Closed Loyal Friends

[Alice Holland]

Alice had a lot of things to talk with Ava about. The train ride to Hogwarts alone was something to talk about, and her stories from the break came on top of that. She had asked Phoebe to give Ava a note in the Ravenclaw common room, or to put it on her bed if she didn't see her. Phoebe had grumbled at first, but Alice had reminded her that after this year, she wouldn't be able to ask anymore. Alice always had a way of convincing her older sisters to do small things for her. They had a hard time saying no to her. It was one of the perks of being younger, though she was no longer the youngest. Alice had taken a small table in the back of the student lounge and was waiting for Ava to arrive. She had put her bag on another seat to save it for her friend. She hoped Ava wouldn't mind her talking about her life a bit, though she wanted to know more about Ava's break too.

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava had found a note- slightly crumpled- left on her sheets. The second she saw it was from Allie, Ava had bounded back out of the dorms and in search of her friend. She had some of Lily's red velvet cupcakes with her. Ever since expressing to her cousin that they were her favorite, Ava kept finding the treats hiding in her dorm. She came skidding into the room, quickly spotting her friend sitting at a table. "ALLLIEEEE!" She yelled, sliding right up behind her in her socks and wrapping the Hufflepuff up in a huge hug. "You called?" She asked as soon as she managed to stop giggling.

 

[Alice Holland]

Alice was happy to see Ava and surprised to see her with some cupcakes. But it was definitely a welcome surprise. Alice waved her over, laughing a bit at Ava's enthusiastic greeting. Alice loved her friend, she always managed to make things seem better. "Hi Ava!" She said brightly as she hugged her back. "I did... glad you came!" She smiled. "Cupcakes? For me?" She asked hopefully. "Oh, and how are you?" She added, not wanting to be rude.

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava giggled and took the seat Alice had saved for her. "For us," She corrected. "My cousin is a great baker. She gives me treats like this all the time now." She took a bite, leaning back in her chair and crossing her legs and winking at Alice. "So, Allie. What's up? Your note sounded urgent." She took another bite of her cupcake. So good.

 

[Alice Holland]

Alice laughed a little. "Well, I assumed one was for you." She told Ava. "Just wasn't sure if the other was for me." She smiled. "I should thank your cousin! She's in Hufflepuff right?" Alice had seen her around, she looked like a sweet girl. A lot quieter than Ava. Alice sighed a little as Ava asked her what was up, and took the cupcake in her hands so she had something to do. She turned it over without taking a bite. "I broke up with Phineas on the train." She said quietly.

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava giggled. "Of course it's for you. Urgent notes require comfort treats!" She declared, holding her cupcake up dramatically. Ava nodded. "Yep. The other two are in Gryffindor. And poor little Rosie is really mad she isn't with her sister." She wrinkled her nose playfully. She had just taken another bite of her cupcake when Alice spoke. Ava coughed, dropping her cupcake on the table and coughing a minute before clearing her throat. "What?!" She shot from her seat across the table and dragged it right next to Alice, pulling it up close and sitting down next to her. She wrapped an arm around the other girls shoulder. "Tell me all about it," She gave her a reassuring smile.

 

[Alice Holland]

Alice felt a warmth in her chest as Ava said urgent notes required comfort treats. It was such an Ava thing to say, and such a sweet gesture. She was happy that Ava was her friend. She knew she could count on her, always. "Thank you." She said softly. "Oh, I'm sorry for your cousin... but I think Gryffindor is nice, hopefully she'll think so too." She smiled a little. "Kind of strange to hear about another Rose in Gryffindor. I miss my older sister a lot." She confessed. Her announcement that she broke up with Phineas had Ava drop her cupcake and nearly choke, and Alice looked at her in concern. But she recovered quickly and took a seat next to Alice, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Alice leaned against her friend. "I don't think I told you, but... we didn't have a great time at the dances. He didn't really talk to me much, and complimented another girl without saying anything about me. But I figured it would get better." She said hesitantly. "But then he didn't write to me all break long, so Diana told me I should just break up with him. And I did. I thought he would be fine with it, as he didn't seem to like me very much anymore. But he got angry instead." She said, thinking back to the encounter. "He got pretty rude and called me some names, and then some other boy started butting in and Uno had to be rude too..." Alice sighed. "It's for the best, but that wasn't fun..."

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava was quiet, listening as Alice spoke. When she had finished, Ava shook her head. "It sounds like you did the right thing. Phineas is obnoxious and mean and loud, and not in a fun way. He and Uno deserve each other." She nodded decisively. "We can find you a nicer boy to like! Someone sweet and fun." She almost thought of Vader or Zephyr, but something told her the two were too much alike. She bit her lip as she thought. "We'll just need to... find someone," She giggled. "Why don't you and I go to the next dance? We'll need to keep an eye on Vader and make sure he doesn't work himself to death, but other than that it would be loads of fun!" She gave Alice a big grin.

 

[Alice Holland]

Alice was grateful for Ava and how she listened to her story. She blushed as she called Phineas obnoxious an dmean and loud, which made her wonder if Avaria had thought that beforehand already but had never said it. "I think Uno is worse." She said after a moment. "But... they're both not nice." She added. The thought of them finding a nicer boy for her made her blush more and she laughed. "Oh, I don't know..." She said hesitantly. But the idea of going to the next dance together made her smile. "Oh, sure! I do worry about Vader." This made her think of something she had been wondering. "Ava, do you... like Vader?" Alice asked after a moment of hesitation. "I have been wondering." She knew the two of them were close, but had no idea if it was a friendship or more. Especially since Ava had also gone to the dance with a boy from Slytherin named Philip.

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava giggled. "She can be," She admitted. The two were definitely not the friendliest pair. It still made her wonder how Alice had ever liked Phineas in the first place. She supposed he could be kind of cute, but that went away as soon as he spoke. She giggled as Alice agreed to go with her. "Yay!" She hugged her friend. "Maybe we can find matching dresses, or have a theme or something, ooh this should be fun!" She giggled again, but paused as Alice asked about liking Vader. Ava giggled more at that. "Oh, no. Not like that. We thought that maybe we should, but we kissed and nothing happened. He's just my brother." She assured Alice. "I think he actually likes a girl named Isabelle- maybe. Between us," Ava scooted closer. "He was thinking about asking her out," She whispered conspiratorially to her friend.

 

[Alice Holland]

Alice sighed. "She was always kind of mean to me about me dating Phineas. Maybe she was jealous? I don't know." She straightened her shoulders. "Well, she can have him. He can ignore her instead." She said, trying to sound confident about this. She was glad Ava had supported her, and already felt a bit better. "Oh, I would like that! Maybe we could get ready together." Alice said with a grin. She nodded when Ava said she didn't like Vader like that, though she was surprised they had kissed. "Oh! Okay, I like him like a brother too. He's sweet, but I don't have a crush on him." She told her. Alice leaned closer as Ava told her about the girl Vader liked. "Isabelle from Ravenclaw? She's nice, she came to my study group." Alice said, nodding in approval. "I wonder if he did it. We should ask... maybe we'll see them at the dance together."

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava shook her head. "She coulda been. You know my friend Sapphy? Her cousin was trying to talk to Uno because she seemed upset in the common room when you and Phineas were dating. Of course, Uno was nothing but rude," Ava wrinkled her nose.

Ava giggled as Alice agreed with her. "We should! Though that could be hard. Girls bathroom maybe?" She suggested. She wrinkled her nose at Alice's reaction to the kiss. "Oh, it wasn't because we thought we liked each other. It was because everyone else thought we should." She told her friend. "Even his parents kept asking." She shrugged.

Ava giggled. "Oh, he'll definitely tell me if he does! He's my best friend." She told Alice. "We could go find him now! I need to make sure he's had some water today anyway. He drinks way too much coffee." She frowned, sticking her tongue out playfully. "If he's as bad as he was last year I'll kill him," She pouted a bit.

 

[Alice Holland]

Alice was surprised Ava knew this about Uno, but she supposed Ava had many friends in different houses. "Oh. I never wanted to upset her, I hoped to be her friend at first." Alice said with a small shrug. "But I'm not surprised she was rude to your friend's cousin." Uno really was rude a lot of the time, Alice wondered if something was bothering her and making her so mad. But it wasn't her problem.

The suggestion of the girl's bathroom made sense. "Yes! We could do hair and makeup together." She said eagerly. "I want to try this braid thingy but maybe you can help with it? It's hard to do that on my own." Alice nodded when Ava said she hadn't kissed him because they thought they liked each other. "Sorry for asking too." She said. "I shouldn't have assumed. Boys and girls can be friends." She smiled. "Is Philip just a friend too?" She asked innocently. Alice was surprised Ava wanted to go find Vader now to ask him, but she was happy enough to have something to do to keep her mind off the Phineas stuff. "Sure! I agree. I worry about him." She giggled. "I think killing him will not really help, though."

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Alice nodded as Alice agreed to the bathroom idea. "Then it's a plan! We can meet in the bathroom and I can totally help with that braid thing!" She giggled. She knocked Alice's shoulder with her own when Alice apologized. "It's okay, you were just curious." She told her friend. She and Vader had been curious themselves. Not that anything had come of it, but still.

Ava's smile faded and she looked away as Alice brought Philip into it. "He... no." She told her softly. "I, ah... I kissed him. And it was like the world came to a standstill. But I got scared and ran. And now I don't think he likes me anymore." She told Alice honestly.

She giggled as Alice told her killing Vader wouldn't help. "Why not?" She asked. "At least if he's dead he can sleep."

 

[Alice Holland]

Alice put an arm around Ava's shoulder and squeezed her for a moment. "Thank you, you're the best friend I could ask for." She said with a smile. "Promise not to make my hair look totally crazy, okay?" She added, though she trusted Ava to do her best if she wanted. She was glad the Ravenclaw didn't mind her asking about the kiss, though she was happy to move on from it. Though she was amazed to hear Ava had kissed Philip too. "Wow, I can't believe you've kissed two boys!" She said, trying not to feel bad about herself. "I never kissed Phineas, which may have been for the best..." She paused. "But... you should talk to him. If you ran away you probably made him think you hated it." She said gently. "Maybe he's scared to talk to you first." Ava's comment about Vader made Alice giggle. "Let's hope we don't need such drastic measures." She said.