Closed Longing to See You

[Eric Holland]

Eric had been desperate to get back to Hogwarts after the break, eager to see Minnie. But once he returned, he realized that getting to see her one-on-one wasn't as easy as he had thought. She was busy as ever, and Eric also wasn't entirely sure if she wanted to be seen with him. What if she didn't? What if she regretted kissing him in public at the ball? Eric had been happy and excited to see her again, but doubt slipped in as well. At dinner tonight he'd walked past the Ravenclaw table and slipped her a note, asking her to meet him at the North Tower after dinner. It would be evening, but there was still plenty of time before curfew. He hoped she would come. They had talked a bit at the dance, both had admitted they wanted to kiss each other more, but did that mean they were now dating? Eric had no idea how these things went. He paced back and forth, waiting for Minnie to join him. He hoped this wouldn't be a complete embarrassment for him. It was at least a quiet enough spot, they were more likely to be bothered by a ghost than by another student.

 

[Professor Minnie Calida]

Minnie had been looking forward to people being back at school, well, specifically she was looking forward to Eric being back. She was of course keeping busy, as she had done over the whole holiday and with the importance of exams it had been hard so far to find the time for it. She had been pleased when he’d passed a note asking for her to meet him later. She had planned to do more work, but she could forgo it. She went back to the dorm before she went to meet him. She pulled her hair down, letting it sit naturally, she didn’t know if she should do more, if she should wear something else, she wanted to be perfect. She eventually just decided to go and went to the north tower. She opened the door and smiled at him, he was pacing. ”Hey,” she greeted smiling fondly, she moved forward going to kiss him.​

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric looked up when the door opened, glad to see Minnie there. Something about the way she looked at him made him feel more sure about all this, and he felt even more relieved when she walked up to him, clearly with the intention to kiss him. Eric wasn't going to say no to that and leaned in, kissing her softly. It still made his heart do a weird little flip in his chest. He couldn't help grinning even as they kissed, finally moving back slightly. "Hey." He said belatedly. "Thanks for coming."

 

[Professor Minnie Calida]

Minnie was immediately glad when he leaned into the kiss, she had missed him, missed his company had wanted to kiss him more. It was just so nice. She pulled back when he did and just smiled. ”I missed you,” she admitted with a little smile. She was standing a little awkwardly, but then just moved to sit down, on the window sill and made sure there was room for Eric if he wanted to sit with her. ”How was your break?” she asked, knowing that he’d have had surely a better break than her, and though she felt they should discuss the yuleball and what it meant for them, she also wanted to know how he was and to hear, even if it would make her feel a little jealous about how a normal family might spend a holiday.​

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric's heart did another weird skip as Minnie said she had missed him, and he actually put his hand on his chest in an attempt to calm it down. He had been overthinking this entirely. Minnie liked him. She had missed him. He couldn't help it, he grinned. "I... missed you too." He admitted, feeling oddly giddy as he admitted that out loud. "My break was alright. Spent it with my mum and brother. Connor got a boyfriend and he's been all over the moon about it." He grumbled, but there was no real heart in it. He paused. "How was yours?" He asked her, a bit more cautiously. He knew breaks were a lot more complex for Minnie.

 

[Professor Minnie Calida]

Minnie smiled when he repeated the same phrase back to him, with so few people in her life now, it was nice to know someone cared about her enough to miss her. She smiled softly, ”Aw that’s good for him,” she thought it was sweet that Eric’s brother had a partner he was over the moon about. She wondered briefly if Eric had told his family about them. She felt her smile falter lightly as he asked about her holiday, which of course he would but he was the only person where she might just be honest about it. ”I stayed at school, don't really think my parents even realised I didn't come home, but I mostly just revised, went to work a few times. It's surprising all you can get done when there's no one about,” she told him. Minnie forced herself to give a little smile. ”But it was a productive break, I got a lot of revision done, I can practically recite the whole of the standard book of spells grade 6 by heart, and I'm pretty ahead on all my classes for this semester,” she continued speaking quickly, forcing a small smile, she stopped and just looked at him. ”I’m glad you reached out, we didn’t get a chance during the yuleball to really discuss what we were..,” she hoped that with that conversation it would draw the attention away from what she had just said.​

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric pulled a face. "It's gross." He said, though there was no real bite to it. The boy seemed harmless enough, and intimidated enough by Eric that he felt okay about it. As Minnie spoke about her parents, Eric wished he hadn't brought it up. He balled his hands into fists and took a deep breath, trying not to be too obviously angry. Slowly, he exhaled. "Well, their loss." He finally grunted. "You stayed here, then?" He asked her, cracking a slight smile. "Did you just set up a tent in the library, then?" He asked, reaching over to touch her hand. "Seems more convenient than going all the way down there every day." He said with a small shrug. He hoped that her being ahead in her classes might mean she would have a bit more time for him. Just then, she brought up the yule ball. Eric felt instantly nervous. "Yeah I... figured we should do that." He said. "Honestly, I worried you had changed your mind." He then blurted out, deciding that he could be honest with her after she had just opened up about her break. "I mean, it's okay if you did. I won't get like.. mad." He added quietly. The last thing he wanted was Minnie to worry about that. He knew a lot of people were scared of him, and he was fine with that, but not Minnie. That would hurt too much.

 

[Professor Minnie Calida]

Minnie smiled softly at his words, though she was sure the brother would call them kissing gross too. But she knew there was no real bite to it. She felt she was good at telling when Eric was legitimately angry and when not. She knew he was annoyed at her parents, but it wouldn’t matter. ”I’ve been saving some money from work anyway, I think I’ll just stop by the house to grab some stuff next break and then live at work until I can rent a place,” she said softly, she knew this was the logical thing to do, to plan but she knew the closer it came the more she would question it. Minnie was glad he moved things on, and was keen to take his hand as he reached for her. ”Well, don’t tell anyone but in the back where they keep all the old school publications there’s a little corner perfect for a one person tent,” she joked with him. But it probably would’ve been useful for her to just stay there, never leave, that was pretty much all she’d done with it. She was glad when he agreed they should talk about them. She squeezed his hand lightly and shook her head. She leaned into him. ”I haven’t changed my mind,” Minnie met his gaze and smiled, ”I want this...I want us.” with her other hand she reached up and lightly touched the side of his face. ”We don’t need to label it if you don’t want to, certainly having the most studious person as your girlfriend would maybe ruin your bad boy image,”​

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric felt more and more furious as Minnie kept talking. It wasn't aimed at her, obviously, so he tried his best to hide it. "You can stay with us." He blurted out, horrified by the mental image of Minnie cooped up at the Hog's Head all alone all break. "I mean, I can ask my mum, I'm sure she'll be fine with it." He added, feeling himself blush a bit. "Please, uh, consider it. I think... it could be fun." He added, trying to downplay how much he suddenly wanted this. He smiled slightly at Minnie's joke about the tent, though he was quickly distracted by the hand squeeze she gave him. He sighed softly when she said she hadn't changed her mind. "I want that too." He said quickly, leaning into her touch as she touched his face. He met her eyes, feeling his heart skip a beat as she said the word 'girlfriend'. He tried to joke a bit, to keep it light. "You think I have a bad boy image?" He asked, a crooked grin appearing on his face. But then he knew he had to be honest again, difficult as it was. "I want you to be my girlfriend, though. If... I mean, if you'll have me." He said more quietly.

 

[Professor Minnie Calida]

Minnie was a little surprised as Eric said she could stay with him, his family. She blushed lightly, thinking it would be nice and she’d help out if she could. Minnie was sure it would be fun, it would at least be nice to have a solid place to go. ”If your mum ends up being okay with it, and your brother too, then...okay,” she agreed, it wasn’t like she had other options and staying with Eric would be nice. It would certainly be nice to have company. She’d maybe still head home and grab a few things. But that was something to think about later. She was glad he wanted them too. Her face forming a fond smile at his joke. But he wanted it, he wanted them. ”Of course I’ll have you,” she said with no room for doubt in her voice. She felt more sure of this, that she wanted this than she had about most other things. She wanted him and it was one of the few things she wanted that came entirely without outside influence. She wanted to give them a go because she liked him and not because it would be good for her family or the right thing to do. She let her hand lace his and the other remain on his face as she leaned in and kissed him. Her boyfriend.​

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric nodded quickly. "They will be." He said, he would convince them if he had to. Though he had the feeling his mother would be eager enough to meet Minnie, especially if she had any inkling of how much Eric liked her. He hoped she wouldn't be too embarrassing about it. He flushed and grinned when Minnie said she would have him. He closed his eyes and kissed her softly, squeezing her hand. He felt better than he had in a long time.

 

[Professor Minnie Calida]

Minnie couldn’t help the little bubble of excitement at possibly having a place to go and too at spending that time with Eric, of course meeting his mother would be odd, and she felt nervous about not being good enough for this woman’s son. She wasn’t sure what she could do, maybe just immediately start doing chores. But of course her worries and concerns were softly quietened by their kiss. She did love the soft feel of his lips on hers. She pulled away and smiled at him. ”You know none of the books I read about kissing ever mentioned how nice it was,” she said half joking.​

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric had never thought kissing would be quite this nice, but he supposed it depended on the person you were kissing. It seemed like Minnie had similar thoughts, though Eric couldn't help the small laugh that escaped him at her words. "You read books about kissing?" He asked her, teasingly. "Like, how-to books?" He added though he knew she likely meant books about romance.

 

[Professor Minnie Calida]

Minnie smiled as he laughed, enjoying the fact she had made him laugh before giving a little a shake of her head, "Oddly enough most of the how-to books around romance are written by men who have no idea," she told him, "But you know I like to read trashy muggle teen books," she told him with a little smile, she wasn't sure if he would remember that, it was her reminding him of the book he had once thrown away from her when they'd first met.​

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric laughed when Minnie said most of the how-to books about romance were written by clueless guys. He wasn't entirely surprised by that. Eric smiled a bit when she talked about the books she liked to read, remembering their first meeting. "True. Let me know if there's any I should get some tips from." He said, only half-joking. If he could figure out from those books what Minnie liked, he could use that to his advantage to sweep her off her feet.