Closed Mending a Gap

[Eric Holland]

Eric had told his brother they would eat breakfast together today, and he was glad he'd done so. It at least made him feel a bit less lonely than he had lately. Things hadn't been great for Eric this year so far, and he could only hope the new semester would be better. His fight with Kas was still ongoing, and after Sydney had humiliated him, again, he knew he needed to get proper revenge on her. And he'd heard Minnie and Noel had gone to the yule ball together, which had pissed him off a lot. But Minnie still probably thought he was awful, so what had he expected? Thinking about it, he stabbed his eggs a bit harder with his fork than strictly necessary. He barely noticed as an owl swooped down, only paying attention once it dropped a note in front of him. He frowned, unfolding it and reading it quickly. It wasn't very long.

Apologize a**hole
- Kas

Eric felt a pang of anger, mixed with regret. He had hoped things between him and Kas would just go back to normal. Yeah, he'd overreacted, a bit. But Kas had done awful stuff too. Why should he be the one to apologize? With a noise of anger, he tossed the note aside. "Can you believe him?" He asked his brother, picking up the note again after a second to look at it again. "Look at this." He said, showing it to his brother. "Kas is such an idiot. He's right there, why can't he just talk to me instead?" He wasn't entirely sure how aware Connor was of the fight between him and Kas, but was sure he'd picked up on it. In an act of defiance, Eric crumpled up the note and threw it to the side carelessly, not caring that it landed on someone's plate.

 

[Connor Holland]

Connor would be lying if he said he wasn't at least a little bit miserable. He had finally gotten to actually play in a Quidditch match, and they had been defeated almost immediately. And that was it for the year. No more sports to look forward to, except for watching other people get to play. He liked going to matches, sure, but it just wasn't as much fun without anything to look forward to. He prodded miserably at his porridge, painfully aware that he was doing an awful job of cheering Eric up. His brother was upset about... something or other, Connor wasn't even really sure, and he absolutely wasn't up to helping with the situation.

Connor was drawing a flower in the top of his porridge with his spoon when a letter dropped in front of Eric abruptly, distracting him from his misery. Could it be from Mum? That, at least, might cheer him up. He was shocked when Eric reacted with anger, instead, jumping slightly in his seat. "What?!" He yelped in shock, trying to figure out what Eric could be so angry at, who he could be. He took the letter when Eric thrust it at him, reading the short note quickly. And then reading it again. And again. In total disbelief. And then, anger. "Is this why Kas hasn't talked to me all year?!" He snapped. "Because you two are having some stupid fight?!"

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric wasn't sure what sort of reaction he'd expected from Connor, but this wasn't it. He stared at his brother in disbelief as he got angry, actually angry, at him. He blinked at him, then frowned. "What? Don't blame me! I didn't tell him not to talk to you!" He snapped back. "It's not a stupid fight! And.. and it's your fault anyway!" He replied, getting more heated. "I was defending you, okay? He was a sh*tty friend to you and I told him to treat you better. You should be mad at him, not me!" Eric snapped, cheeks heating up in his frustration.

 

[Connor Holland]

Connor stared at Eric in disbelief, struggling to understand what he was hearing. "Don't swear!" He snapped almost instinctively. "And he's not a bad friend, Kas is nice to me! What do you even think he did?! Is this about the bugs in my bed thing? That was a joke, Freya started it, it wasn't even Kas! And it was a joke, it was funny!" Connor had never talked to his brother like this before in his life, but he was too incensed to really care. Kas was one of his closest friends, and the thought that Eric had started this stupid fight over.... something inconsequential made him furious. "I can't believe you!"

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric frowned and moved back a bit as Connor snapped at him not to swear, for a moment forcibly reminded of their mother. He shook his head at his next arguments, getting increasingly frustrated with Connor's excuses. "He is a bad friend!" He argued back, shaking his head. "He was laughing at you behind your back about it, that's bad!" He wished Connor hadn't decided to develop a backbone right now, why did he have to see his little brother get angry for the first time when it was aimed at him? "It's my job to protect you." He said, crossing his arms. "So I did."

 

[Connor Holland]

Connor listened as Eric went on, his frown deepening. "I don't care!" He snapped. "It was funny! I don't think Kas was trying to bully me by laughing about something stupid when I wasn't around!" Connor said firmly, realising as he spoke that this was... definitely not how he would have felt about this a couple of years ago. Maybe Eric trying to toughen him up had finally worked. But he just couldn't bring himself to be angry about Kas laughing at something so silly. The whole bugs in his bed thing had been pretty embarrassing and made him cringe to look back on, but he couldn't blame Kas at all for thinking it was funny. "I don't need you to protect me! Not from Kas!" He grabbed Eric's wrist firmly, standing up. "You're gonna apologise to him."

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric scowled at Connor, frustrated by his reaction. "Yeah, well. It still makes him a jerk that he's not talking to you either." He told Connor angrily. "That isn't my fault. He's being a baby." He told him, glancing over at the Hufflepuff table angrily and spotting Kas almost immediately. He looked away again, surprised when Connor grabbed his wrist. "What?!" He shook his head, pulling his hand out of his grip quickly. "I'm NOT going over there!" He yelled, loud enough to turn a few heads nearby.

 

[Connor Holland]

Connor glared firmly at Eric's refusal to go along. "Who's acting like a baby?!" He said in disbelief, grabbing Eric's wrist again firmly. "Come on, you're going to apologise." He said firmly, using the muscles he had been developing in Quidditch to heft Eric out of his seat and drag him back towards the Hufflepuff table. "You're gonna apologise, and you're gonna stop being stupid, and you're gonna back off!" He said firmly, hearing hints of his mum's tone in his own voice. "I know you're trying to protect me, but Kas is my friend!"

 

[Kasim Safir]

Kas looked up as he heard a commotion from the Gryffindor table, unsurprised to see that it was Eric making all the fuss. It was a little more unusual to see Connor was also involved, but Kas had already decided that whatever nonsense the Holland brothers got up to these days was none of his business and he turned back to his food resolutely. It became a little hard to keep that resolve as Connor and Eric got closer and Kas had to turn back around, regarding the pair with a raised eyebrow and expression that he hoped conveyed how very unimpressed he was with the whole situation and not at all curious about what Connor was saying in the slightest.

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric scowled as Connor called him a baby. He was surprised by his brother's strength as he dragged him over to the Gryffindor table. But even if Connor could drag him around, which was entirely unfair, he couldn't make Eric say sorry. "I'm not." He muttered in response to Connor's words, though it alarmed him how much the boy sounded like their mouther. "He's not a good friend." He repeated, but then they were in front of Kas and he lost his words. He scowled at the Hufflepuff, then glanced at Connor defiantly. He tugged his hand free from his grasp. "Your note sucked." He told Kas.

 

[Connor Holland]

Connor snorted at Eric's comment. "Yes he is." He said firmly, pushing Eric closer to Kas once they reached the Hufflepuff table. It was obvious that Kas was confused by what was going on, but Connor wasn't giving in, elbowing Eric sharply at his comment about the note. Connor didn't really like to get physical with people knowing how strong he was getting, but sometimes it was the only language that seemed to work with his older brother. "Apologise properly." Connor said firmly, glaring at Eric and waiting for his response.

 

[Kasim Safir]

Kas rolled his eyes. The first thing Eric says to him all semester, and it's that. "Your apology sucks," He said back, slouching against the table so he could appear properly apathetic about all this. He did feel a certain level of vindication looking at Connor. Clearly Connor was on his side. And if Eric could suck it up finally, Kas could go back to actually talking to them both. As fun as being petty about this all had been, it was seriously cutting into Kas' social life.

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric shot Connor a glare as he pushed him closer to Kas. Then he brushed off his own shirt as if he didn't even notice Kas was there. He winced at Connor's elbow, then finally met Kas' gaze. He ignored Connor, focusing on Kas' words instead. "I didn't f***ing apologize yet." He muttered, inwardly wincing as the word 'yet' slipped out. He guessed he had to now. "I guess I sort of overreacted." He said after a moment. "But people have bullied Connor before." He paused. "But I should've known you're not quite that much of a sh*t. So... sorry, I guess." He frowned. "Now it's your turn." He added gruffly.

 

[Connor Holland]

Connor shot Kas a warning glance when he insulted Eric's apology, as much as he happened to agree with his roommate. There was really no need to be making things worse right now. He turned his glare back on Eric though when he swore at Kas, eyeing his brother in frustration. "Don't swear!" Connor said firmly, but he relaxed slightly as Eric went ahead and actually did apologise. As much as Connor disliked being so rough with people, sometimes it was the only language Eric seemed to understand. "Good!" He snapped, folding his arms once Eric was finished, hoping this would be the last of this whole mess.