Ava crept silently across the lawns, peeking back over her shoulder only once for reassurance. No one had seen her leave the castle, and at this time, just before dark, not many students or professors were wandering about outside.

It wasn't full-dark yet, so she wasn't really breaking any rules. Really. That was important. She clutched a book to her chest, this one considerably smaller than the other ones she'd been lugging about, but it had the right information in it. It described the ideal place to perform the charm - a place remote, quiet, totally undisturbed. So where better to look than the Forbidden Forest?

Except Ava had never actually gone inside the Forbidden Forest... It was forbidden, after all. It was dangerous, and dark, and though the mystery of it seemed almost inviting during the daytime, well... now it wasn't daytime. The sky had faded into a dim navy color, and the beginnings of stars glimmered here or there.

Enough with the stargazing, she told herself. That's not what we're here for.

Right. Ava set her jaw, determined. She had paused beside the currently-empty gamekeeper's cabin (she'd made sure it would be empty already) and took refuge in its heavy shadows. She wanted to light her wand, but that would give her away entirely.

She leaned against the cabin, trying to draw up her courage. 

For as long as she'd known, Ava had wanted to be special. And when her Hogwarts letter had arrived, she'd thought that was it, being a witch made her special. Elite. Except her time in school for the past years had taught her a few things to the contrary: she wasn't special here, she was totally ordinary; she had no outstanding talents or skills; no one wanted to bother with a non-special, non-gorgeous girl; and boys were trouble. That last one was important (if not relevant) because she'd seen too many otherwise-smart girls melt into babbling idiots once their hormones kicked in. Really, the only boy Ava could stand was Gary, and that was during the rare moments in which he'd sit down and focus with her. The rest of the time he was pretty obnoxious.

So she really, really wanted this. She wanted - no, needed  to be special, and this was her ticket. This would be her proof of talent and skill and uniqueness. It would make her brave and intelligent in another's eyes. Though it would be a secret, only for the select few to know.

She heard approaching footsteps, and her stomach clenched with fear. Had she been caught already? Muttering under her breath, she transfigured the book into a slim copy of Hogwarts, A History. It would have to do.

Ava turned and faced the oncoming silhouette, holding her breath all the while.

---

@corey

It was only approximately a month since Corey came back from summer and it was the most dreadful years of all. Instead of doing what he normally did, he was at least attempting to take a step back in order to reach out to the most people. That meant no shagging whenever he wanted (during the weekdays) and really, that had been the only thing that bloody mattered to him at this point. It was as if he were going through ridiculous withdrawals, but he certainly had gained quite the disciplinary behavior as he was capable of abstaining from his desires, he just didn’t bloody like it. It was all for the best, though. He had his last year to persuade those who were worthy to join the rightful side in this brewing war, and that was precisely what he was going to do. Unfortunately, there weren’t many that were deserving, but he had to at least pretend to care about everyone. He wasn’t so daft to let others see his true heart, the people that truly disgusted him. One month down, too many more to go.

This was why he found himself wandering the castle, at least attempting to have nothing better to do when really, he ought to be gaining as much information from the Restricted Section on useful potions and hexes than meandering about like some foolish simpleton. He wasn’t too far off when he spotted a mudblood. It was as if he could sense their presence when they were near, a foul taste being left in his mouth at the sight. They never deserved to be a part of this magical place, blindly trying to lead it as if they were worthy of anything other than their boring lives in the muggle world. Instead of following her immediately, he watched her as far as his eyes would allow in the setting darkness.

He couldn’t remember much about this bint, other than her incredibly dull house and her blood status. She wasn’t exactly as attractive as other bints, but she was one nonetheless. Corey was rather particular in his reputation, ensuring that he spent time with whoever he came across so that even the professors were fooled into thinking that he was a good kid living in a bad circumstance. Deciding it was time to approach when he noticed her disappearing into the shadows near the putrid hut, he kicked up his step a bit to arrive shortly after, attempting to be somewhat stealthy so as to not make her bloody run somewhere.

Stepping around carefully, he finally laid eyes on the witch that was mysteriously sneaking around for who in Merlin’s name knows why. He stared at her a moment with amusement on his features. “Kind of an odd time…and place…for studying, isn’t it?” he asked her, glancing at her book, staying a bit of distance away so as to not appear threatening.

Ava gulped, watching as the silhouette neared and became visible in the near-dark. She recognized him at once, not by personal acquaintance, but purely by name; it was Corey Fischer, a seventh-year Slytherin and beater on their house team. She'd seen him around the castle and once caught a glimpse of him in quidditch gear, not that she cared to watch the games, but because she'd been reading on the lawn when the Slytherins left for practice. Ava's pulse quickened, not at being caught, but because she'd always thought Fischer to be handsome. Almost devilishly so.

Her hands shook. At least it's not a professor, or a prefect, she reminded herself.

"Oh, hello," she said weakly. Thankfully, the older boy didn't come too near; Ava already felt intimidated, being secluded near the Forbidden Forest with him. 

She thought fast, trying to sound more convincing. "It's extra credit - Divination - it's boring, really, and I'm all finished anyway."

Discreetly, Ava gave Fischer a once-over. Yup, just as handsome as she remembered... but there was something else. What was he doing out here?

"I didn't expect to see anyone else," she said, too nervous to ask him outright.

She was nervous and he could tell, so he liked to think. It amused him when he could make a girl nervous, knowing that they would be nearly all too easy to manipulate. He saw it as an opportunity to test his patience, as dealing with the reserved type took far longer than he particularly enjoyed. For some reason, he found that they held some type of incapability of making fun decision, too stuck in their bloody safety net. No matter, he had all the time in the world. Well, he had all the time this year, really, to break those safety nets and introduce the sheep to the real world, the world that was filled with darkness and hurt, the world that was laced with hysteria.

“Hello,” he said in response, grinning at her lightly before glancing briefly towards the forbidden forest. “Divination with your Hogwarts – A History book?” he asked incredulously, his eyebrows raising in disbelief. “You know, if you’re going to come up with a lie, at least make it believable,” he joked with the girl. He had no idea if she was lying or not, but it was a surefire way of finding out, by accusing her to be doing so. “Well, you do live at a school, so the chances of coming across someone is rather high,” he grinned playfully.

When Fischer smiled like that, Ava felt a little better. It gave him a look of sincerity, regardless of his Slytherin background (which Ava would usually never trust) and her pounding heart began to slow. She would feel better if this run-in had occurred somewhere less secluded, however.

Fischer seeing straight through her lie did complicate things, though. Ava simply wasn't good on her feet - it was the same reason she failed at dueling. She just couldn't handle confrontation. Another thing to add to the checklist of Things to Change About Ava Fairfax.

"Maybe that's not really what it is," Ava said, clutching her transfigured book to her chest and feeling slightly comforted by that disarming smile. Maybe it was time to let one person in on the big secret... What harm could that do?

But not yet... she thought. No, she needed to be smart about this.

"And you know what I meant," she continued. "It's not very often that one runs into company by the Forbidden Forest, even during the day."

“Really now?” he asked curiously, though the corners of his lips twitched into a smile staring at the mudblood. Mudbloods really ought to not be travelling on their own, he thought vaguely to himself. Though, this world was unfortunately safe for them now, given who was in charge of the Ministry. That would all change soon, though, and he was eagerly anticipating when that would occur. For now, he could continue with his simple façade, as when it came down to it, his survival was what mattered and he was not going to submit himself to being treated like a miscreant because of his correct viewpoints that were misunderstood by those too unintelligent to get their facts straight. “Then what is it, really?” he asked her, quirking an eyebrow in her direction.

He wanted to know her secret, or whatever the bloody hell she was hiding. Mainly because he liked to know everything about others, particularly if it was something that would benefit him in knowing. Not blackmail, as that was such an ugly word, but maintaining a fruitful array of assets.

“I could say the same to you, as well. Me, I was just taking a walk much closer to the castle when I saw someone that looked to be headed towards the Forbidden Forest. I couldn’t dare turn down an adventure. See, telling the truth wasn’t so difficult, was it?” he grinned, moving to sit on a tree stub, stretching out his legs. “It is a nice night for looking at stars, though,” he noted, glancing up at the star-filled sky. “Now, if you don’t share, I’m going to be forced to start creating my own theories as to why you’re down here,” he grinned, looking back towards her.

"Oh," Ava muttered, blinking. Was he flirting with her? Talking about stargazing, smiling like that... No, not a gorgeous seventh-year. Maybe if Fischer were as mousy and insignificant as Ava herself, she could believe it. He certainly seemed interested in sticking around, however...

Ava smiled shyly, despite feeling more confident now. How could she not, when she had Corey Fischer's undivided attention?

"Well... you see, it's a secret," Ava confided quietly. "I haven't told anyone. I mean, it's not like it's an especially exciting secret," she added quickly, "But it's mine, and for now I think I'll keep it." She wasn't used to talking with attractive boys - well, except Gary, but he didn't count - and so she wasn't accustomed to the way her voice sounded just now. It came out as teasing, like she was inviting Fischer's curiosity, even when she hadn't really meant to.

Eager to change the subject, Ava glanced back to the dark forest. "Have you ever gone in? You say you can't pass up adventure, and the Forbidden Forest would definitely be an adventure."

He pegged her as being someone that wasn’t used to the attention that he was giving to her. It didn’t matter the bint, Corey always seemed to enjoy his conversations with them and watching their various reactions from blushing to stumbling over words, and from flirting back to trying to think they had a step ahead of him in the game. Over the years, he had run into his fair share of bints that thought that they could change him, but that was amusing all the same. He was who he was and he was confident in that, and giving attention to the needy bints was something he thoroughly enjoyed.

“Oh, I very much beg to differ,” he said in response, shaking his head. “All secrets are exciting. If it wasn’t exciting, it ought to not be a secret,” he countered. Any secret could be used for ‘blackmail’, or twisting around for one’s advantage as it meant that the person holding the secret certainly didn’t want others to know. This was why Corey liked to know secrets, listening to the walls talk or the birds chirping, in a sense, to see what it was that others were hiding behind. It was always the quiet ones that people had to watch out for, not knowing precisely what was going through their minds. “Ah, secrets are no fun to be kept to oneself. Doesn’t it ever drive you mad to not have anyone to talk to about your secret? To vent? To complain to about it? Certainly that would be far better than keeping a lonely secret,” he debated her lightly, though not in a way that demanded her to tell him.

“Who hasn’t? It’s called the Forbidden Forest merely so students don’t try to get away from the confinement of this school. Besides, what’s a few poisonous bushes or rash centaurs to run into? And if it were so forbidden, one would think that they would have a barrier protecting us from whatever creatures they want us to fear, yeah?”

So far, everything he said made sense. Yes it was lonely, but Ava also chalked that up to her lack of close friends. As much as she'd love to tell him everything - to tell him about the months of studying nonstop, about the practicing in secret, about her drive to make this work - Ava just couldn't bring herself to do it. She looked over at the handsome older boy, who had been so receptive and sincere so far, and she almost felt guilty for not extending him that trust.

Choosing not to acknowledge Fischer's first statements, Ava peered into the deep shadows of the forest. "I suppose you're right... It would be silly to let just anyone go wandering in, if it was dangerous. I'd hoped... well, nevermind." she trailed off, catching herself.

Looking back to Fischer, Ava tilted her head curiously. "You know, you're not like I expected. Not many Slytherins are as nice as you are, not to a muggle-born like me." She let out a nervous laugh. "Even during the daytime I don't think I'd want to meet a Slytherin so far from other people. No offense."

The night certainly was nice, a good enough night to go flying, even. It simply didn’t make the slightest bit of sense to Corey why people would waste their time with a bloody book, hidden away in the cavities of the gamekeeper’s hut. Reserved individuals would never be people that Corey would fully understand, wondering how they could possibly enjoy living such an astonishingly mundane life. Were they even really living? Doubtful. No matter. He brought around enough excitement to make anyone’s life become suddenly intriguing. It was a gift, really, and one that he willingly bestowed upon others merely for his own personal gratification.

She was probably too feeble-minded to be up to anything fascinating, but he could hope that things were more thrilling than they were. The fun would be in discovering it, most certainly. “Hoped what?” he asked her, glancing towards the brunette with a quirked eyebrow. Maybe she had more gall than she looked, wanting to test her limits in the forest that would certainly spit her back out due to her unworthy blood.

He nearly smirked at the comment about him being nice, letting out a short snort of laughter. “Can’t say I’ve ever been called nice, before. At least not to my face,” he replied, chuckling. “And no offense taken. Slytherins aren’t exactly…the easiest people to like,” Corey shrugged, as if trying to determine the right way to phrase it. “If you weren’t magical, you wouldn’t be here. Simple as that,” he continued. “But clearly, something saw that you belonged here, something in your blood that stated you were too unique to stay with muggles, a gift of sorts. People around here just have trouble moving away from tradition,” he added casually, a sincere look plastered on his face. He wanted to bloody wash his hands repeatedly and clean out his mouth for those words, but it was what was necessary…to act like she bloody belonged here.