Closed Not Funny

[Clifton Ward]

Being back at Hogwarts, Clifton was finally starting to feel a bit settled. Fitting that it would happen now, in his final year at school. Things, by and large, seemed to have been going his way for a while now, and he was quite happy to cruise along as it were. The study load in NEWT year was a bit more intense than he had expected, and Clifton had decided today he was going to allow himself a break. He had picked up plenty of new issues of his favourite comics over the holidays, overjoyed to get to visit his favourite shops back in England, and he had saved them for just such an occasion. Arms piled high with superhero comics, Clifton had decided to find a corner of the lounge to settle down and binge read in. As he made his way into the room though, Clifton misjudged the position of a chair leg, giving a high yelp as he tripped over and the comics cascaded from his arms in a spectacular fashion. "Drats!" He mumbled, scrambling to pick up his strewn mess of comics.

 

[Simon Thorne]

Simon felt a bit adrift now that he was at school again. He was unsure what to do with the freedom now that he didn't have to tiptoe around his father. He tried to think back to last year to see why he felt so empty now, and he quickly remembered. He had been "seeing" Knox last year and had quite enjoyed their time together. When he had turned the other boy down about going to the dance together Simon didn't realize it meant an end to everything between them. He had been annoyed how quickly Knox had apparently got over him and moved on. Part of him was sure the relationship wouldn't last and things would go back to normal. But he had been wrong, and months later they were still together and Simon was annoyed now. He knew he didn't have a right to feel this way or a claim on Knox in any regard, not that he wanted one but he couldn't help but feel the need to pick at the situation like an ugly scab.

He spotted Clifton the moment he entered the student lounge but kept his distance at first and watched the other boy out of the corner of his eyes as he tried to look busy. Simon wasn't sure what Knox saw in the other boy and he became even more skeptical as the other boy dropped his armful of comics onto the ground. He rolled his eyes before putting on a pleasant smile and approaching. "Need help with that?" he asked as he bent down to help. "You're....Clifton, right?" he questioned and made a show of it, acting like he was was really searching for the name.

 

[Clifton Ward]

Scrambling to collect his comics, Clifton was relieved when a friendly voice approached with an offer of help. "Oh! Yes, please." He smiled gratefully, carefully stacking the comics he had gathered so far into a neater pile, careful not to crease any of the pages. He felt a little embarrassed not to recognise the younger boy, giving a nervous laugh. "I am, though I'm afraid I don't remember your name, I'm terribly sorry."

 

[Simon Thorne]

Simon played along with the friendly pretense he established and bent down to help Clifton pick up his comics. He straightened a moment later and handed over the few he had collected. He laughed lightly as the other boy admitted to not knowing who he was. Simon wasn't surprised. Clifton had no reason to know him but he was a little disappointed that Knox hadn't mentioned him...at all. "No worries." he said lightly and waved off the other boy's apology. "I'm Simon." he said, introducing himself before taking a seat across from him. Simon wasn't sure what he was expecting to gain from this conversation or if there was a point to it at all. "I have a knack for names and faces I guess. You're on the Accio! staff right?" he continued anyways. If he had come this far, Simon figured he might as well pry a little but he had to play it cool and work up to talking about Knox. "I can also be a bit nosy when I hear people talking." he added with a shrug, looking somewhere between apologetic and mischievous.

 

[Clifton Ward]

Clifton shuffled comics back into a stack in his hands, accepting the ones the other boy handed over with a grateful smile. "Thank you so much." He said warmly when the boy introduced himself. "It's nice to meet you Simon." He nodded when Simon asked about Accio, though his other remark didn't make much sense. "I am." He said in agreement, hesitating slightly before giving in to his curiosity. "What were... people talking about?" He asked warily, memories of primary school flooding his mind. The bullying had felt like it was never going to end, and Clifton had wound up moving to the other side of the world entirely for a fresh start.

 

[Simon Thorne]

Simon leaned back and grinned as Clifton seemed to be warming up to him. Well, he was until the comment about people talking. That seemed to land much differently than Simon had intended but he was curious by Clifton's reaction. He smiled in a way that was meant to be reassuring and disarming, and it might have even been believable if he didn't immediately question it. "Why do you seem so concerned?" Simon asked curiously and almost involuntarily. His curiosity got the better of him and he watched the him closely. Simon hadn't expected an opening to mention Knox to present itself so soon, and he wasn't about to hesitate. "But you're dating Knox Ivers right?" he asked, and really sounded as if he wasn't sure. Simon was surprised by how genuine he sounded considering he hadn't really stopped thinking about how he felt seeing them at the ball together last year.

 

[Clifton Ward]

If there was one thing Clifton never wanted to be again, it was talked about. He had had all he could stomach and then some during primary school back in England, and he had happily thought of New Zealand as a fresh start, a place nobody would want to pick on him. Or dare, even if they wanted to, as being related to a member of staff gave an additional measure of safety. He felt a little silly, being as old as he was now and still being concerned about bullies, but even after all this time, the scars still ran deep. He shrugged uncomfortably in response to Simon's question, hoping to pull of a fake lack of concern. "Oh, you know, just curious." He said quickly, though he relaxed slightly when the younger boy mentioned Knox. "Knox, yeah, he's my boyfriend." He said, unable to help a small grin as he said it. Clifton still felt impossibly lucky in his relationship, and it was a relief to be on a more comfortable subject.

 

[Simon Thorne]

Simon watched Clifton act disinterested as he shrugged of his previous question. If he had to guess there was more to his earlier concern but that wasn't important now. "Cute." he said with a small chuckle as he watched the Hufflepuff grin almost involuntarily. It made Simon's jaw tighten ever so slightly but he forced himself to relax before he spoke again. He wasn't sure why Clifton's fondness made him so annoyed but it did. "How did you two even meet?" he asked curiously only a few second later. "Sorry. If that's too personal." he added apologetically with a self deprecating laugh, but it was mostly for show. He wasn't sorry at all. "You two just seem like an odd couple." he said with a shrug, trying to keep the conversation casual. He still wasn't sure what he was trying to get at by talking to Clifton but maybe if he could understand what Knox saw in the other boy maybe he would stop being so annoyed by them.

 

[Clifton Ward]

There was something... off about Simon's body language, something Clifton couldn't quite place. He felt as though there was something going on in this conversation that he just couldn't place, and the best he could do was to continue responding to Simon's questions, giving a nervous shrug. "No, it's ah... it's fine.... I suppose it is a bit strange." He laughed nervously. "We met by total chance, he was, erm... you know the felix felicis assignment in fifth year? He had just taken his dose and we bumped into each other, and he just... felt like asking me out? It was certainly strange, but I'm glad it happened..." Clifton shrugged, giving a nervous smile and hoping he had given enough of the story to assuage Simon.