Caught in Between

[Cyndi Kingsley]

Cyndi Kingsley wasn’t exactly sure, but she had the feeling that her son was avoiding her. Whether that had to do with what she’d seen at the dance or not, she wasn’t sure. She actually wasn’t sure if she was imagining it in the first place. But, it would end today, if it was a thing. Having sent him an owl in the morning, Cyndi was fairly certain that her son would show up. Noah had manners, and she was sure he’d feel guilty for even thinking of not showing up. At least, she hoped that was the case. And right now, Professor Kingsley was ready to use whatever she needed to. Some might call the woman overbearing, but Cyndi preferred the term protective. Taking a seat on the bench near the rosebush, the woman waited for her son. She was dressed rather muggle-like, a maxi dress and sandals, her hair in a messy bun because she had plans in the village later in the day with Kiera. Both women had been extremely busy of late, but they had a standing lunch date that Cyndi knew better than to miss.

 

[Noah Kingsley]

Noah had received his mother's note to meet her in the gardens today. He had seriously considered not showing up because he had a strong feeling that this meeting had to do with his new girlfriend. He could feel her staring daggers at the two of them all night despite any effort she made to hide it. He didn't want to go have this conversation with his mother, but he knew skipping the meeting was not an option. His parents would consider his defection as the epitome of rudeness and the definition of lack of manners. Manners were important to the Kingsleys. Noah wouldn't disobey. He reluctantly made his way down to the gardens where his mother way. The thought had occurred to him that he was particularly glad not to be in her house where she could just come barging in. "Morning, Mom." he said as he approached her. Despite the fact that Noah had been born and raised in New Zealand, he usually ended up sounding more like an American like his parents."You wanted to see me?" he asked.

 

[Cyndi Kingsley]

"Good morning Noah" she said brightly, a smile on her face as she looked at her oldest son. He looked more and more like his father each day. "I want to see you every day, honey" she said quietly, knowing he'd probably be embarrassed if any of his friends overheard, not that anyone seemed to be in the area. It had been an odd feeling to go from her son smothering her with hugs and kisses to shying away if she tried to pick a piece of lint from his shirt, which she wanted to do now. There was one right at his collar. "I'm meeting Aunt Kiera in a bit. What are you up to today?" Cyndi was simply making conversation though there was a reason she'd asked her son to meet her here.

 

[Noah Kingsley]

Noah analyzed his mother's face as she greeted him with a cheerful smile. The Slytherin boy resisted the urge to hug her as he had done in his younger years and often did at home. His family, extended family included, was closer than most families in his experience. Of course, his mother and aunt had been best friends before they were relatives. "Tell Aunt Kiera hello. Is she okay?" Noah asked, concerned. He knew that Carter had left and Kiera was dating some professional dueler now. It was all very odd for his fourteen year old mind. "Oh I don't know. I'm free from classes today. Link said something about going to the Quidditch Pitch with him and Lyra later." he said, intentionally not mentioning his plans to see Evelyn. That seemed unwise.

 

[Cyndi Kingsley]

Cyndi nodded quickly, wanting to reassure her sweet boy. "She's fine. It's just our regular lunch date. We tried to get Dad to join, but I don't think he's going to be free" she explained. Noah knew all too well how busy his father was. Cam did the best he could, but he was only one man with a country's responsibilities sitting on his shoulders. She smiled, glad to hear that he'd be spending time with his cousins. "That's nice. I thought you might have other plans, you know, with your girlfriend" she said with a sigh as she said that last word aloud. "I really wish you'd waited to start dating, Noah. You're so young..." she continued.

 

[Evelyn Manning-Kingsley]

It was a lovely day and Evelyn would see her boyfriend again. Evelyn wanted to see Noah as much as possible, because she felt happy being with him. And this feeling was all new for the blonde but she figured it was the same for Noah, so they both had to discover things. But what she knew is that she liked him very much and wanted to spend time with him. But one thing that she was a bit nervous of was seeing her head of house again, she must have found out of their relationship. The blonde wasn't afraid of what people would think of her she did her very best for good grades and never got punished for something around the school. But she figured Kingsley wanted the best for her son, she could understand because her father would want to same.

When walking outside she came at the Rosebush. She would soon meet with Noah to spend some time together outside and one of the favorite spots around Hogwarts was the Rosebush. Evelyn always had a red rose beside her bed on the nightstand, she did that as tradition since year one and it stayed that way. Since she liked the flower so much. As she arrived there she didn't expected seeing her boyfriend with his mother, and the blonde sighted for a moment. What should I do.. Perhaps Professor Kingsley wanted to spend some time with her son and she didn't want to ruin that, but this was also a good opportunity to just let happen. She soon or later had to have a chat together. The blonde waited a second and took a rose from the bush and looked at the two afterwards.

 

[Noah Kingsley]

Noah nodded his head as Cyndi spoke. His father was incredibly busy and only did the best he could to spend time with his family. Only then the topic of conversation headed directly in the direction that he didn't want it to go. Noah groaned, annoyed with his mother and the subject of girlfriends. "Mom-" he said, stressing the syllables more than he needed to. "I'm fourteen. I'm not so young anymore. Besides, I don't want to talk about my girlfriend..." he said, embarrassed. She was bound to find out sooner rather than later since she was a Professor at the school. At just that moment, he spotted Evelyn come around the corner. She stopped to look at the roses, but it would be unforgivable in her eyes if he ignored her. Noah knew that about Evelyn. She did not like to be ignored. He glanced at his mother before waving at Evelyn. He really didn't want the two of them in the same place at the same time, but it seemed inevitable. "Hey Ev." he said, feeling a little more than slightly awkward.

 

[Cyndi Kingsley]

The woman frowned, not particularly happy with her son's tone. Kiera had warned her that having teenagers was like nothing else, and she was right. She knew that telling her son that he's always be her baby was not the right thing to do though, so she remained silent. It wasn't until she saw Josh's attention fully move elsewhere that the woman spoke again, her frown deepening. She had just asked her son about this. Cyndi had never known her son to outright lie to her, but seeing Evelyn here at this moment made her skeptical that there had ever been plans to meet with his cousins. "Noah. You're kidding me, right?" she said, her voice sharp. "I just asked you if you were going to be spending time with her and you said you were going to be with your cousins" the woman stood, giving her back to the Gryffindor girl as she spoke to her son. "Go over there, but know that we are going to talk about this later" she declared.

 

[Noah Kingsley]

Noah rolled his eyes at his mother, a rare sign of disrespect in him. It was clear she was annoyed with him, but Noah didn't see what the big deal was or why his mother didn't seem to like her very much. "I didn't know she was going to be here." he said, not lying. Sometimes, his mum could be so dramatic. The Slytherin boy stood up. He was tall and growing taller every day. "Have fun with Aunt Kiera." he said as he began to make his way over to Evelyn. Noah wasn't ready to introduce Cyndi to Evelyn as his girlfriend. In fact, he thought he would postpone that as long as possible.