A Friendship Blossoms

[Ava King]

Ava Sparkles felt weird as she wandered about the empty halls of Hogwarts. Usually on a dreadful day like this, the students would be packed inside, hanging with friends, fighting, or trying to get warm by a fire. The school year had gone incredibly fast and she couldn't believe that her first year teaching was already over; Ava had successfully ensured that a bunch of students had enough knowledge to continue into their next year. Ava clutched her cup of steaming tea close to the scarf around her neck as she stared around the Entrance Hall, trying to remember the first steps she took into the castle and her times as a student here. The first few years were amazing for her, but the last two got messy after she met her now husband Patrick. She sighed at the thought of why they got married, knowing she had missed out on the discovery of finding love; rather she was pushed into the love. Not that she regretted having Braxton, she adored her son. But she wished that it had happened later in her life, rather than earlier.
Ava shook her head, her dark brunette locks flowing, removing the miserable thoughts from her head. It was a time to be happy! She had a great job, two wonderful kids, and was back at the place that she knew would always be home to her. Placing a smile back onto her face, Ava wondered how many Professors were still at Hogwarts, or if they had left for home already. She turned away and began to walk slowly back to the Professor's Lounge.

 

[Nicolas King]

Having sent a letter ahead of himself, Nicolas arrived on the Hogwarts grounds to meet with Professor Blaze, well aware that the school year had concluded and many of the professors had gone away from the grounds for their winter holidays as well. Opening the large doors in to the entrance hall and breathing in the first breath of castle air in years brought back many memories of his time within this castle, and made him miss it for a moment before he once again gathered his thoughts to himself and stepped in to the entrance hall, now very much a man with a purpose. Over the past several months he had made it his task to get the Auror's department back in order and that day was another step in that process.

Nicolas had refocused much of his time to the Auror's department as of late, and that decision had caused other areas of his life to fall in to disarray. His engagement with Sakura, having dragged on for far too long and as the two continued to drift apart, was all but over in the Auror's mind. There was no doubt that he loved Sakura, but their lives weren't the same, and it seemed quite clear that no matter how long he waited, something would always prevent their being together. He had slowly come to realize, however, that this was surely better for Sakura. She was still quite young, and the fact that he had been with her at all still amazed him but there were obviously reasons that things hadn't worked out. His life seemed to bring despair to those he counted himself close to, and Sakura's proved no exception to that rule. Indeed, they would be better off apart.

Looking to his time piece briefly, Nicolas continued his walk through the Entrance Hall only to stop short. He wasn't entirely sure where he was going. He knew that Professor Blaze taught potions, but where his office was had been something Nicolas had foolishly enough failed to gather before returning to the school. Looking around himself, he noted the hall to be entirely deserted, less one form heading in the other direction of the hall. Clearing his throat and hearing its echo return to him, Nicolas called out to the woman. "Excuse me," he began, starting to walk quickly toward the form, lest she should turn some corner beyond sight and leave him alone without guidance. "Not to be a bother, but could you help me?"

 

[Ava King]

Ava heard a man's voice behind her, and she smoothly turned around. Her tea still held against her chest, Ava felt her heart skip a beat as she looked upon the man now in front of her. She immediately felt her cheeks redden, and she wondered what was happening. It had been a long time since Ava had felt any sort of feelings that could be related to something romantic. Confused thoughts ran through her head, as the man walked closer. While the man in front of her was very handsome, Ava had to remember that she had a husband back at home. Sure, the relationship between them wasn't as fantastic as it could be, but it was not in Ava's nature to do anything in a cheating matter. The fact was that she had a son and a daughter with Patrick, and that was a huge thing. And she did love Patrick. Their relationship was nothing to throw away over a small reddening of cheeks in the company of an attractive man.
Ava cleared her throat, realizing that the man had asked a question. "Erm, uh yes, I can help. I'm Ava." She choked out, removing one of her hands from her mug, holding it out to shake the man's hand. "What, what can I help you with?" Ava asked.

 

[Nicolas King]

Nicolas gave the woman an inquiring smile as he drew closer to her and was forced to note the colour in her cheeks as they flushed and how very uneasy she now seemed to be. Figuring he had caught her entirely off guard, and perhaps interrupted some train of thought which would have been better left completed - the man apologized for having disturbed the woman, who he assumed to be a professor of the school.

"A pleasure, Ava. I'm Nicolas King." Came the auror's response as his eyes scanned Ava's face for whatever detail of information they could muster for themselves. She'd definitely grabbed his interest, she seemed quite off from the type of witch he generally met, but as she stumbled her way through the next line Nicolas was drawn back to reality and any search for information he had been undertaking was entirely abandoned, once more reminded of his purpose in the castle that day. "Yes, I'm looking for Professor Takuya Blaze - could you tell me where he might best be found?"

 

[Ava King]

Ava smiled slightly when the man apologized. "Oh no, no no no no no-" Ava stuttered before closing her eyes briefly, cursing herself at the number of times she repeated the one word. "Uh, no need to apologize. In fact, I'm not sure what your apologizing for!" She exclaimed, laughing. Ava bit her lip nervously, aware of the complete fool she was making of herself. Ava had never been this nervous around anyone before - not even her husband.
The name Nicolas King clicked in her brain and she thought frantically for a moment where she had heard the name before. It quickly dawned on her that he was the Head of Aurors; someone her son had spoken to her about a lot. "Oh! Nicolas King! My son - Braxton Sparkles, has spoken quite highly of you." She smile. "And it-it is certainly a pleasure for me too!" Ava said, mentally kicking herself yet again. She took a deep breath, calming herself while listening to Nicolas' next words. She wasn't going to make a fool of herself any more. This would definitely be a meeting that she will be cringing at whenever she thought about it.
"Yes, he'll most likely be in his office - which are in the dungeons. Unless he's gone home already, like quite a few have. Um, do you know where the dungeons are?" Ava asked, half hoping he would know, so she could relieve herself of the awkward moment, yet half hoping he wouldn't, so she could spend more time getting to know him.

 

[Nicolas King]

Nicolas grinned as Ava repeated herself excessively. She sounded like a 'broken record' - as he had been taught when in school was what Muggles used to listen to music. He had since learned, of course, that Muggles had no need for using broken records for music and that they, indeed, used perfectly operating records for their music. He was drawn back from his comparison of Ava to records and his lessons in Muggle Studies, broken or otherwise, by her nervous laughter, a perfectly infatuating sound which caused him to smile once again as he looked toward the woman, momentarily, with new eyes.

With the mention of her son, Nicolas' gazed moved from her face to the cup of tea still held clutched to her chest and the hands encompassing the cup - indeed displaying a wedding ring. His heart sank a centimetre in him - evidently, he had been hoping her flushed cheeks and nervous mannerisms had meant a little more than what they did, but on inward reflection he was glad that they hadn't. His engagement to Sakura had only recently ended and while they had felt apart for months, surely to have sought a new relationship so quickly would have been frowned upon. "Ah, Braxton. Plenty of potential with him." He managed to say, thinking for a moment on how he would have never guessed that the woman who stood before him, young as she appeared, could have a child in his department.

"I do know where the dungeons are, but I fear I haven't been here in so long I wouldn't have the foggiest where to look for his office within the dungeons."

 

[Ava King]

Ava noticed Nicolas' grin, and smiled at the site of it. It was a very handsome smile, one that could hardly be missed. Her cheeks flushed when she realized that he was grinning - perhaps even laughing at her? A rush of young teenage thoughts went through her head, not remembering if she ever felt this insecure about herself. Ava had been quite secure in herself when she was a teenager, yet now, with a brief meeting, her stomach felt queasy, and her heart felt nervous.
Ava noticed Nicolas' eyes drop down to her wedding hang clasped around her mug, and she averted her eyes away from him, trying to not make anything obvious. She cleared her throat, spluttering out a small thanks, chocking a bit on nothing.
A sweet smile grew onto Ava's lips when Nicolas explained that he wouldn't know where Professor Blaze's office would be. "That's no problem, I can lead you there if you like?" She asked politely.

 

[Nicolas King]

Nicolas was forced to grow more curious as to the professor's mannerisms as time went on. Had he known no better, he would think her some sort of school girl, or at the very least that she had some interest in him. But she was a professor and what's more, she was married, and those facts put up against how she was left Nicolas as little more than puzzled. Deciding to try to divine the woman's meanings at a later time, Nicolas refocused once more on the task at hand.

"Yes, I'd appreciate that very much - if it isn't too much of a bother." Nicolas began, beginning to walk back toward the staircase leading toward the dungeons. He was neither sure how to go about requesting to be given the opportunity to learn more about her, nor to request her discretion on mentioning his appearance at the school. So, for the timebeing, he remained silent in his thoughts.

 

[Ava King]

Ava nodded her head, taking a few larger steps to catch up to Nicolas who had already began to walk towards the dungeons. "No no-" Ava caught herself before she started repeating herself again. "It's not a bother." She smiled at Nicolas. Walking along side of Nicolas, she began to push her thoughts back to her family, and the love she had for them. Ava knew that once she had children she had made a promise to them that she would put them first, no matter what other circumstance there was in her life. So it meant putting this situation, this delightful meeting behind her, and re-focusing on her family. Smiling at the thought of her children, Ava turned to Nicolas while they were walking further down the castle. "So I hope Braxton is making his mother proud?" She asked. Ava's mind drifted to the weird coincidence it was that she had bumped into her son's boss at her work place. which made her wonder why he was here in the first place. "What brings you here to Hogwarts? Is this just a social catch up with Professor Blaze? That is, if you don't mind my asking." She asked with a smile.

 

[Nicolas King]

Nicolas feigned a smile, sensing a shift so large in the mood between them that being a legilimens was entirely unnecessary to take obvious note of it. Determined to continue on as if nothing were the matter at all, Nicolas chuckled with Ava's first question. "It was my understanding that mothers were proud of their children regardless of anything. That hasn't changed, has it?" It had been some time since Nicolas had spoken to anybody about their children - and to be doing so while he was no longer in the school was incredibly strange in his mind. What was more, this was a woman Nicolas had hoped to come to know even more - the frequent discussion of her son, coupled with her marriage band (which was perhaps the stronger of the two reasons for his frustration), dashed any hope of such things against the rocks.

Perhaps startled back to reality by Ava's next, and entirely fair, question Nicolas paused a moment. He didn't want to lie flat out to the woman who walked beside him and had been nothing but helpful to him, but he couldn't just say Actually, there are Death Eaters in the school and I'm recruiting some new eyes and ears.. "No, it's ministry business." Nicolas determined to state quite plainly. She could draw her own conclusions.

 

[Ava King]

Ava smiled at Nicolas. "No, I suppose what you say is true. A mother is always proud of her child. Do you have any children Nicolas?" Ava asked. She thought that a man as handsome as he was, had to be bound to a woman by this stage in his life. Ava shook her head slightly agian, trying to get that thought out of her head. Although; it would be good if Nicolas was seeing someone else, it would completely cut her feelings off, knowing that she'd hate to be the 'other woman', to be the cause for someone to be disloyal.
Ava cocked her eyebrow when Nicolas said it was Ministry business. She wondered what the Ministry could need to do at Hogwarts. She wondered if anyone was in any sort of trouble, but then supposed that if anyone could help, it would be the Head of the Aurors. "Well, I hope everythings okay then. Let me know if there is anything I can do." Ava commented, as they walked further down to the dungeons.

 

[Nicolas King]

Nicolas expected Ava's response to his question, but was glad to hear it nevertheless. While he was focusing on the Auror department he, oddly enough, felt very out of touch with the world (arguably something an Auror should constantly be quite aware of), and he was relieved to know that no matter how busy he got, or crazy life became, some things simply never changed.

Recently, this core belief of his - that certain things were eternal and unchanging in every way - was shaken with Sakura's somewhat startling decision to call their engagement off. He could understand her decision, even respect her courage in making it - but neither reason nor respect made the shock or the heartbreak or the inward blame any more bearable. It was only now, months later, that he was actually internally coming to terms with the change. His stone façade had held, faltering only in quiet moments in solitude, but now it seemed that façade was permeating his being once more to reassert itself as Nicolas' true state of mind.

"No, no children." Nicolas replied to the woman's query. He was still young, and still desired to settle down, but so much stood in his way. Despite wanting to find love and family once more, Nicolas feared it. He feared putting a family in harm's way, or leaving his children fatherless. His job was dangerous, but it was something he had to do, he felt more called to the self-sacrifice and service to society than he did to other paths. Surely, then, it was possible that his desires were secondary to everything else, and that it was time for him to move on. "I suppose the Auror's Department is my baby, for the time being." Nicolas quipped, trying to make light of his torn disposition and offering a truthfully uneasy laugh, not bothering to mask his apprehensions.

"Thank you for guiding me," Nicolas offered as the pair approached the potion professor's office. "I do trust all will go well here, but if there's anything that comes up I'll remember your offer." Nicolas continued, though he had no intention of drawing Professor Sparkles in to what it was he intended to request of Professor Blaze. "Say, if you've time in the coming school year, perhaps we should meet for a drink in Brightstone." Nicolas began, "It'll be my thank-you to you for helping me out of wandering about Hogwarts entirely lost." came his justification of the offer, not wanting to seem overly forward, or dense in any way. "You can send me an owl at the ministry if you decide to take me up on that - I fear I'm late to meet with Takuya." Nicolas offered to shake Ava's hand once more in parting before turning to the potion master's door and knocking for entry.

 

[Ava King]

Ava's eyebrows raised in surprise when Nicolas said he didn't have any children. She was sure he would have, though, she supposed that men were usually older when they had children. Ava, however, was a very young mom. Younger than she would have liked to have been, but it was worth it anyway. She smiled when Nicolas said the Auror Department was his baby. It was nice to hear someone who loved their job so much that it was equivalent to being a child. Ava noticed the uneasy laugh and wondered what it was that made him so uneasy. She shrugged it off and decided not to bring it up with him. They had only just met, and Ava was certain that they weren't going to share any deep conversations or any struggles in their lives just yet.
Ava said a small no problem when Nicolas thanked her. She nodded her head when he said he would remember her offer. A red tinge of blush tinted Ava's cheeks when Nicolas offered to take her out for a drink as a thanks. Ava smiled as she took Nicolas' hand and said goodbye before leaving the dungeons to get ready to go back home for the summer.