Closed The Changing of the Seasons

[Elliot Briar]

Though Elliot loved celebrations, he wasn't much of a big party person. But after spending his last few end of year breaks in the States, he couldn't pass up a chance to try a small party for his own birthday now that he was finally staying in New Zealand for once. It had seemed like a great idea at the start, Elliot had tentatively but excitedly invited some friends over, Lily even coming over the day early to help him set up. He'd been looking forward to the idea of a beach trip and spending the holiday break with his friends before the next few months of awkward quiet with his dad. The only problem Elliot didn't take into account was the weather. After years of spending the end of year break in the States, in Summer, a beach party had seemed like a great idea. But the cold chill of the very season appropriate New Zealand weather begged to different.

Spreading out a blanket on the rocky shore, Elliot sighed, trying to do his best to weigh it down with a few loose rocks so it wouldn't blow away and take all the food Lily had helped him make. Squinting out at the water, Elliot supposed he should be glad at least it wasn't raining, but the wind was biting and the the waves looked decidedly uninviting. But Lars and the others would be here soon, and besides helping drop their stuff off, his dad had generally agreed to give him his space, so Elliot didn't have to worry about introducing his very muggle father to a bunch of witches and wizards. Or his boyfriend. Twisting some dune grass between his fingers, Elliot sighed as the wind flipped his hair into his eyes for the hundredth time, taking a moment before forcing a bright smile. It was a pretty grim day but he wanted to make do as best they could as the others arrived.

 

[Lillian Lockwood]

Lily was very excited for today. She had her present for Elliot ready as soon as she'd gotten home, having her father immediately take her to the store. She had just gathered a few more things from the house, skipping back down to the beach and setting the blankets down behind Elliot. It didn't look like he'd heard her coming, but she could be wrong. She came up behind him, leaning down and brushing his hair out of his eyes. "Hey, gloomy," she teased lightly, taking one of her sunflower pins from her hair and pinning it in his to try and keep his hair out of his eyes. "Are you excited for your party?" She asked, moving to sit next to him. "I'll decorate your cake here in a little while. Who all did you invite?" She asked, trying not to sound nervous. There was no way she was missing Elliot's birthday party, anyone he liked was bound to be nice. She hoped.

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars knew Elliot usually spent his breaks in America, but had been glad to hear that he would be staying in New Zealand this time. For Lars it was both a long way to travel, but at least New Zealand was familiar to him. He had carefully wrapped a present for Elliot, decorating the wrapping paper with painted flowers. He was a little nervous about the party, as he wasn't entirely sure who was going to come. Deep down, he was pretty sure he would have preferred to do something alone with Elliot on his birthday, but he knew that was selfish of him. Lars arrived at the beach, looking around until he spotted Elliot and Lily. He wasn't surprised to see Lily there, but still felt a little nervous as he approached and gave Elliot a quick peck on the cheek. He hoped she didn't mind. "Hi... happy birthday." He said softly.

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot flinched when he felt Lily's hand brush through his hair, relaxing when he saw it was just her. He smiled as Lily fussed with his hair, pressing the sunflower pin further into his head. It didn't do much to tame back the rest of his hair, but it kept some of the more unruly curls out of his face and he appreciated the gesture. "Uh, yeah. It'll be nice to have you guys around for a bit," He said, trying to dial up the enthusiasm, for everyone's sake. It really was nice to be able to actually celebrate with his friends for once, wind or weather non-withstanding.

"There's a few others coming too," He said, ducking his head when he spotted Lars, present in hand. It was hard enough fending off Lily's endless stream of baked goods sometimes, let alone presents. Elliot had never really been that good at accepting gifts, but he smiled, flustered at the peck from Lars, going to brush his hair from his eyes only to find it already pinned back with Lily's pin. "Hey, you made it, I'm glad. Sorry the weather's awful, I wasn't really thinking," Elliot said, addressing the last part to the both of them. He knew it was a ways to travel for a lot of his friends and slate grey ocean was a little discouraging, but at least they were here. "I got all excited about swimming at the beach and forgot about the whole.. winter.. thing." Elliot said, laughing at himself, training his eyes down to where his toes were digging in the sand.

 

[Lillian Lockwood]

Lily smiled softly. El seemed so nervous. Was a party for all the nervous kids really a great idea? She squared her shoulders. She would make sure it was, today was about Elliot. "Well, maybe we can build a great big fort?" She offered, "It will help protect us from the wind," She gave him a bright smile. She brightened as she saw Lars, grinning and turning her head to give them a moment of privacy. She turned back, shaking her head. "Don't be silly, El," she nudged him. "I have my two best friends here, it'll take more than a bit of bad weather to ruin this party, right?" She looked up to Lars. "Do you want to help me decorate his cake? You're the best with the icing, it would make it really special,"

She offered, trying to cheer the boys up. She reached over and pulled Elliot's chocolate lava cake from the box she'd put it in and pulling out a few containers of icing, showing Lars the colors. She focused on her work, rearranging everything to try and make it easier to work. "So... you said you invited some others. There's us, of course, maybe Kace?" She set the yellow icing next to the green one, letting her hair fall to hide her face from the boys. "Did you invite any of your dorm mates? Just so I know who to expect," She added quickly, "Like, um, maybe, did you invite C-Clifton?" She winced at the slight stutter and hoped they didn't pick up on it.

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars smiled at the sight of Elliot's hair with the sunflower clip in it. It was cute, though he wasn't sure if it would be weird to say so. Lars had always liked sunflowers a lot, they were what he tended to doodle when he was just drawing mindlessly. Lars blinked at Elliot's words. "It's not your fault... the weather is just the way it is." He said, not sure what thinking had to do with it. But then he realized what Elliot meant when he explained a bit more. Lars looked over at the ocean, and shrugged. "I think it's nice to be at the sea when it's like this." He said honestly. "It's different... I kind of want to paint it." He said before looking back over at Elliot. He then looked at Lily in surprise when she included him as one of her best friends, blushing a little. He always still felt like a bit of an intruder into the friendship between Lily and Elliot, but Lily always made him feel very welcome. "Uh, sure." He said when she mentioned decorating a cake. He headed over to her, looking at the different containers of icing. He glanced over at Lily. "What should I make on the cake? Flowers?" He asked, glancing back over at Elliot. "Or... do you want something specific?" He asked his boyfriend a little sheepishly. Lily asked about who else Elliot had invited, and Lars listened curiously. He recognized Clifton's name and knew who he was vaguely from classes, but had no idea if he and Elliot were close enough for an invite to this.

 

[Nell Night]

Nell was thrilled to be invited to Elliot's birthday party, glad for the chance to see her friends in the holidays. The fact that Stella could apparate now just emphasised to Nell how helpless she was to get away and spend time with the people she loved at Hogwarts during the holiday. So she knew this was a party she couldn't miss, bouncing onto the beach in excitement and breaking into a sprint as soon as she spotted her friends. "ELLIOTT!" Nell cried out in delight, rushing over to Elliott and catching him in a tight hug. "Happy BIRTHDAY!" She squeezed Elliott tight for a second before handing over his birthday present, grinning brightly.

 

[Clifton Ward]

Clifton had been both surprised and thrilled to recieve an invitation to Elliott's birthday party. It had taken a bit of wrangling with his parents and his cousins, but Clifton was spending the weekend with Matt and Kyle, in order to see his friends in New Zealand. He was excited and nervous, half wondering if his invitation had been a mistake all along. There was nothing for it but to find out though, and so he turned up at the beach he had been told to, pleasantly surprised to see exactly the group of friends he had expected. Among them, though... Clifton glanced at Lily nervously, then looked away quickly at Elliott. Today was about celebrating Elliott's birthday, and he wasn't going to let his silly crush ruin things. Clifton went to approach Elliot with his present, but was cut off by Nell charging through to give Elliott a hug and thoroughly throwing him off his momentum. Oh dear. Clifton collected himself and turned away, glancing nervously between the other attendees. "Hi." Clifton said quietly to Lily and Lars, not quite managing to look properly at either of them.

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot ducked his head, smiling down at where his toes were twisting in the sand. It was cold and dreary, but he was glad his friends.. and boyfriend were trying to make him feel better. As far as parties went, it wasn't great, but he was still glad to have his friends here.
He watched with some trepidation as Lily and Lars unpacked some cake decorating supplies. They probably should have done this the other day so the icing wouldn't get covered in sand, but Lily had wanted the cake to be fresh. "Oh uh.. flowers are nice.. You're good at them," He told Lars, smiling softly. Lars seemed to draw flowers a lot these days, which was cute, and Elliot honestly had no idea what to put on a cake or a drawing for that matter. His mom somehow always had these amazing ideas for decorating when she was catering, Elliot mostly just helped by passing her things or doing dishes.

"I didn't invite too many people, I know a lot of you guys go back overseas for the break," He said, still happy with how many of his friends had still promised to try and make it. Elliot wouldn't have blamed anyone for not being able to make the trip, he usually couldn't get back to New Zealand until right before the year started himself. "Clifton should come yeah-" Elliot was cut off answering Lily when Nell sprinted across the beach, barely managing to catch her in his arms with her momentum. "Hey- Uh hi, thanks," He managed, returning Nell's hug and sheepishly taking the presents from both Nell and Clifton, happy to see them both. "Thanks for coming-" Elliot began, pausing when he felt the first few drops of rain began to fall down from the sky above.

 

[Lillian Lockwood]

Lily giggled as Lars and Elliot decided on flowers. "That's a great idea," She agreed, "Elliot is right, your flowers are really pretty Lars," She told him. She listened as Elliot spoke about who he had invited, feeling a shy smile coming over her face as he said he had. She tucked her hair behind her ear, then nearly jumped out of her skin as someone yelled. She placed a hand over her heart, laughing lightly and smiling at Lars as she realized Nell had just come rushing in.

Then a soft 'hi' caught her attention and she turned with wide eyes to see Clifton. She could feel the blush heating her cheeks and swallowed nervously. "H-hi," She stuttered, tucking her hair behind her ear and giving Clifton a shy smile. She turned to Elliot, hoping focusing on her best friend would help her stay calm. But as he spoke, she felt the rain on her skin. She looked up to the sky with wide blue eyes. "El?" She called, nervous. "Did we bring down that tent?"

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars was looking over at the different options of icing, when he suddenly heard a yell. He jumped in surprise, but it was just Nell who had arrived. Lars smiled hesitantly, then waved. "Hi Nell." He murmured, not sure if she could even hear him from where she was standing with Elliot. He turned his head when someone else approached, Clifton from Hufflepuff. "Hi." Lars said to him. He didn't really know the other boy that well, and felt a little nervous. Lars looked up when it started raining, wiping a drop from his nose. "Oh." He said softly, frowning a bit. He glanced at Lily. "You have a tent?" He asked in surprise.