Long Nights

Cliff found that he had drank more hot chocolate that night than his nervous system could handle or appreciate. Try as he might, he could not sleep and he found himself sitting in bed, trying to rouse Brian by hissing at him and throwing his various possessions at the Gryffindor sleeping in the next bed. Brian was unmoved and Cliff sighed, realizing that the other boy was not going to leave slumber land and Cliff was on his own.

Cliff stood and made his way out of the dormitory, his Superman themed pajamas making the trip more exciting, as he found reason to put his fist before him and storm down the stairs, earning him a few shouts and grunts of displeasure from those in the other dorms that were less than thrilled at his noise making.

He collapsed at a couch and sat there, staring at the ceiling, hoping the change of atmosphere might help him sleep.

Avis realized that after testing one of her ’creations’ on herself, she was unable to fall asleep no matter how hard she tried. This led her to the hospital wing where she asked the nurse to give her one cup of the relaxing tea that, as she was told, would help her fall asleep soon.
And though Avis’ cup was now empty, she did not feel tired or affected by the potion anyhow. That made her feel irritated and hyperactive instead. In order to keep herself busy for a while, Avis hid herself in the bed room and looked up her cookiejar that she once took from the kitchen. She also took one book about the herbs. Since this book was the one that made everyone tired and bored of it as soon as they read one paragraph, Avis was certain that she’d feel just the same fifteen minutes later.

Putting on her light blue dressing gown which hid away her silken red pyjamas, she was finally ready to leave the bed room and walk down to the common room. However, as soon as she saw that she wasn’t the only one there, Avis regretted the choice of coming down there. The last thing that she wanted was for someone to see her in... this.
But it was already too late to go back.
And in order to pull herself away from this miserable and awkward situation, she frowned and looked at Cliff:“Nice costume,“ she said quietly, voice calmer than she expected. Forcing herself to feel comfortable in her gown, she took a seat in nearby chair and put the cookiejar on the table. Then she opened the book from the first page but before reading, Avis raised her brown eyes once again at Cliff and revealed her white teeth in a grin:“Why aren’t you asleep?“

Cliff heard approaching footsteps and he felt a hopeful flurry of excitement within him,eager to have something to occupy his time and amusement. He rolled himself onto his side and propped himself up on his elbow, straining his neck to look towards the girl's staircase, from whence the noise came.

So entered Avis Summers. Cliff felt a smile appear on his face, forcing himself to stare at her face and not on her gown. "Heeeey, Avis!" he said, calling out to her, his cheerful but restrained voice sounding awkward in the silence. She spoke of his clothes and he couldn't stop himself from saying, "You look nice too."

Whoops.

He cleared his throat, but she saved him by speaking. He rolled onto his belly, putting his arms under neath him and resting his chin on the arm rest. "Ah, y'know. Crime-fighting all day keeps you up... And fourteen cups of hot chocolate doesn't help either." He grinned sheepishly. "You?"

Sorry for the delay!

Avis raised her eyebrows. He greeted her with great positivity and that made her feel... dull. Her answers were also emotionless, and so sounded her talk.
She realized this only now, when she was tired, and when she was seventeen, not five years old. To change from the numb and even annoyed voice of hers into something more positive would take hell loads of time, and it sounded like mission impossible.
Once she recieved a comment about her pj’s and gown, Avis looked at Cliff. Sitting right before him like this did not bother her at all. In fact she found it even amusing. „Do you wish to try it on?“ She offered, sly grin on her face.

While he was busy answering to her, Avis positioned herself more comfortably on the chair. „Oh, I see. Superman, huh.“ Another grin. 14 cups of chocolate... It sounded so extreme by how he told this. Avis could do more, and still sleep like a baby. It was like a coffee – she could drink it, but it did not help her to feel better or awake. In fact it just made her sleepier and eyes heavier. The whole opposite of him.
„I was...“ Avis frowned. If she’d explain everything, including every detail that she did this evening, that would just annoy the hell out of Cliff. And though sitting alone in the dorm sounded so appealing, Avis found Cliff’s company quite enjoyable. He was one of those classy wizards who did not know much about the muggle world and were really impressed by almost everything that they saw. Like on the train, he looked so fascinated by the lightsaber. „doing late studies. Then I just realized that I could not fall asleep, so here I am.“

"Do you wish to try it on?"

Cliff's eyes widened and his face burned slightly with bashfulness, as he reached up to rub the back of his neck. He had realized as he had said it the way the gown complimented her figure and as she now teased him about the gown, he feared she had noticed him noticing her, as the silly old saying used to go. He chuckled and weakly said, "I'll have to get a raincheck on that."

She jokingly suggested he was Superman and with a serious face he responded, tipping his head intellectually as he prepard to correct her. "Actually, I'm Spiderman- which is why I don't wear Spiderman clothes. Spidey isn't vain. He wouldn't wear jam-jams that had himself on them." The grace with which he said jam-jams truly proved how silly Cliff still was. She explained her absence and he responded, "Cool stuff. School's been kicking my butt this year. Except Charms. I love Charms this year!"

Avis’ grin only widened. Cliff’s reactions were original, and funny. Her eyes were still fixed on him. Watching someone like this amused her more and more. Thank god she did not leave the common room when she saw him. She’d die of boredom.
Avis raised her eyebrows;“No, really, try it on,“ she demanded while standing up and taking the gown off. She realized that standing infront of him with her sliken red pj’s with Gryffindor’s emblem on it wasn’t even so difficult as she feared.

„I see. So a cover behind a cover, huh? As a superhero, that’s a good choice to hide your true identity.“ Avis looked at the emblem of big S on chis chest. However then she realized that she was looking too long at Clark Kent’s logo and then Avis’s eyes traveled to Cliff’s face. She reached out her hand with the morning gown and smiled at him:“So...? Don’t be afraid. I am sure that it will fit you. The material stretches so if you’re afraid of breaking it, don’t be.“

Cliff didn't exactly hear Avis when she took the gown off and instructed him to wear it, for he had taken the opportunity while her gown was over her head to observe and appreciate the pajamas she was wearing under the gown. The silk pajamas clung to her in a much more flattering way than he had thought the gown had, and the simple act of an older girl kind-of-sort-of undressing before him distracted his adolescent male mind from any sort of logic that might have ever been there.

Only words regarding a superhero could lull him back into the world of the present, and he grinned at her words, having forced his eyes up to her face. "Can't be a superhero and let everyone know it, right? Now you have to swear to secrecy." He smiled.

She offered the gown and he suddenly realized the reason it had ever been taken off. He gaped at her for a second and then closed his jaw with a snap, pulling on a very masculine scowl as he held the gown out before him. He stepped into it, shimmied it on, and slipped the straps over his arms. He crossed his arms and said, "Sometimes, superheroes wear the most surprising disguises."

She raised her eyebrows. Did he really insult her by staring at her barely covered body? Avis took a slight breath before looking down at herself. She did not see anything that would be so... what men would say - magical? Pretty? Gorgeos? Unlike most of the girls in their house, she didn't even have those huge breasts to brag with. However, from Cliff's look, she could make sure that he had never visited the beach. Poor guy. Now she ruined his childhood.

"You can dream about my silence, young Spiderman," was Avis' reply. Once she gave away her gown, she did not know where to put her hands or what to do with them. So, in order to make herself feel somewhat comfortable, she slided them into the pockets of her pj's, and looked at him, waiting.

From his eyes she could see the surprise once he had recieved the gown. Did Cliff really think that she was going to undress before him just to give the young boy a view and please him in such a way? Oh hell no.
However it was Avis' turn to be surprised since he actually accepted her dress and stood up to put it on. "I agree... Sad that we don't have the camera..."