Black Pages (Harry Potter fanfic)

9)Pranks, Boggarts, and Crushes.

Ava felt exhausted by the time everyone had managed to make their way back to Grimmauld place. Not only had she spent over an hour getting measured for dress robes, Ava also had to endure the annoying cat calls two teenage boys made upon hearing Madam Malarkin loudly exclaim that Ava held a bra size of a 36C. The boys wolf whistles were embarrassing enough that Ava contemplated using her new wand to try out a Bat-Bogey hex on the two teenage boys. She remembered the incantation from one of the books.
A bright side to the trip to Diagon Alley was buying the jet-black owl Ava had seen earlier. The owl easily hopped onto her shoulder much to the surprise of the woman running the pet shop. She warned Ava that the male owl tended to bite, but he did no such thing to Ava herself. It wasn't hard to figure out why the owl named Darkwing wasn't biting Ava; she was still assuming this was all apart of her imagination. Therefore, everything was working in her favor.

Ava held no real choice in participating in dinner once everyone was settled back at the house. Since she helped Mrs. Weasley peel potatoes for the dinner, the kind Weasley matriarch took it upon herself to make Ava sit with everyone for dinner.
"Ava dear," Mrs. Weasley said as she used a wand to levitate a large bowl of broth to the table. "I heard from the kids you didn't meet up in Flourish and Blotts for them to escort you to Ollivanders."
Ava nodded her head, avoiding the gazes of every person in the room. It was hard not looking back at all the pairs of eyes watching her. She had the golden trio looking at her. Ginny, Fred, George, Mr. Weasley, Sirius, Lupin, and even Tonks who stopped by for dinner. As soon as Ava began staring back at other people, they diverted their gazes. It made Ava appreciative of meeting Draco, Luna, and Mr. Ollivander earlier that day. Not one of them silently judged her like the people seated at the table.
"They were uh....having a conversation I didn't want to interrupt," Ava answered, locking gazes with Harry and Hermione. As both of their brows raised in surprise, they suddenly looked rather sheepish realizing that Ava overheard their conversation earlier at the book store.

Ron meanwhile started coughing once more, but Ava wasn't sure whether this was due to another canary feather or because the guy kept stuffing too large of quantities of food into his mouth. It could've also been because Ava pointed out she overheard them talking about her. "Well that was considerate of you dear, but you shouldn't have gone alone. It was bad enough Dumbledore had you go into Gringotts all by your lonesome....Arthur, will you stop tinkering with that, please!"
Ava looked to see that Mr. Weasley was carefully examining a rubber duck, gently prodding it with a small pole. He was staring at it with great interest. "I'm just confounded as to what Muggles would need this object for upon taking a bath," he exclaimed, prodding the rubber ducky once again. 
Ava resisted a chuckle. She gently poked at the chicken on her plate before she suddenly felt awkward that once again all eyes were upon her. As a strange silence took over the table, Ava felt as though she wanted to crawl under the table and simply disappear. There was a bright side to being a foster kid that bounced from home to home growing up. No one really cared enough to keep watching you.
"So...uh...Nice weather today," Ava said, gently using her fork to toy around with a potato. Someone needed to kick-start conversation. Sadly, those were the only words that came to mind for her.
"Wouldn't know. I'm not allowed outside," Sirius said, sounding somewhat moody.
No one else said a word to this as they ate their food, causing Ava to sigh gently. "Don't feel too bad, Sirius.  I think the weather was actually cloudy and gloomy. I was just trying to offer conversation to get everyone to stop staring at me and silently judging."

Upon this declaration, everyone at the table immediately started looking anywhere than at Ava. Sirius laughed, slapping his leg in amusement. Still, everyone else looked away from her. They either stared at their food or at each other. In Ron's case, he inhaled another large mouthful of potatoes and carrots before staring up at the ceiling.
As more awkward silence ensued with the exception of clinging silverware, Ava shifted uncomfortably in her spot. "It's a delicious dinner Mrs. Weasley, but I'm not feeling too hungry anymore." she said, pulling herself from the table.
"Oi, Future! Don't get up just because people have a staring problem." Fred Weasley exclaimed with a shrug. "George and I have people staring at us all the time-"
"Course, that's because they're so bamboozled over wondering how I'm the better looking twin when we're supposed to be identical" George finished, grinning.
"You guys keep looking at me as well." Ava pointed out.