Sky's not the Limit? PV Anastasia Closed

────────────────────── 𝒜 ──────────────────────

Interacting With: @Gia Adelard
Mentioning: Evelynn Decipio | Gryffindor vs Slytherin Quidditch game
Hex Color: #0080FF
────────────────────── 𝒜 ──────────────────────

Leaning forward, Ana accelerated on her broom. She hadn't performed quite up to her standards in the last Quidditch game. Yes, they had emerged victorious and yes, Ana had played some small part in that, but that wasn't enough for her. Evelynn had managed to catch the snitch once both of them had been knocked from their shared broom, but Ana had to be better. She had failed a blatch right out of the gate and hadn't done anything particularly useful as a Chaser, which she was supposedly good at.

The chill, which was somehow worse in the air than it was on the ground, cut through Ana's layers straight to her bones. Granted, she had only added a sweater to her normal Quidditch robes, which weren't designed for warmth, but still. She'd considered an actual coat or any meaningful layers, but she knew that it would slow her down in the air and in any event, a few minutes of flying would warm her right up. Quidditch was an escape, and with things being what they were, she needed it more than ever. She'd managed to get a lid on her temper for the most part and was working on her tendency to lash out at undeserving bystanders, but that meant that she suddenly had significantly more emotion bubbling up inside than she really knew how to handle. Obviously, her initial attempts at dealing with it were less than optimal, but each time she had lashed out, it had been like steam was released from a kettle that was on the verge of boiling over.

After the events of her break, she had resolved to manage her emotions better, but that was far easier said than done. Her solo Quidditch and flight practice had gone from an hour or two each day to nearly every moment that she wasn't in class, working on homework, or asleep. It was just as well that she turned her energy to Quidditch and dance since she evidently was not remotely gifted in the area of punching or physical fighting.

As she maneuvered and twisted in the air, a scrap of paper flew into her face and obscured her vision for a moment, before fluttering away. Perhaps because she thought whoever it was that the paper belonged to might want it back, or more likely because Ana was bored and happy to focus on anything other than the cold and her thoughts, Ana darted after the paper like a Seeker after a snitch. Still, a human on a broom was bound to be a bit slower than a paper with the wind behind it, and the paper always managed to stay a few inches outside of her grip. All of a sudden, the wind died down and the paper flew to the ground.

Ana stared down for a moment and realized there was a girl twenty or so feet below her. The paper seemed to have settled right where it landed, so, theoretically, Ana could have left things alone and the girl might not have even noticed her. Ana had been fairly quiet, and wasn't terribly flashy or taking up much of the pitch, and that had prevented the girl from noticing her thus far.

Still, hadn't Ana decided something about not isolating herself or making friends? Annoyingly enough, she had, and she might as well make certain that the paper belonged to the girl on the ground. In a rather spectacular, if unnecessarily complicated, bit of flying, Ana landed in front of the girl. "Is that yours?" she asked. It occurred to her that, between her face that was flushed from exertion and cold, her braids which were far looser than they had been at the beginning of Ana's flight, and her sudden descent, she might have startled the girl.

637 words

--Sun. January 17, 2021⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Walking quickly towards her letter - it was much too cold to run! - Gia tried to get there as soon as possible. If it blew away again, what chance did she have of getting it back? None, most likely. When she arrived at the piece of paper and had just reached down to pick it up, someone spoke up from directly in front her, and Gia jumped, startled. How had she not seen whoever it was as she was walking over? It seemed impossible until she glanced up fully and got a slightly better look at the person in front of her. Of course. She had been on a broom.

Her letter almost completely forgotten, Gia's gaze went to the broom itself before settling on the older girl. It was a nice one - a Silver Arrow, was it called? - and she admired it for a few seconds before realizing that the other student had asked her a question. "Oh! Yes, that's mine." Reaching down again, the first year swept her letter off the ground, quickly brushing it off before she placed it back in her pocket, more carefully this time. Then, unable to help herself, Gia added, "That's your broom, right? Do you play quidditch? I feel like I may have seen you at one of the games this season." The older girl had a bit of a... regal air around her Gia thought as she waited for a reply, and it was one that was slightly familiar. Were they in the same house too, maybe? Even with her hair coming out of its neat-looking braids, she was very pretty, and Gia was pretty sure she'd seen her somewhere before.

Still, Gia's gaze went back to the broom. She had been dying to fly one better than the old, rickety school brooms ever since she'd learned how to ride one in Flying class, and yet she hadn't ever had a chance. Wizard money was something that she didn't have much of, and there was absolutely no way that she'd be able to afford her own until, like, years later - if she was patient enough to save up for that long. And maybe not even then...

When the young girl had heard about quidditch way earlier in the school year, she had quickly become quite fascinated with the sport. Of course, of people with her background, who wouldn't? Having lived most of her life in a world without magic, learning that there was actually a way to fly on a broom at this new school of hers was something that snatched Gia's attention right away. Then, when she learned that there was an actual sport where you could win actual games while doing this, Gia had tried to learn all she could about it. It was just so interesting, and she'd probably spent about a full week's worth in the library just trying to figure out everything she could about it. That was crazy, because the first year didn't spend much time in the library at all.

"Hey, do you know if first years are allowed on the quidditch team?" she asked quite suddenly, breaking the brief silence that had fallen. She'd been wondering if she should sign herself up for a while, having seen the sign-up sheets posted in the Gryffindor Common Room, but she wasn't quite sure yet and had been wondering that question for a while. "I'd love to get onto the team someday," she added, almost to herself.

580 words

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯@Anastasia Beckett--

────────────────────── 𝒜 ──────────────────────

Interacting With:@Gia Adelard
Mentioning: Rafael D'Spacito
Wordcount: 482
Hex Color: #0080FF
────────────────────── 𝒜 ──────────────────────

The way that the girl's gaze immediately went to the broom endeared the brunette to Ana. Ana found that a person's broom generally said quite a bit about them. For instance, Ana's immaculately kept Silver Arrow said that she likely spent far too much time focused on her broom, but it also showed that she was a person who, at least in this area, did not mind tedious labor related to things she was passionate about. Also that she or someone who cared about her had too much money.

Ana resisted the urge to reply sarcastically. She supposed the question as to whether or not this was her broom was more of a rhetorical one, but a part of her deeply wanted to declare that she had stolen it from some poor chap in an ally. "It is," she replied. "And I do. First string chaser for Gryffindor. And you? Do you play?" Ana couldn't hide the small bit of pride and warmth that slipped through at the mention of Quidditch.

The smaller girl's attention drifted back to the broom and Ana's mind was made up. She most definitely liked this girl. That worked out nicely since she had resolved to make an effort to focus less on herself and be kinder to others. To be honest, the idea still needed some getting used to. Ana had yet to be fully convinced that it would actually make her life any more pleasant.

Still, she would try anything once - actually, no, that was inaccurate, she would under no circumstances ever try casu marzu cheese, but she digressed - and in any event, being unpleasant to others had caused plenty of problems the past term. Make no mistake, Ana was by no stretch of the imagination what some might called a nice person - she was a witch, not a god - but she was going to reserve her unpleasantness for those who legitimately deserved it.

"Most definitely, you ought to sign up," Ana replied to her question. "My best friend, Rafael, was only a first-year when he became captain. I'm Anastasia Beckett, by the way. And you are?"

Ana's eyes narrowed slightly as she began to mentally evaluate the girl. She was built rather ideally for a Seeker. Being small meant she was a more difficult target to hit, and Ana was willing to bet she was fast. She wasn't dressed the way that purebloods typically were, so perhaps she had grown up around Muggles? That would be something to ask about later on since Ana had seemingly endless questions about Muggles.

"What position do you think you'd play?" Ana mused after a moment. It had been a while since Ana had allowed herself to actually be particularly interested in a complete stranger, due to her rather misguided mission to isolate herself the past year. Still, new year, new Ana. Or something...

--Sun. January 17, 2021⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Gia could see that the older girl was watching her as she looked at the broom, but that still didn’t stop her examination of it from taking a lot longer than it probably should have. It was a broom, though! And one that the other student had literally just been flying on, and one that was a whole lot better than the rickety old school brooms that she had to use for Flying class, and… Realizing that the girl had spoken up, Gia snapped her gaze back to her.

“You’re so lucky,” Gia sighed. “When did you sign up? Have you been on the team since last year? Or… since you first started going to Hogwarts?” Not sure of what year the older student was in—except for knowing the fact that she must be older than Gia herself, the twelve year old ended up asking more questions in a row than she’d originally intended. “And oh, no, I don’t play. I really wish I did, though, flying is like one of my favorite things to do ever.”

Wait. If this girl—she still didn’t know her name—was a first string player on the Gryffindor team, she would probably know the answers to all of Gia’s questions, right? She wasn’t a team captain, obviously, but she still played and seemed quite proud of that fact. Making up her mind, Gia asked her first and main question: could first years sign up? She hadn’t found the answer to this in any of her books about quidditch, since they were mostly about the history and plays, and it was often the first question that popped into her mind when talking about the sport, so…

At Anastasia’s confirmation that yes, first years could sign up for the team, Gia grinned excitedly. That was so the first thing she was doing after leaving the quidditch pitch, she thought to herself. Then, realizing that Anastasia had said something that struck Gia as crazy, she blurted out, “He was made team captain in his first year?!” She vaguely remembered hearing the name Rafael mentioned a couple of times in association with Quidditch, but a team captain from his first year? He must’ve been really, really good, she thought. Next time she went to a Quidditch game, that was something she’s have to watch for.

“I’m Gia Adelard,” she introduced herself after a beat, having forgotten until then that Anastasia had asked for her name and she hadn’t given it. “I’m a Gryffindor too. A first year.”

Feeling the slightly uncomfortable feeling that you get when someone is looking you over, even if not in a criticizing manner, the twelve year old looked down at the ground for a few seconds, then decided to look back up. By then, the scrutinizing glance had disappeared, and Anastasia asked what position she thought she would play. Thinking for a moment, Gia tapped a finger against her lip before replying. “Seeker or Chaser, most likely. Although seeker does seem most enjoyable—and most stressful. I mean, you're basically in the position where you can win the whole game... or lose it.” she shrugged. “How do you like playing as a Chaser?"

528 words

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯@Anastasia Beckett--