Closed Called it.

[Linden Kinnek]

After they had been caught making out in the arts room linden and Casper had decided that they needed to come clean and not hide their relationship. it wasn't that they were going to announce it with a megaphone but linden had asked Casper to be his date at the ball and well his man had accepted. however, there were a few people who they had decided needed to be told first. Linden had been put on Lucas duty as despite the fact that they had been dating this time last year and they were going to tell Tara together.
It was a couple of days after the incident and linden entered in the great hall hungry after a quidditch practice. instead of sitting at the Hufflepuff table like he usually would, he recognised the shine of Tara's blonde hair, and more importantly, she seemed to be alone. these days it was almost a challenge to try and catch her without stan. "Hey HT. how's your day been" he asked as he added some potatoes to his plate.

 

[Tara Hawthorne]

Tara was sitting there eating her dinner. She wasn't sure where Stan was, but she'd probably find him sooner or later. She just took a bite of her food when her brother appeared. She smiled at him. "Hi there, Linny bear," She greeted, setting down her fork and smiling at him. "It was a pretty normal day. Yours?" She asked, wanting to check in. She hadn't seen Linden or Casper in a minute. Stan had been keeping her attention fairly frequently. She smiled at him, sipping on her drink.

 

[Linden Kinnek]

Linden smiled as Tara greeted him for once not rolling his eyes the nickname she had insisted on giving him. Maybe because with the addition of snowflake and sunshine to his list of nicknames it wasn’t that weird. Or maybe he just had just gotten used to it. that is good. Mine was good. Except it was raining so hard during quidditch training he said. ”how did that care of magical creatures assignment go he asked. The last time he had hung out with Tara she had been doing an assignment and he had been helping.

 

[Tara Hawthorne]

Tara shook her head as he talked about rain. "I'm sure that was fun," she teased him. She blinked, confused for a moment by his question, but quickly realized what he meant. "Oh, that wasn't an assignment for class, Linny bear, it was just me being curious. I didn't get anywhere, really, I'll have to talk to mom." She sighed dramatically. She was about to ask Linden a question of her own when she saw a familiar face. She lit up and waved her arm. "Cassy-boo! Over here, come on!" She summoned him, flashing Linden a coy smile. "He's intent on something," She commented.

 

[Casper Kinnek]

Casper was running a little late. His uncle had been looking for flats for him, like Cas had asked him, and he was pretty sure they'd found it, the perfect place. He'd given his uncle the go ahead and he now had an apartment waiting for him when he graduated. Or at least, he would once his uncle had sent him the paperwork for him to sign.

Until then, Casper was doing what he did best. He had his sketchbook out, and he'd sketched out his new place from the pictures his uncle had sent. He had gotten hungry so he'd slowly made his way to the Great hall. He was barely paying attention, moving a little slower with his head over his sketchpad and his pencil still flying over the paper. He hesitated as he heard Tara yell, peeking up at her. Oh, Linden. Distracted, Cas shifted and walked over to them, focused on his work. He bumped into the table, wincing, and sat next to Linden with his things. Unthinkingly, Cas just hummed at them and bent back over his sketchpad.

 

[Linden Kinnek]

Linden let out a slight snort when tara said it wasn't for an assignment but for her own entertainment. "well if it isn't for class. I can try and help a bit more what did you still need to know?" he had been helping her but hadn't told her everything he knew. she needed to do her own classwork too or she would get stuck when he wasn't here. before tara could answer, however, they were distracted by her waving at someone across the room and he looked up to see cas, nose deep in a sketch pad. he couldn't help but let the smile cross his face. kind of glad that he had made it to the great hall. usually, when he was that intent on his art he would forget food. but this was progress. he tried to hide the smile that slid so easily across his face in Caspers presence as the boy approached. "Hey cas" he said once he was in earshot.
it seemed like whatever his secret was sketching was imprtant as he didnt break looking at it for either him or the table. which he colided with with a clatter. he raised his hand to steady the boy letting it linger on his arm for just a moment longer than maybe necessery before moving it away with a quick glane at tara as if to see if she noticed. tugh maybe the glance gave him away just a little more than it should have. "Are you okay?" he asked looking up at him. "you have to stop crashing into tables like that you are goin gto hurt yourself one day" he said as cas sat down a smirk playing on his face and his feet seeking out casper and wrapping around his leg holding him tight. if this was all they could get away with in public at the moment then he would have to live with it. he looked at tara he wasn't ignoring her. but the conversation had only been small talk and cas had appeared.. "What are you drawing?" he asked looking from his man to the sketch pat

 

[Tara Hawthorne]

Tara snorted as Casper hit the table, shaking her head. "You are so helpless, you big baby," She teased her brother, raising a brow at Lindens lingering touch. She met his gaze when he looked at her, almost guilty. She smirked. Well, that wasn't suspicious at all. Tara propped her chin in her hand, giving Linden a smug grin. "Yeah, Cassy-boo, what are you drawing?" She asked, watching Linden carefully.

 

[Casper Kinnek]

Cas was half listening, humming half-heartedly at Lin, hooking his foot around Lindens easily. He dragged himself out of his drawing, grabbing a roll off of Lindens plate. He slid the pictures of the apartment from the back of his sketch book over to Linden. "Bought myself a place," He murmured, going back to the designs in his notebook. He'd almost finished the bedroom design, having a round bed with loads of pillows, art on the walls, bean bag chairs and a coffee table with a smaller television on it. Unthinkingly, he brushed his foot gently against Lindens, munching on his roll while he drew.

 

[Linden Kinnek]

Linden looked at tara as she spoke. trying to look confused and not to like he had just been called out. "Helpless, about what?" he asked hoping he was playing oblivious well enough to pass at least for now.
he looked at tcas when he spoke. "A place? a place where?" asked. wondering if the place was on some design course or something. however, looking at the pictures cas passed him he realised that the place was a physical place not a spot. "Oh wow" he said examining the pictures, even though hit was small it seemed so light and open and airy. and just totally cas/ "that place is beautiful. buttercup, it has so much light" he said. looking at the skylights. something that wasn't common at home he glanced at the picture that cas was drawing and realised it matched the room he was looking at but furnished. the beanbags looked squishy and the bed looked comfortable if not very unusual. he thought about what it would be like to curl up and sleep on it with cas tangled up in his arms. he drew his mind away from those thoughts and looked at the two of them hoping it wasn't obvious what he was thinking.

 

[Tara Hawthorne]

Tara ignored Lindens question, instead watching the two. Could they be any more obvious? Her eyes widened at Lindens nickname and she burst out laughing. "That's it, I swear to God Linden if you don't ask Casper to the dance I'm going to end you," she threatened happily, smirking at her brother. She was getting tired of waiting around for the two of them to figure out the obvious.

 

[Casper Kinnek]

Casper was putting the finishing touches on the bedroom, only half paying attention. "Linden has a date," he murmured, shading in a piece of the drawing. "I've just bought my first apartment and you aren't going to comment on it?" He asked Tara slowly, intent as his pencil flew across the page.

 

[Linden Kinnek]

linden realised what he had said just as tara started to laugh. he had blown it now. but clearly he was doing a somewhat good act as the oblivious boy he had been last semester as tara said that he needed to ask cas to the ball. "I can't ask Casper to the dance, he already has a date." he said at about the same time that cas said that he had a date. he chuckled as cas said that tara had not commented on the apartment. he took one last look at the pictures that cas had shown him before passing them to tara. "Actually i wanted to talk to you about my date at the dance.but first you need to tell cas how awesome he is, and how cool the flat looks." he said for once not sure if he was relieved or disappointed or nervous by the change in topic.

 

[Tara Hawthorne]

Tara frowned as the boys said the other had a date. "Of course," she commented dryly. She peeked at the pictures, cracking a smile. "This does look like somewhere you'd buy, Cas. I like how open it is. Half the ceiling has to be these skylights. Is this one of those loft apartments?" She asked him, curious.

She raised a brow as Linden mentioned talking about his date. She set aside the pictures and crossed her arms. "Go on. This isn't another lame excuse, is it?" She asked, almost exasperated.

 

[Casper Kinnek]

Cas had set his pencil down, nodding at Tara's assessments. He had just bit into the roll again when Linden told her he wanted to talk about his date. Cas froze, looking over to Linden. Did he want to tell Tara now? Cas swallowed nervously, his cheeks turning red. He lowered his eyes to the table and reached his hand under the table to squeeze Lindens knee. Tara was going to kill them, he knew it.

 

[Linden Kinnek]

Linden rolled his eyes at Tara's comment. "when do i ever have lame excuses. all my excuses are good ones" he said. he knew she was teasing him and he was sort of teasing her back. he felt caspers hand on his knee and looked at him nodding very slightly. reaching under the table himself and taking caspers hand in his giving it a squeeze. surly tara had enough sense to not make too much of a scene, at least not here. "There is a reason i cant ask cas to the dance, and why we both already have dates" he started looking at cas again and feeling his cheeks warming. he had already told lucas. but somehow telling tara was bigger it was who he had been most nervous to tell. "I cant ask him again because i already did. I am very excited to go to the dance with my boyfriend" he said. taking their linked hands and kissing the back of caspers before hooking his arm around caspers shoulders as if encouraging him to lean in.

 

[Tara Hawthorne]

Tara's brow furrowed slightly. What were they playing at? Casper looked ready to sink into the floor and Linden... looked almost guilty. She wasn't sure what she'd been expecting, but it wasn't that. She was silent for a long moment, slowly processing it. Linden and Casper were... dating? "...when?" She managed, picking her jaw up off the floor. "How? What took so fuuu---frigging long?" She amended, glancing at some first years nearby and then back to the two across from her.

 

[Casper Kinnek]

Casper couldn't seem to lift his eyes, instead just scooting closer when Linden prompted it. He knew he was tense, he couldn't help it. He swallowed hard. "Germany," he spoke softly, peeking to Linden and away. "I dunno... kind of mutual," He muttered, his cheeks burning. He wasn't good with this sort of thing, it's why he'd made Linden tell Lucas. Cas swallowed hard, twisting the roll around in his hands and staring intently at it.

 

[Linden Kinnek]

Linden couldn’t remember the last time he had seen Tara speechless. She was the kind of girl who always had something to say so seeing her there open mouthed was a sight he was kind of glad to see. He looked at cas as he moved closer he was getting used to having his arm around him and stroking his thumb on his shoulder was a comfort to him as much as cas. He opened his mouth at the question not sure if he was ready to admit that it had been nearly two months since they had Started dating. a whi… he said but he was stopped short when cas admitted it had been since Germany. He wished Tara’s reaction this was definitely as entertaining as he had expected though maybe not quite as many told you so’s but there was a chance that was still to come. ”apparently we needed some time alone and a little alcohol to stop us overthinking He said his cheeks warming up as he spoke. Remembering their magical not-date at Tollwood.

 

[Tara Hawthorne]

Tara was absolutely speechless for a moment, before jumping up to her feet and slamming her hands on the table. "I knew it!" She leaned down, looking towards the twins down the table. "Allison you lost they're dating! Ha! Pay up!" She then proceeded to pick up a roll and throw it directly at Linden's face. "You dense dummy! You better listen to me the next time I try to tell you the obvious!" She scolded him.

 

[Casper Kinnek]

Cas had just started to relax as Linden rubbed his shoulder, but quickly tensed again as Tara yelled at Allison. He wanted to shrink, drop through the floor and never come out again. But then Tara was throwing things at Linden, and Cas rose a bit out of his seat, his eyes snapping to the Gryffindor. "Tara you can use every I told you so in the book but if you throw anything at him again you'll wake up with so much paint in your hair you can start your own store." He threatened, his voice unusually low.

 

[Linden Kinnek]

if linden had been expecting a reaction from tara he was not expecting her to shout that they were taking to allison. "Wait. you bet on it?" he said slightly confused but amused by the thought. "who bet what?" he asked. curious as to what the odds were. he rolled his eyes at taras comment. "who said i wasn't listening. there is a difference between listening and complying" he said. just as something hit him in the face. he looked from cas to tara "what is it with your two and throwing things at my face" he said though he wasn't really annoyed. it was sort of almost sentimental.
Before he could say anything else he was hit in the face by something light and crusty. hr picked the bread roll up and was about to take a rebellious bite when casper stood up and started actually threatening tara. he quickly followed and put his hand around him. he was certainly hot when he was bein protective. well he was always hot but this was extra so. "Hey Cas. it's okay. it was just bread hardly heavier than a snitch." he said before moving his lips closer to his ear and whispering "don't waste your paint on it, baby, she will see it as a challenge" he whispered kissing him lightly on the cheek as he moved away.

 

[Tara Hawthorne]

Tara blinked as Casper threated her, and couldn't help but laugh. She knew he was being serious, but god, he was adorable. "Alright, alright, Cassy-boo, I won't," She grinned, her eyes sparkling as Cas settled back down in his seat. "Oh, all of us girls bet on it. I had ten galleons on you two dating before graduation.
Allie bet you were going to get together after school ended and the distance made you miss each other. Addy bet you would pine over each other until one of you got drunk. Willow collected the pot and bet you were just friend with benefits." She replied to Linden, propping her chin in her hand with a smirk. "I win, and I told you so," She laughed.

 

[Casper Kinnek]

Cas grumbled and sat down again, feeling embarrassed. Great. He'd acted without thinking and now Tara was laughing at him and Linden probably thought he was an idiot. He didn't say anything, just staring too hard at his sketchpad, his hair falling to cover his eyes. His heart plummeted even further when he found out the rest of the family had been making fun of him, too. The twins almost didn't surprise him, but even Lindens older sister was in on it. He hesitated half a moment before picking up his sketchbook and walking out, forgetting that he hadn't eaten more than a roll in his haste to get away. His cheeks burned with shame and mortification. God, he felt so pathetic. He exited the Great Hall quickly, trying to make himself smaller and more invisible so as to not draw anymore attention.

 

[Linden Kinnek]

Linden glared at tara as he felt capser closing up wishing he hadn't asked what the bets were, at least not with cas there. especially hearing what all of their siblings had thought of them, it seemed that everyone was in on the speculation. " are you serious? merlin we should have waited. just so you could have a taste of not getting your way." he snapped at tara before putting his arm around caspers shoulder. as he started to close further up into himself.
It was a moment later that cas pulled away from him. and got up snatching up his book and leaving the hall. he watched him go for a second. before glairng at tara. "Now look what you've done. he snapped before picking up a couple of sandwiches from one f the platters near him and following his buttercup out of the hall at a near run.