If there was one characteristic of Ava’s that thrilled ffleurbert more than her kissing skills, it was her ability to make him feel smart. Almost everything he said she agreed with, and somehow managed to make it seem like let fall some gem of truth. Though, if he’d really thought about it he would have realized that his little bunny was being difficult. She simply wouldn’t tell him anything about herself!

“So…you and Skrumph have been friends for a while then, right? Even before Hogwarts?”

“Oh, rather!” Said ffleurbert, happily thrown back into childhood memories. “We were in the same prep school. Of course, the Mater said that Skrumpkin’s dad was nothing but a trumped-up butcher, but really, old Lionel is pretty bright, once you get to talkin’ with him. And you don’t make the pile he has by being stupid.” He stopped, realizing he’d lost what tenuous grip he’d had on the thread.

“Well, let’s see… right, Skrumph and I were at St. Elmo’s together. Not the most likely pair to hit it off, you might think, but… well, truth be told, I recognized that he was a wizard before he knew himself. Muggle-born, of course, so he hadn’t a clue why stuff kept happinin’. I spotted it in Rugger one day, how the bigger lads kept bouncing off him, I mean, he’s always been big, but he wasn’t that big then.”

He paused a bit thinking back to when he, a seven year old, explained to his friend that he was a wizard, and had to have the Mater do a little magic to prove to the Skrumpkins that magic was real.

“Anyway, that’s when we started doing things together. Came as a bit of a shock when we were sorted into different houses. Still chums, though. You can’t go through St. Elmo’s prunes together without bonding, don’tcher know.”

Once again ffleurbert tried to turn the conversation back to Ava.

“Where did you go to school? I mean before..”  He waved his hand to indicate the spot where they were sitting and the whole of Hogwarts. “I mean, I don’t know whether you are an old pureblood family or a Muggle-born like old Skrumph.” He smiled innocently, because of course it really didn’t matter to him a whit.

Not when she made him feel so good. Who cared who her father was?

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Not Getting Any Younger