[harry.potter.next.generation] -- [x]

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

Slipping out from the Three Broomsticks, Avery set out with a determined look in his eyes. With a brief look towards the barren part of Hogsmeade, he spotted Mallory -- the Slytherin. He swallowed nervously again; did he actually want to go through with this? Was he really just going to throw his whole life away -- and possibly all his friends -- for the sake of not absolutely breaking this girl's heart and sending her in to the deepest depression possible?

Maybe Avery did have a heart.

Approaching the trio of females, Avery all of a sudden felt rather self-conscious, a feeling that really wans't normal for him. How did he look? Did he seem obnoxious? Would Mallory simply just run away from him again? Confused thoughts flitted about nevously through Avery's mind, but he simply pushed them aside. There was one task at hand and he wanted to complete it before he ran out of guts to do it.

"Mallory?" he asked softly, once he had reached the three. He immediately recognized who Mallory was; it was hard to miss her with her full head of platinum blond hair. "Mallory?" he repeated in a gentler tone, reaching out and touching her shoulder lightly.

Underneath his touch, Avery felt the Slytherin tense as she recognized who he was. Before she could say anything against him, however, Avery rushed forward to say the words before his mouth dried and he wouldn't be able to utter a sound. Putting his hand underneath her chin, he lifted her head so that she was looking at him. "Mallory, I did mean it back there; I'll be waiting your answer," he said quietly before turning and walking away.

He returned back to the Three Broomsticks, seating himself back down next to his friends. Although many jokes were made between them and he tried to keep a good temperament up and gave his own share of jokes, Avery avoided giving and laughing at any jokes involving Slytherins, for things were still in his mind.

--x

Avery Chang. Had he really just come over here and touched her lightly? Had he really just raised her chin so that she looked at him in the eyes square on? Had he really just told her that he meant what he had asked her and that he was truly waiting for her response?

All of a sudden, this happened to be too much for Mallory. Again, the tears spilled out in a rather abundant amount. She bit her lip to stop herself from crying, nearly biting so hard as to draw blood from doing so. Her hands were clenched so tightly as they gripped her bag that her nails dug in to the flesh of her hands.

Looking up, Mallory watched through eyes blurred with tears as Avery entered the Three Broomsticks yet again. How was she supposed to feel? She supposed that she should be feeling absolutely exhilirated at the fact that a boy had asked her out, but somehow she just felt extremely torn and even more confused than before.

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[Battie]

A young man walked out of Gladrags Wizardwear, a box in his gloved hands and a bag hanging from one arm. In the box was a nice set of dress robes, just a plain black. In the bag there were three pairs of very fluffy socks with the Hufflepuff crest on them.

Yes Hufflepuff. The young man was in Hufflepuff. The supposed ‘weakest’ and ‘least important’ of the Hogwarts houses. That showed what the rest of the school and the rest of the world knew. Hufflepuff was just as important, just as smart, just as talented, and just as good as the rest of the school.

The Hufflepuff boy looked around, holding a hand up to blow his hot breath on it. He did the same with his other hand and then kept moving. His hand was blotchy red, although when it was warm, and his blood hadn’t frozen in his veins, his skin was normally a nice peachy color. His hair was a slightly long mop of brown hair and his eyes were a nice green. He wasn’t tall, but he wasn’t short either.

As a matter of fact, the young man was painfully average. He was average in height, weight, grades, and athleticism. He was a very good writer however, he loved reading, and he did enjoy doodling a little thing now and again. His favorite drawing was of the castle of Hogwarts, drawn from down near the lake. His favorite class was Transfiguration, or Care of Magical Creatures. His least favorite was a tie between the most obvious- say it with me now- Arithmancy and Muggle Studies. What? Potions and History of Magic? To each his own I suppose.

The young man’s wand was made of mahogany- thanks to his parents’ considerable wealth he could afford it- with a dragon heartstring in the core. It was ten inches from tip to tip, and particularly good for Transfiguration. The male was currently trying to become an Animagi- a legal one of course- hopefully being able to master the shape of a great siberian tiger. The young man knew that was what he was supposed to be, seeing as he had tried it out a few times and had noticed that his arms grew slightly orangish, and his friends had told of whiskers and black stripes on his back. He was so close, he could almost taste it, and he was almost set to register.

With the upcoming Triwizard Tournament, the Hufflepuff couldn’t help but hope. He would love to be the champion for his house, seeing as he was of age. The honor that came with something like that would thrill him and his parents more than anything. Plus, he would probably be the most popular Hufflepuff, and that much attention from the Hufflepuff girls wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, now was it?

The young man grinned to himself as he thought this and muttered, “You’re such an idiot Jonas. That the only thing you can think of?” Well, yeah, it was, but he was a teenage boy. What was to be expected? He did have the capacity to be nice, caring, and confident, and on the other end of the spectrum had the ability to be angry and cruel, but mostly he was flirty.

He was just Jonas. And he couldn’t help being that.

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

Finally, Avery couldn't quite stand sitting with his friends any longer while they continued making jokes -- especially about Slytherins. He was afraid that he would blurt out something about his little situation with Mallory, and somehow... well, now he found the jokes to be rude, something he hadn't thought of before when everything in his life had still been stable and he had been an extremely loyal Gryffindor. Now, Avery was a little bit more confused.

As he walked out of the Three Broomsticks, he breathed in the cold air outside thankfully. Confusion flitted about through his mind. What should he do with Mallory? Take her to the dance as promised? Reject her and stand her up? Avery slightly shook with fright; he had no idea what to do. He had never encountered a situation like this before -- a situation in which he didn't know what to do. He had always been clear-minded and had usually been the one to get his way out of problems like this one.

Perhaps he could ask Serena for help. She was equally as clear headed as him; perhaps she could give him some advice. Just as he was about to go walk to her so that he could maybe get some help, a thought hit him right in the gut. Serena probably wouldn't take her side. She wouldn't understand that Gryffindor pride had gotten in the way when he had asked Mallory out. Yet, he hadn't done anything to Mallory -- it was her choice if she wanted to go with him or not. Still, Serena would probably yell at him until he died or until she became hoarse -- whichever happened to occur first.

Walking with his head bent down as a sign to show that he was deep in thought, Avery furrowed his brow in thought. He paused for a moment to glance up so that he didn't walk in to anybody. Seeing another male figure, he stepped a few paces closer. Recognizing the figure as a Hufflepuff, Avery thought over his options quickly. Perhaps he could speak to this Hufflepuff. After all, even though Hufflepuffs weren't known to be the brightest lightbulb in the whole entire bunch of Hogwarts students, they were reasonably understanding.

"Hey," Avery called out when he was but a few paces away from the Hufflepuff.

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[Battie]

Slightly startled by the sudden voice behind him, Jonas threw up his hands slightly, nearly dropping his new dressrobes. He spun to look at the other person and grinned.

"You scared the pants off'a me," he complained. Realizing he had never met this boy before, he manouvered his hands to shake with the other boy. "The name's Jonas," he said smiling, "You?"

"Are you excited for the Tournament?" he continued, not waiting. He hadn't talked to anyone today (well, at breakfast and in the corridors he had, but his friends had gone to Zonkos to fill up on school-torture methods) and was eager to make friends. "I'm hoping someone good gets picked to be Hufflepuff's champion."

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

Well, thank goodness I didn't. Avery thought to himself wryly. On normal circumstances, he would've voiced this thought aloud as a snide comment against a non-Gryffindor, but he decided against it currently. Leaning back on the side of a building with smoke billowing out of its chimney, Avery crossed his eyes and observed the Hufflepuff with a slight note of interest in his eyes.

"It's Avery. Avery Chang," Avery said in response after he had learned the Hufflepuff's name. He wasn't too sure if he should have added his last name to his first, since most people knew that his mother was the relativley infamous Cho Chang, but Hufflepuffs seemed reliable enough -- they didn't seem to ever hold anything against anybody.

"The Tournament?" Avery repeated rather stupidly. It took a few moments for those thoughts to return to him. Oh right. The Tri-Wizard Tournament. "Oh yeah. That. Yeah, 'course I am. Who isn't?" he asked, a slight grin of his own spreading across his face, although it didn't quite light up his own face, displaying the fact that Avery wasn't in his particular best mood currently.

"Ask anyone out to the dance yet?" Avery asked, a sudden thought entering his mind. Perhaps if he could maybe get this Jonas person, this Hufflepuff, interested in Mallory, he woudn't have to suffer the humiliation of having to go to the dance with her.

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[Battie]

Chang? The name struck a chord in Jonas' mind. Of course! Cho Chang, that woman that Harry Potter was said to have known. And liked. Too bad for them, Jonas thought. It's never fun when two people don't get together. 'Course, this kid wouldn't be here, so I guess it's okay.

"Nah," Jonas replied, "I haven't asked anyone yet. No one's asked me either. I'm hoping to play the field." He tried to act non-chalant and cool, but it turned out making him look rather foolish. "I've got my eye on this girl, but unfortunately she's already got a boyfriend, and there's really no chance of them breaking up before anything big." He grinned at Avery. "What about you? You ask anyone?" He was surprised to realize that he and this Chang kid had barely met before they struck up a conversation like this. He guessed that they just had similar personalities or something.

[[:; [h] e a r t ::♥]]

A young teenager male walked out of Honeydukes, proudly carrying a bag of their newest fudge, and some lemon drops. He was rather fond of chocolate.

The male spotted a female, rather sad, staring after someone. Her eyes were blurred with tears, and her expression was utterly confused and upset. He walked over to her, and stood, meeting her brilliant green eyes. "Are you alright?" he asked, not directly asking her what was wrong.

He was a relatively handsome boy, some could say. Shaggy locks of dark blonde hair slightly obstructed his sky blue eyes. He wasn't tall, but wasn't extremely short for his age. He had a pretty even temper, but wasn't afraid to say what he was thinking. He could be pretty sympathetic, though, at some times.

He was really looking forward to Potions and Care of Magical Creatures; those were his favorite subjects, and aside from music, he loved animals, and since he could only own one, it was exciting to learn about all the other different types.

He was in love with music. He wrote music for his piano (he had it shrunk to get into his dormitory), and also played guitar, although he played piano far better. His piano was rather battered, but that was how he liked it. It had dusty black paint and peeling white and black keys, and his guitar wasn't new, nor old, and it was just a regular acoustic.

Currently, he was wearing a black T-shirt,a pair of faded blue jeans, and a pair of black sneakers, all under a midnight blue robe, his hair as usual, not entirely brushed, having that "naturally messy" hairstyle that everyone loved; he was just not bothered to brush his hair.

His eyes wandered over the female, her emerald eyes and platinum blonde hair catching his sky blue eyes, him thinking she was rather pretty. He wondered if he should ask her to the dance...

The male's name was Theo. His full first name was Theodore, but he hated that, so now it's Theo. Just Theo.

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

Mallory looked up as an unfamiliar voice spoke aloud. For a few moments, she stood their blankly, until he realized that he was speaking to her. "Oh -- I-I'm all right. I'll be fine. I promise, I'll live," she managed to get out, biting her lip fiercely so that her tears hung back instead of trickling down her face. A cold wind blew by, causing a slight chill to her, for her face was slightly moist from the tears.

Suddenly, Mallory felt the arm around her shoulders lift up. She glanced up at the Ravenclaw who had done the comforting action. Confusion passed through her eyes yet again, a question in them that wasn't spoken aloud. Where was this Ravenclaw -- her name was Serena, wasn't it? -- going?

"Going to yell at my brother. He's Avery. You know, that obnoxious little Gryffindor." That was what Mallory heard Serena say, although she wasn't quite sure. She was about to pull on Serena's cloak, for Mallory didn't want Serena interfering, but Serena was too strong-willed to obey any of Mallory's objections.

--x

"Too bad," Avery responded to the fact that Jonas favored a girl, but she probably didn't even know much about his existence. "Maybe you'll find luck with someone else, who knows," he added with a shrug, looking away as he feigned surveying the landscape that surrounded Hogsmeade. He wasn't sure how to put his next words, so he bought himself some more time by looking around.

"There's this girl -- she's a Slytherin. Her name's Mallory," Avery began slowly, his mind whirling as he attempted to figure out the proper way to do this. "She's pretty," he added abruptly, then fell short of words to say. He stood there, looking confused as he tried to come up with something else to say. Instead, Avery could only come up with, "Yeah..."

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[[:; [h] e a r t ::♥]]

"Oh--okay," Theo said awkwardly as he unlocked his gaze from hers, his cheeks going a bit pink. "Um, listen," he said, now beginning to be a bit self conscious around this girl. "I...was wondering...If...If you wanted..." he trailed off. "...Nevermind," he said, looking away from her, his cheeks now burning despite the cold wind that whipped at his hair, throwing a bit of it violently over his eyes. He cleared it away slightly, his sky blue eyes now clearly visible.

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

Mallory tilted her head to the side as she observed the newcomer for a few more moments, a thoughtful expression spreading across her face as she watched him. Rather bashful, wasn't he? Well, she shouldn't exactly have been the one to think that -- she herself was usually like that.

"The name's Mallory," she stated with a half shrug. "You?" she added in order to say something else. It would be rather akward to just be standing there with the bitter cold wind threading its way rapidly through the surroundings, scarcely halted by the numerous trees and buildings that stood everywhere around Hogsmeade.

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[[:; [h] e a r t ::♥]]

"Theo, just Theo," he replied, shrugging his shoulders in a nonchalant manner. "You play any instruments?" he asked, shruggin again.

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

"Oh, not really," Mallory responded in a lighter tone than she had spoken in since the beginning to this trip to Hogsmeade. "I sing, though," she added, giving another shrug. She wasn't exactly sure if she was making good conversation here; she had never been the one to be all "bubbly" and "energetic" as more well-liked people were.

[[:; [h] e a r t ::♥]]

"Oh, well thats cool too," Theo replied. "I don't think you'd really want to sing in front of me, though, right?" he added with a bit of laughter in his voice.

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[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

Mallory couldn't help it; a slight hint of amusement entered her eyes as Theo spoke. She had to admit -- he did have some way of cheering her up somewhat. Still, she wasn't all too particularly thrilled at the prospect of singing in front of someone she had just met. That meant, however, that Mallory was still Mallory -- that was exactly like her to be extremely shy and cautious.

"Well, I'm not sure," she said uncertainly, looking up at the sky with the same thoughtful look on her face as if she were contemplating her response to his question, and in fact, she was thinking about it. It surely couldn't hurt, yet Mallory was self-conscious and wasn't particularly sure how others would reacct to her singing. "I could..." She trailed off, still uncertain.

[[:; [h] e a r t ::♥]]

"I know, I wouldn't wnt to sing in front of people, either, except for that I have an awful singing voice. I bet yours is good. Anything would be better than my voice," he said with a small chuckle.