[Trickett house] Together we map the world ~ [Frida]

The Trickett family household tended to be full during holiday times, though there were so many family members that they all came and went at different times. There were a lot of cousins that had been here for Christmas and had decided to stick around for a week or two afterward, and a couple of aunts and uncles. Vali and some of the other little ones were around here somewhere, she was sure. Despite all of the happy chatter, the busyness and the little Trickletts running amok underfoot, Freya wasn’t in the best mood. She needed to talk to someone, but there were just so many people around right now and she didn’t want to have a conversation with everyone.

Valda and Ingrid had already left after visiting briefly for Christmas, so without her sisters, Freya decided to turn to one of her older female cousins for help. The blonde bounced up the stairs, her lips pressed together unhappily. She wasn’t good at hiding how she felt, even when she wanted to. She knocked on Frida’s door lightly and patiently waited to be called inside. As soon as she was in, though, it all came rushing out.

“Frida, can we talk please?” Freya didn’t bother waiting for a response, but instead shut the door behind her and flung herself onto her cousin’s bed, immediately lurching into the speech she hadn’t even realised that she’d had prepared in her head. “So there’s this boy. And I know I said there wasn’t one when you guys were all asking, but there is one and I just like him so much and ugh–!” The blonde curled up next to her cousin, burying her face into a pillow in despair. “He’s going away,” she squeaked quietly, her voice somewhat muffled by the cushion.

Kerr wasn’t coming back to school after Christmas, and while the blonde was sure that some of her family members wouldn’t be all too excited about her dating a boy with tattoos who wasn’t even at school, she was sure that Frida wouldn’t ask about that stuff. Or care. Hopefully. She would still see Kerr on the weekends, but going from being in the same house tower, seeing each other every single day, to only weekends? Freya sighed at the thought.

Frida had spent Christmas in the Trickett family household even though she did actually live rather close by, but she loved spending time with all the family all day and everyday and she hated to leave so soon and so she was staying a little while longer so that she could enjoy even more time with her favourite people in the wide world.

Having spent hours playing with all the younger members of the clan, the Hufflepuff alumni was enjoying a little quiet time in her room happily creating beautiful yellow and white sparkles from the tip of her wand and dancing around with them, smiling as wide as was possible. She fondly remembered doing so around her only sister, whom had shook her head and frequently said that 'she was surprised that she was ever considered an adult!'.

A light knock interrupted her and her thoughts and so quickly waved her hands to remove the remaining masses of sparkles before enthusiastically calling out "Come in!", Frida always had time for family, no matter who it was. She was rather surprised when her visitor turned out to be young Freya and although the adult had beamed at her when the girl came in, her smile quickly fell from her face when the Gryffindor had rather urgently asked if they could talk before flinging herself onto her bed. Frida chuckled lightly, she could remember the numerous times when she had the same thing with her sister both during and after Hogwarts. Not-so-secretly cheerful that Freya had chosen herself to come to, the ministry worker moved across the room and bounced down onto the bed beside her younger cousin. "Sure, what's wrong?"

As the student began explaining herself, the brunette began fidgeting, just itching to burst out and ask all sorts of questions. This was exciting news! So, there was a boy! Oh, how adorable! Frida began to go off in a whirlwind of thoughts, hardly paying attention to the rest of Freya's mini speech. What was he like? Was he good-looking? Because that would be very important. Or probably the most important... Was he going to be deemed worthy enough of her wonderful Gryffindor cousin? Suddenly, she was broken out of her reverie by said cousin curling up next to her, burying herself in the pillow.

"That is great news though, right?" Fri began bouncing on the bed before continuing with a flurry of questions. " Ooooh, what's he like? Is he nice? Does he go to Hogwarts? What house is he in? Oooh, ooh is he... handsome? You should be happy! Are you two actually going out?" The ministry employee gave up asking questions, reasoning that she should actually give Freya a chance to reply.

She fell down abruptly onto her bed again after a particularly high bounce when she heard her cousin faintly muffle 'He's going away.' Oh. Well, that put a dampener on things, didn't it? Maneuvering herself so that she was curled up and facing the blonde girl, the brunette tentatively asked "Like... for good?"

If that was true... Frida certainly didn't think it was the end of the world. There was still so much they could do to communicate well, right? It would be a different story if Freya's 'dream boy' was ill or dying or something and it didn't sound like that was the case.
"Is he leaving the country? Or will he still be staying here?"

Frida smiled reassuringly at the young Gryffindor whilst placing a comforting hand on Freya's shoulder. "Chin up, dearie! There is always some form of communication you can use... and if it isn't available, make it available!" Frida giggled fondly remembering the tales of Otto and all of the marvellous times he tried to tamper with the Gryffindor common room fireplace in order to see Ragna once she had left Hogwarts. Say... that was an idea! "I bet you're looking for something more personal than owling, hmm?" As if to emphasise her point, she winked, exaggerating her actions. "You know, you could always get help from friends to... shall we say... 'improve' the common room fireplace, or even an abandoned classroom's one! I could bore you to death with all the times my eldest brother tried to do it." Frida began fidgeting knowing she wanted to say more.

"I could ask him how he managed to temporarily connect to the floo network? Come on! Think how great that would be!" The Hufflepuff alumni rolled off the bed and jumped on the floor, looking at the younger Trickett with fondness in her eyes, waiting (rather impatiently) for a response.

Freya buried her face more deeply into her pillow, wishing strongly that she could just fall into it and hide forever. The blonde had never thought that she’d fall prey to typical teenage hormones, especially not in such a dramatic way, but right now all she had was feelings. Freya couldn’t have ever predicted feeling like this. The flurry of questions coming her way barely penetrated what she felt was the impregnable bubble of doom she was trapped in. Yes, he was at Hogwarts. Her father would kill her if she was dating someone who’d already graduated… Or maybe he’d kill him. Yes, he was handsome.

“I don’t know for sure,” she squeaked through the pillow. Freya was under the impression that Kerr would be coming back to school for their seventh year, but she couldn’t be certain. Their relationship had gotten off to a strange start, but she was so wrapped up in it already. “He’s not coming back after Christmas.” The blonde refrained from adding that he lived by himself. She didn’t want Frida to get some warped impression of Kerr as some older, mature guy… even if it was, in part, true. Freya couldn’t have that sort of gossip going around the family. It would be a bad thing if she ever brought him home to meet everyone.

The thought made her feel all fluttery.

“The fireplace?” Freya asked, peeking up at her cousin with wide doe eyes. She’d never even considered that. Kerr would be able to visit her on some weekends, but she was sure their only other form of communication would be through letters. Owl mail was so inefficient. “But…” Freya didn’t want to get in trouble. She was easily influenced and had broken numerous rules for fun with friends before, but the idea of something bad happening while she was basically alone in the common room made her nervous. Mostly it was related to her position as co-captain of the quidditch team. She couldn’t lose that position. She was banking on making captain when Finn graduated.

“Could you please?” she asked anyway, her voice a quiet, muffled sound behind the pillow she still clutched. Freya pushed herself up into a sitting position, cuddling the pillow to her chest. Her cheeks were slightly pink - discussing this for the first time with someone from her family had her feeling slightly embarrassed. She was almost seventeen but barely had any romantic experience at all. “I just miss him so much already,” she admitted quietly.

Frida was beginning to watch her younger cousin with ounces of curiosity in her eyes. This was a big step in a teenage girl's life! She knew this for certain. Frida wasn't going to hide a single expression that wanted to make its way onto her face, waiting for a response from the curled up Gryffindor. Bouncing on her toes, Fri gradually cocked her head to the side asking "You don't know?". Now the ex-Hufflepuff was confused, who knew teenage romance could be so complicated? He wasn't returning after Christmas. That made a bit more sense, the ministry worker could now see the pieces roughly forming together in her head. "Oh, I see.... I think." Frida's face screwed up a little, still not fully over her confusion.

The brunette allowed her eyes to leave her cousin's form for a moment as she bounced over to her table where she gently placed her wand, patting it slightly before whizzing back around to face the bed, eyes wide and a large smile. She chuckled at the ray of hope that had lit up on Freya's face at the realization of using the fireplace. "Mm-hmm!" Frida confirmed, clapping her hands quickly in excitement. Her hands quickly froze in place when she heard a but. How could her cousin even doubt this wonderful idea? "But nothing!" She cried running over to her and dropping on her knees. "You worry too much! You won't get into trouble for it, if that's what you're worried about... At least, Otto never did. I'm positive!" Beaming with delight, she felt a familiar tingling sensation in her wand hand, eyes widening in alarm the Hufflepuff alumna pushed herself off the floor via the bed and raced over to the table where she left her wand. Snatching the pear wood up in her hand, the ministry employee breathed a sigh of relief as she sharply flicked her wand allowing a long stream of bright sparks to shoot out of it and fall gradually to the floor. Giggling at the release of energy that had built up, Frida spun back towards Freya, gently calming herself till she just had her ever-present warm smile.

"I'm sorry..." the brunette began moving back towards the bed again, this time with wand still in hand. "All this exciting news and excitement is all very exciting, you know! I just can't help it... Sparkles! Sparkles just come out of nowhere!" Coming to a standstill in front of the bed, Frida managed to focus enough to hear the squeaked request to follow through with her offer. Clapping her hands together once more, the adult exclaimed "Of course I will! I would never have suggested it otherwise! I know Otto is home at the moment, so I can easily pop through the fireplace and back in no time at all. You could come with me if you want?" Jumping onto the bed, in order to sit back down Frida made sure she kept her wand clutched close to her, much like her blonde cousin was clutching the pillow, she observed. Some people had told her she was silly to be so protective of an inanimate object, but they didn't know the special feeling Frida had with her wand. It was almost a sort of deep, personal friendship, a companion to always have with her so that she was never alone. Her feelings were expressed in multiples, through herself (of course) and through her wand. If she was excited, sparks flew out of her wand. If she was sad (which was rare), her wand would not perform any magic at all.

And as demonstrated here, she thought, this was all very exciting for the ministry worker. She only ever wanted to make her friends and family happy and she was quite certain that she was helping to accomplish that here. If Freya was happy, then Frida would be happy. The brunette didn't have much experience with love, she was too awkward to act on her feelings for others at Hogwarts, but she could certainly appreciate the feeling of missing someone close to them even if it wasn't quite in the same context, she reasoned. After all, she had to learn to cope without her three siblings when they had all graduated from Hogwarts and left her alone. Fidgeting slightly and then moving so that she sitting cross-legged facing Freya, she looked down tentatively at the Gryffindor. " I know you miss him, sweetie. I can tell by the look on your face! He must really mean a lot to you. I just hope he makes you happy."

Throwing her arms open and wide, she chirped "Now come here, and stop hugging my pillow." After a moment or two, Frida began to find her own comment rather funny and soon fell into a fit of giggles, not realizing she was falling off the bed until it was too late.

Freya wasn’t so sure about not getting in trouble for using the fireplace for her own purposes. Vaguely, she wondered if Kerr would be able to apparate by the time that she went back to school. She imagined apparating away from Hogsmeade one Saturday morning secretly, and returning before she was required to be back at the castle. It would all have to be very clandestine, she imagined. Sometimes parents picked their kids up for short trips, but she couldn’t imagine that being whisked away by her boyfriend for the day was something that the school would be happy with. The idea of apparating to Kerr’s house popped into her mind and the blonde hid her face again to hide the faint blush that had begun to creep onto her cheeks.

“Oh,” Freya said in a muffled voice. Right now? “Maybe tomorrow,” she suggested with a smile. Her cousin was so excitable, and that was a pretty big observation coming from Freya, who got excited over the smallest of things. “He’s very good at arithmancy,” the blonde offered softly. She hadn’t really had a chance to gush about the Regan boy to any of her family members, and all of a sudden praise for her boyfriend was all bubbled up at her lips. She wanted to tell her cousin everything - how cute he was when he smiled, the way he made her feel… She wanted to explain about the way they’d gotten together, and how she’d kissed him on the cheek and how it had made her blush so.

With a sigh, Freya let herself fall onto her back, staring up at the ceiling with wide honey-brown eyes. “What was your first boyfriend like?” she asked after a moment of silence. The blush was still there, but Freya was desperately curious to know everything. She was overcome with a desire to talk about all of this all of a sudden. It felt like a huge relief to be so open with a family member, and the image of her talking to Ingrid like this flashed and then fizzled away in her mind. She couldn’t really imagine talking to her sister so candidly.

Feeling a small amount of silence ensure, Frida whacked her hands on the bed pulling herself up so that she could rest her elbows. All this talk of boys and methods of communication made Fri reminisce about her good ol' student years. Looking at the curled up Gryffindor with a light, gentle smile on her face, the brunette wondered if she was ever like that with her brothers or sister. The Ministry worker closed her eyes and sighed, thinking about how things had panned out very differently for herself compared to Freya. A bittersweet smile replaced the usual sunny smile on the woman's face before she burst out of Memory Lane in time to hear a muffle.

Tomorrow? What an odd request, thought Frida. This was exciting stuff to be doing and her cousin wanted to wait? Oh well! "Of course, dear! I'm sure Otto will have no prior engagements." The Hufflepuff alumna giggled, thinking how she would burst into Otto's house later on that day and tell him about all the excitement and news!

Frida listened attentively to what the blonde had to offer about the boy. Arithmancy? Gosh, that was a complicated subject! Fri decided she approved of the boy already. He must be quite clever! Allowing her usual charismatic grin to grace her face, Frida exclaimed "I daresay I like him very much already! Arithmancy is so complex and he must therefore be very clever! What other subjects does he like? Does he play Quidditch? Does he have a good broom?" The sunny woman was certainly passionate about Quidditch and naturally broomsticks as well. Her interest expanded much wider than just her work at the Ministry... She found it her duty to protect her family from faulty brooms and make sure they had the top of line ones for the best possible prices! If this boy was Freya's boyfriend then Frida considered him to be family too.

Chuckling softly as the brunette watched her younger cousin fall onto her back, she was not prepared for the question that came next. Her first boyfriend... Frida's smile fell from her face instantly and was replaced with an extremely uncharacteristic mixture of shock and regret. The elder Trickett began quietly stammering in order to buy herself more time as she climbed onto the bed fully and lay down beside her cousin. It had been a while since she had thought of him and even longer since she had seen him.

Forcing a smile onto her face as she looked at Freya, Frida took a deep breath before telling her story. "I never officially had one. The boy I loved... I don't think he loved me in return." At this, the Hufflepuff alumna fidgeted slightly, a blush rising on her own cheeks. "We were very good friends though and when I wasn't with my siblings or Sindri, I was with him. We did everything together! Leopold, his name was... But I always called him Leo." Feeling her face get redder and redder, the 'sunshine' used her free hair to hide her cheeks and she giggled at the delight of sharing something she had only ever told her sister ever before.

"He was amazing... Leo was smart and ever so charming and honest and very, very patient with me. He was such a true gentleman. He liked Quidditch too! I loved him so much." She let out a love-stricken sigh thinking of the teenage boy she knew all those years ago. Where is he now? She wondered. She smiled as Frida realised she had never romantically loved another boy since.

“He did play quidditch,” Freya answered thoughtfully. She’d been trying to recruit him as a beater before they’d even gotten together. She knew that a lot of the Regans played quidditch, just like the Trickett family. She didn’t know what sort of broom he had, though. She really hoped her cousin would be able to keep this a secret.

“Really?” she asked, shocked that her gorgeous older cousin had never dated. Freya supposed she shouldn’t be surprised. She knew that Frida wasn’t the only one of her older cousins that hadn’t dated or been interested in that sort of stuff at school. Her face showed her curiosity rather than her surprise. The woman climbed into bed next to her. She listened to the woman’s story, a small frown etched into her forehead. “Do you know what he’s doung now? Are you still in contact?”

Frida’s mention of one of their other cousins caught her attention too. “You were close friends with Sindri in school?” Freya prompted. She knew that most of her cousins were friends with each other, but Sin and Frida must have been pretty close for her to single him out just now. “What was he like as a teenager?” after a pause, she added, “What were he and Dash like when they were together in school?”

Freya always felt like the youngest. She had younger cousins, but there was a decent age gap between her and the next youngest Trickett, at least by Trickett standards. She didn’t have cousins around her age, but she wished she were five years or so older and could have gone through school with the bulk of them. What was Hal like as a teen? She wondered if he was serious.

The Hufflepuff alumna sent her younger cousin a quizzical look, as she pondered the meaning of 'did' play Quidditch. "Did? He doesn't play anymore? Did he no longer like it? THat would be really sad... Everyone should love Quidditch!" Frida giggled, thinking of all the exciting matches she had seen, some of which her family played in! Fri suddenly gained a glint of both curiosity and mischief in her eyes as she playfully asked "Is there anything else I should know about this boy? I'm really quite curious now, not to mention very, very excited!" To prove her point the brunette clapped her hands together rapidly and giggled once again.

At Freya's shock, Frida couldn't help but cackle to herself. "Is it really that surprising? T would have, but I'd have felt sorry for the people who'd have been left out, so I didn't"" A pang of some odd emotion gathered in her chest as she realised that that wasn't entirely accurate. It was a factor, for sure, but she had been so frightened that Leo would reject her and her heart couldn't bring itself to love another the way it did for him. The Trickett couldn't help but notice Freya's small frown, and she leaned over to poke her in an attempt to encourage a smile. "Don't frown! Show me your beautiful smile!" Frida looked down in uncertainty at the Gryffindor's questions. She had no idea. They'd lost contact almost immediately after the end of their seventh year, and it had never been initiated again. For all she knew, Leopold might not even have still been alive. Fri grimaced at the thought before shaking her head to free herself of it. He was alive. She could feel it. "I have absolutely no idea, Freya dear. We haven't spoken since the end of our seventh year. But I know he's doing just fine! After all, he was very resilient!"

Ah. Onto more jolly things it seemed! Sin and Fri's friendship was an interesting one. He was really the first person to ever shout at her and she found it hilarious. It was that kind of interesting. "Of course! We were like the bestest of the best of friends! It was more of a sibling relationship, really!" Frida hadn't really noticed if Sindri has been any different when he was a teenager, she wasn't very observant of these things. "Well, he was... uh, he was... as he is now? I don't know. What I do know is that he'd say something like 'I was more responsible than Frida' if he was here. Which is... probably pretty accurate!" The famed relationship between her two closest friends. Speaking of Dash... How was she? Where was she? Frida betrayed a curious look as she pondered on the fact that they hadn't talked in a long time. How odd. "Cute. They were cute! Like, really cute. At least I think I'm talking about them... There were so many couples by the end of my final year, it was getting difficult to keep track of them all!" She giggled again before picking up her wand and shooting some sparks of romantic colours from the tip.

Frida gave a contented sigh, smiling fondly at Freya and feeling her chest swell with pride. "Is there anything else I can do to help you and your loverboy? I'd do anything to help that I can, honest! I want to see you happy Freya! I really do!"

“Oh, no, he’s just not at school anymore.” Freya would have absolutely loved to have played quidditch with Kerr. The image of the two of them making out on the quidditch field after a day of practice popped into her head and she had to mentally shake herself. Ugh. Why was she so dumb and teeny? The girl was a slave to her hormones as of late. She felt like puberty really kicked in hard during her fifth year, and now she was at the height of her teenage craziness. Imagining flying with Kerr was a dream, though. It was a shame that the two of them hadn’t been able to do that while he was still at Hogwarts. She wasn’t sure when their next opportunity would be.

“I don’t know… what would you like to know?” Freya gave her cousin a curious look, wondering if there was something specific that the young woman wanted to ask about. Freya knew that after the Regan ball, everyone would know about Kerr. Hopefully they wouldn’t all have to find out who he was (she now had images of Geri and Arick having a chat with him in the bakery). Not yet, anyway. Freya just wasn’t ready for the clamouring that would probably ensue. The Tricketts were tight-knit, family-oriented and very protective of each other, but it would be just as accurate to say that they were nosy.

Freya listened to her cousin, caught up in the story. She hadn’t seen him since the end of their seventh year? It sounded like a sad tale. The blonde wondered if Frida really was just madly in love with this boy. Still. She sighed when talk turned to Dash and Sindri. This was another sad tale, as far as Freya was concerned. Freya had a bad habit of getting too attached to family members’ partners. If she’d met them a few times and they seemed nice, it didn’t take too much for her to warm up. Arden Dasher. Ruari Regan. It was too easy.

“I don’t think so, Frida.” Freya offered her cousin a small, tentative smile. She snuggled into the older woman, appreciating the cuddles. It reminded her of when she was a small child. “You’re the best,” she added.

Frida sighed in relief at the news that the boy in question was, in fact, still a lover Quidditch. An eyebrow then raised as the brunette registered the fact that he was no longer at school. This was an interesting discovery indeed! "Oh! Thats a relief! So... has he graduated already?" The Hufflepuff alumna couldn't procure any other explanation. Age difference, if there was any, didn't matter to the Trickett. She knew love couldn't help itself when choosing its 'victims'.

What would she like to know? Fri giggled at the younger Trickett's question, her mind filling with all sorts of questions of her own. What wouldn't I like to know! "Oooh, um... What's his name? How did you first meet? Will we be getting a glimpse of him any time soon?" The ministry worker giggled once more, thinking of what that potential meeting would be like if when it happened. She tilted her head to the side with a quizzical look on her face as she wondered if any other Tricketts knew about this. If they didn't... She'd have to fill them in on the exciting news!

Frida sighed in contentment as many years of her childhood flashed before her, thinking of all the good times that she and Leopold had had together. The mind paused on a particular series of memories, those that took place in the wonderful Hogwarts library with Leo desperately trying to study and herself doing everything in her power to distract him from it!

Fri returned her cousin's smile with ease, her mind processing joyfully the conversation they had just had. "Alright then. But if anything does come up and you need something, I'll be right here!" Chuckling lightly, the brunette hugged young Freya tightly, savouring the display of affection. She was a very affectionate person, after all and enjoyed showing her love to everyone and everything. At the undeserved praise, Frida beamed brightly, happiness consuming her entire body. "Oh, but I think that honour goes to you, Freya dear!"

Had he graduated already? “Uh… something like that.” Freya dodged the question with little grace, but luckily her cousin didn’t seem to notice. She wasn’t sure that she was ready to explain what was going on, and she doubted that she could explain it properly anyway. The blonde tucked hair behind both of her ears, moving into a seated position on the bed. “His name’s Kerr and we met at school,” she replied, blushing faintly again. It seemed like she could barely talk about him without blushing at the moment.

Although she’d asked if Frida had wanted to know anything in particular, Freya felt like their conversation was over now. She felt much less angsty about it all, anyway. “I’m going to go to bed,” she told her cousin with a smile. “Thanks for talking with me, Frida!” Freya moved in to hug her cousin tightly before hopping up and moving out of the room. She’d done it. She’d told one of her cousins outright. Freya hoped, naively, that word wouldn’t travel too quickly amongst her family members. She enjoyed having something all of her own.