Unlikely Help

Charon had hoped going to the stables would help him decide if leaving Beauxbatons was right for him by providing a place to just kind of think aloud and be alone. He began to brush one of the pegasi in the stable that he liked the most. It was one of the smallest in the group and wasn't even used to pull carriages. It just was there because it could be, but Charon thought it was the smartest out of all the pegasi in the stables. "What do you think I should do?" He asked the winged horse. "Should I leave Paige and Beauxbatons and quidditch behind? I mean I don't really fit in here." He sighed. That was a pretty big understatement. He jumped when he heard a somewhat familiar voice respond to his question.

It was a shock.  Pure and simple.  Marie-Laure knew Yvette knew who she was despite having not laid eyes on her since she was a baby.  That'd been a year ago but it was now that Yvette chose to get in contact with her daughter.  A whole year!  What made her think Marie-Laure would want to have anything to do with her when she left more than fourteen years ago?

The fifteen year old was seething and shoved the letter she'd received from a very pretty snowy owl into the pocket of her robes.  She needed to go for a walk.  Somewhere to work out what on earth she planned to do.  Respond?  And if so how?  

She stopped short when she realised it was the stables she'd walked to and then she overheard Charon speak.  Marie-Laure's eyes narrowed as she thought again of the excuses Yvette had made for leaving her all those years ago.  A similar excuse.  "So what?" she demanded.  "So what if you don't fit in here?  It doesn't mean you should run."  Marie-Laure stepped closer to the boy.  "You need to be tougher than that and stay the course.  Not run off just because it's hard."  She may have been facing Charon but the words weren't just for him.  That was what she wanted so much to say to Yvette.  She stood in front of him, hands balled, eyes blazing and tears threatening to fall as she thought of the damage her mother had done by leaving when she did.

Charon jumped. He had not expected anyone to come out by the stables. "I-I mayb-maybe you're right.." He looked down at his shoes before looking up at her. He would have tried to defend himself harder, but she didn't look right. He didn't know much about her, but it didn't take an Einstein to see she wasn't so okay. "Are you alright?" He asked with a quiet voice. "I mean honestly, I can tell you aren't up to your normal self." He said softly. He looked genuinely concerned about her. "Do you want to talk or something?" He asked, motioning to the bench outside he stables. "I have all my work done for the weekend." Charon smiled really trying to show he was willing to help her.

"Of course I'm right," Marie-Laure returned. "I'm always right." Not always right. She hadn't thought Yvette would try to get in contact with her. That belief had been proven false with one letter. However, for once, she let that not quite truthful statement to come out of her mouth pass her by. At this point she didn't care when there were much more important things to consider.

Marie-Laure was very reluctant to give into Charon's offer. She'd already spoken to one classmate about her troubles and he was nowhere near as sensitive as Charon was. Yet she knew he understood just that little bit thanks to the little tidbit he'd given her about his background. However, he wasn't here and Charon was. Therefore Marie-Laure sat on the bench next to him but took her time to say anything. She leaned back and closed her eyes. "I just received a letter from someone who walked out of my life when I was a baby. Now they want back in." She kept her eyes shut, not willing to see the reaction to what she had to say.

Charon couldn't help but smile a little at the "Of course I'm right." That was the Marie-Laure he knew. She was confident and smart and headstrong in a way that made him respect her more than almost anyone. So, seeing her like this made him feel much more impassioned to help. When she mentioned someone who walked out on her life it was not that hard to compare that to himself. His father had walked out on himself and his mother for another woman. So Charon's gut reaction was to tell her to tell her correspondent to stuff it, but he didn't. Part of him wanted to touch her hand or something to physically comfort her, but he didn't want her to take it the wrong way like he was trying to flirt with her or something. "My father left me and my mum a couple years ago to be with another woman. It broke my heart. I used to see my dad as my hero, my biggest fan and everything, but he crushed all of that in one action. However, I knew my dad my whole life before this happened." Charon took a second to collect his thoughts and continued. "On your side though you've never met this person. You might have taught yourself to dislike him or her, and that's understandable, but they're trying to set things right. That doesn't make what they did right because it wasn't, but they want a chance. On that note however, I want to mention how I've never seen you like this before. I never once have seen you break under pressure. Never has the spotlight been too big for Marie-Laure Sylvian to be the brightest shining star. You're smart, confident, pretty, talented at quidditch, and thoughtful. So, if you think this person's attempt to reconcile might even hinder one of those things then it's not worth it. You're better than this person Marie-Laure. If you remember nothing else, just, please, remember that. Remember you're in control." Charon smiled reassuringly at her again contemplating taking her hand or something, and again deciding it was the wrong thing to do. "I'll be there for you if you ever and whenever you need me. Don't let someone else's mistake of leaving you ever bring you down." Charon let his words sink into the near silence of the night and the moment. He flushed a little in the moment wondering if Marie-Laure was going to call him a complete moron. He hoped not, and he hoped his advice would help her. She didn't have to face the letter writer alone if she chose to face the letter writer. He'd help her if she wanted or even if she just wanted to talk about the writer. Charon smiled a small little smile and rubbed his arm.

If it weren't for the examples of her aunts and uncles or friends parents she might have thought parents leaving was normal after hearing Charon's story. Of course there was the added problem of him not knowing the full story. She hadn't always hated her mother and Marie-Laure was torn between telling him the full story and keeping that one little detail back. It felt like she was lying but despite the fact she'd blurted out the full tale once before she found it hard to mention the rest of it.

She thought on his words. Could she give Yvette a chance? She had been honest in her letter and she wasn't the one who lied about being dead. That'd been Marie-Laure's father who'd been the guilty party there. Her father and grandparents. Marie-Laure shrugged and without making the full story clear she just nodded. "I'll think about it. Maybe I will agree to meet her in person." For normally confident Marie-Laure Sylvian that was a terrifying consideration.

"Now that I've told you some of what's been troubling me maybe I could return the favour. Why were you thinking of leaving Beauxbatons?"

"Well..." Charon's cheeks rosyed with embarrassment. That was a long list. There was pressure from his mom, Louise his girl/best/friend friend switching schools, but the biggest reason was no one besides a couple kids really cared about Charon's existence and soon enough one would be graduating. "I'm a dork, and because of that I don't really have any friends besides Paige, but she's always doing this, that, and the other recently. I'm not like you, her, or even Caleb. I'm not cool." He frowned. "But back in the muggle world I used to actually be pretty popular. I guess I'm just really lonely." Charon frowned staring at his feet. "But it's okay, I guess. No one really ever bothers me. I get to do my own thing." Charon sighed softly. The next thing that left his mouth practically tore open the flood gates. "It's all my dad's fault. He was my best friend and he left me and then Louise left me." His eyes stung with tears. Which normally would bother him with embarrassment of showing emotion in front of a girl, but he didn't really care. "What is it about me that makes people want to be away from me?" His frown was full and frustrated.

Marie-Laure was not the type to be sympathetic and she wasn't feeling overly sympathetic with what Charon had to say except perhaps the part about his father. She was a little surprised at him calling her cool. However, she wasn't overly concerned with that right now. "Stop acting so pathetically," she said. "That's what your problem is. So what if you aren't 'cool' here? What does that mean anyway? Nothing. It's just a term some use to make others feel useless and unaccepted."

She shook her head at where he lay the blame. "Can you be so sure you were the reason they left? Wasn't Louise the sister of that annoying announcer? She could have just as easily had something to do with her leaving. As for your father maybe there were other factors you're unaware of. You're here most of the year so something might have happened which made him make that very wrong decision. Something which has nothing to do with you." And suddenly she realised she had her answer. She would give Yvette that chance to explain herself.