The Morning Walk PV R. Fairchild

𝓐h, the morning sunrise. The cold but welcoming breeze that sent tickles to her neck, making the girl giggle. Oh, Ruth loved walking in the morning. When the world had yet to wake up, when the day had just begun and everything felt fresh and new. When mistakes were yet to be made, and lives could have just begun.

It was also in the mornings did Ruth get to think mindlessly. She knew nobody’s brains functioned well in the mornings, and Ruth was just like everybody else. But she was able to ponder about big things that she couldn’t find the answers for but liked wondering about anyways. As she turned around, walking backwards to look at her friend Jan, she knew he couldn’t relate.

He walked in such strange ways. Jan looked as though he was close to stumbling, a slow subtle sway as he dragged his feet towards her direction, his eyes dead. Ruth thought to herself as she waited for him to reach her I should probably had left him to stay.

Or at the very least, allowed him to prepare for the walk. The poor boy was still in his sleep wear, sparking a guilty conscience on Ruth. How could she had ignored that one point? She clutched her shawl, then made a step closer to him to wrap the shawl around his neck. It was wrong for her to be wrapped up. Maybe they should go back. But no, they were too close to where Ruth wanted to take him. Besides, if she sent him back, she’d be in the lack of company.

Their personalities felt so wild and contradicting. She was observant and quiet before sparking off into conversation, whereas he was quiet and…quiet, while sparking off into Mr grumpy self! (Of course, this was Ruth’s train of thought in the morning. It isn’t entirely accurate, and she very well knew that. But calling him Mr Grumpy felt humorous and made her happy). Yet, she enjoyed his presence, and undoubtedly he did too. Why else would he have agreed to come? Ruth ignored the time it took to beg him, instead deciding to focus on the success of it.

At least, she thought that was the reason.

Was it, though?

Brushing aside the unsettling thought, Ruth grinned at the lad who was looking down. Bummer, he couldn’t see the cheeky smile she had installed for him. “I’m glad to be the one you make an exception to, then!” She chuckled, shaking her head. In a spur of a moment, she slipped her hand into his and tugged him forward to make him hurry up. His pace was just too slow for where they were heading. If they wanted to make it to breakfast on time, even have a few morsels of food left, they would have to speed up.

Not that they were very far, having passed the viaduct quite a few metres back.

She pushed on, escalating from a brisk walk to a jog, feeling the cold air begin to sting her throat. It felt so, so good. She made a glance back at Jan to check if he felt the same, then decided against it. Maybe not the best time, as they were getting closer to their destination.

The Quidditch stadium.

Its majestic structure awed Ruth. It wasn’t like anything she had seen before. Then again, she hadn’t seen a lot of things. “This is where I wanted to take you,” Ruth managed to say in between puffs of breaths, still clutching his hand as the two of them raced up the stairs together.

The sight from the top was brilliant. She could see the ends of the stadium, the view understandable what with the brooms meant to be zipping around. The fact that they were alone made the grandeur of it all even better.

As the both of them were from two different houses, Ruth paused at the stairs, humming to herself. Now where should they sit…? Ruth turned to Jan, raising a brow. “Well, where do you think we could rest?” She asked, letting go of him.

Interacting with @Jan Dehoff

OOC:

Reducio

No worrriiiiiess I feel bad for Jan lol

The shawl's warmth settled against Jan’s neck, unexpected and almost jarring as she wrapped it around him. He froze still once she finished, the cold air suddenly less biting. "Uh, you don—" The words barely escaped from his mouth but they were cut short when her hand shot out, gripping his wrist with a force that made him yelp.

His feet moved almost on instinct when she pulled, her pace leaving no room for protest or hesitation. Each step took them farther from what he knew, deeper into unfamiliar space, and yet, despite the unease curling at the edges of his thoughts, there was a strange sense of trust in the way she led him forward without saying anything further.

It wasn’t until then that they stopped at what seemed to be a large field surrounded. There were three tall, gleaming metal poles at either end of the field, each with a thin ring suspended from their heights, stirring in the chilly still air. Surrounding the expanse were wooden stands, stretching into the distance with a silent sea of empty seats. He knew in an instant for what it was—a stadium. But the strangeness of it held him, for he couldn't place what kind of sports event had ever filled these stands.

Jan realised his wrist was still in her grip, and the next thing he knew, she tugged a pull to the nearest wooden stand with a smile. He could tell that clearly she’s excited with whatever she’s going to reveal. Is she going to show him the view? The stand, towering above the rest of the field, surely did seem to offer a prime spot to take in the scenery.

“This is where I wanted to take you,” Ruth finally said at last. He could hear her breath coming in quick huffs as she raced up the stairs, dragging the poor ravenclaw boy with her. “Well, where do you think we could rest?”

“Just pick anywhere,” he shrugged his shoulder nonchalantly, continuing ascending ahead once she finally let go of his hand. “It’s not like there’s any event taking place here, right?”

Once reached the top of the stand, Jan stood there, catching his breath before he finally took in the full scope of the place around him. The field stretched out in front of them like a wide, blank canvas, with the air growing colder now, a sharp chill settling over everything. “The place is nice,” he admitted, sighing at the view once Ruth caught up with him. He picked a spot near the exit and settled into the seat. “Is this an abandoned stadium you discovered recently?”

𝕽uth turned to look at Jan as he asked, incredulous. “Abandoned?” she laughed out loud, hysterical of a sudden. “No, this is the quidditch stadium. The students play quidditch here.”

She sat down next to him, looking out. Ruth had read about Quidditch in the library of the schools, ad asked around. It seemed to be some form of sport in the sky, with brooms, quaffles and a golden ball they called snitch. Ruth had taken in as much information of the sport as she could, so much she could imagine the scene of a game playing right in front of her. Her eyes followed the imaginary seeker, held aloft by their broom, chasing after a minuscule ball that flitted away at an ever increasing pace.

Ruth leaned forward, letting her creativity flow out into the sky as she continued to spectate the figures only she could see, the quaffles being passed into the rings, back and forth. Slowly, the stands filled with ‘people’, cheering along with the commentator. She found herself smiling to herself as she continued to watch in silence, her eyes now following the seeker performing an alley Oop towards the snitch. The seeker’s uniform was clearer, now that Ruth had been able to make up her mind. A Hufflepuff.


Pride bloomed at the thought of her house winning the Quidditch cup. Anticipating along with the other ‘spectators’, she watched as the seeker’s hand stretched out, grazing the ball and clasping it. Thundering cheers. It felt so real. Ruth’s grin grew wider as the seeker raised the snitch, now caught, up in the sky, revealing the seeker’s face.

Ruth’s.

She looked down immediately and the imagination came crashing down, enveloping her with reality. She turned to look at Jan, who obviously hadn’t seen anything, then back out into the open, sighing. “I would like to be a par of the Quidditch team, I think,” she fiddled with her hands. “I don’t think I’d do a great job at being a beater. I’m not all that powerful…

“But maybe a chaser? I used to play catch with my little brother, Ace, all the time. There won’t be much difference between catching a quaffle and throw them into the hoops, is there? What about a keeper, hm. No, I don’t think so,” she shook her head, contemplating. Surely she was just rejecting all these roles because of that vision? Ruth wasn’t a seer. That was just mindless daydreaming. But what if…?

What if she was a seeker? Ruth was pretty observant. I’d think I should be able to spot it fairly easily. And she was slick, too. Her evasion tactics when it came to sneaking out to go to the library were pretty much successful. “Maybe one day I’ll get to become a seeker,” Ruth declared, miming her catching a snitch. “I’d search for it and bam! Once I spot it, I’d swoop and go—catching it at once! It’d barely see me coming.” She clenched her fist, holding it up in the air and whooping out into the stadium. Maybe she should go for try outs, sign up for it. It wouldn’t hurt.

Ruth sighed happily to herself, content with the decision, then leaned back. “What about you Jan? Would you like to play Quidditch? Be a keeper, chaser maybe?” Ruth pointed at the hoops. “If you were a keeper, you wouldn’t really have to go anywhere else but just stay there, I think. Chasers just get the quaffles and fling them. It’s like muggle sports, you know!” she was pretty sure he did, since he was clueless about anything wizardry on the train ride to Hogwarts, where they first met.

“And seekers, they catch the snitch to end the game. However, in the end, winner’s always the one with the most points.”

Interacting with: @Jan Dehoff

Quidditch? What is Quidditch?

Jan glanced at Ruth and slightly tilted his head, his eyebrows arching as he tried to piece together the words that had just been spoken. There’s so many wizarding terms that he hadn’t yet learned. He hadn't had enough connections who would elaborate (of course, with the exception of Koko, his senior) nor is he a huge fan of books.

Ruth must’ve seen the confused expression on his face because she ended up explaining each role in the Quidditch and eventually, he got the concept of it. Ah, so it's similar to football, he thought to himself as Ruth continued to talk. I guess that’s one way to put it.

It was odd to know how much she knew about the wizarding world despite the both of them coming from the same world; but then again, she might’ve spent her time reading in the library. It really did come out as a surprise that she’s not sorted into Ravenclaw. “Thanks for explaining.”

He gave some time to think about it before answering. He wasn’t expecting to sign up for a wizarding sport at Hogwarts, especially when he’s unfamiliar with it; but now that he knows about Quidditch, it doesn't hurt to try for it, right? He had once signed up to be a part of an official football club in his old school so he might be able to hone the same skills into Quidditch.

“Sure, why not?” He shrugged, “I might sign up as a keeper for my team, though.”

𝕽uth nodded at his decision, then grinned, remembering something. “Why not a seeker? You caught my chocolate frog after all.”she giggled at the memory, reminiscing Jan rolling his sleeves up and bracing himself for the catch. She could have done it herself, but seeing him ready to leap for the frog made her hold back. With that concentration and swift accuracy, he could be great for being a seeker.

Ruth was sure Jan knew that. His grin back in the compartment said it all. Still, if he picked to be a keeper, there was bound to be a reason. She shrugged back at him, “But if you think you’d be a good keeper, that’s your decision.” she patted his back. “We should definitely sign up together. Golly, wouldn’t it be fun to be competing against each other?” if they really did end up being a keeper and seeker separately, chances of actually going against each other weren’t as common as it would be seeker to seeker.

Ruth threw her hands back, supporting her head as she gazed up into the sky. The sun had come out, spraying them with warmth on the cold day. “There’s still other sports at this school, though. Such as dueling and broom racing. I’m not very sure about those two though, maybe someday I’ll get to try all of them out. Hey, we could go try dueling sometimes! I heard we don’t have to be in the sport itself to try out,” She wasn’t sure how good she would be at it, and unsure whether Jan was either. Still, to do something with her friend would be absolutely amazing. All the more reasons to spend time with Jan Dehoff.

She reverted her gaze back to Jan, still nestled under her scarf. Her lips perked up into a smile. They should definitely go for more walks together. This felt very nice. Thanks for coming along, Jan.

And maybe next time make him bring his own scarf. He was starting to look to comfortable in hers (at least, that’s what she thought).

End.

Interacting with @Jan Dehoff