Open questions never asked

[Flynn North-McGowan]

Stairs were the worst. They had sucked to go up and down the previous year but now they really sucked. It took a whole of a lot more energy just to get up one flight of stairs, so he supposed it was a good thing his destination was only on the first floor. Flynn was out of breath and a little red in the face by the time he made it to stand outside Professor Holland's office, but that was where he paused, hand faltering in front of the door. No, this was a stupid idea, why would the Professor want to help him with his flying problems? She was probably too busy with all the new first years. In the end, the second year managed to talk himself out of this idea, huffing as he turned around again and started to head back towards the staircase. Stupid idea. Stupid stupid stupid stupid....

"Ruben." He had just turned the corner, almost walking right into the other second year coming in the other direction, "What are you doing here?"

@Ruben Right

 

[Ruben Right]

Ruben had arrived to Hogwarts that day, the feast would be tonight but for now he still had some time to kill before anything turned into a big stressful mess again. He decided to go through his books in the library before classes started so he grabbed his yellow eastpack bag and shoved the books inside it before leaving the common room.
He was glad to be a Slytherin, he wouldn't imagine himself in any other house but the fact that the common room had to be located in the lowest floor in the whole school sucked, not to mention that they practically lived in the dark.
He started climbing the stairs and as he arrived to the first floor he almost bumped into Flynn as he turned the corner "Hey Flynn. Sorry my bad" he said apologetically for the almost bump. There was something off about him, his following question made him look a bit panicked, like Ruben wasn't supposed to be there "Oh just heading towards the library to get some early study done" he clarified "What are you doing? Isn't the Gryffindor tower in a floor way higher than the one you are right now? Why were you about to go down?" he asked presuming he would be going to the Gryffindor tower. If he thought about it there were plenty of motives on why Flynn could be going to the ground floor.

 

[Flynn North-McGowan]

He would have much preferred not bumping into anyone right now, but he supposed Hogwarts was a big place and there were a lot of students around and it was impossible to have to try and avoid all of them. At some point he was going to end up bumping into someone and there was nothing he could do about it. At least it was someone he could put up with and wasn't someone he actually hated and couldn't even stand. (A couple of people instantly popped into his head at that description, most specifically a big-headed Gryffindor). "Me?" Maybe he should have expected the question to be shot right back at him, but he really didn't want to admit what he was actually doing on the first floor. "Nothing. Stuff," he offered with an uncomfortable shrug of his shoulder.

 

[Finn Lockley]

Finn had been wanting to go to Professor Holland. He needed to get some pointers so he could join the team when the try outs would come up. He had practiced a ton and he had high hopes he was going to ace the try outs. Finn only wanted to hear from the Professor if she had some last tips. The sorting ceremony would bet tonight and Finn wanted to be prepared before the Professor was going to be busy with a bunch of first years. Finn walked up to the first floor, where he spotted his best friend Flynn and another second year he shared classes with. Finn decided he wanted to be in on the fun and crept towards the two. Then he spotted Flynn's flustered face and stopped his ambush. Finn started walking normally and decided not to point on the elephant in the room. ''Hello boys, up to no good are we.'' Finn grinned and looked around. Finn decided he would ask if Flynn was alright when the other boy would leave. He wouldn't want to look vulnerable when someone else he didn't know would be around. ''Can I join in on the fun?'' Finn smiled and forgot why he had came to this corridor. ''Don't think we want trouble before the feast stars, but whatever it is I am in.'' He wasn't caught brewing illegal potions, so why would he be found out now?

 

[Ruben Right]

Ruben noticed that Flynn was dismissive but he also didn't want to push the subject. He was about to ask him about his winter break but a Hufflepuff guy came towards them and the Slytherin boy didn't end up making any questions.
"Don't think we officially met" he said looking at the other boy, he normally wasn't this confident but the Hufflepuff guy came in crushing with such confidence that it probably rubbed off on Ruben "I'm Ruben" he added finishing introducing himself.
He couldn't help but chuckle "Well I think you will reconsider the whole 'I'm in' thing when I say that I was about to go to the library to study a bit before the year starts" he said raising his eyebrow at the other boy waiting to hear the verbal confirmation that the boy wasn't interested in that. He wasn't totally sure if the boy knew Flynn but he was pretty sure he did as he remembered them vaguely hanging together.
His face turned towards Flynn again "By the way, I can stand on a skateboard without falling now. Been training that all winter break" he said ironically, obviously he did some training, more than he would ever admit but at least now he could stand in a skateboard and even roll to the front but only at a really low speed.

 

[Flynn North-McGowan]

If he thought bumping into Ruben right here and now was bad enough, things were only going to get a lot worse when he heard an all too familiar voice. "Finn," he said the word though he really hoped it wouldn't be him. But, sure enough, turning his head he saw his Hufflepuff friend heading over towards where the two of them were standing. Why did it have to be Finn? Out of all the people he wanted to avoid for as long as possible, Finn was probably at the top of that list. Flynn just didn't know how he could face his friend after everything, what the other boy would think of him, whether he would even want to be friends anymore. His gaze flickered over to Ruben for just a moment as he explained he was heading to the library, quite sure that was not something that Finn would want to do. They were the same in that regard, it was probably why they were such a good fit. But no doubt things had changed, but Flynn didn't quite know how to say that. "Wasn't doing anything," he offered his own explanation of what he had been up to, and while it was technically the truth, it wasn't the whole truth.

And then came the comment about the skateboard like a kick in the stomach. Flynn swallowed uncomfortably, shoving his hands in his pockets so the other two boys couldn't see his fingers curl into fists. "Yeah that's... great," he hadn't even touched a skateboard since the accident. Hadn't brought it to Hogwarts with him, either. He didn't know if he could skate anymore, probably not like his used to, no more tricks with one foot missing. Ruined, just like everything else in his stupid life.

 

[Finn Lockley]

Finn was sure that the boy was named Ruben he was pretty good at the actual classes where as Finn barely got the participation award. Finn didn’t care though he wasn’t here for classes, he wanted to learn more about Quidditch. ‘’Don’t think we have, I am Finn’’ Finn said while looking at Ruben. When Ruben said he was going to the library to study in advance Finn was disgusted. There was no way Finn was going to be found in library without having a punishment to keep him there. Finn listened to Ruben explaining he could stand on a skateboard without falling, which wasn’t a very big gain, but Finn had no clue how bad the other boy was before. He must really suck that bad if he needed a full winter break to be able to stand and have some speed. ''Maybe you can come with us next time we skate'' Finn grinned when Finn said he wasn’t doing anything; it was a typical Finn answer. Never tell others you were up to no good, even if it was your best friend. There was something up with Flynn, but Finn didn’t want to push him. He had no clue if this Ruben guy was to be trusted, but Flynn did seem to know the guy.

 

[Ruben Right]

Ruben sensed something weird, Flynn wasn't usually like any other kid, he raised a lot of walls and Ruben didn't know exactly why he did it but that made Flynn seem a little more unapproachable than the other kids. But today he seemed even more on the edge, the way he talked suggested that there was something off. The Slytherin boy knew that Flynn would be dismissive as always but he still decided to go for it and ask "Is...everything ok?"
Ruben couldn't help but let out a loud laugh and rapidly put his hand in front of his mouth. Finn was being cool by inviting him but if only he knew how bad Ruben was...Finn would never invite him again. "You are overestimating my skating skills" he told the Hufflepuff boy still chuckling a bit.

 

[Flynn North-McGowan]

Already he was trying to think of ways to get out of this awkward encounter. Preferably without either of them knowing that anything was wrong, the longer he could go without bringing up what had happened the better off. He didn't say anything when Finn spoke about Ruben joining them when they went skating next. Instead, he just tightened his jaw, shifting his weight onto his left foot more to try and take some pressure off the prosthetic. But then Ruben just went right out there and asked what was wrong and Flynn's brain suddenly snapped back to the present day and stopped daydreaming. "I'm fine," he quickly snapped, going on the defensive as he shrugged a shoulder again, "Why do you think something's wrong? Everything is just fine." Maybe it was quite obvious that everything wasn't fine, but he wasn't about to admit that out loud and let them know.

 

[Finn Lockley]

Finn chuckled, he didn't care about the skating skills the other boy possessed. He did care about the dismissive attitude Flynn seemed to posses. He was defensive and snappy unlike him normally. He was also lying through his teeth and Flynn was worried. Finn decided he didn't want to partake in this conversation anymore. There was no way to get through Flynn at this exact moment. There clearly was something he didn't want to tell him now and Finn thought it was better to leave him alone to gather his emotions. Finn wasn't going to push him into telling him something he wasn't ready for. ''I actually came here to go to Professor Holland, try outs are coming up and I want to be my best'' Finn said ''She isn't here, so I am going to the pitch to get some hands on training in'' Finn paused ''See you two later sometime.'' He especially looked at Flynn.

 

[Ruben Right]

Ruben looked at Flynn a little worried, clearly something was wrong but if he didn't want to tell him it was fine, Flynn would talk about it when he was ready or he wouldn't ever talk about it. Ruben just hoped he talked to someone, it seemed like he was needing it.
When Finn mentioned Quidditch Ruben looked at him "Oh yeah I'm trying out too. Good luck with that" he said with a smile to the other boy. It would be fun if they eventually met at a Quidditch match playing against each other but first things first, making it to the team.
"See ya" he said to the boy who left as quickly as he showed up. Ruben's attention was then directed to Flynn "Well, if you don't need me I'll also be going. Let's keep in touch" he told the Gryffindor boy giving him one of his usual warm smiles.

 

[Flynn North-McGowan]

It was quite obvious that Finn suspected something was wrong. Not that Flynn was surprised, the Hufflepuff wasn't his best friend for no reason, but the problem was he just didn't really want to talk about what was wrong at the moment. He still needed more time to get used to things, to work out what he was going to say, how he was going to say it to avoid getting as much pity as possible. "Yeah," he just offered with a small smile as Finn announced he was going to head down to the pitch for some practice, "I'll see you around, dude." Which now just left him with Ruben, it looked as though the other boy wanted to get on with what he was planning as well and Flynn just offered him a small nod as he told him to keep in touch. "Yeah," he offered the word, though didn't really know if he was actually going to hold up to it.