Holly Jolly PV Eris Fawley Closed

The puff of smoke billowing from the steam stacks hid many things, but it did not hide the face of her best friend. Something was wrong with Adam. She had been saddened more than enough times to know the telltale signs of hiding something or looking glum. But what? What could Adam be hiding? Eris had given up plenty to join him at the Harringtom family household for the holidays. Her grandfather was furious, considering that Eris had missed the Bishop Christmas party. Talking with highborn, purebreed children, was far more important than visiting with a friend. Demetera Fawley was less open about her emotions towards the whole matter. She just gazed frostily at Eris when she explained that visiting Adam was more important than any party. And thus, Eris stood next to her blonde-haired best friend. They made for an odd sight. The tall boy with the tanned skin and the short pale girl, looking concerned with a fiery crop of red hair, two children in the midst of a swirling crowd of throbbing people, owls, cats, and frogs.

She’d quite like to draw that, someday. Already, an image engraved itself in her head, before she blinked and it fell away. Lately, Eris had found that sketching and drawing was something she enjoyed. It helped take her mind away from the fear and insecurity and felt more real than the books she had once loved. Her eyes glued themselves to the landscape, as her mouth stayed pressed in a thin line. To anyone, she would look contemplative. To her best friend, she prayed he knew her moods well enough to sense that she was aggravated.

Eris hadn’t spoken in a few moments. Her mind was busy, whirling through possibilities. Did Adam not want her coming home with him? Why else would he be so secretive and pushy? He hadn’t even stopped for a long time to look for Dean. The girl felt an odd sensation in her gut at the disappearing act of Dean Harringtom. If ever there was a person she wanted to see, it would be Dean. Fluttering snitches gathered in the pit of her stomach in the apprehension of seeing the older boy, and her face pinkened, before turning crimson red in anguish. Looking down to furiously hide the rapidly growing blush on her pale face, Eris looked intently at the stones below her.

Would it be blasphemy to admit that Eris’ first ever crush was on her best friend's brother? Yes. No. Maybe. Option C? She rubbed tiredly at her cheeks, having deemed Adam’s words to be the saddening truth. Dean wasn’t coming, and they were leaving without him. Hopefully, he would be at the house. What if that was what Adam was trying to hide from her? Did he know that Eris thought his brother was...cute? She squeaked, a noise that was nearly impossible to hear, before grabbing up her oversized trunk with a silent curse at her own stupidity.

Last year, it had been nearly impossible to carry her trunk. Due to the spellwork of her grandmother and a newer, expensive, trunk, she lugged the trunk over her slightly shoulder, grunting once in a silent rebuttal against the weight pressing against her. Pushing away the slight fatigue and the humming exhaustion that sitting still for hours and moving again could bring, she traversed after Adam.

“Are you sure that you want to leave Dean? I know your dad is on that business trip.” She still found it ridiculous that Adam’s father had planned a business trip months before the Holiday, and was still on it. But, Eris understood that fathers were strange and foreign. She had liked Adam’s father and it made her rather sad that he had turned out to be a bad person, not showing up for the Holidays.

“I wouldn’t want you to be down one more family member. But it’s okay, I bet he’s just snogging his giiirlfriend, somewhere.” She drew out the syllables in the word girlfriend, making kissing movements with her lips, before giggling and adjusting the strap of her trunk again. Ignoring the minute detail that Eris wished she was his girlfriend, instead, she shook that thought away and bounded up to Adam, hair flashing between bright colors of pink and orange, as a beacon of sorts.

"Besides, can't he apparate?" She asked, after a moment, hurrying to keep up with Adam's large strides.

One look at Eris's psychedelic hair was all it took to chase Adam's dread out of his mind and make him laugh out loud as they marched forward towards the barrier. She reminded him of a traffic light -- no, a disco lighthouse -- no, a neon Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer! That was the perfect comparison for the season; and when faced with that reminder of Santa Claus, his majestic sleigh, and all of the Christmas magic that even wizards didn't have the answers to, Adam couldn't think about anything else. He grinned down at Eris as they moved side by side through the surging crowd and made a face as the conversation shifted to love.

After Valentine's Day, New Year's Eve, and Thanksgiving, maybe, Christmas was also the most lovey-est of the holidays. That was the centerpiece of all of the department store ads and big posters screaming out yuletide deals for that "special someone". It seemed inescapable: once you saw it in a silly TV movie or an even sillier movie movie, you started seeing it everywhere. Last year it had become a personal issue when Dean had invited Sydney to stay over for her first Christmas and they'd spent the whole week laughing at a secret joke or sitting so close together that it just couldn't be comfortable. When he'd complained about it to his mom, she'd dismissed it airily, much to his dismay -- but twelve months later, here they were, and Adam was beginning to see that maybe she'd been right not to take the loss of their family time so close to heart. There wasn't any Sydney this time around to keep Dean happy, and he had a feeling that with her gone there wouldn't be much family time restored. Love was going to win this one either way, it seemed: fly his brother away or drag him down as it retreated.

Eris had been a big fan of Sydney's, though, and it was definitely going to be bad news to her. "He doesn't actually have one of those anymore. A girlfriend. The world makes sense again," he joked, hoping to soften the blow a little. In all likelihood he was overestimating his friend's investment of the relationship, but she'd definitely kill him if he kept this from her, and besides, this news couldn't do any harm. "Sydney broke up with him at the beginning of the year. I didn't really ask about it. Come on, we're almost there!"

The sudden change in subject sounded off the moment Adam said it, like he was trying to dodge any questions, but they really were almost there. The unremarkable pillar that would take them between worlds was dead ahead, and the unobstructed sight of it fired off a surge of adrenaline that kicked Adam into a jog as he approached. His trunk bounced heavily against his legs with the change in momentum and threatened to bring him down with every swing -- there was a good chance he'd go tumbling into the Muggle King's Cross face first. Even if he did, the rush of delight that the careless running brought was definitely worth it. They were finally away from school, rules, and scolding teachers. They were on vacation!

Either by luck or by a miracle, Adam didn't think he was seen as he emerged on the other side. Breathing hard, he found a wall to lean against and recover in the few seconds' delay before Eris appeared. He was smiling uncontrollably, laughing stupidly, realizing that he'd never done that alone before. As his friend materialized from the column next to him, he turned to face her and apologized through a grin.

"Sorry, sorry, I know I shouldn't have left you behind, but....wow! Were you running too? Wasn't it exciting! I can't believe no one saw me. I can't believe I've never done that before!" Calming himself down before he could say anything regrettable -- he had to be careful what he talked about now that there were Muggles around, although they would probably just think he was another kid playing pretend -- Adam took a deep breath and looked out over the platforms surrounding them. "Right. The train. Mum said Platform 5, I think, but we should hurry. It leaves really soon." Sparing only one more anxious glance backwards to check for his brother, Adam picked up his stuff and rushed Eris off on the next leg of their trip.

The platforms practically flew by as the numbers descended fast, and Adam kept up a flow of conversation all the while to make up for his less-than-hospitable behavior. "I'm sure my dad's really sad he won't get to see you this year, we all had a lot of fun when you came over last time. Speaking of last time, we need to make a whole new plan! There must be a dozen new superhero movies for us to see, plus who knows how many card games and board games and game games to play. It's not as nice as your house, I know, but there's still plenty to do when we get there. You could even help me write some letters to Amadea and Cecily if you wanted. Seven...six....five! Here we go!"

The pair rounded the corner to the sight of the shiny silver train awaiting them, shifting restlessly in place as it waited to leave. Last-minute passengers with bags hanging open rushed to board the train, and voices tangled in the air as the final preparations for departure were made. It was a chaotic scene, but at least there was still something to look at. The train hadn't left without them. Slowing himself to a stop in front of the slim-nosed car at the rear of the platform, Adam peered sheepishly down at Eris and offered up one more apology to set the mad beginning of their vacation to rest.

"I hope this isn't going too fast. It's not how I wanted it at all. Bridgit just couldn't get away from the house, and neither could Mum, and I hardly know what I'm doing. I promise after this it'll get a lot more relaxed, just as soon as we get home. At least the hard part's.... Trailing off, Adam squinted at a figure that had strode purposefully out of the far doors of the train. "...over..." Narrowing his eyes to stare at the man over Eris's head, he finished his sentence slowly as realization dawned on him and his blood began to boil. Dean hadn't been lagging behind at all. They had been worrying, panicking, and waiting for nothing. He was already on the train!

"Over here, idiots!" Dean cried from his place by the doors, having caught sight of them just as Adam noticed him. Fuming, the younger boy stared for a minute, Eris's presence almost falling away entirely as annoyance rose up once more to possess him. Stalking forward across the metal floor, Adam moved with long, quick strides to get up to his brother as fast as possible and drew himself up to full height to face him. Raising his head up from Dean's shoulder to meet his eyes, he glared at his brother and opened his mouth to berate him, but Dean beat him to it.

"Where the hell have you two been? Mum told you to get on the train as soon as possible. I nearly had to bribe the conductor to wait an extra five minutes. Come on, grab your stuff and get on." Stunned out of anger, Adam floundered in disbelief for a moment, which was all Dean needed to move on to Eris. "Well, if it isn't the Fantastic Ms. Fawley herself! Need any help with that bag?" Shoving his outstretched hand aside, Adam dismissed Dean's offer on Eris's behalf and looked back at her, nodding his head towards the train.

"We're fine. Right? Let's just make sure we can get two seats next to each other." Turning away without another word, Adam felt his cheeks burn in anger and embarrassment and felt his hands tighten into fists around the handle of his trunk. For one moment, one airy, exciting moment, it had just been him and Eris, facing unrestricted fun. He'd promised to himself that nothing could change that, but he'd underestimated the power of an older brother. Things were falling apart at the seams already, and they hadn't even reached Nottingham.

How was he going to survive?

She nearly slammed into a wall, stopping their run. There was a pause, as Eris’ cheeks flamed up and she let out a little squeak. “She-she WHAT?” Sydney had broken up with Dean. Good, no er, bad! Yes? No? Why? They had been so in love. Eris scratched at her hair, suddenly concerned about her own future. If Dean and Sydney had broken up, would she ever have a boyfriend like that? Why would Sydney break up with Dean? Were they not actually in love? Eris was very confused, and beyond that, a tad bit smug. That feeling was strange though, so she ingored it, as she kept running next to Adam.

For a moment she mused over love. Her thoughts were much less depressive than Adam’s, as she wondered if she and Adam could ever be a couple like that. If they could share secret smiles, giggles, and everything in between. Being in a relationship seemed really cool. It seemed like the final step in a friendship, where you could share everything with each-other. Yeah. That would be pretty cool. But then there would be..kissing. EW. Yuck. Never mind. Nope. That could NEVER happen. Cheeks heated again, Eris chased after Adam, realising she had left herself to her strange thoughts for a moment.

“Why would she break up with him? I mean- I bet it was Kaegen. When he went after her and Dean. He must’ve scared the hell out of her! I mean, I would break up with someone and run away if it meant not having Kaegen want to kill me.” She joked, even if she felt a bit saddened still by the fact Adam hadn’t told her about Dean and Sydney breaking up until now.

Just as she had thought over the summer, she was suddenly plauged with doubt. Was Adam still keeping things from her? His frantic running and haste suddenly made her anxious, as she wondered if there was another reason they were running so fast. Was he running from someone? From something? She turned around, before realising Adam was running through the barrier.

Tucking hair behind her ears, making sure her hair was red again, not a bright colour, Eris let out a whoop and chased after him. For a blissful moment, the world dissolved into nothing besides the pounding of her feet against the pavement, before the chill of going through the barrier coursed through Eris.

It felt wonderful to run, akin to flying, as she felt free and away from problems for a moment. Letting out another noise of elation, her feet skidded to a hasty stop next to Adam, and Eris flashed him a smile. Pure exhilaration coursing through her, she forgot the heavy trunk at her side for a split second, before the weight came back and she groaned.

She took a moment to look around at all the muggles, remembering how she had once thought she was one of them. But, she wasn’t. She was a pureblood, a witch. She was better than them in some ways, wasn’t she? According to her father, yes. But then she remembered Rosie Parker and blinked away her grandfather’s cruel words, returning her thoughts to the beauty of being away from school and next to Adam.

All was right in the world, even though they were going fast and she was worrying. She had to put aside her fear of Adam keeping secrets. He was Adam. He would never lie to her. They were best friends, no matter what. “I think I might’ve broken a world record for the fastest run out of the barrier.” She responded, still grinning as she made of show of stretching before they were off again.

Her short body took extra strides to keep up with Adam, as Eris pumped her arms and tried to lug the bag as she did so. “Platform five! Hell. That’s so far away. Come on, I’ll race you!” She took off, pushing through crowds until she was jogging side by side with Adam, as he talked about what they were going to do on their trip.

Hoping that their running didn’t ruin the parcels carefully wrapped in her trunk, one for each of the family members again, Eris kept up with the conversation. Chattering along easily, her talk was occasionally ruined by giggles and the faint pants of one catching their breath.

“Yeah. He’s on that uh, trip right? You sure he can’t just stop by?” She frowned, still running. “Yeah! Let’s watch all the movies, have snowball fights, play games and do everything! We can just play it by ear, but I want to kick your arse at a snowball fight.” She grinned again, thoughts easily switching away from Adam’s fatherly problems.

“Yeah! I’ll help you write letters to them. I haven’t really talked to them in a while, to be honest. Or, like, at all.” She was tired at this point and nearly relieved when they arrived at the platform. Panting a bit, she put her hands on her hips to catch her breath, opening her mouth to respond before she shut it as Dean’s voice cut out.

“It’s alright we’ll-- A?” She was cut off by Dean screaming that they were idiots, and at first, a quizzical expression came over her face, before her face pinked again. “Did he just call us idiots?” Was her first thought, spoken outloud, before Adam was pacing forward. Snapped out of her stupor, Eris followed after Adam, looking concerned and conflicted.

As Dean talked, she crossed her arms and looked up at him, ignoring the way her stomach twisted into knots when she saw his face. Face bright red, Eris glared. “We were waiting for you! You could have said something to let us know you were here already, like I dunno, talking to us on the train? We were sitting in a compartment near you! I’m…” She realised she had spoken in the first person and flushed again, “We’re cool! You could have at least said ‘hello children, I’m not going to wait for you to go to the train, please have fun getting there on your own’.” She made an imitation of Dean’s voice, which was really bad, before shrugging and quirking an eyebrow up at him. She spoke for Adam, as well, looking at his displeased expression.

She opened her mouth to speak again, gasping and grinning as he called her the familiar nickname but was pulled away by Adam. Anger forgotten as she was pulled away, Eris waved at Dean as Adam tugged her. “Bye?” She sighed and turned back to Adam. Not really worrying over what had just happened, thinking it was all because of how Dean had left them, she smiled again.

“Yeah! Let’s go find some seats.” She responded to Adam, starting to walk through the train.

Adam couldn't help the smile that spread across his face when Eris followed him past his evil brother and onto the train. He'd been scared for a minute that she might fall under Dean's cool-guy sway and let him off easy, but he should have known his friend better than that. It was going to take more than a charming greeting or a few "handsome" smiles or whatever it was that people liked about Dean to lure Eris away from Adam -- a hell of a lot more. Confidence restored, Adam led Eris down the narrow aisle of the train car on the lookout for a pair of seats.

He didn't know when he and his brother had finally fallen prey to sibling competition. It might have been that they'd had a rivalry for years, and he was only just picking up on it now. Adam supposed that there had always been a small seed of jealousy amidst the pride he felt whenever Dean took home another duelling ribbon or won a family game of Exploding Snap. Dean was just so good at everything, and everyone knew it. Sharing a school hadn't helped things between the brothers, most notably in moments like Dean's pursuit of Kaegen across the grounds, but there was still little hostility between them. It was The Summer that had really driven a wedge between them. Whereas the loss of Adam's dad had left the boy quiet, guilty, and scared, it had turned Dean into the opposite. He was angry nearly all the time; no longer willing to pick up any household chores or lighten their mother's load a bit. It was almost like he felt personally attack by their dad's departure, like he had cheated just to get at his son. It was a ridiculous notion, but Dean could be a ridiculous guy. Adam wanted to talk to his brother, to try and help, but whenever he got close Dean would say or do something to push him over the edge and leave all thoughts of consoling the older boy behind.

Now, it was obviously too late to give in. If Dean wanted to be a prick, fine -- Adam didn't have to sit there and take it. They were both teenagers, not kids anymore, and they could both fight their own battles. Adam only hoped that Eris didn't have to get caught in the middle of it. She'd always liked Dean, and the last thing Adam wanted to do was make her unhappy to be spending the holiday with the brothers. Maybe his focus was in the wrong place: instead of worrying so much about keeping his secret, he'd have to make sure Dean didn't poison Eris or her vacation with his sulkiness.

Mind made up, Adam reminded himself to stay vigilant as he scanned the passengers around them for a gap in their ranks. He only had to wait a minute more before his eyes caught a pair of seats at the end of the car. Delighted, Adam hurried over to them to stake his claim before anyone else could, leaving the window seat open for Eris to take. He smiled at her brightly as he showed off his find, and when his eyes lifted to meet Dean's, he allowed just a bit of cruelty to slip into the grin. "Sorry, only two seats. There might be one in the next car over though."

Dean muttered something that Adam could only guess at before sighing and moving past the second-years to the sliding door. "Don't do anything stupid, got it? Mum'll kill me if you get kidnapped -- and then I'll kill you for that." Nodding to Eris, Dean slipped through the door and out of sight, letting Adam breath a sigh of relief.

"I thought he'd never leave. Sorry about that, he clearly forgot his Christmas spirit." Giggling at his own joke, Adam looked over at his friend eagerly and tried to remember what they'd been talking about before they'd been interrupted. "Where were we, anyways? I'm so out of breath from running here. I think you really did break a record going through the barrier!" Bouncing up and down slightly in his seat, Adam looked out the window at the dark wall behind them and imagined the scenes that would be passing by shortly. "We're going to have to make a list of stuff we want to do so we don't forget it all. Movies, games, hot chocolate, regular chocolate, me beating you in a snowball fight....am I forgetting anything?" He definitely was, but that was okay -- now that Dean was out of the way for a while they could plan everything out at once. "I barely even remember if we have homework. That would suck. All I want to do this week is have fun."

There were plenty of problems surging at the edge of Adam's mind, and some he didn't even know about yet, but he was so far successfully repressing them. So long as he could keep that up until January, it would be a great time! As the train whistle blew and they began to roll out of the station, Adam made a resolution to beat out last year in terms of pure fun. He had no doubt that he and Eris would return to school with a dozen stories to share, each. All he had to do was some simple family-wrangling, and presto! The perfect holiday in Nottingham!