Closed Return Revealed

[Finn Madison]

Though warm weather had never been his favourite, Finn had to appreciate the bounty it brought out in nature. There was nothing quite like spring flowers, and it would be silly to waste such an opportunity. So he had brought his paints and brushes outside, and settled on a comfortable spot by the lake after a while. The thought had come to him to paint a landscape scene, but replace the water of the lake with vibrant flowers from the garden, so he had started by the lake and began laying down thick daubs of colour, more focused on shapes and feelings than actually painting the landscape as it stood. If he wanted a photograph he would just take one, after all. The point of painting should always be to discover something about a scene that couldn't be seen with plain human eyes.

 

[Evan Eldridge]

Being home in New Zealand again had been one thing, but Evan couldn't wait to see her friends from her first year at Hogwarts. She was nervous, but not nearly as much as she was excited.

Wandering across the grounds, it occurred to Evan that she hadn't spent much time outside in her first year. She had always been too cautious to explore the castle grounds back then, but after living on the other side of the world for a while Evans perspective had changed. Now that she was back, everything felt different.

When she saw Finn it took all of her willpower to not squeal at the top of her lungs. Seeing one of her old friends made her feel eleven again, and she definitely would have squealed four years ago. Instead, now, she started jogging towards Finn with a big grin on her face, and decided to just call out. "Hey! Hey! Finn!"

 

[Finn Madison]

It was easy on a day like this to get lost in the dance of brush, paint, and canvas, eyes flicking back and forth between the work and the view, and Finn was fast becoming lost in his work. But the voice he heard calling his name sparked memories he couldn't ignore and Finn stood up straighter, focus lost immediately as he turned in the direction of the voice, eyes confirming all at once what he had heard. "Evan?!" Finn said with a small laugh of disbelief, almost dropping the brush to the grass in his excitement. Evan had been one of the first friends he made in his school year, and it had been far too long since he had seen her. "Hi!" Finn hurried to meet her, painting forgotten, though when he moved to hug her he had to quickly cancel the movement when he realised there was still a dirty brush in his hand. "It's been so long! Are you really back?"

 

[Evan Eldridge]

As Finn had turned to face Evan, she had realized he had been painting. Both overwhelmed by the excitement of running into her friend and excited to see somebody working on something creative, Evan stumbled on her words.

"Yes, I'm painting! I mean, I'm back! YOU'RE painting! What am I saying?? It's so good to see you!" Evan laughed at herself as she reached out to hug Finn before he stopped and glanced down towards his paint brush. Evan thought for a second, when an idea occured to her.

"Oh, don't worry about getting paint on this jacket, I'm going to cover it in patches, you could even paint something on it if you wanted!"

 

[Finn Madison]

Finn laughed in delight at Evan's greeting, heart full just at the sight of her again. After so long without seeing his friend, he was eager to make up for lost time. He laughed again at her comment about getting paint on the jacket, eyes lighting up at her suggestion. "Really?! That would be awesome!" He grinned and leaned in to hug her tight, though he did try his best to keep the paintbrush angled away from the hug. He couldn't stop grinning when he released Evan, looking her over. "I missed you! What are you doing here? How was Scotland?" Finn had a million questions and he didn't know where to start.

 

[Evan Eldridge]

Evan smiled as she pulled away from the hug, wondering where to begin. She hadn't told anyone she was returning to New Zealand as it had been so sudden. "My aunt who I was staying with had to move overseas for a new job, so I couldn't stay with her anymore. Once that happened my Mum wanted me back in New Zealand pretty quickly." She took a breath before continuing. " But Scotland was nice! Hogwarts was pretty much exactly the same apart from the students and teachers. It's good to be home though. What have I missed?"

 

[Finn Madison]

Finn nodded as he listened to Evan explain where she had been, beaming at his friend and basking in the fact that she was back. "Oh, wow. I'm glad you're back." He grinned, overwhelmed with joy. He shrugged slightly when she asked what she had missed, laughing a little awkwardly. "Oh my god, where to even start? I dunno, it's Hogwarts, stuff is... either always the same, or just... ridiculous. Augustus got made a Prefect, that's pretty weird. I dunno if you ever met him, though. Oh! I'm playing Quidditch now." Finn paused, laughing a little nervously. "Not well, but Odette's been helping me in the holidays."