I Hear Rocks

[Avie Mitchell]

Avie had caught up to Lucien's brother in absolutely no time at all, since the boy hadn't gone too far, he was now mushroom free but touching them had flared up the rashes, and he was looking forward to just being able to collect some new rocks, and hopefully have some fun with Lucien's brother, since Lucien was clearly busy with his new girlfriend, or well wanted to be. Avie remembered his cousins with their respective girlfriends at various times, shoving Avie out of his room which he shared with them. Avie didn't want Lucien to die from the germs girl's had, he didn't really care if she seemed pretty nice, or anything like that. Avie just didn't want his friend to die, or get some bad germs or something. But, since he couldn't actually spend time with him, he had decided that Lucien's brother would be the next best thing. Maybe he didn't want to spend time with Avie, but Avie at that point didn't really care about that fact, he wanted to have fun, and if Lucien didn't want to have fun, he would find someone who did and hopefully, that someone was Jean. The teen caught up to him easily, and just smiled happily at him, as he asked how to play the game,

"It's simple really, we collect the rocks, and then you can essentially do whatever you want," he told him as if it was really obvious, though stumbling slightly over the word essentially, "I like making little armies and having them battle it out, or just collecting them, I have hundreds," he continued as he walked towards the lake, scratching his arms and the slight rashes as he did so, "Lucien helps me collect them, we use Bothie's slingshot and throw them at people, but he also just helps me collect them, because you can never have enough rocks," he smiled happily as he continued speaking, "What do you say, you wanna play? We could play rock army! Or I can show you where you can swim in the lake to get the best looking rocks, or you could get started on your own collection?" Avie asked him, grinning widely, clearly really eager to just get playing.
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[Jean Snow]

Jean had never spent any alone time with Avie, though he had heard a lot about the boy from his brother. It was funny. Though they were in the same year, the Gryffindor always thought of Avie as a younger boy. The stories that his brother had told him only furthered that thought in his mind. Not that Jean had anything against that. No, his aloofness to Avie was more out of jealousy than anything else. Avie seemed to get Lucien's nice side, something that Jean only got rarely and always secretly. Yet, it was alright for him to be openly nice to Avie. Jean didn't like that Avie could get something from Luc that he couldn't. Still, for Luc's kindness in not only packing his broom but polishing it too, Jean felt the need to do something for his brother. He could see how badly he wanted alone time with Clara, probably to snog or something. Jean got it. Over the summer, his interest in girls and snogging them had grown as well. And, he hated owing people things. So he'd do this one thing for Lucien and then they'd be even. How difficult could it be to entertain Avie?

Looking over at him as he explained the 'game,' Jean noticed that the boy was scratching at his arms vigorously. He took a step to the left, putting a bit more distance between the two of them in case he had something contagious. The rash on his arm looked pretty gross and Jean made a disgusted face that he quickly changed when Avie glanced at him. What he was describing sounded a lot like what he'd done as a kid except with actual enchanted toy wizards. He'd sometimes force Lucien or one of his other siblings to play Aurors and Death Eaters. But, he'd outgrown that ages ago. "Sure" he replied with a shrug, not really committing to any specific activity. Jean ducked down and scooped up the first rock he saw, a jagged black one. "Will this do?" he asked as he held it up for inspection. "Uh...Avie, do you think you should get that checked out?" Jean asked as he took another look at the Slytherin's arms.

 

[Avie Mitchell]

The slytherin prefect didn't know Lucien's brother all that well, but if Lucien was anything to base him off then Avie was sure that this boy would be as fun as the other. He smiled at the other boy grinning so widely at the thought of someone to play with that he could barely contain his excitement, and from what he could tell, this boy had never played with rocks before, now that was truly crazy! Or at least hadn't in a while, so as soon as the boy said sure, Avie jumped with excitement, bounding off to find rocks, he could pick the game he imagined, since Jean hadn't said any specific game was the game he wanted to play, which Avie definitely took as an invitation to play whatever the hell he wanted. He was still scratching his arms, having irritated them slightly. He didn't mind though, because he was playing with someone who actually seemed willing to play.

At the rock that he held up, Avie gave it a once over before just nodding, "Of course!" he told him, "Any rock will do! It doesn't matter what they are like," he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small amount of rocks which he had been collecting at the same time as the mushrooms, he held them out to Jean, so that Jean could see how it didn't matter what the rocks looked like, the thing was finding them cool or fun. Glancing at his arms since Jean felt the need to mention it, Avie just pouted at him, "But we're playing, and it goes away eventually," he didn't want to go to the hospital wing, he just wanted to have fun, and you couldn't have fun in the hospital wing. He didn't want to go, and Jean if he wanted to take him was going to have to forcibly drag him, and at that point the teen would just run, "Come on! The lakefront has some really great rocks!" he jumped in that direction and didn't even wait for Jean to join him as he began looking for new rocks, "We can begin your collection, Lucien refuses to start his, but I know he wants to,"
​

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[Jean Snow]

Jean was convinced that the Slytherin boy had his pockets enchanted as he pulled rocks out from their depths. If he didn't, it sure had to make walking difficult to have all that in his pockets. The rocks looked like...well, rocks to Jean and he couldn't really see anything special about them. He was sure Avie would have a story for each one if he asked, so he didn't. Instead, he shrugged his shoulders as Avie pouted at him. The two were the same age and Jean wasn't going to force the guy to go to the hospital wing if he didn't want to. He'd just be sure to keep his distance in case it was contagious in any way. "Ok, but when we're done playing, you should go" he responded softly. Jean didn't like being bossy. He wasn't very used to it since no one listened to him at home. It was other people who often bossed him around. He'd have to get used to it though, now that he was a prefect. Jean wondered who had been named the Slytherin prefects. He had been sure that his badge had been meant for one of his siblings until his mom showed him that it was his name on the envelope and letter. Jean had never been so proud.

As Avie headed towards the lake, Jean had no choice but to follow the teen. He listened as Avie spoke, a smirk creeping onto his face as an idea came to him. "I have a great idea, Avie" Jean began, true excitement blooming across his face. "We could start Luci, I mean Luc's," he corrected himself. The other nickname was one he only used to annoy Lucien, " collection. I'm his twin so I know just what he'll like and you're his good friend so you will too, and I'm sure he'd love to go back to his dorm room and find his new rock collection on his bed."Jean bit his lip to stop himself from laughing too hard at his plan. "What do you say?"

 

[Avie Mitchell]

Avie was glad when Jean didn't make him go to the hospital, he wanted to have fun and he couldn't wait to get to playing with rocks. He didn't know what how he could have fun in the hospital wing, and he didn't particular want to have to sit and talk to the school consellor again, since that man had been anything but fun, though informative when Avie hadn't understood it. He bounded towards the lake, talking about the rocks as he went, scratching his arms slightly. He glanced round when the other boy said he had an idea, slowing down so that Jean could catch up, though they were essentially at the water front, so it wasn't like they needed to go much further than this. The slytherin prefect grinned at him, as he began telling him his plan, "I'm his best friend," Avie corrected, with a small frown, definitely focusing on the good friend aspect of that sentence.

The idea of making Lucien a little starter rock collection filled him with joy, he figured he could make it a present for him, "Yeah!" he agreed with a bright smile, "I know just where to find the good ones," he slipped off his shoes and socks and then ran straight for the water, "Come on!" he motioned for the other teen to join him, but then just began looking. He had been trying to figure out a way to repay Lucien for all that he'd done for him, like sitting with him when he'd been crying over his mother, or when he'd helped him after his panic attack, come with Mason and spent a little bit of time, he hadn't known how to say thanks, so maybe giving him a little start to his own rock collection would be pretty good. He looked over at the other boy and waved him towards the water, where Avie was ankle deep already and getting deeper, he was beginning to pull the rocks out of the water to inspect them trying to find the nicest ones for his friend, "Any nice ones that you think he'll like hold on to," Avie instructed, "I'm going to make it as a present, get a box and wrap it all nice," he continued just talking out loud, "Having Lucien as a twin must be amazing," he told him, wondering about how great it would be to have family like that, "When my ma died, he sat with me, and after my eh..my" Avie had stopped looking for rocks clearly trying to remember what had happened to him, "Panic attack! After my panic attack he brought me my stuff. Lucien deserves a present after doing all of that for me!" he told him, now both really happy he could give Lucien a present and that it would be the beginning of his own rock collection, just amazing.
​

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[Jean Snow]

As Avie began to take his shoes and socks off, Jean just watched him. Best friends?, he thought to himself, realizing that there was so much he didn't know about his nearly identical twin. Jean didn't know how he felt about that. The blond saw that Avie was waving in his direction and finally headed over. The closer he got to the lake, the more muddy everything seemed to get. Jean just stopped. He was not going any closer. "I'm good here" he called out as Avie began instructing him. It was clear that the Slytherin thought that this rock collecting was a great idea, and Jean almost felt bad for using him to play a joke on Lucien since he was equally sure that his brother would not love it. As the Slytherin mentioned how great his brother was again, Jean gave a half-hearted shrug. Sure, being twins with Lucien was great if you didn't mind being constantly overshadowed or finding out that he'd nearly killed you off the day you were born. Then, it was just peachy.

Jean bent down and picked up a rock that was just by his feet, his contribution to this cause. The Gryffindor inspected it as Avie spoke about a death. His mother. Jean's head shot up. The guy's mother had died? Jean knew he'd be devastated if that happened to him. He loved his mother so much. She always had good advice for him in dealing with his siblings, and she was always there to rock him when he was sick which had been often when he was younger. The boy's blue eyes stared at the other boy as he struggled to continue. Jean thought he was going to be suddenly overcome with emotion and was beginning to panic as he tried to figure out what he should do. Luckily, the boy was just struggling to think up a word. Jean remembered that day in class, but he hadn't realized at the time everything that had happened. Now, he did. "Yea. It sure does sound like you're best friends" he replied wistfully though he still believed that Lucien deserving a present was a little much. "I'm sorry to hear about your mother" Jean added softly. Hopefully, Avie would be able to understand him in spite of his accent. "And we can add a note" Jean added, already thinking that he'd add a postscript on the bottom and take the blame if Lucien hated it. He wouldn't want Lucien being mad at Avie. "Hey Avie. Do you like being in Slytherin?" he asked after he'd walked along the shore for a few moments. He knew that Lucien and his sister loved it. But, Avie just did not seem like a Slytherin to him.

 

[Avie Mitchell]

Completely oblivious as to why Jean might not want to venture into the water, Avie had no problems with it, the lake was really like a second home to the teen, he had no problems in it, well, that was a bit of a lie, he had some problems specifically getting distracted when he was diving, but he was working on fixing that, and only had he really had any issues like twice. The teen was knee deep the in the water, occasionally bending down and looking at the small rocks he was pulling out of the water, cleaning them up, inspecting them and if they weren't good enough he threw them over his shoulder. He glanced over at Jean when he said they sounded like best friends, and he nodded excitedly at that, in Avie's mind he and Lucien had been friends ever since day one, when he'd asked about if Avie was as dense as his rocks, the slytherin teen still didn't know much about rocks or their density in comparison with him. He pulled out another rock and threw it over his shoulder, none of these rocks were good enough for Lucien, he was becoming very focused on the task at hand, he really wanted to do this for him. Having his arms pretty much in the water was also really helping the itch in his arms, so this was proving to be very good for him.

At Jean's words Avie shrugged slightly, unsure what do when people said that to him, he didn't think they'd ever met his mother, so why would they be sorry, it wasn't like they'd killed her, "It's okay," he remembered that was how his aunt and uncle used to say, and he'd heard others say it in response to such an apology. Avie missed his mother but he knew that she wouldn't want him to cry forever, some days it just hurt more than others, the worst of it seemed to be over. He picked up a rock, and inspected it, "Here, other Lucien," he threw a rock at him expecting him to catch it, adding a note to it was a good idea, "I'm not so great at spelling so you're going to have to write it," Avie wasn't too fussed about leaving a note, he was sure that Lucien would know whom it was from, no one else collected rocks quite like Avie did, the only reason they were always able to go rock throwing at the other students with Bothie was because of Avie's over flowing supply. The teen barely heard the question but shrugged, "I like it a lot," he told him, since he did. He didn't see why slytherin were all supposed to be these evil people, he had no problem with any of them. He'd been told that he didn't fit the slytherin image, but Avie thought he fit right in, "Professor Styx is the best, plus he made me prefect so now I know it means he loves me too, he won't return my hugs but I know he loves me," the boy sounded so sure of himself as he said this, "Do you like Gryffindor? You can be my first Gryffindor friend! I don't have any Gryffindor friends, or well, I didn't have any," he returned the question as he continued his search, though he wasn't listening too much.
​

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[Jean Snow]

Jean pulled out his wand to summon a box. It might not end up being the box Avie would use, but it would do for now. It was in his hands in no time, just as he heard Avie call him 'Other Lucien' again. The Gryffindor rolled his eyes at that. He hated being compared to his brother and this seemed like the ultimate comparison, though he was half sure that the Slytherin meant no offense. It was clear that he wasn't on the same level as Lucien though, so perhaps it was meant to offend. Jean didn't know. What he did know was that he'd be pissed if more people started calling him that. As expected, Avie said that he liked his house. Most people seemed to, or they grew to like their house anyway. It was bound to happen when you spent most of your time in that place.

As the talk went to being prefects, Jean sniggered. He didn't think the Slytherin Head of House loved anyone and definitely not Avie, judging by the stories he'd heard floating around about their house meetings. According to one rumor, Styx had hexed Avie into a wall after he'd tried to put the man in a bear hug. Jean was sure there was exaggeration somewhere in that story. Maybe Avie was the one telling the truth. The man had made him a prefect. "Congrats on being a prefect. I am too. Who knows? Maybe we'll patrol together sometime" Jean stated easily as he shook the box with the one rock he'd put inside. The Gryffindor shrugged his shoulders at the question, before he realized that Avie wasn't paying that much attention anyway. He was too busy splashing around searching for rocks. "Avie. Hey Avie!" he waited for the Slytherin to look at him. "I'll be your friend if you stop calling me 'Other Lucien.' You know my name is Jean, right?" he asked, pronouncing his name slowly.

 

[Avie Mitchell]

Avie began to place rocks in his pockets, and barely listened to what the boy was saying, even if it was congratulating him on his new shiny position, which had of course been a big surprise to him, but he was dealing with it in every way that he dealt with it. The teen continued picked up rocks and looking at them, throwing the rocks away if they weren't good enough, occasionally just dropping them and listening to the noise they made, splashing slightly to create more ripples in the water, at his name being called, the teen looked over at him. He hadn't realised that Jean had disliked being called other Lucien, it had never been about not knowing his name really, he had known the boy's name slightly, but it was the twin aspect that threw him off. The teen just got confused with them, and it had made sense in his brain to call him other Lucien, he didn't quite get the twin thing, it was just very strange to him, that Lucien had a double, or was it Jean that had the double, how did that even work? "I know your name is Jean," the boy nodded at him.

"You and Lucien look the same, I don't....," he stopped, rubbing his forehead with a wet hand, as if trying to figure out the words that he needed to find to explain why he called Jean, Other Lucien rather than by his actual name. Avie wasn't bright, he struggled to understand most things, not understanding words in a book was just the tip of the iceberg for Avie, "I know Lucien, but when I see you, I just see him, and you're just Lucien but not Lucien, other Lucien," Avie was frowning as if they almost hurt his brain to think about in such a way, "You're not Jean to me, you're Lucien, other Lucien," Avie was confusing himself talking about it, he just wanted to play with rocks, he didn't want to talk to Jean about complicated things. He picked a rock out the water and looked at it, as a way of trying to distract himself from the Lucien/Jean problem, he decided he didn't like the rock and then threw it away. Taking a few steps and picking out a new rock to look at, this one was far better, "Here, catch," he called as he threw the rock over to Jean, "Why don't you come in the water, there are better rocks here,"
​

 

[Jean Snow]

Had Jean known the explanation he was about to receive, he might have just remained silent about the whole 'Other Lucien' business. As Avie struggled to explain why he called Jean that, the Gryffindor felt like he was getting a glimpse into the Slytherin's brain and ...It was a confusing place to be. He wasn't sure if knowing that Avie did actually know his name but chose not to use it annoyed him or just made him sad. No twin ever wanted to be seen as just their twin's twin. Like all those people, Jean struggled with having his own identity. He just wanted people to know him for his own traits, not because they were different from his brother or anything like that. It was why he was happy that he was in Gryffindor. The friends he had there weren't really friendly with Lucien, so he had them all to himself. "But we have different eyes" he mumbled to himself, the easiest difference to note between the two.

Jean didn't continue the conversation. It was clear to him that Avie was just going to do what was easiest to him. He realized the was just going to have to be happy knowing that the Slytherin did actually know his name. He caught the rock that Avie threw at him, cradling it against his chest with the arm he'd caught it with before depositing it into the box. He'd thrown a couple in there and the box was beginning to get heavy. Jean wondered how much longer they'd need to look. "Uh, I don't want to ruin my trainers" he stated, though he could see that mud was already caking the bottom of them. Jean also didn't want to get wet in general, fear that he'd just get really sick. Even though he'd outgrown most of his health issues from when he was a kid, Jean still got sick more often than his siblings. "How many more rocks do you think we'll need?" he asked, shaking the box so Avie could hear the contents.

 

[Avie Mitchell]

Avie hadn't been listening much more to what Jean was saying, he realised that if he wanted to be friends with Jean he might had to learn to remember to say his name. He couldn't tell them apart unless he'd been with Lucien at the time, then he would just call him Lucien believing that he was in fact Lucien. The teen looked up at him when he said he hadn't wanted to get his trainers wet, "I thought Gryffindors were supposed to be brave," he told him, though he didn't really mean it, it wasn't like he would force him into the water, he didn't even force Lucien in the water, he made him help him in the dirt, but not in the mud or water. Instead he just kept looking for rocks, hearing the box, the teen realised they probably had enough for the beginning of a collection, and so he picked up the last few and made his way back over to his friend,

"I'm sure we have enough now, othe.." he stopped himself, shook his head slightly, "Jean, Jean, sorry," he repeated trying to remember to get it right. He held out his rocks which he had collected to Jean and the open box, "Should we write the note here, because I don't have any paper, or a pen, or a quill," he asked him waiting for Jean to be the one to have all of these things as Avie needed to get his socks and shoes back one so that they could give it to Lucien. He couldn't wait to see his best friend's face when he gave him the little rock collection, he couldn't wait to tell him about all the fun he'd had collecting them, "Lucien is going to love it," he told Jean excitedly, practically bouncing over to where his stuff was, he slipped on his shoes and socks before going back over to Jean, and giving him a massive hug, "Thank you,"
​

 

[Jean Snow]

Jean made a face at Avie as he challenged his bravery. He was brave, but he just didn’t want to get wet. But, he refrained from saying anything to the Slytherin boy, realizing that anything that he did say would sound pretty mean. He was glad that he hadn’t, especially when Avie made the effort to call him by his name. Jean could see that it had required some effort. With a smirk, the Gryffindor reached for the rocks that Avie held out. “Thank you” he added as he tossed them into the box. Jean didn’t have any of the items that Avie mentioned on him either, but they were easy enough to get. He put the box down while Avie was busy getting his shoes and socks on, and pulled out his wand. “Accio parchment!” he called out, concentrating on the items and hoping that a quill would manage to come too.

Before they arrived, Jean found himself in a hug that he wouldn’t have thought Avie capable of. Of course, it was because of what they were doing for Lucien, which Jean still wasn’t convinced was something Lucien would actually love. He’d at least like it, or he’d have to pretend to anyway. Jean chuckled. “You’re welcome, Avie” he replied, his arms pinned down, making him unable to return the hug or catch the parchment that fell right in front of the two. “Oh look! The parchment…and a quill. Alright!” Jean exclaimed as he broke out of the hug to grab the items. He recalled that Avie had mentioned that he’d be the one who needed to write the message. “Ok, you talk and I’ll write” Jean stated as he looked up at the Slytherin boy. He figured that this would be interesting as Avie seemed to always have a lot to say.

 

[Avie Mitchell]

Avie released Jean from the hug, and then looked at the parchment and then he realised he had to decide what he wanted to say to Lucien, which was really a very difficult question for the teen. He took a seat on the grass as he thought long and hard about what he would want to say, there was so much that he wanted to say to him, and so much that he knew he wouldn't be able to. The teen just glanced at the boy, trying to figure out what to say to him. He had been find talking about what his friend had done for him, but figuring out what he wanted to say to him was hard. His friend had done so much, it was difficult to know what to say to him on paper, Avie had never been particularly gifted with words. He didn't know how to explain how much he was grateful to his friend for all that he had done for him in the last semester, the friendship he had brought to Avie's life, his patience. Hugging him on that day when he'd gotten back to Hogwarts as Avie had been balling his eyes out.

"I don't know," the boy admitted quietly, sighing slightly, reaching out and grabbing the box of rocks and opening it up, looking at them with a small smile. He honestly didn't know what he wanted to say to his friend, "Can't you just come up with something?" he groaned at Jean, unsure what to say and hoping to pass the task along to someone who might, Jean knew his brother well, surely he could say something nice. However, Avie knew he had to come up with something, "I just want to thank him, everyone's always calling him mean, but he's really not. He's the best friend I've ever had, he's always nice to me" Avie told Jean, "He's never been mean to me once," he exclaimed as if outraged that some people thought of him as mean. It just didn't make sense to the prefect, though Avie had been insulted by Lucien, Avie just hadn't realised it, "I just want to thank him, for everything, I wish he was my brother," the teen sighed again, looking up at Jean expecting him to figure out what to say from that, then Avie could sign the note and then present it to Lucien.
​

 

[Jean Snow]

Jean had crouched down, resting the parchment on his knee so he could messily scrawl whatever Avie had to say. He hoped it wouldn’t be too sappy, but he would write whatever it was he said. He knew that his brother would be able to read whatever he wrote. When Avie settled down onto the grass, the Gryffindor sighed and did so as well. It seemed that this was going to take longer than he thought. Every time Avie looked towards him, Jean poised his quill, ready to write. Each time, he was disappointed as Avie couldn’t seem to find the words he wanted to say. Avie had tried to explain his relationship to Lucien, but as he waited and waited, Jean was beginning to realize that it was a lot deeper than he had suspected. Finally, Avie spoke and Jean smiled, glad they were getting somewhere. To his dismay, they weren’t. Avie was asking Jean to come up with something. The Gryffindor didn’t know what to say, especially not once Avie had finished speaking.

The relationship that Avie was explaining was one that Jean had rarely known. Lucien wasn’t always mean to him, but he certainly could be. There were rumors among the siblings that Lucien had nearly killed Jean during their birth. His mother had never confirmed it to him, but that didn’t mean anything. She was always trying to protect him, but he knew that his other siblings had heard the story from someone. That sort of thing tended to put a blemish on a relationship even if they were generally on good terms. The two boys were just very different people. Lucien had thrived as a child while Jean had been more sickly, which had led him to be much more shy and quiet than his brother. Jean sighed. He tapped the quill against his chin as he thought. Finally, he began to write, scratching out lines here and there. When he finished, he looked up. “How’s this?” he began:

Spoiler: Note to Lucien

Lucien,

This gift is from two people who consider you a friend, a role model, a brother. Each rock was chosen personally by us for you. Thank you for being such a rockin’ guy. See what we did there?

Jean &

P.S. If you don’t like the rocks, pretend to like them in front of Avie. He really wanted to do this for you for all the right reasons. I just wanted to play a prank.

Jean read nearly the entire letter, leaving off the post-script. Avie seemed convinced that Lucien would appreciate the gift. Jean wasn’t so sure, but he knew that he didn’t want Lucien mad at Avie if he didn’t. “If that sounds good to you, you can sign your name right next to mine” he finished, holding out the parchment and quill.

 

[Avie Mitchell]

Avie watched curiously as the other boy wrote the letter, he had no clue what he was writing, and no clue as to if he would like it, but he trusted Jean, because he was Lucien's real brother and therefore if Lucien trusted him, then he trusted him. Avie had two older cousins and he'd always thought of them as brothers in a way, at least before he'd gotten to school, but it had been different going home, Avie couldn't imagine them doing any of what Lucien had done for him, he couldn't see them taking the time with him, they hadn't after they'd hit a certain age. Avie had always wanted more family, more people to play with, more people to talk to, school was a good thing for most of those things, and well, he found he was a little sad and a little jealous that Jean got to be Lucien's brother, and Avie didn't. Avie wanted a brother, a real brother, and more than that he wanted Lucien to be his brother, even if he assumed that Lucien probably had enough brothers, sisters and just about everything, what was one more. It was difficult for him to not look at his own small family and wish to be a part of one that was bigger, that supported one another from what he saw, that was what the teen gathered.

As soon Jean seemed finished, the boy looked at the letter, when he asked how it was, and Avie had been in the process of telling that he wouldn't be able to read it, when the other boy read it out, clearing mindful of Avie's lack of skills. He pondered the letter, and most specifically the rocking bit, frowning a little bit, "Rocking?" he asked, before he repeated it, "OOOOHH!" he exclaimed loudly, "Because we're giving him rocks and rocks are amazing just like him?" he was almost certain that was why he'd put that down, even if he was a little off. Then being handed the quill and the parchment, Avie took some time to grip the quill properly, before leaning over the page and signing his name, which was all fine aside from the backwards 'e' at the end of his name, then unsure of what else to do, he handed both back, and then picked up and held the box, "Do we put the note inside the box?" he opened up the box and then just smiled slightly, growing excited with every thought of how Lucien was going to react to this, even if he didn't play with them, he was sure they'd find some use for them in throwing at people, "He's going to love it!" Avie told him excitedly, "We can use them in Bothie's slingshot," he continued excitedly, holding out the box so that he could place the little note inside it, and then he would run to the dorm, and when Lucien returned from sharing germs with his girlfriend, then he could give them to him.
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I figure we could finish this topic with your next post!

 

[Jean Snow]

Jean was glad that Avie didn't seem to notice or at least didn't ask about the extra writing on the bottom. The Gryffindor didn't have the heart to share his thought that Lucien might be less than ecstatic about the gift. The teen couldn't help but wonder why Avie's writing and reading skills were so lacking. As far as he knew, from what Lucien had mentioned anyway, Avie was muggleborn. Jean had always assumed that muggleborns attended regular schools where they learned things like reading, writing, and that other subject he couldn't recall. That didn't seem to be the case with Avie. Jean made a mental note to ask Lucien about it one day. With a nod, Jean confirmed that he should put the note in the box. "Yea, and leave it on his bed. He'll find it when he comes back from being all kissy face with Clara" Jean made a face. He wasn't against kissing. Not at all. He just didn't want to think of his brother doing that. Clara was pretty, at least.

Getting up, Jean wiped his hands on his pants. Now, he could get back to what he had been about to do before. Stopping to yell at Lucien had only been a small detour in his plans for the day. "I'm gonna head back to the castle. Ok?" he stated as he took a few steps away from the Slytherin. "I have to head to the pitch for a team meeting" Jean headed off after waving at Avie. Jean didn't find as much pleasure as Avie obviously did when it came to rock collecting, but there were worse ways he could've passed the time before his meeting. And now he and Lucien were even.

End