Closed Sisterly Setup

[Fleur van Houten]

Fleur had started off this Saturday by tracking down her brother and getting him to come to the student lounge with her. Now they were sitting together, Fleur reading a book for Care of Magical Creatures and Lars scribbling in his sketchpad. It was nice to spend some time with Lars again, though Fleur had a plan that he wasn't aware of. If things went right, she wouldn't be staying here with her little brother for much longer. He would be hanging out with Stella's sister, and Fleur would be happy that her brother had made a new friend. She hadn't told Lars she had agreed to meet up with Stella and Nell here because she didn't want him to get grumpy at her. Every time she set him up with a new friend, he got a little annoyed and quiet. The few times they had actually argued about it, he had insisted he could make his own friends, but Fleur knew that wasn't always easy for him. That's why she tended to set him up with younger siblings of her own friends, just to give him a nudge in the right direction. She didn't get how that was annoying or bad, as it helped him with something he found difficult. But if she pulled this off right, he wouldn't be annoyed with her at all, and he and Stella's little sister Nell would be great friends in no time. Fleur glanced up from her book occasionally to make small talk with her brother, but also kept an eye out for her friend. Hopefully, Stella could come soon. She really wanted their siblings to get along, and for this entire thing to go smoothly.

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars wondered if he should tell his sister she had the subtlety of a sledgehammer. He knew exactly what Fleur was up to, because she was a very bad actress and he knew her very well by now. Sometimes it frustrated him, how much Fleur meddled in his life in order to protect and help him, but in this case he was a little glad about it. Being at Hogwarts wasn't easy for him, so making a new friend with some 'subtle' help from his sister was perhaps the right thing to do here. So he didn't say anything as Fleur insisted they sat in a certain part of the student lounge, and also kept his mouth shut about the very obvious glances around the room his sister kept making from behind her book. He just hoped she would stop meddling so much when he got a bit older, and maybe a bit more confident so he was able to make friends of his own. The mere thought of what Fleur would do once he was at the age to start dating was mortifying, and Lars decided not to think about that. He continued his sketch, waiting for the moment some friend of Fleur's just happened to wander in with a younger sibling.

 

[Stella Wright]

Stella had, of course, told her sister about her plans for today. She saw no reason to keep it a secret, knowing that Nell would appreciate a little help making friends at Hogwarts. Besides, the Wrights were always honest with each other. Stella sincerely hoped that Lars would be a good friend for Nell. It sounded like he would be, from what Fleur had told her, and finding out that he'd been sorted into Ravenclaw too had strengthened the likelihood that he would. Nell had, as always, peppered her with questions, but Stella didn't know many of the answers. Soon, though, Lars would have the chance to answer them for himself - if Nell wasn't too shy with him. But having her sister around should help with that. Entering the Student Lounge with Nell trailing along beside her, Stella looked around for Fleur. She quickly spotted her shock of red hair, and glanced curiously at the boy beside her as she led the way over to them. "Hi Fleur! How's it going?" Stella smiled cheerfully at them, taking a seat beside Fleur. "And you must be Lars; pleased to meet you. This is my sister, Nell."

 

[Nell Night]

Although there was something that felt a bit babyish about her big sister setting up a playdate for her, Nell trusted Stella's judgement, and making new friends was the whole point of coming to a new school after all. Nell was excited to get to know whoever Stella's friend's brother was, and hopefully make a nice new friend. She followed her sister into the student lounge, a place she had spent woefully little time in so far, and looked curiously over at the boy they were approaching. Nell had seen him a few times at meals and classes, and in their common room, but he seemed very shy, and she hadn't approached him before. She listened as Stella introduced them, smiling brightly. "Hi Lars!" She said happily. "You're in Ravenclaw too, right?"

 

[Fleur van Houten]

As Fleur noticed Stella and her little sister approach, she tried to hide her smile. She noticed the girls looked a lot alike, and wondered if they had similar personalities too. She grinned as Stella greeted her, lowering her book. "Hi Stella, what a coincidence!" She said, gesturing to her and her sister. "Look Lars, that's my friend Stella and she has her little sister with her." But the coincidence was a little hard to sell when the both girls started talking to Lars in a way that made it pretty obvious they were here on purpose. Fleur realized Stella probably hadn't made a secret out of it the way she had, and blushed a little as she glanced at Lars. Would he be upset? "You're in the same year as her sister, maybe you can be friends?" She said quickly, then glanced at Stella uncertainly. Maybe she should have been more open about this whole thing to Lars, now it felt a little awkward.

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars watched the two girls approach them and immediately knew he had been right. He recognized the younger girl from his house and year, though they had never spoken. He closed his sketchbook before they came near, just in case they would ask to look at his drawings. He was surprised by how open the older girl was about what they were doing, and gave Fleur a small glance with raised eyebrows. "Hi." He said softly in return to the older girl's greeting. Then he looked at the younger one. "Hi." He repeated, feeling silly. "I am." He added with a nod.

 

[Stella Wright]

Stella was more than a little surprised to hear Fleur act like this was a chance meeting. She hadn't realised there was supposed to be anything secretive about it, and wondered briefly whether she shouldn't have told Nell. But no, it would have just felt weird to do that to her sister. She supposed Fleur and Lars must have a different kind of relationship. She sat down beside Fleur, leaving Nell to sit next to Lars. "Were we supposed to make it a surprise?" she asked Fleur awkwardly. Lars was being oddly monosyllabic in response to her and Nell's greetings; it seemed to Stella like he was even more timid than she had anticipated, and she hoped that wouldn't cause any problems. Hopefully Nell would manage to get him talking, and they'd make friends, and she'd chat with Fleur in the meantime to make this whole thing a little less awkward.

 

[Nell Night]

Nell ignored Stella and her friend as they started chatting, more interested in making a new friend herself. "That's cool!" Nell said, excited. The boy was clearly shy, and Nell wanted him to feel more comfortable talking to her, trying to find things they could have in common. "Do you like it? I asked Stella about why it's so high up but it still seems silly to me. I like all the books in the common room though. What kind of books do you like to read? Do you like the classes? There are so many but it's so interesting, isn't it? What do you like to do when you have free time?"

 

[Fleur van Houten]

Fleur shrugged at Stella's question, a sheepish smile on her face. "I guess we should have coordinated that better." She said in a soft voice, though she had given up on trying to keep Lars out of the loop now. He didn't look surprised, anyhow, and thankfully didn't look upset either. "Let's forget all that, it's fine." She said, waving her hand dismissively. She looked at Lars and Nell, hopeful that they would be good friends. Lars was very quiet to her, and Fleur wondered if the presence of her older sister was perhaps intimidating him a little more. But then the girl started talking to him, and Fleur felt more at ease. Nell would get him out of his comfort zone, even if that might not be today. She turned to Stella. "How are you doing?" She asked her friend with a smile. "Do any cool science lately?" She didn't quite understand Stella's hobbies, but she would try.

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars was a little bit annoyed with Fleur, but he knew that never lasted long with him. And he didn't want to say anything to her while these two girls were here. He looked at the younger one, Nell. He was supposed to become her friend now, but what if she didn't like him? He was a little wary. She immediately started asking him questions, and Lars listened and tried his best to remember them all. "I do like it." He said softly. "I think it's high up because the mascot is a bird, and it's up in the sky, maybe." He said, providing a theory about one of her questions. "I also like the books. I ... like to read adventure books." He said shyly. He was starting to have a hard time keeping up with her, and he scratched his neck awkwardly. "I do like the classes. And I like painting and drawing in my free time." He cleared his throat. "What about yourself?"

 

[Stella Wright]

Stella chuckled lightly. "Yeah, I guess we should have." It was true they hadn't exactly planned very much, which was somewhat unusual for Stella. But Nell was already drawing Lars out with her habitual barrage of questions, and though Stella worried sometimes that that would be overwhelming to someone who wasn't used to it, he seemed, from her half-listening to their conversation, to be doing okay. "Looks like it's working out all right, anyway." She made an effort, then, to avoid listening in to the younger siblings' conversation, turning more towards Fleur instead. "Pretty good, classes are shaping up to be interesting this year. No, unfortunately I haven't done much science lately, apart from Astronomy of course." Astronomy classes were good so far, and naturally Stella had already been stargazing. "How about you? Learn any cool new dragon facts?"