Third Wheel

[April Ward]

April loved being at school, even though she missed Kyle and her mother during the school months. She was just lucky she didn't have to miss her father too. Besides, there were plenty of students around to meet and talk to, and April happily made friends wherever she went. At least, as long as the other people were nice. One of those friends was Kauri, who she felt was one of the nicest people she knew. Occasionally, she joined him at the Gryffindor table for meals, but today she decided it would be the other way around. "Let's take a seat close to the toast." She told him as she dragged him over to the Hufflepuff table. She took a seat, beaming up at her friend. "How are things in Gryffindor?" She asked him as she grabbed a slice of toast and started buttering it. "Which electives did you pick again?" Perhaps she had asked him before, but she wasn't sure and didn't remember the answer if she had.

 

[Kauri Morales-Tipene]

As nice as it had been to see Mum and Dad, Kauri felt himself longing more and more to return to school. It was hard to see the same appeal in his muggle life now that he felt so established in his magical one. Everything felt inconvenient, not being able to just summon things he wanted or levitate things out of the way. Kauri knew it was probably good for him, to... get back in touch with doing things the hard way, but it just felt like a pain. And so Kauri was relieved to be back at Hogwarts, getting lunch with April. Following her to the Hufflepuff table happily he took a seat with his friend, looking around for things to eat. "Oh, they're the usual." He commented, grabbing some toast and going for the butter, too late as April had already snagged it. "Messy and noisy and fun." He grinned, taking the butter once she was done. "I'm doing most of the electives, I wanna see what they're all like and maybe drop the boring ones next year. I'm only not taking Muggle Studies, because it seemed kinda unnecessary, and Arithmancy, 'cause it sounded too much like maths." Kauri pulled a face as he buttered his toast. "What're you taking?"

 

[April Ward]

April giggled at her friend's description of Gryffindor. "You know, they sound like fun. Hufflepuff isn't nearly as wild I think." The house meeting hadn't exactly been noisy or messy, though it had been very chatty and social. She thought it was kind of smart of Kauri to take many electives and pick from them, but she couldn't commit to that much work. "Oh, that's fun. I'm taking Care of Magical Creatures only. So I guess I'll see you there!" She said brightly. "Which one are you looking forward the most?"

 

[Tristan Collins]

Tristan was back at school and happy about it, though he had things to get done. He had goals, both academically and socially. He was pretty much on top of the homework so far, as the start of the term was never the most busy of times. But he also needed to get some things done on the relationships front. Ever since his thing with Jessica, he had ben pretty much single. As long as you didn't count his other thing with Vivian. But no one knew about that. He needed someone to take to the yule ball, and maybe to date for a while. And he had someone in mind, as long as he was willing. He had considered asking October, but the girl seemed not that impressed with him. The last thing he wanted was to be turned down. Besides, after a conversation last year he had someone else he was curious about.

He was surprised but pleased to see the target of his intentions sitting at the Hufflepuff table. He was apparently chatting to some girl and having lunch with her. It couldn't be that important, though. Briefly, Tristan considered waiting for him to be done and ask him to speak to him alone. But he didn't think Kauri would turn him down. He would just have to flirt with him a bit first, to gauge his reaction. With a charming smile he slid into the seat on the other side of the boy, gently touching his shoulder to catch his attention. "Kauri, hey. What a nice surprise to see you here." He said, smiling.

 

[Kauri Morales-Tipene]

Kauri laughed. "I bet you'd get along great in Gryffindor. I wish we could hang out in the common room, it'd be so much fun!" Looking at the descriptions, Kauri wasn't entirely sure what made him a Gryffindor. He didn't think he was especially brave, and part of him felt like he and April had wound up the wrong way around. Kauri loved his house though, the decorations were cosy, his roommates were nice, and there was always someone around doing something fun. He just wasn't always entirely sure what made him belong there. Listening to April talk about classes perked him up quickly though, and he smiled. "Oh man, Care of Magical Creatures for sure! It's gonna be so much fun, I can't wait to learn about all the cool animals and all the cool stuff they do! I really wanna see a Phoenix one day, they sound so cool and there's a feather from one in my wand, so I kinda feel connected to them!" Thinking about his other classes for a moment, Kauri perked up. "Oh, and Divination sounds so cool, but that's not until next semester. I can't wait for it though, I really wanna learn to tell the future!"

Kauri was distracted thinking about his classes when someone sat next to him, not realising it was someone familiar until he felt a tap on his shoulder. "Oh! Tristan! Hey!" He beamed brightly, pleased to see the other boy. They had only really gotten to know each other at the end of last year, but there was something about the way Tristan had talked to him that made Kauri excited to talk to him again. "I was just having breakfast with my friend April. April, this is Tristan, he's in Brotherhood with me." He smiled, turning his attention back to Tristan. "So how's fourth year?"

 

[April Ward]

April agreed with Kauri that she would probably get along with Gryffindors, as she liked a lot of them already. She liked Hufflepuff, but Gryffindor was definitely the second best house. "Maybe you can sneak me in sometime. Just kidding!" She added quickly, knowing Kauri would balk at breaking rules like that. He was more of a goody two shoes than April was, but she liked that about him. It was funny. She was happy to hear he was taking Care of Magical Creatures too, and she beamed at him. "It's going to be so great""She said excitedly, though she didn't have as specific a reason for her excitement as Kauri did. She hoped he would get to see a Phoenix. Though she felt like it was more likely they would start off with things like flobberworms. Not to crush his dreams, though, she didn't say that. "I don't know if I'll take divination yet. I might give it a try." She shrugged. She wanted to ask him more about why he wanted to take that subject, but a boy interrupted their conversation. Quite rudely too.

April frowned as she watched the boy sit next to Kauri on his other side, annoyed at the way he seemed to completely ignore her. Kauri introduced her to this ...Tristan, and April gave him a small smile nothing at all like her usual grin. "Hi, nice to meet you!" She said cheerfully. Any friend of Kauri was a friend of hers, but she had hoped to just catch up with her friend. Maybe making a new friend would be more fun, though.

 

[Tristan Collins]

Tristan rather wished he had managed to get Kauri alone, not talking to some annoying third year girl, but he still gave her a small smile as she said it was nice to meet him. "Likewise." he said shortly before focusing all his attention on the boy that was actually his reason for sitting here. "Fourth year is fine so far, though I wish we had some classes together." He told the boy with a smile. "It would be fun to sit next to each other and work together on the same schoolwork, don't you think?" He eyed him carefully as he leaned just the slightest amount closer to him, judging his reaction to more proximity. He wanted to make sure Kauri liked him before asking him this. "So how is third year? If you have anything you're struggling with so far, I may be able to help you. Just let me know, okay?" He smiled, glancing at the girl again before looking at Kauri. "Any interesting plans this year? You're not a Quidditch person, are you?"

 

[Kauri Morales-Tipene]

Kauri balked a little at April's suggestion. "April! You know that's against the rules! It'd be super fun but we can't go in each other's common rooms." The question of why that would be a problem popped up in Kauri's mind, but he ignored it. Rules were rules, and he didn't want to run around breaking them. "You should take it! I'll read your future all the time, it's gonna be so cool! I can't wait to learn how to do that stuff!" The fascination with Divination hadn't left Kauri since he learned that it was a subject he could take, and he couldn't wait to begin learning what it was all about.

Kauri couldn't help but think it was a little exciting to talk to Tristan again. The older boy seemed fascinating, and always came across so complimentary. It was nice, to talk to someone who seemed to enjoy making others feel nice so much. "Oh man, that would be cool." He said happily, wondering what Tristan's classes were all about. "We can always study together though, even if it's not the same stuff." He smiled wider when Tristan offered to help him with his classes. "Thanks! Third year is fun so far, though a lot of Professors in the first classes all seemed to expect us to have already read the books and have like, fun facts about the subject and stuff. It was awkward." He laughed, thinking of the Ancient Runes lesson. As put on the spot as he had felt, the Professor had been nice about it, so Kauri felt like at least his lack of preparation hadn't seriously gotten him in trouble. He shook his head when Tristan asked about Quidditch. "Nah, I prefer my sports on the ground." He laughed. "I'll stick to rugby or soccer, thanks. I don't really have any plans for the year, just study a bunch I guess." He glanced at Tristan. "What about you, anything big planned?"

 

[Tristan Collins]

Tristan noticed the way Kauri looked at him, and how raptly he had his attention. He hardly even looked at his friend anymore, which was good. "That's a really good idea, I would love to. Which electives do you have? If you have one I don't, perhaps you could even teach me some things." He said with a small smile. The boy's explanation about fun facts made him laugh softly. "Runes?" He asked, thinking back to his own first lesson of that elective last year. He nodded when Kauri said he'd stick with rugby or soccer, and was reminded that Kauri was from a muggle background like him. It made him like the boy more. Tristan smiled at the question, tilting his head slightly. "Whether or not I have plans sort of depends on you, actually, and what you're going to say to what I ask next." He teased, before making his expression more serious again. "I just wanted to ask if you wanted to go to the yule ball with me, perhaps." He paused, "as my date." Tristan didn't want any confusion about that. It was better to be rejected now than to have Kauri think they were going as friends only to have him make a scene as Tristan tried to hold his hand or something.

 

[April Ward]

The conversation April had been having with Kauri had been cut short somewhat abruptly, and now she was just sitting here listen to the two boys talk. Kauri was giving this Tristan all his attention, and Tristan was sort of putting it on thick in April's opinion. Like he was trying too hard. A scowl formed on her face as she listened to them, hating how they were now ignoring her. Their back-and-forth was so silly and sounded kind of like a scene from a movie or something. A bad movie.

When the boy suddenly asked Kauri to the ball, April wasn't shocked. He had been flirting, she was sure. She was a little curious how Kauri would react. She didn't know if he liked boys, though she wouldn't mind it if he did obviously. She just wasn't a big fan of this particular boy so far. There was something slimy about him.

 

[Kauri Morales-Tipene]

Kauri paused for a moment to think about his electives. "Well, I took most stuff because I just wanted to see what it was about. I'm taking pretty much everything except Muggle Studies and Arithmancy." He pulled a face. "I got enough maths in primary school. Which ones do you take?" He was curious about what kinds of classes Tristan would choose, and wondered what the older boy could tutor him in. When Tristan asked about the Runes class he nodded quickly. "Yeah! The first thing we had to do was say a fact about Runes! I only just got here, I dunno anything yet! It was embarrassing. The subject seems really fun though, so I guess it's fine..."

Kauri was a little surprised to hear that Tristan's plans would depend on him - he didn't think they had arranged anything he had forgotten. He was trying to wrack his brains to remember what their plans might be, and Tristan's question caught him completely off guard. If there was any doubt in Kauri's mind as to what he was being asked it was quickly eroded by the clarification that this was indeed a date. "Oh!" He said nervously, startled, running the situation over in his mind. Kauri didn't think he had thought about anyone in a romantic way before, but it was impossible to ignore that little swoop his stomach did when Tristan paid attention to him. Maybe that was what crushes were like. And if Tristan was asking he obviously felt something similar. So... there shouldn't be any reason to say no? And Tristan was so nice, surely if nothing else it would be fun. Worth trying. Grinning back at the other boy nervously, he nodded his head. "Sure! That sounds fun!"

 

[Tristan Collins]

Tristan decided not to tell Kauri he was taking both Muggle Studies and Arithmancy, as it would be better to agree on things with him if he wanted the boy to give him the answer he wanted. He smiled. "I took a few different ones, I think we have the same ones for the most part. Though I never got into Care of Magical Creatures. Is that one enjoyable?" Tristan couldn't imagine it being very fun, but Kauri did seem like the kind of person to care a lot about animals. He smiled at Kauri, shaking his head. "It really had to be a really basic fact, though. You could say 'I know runes exist' and she would have to acknowledge that is right," he teased gently.

The reaction to his question made him smile a little. The boy did seem nervous, but not opposed to the idea. Still, Tristan kept his fingers crossed under the table was he waited for the Gryffindor to work his way to an anwer that wasn't just 'oh'. The grin appearing on his face was enough of an answer, but he was still happy to hear him say yes. "Awesome." He said, relief clear in his voice. "Let's hang out some more before that too. If you want. But how about we meet up in the entrance hall the night of the party?" He paused. "I'm sure you'll look adorable."

 

[April Ward]

April wasn't that surprised to hear Kauri say yes, but she frowned a little bit anyway. It was fun to run into her friends at dances and have fun with them, that would be a lot harder with dates. She nudged him. "Hey, still save a dance for me, okay? We had fun last year at the Valentine's dance, right?" She asked with a smile, as she pointedly ignored the older boy on the other side of her friend. He was piling on the compliments, and it didn't feel all that sincere to April. Maybe if she could get Kauri's attention back on her, he would leave.

 

[Kauri Morales-Tipene]

Kauri was pleased to hear Tristan ask about his current favourite subject, nodding emphatically. "It's great! We get to see all these cool creatures, like, there was this fluffy thing called a Puffskein... it was so cute! The Professor said some people keep them as pets, now I kinda really want one." He grinned happily, thinking of the letter currently winging its way to mum and dad telling them all about the creature and begging to be allowed to get one. He laughed at Tristan's suggested fact about Runes. "I pretty much said that! I said something like... people carve them on rocks or something, I dunno." He laughed awkwardly. "I don't think Professor Kingsley minded. That class is fun though."

Kauri couldn't hold back his grin now. He hadn't been expecting this at all, but he had a date! A proper date, to a dance! Kauri supposed this meant Tristan liked him, and thinking about it that way helped him contextualise how he felt when the other boy spoke. That excited stomach fluttering he got when Tristan paid attention to him. It was a crush, he realised, and it was thrilling that Tristan apparently felt the same way. "Yeah! Definitely, that sounds awesome!" He said happily, excited at the thought of spending more time with Tristan beforehand too. He laughed nervously at Tristan's compliment, cheeks heating up bright red. "Thanks!" He said awkwardly. "I, uh... I bet you'll look handsome too!"

Kauri was so distracted by Tristan that he had almost forgotten April was here entirely, until she spoke up. Still blushing brightly, he turned to her. "Yeah!" He said happily, but worried that Tristan would get the wrong idea about them. "We can totally have a dance as friends, I'll make sure to see you there."

 

[Tristan Collins]

The return of the compliment made Tristan smile, and he knew he would indeed try hard to look handsome that night. He wanted people to talk about him and his date, but in a positive way. He bowed his head slightly in acceptance of the compliment, giving him his somewhat shy smile. "I'll give it a good effort." He said lightly.

Tristan was enjoying his chat with Kauri, and felt a frown appear on his face as the girl that had been quiet decided to butt in again. Was that really necessary? He couldn't help smiling slightly as he heard Kauri mention they could dance as friends. Maybe the girl liked him, but at least the feelings didn't seem to be returned if she did. But before things started getting ugly, he would get out of here. The girl's looks at him made him a little concerned she would try to talk Kauri out of the date, but he felt fairly confident she wouldn't be able to. He gave Kauri a smile. "I'll stop interrupting your conversation now, but I'm very happy you said yes." He said, briefly touching the boy's arm. "Let's study together sometime, alright?" With that he got to his feet. "I'll see you around." He said with a wink as he left.

 

[April Ward]

April rolled her eyes when Kauri felt like he had to clarify they would dance as friends. Of course they would, they had always done that. Just because he was now suddenly being all weird, didn't mean she was going to be. She was glad this Tristan guy got the message and left though, and she watched him go in distrust before turning to Kauri. "So... you like that guy?" She asked him, frowning slightly. "You've never mentioned him." She wasn't completely certain if that was true or not, because April wasn't always the most attentive listener, but she didn't recognize the name.

 

[Kauri Morales-Tipene]

Kauri felt his smile fall slightly as Tristan got up to leave, but he quickly affixed it again, nodding in response to the boy's offer to study together. "Yeah, definitely!" He said happily, keeping his eyes on Tristan. "I'll see you round." Kauri felt like he was practically glowing. Tristan was so cool and nice, and he liked Kauri, and they were going on a date. It wasn't something he had expected, or even realised that he wanted, but now that he knew he wanted it, it sent a thrill of excitement through him just to think about. He could hardly wait for the Yule Ball now.

Turning back to April, Kauri was surprised to see the unhappy expression on her face. He realised it was probably a bit awkward for her to be witness to that conversation, but she seemed unreasonably upset. What was going on? He shrugged awkwardly in response to her question, realising that his cheeks were still unreasonably warm. "I mean, I guess so! I only just got to know him recently, I wasn't like, expecting that or anything." He said defensively, not quite able to meet April's eyes. "It's not a big deal!"

 

[April Ward]

April snorted at the sight of Kauri's pink cheeks. This guy really had managed to influence him. She rolled her eyes. "It's fine if you like him Kauri, I'm not judging you or anything. It's just weird how he asked you, is all." She shrugged, taking a bite of her food while watching him from the corner of her eye. "You do like him, right?" She asked after swallowing her bite of food. "I don't see how that's not a big deal. It's like, your first date, right?" She wouldn't let Kauri downplay this. The older boy hadn't been subtle about his romantic intentions, and Kauri hadn't been subtle about enjoying being asked out.

 

[Kauri Morales-Tipene]

Kauri faltered, face falling as April spoke. He found himself feeling strangely defensive of the date all of a sudden, unsure why she would be so critical. "What's weird about it?" He asked, frowning slightly. "He wanted to go with me, so he asked me! That's how dates work, you ask the person you want to go with, and they say yes if they want to go too!" The more Kauri thought about it, the more he couldn't figure out why April was so sceptical. She had told him her dad was dating an older girl's dad, so that wasn't her problem. Was she jealous? That sounded stupid. She had only just met Tristan, she wouldn't want to go with him, and he had promised they would dance as friends. Kauri didn't feel like April liked him, they were just friends, they only ever hung out like friends. That definitely wasn't the problem. "I... I mean, I only just thought about it like that, but I think I do like him! He's so nice to hang out with, I get, like, weird happy butterflies whenever we talk. I think that's what liking someone is like." He sighed, blushing again, still frustrated that what had only moments ago been such a happy moment had turned into such a contentious one. "Yeah! It's my first date, so I'm gonna go to the ball with him and see if it's fun, and if I like him, and if I don't I'll just say 'Hey! Thanks for the date, but I don't think I want to go on another, thank you anyway!' Thats how dating works! You just try it and see if it works!"

 

[April Ward]

April had never seen Kauri like this, and his defending of the annoying boy made her a little annoyed. "It's weird because he interrupted a normal conversation, gave you a bunch of compliments so you'd say yes and left again." She said with a scowl. "How is that NOT weird!" She didn't get it, and hearing Kauri hadn't even known if he liked the other boy before this moment made it even weirder. Honestly she was a little annoyed because this was territory she was unfamiliar with. April had never liked someone, and going to the dance as someone's date wasn't something that interested her even remotely. So hearing Kauri's excitement and knowing that her friend wouldn't just wanna hang out with her when they were there was annoying and a little frightening. "So you're an expert on how dating works now?" She asked him with a frown. "You just said you didn't even like him before he asked you!"

 

[Kauri Morales-Tipene]

Kauri frowned. "He didn't interrupt, this is his house table too! And is he not allowed to be nice to me? I dunno what you've got against him but you're being really weird about this." He scowled, getting more angry as the butterflies he had been so happy about minutes ago were being overtaken by a pit of sour anger in his stomach. Kauri hated feeling like this. He tried so hard to always be cheerful and happy no matter what, and negative feelings were something he didn't know how to deal with at all. Why would April ruin this for him?! Scowling, Kauri stood up. "I said I wasn't sure before, but now that I realise I like him I'm realising I liked him last year too! I just didn't know what it was yet! I'm gonna go eat at the Gryffindor table, thanks for ruining this." He snapped, getting up and storming away. He wished he could just leave the Great Hall entirely, but he hadn't actually had time for much breakfast at all, and he wasn't gonna start the day without the most important meal.

 

[April Ward]

April scowled and stuck out her tongue. "He did SO interrupt." She declared, putting one hand on her hip. "We were talking or did you forget because of his dreamy eyes or whatever?" She was so annoyed by this, as it wasn't like Kauri at all. Were some nice words really all it took for him to completely turn into an idiot about this? "I'm not being weird!" She insisted, though she could tell Kauri was annoyed and not listening. He stood up and told her she had ruined it. April glared, annoyed. "He ruined it." She muttered under her breath, knowing Kauri couldn't hear it as he stormed back to the Gryffindor table. April crossed her arms stubbornly and scowled at her glass of pumpkin juice as if it was to blame. She hadn't been weird or unreasonable. Kauri was just blinded by this stupid boy and his stupid compliments.