Closed Eyes Closed

[Vader Hume]

Vader had gone to bed too late that night, the boy had been working on some school work after being in the accio room for a lot of the afternoon. Since his duelling had come to a very concise end, the boy had been throwing himself more into the accio work. It was a good thing that he was nearing his deadline for it, and that he was trying to learn as much as possible from the current head of the club before she graduated, leaving him in charge of it. It was different right now, he was a little in charge, but in the following year he would be fully in charge. It was coming currently a little at the expense of his school work, which he always opted to do after, in the evening after dinner when most people were settling down for the night. He’d worked right up until he’d crawled into bed, which had been the mistake, his brain still too wired to allow him any real rest. He’d barely slept and was feeling it in the morning, this was not the first time it had happened, but it was the first time his sleep had been so bad. He felt like a zombie going through the motions of the day, getting himself washed, dressed. Getting something to eat, heading down to the class of the day, but after that, he knew he needed to just sit down. He thought if he went back to the dorm, he’d just fall asleep. He walked into the arts room, this was a place he tended to go to with Ava, they spent a lot of time in there. He took a seat in the room, and had his book out in front of him, and began reading. His eyes drooped and fell as he tried to stay awake, but eventually his tiredness won. ​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

It wasn't often Ava had a bad day. It was even rarer that a bad day lasted. But this time, the gloom had stuck with her another day. She didn't want to wander aimlessly again, though. She worried she'd be caught. Instead, she going herself in the most comforting room in the castle. She didn't feel up to painting today either. Before she'd been interrupted yesterday, she had found a touch of solace in the piano.

She went over and took a seat, placing her fingers on the keys again. Another soft melody drifted from her fingers. She loved this. She felt... Connected again. As if that made sense. She sighed, lost in the music. She didn't notice how she'd started to silently cry again. And she didn't notice how she wasn't completely alone.

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader woke up in stages, he was roused a little from his sleep when someone walked into the room, but did not rouse him enough for him to open his eyes. He did so when the room filled with music, a piano piece. He slowly opened his eyes blinking away the blurriness of his sleepiness, and rubbing his eyes tired as he yawned a little. He came to full awareness, realising that someone was playing the piano in the room. He couldn’t exactly complain to them, it was him that had fallen asleep where he had meant to be awake. He closed the book over and put it on the arm rest before getting up and tiredly making his way over to the piano and the person who was sitting at it. He felt himself wake up ten fold as he noticed that it was his bestest friend Ava playing the piano, and she appeared to be crying. That was absolutely unacceptable! He rushed over to her, ”Helene! Are you okay? Why are you crying?” he asked in a hurried and concerned tone, if someone had hurt her or bullied her they were going to have a problem with him. Pick on him all they liked, but he would not allow people to pick on his friends. He didn’t want to say anything else, and just lightly rested a hand on a shoulder, not sure if she’d want to have a hug, or if a hug would even be possible with her sitting at the piano. He really hoped she would want to talk to him about what had happened, or what was happening. He couldn’t bare to see his friends upset, specifically his best friend. ​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava nearly jumped out of her skin when Vader appeared out of nowhere. She looked up at him with big, wet blue eyes. There was a reason she had been avoiding him yesterday and today. She knew what would happen. Her face crumbled and her tears doubled. She turned in her seat and crawled up onto her knees. She didn't have the strength to pretend she was okay right now. She leaned forward and buried her face in his shoulder, arms around her torso. She tried to gain her composure, but she couldn't bring herself to stop crying. "I-I'm sorry," she whispered. "I-I k-know, know I shouldn't, b-but," she bit her lip, shaking like a leaf. She had been worried about him seeing her like this, but she couldn't lie to the boy now that he was with her.

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader was surprised by her reaction, her tears seemed to double at the sight of him. What had he done? Had he done something? The boy was almost one hundred percent certain that he had not done anything, and this had nothing to do with him. Someone had clearly just hurt Ava and the way she buried her face in his shoulder was enough to begin boiling his anger. He needed to deal with this now, help her NOW. But, knowing that until the story was out of her, all he could do, was wrap his arms around her and hold her in a close hug. He could feel her tears on his shoulder, seeping into his shirt. He looked at her as she apologised and he squeezed a little to let her know it was okay, she was okay. She didn’t need to say that, this couldn’t be her fault, he didn’t think she could possibly have anything to be sorry for, certainly not to him. He noted that she was shaking and just hoped that he would be able to help her. It was imperative that he help her. ”Helene, what’s going on, talk to me?” he spoke quietly, with a small sense of urgency, very hopeful that she would tell him what was going on so that he could deal with it. All traces of his own tiredness gone, and all he was was alert and ready to help her.​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Once Vader had wrapped his arms around her, Ava had begun to pull herself together. Drawing comfort from him, she turned and buried her face in his neck. She felt so ridiculous breaking down like this. After a few moments, she had managed to quit shaking. She hadn't managed to stop the tears, but she had calmed down a bit. She pulled away. She was too embarrassed to look at him as she sat back on the piano bench. She swiped at her eyes with her sleeve. It was probably useless since she was still crying. She sniffled, staring at her feet. "I'm sorry," She apologized again in a soft murmur. "I... it's nothing important. Just..." She bit her lip and swiped at her eyes again. "I'm just being a baby," Her voice cracked a little. She let out a strained laugh and glanced up at Vader. "I'm really sorry Timmy, I didn't mean to worry you,"

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader just allowed her to just bury her face in his neck and let herself calm down. Eventually she stopped shaking, but when she looked back up at him, pulling away from him, though she was still crying seemed to be doing a little bit better. Vader listened as she spoke again, apologising to him. Why would she be apologising to him again. There was no need for that at all. She didn’t have to. She had done nothing to him, done nothing wrong, his tear stained shirt could be washed, that would be fine. He frowned when she said it wasn’t important, called herself a baby and apologised again. He shook his head at her, she was so visibly upset, there was something wrong, she wasn’t being a baby and he would of course worry. ”Helene, if you’re upset about it, it’s not nothing. It must’ve been a little important,” he replied, he’d never really been much on the end of comforting, but he could definitely try and he needed to for Ava. ”You don’t need to apologise to me either, okay, we’re friends, I’m here for you,” the boy replied, he hoped she would tell him what was going on, what had happened, but he could imagine that she might not want to and he didn’t want to push it. ”I don’t want you to be upset Helene, I can help? I can beat the person who hurt you up or try to? We could go to a professor if someone’s picking on you?” the boy was offering solutions to something he didn’t know the problem of, but if she didn’t want to say what was wrong, he could still try to be helpful.​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava sniffled, laughing softly as Vader reassured her yet again. "I... it's just... heh," She sniffled again. She fiddled with her fingers. She sighed. There was no avoiding it. He'd caught her and she couldn't talk her way out of it. Or at least... she didn't want to put that much effort into trying when telling Vader would just be easier. "Alright, I... sit?" She asked softly, patting the seat next to her. She didn't look to see if he'd listened, staring at her thumbs before continuing. "Yesterday... was my Mama's birthday," She murmured. "I... thought I would have gotten used to her being gone by now," She swiped at her eyes again. "But... it wasn't just Mama. It was me and her and my grandma, and... I lost grandma a few months after mama. That... that was when Papa came back into my life."

She bit her lip before continuing shakily. "It was a few months before they found him. If he was in my life before... I don't remember it. And now... I'm in school. I'm away from him again. I've already..." She trailed off, rubbing her eyes furiously as she felt tears welling up again. "I've lost everything already," She managed after a moment. "I miss my Mama and my Grandma and I'm scared every day that I'm away that Papa will forget me and leave me again," She hurried, wrapping an arm around her torso and laughing brokenly. "Silly, isn't it?"

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader took the seat that she offered to him, keeping his gaze on her as she finally told him what was wrong. They had never really talked about her family or why whenever he’d been round there was little indication of her mother. He was surprised and curious as she spoke, saying about her loss, of the loss of two major people in her life in a short space of time, that was definitely something okay to cry about. He couldn’t understand why she’d feel like apologising to him over being upset with this stuff. He thought it was pretty normal to be upset about. He couldn’t imagine the worry of lossing those people and then not having the dad around, he’d seemed quite nice when Vader had meet him, so it seemed wild that he hadn’t always been there for her. He was suddenly, and for the first time in a while, very thankful for his parents, who despite all of their faults were around and in his life. Things were a bit tricky with them, but they were always there. He nodded at her, ”I’m sure he won’t, and it’s not silly at all,” the boy opened his arms a little offering a hug to her, ”And if he ever does, you can stay with me and my family, my sisters would love having you around,” he wasn’t sure if parents would agree to it, but he didn’t care, if Ava ever needed a place to stay, she could stay with him, ”It’s okay to be upset by something like that. It’s awful, I’m sorry all of that happened. But now, you’ll always have me,” the boy said offering her what support he could, as much as he could to her. He had no idea how to help her, this wasn’t easily solvable, so maybe he could just be friend.​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava wiped her eyes again as she finished speaking. As much as she'd tried to avoid it, talking to Vader really did make her feel better. She'd managed to stop crying at the very least. She looked up as he reassured her. When he opened his arms she leaned forward and laid her head against his shoulder. She laughed softly as he said she could stay with him and his family. She'd yet to meet any of the other Humes but if they were anything like Vader she was sure they would all get along wonderfully. She smiled softly against his shoulder as he apologized and told her he would always be there. Sitting there with Vader felt safe and warm. She thought that maybe avoiding him hadn't been the best course of action. She hadn't expected him to be able to cheer her up like this. Lifting her head up, she pressed a soft kiss against his cheek before settling back down on his shoulder as she'd been before. "Thanks, Timmy," She murmured softly. "I don't know what I did to deserve a friend like you, but I'm glad you're here." She smiled again, shutting her eyes and taking comfort in the boys' warmth.

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader was glad when she seemed to calm down, he knew that his offers were likely a bit empty, but he also knew that if she did really need it, he would offer it to her. Of course he would, she was his closest friend, of course he would want to help her. There was no doubt in his mind. He’d let her sleep in his bed, take his room if she needed it and his parents would just have to deal with it. The boy didn’t want Ava to ever feel bad or to be crying like she had been, it was not acceptable. The boy remained close to her as she gave his a soft kiss on the cheek. His cheeks blushed at this. He liked Ava a lot, she was his favourite person in Hogwarts. ”You’re an amazing person Helene, and of course you deserve me as a friend,” he bit back the fact that he didn’t think he deserved her. She was so nice and welcoming to him, she was so kind, this was the least he could. He cared about her deeply, the boy smiled softly at her, and lightly ran his hand up and down her arm trying to make her feel a little more at ease. ”See this break, do you wanna come round to mine, you can spend time with me and meet my sisters?” the boy offered, they’d spent time at her house, so it was time for him to return it, and she would be able to meet his family, his sister.​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava giggled as Timmy told her she was amazing. She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a tight hug. He rubbed her arm, and she had to admit it felt really nice. "Thanks, Timmy, you're the best," She pulled back, scooting away a little to give him space. She felt much better now. She smiled brightly as he invited her to his house over break. "Sure!" She giggled. "You said your sisters were pestering you anyway. I can help!" She chirped before spinning back around to face the piano. "It's been ages since I played. My grandma taught me when she saw how much I liked it. Hmm.." She thought a moment. She felt happier now. After a moment's thought, she started to play a more upbeat song, though she still thought it was pretty.

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader gave Ava a wide smile as she said he was the best, he didn’t necessarily believe that he was the best, but it certainly warmed him that Ava thought that about him. He sat down a little properly as she gave him a little more space. He was pretty pleased that he had managed to make her feel better, ”Well, Padme will be at school next year, so I'll have to deal with her and she'd probably be quite happy to meet my bestest friend properly,” the boy told her. The boy had been nervous about her coming to the school, he wouldn’t want her to have anything other than a good time, but he had complained a lot in the past to Ava about his sisters being a bit annoying as any sisters could be. But he just listened along as she started to play a more upbeat song. He was nodding, bobbing his head a little along to the music that was playing. ”You’re really good Helene!” he couldn’t help but compliment, she was very very good. That had been evident in the way she had been playing before but the focus had been more upon making her feel better. Which he was able to do then. He couldn’t play the instrument at all. But, he decided he could lend his talent to this, he told her quickly to keep going and rushed to his things, where inside the bag was his camera. He came back and took a few pictures, one large shot of her, and then brought the camera in close to try to just capture her hands. He wondered how much the magical camera would capture. ​