The Sweetest Treat PV Adlai Rod Completed

[quote]"Ah, yes, let's go together," Virgil accepts, nodding to her offer, thankful that Adlai wanted to go with him. Honestly, he doesn't want to go alone. Even though the boy has had two house-elves before; siblings named Jinx and Wimpy, (in which his father freed when he moved back to Sweden, after the divorce), he's never liked the conditions other house-elves endured.

His family treated them respectfully, though Trent can be a little bit bossy sometimes, being the lazy idiot that he is. And, of course, Virgil treated them with the utmost kindness and respect, never once using the creatures' natural obedience and loyalty to take advantage of them. But even if he's sweet and asks their help with simple tasks, he always feels terrible after asking something from a house-elf.

Now, it's way better, he thinks, trying to lighten up, as most wizarding families don't follow the radical and extreme thinking back from years ago, but it's clear that some house-elves still work for terrible witches and wizards, that torture them and treat them like garbage. Hopefully, the elves that worked at Hogwarts were having the time of their lives.

Virgil's walking towards the entrance back to the castle when he hears Adlai's question.

"I do," he answers promptly. Who doesn't? Virgil adds to himself, with the answer right on the tip of his tongue: Sarah and Blair. His cousin has a good reason for it, at least, being lactose intolerant, while his mother just didn't like ice cream or cold things in general, worrying he might get sick.

Due to that, it's been a long time since he's had ice cream. The last time it was when Annabelle, his nine-year-old cousin, Trent and him ran from their parents back in the Diagon Alley and went to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, that's known for one of the best ice-cream in the wizarding world. And, when staring at various flavors, watching as Trent annoyed his little sister about how expensive her favorite flavor was, Virgil could only choose chocolate.

It leads to discussion, obviously. When Trent paid and looked at him, eating his chocolate bowl quietly, he just said, face dead, 'Oi, Virge, you can be so boring! This place has the best ice cream, evah, and you ask for chocolate? Come on, matey!' Curious, he looked at what they'd picked. Annabelle had chosen a weird mix of strawberry, orange, and grapes, covered in chocolate and whipped cream. She looked happy with her messy choice, while Trent'd chosen blue moon ice cream, with colored macaroons on top.

"Maybe I'll choose something else," says Virgil a little quietly, thinking about it.

As the two made their way to the kitchen Adlai thought of the elves that worked here at Hogwarts. She had never seen elves before coming here thus she was frequently pester them with questions about them when she was able to find the time. Some questions she felt bad about asking after she had received an rather somber answer.

“Maybe I'll choose something else.” Virgil said his voice a whisper. “I’m sure whatever you pick will be good.” Adlai said as she watched the top of her ice cream begin to melt and run down the sides of the scoop. She remembered when she and her mother would watch the window when it was raining. They’d each pick a raindrop and see who’s would reach the bottom of the window first.

Silly how the most random things could have you remember your fondness memories. She’d have to write to her parents again soon, let them know she well and how she couldn’t wait to see them again. She wondered if they perhaps had a surprise for her when she returned but then quickly shook the thought away as she knew how plan her family was and how a majority hated surprise, so what in earth would they even plan one.

OOC: I am so sorry for the late reply I was convinced I sent it!

[quote]They spend most of the time walking from the corridors to the kitchen in complete silence, as Virgil finds himself thinking about the letter he'd finally written to his mother; Blair's probably disappointed it took him too long to properly write to her, and so is Mihyung, but he couldn't help the overwhelming feeling that grew with each passing they; the insecurity, and worrisome of bothering his parents.

Winter break is almost around the corner, he remembers, which brightens up his mood as Virgil goes down the stairs, hoping to not get lost as he once has. Out of all the celebrations throughout the year, Christmas is his favorite. Mostly because he gets to spend it with the rest of his family, unlike Easter and such, where he and Blair stay in Portugal, in order to save money. And this time, he's going to celebrate with his father.

Virgil arrives at a broad stone basement corridor, bright-lit and covered with paintings of food. From what Trent has told him, all he needed to do was tickle the pear on the painting of the bowl of fruit. And so he does. The pear giggles, then turn into a large green door handle, the entrance of the Hogwarts kitchen finally revealed.

Opening the door, the boy only puts his head inside, being met with the sight of various house-elves working together; some are singing, working with partners, while others brood, giving out dirty looks. The boy coughs, catching the attention of one of the house-elves close to his left, mashing potatoes with its bare hands.

"Oh, a student!" The elf squeaks, running towards him, which makes Virgil smile sweetly. The tiny elf has enormous purple eyes that already stare at him with adoration. "What can I do for you, sir?"

"Uh, please, it's Virge," He tells the elf, watching at it nods, excitedly, waiting for orders. "And, uh, you wouldn't have ice cream around here, would you?"

"Yes, of course, we do, sir!" It nods, looking happy to be able to provide what he'd asked. Its smile is big and overwhelming, identical to the one Wimpy used to give him. "We have blueberry, strawberry, blackberry, mulberry, cranberry, loganberry, dewberry, and lemon and chocolate."

"L-Lemon is fine," The Slytherin says, caught up in the various flavors ending in 'berry'. The elf nods again to his choice, and Virgil watches as the elf runs across the kitchen, towards the gigantic fridge in the back. Some elves stop what they're going and give him confused looks, others whisper but continue their work. Soon, the purple-eyed elf comes back, handing him a big cone of lemon ice cream. Virgil smiles and says, gently, "Thank you very much."

"Anytime, sir, anytime!" The elf chirps excitedly, then bows, which makes Virgil a little uncomfortable. He tastes his ice cream, confirming it's really good. Eyes sparkling, the elf asks, "Anything else, sir?"

Virgil stares back at Adlai, wondering if she wanted something. "Would like anything, Addie?"

As they walked in silence Adlai couldn’t help but think back to what had happened to the masquerade ball. She couldn’t help but wonder what her parents would have said if she were to tell them what happened. They probably would have demanded that she return home and never deal with magic again. Adlai lived for magic though, even if it inflicted such horrible memories.

Adlai wanted to ask Virgil if he had heard what happened at the ball that was originally organized for the students from American school, Ilvermorny. Adlai hadn’t really interacted with any of the students, which was a shame since she would have loved to ask them her millions of questions about America. Ah well, perhaps if they were to come again she’d be able.

Speaking of leaving, Adlai wondered when she’d be able to go to Kabul again. Her parents had saved up over three summers in order to be able to purchase a plan ticket for everyone the year they did go. Other than those two months she spent there, normally her mother’s side of the family would come and see them for a few years before returning.

The two soon reached the paintings of food and after Virgil had tickled one of them a door appeared. Her popped his head inside and the elves quickly noticed him and ran to see his wishes. Adlai however zoned out. Before hearing, "Would like anything, Addie?"Virgil asks her. The sound of her nickname causing her cheeks to burn. “Um, no thank you.” She says before bowing her head to the elves in thanks.

OOC: I was planning on sending you a request today since I’ll have plenty of free time.

[quote]Adlai blushes and says no, to which Virgil nods and tells the elf his goodbye, watching as the creature bows to him once again, squeaking a "pleasured to meet you, sir!", before the boy closes the door, that goes back to being an old painting.

Licking his ice cream, he darts his eyes towards Adlai, wondering what she’s thinking about. Covering his mouth, hoping there isn’t ice cream on the corner of his lips, he asks, "So, what are you going to do for winter break?"

He wonders if Adlai and her family have any special event they do in certain celebrations. Muggles probably had their special ways to celebrate, right? Virgil's family doesn't do anything out of ordinary, other than the ‘Secret Merlin’, which he absolutely adores, especially as he tries to figure out who got his name. Last year, Virgil got a gigantic drawing kit from aunt Naomi.

"I think I’m going to spend it in England with the rest of my family," he tells her with a simple shrug, as they walk back towards the stairs. The ice cream melts in his mouth, and he regrets not asking for the lemon-flavored treat before. "Hopefully, my father will be able to spend it with us. It's been a long time since we celebrated Christmas together."

Adlai nodded a Virgil explained what he may do over the winter break. His life seemed to be much more complex since he said they’d all be celebrating Christmas together for the first time in a while. Adlai wanted to ask why but kept that question to herself.

Adlai had celebrated Christmas once before with her dads side of the family. Her father was originally catholic before marrying her mother. However, after that one time she never celebrated Christmas again. She wasn’t sure why but she wouldn’t ask questions that may offend her parents.

“My family and I will most likely be celebrating a late [i Arba’een[/i]. We’ll probably catch up with old friends, spend time together, you know the basic holiday stuff.” Adlai explained thinking of the time her and parents were able to visit Karbala while her mother was pregnant with her first sister, Dorothy.

It was so strange to her to see so many people of the same faith gather in one place to commemorate the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali. It was beautiful in a sense of loyalty and sympathy. After that trip her father would always do his best to make Arba’een a very special day, especially after he saw how important it was to his dear wife and her family.

[quote]The boy pays attention to her explaining, thinking of all the usual holiday stuff he gets to do whenever the rest of the family is around. Celebrating and spending time with them is always fun, especially when Trent is around and they get to go a free pass to do whatever they want. The Armitage like to party hard, to the point the adults will sleep the entirety of the day after any social gathering, still very much drunk and ready for more.

Virgil remembers running around aunt Jessica's backyard, dodging the snowballs his cousins would throw at him, laughing, protected from the cold by wearing his fluffiest coat, while both popular and old wizarding songs played from the kitchen. It's always a time he'll never forget, especially when he sits down close to the fireplace, opening his presents, drinking pumpkin juice, listening to uncle Jay telling bad jokes, pretending to be Santa Claus.

Then, close to his other presents, there's always one he opens he goes to bed, unwrapping it carefully while Trent snores, mumbling in his sleep, from his bunk bed. Virgil always finds something different, and with that, a letter, that he reads, holding the gift close to his heart. The only thing missing during Christmas is Mihyung Lee, his father, always too busy with dragons and his life in Sweden to be able to make it.

However, this year will different, because Mihyung promised he'd be there, or so he thinks. There's still no letter from his mother, so the only source of confirmation comes from himself, which isn't ideal, considering most of his thoughts tend to fall to the negative side of the scale. Virgil frowns, wondering how terrible he'd feel if his father didn't show up.

Another Christmas without him, then another year, and another, followed by another. Virgil never knows when he'll get the chance to see Mihyung again, to hug him again. When he saw his father in the Platform, three months ago, the overwhelming joy took over him and that's all the boy could focus on. The life of a Dragonologist is dangerous, many wizards and witches died. And, even though Mihyung's the best at taking care of dragons, it wouldn't be impossible for him...

Virgil stops walking, feeling his eyes burn as the thought stains his head. His eyes dart down, as he blinks, trying to stop himself from the embarrassment. Come on, no, no, no, no... Not now. He covers his mouth when he feels the first warm tears rolling out, and a quiet sob escapes through his palm. The thought of his father's death is unbearable. "Sorry..." He coughs out.

Adlai had noticed that Virgil stopped walking. Turning around to see why she saw he was crying. “Sorry...” he says but Adlai didn’t understand why he’d apologize for crying. She walks back to his side and rubs his back. “Are you ok?” She asked.

Adlai didn’t know much of what could be going on in Virgil’s life that could cause him to suddenly begin to cry. But he was her friend and not matter what she’d be there for him. They needed to stick together. “You know you can tell me anything.”

She thought of what make her cry so abruptly but nothing truly came to mind due to the fact that she has lived a sheltered life until she began to attend Hogwarts. She realized how complex the world was and how much she didn’t understand about it.

She hated to see her friends cry. She wanted them to always be healthy and joyful. Adlai stopped rubbing Virgils back and pulled him into a strange side hug. She laid her head on his shoulder and rubbed his shoulders in hopes it would give him some sort of comfort. “It’s ok, I’m here.” She cooed to him. Her words nothing more than a warble.

[quote]"N-no, really, I'm sorry, I-I'm just being p-pathetic," Virgil continues, voice muffled and weak, breaking at every word, listening to Adlai's worried and soft tone, as she rubs his back. Merlin, he tells himself, she must be thinking I'm so lame. The thought of never seeing Mihyung again burns in his mind once he covers his now red face with his hands, hiding his puffy eyes from Adlai, using his hair as a curtain as well.

He shakes his head while wiping his tears as fast as he can. Blinking, ignoring the more tears beginning to form, he stares at his Hufflepuff friend, the fakest smile possible making its way on his puffy face. Virgil looks like he's having an allergic reaction of some sort. Even when he hugged his cat did his face bloat like that. He's been told he's not a pretty cryer before (by Trent, of course).

"I-It's alright," His voice still shakes and he rubs his eyes once again. Virgil's a feeling he won't be fooling the girl with his terrible acting, but he can only hope that she'll let it go. Talking about his family, though something he loves, can be quite heartbreaking around this time of the year, especially considering the many doubts going inside his head at the moment. "I was just being e-entirely pathetic, like always..."

“No, you’re not pathetic Virgie. No one is pathetic, some people are just more emotionally connected. I don’t know what’s happening in your life but I know whatever it is you feel strongly about it. Just know that everything is going to be ok and that I’m here for you because that’d what friends are for.” Adlai says as she feels her heart drop whenever Virgil claims he’s pathetic.

She hated it when people began to talk down to themselves. Every single human being has a perhaps in life and would do great things no matter how small it would be. She knew for a fact that Virgil would something huge thus she personally didn’t understand why he talked so badly of himself in this moment though she could understand if he were embarrassed about crying.

Adlai had cried the night of the masquerade ball, however probably a lot of other people did as well due to the fact that it was a traumatizing experience. She has clung so hard to Leah that night. Adlai let the thought roll off her back. Right now was about Virgil and how Adlai could make him feel better.

They had originally come here for ice cream, right? Maybe she could redirect his attention to that. But how? She didn’t know what she was doing. Adlai was accustomed to working with children younger than her not with someone of her age. She didn’t even know what most kids born and raised in the wizard world liked so she couldn’t change the subject to a popular television show.