[The Three Broomsticks Inn] - Paper Boats - [Freya & Geri]

The blonde accepted her drink from Arick with a bright smile, feeling a familiar pleasant feeling often associated with multiple members of her family being in her vicinity at once. If she had it her way, everyone would be here. Freya couldn’t remember the last time she and Ingrid had spent time together with their brothers. Christmas, maybe? It was hard to say, since there were so many schedules to keep track of. She knew for sure that it had been a long time since she’d spent time with her siblings all there at once. Sigh. 

Freya reacted immediately to Geri’s comment with a feeling of guilt. “I’ve been super busy with quidditch and stuff?” she offered apologetically. Why was all of the attention suddenly on her? The blonde girl’s eyes flicked between her brothers curiously. Why did she get the feeling that this was the beginning of an interrogation? The guilt was quickly fading away as Freya’s suspicions were stirred. If Arick and Geri had planned this, she’d probably have to kill them. She took a long sip of her drink, putting off speaking for one more moment. “Are you guys after anything in particular?” she probed innocently. If they wanted to get information about particular things, the boys were going to have to bring it up themselves.

Hold on a minute. Arick flicked his eyes to scan his brothers face as he piled more pressure on Freya, but Geri's face betrayed no emotion. Does he also know? Is that why Geri came for lunch? He returned his gaze to his sister who responded to Geri in a voice absolutely dripping of naiveté. Arick narrowed his eyes and looked back and forth between his two siblings. Oh man. Does she know I know? Does she know Geri knows? Does she suspect I know she knows I know? What kind of game is being played here?

Arick needed to talk to Geri. If Freya thought the two brothers orchestrated this interrogation session, she would be furious. Of course, he reasoned, if Geri didn't know about Freya's undisclosed paramour and he brought it up now, Freya would be even angrier, and only at him. Could he trick Freya into revealing the information herself? What a headache. Arick, somewhat confused by the secretive diplomacy that was seemingly being conducted, decided to play it cool. “Oh, nothing specific. I was just talking to some Gryffindors at the bakery and they mentioned your name. I was just curious,” he stated casually. Arick did his best to emulate Freya's innocent smile while he simultaneously attempted to attract Geri's attention by wiggling his eyebrows when he thought his sister wasn't looking.

"It's alright I understand, Quidditch and stuff comes before your brother." Geri wasn't really upset, but he did like to tease Freya a bit. She was the only sibling left that was still in school. He had to give her a hard time every now and then. Catching the gaze of Arick's eyes on him, Geri gave his brother a wink as Freya continued to talk. He could tell that Arick knew that he knew about some certain boy. Call it Trickett intuition or brotherly telepathy, Geri was able to silently communicate with his younger brother without Freya knowing. That is unless she was tapped in on the Trickett intuition...hopefully not.

Arick talked first, giving the thirty year old Trickett time to carefully think about his answer. He didn't want Freya to leave them both and head off back to Hogwarts. As much as he would love to send Lyall to follow her, Geri knew that wasn't the right way to go about things. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Arick wiggle his eyebrows and nodded slightly in response. "That's right, we do hear about a lot of things through the eyes and ears that come through the bakery. Like perhaps...a certain Gryffindor boy that has caught your attention.." Okay so he didn't know if the boy Freya was seeing was in the same House but he was taking a gamble. If he was wrong then it was process of elimination from here on out.

His foot gently nudged Arick's own as he finished his drink.

“Hey,” the blonde whined, punching her oldest brother lightly on the upper arm. “You know it’s not like that. Besides, where were you at my last quidditch match? You know I scored the first goal of the match before we destroyed the Ravenclaws.” Freya’s eyes flicked back to Arick, before adding, “I’m hoping for something similarly spectacular next week against Slytherin. You guys gonna be there?” If Arick wasn’t in France, that was. Her eyes lingered on his, wondering if now was a good time to bring up the fact that he was moving to France soon without telling their mum or anyone. It would certainly take a little heat off of her, and maybe she could slip away.

Geri was a lot more direct than Arick. “Really?” Freya responded with raised eyebrows. She wasn’t actually annoyed – the blonde had already made plans internally for ways that Kerr was going to meet parts of her family at a time, but she wasn’t going to be goaded like this. Nope. If they wanted anything, it would be direct questions, or just more of… this. Whatever this was. Her honey eyes flicked between her oldest and youngest brothers, her false innocence hinting at contempt. They were trying to tease her, but she wasn’t having a second of it. “Are you sure they weren’t just talking about Finn?” she asked, tilting her head to the side curiously, "We've had rumours like that for years."

Well, Arick thought to himself, Geri certainly knows something, but Freya is onto us. He was thankful his older brother was communicating back; Freya was seemingly becoming increasingly annoyed by the conversation. Arick didn't understand why, though. If she didn't like the games, why was she also playing? Freya's normally sparkling, beautiful eyes now flicked dangerously in his direction. She was the keeper of his secrets and Arick was in a precarious position.

“Uh,” Arick paused, hoping Freya wouldn't see through his thinly-veiled attempt to disguise what his Gryffindor confidants had told him. He placed a single finger on his chin, tapped it several times, while looking towards the ceiling. He screwed up his mouth to seem extra convincing. “No. Nope. I'm pretty sure it wasn't Finn.” Arick wondered how he would be able to subtly coax the information out of Freya without revealing how much he knew. Some clever and artful comment, no doubt. “Not unless Finn has chest tattoos,” Arick blurted.

Nailed it. He looked over at Geri, hoping for something a little more refined from his brother.

Well, crap. How the hell would Arick have found out about the tattoos? Freya supposed there were rumours and stuff, but it wasn’t common knowledge. She was almost certain that these two family members in particular would take the tattoos thing and the not-in-Hogwarts thing the wrong way. When she’d told Frida, the woman hadn’t asked any of the wrong questions, only the right ones. If Freya tried to explain why Kerr wasn’t at school anymore, then surely Geri, especially, would get all over-protective. “Finn doesn’t have any tattoos,” she replied, her expression deadpan, “that’s just a rumour too.”

The blonde raised an eyebrow at Arick, feeling increasingly frustrated with the little tag team thing they had going on here. Still watching him, she raised her drink to her lips and took a slow sip, debating internally about what she should do next. If either of them had just asked her about it, there wouldn’t have been any need for all of this silliness. She wasn't ashamed of Kerr. He wasn't really a secret, not anymore. She really liked this boy. As far as Freya was concerned, they’d brought this upon themselves. Placing her mug back on the table gently, Freya turned her oldest brother, leaning back casually in her chair. “Rick’s moving to France,” she told him, “And he wasn’t even going to tell Mum until he’d left.”

Chest tattoos?!

Geri didn't know about that little detail and quite frankly he was furious Arick had kept it from him. What kind of teenager had chest tattoos? Why in the bloody hell was his baby sister dating someone like that? "No Finn doesn't have tattoos." Geri didn't hide the anger in his voice as he looked at Freya. This was why she hadn't introduce this boy to him yet, she knew he wouldn't approve. He felt that out of all his brothers he was the most protective. The most critical of those that his family brings home or dates. Such as Ingrid with Marcus. However, he does approve of certain people dating his siblings if they passed his test.

Before he could comment on the fact that Freya was dating a boy with tats, she changed the subject to something else he didn't know about. Arick moving to France and not telling Mum about it till he was gone. Sitting there for a moment taking all the information in, Geri looked slowly back and forth between his siblings. His anger was still more focused at Freya than it was towards Arick. "So let me get this straight. You," he pointed at Freya, "are dating a boy with chest tattoos. You," he pointed at Arick, "are moving to France and you aren't going to tell Mum. Seems like you both have secrets to hide and I want to hear them right now. No excuses and no lies."

His gaze especially looked at Freya as he ran his forefinger over the top of his glass.

Damn it, Freya. Arick was annoyed by his sisters outburst, though more specifically it's wording. He was obviously going to tell Mum that he was moving to France before he'd left, he was just working out the best time to do so. He also understood her decision to dob him in, though. Arick had totally thrown her under the bus. Unfortunately for him, Geri was no longer on his side, so it was time for Arick to switch up his allies. He and Freya made a better team anyway.

Arick sidled his seat closer to his sister. “Actually,” the former Gryffindor said, raising a finger. “I was going to tell Mum before I left, I just hadn't decided when.” Now he had to swallow his pride. It would be easier to make peace with the idea of Freya's suitor than to face Geri's wrath alone. Arick felt that having so many siblings was training him for a career in politics. “And I'm sure Freya's tattooed suitor is a lovely fellow,” he continued. He felt his voice wobble on the word “tattoo,” but other than that, he was sure he delivered the line convincingly. “Freya is nearly seventeen. I think she can make these decisions for herself.” Arick was blatantly ignoring the fact that he had come to the inn to interrogate her himself, and they would certainly be having a talk about the boy at a later point, but he was out to save his own skin now. He shot his sister a pleading look. Was she going to help him out?

Freya was frustrated before, but as soon as Geri expressed his anger, she couldn’t help but react emotionally. Maybe she was being a stupid hormonal teenager, but she didn’t care. Freya’s anger flared up as soon as Geri got all head-of-the-household on them. “I’m nearly seventeen, you know,” Freya told him, raising her eyebrows dangerously as she spoke right over the top of whatever Arick was babbling. This nice little lunch had turned into a pretty dramatic event pretty quickly and internally, Freya was fuming. "So what if he has tattoos? And a nose ring? And is thirty-five with four kids?"

The blonde’s eyes snapped to the younger of her brothers. She was annoyed at him too, and wanted to tell him to shut up. “I can make my own - !“ Freya stopped, actually listening to him speak. A frown appeared above her pretty eyes. “Ugh! You two,” The Gryffindor glared at them in turn, giving Arick an extra dose of frustration. She clenched her jaw, feeling both indignant and incredulous. She was surprised that Arick had just jumped ship so quickly, and couldn't help a frustrated huff escape her lips. “You’re impossible!”

Geri tried not to laugh as Arick switched sides so quickly and easily. Hiding his smile behind his glass as he finished it, the Baker listened carefully to the words that his brother was spewing. "Probably best not to tell her right as you're walking out the door." Knowing their mother, things would not go well if Arick ran out the door stating that he was moving to France without her even getting a chance to say her goodbyes. Even though it wasn't going to be forever. "Just make sure you come back for family get togethers or she'll probably send you a howler." Giving him a wink, Geri looked over at Freya as she began to talk about this boy she was seeing.

To others Geri would be overreacting, and while he would in any other circumstance agree he just couldn't in this case. Freya was his baby sister. What kind of brother would he be if he let her just run off with some thirty-five year old man with four kids and tattoos all over his body. Luckily it was just a student, but the latter was still an issue in his mind. What kind of student would already have tattoos? His instinct was to automatically assume the boy was involved in dark wizardry. "I don't care if you're fifty and wrinkled, you're my younger sister and if I don't like the sound of a bloke I'm going to let you know." Freya was annoyed...so was he in all honesty. When he was her age he didn't know everything about the world. It's the experience of living that brought wisdom. Not the hotheadedness of a teenager or young adult.

At least she was mad at Arick too, even if he had switched to her side at the drop of a hat. "If I met the guy maybe I would change my mind." Maybe.

Instead of listening to Geri and Arick talk about Arick’s life, Freya fumed. Didn’t like the sound of a bloke? Ugh! Geri didn’t know anything about Kerr! The Gryffindor could feel a familiar irrationality taking over, but she just couldn’t do anything against it. In this state, she didn’t really care. “He likes arithmancy” she butted in, rolling her eyes,  “…and quidditch. And we go to honeydukes and he taught me how to ice-skate.” Barely the delinquent she was sure he was imagining. Her thoughts turned to Kerr, and how terribly unfair this was on him. What about when he and Geri actually did meet? What would happen? The blonde flicked some loose hair over one shoulder, her irritation clear in every little movement she was making.

She tried to calm herself down by taking another sip of her drink, but Freya was all worked up now. Swallowing her butterbeer, Freya wiped at her mouth with the back of her hand. “Maybe you can meet him when you’re a little less judgemental!” She exclaimed, internally deciding to introduce Kerr to any of her other siblings in preference to these two. Freya got to her feet abruptly. “I’ve gotta go do some homework,” she huffed flippantly, glancing between her brothers as she placed her butterbeer mug on the table with a heavy thunk! And with that, the blonde was stalking off out of the Three Broomsticks, shrugging her jacket back on. She knew she’d been unreasonable, but the girl was feeling extra emotional today and, in all honesty, it was probably better that she’d left when she had. Hmph!

Well, the young man mused, that went horribly. As Freya departed, so did any chance of Arick being able to rectify his contribution to their lunchtime reunion. It was recovery time. He turned towards his older brother and forced a chuckle. “Teenagers, am I right? I remember I was like that when I was her age. So huffy and fickle.” He took a quick swig of his drink and continued before Geri could speak. “Unlike now, of course. I think I've matured quite well.” Geri, of course, was going to punish Arick for jumping ship, but for now, he needed to cosy up.

“Anyway, I'm sure it's about time we got back to the shop, eh, Geri? The other employees are pretty competent, but that shop would just fall apart in your absence. Hogsmeade is lucky to have you!” Arick internally cringed at how hard he was pushing the flattery, but he kept his big grin plastered to his face. He still had the rest of the afternoon with Geri, he might as well try and be in his good books. "We better get a move on!"

Freya's outburst was quite unexpected. So much that Geri was at a loss for words as she went on with her tangent. Never had he seen her like this. All he could do was stare at her as he held his drink. Before he knew it Freya was walking - well more like storming - out of The Three Broomsticks Inn. Quidditch. Teaching her how to ice skate. No it didn't sound like a delinquent, but why else would a boy have tattoos? In his experience only the dark wizards and witches bore such things. Looking over at Arick with hardened eyes, Geri put his drink down. "You are still fickle, switching sides on me like that for selfish reasons." Putting his drink down, Geri got up from the table and put a few sickles down on the wooden surface.

"She'll calm down and then I can talk to her again." Hopefully. She was a Trickett and a Gryffindor, just like himself, which means she was just as stubborn and hard headed. Taking a deep breath, Geri walked out of the Inn as he kept talking to Arick. "Yes Hogsmeade is lucky to have me." Freya would disagree with that statement at the moment, and Geri didn't want to cause tension between himself and his youngest sister. Perhaps he'll need a few days himself to think things through.