Closed False Impressions

[Lars van Houten]

Lars had been trying to keep himself busy to distract himself from his thoughts about Blake, and mostly their argument. It had made him feel nervous, an anxiety that seemed impossible to shake. How could something feel so right, and at the same time feel bad? He loved being with Blake, and often found himself thinking about their moments together. But hiding away, never able to go to a dance together or even talk to each other in public because it was suspicious was getting increasingly difficult. He wanted what everyone else had, and he wanted it with Blake. The most frustrating part was that he knew Blake wanted it too, but he couldn't. And it wasn't even his fault, so he couldn't exactly be angry with Blake. It was just a frustrating situation.

He tried to work out his frustration in productive ways. He'd done some extra Quidditch practice, and now he was channeling his feelings into some work for the Wild Patch club. Their patch of land was fairly empty at the moment, and Lars had been tending to the plants on his own for a while when he saw Connor Holland had joined him. He didn't really know the younger boy, though he knew he was on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team and a friend of his sisters. He was also vaguely aware of him in the way he was aware of all the boys who he'd seen at dances with other boys, though he would never consider dating someone Emma or Iris' age, especially not someone who was their friend. Besides, all his heart wanted these days was Blake anyway. To his frustration. He got up from where he had been weeding, and waved awkwardly at the younger boy. "Hey."

 

[Connor Holland]

If there was one place at Hogwarts Connor felt like he belonged, it was the Wild Patch, without question. Surrounded by nature, and what passed for sunshine in New Zealand, he could totally ignore his worries and enjoy the peace and quiet of the garden. Autumn had barely begun but leaves were already starting to fall, and the last of the summer flowers were on their way out. Connor had taken to keeping a few flowers on his bedside table to cheer himself up in the mornings, so he had come out to the wild patch to pick a few before all the spoils of the season were gone. He was minding his own business, so it surprised him slightly when someone addressed him, looking up to see Iris and Emma's brother. "Oh, hi." Connor smiled, waving with the small bunch of flowers in his hand. "I just came to get some flowers..."

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars smiled at the younger boy, nodding at the flowers. "I can see that." He said with a small laugh. "I was just working on the garden a bit, weeding." He said, gesturing awkwardly at the plants he'd just been working on, a small pile of weeds he had pulled out next to where he had been kneeling in the dirt. "What do you need the flowers for?" He asked him curiously. "Are you going to make a flower crown?" He asked him. "Emma taught me how to do that." He added with a shrug.

 

[Connor Holland]

Connor nodded, glancing at what Lars had been working on as the older boy mentioned it. He felt a little guilty that he hadn't thought to do any actual work in the garden, just going in search of flowers for himself. He shrugged a little shyly when Lars asked what he was going to do with them. "I was... just going to put them by my bed." Connor said quietly, a little embarrassed to admit something so silly to someone older and cooler. "I just like waking up and seeing flowers."

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars nodded when the boy said he was going to put the flowers by his bed, remembering the flowers Blake had brought him once and how he'd had to throw them out. The memory was painful. "Flowers are great." He said. "I can't blame you." He then glanced down, noticing the Hufflepuff had dropped one. Lars crouched down to grab it, then hesitated. "Here." He said, putting it behind his ear instead of handing it to him. "Sort of like a flower crown, almost." He said, then shrugged. Maybe that had been weird? He had meant it in a nice way, and he hoped the younger boy wouldn't think him strange for it.

 

[Blake van Houten]

Blake knew Lars had been planning to spend the afternoon in the Wild Patch today, but that didn't have anything to do with why he was outside. He had plenty of reason to be outside, he was a Quidditch captain, for Merlin's sakes. It was practically his job to work out, and the best place to do that was outside. He had decided to go jogging totally of his own volition. And if his route happened to take him by the Wild Patch, well that would just be a coincidence. The grounds weren't that big, really, it made sense that he would be jogging by there. And if he happened to have taken his shirt off, well... it was still practically summer, and he would be working up a sweat. Nothing wrong with getting some sun on his abs. And hey, if Lars happened to see how good he looked, jogging past shirtless in the sunshine, well that was just a coincidence. He was jogging for himself, anyone out in the grounds was welcome to look as much as they wanted, whether Lars was one of those people or not.

It was a perfect non-plan, as far as Blake was concerned. Just him taking a casual afternoon alone to work on his incredible body. He had just hit his stride as he reached the Wild Patch, puffing his chest out slightly as he ran and sucking his abs in to make them look even more chiselled. What he saw though, quickly knocked the wind out of Blake's lungs. Lars was standing way too close to some kid from the Hufflepuff team, the one who'd made that stupid lucky shot in their last match, putting a flower in his hair. Who did this flower kid even think he was?! Some kind of guy who got to stand with Lars? He was just a kid, Blake was sure he could take him easy, even with those beater biceps. He puffed his chest out again and looked away quickly, pretending he hadn't even seen them as he jogged past, fists clenched tightly now, trying hard not to grind his teeth together. Who did this kid even think he was?

 

[Connor Holland]

Connor smiled when Lars didn't tease him, relieved that yet again, Eric was being proven wrong. Lars was a Quidditch captain, he was every bit the sporty kind of tough guy Eric thought Connor should be, and here he was having a conversation about flowers. Showed Eric right. His eyes widened in surprise when Lars reached for his ear, though he held still carefully for the older boy to set the flower behind his ear. "Oh, thank you!" Connor said with a bright smile, though it was quickly wiped from his face. Another familiar older boy was running past; the Slytherin quidditch captain. Maybe that was more the kind of boy Eric wanted Connor to be. Blake was glaring daggers at the two of them, and Connor couldn't imagine why. Sure, they were all Quidditch rivals, but Slytherin had already made it to the championship, he had no reason to be mad at Connor or Lars. "Wow... what's up with him?" Connor asked quietly, not quite able to tear his eyes away as Blake ran past them.

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars relaxed when the boy smiled. He hadn't overstepped or made him uncomfortable, that was clear. But it didnt'take long for the boy to be distracted by something, and Lars followed his gaze and nearly choked. It was Blake and for some reason he was shirtless. Lars hadn't seen him like that yet, and it took all his self restraint to look away as quickly as he did. What was he doing? Could he have known Lars was here? But he hadn't been looking at him. Maybe he hadn't even noticed him. But another glance in his direction made it clear Blake wasn't happy. Connor's words mirrored what Lars was thinking, and he shrugged. "I... have no idea. I guess he's training. " He said, fighting every urge to look again. "I don't really know him that well." He forced out, though the words hurt to say.

 

[Blake van Houten]

The further away from the Wild Patch Blake got, the more frustrated he was. Was Lars out here.... Flirting with other guys? He hadn't known Blake was coming by, so was it... Just something he was doing? Was Lars out there looking for.... A new boyfriend he could spend time with in public? No matter how much he jogged, Blake couldn't stop his mind from spinning. There was only one thing for it. He turned around, running a tight loop, and headed back past the Wild Patch. He could tell Lars and the Hufflepuff kid were staring at him as he approached, and he puffed out his chest instinctively. Blake did his best not to look at them this time, but he jogged past much closer to the Wild Patch, running a hand through his hair as he ran. Sure, he couldn't swap flowers in the garden with Lars, but there was no way that Hufflepuff kid looked this good.

 

[Connor Holland]

Connor looked back at Lars once Blake was gone, feeling that his cheeks were so warm it must be easily visible. "Right... yeah." He said hesitantly, trying to focus on the conversation. "That, uh... that makes sense. I do a lot of training for... for Quidditch too." He half-stammered, glancing down at the flowers in his hands. He had what he had come here for, and hopefully he could find a graceful way to exit the conversation and head back up to the castle. That hope was soon dashed though, as Connor realised with a jolt that Blake was running back past them again. What was he doing?! What kind of jogging route was this?! It was hard to tear his eyes away from the Slytherin captain but he managed, glancing up at Lars and wondering if he had any idea what this was about.

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars groaned inwardly when he spotted Blake coming back from the corner of his eye. He shot him an angry look, a little flustered. He wanted to hide, but he could do this? It was almost like he was taunting Lars with what he couldn't have, at least not in public. Lars also felt a stab of jealousy when he noticed how Blake was affecting the Hufflepuff boy. Was he showing off? Lars cleared his throat. "I think I should go." He said firmly, and loud enough for Blake to hear as he ran past. "I'll uh, see you around. Good luck with your flowers." He said hurriedly, hoping to get out of here before Blake ran past again. He waved at Connor, then hurried out of there.