Success. Again. Ffleurbert either understood that she didn’t want to talk about her family or he was really keen on the subject she had breached. Okay, she knew he was really keen, but was it keen enough that he was able to ignore her change in subject completely? She certainly hoped so. Still, his enthusiasm had her grinning. She loved it. He was so genuine, like her, and it made her happy and like him all the more.

Listening, she learned a lot about ffleubert. He was obviously a good friend since he had had a friend for so long. He went to prep school….he was smart enough to recognize that his friend was a wizard. “I bet that was fun surprise,” she told him, though it hit home a little too much, enough that she spoke the words quietly before forcing herself to grin and laugh a little about it. After all, her mother had left the family when she found out that Gormley could do magic. Avaline forced the memory away.

“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.”

“And you’re still friends. That’s…sweet. Adorable.” She spoke in her baby voice because the moment called for it.  

“Where did you go to school? I mean before…I mean, I don’t know whether you are an old pureblood family or a Muggle-born like old Skrumph.”

That had her giggling. “Probably something we should know since we’re dating.” But they had never worried about details like that. They had liked enough and that was enough for them. No Romeo and Juliet story for them. That was fine with her. The drama was fun but she didn’t need it. Not with ffleurbert.

“I went to a local muggle school,” she said, making a point not to mention if her father was muggle or not. Because then she would have to explain her mother’s absence and that was just not something she liked to do. There was a reason why she didn’t talk about her home life: it was just easier to pretend that everything was perfectly alright. “With my brother and cousin. Theo and my aunt and uncle live just down the street from us.” There, she gave him something. She really must like ffleurbert if she was willing to even say that much, freely too.

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