|| The past three days Chava had survived solely on her anger that was still built up inside her, the madness that still consumed her from her days in Azkaban. Nothing was quite the same, and it was all Chava could do to keep her mind off of Damien. She didn't want to think about him, because whenever she did, it hurt physically, a pang in her heart she couldn't get rid of, aching away at her. The worst part was, in the state she was in, she mistook this pain for anger at the man, even hatred for him, breaking out until violent fits whenever her mind strayed. She had already been kicked out of five shops and motels under polyjuice potion in three days for disturbing guests or for property damage. She always made sure to stay in Muggle populated areas, as the Wizarding world knew her too much, especially now they all thought she was dead, bleeding away in a dirty Azkaban cell. Muggles were easy to manipulate and fool. Just carrying polyjuice on her made her feel safer than she had in months. But of course, after being thrown out of her sixth motel for throwing a wine glass at a man with familiar looking long dark hair, Chava figured some changes had to be made to her lifestyle. She wasn't sure how involved the Ministry was in her own household, but perhaps it was time to go back. She didn't much care what happened to her anymore anyway, so long as she was out of that hell that was Azkaban. And so, with a few bottles of alcohol and polyjuice stashed away in her bag, one bottle in hand, Chava makes the journey back to Diagon Alley carefully, before apparating directly into her home without using the door. Her apparation was still rather weak, especially while she was a little drunk, and she trips and stumbles upon arrival, her bottle of whiskey collapsing to the floor and shattering. "FUCK!" Chava cries in frustration, by way of arrival.
|| For nearly two years, Aveline had stayed in this home of her mothers. Occasionally she turned up, and 'practiced', but she spent most of the time at her boyfriend's house. In the recent months however, that dynamic had changed quite a bit. Her mother had decided to hide out at her boyfriends house completely when the ministry began investigating into some murders. A couple years ago Aveline might have been conflicted about having a killer for a mother, but in the recent years she'd hardened a bit. She would not go committing murders for fun, herself, but she wouldn't condemn her mother for such. One of the previous days, after a mass investigation of the house, a lone ministry official had come by hunting for dark artifacts, and anything that the others might have missed. The man had completely ignored Aveline, something she turned to her advantage. In just a few minutes, she had gone to her room, grabbed her bow, and shot the man through the heart. The body still lay there this day, Aveline didn't have the strength to move it far. Luckily it had only been there a few days, and hadn't started to smell... yet, but she was sure it would. Pretty shortly. A loud commotion pulled her from her memories, and she moved towards the source. "Mother?"
|| Kicking aside the remnants of her shattered bottle, Chava looks up, and the first thing she sees wasn't actually Aveline, but rather the body that lay there. Jumping into auto drive, the woman pulls out her dagger and starts to hack at the man's chest, reaching her fingers in for the heart. When she grabs it, she tears it out, moving to put it in her bag to give to... She freezes. She was used to collecting hearts to give to Damien as a treat later. The familiar pang in her chest hits her, as does the anger as she realizes what she had automatically come to do. The next thing she knew she was squeezing the stolen heart in her fist, until the blood coated her fingers and down her arm, tearing the thing apart, and throwing it across the room with a loud scream. It was only then that she noticed the girl, staring at her. "Aveline," she whispers, brushing the blood onto her cloak and across her own cheek. "I..." She didn't quite know what to say to the girl, what Aveline would even know. The woman collapses to the floor on her knees, looking numb and lost, devastated. "I'm staying home again."
|| While she knew her mother didn't particularly care for her, Aveline cared a slight bit for her mother. At first she only stayed to get to know the mother she never knew, but now... she wasn't sure why she still stayed to be honest. A roof over her head, food, a parent that wasn't dead. Something along those lines. Her eyes watched closely as her mother went to work on the dead man, "I thought you were dead... How?" Despite her question, Aveline didn't care what the answer to that question was. Her eyes narrowed and brows furrowed in confusion as she crushed the heart and tossed the remainders aside. "Aren't you going to stay with your 'oh-so-amazing' boyfriend?" She mocked slightly. In truth, she didn't know that much about Chava's boyfriend, even after two years, but she still loved teasing her mother about it.
|| She had almost desperately hoped Aveline wouldn't have brought him up, but she did. She did. Another loud scream, and Chava's fist is quite literally through the wall, a low groan escaping her lips, trying to fight the tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "What boyfriend?" she snarls, tearing her hand from the wall and sitting in front of the fire, as if she'd like nothing better than to throw herself into it. "I want /nothing/ to do with that man." She'd meant this to come out coldly, but the pain in her chest was still there, and her words came out with a whimper instead, wiping at her tears. Still, she mistook her heartbreak for anger. She sat in front of the fire for a while, before remembering Aveline's first question. "Not dead," she mumbles, rubbing the blood at her fingers, not looking away from the fire. "They broke me out, made it look like I died. Clearly I'm alive."
| Aveline wasn't quite expecting this reaction. If she had to say anything, she would say that the way her mother was acting reminded her of a spoiled child. She scoffs audibly, before taking a seat near her mother, though out of arms reach in case she decided to lash out. "Clearly not. If you wanted nothing to do with Damien, you wouldn't be acting like this." She pointed out the tears, and the bits of heart as if to prove her point. Aveline felt there was more to it than just the details her mother was giving about a breakout, but she didn't press into it. "If he went through all that trouble to get you out, he clearly cares a great deal about you." "It seemed obvious to her, and yet, why did her mother not want anything to do with Damien? That part made no sense. "So why all the anger?"
Chava curls her hands into fists, shoving them into her pockets so she wouldn't end up hurting Aveline. If there was one thing she learned over the past couple days, it was that violence wasn't going to fix anything. It might make her feel better for a bit, but it fixed nothing. She wished she could go back in time, before any of this had happened, so it wouldn't be like this now... But she was still angry, right? "Shut up," she hisses at the girl. "You're ignorant. It doesn't matter if he broke me out if he let me get in there in the first place." Chava scowls, shaking her head. Aveline wouldn't understand... She didn't think she could get her to understand. "I'm only... I'm only acting like this because I'm angry. I'm angry and he hurt me and I... I never want to see him again, never again." One of her hands clutched at her chest over her heart where it ached, doubling over with a choking sob. Physical pain to go along with the emotional, and she just wanted comfort. But the one person who could bring comfort to her was the one currently causing her pain. She finally glances over at Aveline, looking into the younger girl's eyes with a sort of helpless look in her own, a devastating look. Never had she been so weak in front of her daughter.
|| Truly pathetic, her mother was. Having raised herself, and been initially raised by someone who taught her archery, she had a lot of patience, and thus was able to make logical connections, by stepping back from the situation. And she had plenty of time to learn of her mother's. Aveline had not known about the breakout, yet she did now about the arrest. "I heard about the arrest. 'An auror and several dementors coming across someone who decided to steal from a shop window.'" She started, "I wonder how he would have managed against those dementors without his wand once dealing with the Auror. He'd already used a patronus charm prior from what I've heard, and that's a difficult spell, isn't it?" "She gave a slight, cocky, grin, as if she had just beaten someone at wizards chess. "Accept some responsibility, mother. If you hadn't tried stealing from a shop, you'd never have been in that situation." "She shakes her head slightly, folding her arms over her chest as her mother speaks again. Aveline might have been young, but even she could tell the difference between anger and missing someone. It truly was sad the way Chava was acting. "No you aren't. No you don't. That pain isn't anger. It's sadness. You miss him."
|| Tearing her eyes away from Aveline's, Chava stares back into the fire, dumbfounded. Even through her emotions, and anger, there was no doubt she had made a point there. Damien hadn't had his wand. Magic would have drained him immensely anyway. Blinking into the fire, she shakes her head, still determined to be angry somehow. "But... he... he could have apparated too, but he didn't. He didn't. He sat and watched it happen and then let them take me away... I..." Perhaps Aveline didn't quite understand just how terrible Azkaban was, for Chava. Her worst nightmare. "He knew how much I hated Azkaban, I begged him not to let me get there, but he let it happen... He didn't even look sorry," she whines, gripping her hair in her hands and tugging roughly at it. Aveline was trying to make it sound like she missed Damien. No, no it wasn't true. What did a nine year old know about the difference between hating someone and missing them? She might have loved him, but he hurt her. She couldn't miss him anymore. She didn't want him. He didn't even love her enough to... She shakes her head, growling menacingly. "I don't fucking miss him... Why do you think I left him?! He's gone, he's gone, and I won't... see him ever again..." Her voice trails off towards the end, choking on a sob, her body getting shaky.
|| Instantly Aveline's features twisted into a slight grin. "Oh, Are we on the topic of Apparating now?" She clapped her hands mockingly, before waving off her comment, "Only a powerful witch or wizard can apparate without a wand. I highly doubt he fits that bill." She tilted her head contemplating that for a brief moment, before shaking her head, "And even if he could, From what you've told me, he'd probably get you both splinched if he tried. Two very hefty spells in a row, and without a wand to boot?" She tsked and shook her head. No, from what she heard and read, her mother's boyfriend did the best thing he could do. She smirked again, before holding up a finger, "And while we're on the topic of apparating, why didn't you?" She queried, turning herself to face her mother, who was staring into the flames. "From what I heard, you had at least three opportunities to apparate away: As soon as things started going down, when Damien cast the patronus charm, and when he got close to you." As she listed each, she put up a finger to count out the opportunities. How was something so obvious to Aveline, so oblivious to Chava? Perhaps she could get through to her, but Aveline wasn't holding much hope. "Why do I think you left him? Because you were being immature, and let your emotions cloud your mind, rather than think logically."
|| Again, Aveline had made very logical points. Chava hadn't apparated. Why? She liked the thrill of almost being caught. And she hadn't even thought then of such a thing. Why hadn't she? Maybe if she had, maybe if she had listened to Damien in the first place and not gone out when she knew it was dangerous... It wouldn't be like this now. Chava heaves a sigh, and gives up on her argument, unable to think of anything more to say. Aveline would just refute it anyway. The woman curls onto the floor in a ball, her head near Aveline's feet. Before she even realized she was doing it her hand was resting on Aveline's, in an... almost, motherly type of way. Never, before now, had she shown the girl any small sign of affection. While she might be able to admit Damien might not have been entirely in the wrong, that really didn't change much in the way of being with him. The woman closes her eyes. "Its too late now," she whispers. "He's gone. There's no going back. I don't love him anymore, he doesn't love me." She says this with finality, even though a very, very small part of her knew deep down that this was a lie. A huge lie. Chava was heartbroken. Never had a broken heart hurt this much before. Releasing a small sigh, she stays there for a moment, before attempting to stand up. Petting her daughter's hair, she goes to make her way to her bed without another word.
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