Last Day Solo Finished

Falling.

Aaron woke with a gasp, bolting upright in his bed. His bed? No... this didn't feel like his bed. Where was he? His brown eyes took a minute to adjust to the dim lighting of the room he was in, eventually recognizing the rows of beds and the look of the Hospital Wing. What was he doing here? It only took a moment for the soreness in his body to register, especially that of his leg and his face and head. Ow. He winced slightly, as a throbbing headache seemed to take over.

The young Hufflepuff reached for a cup of water by the bedside and took a drink, which helped a bit with his parchedness. The events of the day were coming back to him - the Quidditch game against Gryffindor. He had been feeling really off during the whole game, but he remembered a good chunk of the game before his memory went fuzzy. He felt tears welling up in his eyes. What the-

The thirteen-year-old quickly wiped his eyes before any tears could fall. Even though it was the middle of the night, he still cast a look around the room to make sure no one else had seen. Aaron wasn't sure if there were others in the beds - maybe even teammates of his? - but it didn't seem like anyone else was awake. Why was he feeling such an intense dread right now?

Had the team won? With Slytherin's win on Saturday, it had seemed impossible that Hufflepuff would manage to get enough points to win the Quidditch Cup today, especially being up against Gryffindor who'd been undefeated this season. And it felt like Hufflepuff's strategies had also been getting a bit more brutal than when Aaron had first joined the team. It was just so different lately, flying with his team and competing on the pitch.

Had he helped even a little bit today? He thought he recalled scoring a couple of goals... And then there was the memory of participating in a foul against the Gryffindor seeker. Aaron winced at the thought as a guilt washed over him. He didn't like that part of the game. All the fouls and penalty laps that seemed to have consumed their team lately. As felt in today's game, he was starting to dread just walking onto the pitch in anticipation of such an event. He was trying to be a team player - he knew that sometimes it was necessary to play a bit dirty. Especially against a team like Gryffindor, with stupid @Rafael D'Spacito at the helm.

The hard-working Hufflepuff spent a portion of almost every day this school year practicing, trying to be the best chaser he could be, but it felt like he was getting nowhere. Maybe he wasn't cut out to be an athlete. At the thought, Aaron laid back down and buried his face into his pillow, feeling more tears in his eyes. He was genuinely feeling head pain and body soreness, yes, but he also felt overwhelming emotion about this sport that he had dedicated his Hogwarts years to.

He remembered his first trip to Diagon Alley when he had first been introduced to Quidditch. Ariana had shared with him her love for the sport, and it was by far the most interesting thing about the magical world to him. And as soon as he started at Hogwarts, he dedicated every ounce of his being into his flying classes, discovering a natural talent and love of being in the air. Professor Bercegeay had encouraged him, even letting him borrow school brooms outside of class hours to practice. He remembered such a practice session with Willow, an actual member of the team, and telling her how much he wanted to join the Hufflepuff team. He had even looked up to Rafael at one point since he was a Quidditch Captain after all, although their first meeting where he'd hoped to get some flying tips hadn't exactly panned out and began their rivalry.

Then the whole Blossom Ball disaster happened, and when Aaron had been really down in the dumps, what had ended lifting his spirits? Finding out he was chosen as Hufflepuff's Co-Captain just in time for the summer Durmstrang event. Bonding with the team during camp had been so cool, and he formed friendships he was sure would last his whole school career - maybe even longer! He learned a lot from working with the team captain @Quinn Healy, too. And then his parents had shown such support of him, sending him his first ever broom for the game against Durmstrang. Then when they won? That had been so amazing. It had been his first ever game and it took place at the London Quidditch Stadium, up against a really good team, and Hufflepuff had triumphed!

Still, there had been a lot more injuries in the game than he had expected, leading to an unfortunate hospital trip that followed. And then the weird vibes about his Captain and the eventual stepdown from his Co-Captainship. Some of his friends left the team after, like Willow and @Serena Towers.

Despite all of that, though, Aaron never wavered in his desire to be a professional Quidditch player. It was his dream after all, and something he thought he was good at! But then - why had this year felt like a slow decline? He felt like no matter how much he practiced, things weren't turning out like they should and he just wasn't improving.

So many of his friends had supported his dream, too. @Lydia Cooper. @Willow Anderson. @Maria Dee. @Atlas Reid. There were many others. They would all be so disappointed in him for giving up, wouldn't they? Would his Head of House @Caradoc Browne be disappointed, too?

And his parents... Well, maybe they'd be happy when they found out what he was planning to do. After all, he'd been lying to them. They thought Quidditch was a safe sport - that there were nets at the bottom to catch fliers if they fell, and they definitely didn't know about the iron bludgers that flew around giving people broken bones. He had felt so guilty after telling them that lie last year, but he had really wanted their support when he first told them about the sport, and he had just never come clean. Maybe now he could, because only one thing felt sure to him.

Today had been Aaron Jones' last day as a Quidditch player. He didn't want to play anymore.

At this thought, Aaron started to cry some more into his pillow, but not for long. He was startled by the sound of a hoot that sounded like it was right beside him. He jumped and looked to his side, seeing a familiar owl perched on the table by his bed. At the sight of his beautiful snowy owl, Aaron wiped his eyes and moved so he was sitting up more and could reach out to pet her head. She seemed to nuzzle into his hand, and it made him smile softly.

"Thanks, Chae," he said quietly, leaning forward and placing his forehead gently against the owl's for a moment. Maybe everything could still be okay.

---

Aaron would go through the motions for a few more weeks. It wasn't hard, since the Quidditch season was over. He would send a letter to @Ami Procoppio about stepping down just before the international schools arrived. With all the excitement surrounding the schools' arrival and the upcoming Blossom Ball, maybe he could just fade into the background and hide out in his dorm outside of classes. He didn't have the heart to face anyone right now, after feeling like such a let-down.