#flettrick thread

Cherry has invited Chris over to help her decorate the apartment, and Chris is weirdly nervous to see his girlfriend again.

Chris' final exam for university took place at the beginning of the month, which meant that he only had three assessments to worry about before the close of study for the Christmas holidays. He'd carefully worked out his schedule so that he could dedicate time to them, while also ensuring he had time for everything else. Mike had rubbed off on him. But there was also something on his mind, something that had him worrying about who he was entirely.

The kiss with Cherry.

He'd been thinking about it a lot since, and on their lads' night out, after a few drinks, Chris confessed to Mike how conflicted he was feeling. He was asexual, so why was he now suddenly thinking of Cherry in that way? The drink had helped him speak a little more openly about it, although he still blushed as he did, and Mike did his job as his best friend and soulmate in reassuring him. So when Cherry asked if Chris would like to help her decorate her apartment for Christmas, he'd agreed with butterflies in his stomach.

He had once again dressed casually, the primary motivation for it being that Cherry had seemed to like it when he'd dressed this way. Chris had also stopped by a shop on the way to pick up some things for them to snack on, including a chocolate box, some popcorn, and some cloudy lemonade. Standing at her door he found himself replaying the kiss in his mind, clearing his throat to try and get his focus as he knocked on the door.

Chris has been invited, like many in his year, to go to a Halloween Party. He has invited his girlfriend Cherry to attend the ‘uniform’ themed party with him.

Parties were a regular occurrence for many of the on Chris' university course, but he had so far managed to navigate away from the majority of them. He wasn't a particular social person, and so avoiding them made sense. However, when even the friends he had made on the course were talking excitedly about the Halloween party coming up, Chris knew that he had little hope to avoid it. The only saving grace in this situation was that they could bring along plus ones, and so Chris had asked if Cherry could join him. Thankfully, she'd said yes, and so he went to her place to pick her up.

The theme of the party was "uniforms". A lot of the people he was on the course with had opted to horrify their costumes in some way. Some opted to tear their old school uniforms to sheds, as though they had been attacked. Some added a vampiric twist upon their clothes. Chris, however, didn't like the idea of ruining the costume he'd bought with blood that would be difficult to clean off, so opted to keep it crisp and clean.

He'd found a sailor's outfit to put on, not really knowing what else he could wear. Others in his class were going for sexier things but that just didn't fit how Chris felt, so he stuck with something safer for him. He had no idea what Cherry was going to wear, and was hoping that this trip out together would be more successful than the last two had been. He seemed to keep messing things up whenever he arrived at her place to see her, and so it was with some trepidation and concern that he knocked on her door, waiting for his girlfriend to answer so that they could go to the party.

After his poor reaction to the surprise his girlfriend had for him, Chris is now eager to try and fix it, and he has a plan for making that happen.

It hadn't taken long at all for Chris to realise that he had made a mistake. He might not deal with surprises particularly well, but is reaction to seeing Cherry's new apartment hadn't been good enough. In fact, it had been a pretty awful reaction. She deserved better from him, and he'd been trying to figure out just what that might be. Thankfully, after talking with his best friend and then spending time with his family and friends, he'd got an idea about just what that could be. Now it was a case of making the plan happen, so he'd left the house early to prepare everything.

He'd bought some flowers, a bunch of her favourites (as suggested by Sophie) and had also gone to a certain Swedish furniture store to use the money everyone had contributed to buy a gift card. That way, Cherry would have more choice over the different things that she wanted instead of getting things that might not be to her taste. He'd also shifted his schedule around, making his Saturday totally free so that the two of them could hang out together.

Feeling all kinds of nervous, Chris walked up to Cherry's door bang on time, as usual, with the flowers in one hand and the little envelope containing the card and the gift card in his back pocket. He took a deep breath before he knocked on the door, waiting and wondering if this would work or even be something that Cherry would like. His best friend, and everyone else in fact, had already tried to reassure him that she would love this surprise, but he was sceptical. He'd messed up a lot and he wasn't entirely convinced that this little gesture would be enough to fix the mistake he'd previously made.

Chris heads over to see Cherry, but it seems that she has moved.

Spending time with his now-girlfriend Cherry was something that Chris very much enjoyed, even if he found it difficult sometimes to tear himself away from his studies. He was getting better at it, and was utilising his breaks a lot more instead of simply plowing through. He glanced at the clock on his desk, seeing that it was about time he stopped, and let out a sigh. He felt as though he'd gotten a better understanding of the subject he'd been looking over with his textbooks, and suspected that he would start to go cross-eyed if he continued any more. Removing his glasses, he decided that it was about time for a rest.

He put his books carefully away, his phone buzzing at the edge of his desk. He picked it up, seeing a message from Cherry and smiling. She asked if he wanted to go and see her, but the rest of the message was odd. She gave him an address to go to, one which he knew wasn't her parents' place, and he frowned, wondering just what was going on that meant he would have to go somewhere that he didn't recognise. But he said that he'd be over soon, getting his things together.

Travelling there as a wizard was a challenge. He'd ended up using the floo network to a wizarding pub his father knew of nearby, and then he'd followed the instruction for travel on his phone. Chris was, thankfully, a lot better at muggle technology now than he had been a few years ago, but when he arrived at the address he found himself nervous and confused. He walked into the apartment building, climbing the stairs until he was at the right address. There were boxes in the hallway and Chris cleared his throat. "Cherry?" he asked, wondering if he'd somehow misinterpreted her messages to him.

It’s Flettrick’s first date! Well, Chris is taking Cherry out to celebrate her new job... but it is absolutely their first date and the pair are no doubt bricking themselves.

He was nervous. Oh boy, was Chris nervous. He'd managed to do the unthinkable and ask Cherry out, on a date, with absolutely no planning. His father had admittedly pushed him into it, and he'd said that it was more of a celebration that Cherry had managed to get the job that she really wanted more than anything, but that didn't convince Chris that it wasn't a date. It was, and that made him all the more nervous. What didn't help matters was that he couldn't really turn to Mike for advice, since he was in Ireland and he didn't want to bother his best friend. He knew that he wouldn't mind, but he didn't want to distract him.

Chris even considered asking James for some help, but he'd gotten as far as opening the muggle messenger app on his phone and then thought better of it. He'd have to manage with his father's help instead, which was fine, but his father was far more enthusiastic and excited for the date than Chris was. Chris was simply an entire bundle of nerves rather than the filled with excitement that he should have been. Once he'd gotten over the initial fifteen minutes at the beginning he'd be fine, but until then...

He'd arrived at Cherry's door with one minute to spare, taking a deep breath in to try and calm his nerves before he knocked and waited. What was he supposed to say? He really should have thought about this and made a detailed plan, but he'd only had hours to get ready. That wasn't enough time, and so he found himself gripping the bunch of flowers in his hand a little tighter and simply praying to whichever deity was available that this entire date wouldn't be a disaster and that he wouldn't somehow let everybody down in his vast failure as a... whatever he was to Cherry.

School is over, and Chris has typically already started studying up for the start of his University course. He’s at home, in his room, hurting his own neck from bending over the desk while his father despairs downstairs because he has been trying to get Chris to take a break for the last hour at least. Maybe he needs a little help?

Unsurprisingly to no-one, Chris had been accepted onto the midwifery course he had applied for. He was excited for it, but he also felt as though he was far behind. He wanted to make sure he'd studied enough that he could at least keep up with his class mates, if not rise above them. Chris was an intelligent man the majority of the time, and being the best at things was something he was passionate about. It was where his Slytherin nature really shone through, as he was ambitious enough to want to be the very best in the classroom... no matter what the particular subject was.

The problem was that Chris wasn't always an intelligent man the rest of the time. When studying he was, but he often forgot to take breaks. At Hogwarts, his friends (typically Mike) would remind him or make him go for a quick walk. But Mike was in Ireland with Sophie, and although Mark had knocked on Chris' bedroom door at least three times by this point, Chris was too engrossed in what he was reading in the textbook to want to step out of his room and socialise with others. His neck hurt from hunching over, but he still wasn't ready to leave his room.

Downstairs, Mark was despairing. He'd just put the kettle on and was making himself a fruity tea, debating whether or not he should make a coffee for his son. Sarah was round at the Sutherlands' house, playing with Mike's sisters, but Chris wasn't taking a similar break. He needed a miracle, and almost as soon as he thought that, the doorbell went. He answered the door with a grin when he saw who it was, welcoming her into the house. "Cherry! Great to see you. He's upstairs. Not stopped studying for the last..." he checked his watch. "Three hours. Do you think you can convince him to come out of his room?"

It’s the Monday after the Hogsmeade weekend, and Chris is attempting to work up the courage to ask Cherry to the prom as they walk from breakfast in The Great Hall to their Potions’ class in the dungeons. This could be a long walk...

Potions Class, first thing on a Monday. Ordinarily, Chris would see that as an excellent start to the week. He loved potions and enjoyed the class thoroughly. The only problem was that it was after their weekend in Hogsmeade. Prom was on everyone’s mind, and suddenly it was very much on Chris’. Cherry had no date to the prom, at least according to James, and the man had pushed Chris to ask her out. “She’ll say yes,” he’d insisted with a grin. Chris wasn’t so convinced, but he couldn’t deny the fact that he did want to go to the prom with Cherry.

The four of them typically ate breakfast together anyway, before going their separate ways for classes. Sophie’s visit to the Great Hall had been brief. Apparently she was eager to get to the library for study period and get ahead, so she’d grabbed a breakfast pastry and left almost immediately. Mike had followed shortly before the bell rang, and so Chris and Cherry were left to walk to potions together.

Chris grabbed his satchel filled with his books, parchment, quills, ink, and everything else he needed for the day, standing and waiting for Cherry to join him. Then would begin the long walk down to the dungeons, and Chris found that he was nervous. Almost as soon as they left the Great Hall he saw a poster for the prom, promising a fantastic time for all. “It isn’t too far away now,” he said, nodding his head at the poster. “The prom, I mean,” he added when he realised he wasn’t being as clear as he could be.

(Tag - @reagankittrickrp)

Summary: It’s another seventh year potion class. Given how good friends they are, Chris and Cherry have partnered up for this lesson. That might not turn out to be such a good thing when the potion they are looking at is amortentia...

The rucksack on his back was heavy, thanks to the numerous books Chris had been carrying around for the entire day. That didn’t mean he wasn’t happy though. He’d found himself walking through the corridors of Hogwarts with a smile on his face, eager to get to his last, and arguably favourite, class of the day. He loved potions. It was a subject that truly fascinated him, even if he wasn’t quite as good at it as a certain redhead in the class was.

He spent a lot of time with Cherry anyway, but getting to spend it in potions was different. He got to see her really shine, and it made him smile. It was also a little distracting, but in the best way possible.

As usual he was one of the first to arrive at the class. He walked in, smiling at the professor as they waved their wand at the chalkboard. “Mr. Fleming! Good to see you.” Chris smiled at her. “Good afternoon, Professor,” he replied, heading to his usual seat.

By the time he’d gotten his books and things from his bag, others were walking into the classroom. He looked up at the doorway, finding himself pausing and smiling as Cherry walked in. He was aware that his cheeks felt warm, but they often seemed to around her. Although there was absolutely no need to, he moved his chair over a little to make more space for her.