon getting home had been heavy for the first few days and had been good, not as good as it had once been but better than it had been in months.
 
Ava giggled at Vader's comment. "I noticed. It makes me the master of sneaking things into your bag- usually Lily's baked goods or a sandwich. Sometimes a new water bottle." She squeezed his hand. "But now that you put out that amazingly wonderful yearbook you can sleep again!" She looked at him. "Even when we get back to school," She scolded him lightly. "Which reminds me, what classes are we taking for me to fail?" She asked him.

She couldn't help but laugh loudly as he said he slept so long. "I'm surprised they didn't think you were dead. You were the walking dead for a few months there," She winked at him. "Though it did make you pretty oblivious... I may have seen a pretty little Ravenclaw staring at you from time to time. And Onyx, but he stares at all the pretty boys." She giggled.
 
Vader laughed lightly, he knew that all of those things which he had found in his bag had been from her. Had come from her. He didn’t mind, he could admit that sometimes the baked goods and the water were exactly what he needed, exactly what he wanted. ”I think I might keep everything but Arithmancy, I liked it but I liked everything else better,” Vader admitted with a shrug, Professor Le Fey’s words had stuck with him, so maybe reducing the classes by one would make everything a little easier for him. He still had time to make a final decision about it but he was pretty certain he’d be dropping it. He laughed a little with her, though the last few months hadn’t really been fun, he could laugh about it now, it wouldn’t happen again.
Vader's cheeks blushed furiously at her comment about Isabelle, he had noticed her being a little odd towards him, and then there had been Pho too, with the note and the rose. He was broken out of his thoughts when Ava mentioned Onyx. He was a guy in the year above him…..had he been staring….no. Vader’s blushed deepened and he didn’t meet Ava’s gaze. He couldn’t be pretty to a boy...even if the thought of Onyx liking him was a little nice. No, he couldn’t be. Ava would maybe understand but everyone wouldn’t. They’d be nice to everyone but Vader like in his last school. He couldn’t. ”I also got a pink rose from a slytherin girl,” if there was more emphasis on the word girl, Vader hadn’t really intended there to be. ”Do you think I should date Isabelle or the slytherin girl?” he asked Helene, still not meeting her gaze, still with his eyes glued to the floor still a deep blush upon his cheeks. ”They’re both really pretty,” he added quickly, he could like either of them, they were very conventionally and objective pretty.
 
Ava nodded at his words. "Sounds like a plan then. No Arithmancy." She shrugged. "I... think I'll try harder this year. It's really hard to study, and I don't really get a lot of it, but... I want to do better." She admitted to him. She continued to skip along. They had just reached the woods, and she started in through the trees, trying to stay close to Vader as much as she could. She raised a brow a little at his comment, noticing the slight emphasis on the word girl. She wondered briefly if that meant he was like Onyx, but quickly shrugged it off. Maybe he just didn't like Nyxy. "I dunno," She told him honestly. "It should be more about who is or isn't pretty, right? Who do you like? I mean, who makes you happy and comfortable being yourself and makes you a little warm and fuzzy inside?" Her mind quickly flashed to Philip but she pushed it back. She wasn't ready to deal with that. Not yet.
 
Vader nodded as she spoke. Saying that he planned to drop Arithmancy out loud to her, made him decide with her that they would indeed drop arithmancy. It would be good to have on less class this coming year, would make things better for him. ”If you want help studying, you know I’d always have the time to help you,” Vader smiled at her as he spoke, reaching the woods with her.It was true for him, he’d happily help Ava study if she wanted to do better. He wanted her to do well if she wanted to. He was sure with one less class and the fact he definitely wasn’t going to get as stressed about accio this year, for sure then he’d have the time to help her. When she spoke, with some honest about how he should pick the girl, he kept his gaze away from hers. He didn’t feel like that with either. He liked both Pho and Isabelle enough, they were cool, they were nice. He didn’t feel particularly comfortable being himself around them, and they didn’t really make him feel warm or fuzzy inside, maybe the closest he’d gotten to that was the rose giver, but that was a boy and Vader didn’t feel that way about boys. Instead of replying to her he just shrugged, he’d just need to get together with one of them. Just start dating one, then there would be no questions about it, he’d just be dating someone. ”Isabelle probably,” he replied still not looking up at Ava, just continuing to walk forward but his gaze on the ground. ”What about you and that boy, Philip? The one from the valentines day ball,” he asked.
 
Ava wandered closer to Vader, knocking her arm against his as he offered to study with her. "We'll see." She told him. "Because you're going to sleep more. And cut back a little on the coffee. And not be such a worry-wart all year." She teased him, giving him her brightest smile and jumping up on a tree root.

She watched his expression as he said Isabelle. Why was he so determined to be dating someone? She narrowed her eyes and hopped down to follow him. She swallowed nervously as he asked about Philip. "We... haven't talked. I think he's avoiding me since the dance." She shook her head. "I don't regret kissing him. Just... the way I did it. I do really care about him. It was just too much for me with everything going on with Papa at the time." She took Vader's hand. "Here, we're going this way." She turned him to the left. They were almost to the entrance now.
 
Vader grinned at her, not minding her teasing. Though he knew there was some truth to her words, she had likely been worried for him, given all of the food and drinks she’d been slipping him over the last few weeks. The gryffindor gave her a little smile, ”It won’t be like that again,” he promised her with a little smile. He was hopeful it wouldn’t be like that again, he hadn’t exactly found it to be all that fun. Thankfully however she didn’t seem to bring up isabelle or his desire to date, just answered his question about Philip. As she did so, he almost regretted asking. He wanted to ask to make sure things were okay but it seemed that it was maybe a little bit of a sore spot, not something that she wanted to deal with. He let her take his head and turned to the left and kept walking. ”Why won’t you tell me where this place is?” Vader complained with a little sigh, he was excited and curious about where she was taking him, but wondered what exactly it was, they were hopefully almost there, Vader felt like he’d been walking for ages, they had to be nearly there.
 
Ava giggld as Vader complained. "It's not a surprise if I tell you!" She chides him. She came to a stop in front of a rock face. She reached into her bag and pulled out a ball of yarn, offering Vader an end. "Here. Its a little dark in this next part." She smiled at him before slipping into a hidden crack. It took her about five minutes of twists and turns before she came out on the other side. She smiled. The cave had a small hole in the roof, allowing moonlight to shine in and illuminate the area. The roof was fairly far up, allowing nearly a dozen scattered trees to grow and thrive. The floor was moss, and if you listened you could hear the sound of a creek. The roof of the cave was spotted with hundreds of illuminescent rocks, creating the appearance of a starry sky all above them.

She shut her eyes, taking in a deep breath and smiling as a soft breeze blew her hair. She turned to see if Vader had kept up with her. She had hoped the string would keep them together. She would feel terrible if she lost him. She knew the caves systems well, but she didn't think Vader did.
 
Vader felt a little out of his depth as Ava offered him a bit of yarn and then slipped off into the rock face. He somewhat regretted having grabbed nothing in his haste to follow Ava out of the house. A flashlight would’ve been real useful at this point now and he did feel a little naked without his camera. He walked slowly and carefully, but still managed to slip a few times, until eventually he made it to where she had stopped and he took a moment to look around. ”Wow,” he wished he’d brought his camera, to just capture the beauty of this place, but maybe it would be better to not, ”Wow, how did you find this place,” Vader still moved slowly and steadily knowing that he was still likely to fall. It was truly amazing really and Ava had just found it randomly, and then been able to find her way back to it several times. ”I wish you’d told me, I could’ve brought my camera and we could’ve taken so many pictures.” It was certainly still worth being awake at this hour to be able to see this place, to marvel at it. Vader didn’t think he’d be able to find his way back without Ava so he knew he had to enjoy it now while he was here with her.
 
Ava giggled at Vader. "Oh, I didn't think to grab yours. But I did bring mine." She reached into her bag and offered it to him. "I also have a blanket, a few flashlights, and some food. I figured we could have like... a midnight picnic!" She explained with a bright smile. "It's so relaxing here. I just... wanted to bring my best friend along," She told him, folding her hands behind her back and rocking back and forth. "I was just exploring," She told him. "To be honest though, I followed a cat." She giggled.
 
Vader looked back towards Helene as she took out a whole bunch of things he hadn’t realised she was carrying, perhaps in his tiredness he simple just hadn’t noticed all that she had. The Gryffindor smiled at her, ”A midnight picnic sounds like fun,” he had to agree with her, it was exceedingly relaxing here, it was just very nice, it was why he regretted not having his own camera with him, but he’d make do with Helene’s just so that he could capture some of it. He was a little distracted but his attention was drawn back when she said she’d followed a cat, he frowned in surprise, ”A cat led you here,” he repeated just to make sure he was clear on what she had said, that he hadn’t misheard her or anything. But he just shrugged and focused on what she had brought, ”What food did you bring?” he asked, ”Can I see the camera?” he asked, he didn’t want to just take it off her if she wanted to be the one to take pictures, but he could take a few to get started and then make sure it was on the best settings for all of the pictures she might want to take.
 
Ava laid out the blanket and started pulling the rest from out of her bag. She had pepperoni pizza, grilled cheese sandwiches, a few different sodas. She looked up to Vader and smiled, offering him her camera. "Here! It was my dads, he gave it to me once he took the job at the ministry. It's professional so I never really got the hang of using it very well." She explained to him. She had actually been thinking about giving it to Vader for his birthday, but she had no idea if he would like something like that. Hence tonight's adventure! Partly. She had wanted to show him this place. But now she could see how he liked the camera before deciding whether or not to give it to him.
 
Vader watched as she laid out the blanket with everything else, marvelling a bit at everything she had brought. He reached out and took the camera she was handing it to him. He was a little surprised that she had taken it from her dad but he turned it over in his hands as she talked a little about it. It was a professional camera, and a really good one at that, ”This is a really good camera, was your dad into photography?” Vader asked as he turned the camera over in his hands. He raised the camera after fiddling a little bit with it and took a quick picture of the cave, the flash illuminating the room suddenly. He pulled the camera away and smiled, ”This is an incredible camera Helene, if you look here,” Vader motioned to a certain bit and began talking quickly about how the camera could be best used, he spoke quickly and excitedly. ”Well, in short, you should learn how to use this, these are really expensive but they’re excellent,” he told her as he took a few more pictures, one specifically of Ava. He eventually took a seat on the blanket and put the camera down on the blanket, before reaching out to take a drink.
 
Ava smiled as Vader took the camera and took a seat. She pulled out a sandwich, starting to unwrap it. "He used to photograph nature for muggle magazines," She told Vader. "Before he came to get me. Then he took the job with the ministry so we weren't always moving around to follow his work." She took a bite of her sandwich, secretly pleased with how much he liked the camera. She paid attention as he went on and on about it. She gave him a pleased smile as he finally sat down next to her. "It is pretty cool." She told him. She turned to face him, sliding her bag full of food a little closer so he could reach easier. "I did indeed follow an old alley cat." She informed him with a wink. She took the last bite of her sandwich and hopped up, walking over to another nearby crevice and disappearing for a moment.
 
Vader nodded lightly as Ava spoke about her dad, that would be quite a cool job he had to admit and he was somewhat glad that despite the man being pretty terrible in most ways he was trying to settle down because of Ava. Vader nodded in agreement as she said it was pretty cool, he had to agree, it was a very cool camera. He took a sandwich when she pushed the bag of food closer to him. He bit into it as Helene explained that she had followed an alley cat. He wasn’t sure if that reflected Ravenclaw curiosity or gryffindor bravery to just follow some random cat into a cave. He watched as she stood up, well hopped up and went to a crevice and disappeared into it, ”Be careful Helene,” he called out somewhat needlessly as he took another bit of the sandwich, deciding to try to follow. He held the sandwich lightly in his mouth and he followed her to the crevice. He took a little step inside the crevice, ”Have you explored all the parts of it?” he’d assume that she hadn’t, since it seemed quite big. Though in this crevice he couldn’t quite spot her.
 
Ava hadn't wondered in very far before she found what she was looking for. With a smile, she knelt down and started to fiddle with something. She looked up as she heard Vader followed her. She giggled and pulled the flashlight from her pocket, clicking it on and setting it nearby so that the light illuminated her- and the old crate filled with a new blanket, a soft pillow, and the fat, fuzzy gray cat and her six kittens. Ava winked at Vader before pulling out a can of fancy feast from her other pocket and offering it to the mama cat. "I've been helping out Stormy with her new brood all week." She told him, a warm smile on her face.
 

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