Closed Reconnaissance

[Nicole Fisk]

Nicole had been feeling hesitantly optimistic about her plan this year. She'd managed the first major hurdle with flying colours, with Eric actually agreeing to go out with her. But the next step was a bit more daunting: Actually going on a date with Eric Holland. Nicole needed more information and she needed a plan. And the best way to get that, was Connor.

"Hey Connor, how's your day?" She said brightly, sitting next to Connor at the Hufflepuff table. "Mind if I sit? Thanks," She said, not waiting for an answer as she pulled over a plate. "It's so nice to be back at school, I swear my brother was driving me crazy over the break. What about your brother? Do you guys hang out a lot at home?" Seamless. Ryan was usually the one running around pretending to be a detective or a spy or whatever, but here Nicole was, expertly getting information from Connor like a pro.

 

[Connor Holland]

Connor liked his mum's cooking fine, but over the holidays he had found himself missing Hogwarts food more and more. Whoever was making the food for the school really knew what they were doing. He was enjoying his meals now that he was back, piling his plate high with all his favourites. He was busy reaching for a particularly tempting looking dish when Nicole swirled into his meal like a hurricane, buffeting him with questions she clearly had no interest in the actual answers to. He stared at her mid-reach, frozen in bewilderment. He had known Nicole for years and never seen her like this. "....What?" He asked slowly, brain sorting through the barrage of questions looking for answers and finding none. "....Eric is fine?" He said slowly, giving her the look of a fish that had just been transfigured into a man, and had no idea what to do with its newfound limbs. "....What's going on?!"

 

[Nicole Fisk]

Nicole tried to keep her polite smile in place even as Connor appeared to flounder from her questions. She just had to keep her cool here and act like a normal friend. She could do that. She told Ryan how to do that all the time. As sweet as Connor was, Nicole couldn't risk him relaying her snooping back to Eric and making things uncomfortable. "Nothing's going on! Why would something be going on?" She said, waving her hand in a way that edged on hysterical before deciding it was best to put it back down. "I just wanted to catch up, check in, all that. So your brother's doing good then, that's good," Nicole said earnestly. "What'd you guys do over the holidays? Any sort of hobbies or something that you or say, your brother, get up to when you're not here?" Nicole tapped her fingers together as she waited for Connor's response, the picture of innocent interest.

 

[Connor Holland]

Connor felt his face settle into a frown as he lowered his hand, studying Nicole's face warily. This was definitely not normal, and he wasn't sure he even wanted to think about why his friend was so suddenly interested in his brother. "....We play rugby." He said slowly. "Why are you asking about Eric? What's going on?" He insisted, giving Nicole a firm Look. Whatever this was about, Connor wasn't sure he wanted any part of it. "Since when do you care what Eric likes?"

 

[Nicole Fisk]

Nicole nodded, making a mental note to learn more about rugby. She knew the muggle sport was crazy popular in New Zealand, but she'd never bothered to actually learn how it worked outside of people running around on the ground and tackling each other over just a single boring ball. Connor was still weirded out about her new found interest in Eric and Nicole was running out of excuses. She hadn't exactly been quiet about her spending time with Eric since they'd talked on the train, but would it be weird if she told him she wanted to go out with Eric? Would he tell Eric she wanted to go out with him?? Nicole chewed her lip, trying to think of a good response. "What, it's nothing. We just talked a lot outside of the dance last year and he was nice. I just wanted to get to know him better," She said, shrugging perhaps a bit too dramatically. "You can ask me questions about Ryan too if you wanted, it's not a big deal," She added. Not that she really wanted to talk about Ryan. She really wanted to talk about Eric and her upcoming date hang out at Brightstone this weekend, but the lingering fear of Connor actually saying something to Eric about her made Nicole keep her mouth shut for now.

 

[Connor Holland]

Connor didn't know what Nicole was trying to hide from him, but this definitely wasn't the full story. "You talked to him after the dance, so you decided to come quiz me about his hobbies...?" He asked, narrowing his eyes slightly at Nicole. "You're being weird. What aren't you telling me?" He boggled slightly at her next comment. "What? Who's Ryan?"

 

[Nicole Fisk]

Nicole let out a huff when Connor wouldn't let it go, dropping her chin into her palm. "I just wanted to know some stuff in case we hung out again," She said, picking at the tabletop with her other hand. "Or you know.. If I wanted for us to hang out again," She added, quieter. "Ryan. My brother, jeez, Connor." Nicole let out another huff, just to emphasize how unreasonable Connor was being, acting all suspicious of her and then not even remembering her brother's name.

 

[Connor Holland]

Connor pulled a face, narrowing his eyes at Nicole. "Why would you want to hang out with Eric?" He asked, not ready to let this go yet. "You're being so weird. Are-" Connor cut himself off, eyes widening in horror. "Do you like Eric?!" He couldn't even bring himself to care about how rude he had been to forget about Nicole's brother, too busy being horrified. How could one of his best friends be interested in Eric?!

 

[Nicole Fisk]

Nicole made another flustered noise when Connor accused her being weird. She wasn't the one freaking out about her own brother, she thought huffily. "What, no, I mean. Ugh, whatever, Connor," She said, slapping her palms on the table and standing up quickly. "This was a dumb idea anyway, forget I asked," She said, moving to hurry away. She should have known better, Connor was her friend, but he was a little brother first and they were never any help. "And don't tell Eric I asked you!" She added, spinning back around to jab a finger at Connor threateningly. She was just going to have to find out more about Eric on her own.