Closed An Evening to Remember

[Lars van Houten]

Lars was feeling very mixed about tonight. On the one hand, he was excited to spend the evening with Blake, dancing, and laughing, eating snacks. But on the other hand, he couldn't make himself forget even for a second that this would be his final dance at Hogwarts. Graduation was coming up sooner than he wanted, and Lars felt more and more aware of how limited his time at the castle was. The boy waited near the entrance of the great hall, having put the red rose Blake had sent him in his lapel. He put his hands in his pockets and glanced around, smiling slightly at the sight of excited couples. He was always amazed at the effort some people went through with their appearance. Lars was glad he'd run a brush through his hair and had managed to find something to wear without paint stains on it.

 

[Blake van Houten]

Blake was trying so hard not to feel uncomfortable in his outfit. It had felt fitting when he picked it out, flowers for Valentines, right? But now here he was, out and about the school wearing florals, something he had never really dared to do before. Did he look weird? Out of place? Too... too much? It was tempting to just go back to the dorm and dig out his old tuxedo, put that on instead. But it would never fit, and he was already here, people seeing he had gotten anxious and changed because of some flowers would be infinitely worse. He was a man, a strong man, and Blake hoped he could prove he was the kind of man who was strong enough to wear flowers if he wanted to, without it being a whole thing.

So when he spotted Lars Blake couldn't hold back a small smile. For all the stress he had put into his own appearance, Lars just looked comfortable. And he was wearing the rose Blake had sent. "Hey, gorgeous." Blake smiled warmly, leaning in to give Lars a soft, warm kiss. However caught up he got in his own head, everything always felt so simple when he was with Lars, like nothing in the world mattered but the two of them. "Ready to go dance?"

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars laughed and kissed Blake softly, though he still felt a touch self-conscious about kissing him in public. Not because of who he was, just because kissing was a bit embarrassing at the best of times. "Hey." He murmured. "I suppose, though you know I'm no good." He said, smiling slightly. "Should I apologize to your toes now, or later?" He asked playfully, linking arms with Blake as he started to lead him inside.

 

[Blake van Houten]

Blake laughed softly at Lars' comments, feeling his worries melt away bit by bit. What had he even been worried about in the first place? "My toes will be fine." He smiled, linking arms with Lars contentedly. "You know I'm a crap dancer too, but we've got this between us." He said, sounding a lot more confident than he felt as he led Lars onto the dancefloor and began moving with him in a clumsy shuffle. "Happy Valentines, by the way."

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars smiled slightly and glanced down at their feet. "I'm sorry anyway." He said, still joking a bit. He let Blake lead him, a slightly goofy smile on his face as they started to dance in their own awkward way. One upon a time Lars would have been too embarrassed to do this, but couldn't really worry as much anymore. Especially with this being his final year. "Happy Valentine's." He said softly. "I can't help wondering what things will be like in a year, for us." He added more quietly.

 

[Blake van Houten]

Putting his arms around Lars to dance felt natural in the way dancing never had to Blake on his own or with anyone else. He smiled warmly and met Lars' eyes as the Ravenclaw returned his good wishes, though his smile slipped a little into thought as Lars went on. "Well, we'll be nice and settled in our awesome house we bought together." He said softly, letting himself daydream about an impossibly good future. "I'll be the Quidditch league's big new star, and you'll have people begging to pay thousands for your paintings. And... we'll be happy. We'll... cook dinner together and almost set the kitchen on fire, and we'll play quidditch in the holidays with your sisters, and we'll go on double dates with Jasper and Nell and maybe even Elliot and Alice. We'll... we'll just be happy."

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars flushed at Blake's words, feeling a bit uncertain. It sounded so good, too good to be true. "I mean. I hope so." He mumbled. "Though I don't like the part about the kitchen fire." He joked lightly, feeling a bit nervous about how much he wanted this. "I just... worry." He admitted. He had always wanted to pursue art, but he wasn't sure if it was a realistic goal. And what if Blake didn't make it on a professional team?

 

[Blake van Houten]

Blake laughed softly at Lars' comment about the kitchen fire, giving him a small, teasing smile. "Well, we're gonna have to learn to cook before then, in that case." He joked, though his face slipped as Lars went on and he studied the expression on his boyfriend's face more closely. "Hey, I know it's... not super realistic." He said softly, lightly touching Lars' cheek. "But... we can't know, so... let's just... focus on the positive for now?"