Closed Year's End

[Connor Holland]

Connor's first year at Hogwarts was finally almost over, and he couldn't be more relieved. Connor didn't think he had cried so much in his life since he was a baby. This year had been stress after stress capped off with that horrible fight Eric had had with their cousin's bodyguard. Everything was so much, and he didn't know how he was going to manage at Hogwarts. For what felt like the millionth time, Connor was sitting and wishing desperately that he had been sorted into his brother's house. At least then Eric would be able to watch over him properly.

Connor had decided to take a risk and step outside on his own. The weather was beginning to cool down, far more than he was comfortable with, and he hoped no bullies would be braving this cold. Most of the flowers had died off, but as Connor made his way around the garden, he decided it was still quite pretty enough to make him happy. He was bundled up in enough layers of clothing to make him practically an orb, to ward off this New Zealand chill. And there was something freeing about the only visible part of his body being his eyes, Connor didn't have to worry so much about bullies recognising him and trying to fight him. He was free to wander the garden as he pleased.

 

[Freya Song]

Freya was very much not thinking about how the end of the school year was about to hit her like a train and send her flying back into the muggle world. As frustrating and confusing as she found life at Hogwarts, Freya didn't want to go home. That's where her brother was, and he might want to ask her questions about where she'd been all year and "communicate" with her. Nope, Freya was better off hatching a plan to hide in the castle until class started again. She could find a big picture frame and pretend to be one of the portraits, and it would be a brilliant ruse that nobody would ever see through.

Freya's feet dragged her outside and away from the buzz of student activity to find somewhere quiet to worry. Armed with a lumpy, multicoloured scarf that she had knitted herself, Freya headed down to the gardens. The gardens made her sad around this time of year because of the lack of floral immortality thing, but she always liked being around plants. She'd have to sneak into more Wild Patch Club meetings. She was considering the benefits of actually joining a club when she spotted another person, or possibly a marshmallow. Personally, Freya was hoping for the marshmallow. "Hey! The expedition to the Antarctic is next week!" she called, and waved uncertainly at the figure.

 

[Connor Holland]

Even as concealed as he was, Connor's first instinct upon hearing a voice was still to jump. He had thought he was alone, and upon finding out that he wasn't, Connor went into fight or flight mode. It took him a moment to calm down and realise he recognised that voice, waddling around to face the person who had spoken. "Hey!" He called out accusitorially, pointing at the girl, his usual timidness gone. "You're the underground girl from the train! You were lying to me!" It had taken Connor an embarrassing amount of time to realise that everything Freya had told him at their first meeting had been complete nonsense, and he couldn't resist the urge to confront her about it now. "Why did you do that?"

 

[Freya Song]

Freya blinked, taken aback at the sudden accusation. Sadly, she realized it was not a marshmallow that was talking to her, and instead the boy she had met just before Hogwarts. She squinted at Connor, trying to remember what story she had come up with on the train to tell him, and then shrugged. It had been a while ago, and Freya wasn't one to keep track of her own stories. Writing them down in a notebook would probably help. "Oh, undoubtedly!" she nodded, inching towards Connor so she didn't have to raise her voice. "I was cursed by a dragon and now I can't speak the truth, I don't know? Why are you trying to become part of the garden?" she deflected. Silly things like "reasons" weren't important for other people to know, but Freya was a little curious about why Connor was out here alone instead of in the warm castle.