Closed Early Spring Sunshine

[Fleur van Houten]

Fleur always loved exploring the Hogwarts grounds, and she didn't think she was going to get tired of that. She met cool people and saw awesome things outside, and just enjoyed being in nature. She most loved going into the forest, but while she cast a longing glance to the trees a few times, she stayed clear for now. The badge on her chest was keeping her a bit more reluctant to go in there, though she knew she would eventually cave. Maybe she would ask Maze to go with her again, or Willow or Charlie. She had plenty of Gryffindor friends, and was always happy to go on an adventure with them. She was just enjoying the nice day today, and eventually decided to sit down on the grass and enjoy some of the sun. It was only early spring, so it wasn't very warm outside, but with her jacket it wasn't bad at all. Fleur sat cross-legged on the grass and plucked a flower. She twirled it in her hand before putting it behind her ear with a smile. She had been hoping to run into Lars here today, as she knew her brother liked to be outside too, but she didn't spot him anywhere.

 

[Shane Ackley]

Shane had always enjoyed walking, it was a holdover from before, from home. He tended to be walking around looking for things to do, but he had always enjoyed just walking around, it cleared his head. It was a little bit of peace from everything else. Shane had been enjoying being back at school, he was finding it much easier to fit in with the people at this school so long as he just kept flirting with people, and kept getting a positive response from it, he’d keep doing it. It made it easier to talk to people, they spoke to him more than before. Every conversation he’d had that hadn’t been flirting at this school so far hadn’t ended well. He always felt himself shut down in front of people, be harsher and unlikeable. He walked outside, having wandered down from the hufflepuff common room. It was as he was walking along the water’s edge that he spotted a girl from his year, he couldn’t remember her name, but she was pretty, vibrant hair and a little flower tucked behind one ear. Without anything better to do, and enjoying the idea of being able to flirt with someone while the nice spring air breezed around them. He headed over to her, ”Hey,” he siad as he walked close enough towards her that she’d hear him, ”Do you mind if I join you?” he had a smirk on his features, letting his tone be friendly, ”Such a lovely day like this, is likely to be way better when spent with someone as lovely,”​

 

[Fleur van Houten]

Fleur leaned back on her hands and looked around, wondering if anyone she knew was out here. She was soon approached by a boy she recognized from her year, though she didn't know him well. Fleur mostly knew Shane from the Defence lesson last year, where he had volunteered to have the Imperius curse used on him. She had been concerned about him after that, though only from a distance. He had also been at the spin the bottle thing, if she remembered correctly. "Hey." She said in return. "Of course I don't mind," she added, gesturing to the spot on the grass next to her with a smile. His next words, however, gave her some pause. "It is a lovely day, and I'd be happy to chat with you. Though if you don't mind, I'd rather just have a friendly chat." She said with a smile that hopefully showed she wasn't bothered by his flirting, but not in the mood for it. She had caught his flirty tone, and while she was flattered, Fleur knew herself well enough to know she had no interest in flirting with a random boy out of nowhere. She did want to get to know him, but if he was interested in other things, she wouldn't mind if he went to talk to someone else. "How has your day been?" She asked, to move the conversation along.

 

[Shane Ackley]

Shane was glad that she didn’t mind him sitting with her and kept a light smile on his features when he sat down next to her, he kept his gaze on her lightly, the flirty smile remaining in place as the rejection of his flirting was given. It faltered slightly, a friendly chat? He didn’t know if he could do that. Flirting was easier, maybe she wouldn’t mind if he remained a little flirty, sometimes people lightly turned him down and he still managed to keep the flirt going. It had even once resulted in a kiss. ”I can do friendly, of course,” he forced the flirty smile to remain in place as he spoke, faltering a little. He didn’t necessarily believe it, but he didn’t have to, she had to. Shane leaned back, stretching his legs out in front of him, and leaning lightly on his elbows as he soaked up a little of the sun. His gaze lingered on her with the flirty smile remaining on his features. ”Good, you know, just been wandering around looking for something to pass the time,” the hufflepuff replied, letting a light implication on what sort of fun he was looking to have linger. He knew that she wasn’t interested, had been fairly obvious about it, but it was easier to be friendly when he was being flirty. He knew what going in to real detail about why he’d been wandering around would just end up in her having questions he wouldn’t want to answer and doing what he always did in those cases. ”What about you?” Shane returned, ”Does Hogwarts keep you busy?” ​

 

[Fleur van Houten]

Fleur was glad when the guy agreed to be friendly instead of flirty, even if the smile he was giving her still seemed to be a bit on the flirty side. Fleur just gave him a friendly smile in return before looking over at the lawn, enjoying the nature around her. "Well, talking to me can pass a bit of time." Fleur said simply as she plucked another flower and twirled it between her fingers. "And if we get bored we can always go to the forest, I've been dying for another trip there." She said with an easy grin. "Have you gone in yet?" She knew Shane was a fairly recent transfer, so the odds that he hadn't gone into the forest were pretty big. "Hogwarts does keep me fairly busy. Quidditch, exploring... sometimes doing homework." She grinned. "How about you? You're fairly new, are you liking Hogwarts?" She asked, tilting her head to the side. "What's Hufflepuff like, anyway?" She added. Fleur didn't have many Hufflepuff friends, so she had never really gotten to ask that question.

 

[Shane Ackley]

Shane gave a little flirty smile to her when she said that he could speak to her to pass the time, ”I can definitely think of worse things to do,” he could figure that perhaps she wasn’t interested, had really said as much but it was easier for him to still flirt a little with her, it wasn’t like he’d ever been that approachable when he wasn’t flirting so if she wanted a conversation that didn’t end with him shutting it down or making some comment that she got annoyed at. In all the attempts to be genuine in this place had not resulted in anything good, he had formed no friendships with that really. At the mention of the forest, he took a small glance at it and shook his head, ”No, and I don’t want to, Not my sort of fun,” the boy replied simply, there was a flirty edge to his tone, implying that he did other things for fun. He did, the forest was not a place for him, he had to make sure he didn’t get kicked out of this school. He listened as she answered his question, clearly very busy with everything. He knew the question would be returned to him but he just shrugged at her, ”Hogwarts is nice, the people here are a lot nicer than my last school,” Shane gave his usual reply, with his usual smile, implying how much friendlier the people here were and how. ”Hufflepuff is good too, but I don’t see how it would’ve been different from anywhere else. I’m a pretty easy guy,” he gave a little wink as he answered the question, it was much easier to just flirt than to actually be honest with her, but it was a little harder to flirt when she wasn’t interested.​

 

[Fleur van Houten]

Fleur was a little perplexed at the guy as he continued to flirt and say things that were mildly suggestive. she propped her chin up on her hand and looked at him, not reacting to the flirtations. She wasn't going to, as she was only interested in being his friend. She wondered if he even realized he was doing it. It was like he didn't want to have a normal conversation. But Fleur was both stubborn and patient, so she would try her best. "I see. It's pretty awesome." She said, gesturing to the forest with a smile. "We go in for Care of Magical Creatures sometimes. It's my favorite class, what's yours?" She was pretty sure the guy was not in her Care of Magical Creatures class, but he did share a few others with her. She shrugged as he said Hufflepuff was fine but it wouldn't be different anywhere else, pointedly ignoring his wink. "I do think it's pretty different, just from what I hear. My brother is in Ravenclaw, the people there are a lot smarter and quieter than us over in Gryffindor." She smiled a bit. "Hufflepuffs are pretty friendly, I guess. But not all of them can possibly be nice, right?" She pondered this, then shrugged and looked over the grounds at the Quidditch pitch. "Do you like Quidditch?" She asked him, trying to think of something else to talk about.

 

[Shane Ackley]

Shane looked at the Fleur as she told him that they went in for care of magical creatures but he didn’t do that class. He didn’t have much of an interest in animals that weren’t dogs. Certainly not when he needed to learn to look after them. The teen shrugged lightly at the question, he hadn’t really thought about it, favourite classes, normal discussions weren’t anything he had. He didn’t have friends to talk to about normal things like what classes he enjoyed. He didn’t even really discuss that with his family. ”Erm..,” he said clearly thinking about it, this girl seemed steadfastly against his flirting, and though it was easier to flirt than it was to be honest and have a real discussion with anyone. The hufflepuff gave a little shrug, ”I like ancient runes,” he finally settled on, but he didn’t seem overly convinced of his own answer. He just didn’t know any more, the classes and the teachers were better at this school but frustrating in other ways, his interests hadn’t really changed but he was mostly just going through the motions with the classes, learning for the sake of the OWLs and nothing else. ​

​

The boy shrugged, and forced a smile on to his face as she again ignored his flirting and just answered his question normally. Perhaps he would’ve cared or felt more strongly had he always been at the school, but he’d joined later and he didn’t feel like the distinction mattered. ”Do you not think houses pre-determine a little how you choose to act?” He was sure there were smart gryffindors and loud ravenclaws, houses didn’t mean anything to him, though he knew they had once. Now, he was just himself, happy to be in hufflepuff. His tone was neutral as he spoke, his face devoid of much real emotion, clearly not trying to flirt with her anymore. At the question of Hufflepuff he shrugged ”Everyone I’ve met has been nice, I’m quite charming,” he forced a smile at her, as if to show he was charming but there was none of the flirting behind it. At the question he shook his head, ”Not really. I like watching it, there are some real cute players, but I don’t really care for it,” The boy replied with a little shrug, keeping the fake smile, and forcing a friendly tone, ”You play right?”​

 

[Fleur van Houten]

Fleur was pleased that the boy gave her an answer to her question, even if it seemed to be a bit of a struggle for him. She gave him an encouraging smile. "I like Ancient Runes too." She told him with a small shrug. "It's kind of neat, learning about an old language like that. Do you like it when we do castings in that subject? I personally find it quite tricky. My little sister is really interested in it though, she keeps sending me letters about it." Fleur was glad she had never decided to take Divination, surely Iris wouldn't stop pestering her if she had chosen that subject.

The boy asked her if she didn't think that houses pre-determined how you chose to act, and it gave Fleur pause for a moment. "I never really thought of it that way." She said honestly. "Maybe you're right. Am I in Gryffindor because I'm adventurous, or am I adventurous because I'm in Gryffindor?" The question made her smile, it was a fun way to think about things. "What if it's a mix of both?" She asked him, eager to debate this. "Like... someone in Hufflepuff may be kind of hardworking and nice by nature, but is encouraged to be more hardworking and nice because they are surrounded by people with the same traits?" She was enjoying the conversation, and liked the though process behind it all. She laughed a bit as the boy said he was quite charming, and then nodded. "Well, I like you. You're interesting to talk to." She said confidently. "I play, yes. I'm an alternate." She told him. "I'm not as passionate about it as some others, but it's fun."

 

[Shane Ackley]

Shane had sort of hoped they wouldn’t discuss the class too much, it was one of his favourite classes but he didn’t spend much time talking about it, he didn’t spend a whole lot of time thinking about why he liked it. It was just a class he did that he moderately enjoyed and enjoyed more so than the others. It was a better than the other classes, better taught here too, compared with his last school. He shrugged a little, ”I like it,” was all he offered in return with a little shrug, his expression remaining rather neutral, offering the smallest of fake smiles to her. ”How old is your sister?” he hesitated as he asked the question, getting the feeling that the question might end up getting returned to him, asking if he had any siblings and there was then Shane’s complicated family situation that he didn’t want to discuss. He knew when he shut down that the conversation tended to end, that people turned away from him and that if they weren’t flirting just resulted in someone else hating him. He listened to the girl as she pondered what he’d said and he thought about himself, his schooling before this place. The people he’d known were pretentious and annoying but maybe it had brushed off on him.​

​

He’d thought making friends at Hogwarts would be easier than it had turned out to be, perhaps those people had changed his nature, perhaps the circumstances of him going there had decided how he would act. ”Things outside of school must affect it too,” he added, thinking of his own situation, ”When I was young and meant to come here from first year, I wanted to be a gryffindor, but I grew up, didn’t go to Hogwarts until later and I changed enough to not be gryffindor even though my old school didn’t sort people based on personality. So, something changed,” Shane kept his gaze forward, his expression neutral though there was a part of his head a little caught in old memories. Thankfully, her laughter broke him out of it, and he couldn’t help but look at her curiously, how could she like him? She’d shut down all his flirting and he wasn’t exactly being the nicest, certainly no one had ever said he was an interesting person to talk to, so he couldn’t help but scoff, ”Sure Fleur,” he laughed lightly, his tone clearly not believing her, but there was the smallest hint of a more genuine smile on his features which lingered for the smallest moments. ”People are very passionate about quidditch here,”​

 

[Fleur van Houten]

Fleur could tell the boy didn't like to talk about himself, and she never wanted to push anyone. But she did wonder what was at the core of it. Lars was similar in that way, but with him it was shyness. Could it be that Shane was shy too? His flirtiness and bluster seemed to indicate otherwise. Fleur just nodded as he said he liked the castings in Ancient Runes, happy to answer his question instead of prying more. "She's ten. I have two sisters actually, they're twins." She said with a small, fond, smile. "They'll be coming to Hogwarts soon. I'll be thinking of this whole sorting conversation when they get sorted."

The boy went on to say that things outside of school probably affected the houses as well. She listened with interest as he said a bit more about himself. It was the first information about him he really told her, and she wondered why he had come to Hogwarts later. She decided not to ask, as it was easier to keep things light and breezy. "Interesting. So maybe if I was sorted now, I would be in a different house?" Fleur pondered that for a moment. "I'm curious about that. I wish there was a way to test it." She said, thoughtfully. "I wonder if the hat doesn't put you in the house that's good for you." She mused. "Like... if someone has traits in both Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, if it doesn't try to decide based on what would help you grow the most." She said, thinking out loud. "But I guess we can never really know what the hat is thinking. I wouldn't mind having another conversation with it, though." The girl glanced at the castle. "I wonder where they keep it. The hat, I mean." The boy seemed skeptical when Fleur said he was interesting, so she gave him a look. "I don't say things I don't mean." She said, giving him a smile. Her words were serious, but not harsh. "And yeah, they are. I think perhaps it would be less crazy if there were other sports to root for around here, but Quidditch is the only thing. I think a lot of house pride relies on it."

 

[Shane Ackley]

Shane nodded along when she answered his question about her sisters and when a similar question wasn’t fired back at him, he just looked at her, A slight confusion written on his face, most people pushed or asked him at least twice, asked for more details, pushing him to answer a question he definitely didn’t want to answer. But he didn’t let his confusion remain instead just focused on everything that he was saying in their discussion about houses, he had also thought that Fleur might ask about it, but she wasn’t, instead focusing on the discussion that they were having it. He thought for a minute about how it might be test and gave a little shrug, ”Maybe it’s better we don’t know,” the boy replied, ”I’m sure the hat accounts for what someone wants too, if it’s a toss up between two,” he wondered briefly what his sorting would’ve been like if he’d been sorted as a first year. Shane had to admit internally that just before school him had been a bit of a mess so he wouldn’t have gotten into gryffindor - probably. ​

​

Shane shrugged a little, ”Would you steal it just to find out?” he asked her, finding it a little strange that anyone might be that curious about the hat and what it would mean. But as she insisted on keeping her half compliments to him, he couldn't help but force a fake smile on to his features and shake his head, ”You don’t know me Fleur,” he assured her, as if getting to know him would prove that he wasn’t interesting. People liked him when he flirted with them and gave them attention, any time he was himself people disliked him so why would she be any different, why should he bother. His expression remained neutral, the fake smile fading quickly, he knew she meant well, but he knew he wasn’t likeable, people didn’t enjoy how closed off he was and people just preferred him when he was flirting. "You don't like me," If she got to know him, he was sure like everyone else this would be a passing friendship after all how could he explain being at this school over a year and still having no real friends or the fact he didn't have any friends from his last either. Shane shrugged at her latter statement, he didn’t feel like saying much more about it, adding more to it. She didn’t respond to his flirting, she didn’t return the questions or force him to talk about things, what could she possibly get out of this? What did she want? ​

 

[Fleur van Houten]

Fleur shrugged when the boy said it might be better if they didn't know. She wasn't sure if she agreed with that. It wouldn't be a bad thing to know, surely? She nodded thoughtfully as he said the hat probably accounted for what someone wanted as well. "I guess so. I didn't have a strong preference, personally." She told him with a small shrug. "I think I would have been happy with any house." She grinned as he asked her if she would steal the hat. "Perhaps. I think stealing the hat would be a fun adventure regardless." She told him truthfully. "It'd definitely be fun." She frowned a little as the boy said she didn't know him, then added that she didn't like him. Fleur didn't get it. Why was he so adamant about this? "You're right, I don't know you very well. But that's why we're talking, to get to know each other, right? So far, I like you plenty. You have interesting thoughts." She told him candidly. "Why do you assume I don't like you?"

 

[Shane Ackley]

Shane got the feeling she was the curious sort that would’ve wanted to know more about the hat and the places she might end up now compared with then. He got the impression it would probably end up being the same, she seemed like a gryffindor to him and that was beyond the firey red hair. He shook his head a little at her honest, the faint air of a smile gracing his features for a brief second, ”When the hat rats you out don’t blame me,” there was a light joke to his tone but he let the smile and jokey tone just fade away. He just wasn’t someone people were friends with, at least that was what he was finding. His real non-flirty self didn’t appear to be a selling point for people to want to spend time with him, didn’t seem to be a selling point for people to be friendly towards him. He just shook his head, he gave her a fake smile, ”I just know,” it was perhaps a little self deprecating, it was perhaps a little harsh shutting down the first non-flirty conversation he’d had in a while. ”It’s okay though, my massive ego and incredible flirting skills mean I don’t need to be liked by everyone,” he let a fake and almost flirty smile gracing his features as he half lied to her, ”Do you do anything else apart from flying and sweet talking the not-so new kid?” Shane defaulted lightly to his flirting unable to stop himself since he did not want to linger any longer upon anything else to do with him or why he knew this would just end with them not being friends.​

 

[Fleur van Houten]

Fleur laughed a bit at Shane's joke. She liked the moments where he seemed to be more himself, rather than the flirty guy he was trying to be. It wasn't like the flirting was disturbing her or making her feel uncomfortable, but she simply wasn't interested in it. She much preferred their conversation about houses, as it had actually made her think a bit more about how it all worked. "You have a point. Stealing something that can talk is maybe not the best idea." She conceded with a smile. Fleur shrugged at his next words, though her smile faded a bit. She wished the guy would just believe her when she said she liked him well enough. "Well, I'm not everyone." She said with another shrug. "But I'm not lying when I say you're interesting to talk to. Whether you believe it or not is up to you." She snorted a bit as he asked her what else she did, deciding once again to ignore the slight flirting. "I like going into the forest, and reading books about dragons. What do you do?" She asked him.

 

[Shane Ackley]

Shane felt a more natural and easy smile grace his features as Fleur agreed with him over the sorting hat. It would and could only end badly, the hat was an odd thing that he knew was quite unique but being sentient probably made it tricky to steal, use and put back without anyone noticing or being told that it had happened. He felt the smile fade away and the neutral look he tended to have come back in its place. This girl seemed adamant that she would like him, and he couldn’t really get why. It wasn’t like he was anything special, it wasn’t like he had dozens of friends who could attest to how interesting he was. Everyone who liked him, tended to like him for a reason. Not that he minded, he liked that too, it was nice and good, it made him feel liked, and he liked flirting a lot. He looked at her and nodded at what she said, the little hints of the flirty expression lingering on his features, ”Dragons eh? How did you get interested in that?” Shane asked her, with a curious tone forced on to his words with still the lightest flirting too, he didn’t bother trying to answer the question she posed him, given that in his mind, he didn’t really do anything, he didn’t really have hobbies like others in this school appeared to, and he would really rather not try to come up with a few just for the sake of it. Easier then to just keep the attention on her. ​

 

[Fleur van Houten]

Fleur really couldn't quite figure Shane out, but there was a part of her that felt sad for him. His disbelief that she could actually be interested in him and like him as a person seemed quite sad, and she wondered if he had some bad experiences at his previous school. He seemed determined to flirt at least a little with everything he said to her, but Fleur was stubborn and determined to ignore it. He didn't really react to her insisting that she thought he was interesting, which was probably good. It wasn't something he could be convinced about by her simply saying it over and over. If she could show him she was interested in what he had to say and make him feel it, then he would probably believe it. Not before that. His question made her smile. it was one she had answered many times before. "I got a book with really nice moving illustrations from my grandfather when I was young." She told him. "I've been obsessed ever since. Haven't been able to shake it. I want to work with dragons after I graduate. I've known this since before I even got sorted."

 

[Shane Ackley]

Shane nodded when she said it was a book from her grandfather that had put the idea in her head, the obsession. He couldn’t imagine that sort of influence a book could have. The kind of influence a singular action or book would provide, he thought of his aunt and uncle and there singular action, bring Shane and his sister into their home after their own parents passed. But that singular action had never influenced him as much as the something as small as getting a book with nice moving illustrations had done for Fleur. He was almost jealous of her, to be so certain in what she wanted to do, to have always known. ”Wow, that’s must’ve been some book,” was what he replied with, a little forced smile upon his features, he wanted to get back the flirting but he couldn’t quite, his mind still largely stuck in the past that her comments had dragged forward. ”I’ve always liked dogs. Didn’t get a book about them, just always liked them, my aunt and uncle got a dog recently which I’m really looking forward to meeting. Dogs are just so much better than anything else, you might think dragons are but have you ever seen a puppy take a nap while leaning it’s head on your legs,” he joked with an almost smile. He was looking forward to meeting the dog and he did think dogs were better than people but he knew she was unlikely to agree.​

 

[Fleur van Houten]

Fleur laughed a little at his comment about the book, tucking some of her hair behind her ear. "Well, I like to think I would have gotten obsessed no matter what. Dragons are just the coolest. It was just my starting point." She said, smiling a little at the memory. Then, Shane told her some of the first actual information about himself, and she tried not to look too interested in case it scared him off. But she failed a bit at that, because she found it quite an interesting topic. "Oh wow, I love dogs too! Not as much as cats or dragons, though. But they're great." She laughed when the boy said that a puppy taking a nap while leaning its head on your legs was better than dragons. "Okay, I have to admit that is hard to compete with, even with dragons. What kind of dog do your aunt and uncle have?" She asked, curiously. "We used to have a dog when I was small, but he died when he got old. Now I have a cat named Jack. I do miss how dogs like to run around and play with you, though."

 

[Shane Ackley]

Shane gave a small but real smile at the comment, he got the impression that she almost certainly would’ve discovered dragons and her love for them. At his comment he was a little surprised by her eagerness to talk about it with him, even if she seemed to like cats and dragons more, when dogs were obviously superior. At the question he gave a little shrug, ”It’s a golden retriever, your very classic family dog,” he joked with her, a lightness in his tone and a clear true fondness for the animal in question. He knew they’d gone for that sort of dog because it had been already trained and with his little sister and the still infant cousin, a soft, well trained dog was the best for the family. ”You betrayed your dog for a cat, wow,” Shane joked loudly, but his own tone was only a little convincing. He thought of his own desires to get a dog when he’d been young, he’d asked for it several times, but it had always been a no, and the older he’d gotten the more he’d realised how that really had been the best option. He also didn’t particular want to linger on the subject of pets and his childhood. But it was clear he was thinking about saying something, he wanted to say that he’d never had a pet growing up, but in the end, shook his head a little to himself and instead asked ”Why did you call your cat Jack?” before he delved too far into his own mind and too far into his memories or before he said too much.​