[apartment hunting] Don't you see what you're finding? | • f i n n

“This is the one,” she said breathlessly, eyes open wide and lips slightly apart. The blonde spun around quickly, her high ponytail whipping behind her as she took in the whole apartment. The estate agent looked a little uncomfortable with her enthusiasm. The very serious elderly wizard clearly wasn’t impressed with her declaration (perhaps because she’d made the same one in the last two apartments he’d shown them) but Freya wasn’t really looking at him.

Timber floors, brick walls. Two bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms (ensuites in both bedrooms!!!! Freya was never going to have to share a bathroom again). “Finn, look how big it is," So much space. All for her. The blonde glanced over her shoulder, grinning at her friend. Well, and for him, she conceded silently. It was gigantic. It was perfect. Everything was perfectly going according to plan.

Well, almost.

Okay, so things hadn’t gone exactly to plan. Casey hadn’t wanted to live with her but Finn had so they’d had a big fight about it and weren’t currently talking (which made quidditch practise difficult) and Casey was doing something else, with new roommates maybe (was Freya basically a homewrecker now?) and now Freya and Finn were looking for an apartment together. Not exactly as they’d planned it, but Freya was an optimist and while a part of her felt incredibly guilty for making Casey so mad another part of her was sure that things would be okay.

They’d looked at maybe twelve different places in the past few hours and various members of Freya’s family had been present the whole time. It made sense; to her immediate family, she was the baby. The last Hogwarts child to graduate. Freya’s parents had been to every house except the last couple - they’d had to go to work. When they’d left, Freya’s mum had shed a tear and her dad had quietly pulled her aside and raised the upper limit of what they were willing to help pay for rent.

The blonde clapped her hands together in excitement and skipped off to look in the bedrooms. She opened every cupboard and draw quickly and looked out of the windows, imagining her life beginning. Finally, she thought, It can start. In moments, she was back out, her unbridled joy swapping out for serious eyebrows and a stern jaw as she addressed Finn. “We need this house. And I need the bigger room,” she said. It was almost funny, really. This type of serious expression looked a little comical on her face.



Apartment photos

"Are you sure?" The tall wizard couldn't hide a grin as he watched his best friend taking everything in. It wasn't overly clever to show that she loved the place but maybe the fact that she'd reacted almost the same in the last two apartments would confuse the estate agent a little. Sure, he had more money now than he'd ever had in his life but he still didn't want to pay more than they had to. Giving the agent an apologetic shrug, he followed Freya as she walked through the apartment which was indeed quite big. Probably bigger than they needed it to be but he couldn't deny that it looked good.

Watching her being so happy and excited almost made him forget that their hunt for an apartment hadn't actually started in a nice way. Almost. The former Gryffindor still felt extremely bad about the fight with Casey and he hated that she wasn't talking to him except on the pitch but then again... Freya was his best friend. Had been for years. Hell, he'd even walked through the dome for her. Casey must have known that everything would change after Freya's graduation. Sure, maybe Freya shouldn't have kissed Danny but it wasn't that he and Casey had been a real couple, right?

While Freya was examining the bedrooms, Finn summoned the papers the estate agent had left on a cupboard near the entrance and seconds later they were in his hands. He flicked through them, taking in the measurements as well as the price. While Freya's dad had raised the upper limit of what they were willing to pay, it still wouldn't be enough to cover half the rent but one look at his friend told him that this was it. She wouldn't like any other apartment. This was the one.

It was hard to stay serious but somehow he managed and matched her expression. "Aha. So you need the bigger room? Don't you think my Quidditch supplies need more space than your clothes?" Somehow he knew how their conversation would end, he'd never be able to say no to her, but at least he had to try, right?

"Positive!" she affirmed, bouncing through the house like a kid who'd had way too much sugar for their own good. The blonde had always been excitable but the idea of living in her very own place with her best friend in the whole world was something else. There was no bringing her down from this high.

Well... Maybe there was.

The distraught expression that gripped Freya's face the moment he started talking about quidditch supplies was only half a joke. Finn managed to match her serious expression but she shook her head quickly, her blonde ponytail bouncing around as she did. "Look how big the lounge room is," Freya pleaded, throwing one arm out to gesture at the space around them. "We can keep your supplies out here, on display or something. Broom on the wall. Genius." The blonde nodded enthusiastically at the idea. "Besides..." Freya grabbed his hand and practically dragged him into the smaller bedroom. "This space is so big! You don't need anything bigger than this, right? Right?" Freya smiled at him, nodding again.

After a moment, not sure that he was completely convinced yet, Freya drew her wand and pointed them at the windows. They sprung open, letting in a stream of sunlight. "Look at that view - pretty mhmm?" Freya watched him, scanning his expression to try to read his mind. Legilimens she thought, trying out the telepathy thing to no avail. "I need this house," she stage-whispered to him, her eyebrows coming together dramatically.

She didn't really think he was being serious, did she? Finn bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from grinning, his brows furrowed. "So?" But she wasn't finished talking. Of course she wasn't. His eyes followed her movements as she gestured at the wall and he could see what she meant. It would surely look nice to have one of his brooms hanging there, not the one he actually used for practise sessions as well as for games, but an old one.

However, before he could say anything she'd already grabbed his hand and he almost fell over his own feet while she dragged him to the smaller bedroom. "You know that Ray's going to stay over here as well, right? So two people would frequently sleep in the smaller room... Except there's someone you haven't told me about?" The former Gryffindor wiggled his eyebrows at her, not yet ready to let her have what she wanted. He walked over to the window, nodding slightly as he looked outside but he tried not to look too convinced.

Looking over his shoulder to check that the real estate agent wasn't close, he moved a little closer to Freya, his voice quieter than before. "Fine, we'll get it. But let's pretend we're not sure, okay? I want to see how much rent we really have to pay. Oh and the bedroom situation isn't settled yet." Grinning, he turned around and walked back to the dining room.

His point about Reagan was totally correct and Freya didn't know what to say to it. She was flustered. "Well... I might..." Freya huffed, frowning as she tried to splutter out some words. "I mean, sleepovers?" Freya folded her arms over each other. "Hmph." Freya turned back to the room wistfully, really not wanting the smaller room even though he was clearly right about the points he was making. "I mean..." Freya's face changed from grumpy to hopeful again as she looked back at him. "...It's not like it's too small for two people. It's still a pretty big room, you know." She nodded convincingly.

Finn moved in a little and Freya switched from pleading to conspiratorial in a moment. She nodded briskly as Finn suggested that they keep their interest in the place on the down low. Finn was so much more grown up than her, she thought with a little sigh. He was so knowledgeable and worldly and she was such a naive baby. At least she was self aware, she thought. She frowned again when he mentioned the bedroom thing, but followed him out dutifully as he returned to the living room. Freya was all about being a strong independent woman, but right now she figured she'd let Finn do the talking. Her honey-coloured eyes wandered around the room as she mentally placed all of her things in all of the cupboards and on the benches.

She was adorable when she was flustered and he had to resist the urge to ruffle her hair. It was indeed still a rather large room and besides, while Reagan would probably sleep at his place every now and then, he'd also sleep at her place and then Freya would have the apartment all to herself anyway. Moreover he was pretty sure that they'd spend most of their time in the large room that contained the open kitchen as well as the dining and living room. How big was that one again? Forty-two square metres? His eyes scanned the papers that were still in his hands and it even had about sixty-three square metres. Damn, the room was huge.

Glad that she'd play along, Finn walked over to the real estate agent, a neutral smile on his face. "I guess we've seen everything now. Thanks again for finding all these apartments. Some of them are definitely on our shortlist but I'm pretty sure we'll need a little bit more time to go through all the documents. You know," he lowered his voice conspiratorially, "if the rent for this appartment would be just a little bit lower we could probably sign the papers immediately but as it is now we'll definitely have to talk it through first." He was pretty sure that the man would prefer it if they made a deal today but he would have to do something for it as well.

Freya played with the handle of one of the kitchen cupboards as she half-listened to the two men discuss boring things like prices and documents. She really should be over there listening, but she wasn't really used to taking charge in situations like this and besides, she had no idea what to argue for. After some talking, Freya saw the pair shake hands and she moved back over to them, curious. Finn gave her a little nod so Freya's expression broke into a sunny smile. She didn't say anything, but followed Finn and the agent out of the apartment. The girl looked back at their door and the little 42 on the front of it. That was going to be home soon, she thought. The idea made her all fluttery on the inside.

As soon as they'd said goodbye to the guy and were out the front of the building, Freya let out a squeal. She spun around to Finn, energy bouncing through her like a crackling lightbulb. "That's gonna be our house, Finn," she said, her eyes prickling a little with the overflowing emotion she was feeling. "Our house." Freya snuck in and gave him a quick hug, her arms wrapped around his chest in a tight vice-grip just for a moment before she bounced away, still grinning. "We can put your couch by the big set of windows. Awww, and mum's bunting can go across the windows in the kitchen - you know, the ones with the lemon print on it?" She skipped over the gutter as they crossed a muggle road. "Celebratory milkshakes?" she asked, beaming at her friend.

"I guess we have a deal then." He hadn't lowered the rent by much but it was still better than before. After signing the papers, they shook hands and he turned around to see if Freya was nearby. She was and he nodded at her, a smile on his face. "I'll get everything done," he said, turning back to the agent one last time as they left the building "and then we'll meet again next week to get the keys?" The older man, he was probably around forty-two, nodded and they said their goodbyes after making another appointment.

Laughing, he hugged her back, shaking his head a little. "We didn't buy the whole building, you know? Just the flat. In fact we didn't even buy it so it's technically not ours..." his voice trailed off and he ducked, fearing a punch for being a smartass while Freya was so obviously happy. "But yeah, I guess we have our place now." He wasn't surprised that she'd already thought about where all their things would go and he was relieved that he wouldn't have to think about it. "Sounds good. Seriously, I'll leave the decorations to you. Just don't make it too girly, okay?" He winked as he followed her across the street. "Milkshakes sound perfect, right now. You pay and I'll give up the larger bedroom." It wasn't exactly a good deal but he would have given in eventually anyway.

Freya went for a rib jab at his words. Nothing could kill her high right now. "But it's ours," she countered simply. It was their house. Maybe not forever, but for now it was all theirs. She sighed happily, skipping a little.

"Deal," Freya said seriously at his milkshake offer. As they walked, Freya realised that this was the area they'd be walking in when they lived here. Every odd tree or lamp post suddenly was worth so much more as the girl assigned each thing new value. "We'll probably walk in that park," she said matter-of-factly, pointing at a small green park where someone was walking their two dogs. "I might play with those dogs," she added in a stage-whisper. Freya skipped over a deep crack in the pavement, totally oblivious to the area's imperfections. "What's the time?" she asked her friend, glancing at the watch on his wrist. Freya bought him that what, two years ago now? It didn't seem like it had been that long, but she supposed that it had.

As they rounded the corner, the pair came to a busy little lane filled with cafes and a bar or two. "We're going to come here," she said breathlessly, stopping dead in her track causing Finn to almost run into her. "We're going to eat brunch here," she added, starry eyed. The blonde picked a cafe at random and went in with her friend. She fished her wallet from her pocket. "Five chocolate milkshakes please," she said to the person behind the counter, an unfazed expression on her face. The pair were given a little metal table number and told to sit so Freya picked a seat outside in the cobbled alleyway. She shot Finn a grin as she took her seat. "Thirsty?" she asked cheekily.

"Ouch," he exclaimed, even though it hadn't hurt a bit. By now the wizard had been hit by so many bludgers that Freya's girly punch was barely noticeable. Not all hits had been bad but every time he remembered the one that had sent him spiralling towards the ground during his last match as Gryffindor's Quidditch captain, he still had to wince. The injuries were long healed, though, only a very small and light scar still reminded him of it.

As they walked through their soon-to-be neighbourhood Finn watched his friend instead of their surroundings, only looking at buildings and people when she pointed them out. After everything that had happened last year, he still couldn't believe that they were here now, having just signed the lease for their apartment. It was just so unreal but he couldn't deny that it was great. Really, really great. At the same time he knew how lucky he was that Reagan accepted his and Freya's friendship the way it was. They'd always been extremely close and he didn't know what he would've done had Ray been the jealous type. He loved her, he really did, but if she'd ever asked him to choose between her and Freya, he would've chosen the blonde beside him. The reason why he didn't really feel bad about it? Reagan would put Sarah first if she ever had to choose between her and him.

"We'll probably try out all these places to find out which one offers the best breakfast. The best lunch. The best ice cream." They entered a random café and the former Gryffindor actually laughed out loud when Freya played her order. Five milkshakes? "Someone really wants that big bedroom, huh? Three are for me." He grinned back at her and relaxed, his long legs stretched out under the table.

"You can have one of mine," Freya said, still teasing a little. The blonde played with a strand of hair, tugging on the corkscrew curl and letting it bounce back up before repeating the process again. After a moment, she leaned forward onto her elbows. "You know you're getting a terrible deal, right?" she said, knowing they were just playing but wanting to make sure he was definitely okay with her getting to bigger room. Now that the new-house-buzz had worn off a little, Freya was checking in. "I mean, are you sure you're sure?" she asked genuinely. If she was moving in with anyone else, it might be a different story. Tess or Ari, for example. Finn cared about her a lot and she always appreciated it.

Freya watched him. She glanced over his hazel eyes and dark hair. Once upon a time they'd been almost the same height, but now Finn was over six foot tall and she'd slowed down a year ago at 5'6. 5'6 wasn't too bad, she thought. It was above average height. The waitress appeared with a tray of milkshakes and placed them on the metal table one at a time. Freya glanced between them and Finn, a smile appearing on her pretty face as she sat up a little straighter in her chair. The blonde slid one drink over to herself, tasting the chololatey flavour as she sipped a little through the straw. "Seven," she said, leaning forward and speaking softly so that the staff couldn't hear them speak. Seven out of ten. Freya and Finn rated food whenever they went out.