CL Rage Burns The Innocent PV Avery McCall

Date: 1/05/23
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The increasingly familiar bustle of the station comes as something of a relief. It called back to that initial sense of excitement from months prior, when they had visited for the very first time. And, like that first time, there was still a palpable layer of tension bubbling just beneath the surface. Just, a little worse than before.

Avery is brought out of her observations by a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Excited?” She shifts slightly to look up at her mother’s tired smile. A weak imitation of her own is offered at the question. “Yeah, honestly. Looking forward to seeing everyone again.” The silent admission of looking forward to not having to be around her father for a while goes unspoken.

But it doesn’t need spoken aloud going by the slight grimace that crosses her mother’s face. She’d not escaped the discomfort of it all unscathed either. Still, Cara does at least put in the effort to come off as unaffected by it all as she can. Annoyingly enough. Avery hasn't been quite so accomplished.

Avery feels herself pulled into a tight embrace against her mother’s side. Her own arm lifts to return the gesture with a just slightly less enthusiasm. “I’m sure you’ll have a great time. We can’t wait to hear more about what all you’re learni-“ Her assurance is cut short when Avery abruptly leans back, breaking the embrace. A strained chuckle breaks through as the first year gathers her trunk in hand.

“Yeah…yeah, I’ll keep you updated,” Avery offers, a barely there smile doing little to cover the slight waver in the words. “But I, uh, better go. Compartments fill up, like, super fast.” While relatively true, the sentiment is easily overlooked in light of just how early they had been to arrive. Most families were still deep in their farewells.

Still, her mother clearly understands and acquiesces with a simple nod of her head. “Right. It’s a long trip, wouldn’t want you to get stuck with no room.” Cara hesitates for but a moment before releasing a quiet sigh and brushing aside a bit of unruly hair from Avery's forehead, leaning forward to give it a gentle kiss. “Regardless of anything else, I hope you know I love you and I’m proud of you. You’ll have a great time.”

Fighting back the wetness she can feel pooling at the edges of her eyes, Avery offers up a more genuine smile than she had previously even as she slowly backs up towards the train. “Love you too, Mom.” A pause. “I’ll write you.” The clarification wasn't quite needed, but it served its purpose.

With her probably less than satisfactory farewell, Avery turns and hurries onto the train. Most of the compartments are still blissfully empty so she slips into the first one completely unoccupied. Unintentionally one that provides a bit of sanctuary from the prying eyes of the entire station. Though she hadn’t set out to avoid being able to spot her mother among the masses, the first year was grateful for the momentary privacy.

Quickly storing her trunk, Avery collapses onto the bench in one of the window seats. Twisted slightly atop the bench, Avery rests her forehead against the cool glass in order to stare out. A weary exhale manages to briefly fog up the window. The sight was blissfully empty. No one to question the faint trails of tears tracking down her cheeks once they were given free reign to escape.

The peace doesn’t last for long. The compartment door slamming open violently jolts Avery from her momentary sulking. She yanks her head away from the glass to pivot towards the doorway and regard the girl entering.

She couldn’t say she recognized the girl, but she couldn’t have been much older than the first year. The expression on her face was unfortunately a very familiar one, however. Likely mirrored on her own currently. As the girl seats herself on the opposite bench, Avery follows her lead and rapidly whisks away the evidence of her own tears on her sleeve. Most of it, at least.

She waves away the apology with a small, watery smile. “No, no. It’s alright, honestly. Was just a little, uh…” Avery lifts a hand to rap a knuckle lightly against the side of her head. “Lost in my thoughts.”

Settling back in her seat, the Hufflepuff lightly clasps her hands in her lap. Avery stares down at them as she gently fidgets with her thumbs. “But I’m with you on that one,” she mutters quietly. Her eyes lift back to the girl after another half moment, a small but genuine smile making a brief appearance. “But yeah, no, it’s all good. Promise. It’s kinda peaceful without the entire station staring in, huh?” she muses, looking back towards the window.

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𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉: @June Selwyn
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A short-haired girl was occupying the compartment alongside June, her composure not so different from June's. The second year was quick to notice that the other girl's eyes were watering as well. Well, at least she wasn't all bright and chipper. The absolute last sort of person June wanted to interact with right now was someone smiley and cheery. Merlin knows what she would have done if that were the case.

June sighed, enjoying the quiet for a brief moment. "It is much nicer without the crowd yelling goodbye through the window, you're right." She pulled off her satchel and set it on the seat next to her as the train began to chug, the brick walls of King's Cross station slowly peeling away. June gave the girl a small smile, not wanting to pry, but still wanting to offer some sort of comfort to her (which wasn't much, but she'd give what she could). "Seems like it'll just be the two of us in here. Thank Merlin, I don't really feel like getting squished between fourth years right now," she sifted through her bag, pulling out a packet of liquorice wands she'd gotten over Christmas. "Last year on my way back from winter break I was in a compartment filled with what felt like a whole family, I could hardly breathe in there it was so crowded." June held out the sweets to her compartment-mate after she took one for herself, snapping off the end in her teeth. Snacks are often helpful in keeping one's sanity in check. "Would you like one? The sweets trolley won't come for a while and I'm already a bit hungry..."

After the girl's response, June would neatly pack the candies back in her bag. "I'm June Selwyn, by the way."

Date: 1/05/23
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Avery shifts to look away from the window once more, turning her attention back to the older girl with a modest smile and a hum of agreement. The quiet compartment was a far cry from the bustle of activity that had accompanied the last two trips. It was a welcome respite.

The first year released a soft sigh, mostly out of relief, as the train finally began to move away from the station. A part of her felt guilty at the relief, but not enough to sit and digest it right at that moment. She's saved from that particular spiral by the other girl speaking. Small mercies.

Avery listens with rapt attention, her own smile growing brighter. "Yeah, that definitely sounds like...a lot. I've only travelled with other first years so far. Not counting today of course," she quickly amends. "It's uh, much more chill so far so no complaints here." There was certainly the excitement still underlying the journey. She couldn't wait to see her friends and, surprisingly even to her, get back to classes. A couple weeks back in the muggle world had certainly left her itching to get back to school. Amongst other things.

As the bag of liquorice wands is held out on offer, Avery blinks down at the bag for half a second before offering up a sheepish smile. She leans forward to pluck a single wand out of the bag with a sheepish smile. "Thanks." The Hufflepuff glances down at the candy and turns the treat over in her hand curiously. "I actually haven't had one of these before. It doesn't...do anything, does it? The chocolate frogs already got me once." The memory draws a quiet giggle. "May have screamed a tiny bit when I opened one for the first time and it jumped at me."

The first year looks back up to June at the introduction, adopting an easy smile for the older girl. "Avery McCall. Pleasure to meet you!"

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𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉: @June Selwyn
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June nodded and smiled as the girl across from her introduced herself. "Pleasure to meet you as well, Avery. Oh, these? All they do is taste delicious, you'll be safe." She chuckled, "I grew up with chocolate frogs and they still startle me sometimes. Never quite know which way they'll leap and sometimes you get one right in the face... Not so nice." After Avery took a wand, if she so chose to do so, June would put the small bag of sweets back into her satchel.

Snow softly fell outside the train window, a calming overlay to the already white landscape that covered the countryside. "It's nice to have a bit of calm before heading back to Hogwarts," she mused aloud. "I know it's a castle but Merlin there are a lot of people there. It can be hard to find somewhere to just be alone, you know? Not have someone howling or yelling or the like." Memories of the welcoming feast in September and the literal howls from her housemates flooded back to her.

"Have you been enjoying your first year?" June filled the air with idle chit-chat. "Sorry, I know that's a bit of a boring question," she blushed slightly at her admission.

Date: 1/05/23
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Avery settles back a little more fully against the seat with the reassurance that there's nothing particularly magical about the candy, some of the hesitant tension seeping out of her posture. The past few months had certainly done plenty to instill a healthy dose of caution when dealing with new experiences. Lessons learned and all that. Unfortunately, those lessons typically came about the hard way when it came to the wizarding world.

"Well unfortunate as it may be, can't say I'm not at least a little relieved that it's a bit of a common experience then," she chuckles quietly, taking a tentative bite of the liquorice wand. "I can confidently say I never anticipated having to chase down chocolate before. The cards a pretty fun to collect at least." Her own collection still remained fairly small at this point. After all, opening more meant having to deal with more enchanted chocolate frogs leaping about.

Avery offers up a content hum of agreement at the observation. "It does feel pretty hard to come by sometimes, yeah. The common room is probably the closest to peaceful I can find on a regular basis, but even then there's just...people." And the rare swarm of lemmings. Or the occasional misplaced fire, but apparently that was more on brand than she would have anticipated. At least now she could say she had the spell prowess to, hopefully, extinguish any impromptu fires.

The question immediately pulls the first year back out of thoughts of rodents and plant fires. Avery allows a small smile to break free. "Not at all. At least, not when it's Hogwarts we're talking about I suppose. Well," she starts, pausing only a moment to try gather her thoughts. "It's definitely all been a little surreal. It's one thing to hear about magic and what to expect, but it's been another thing entirely to like, actually experience all of this." She emphasizes her point with a vague wave of her hand at the train as a whole.

"But overall I'd say it's been pretty great so far! Got to meet lots of new people and make some friends. Even with the schoolwork, the subjects are all interesting enough that it kind of makes up for the amount of homework. Oh, and Quidditch?" Avery allows her rambling to slow long enough to release a content sigh. "Kinda painful but super fun. Honestly thought I'd be afraid of the heights." A blush of her own slowly rises to her cheeks at the realization of her excitement manifesting in the form of incessant rambling. The first year clears her throat quietly and takes a small bite of the candy wand. "Uh, sorry. How's your year been so far?"

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𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉: @June Selwyn
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