A Simple Kind of Warmth PV Dale Kurt Closed

@Lark Flaer

Dale enjoyed walking around, especially on slow days like these. Taking a nice walk around the castle and seeing all the beautiful sites was a simple but enjoyable thing. But by far one of his most favorite places to go, aside from the grounds, was the quidditch training pitch. Quidditch was something that interested him a lot, now he would never play the sport, but he liked to watch it. He could be often found at most of the games, cheering on his house. But the training pitch had a much different atmosphere than when there was a game going on, the atmosphere was much more calming and relaxing, most people training didn't mind Dale sitting in the bleachers, reading or doing some work from his classes.

But as Dale arrived at the pitch, he could see that there was only one person at the pitch today. Dale guessed he shouldn't have been surprised, it was December after all, it was pretty cold outside, and from what Dale remembered there went any games coming up. As he arrived at the pitch, he took a seat in the bleachers, the same seat he would usually take, near the back, it provided a good view, but most times during the games, he could never get a seat like that.

Dale looked down at the person training, he hadn't been to the pitch for a bit, but he peered closer to see if he could make out who it was. The girl had red hair... well it was a mix of red and blondish, it was more like rose gold, what unique hair color to have, Dale could only think of... one person to have hair like that... Dale moved down a few seats down to try to see better, as he got a better look of the girl he had been right! It was Lark! Dale had no idea the girl played Quidditch, He raised his hand and was about to call out to her. But he stopped himself, maybe calling out to her would distract her, and distract him from doing his work... an effect only Lark had on him. He deiced his studies could wait, he hadn't seen Lark for such a long time, and she had quickly become one of Dale's closest friends, granted there wasn't much competition. "Hey! Lark!" He called out, having his hand above his head.

✧༝┉┉┉┉┉˚*❋ @Dale Kurt ❋*˚┉┉┉┉┉༝✧

Shaking out the chill that had settled in her shoulders, Lark took a moment to let out a long breath. The cold almost instantly constricting her lungs and making her cough. Maybe practicing out here before break had been a bad idea. After-all if she came home with a cold her Mother would most likely had a fit.

Someone yelling out made the girl look around. Who had? Had it been her name, it almost sounded it but she had been a bit too zoned out to notice. Peering around the pitch before turning her gaze upwards she noticed someone waving to her. It was Dale! Something fluttered in the young girl's chest.

"Hey!" She yelled back and returned his wave, motioning for him to join her. What had he been doing out here? He had mentioned wandering around the grounds when he needed time to himself and enjoyed the quiet. Maybe he had been trying to enjoy some quiet before his trip home like she was. Or had he been looking for her? A crimson blush filled the girl's cheeks and she found herself thankful for the cold air to blame it on in case Dale noticed by the time he joined her.

@Lark Flaer

Seeing that Lark was motioning to come to where she was, down at the field. Dale looked around to try an easy way down there, no such thing. He would have to walk all the way around... they really made these pitches as inconvenient as possible didn't they. Dale started to make his way down to the training grounds, he was excited to see Lark, maybe for the last time before the break, he hadn't seen her since the whole... ball ordeal, and the medical wing thing. As he got closer to the entrance of the field, the more the weird feeling in his gut grew... was he getting sick? Hopefully not...

Dale jogged over to where Lark, he was still a bit not used to her new look, he still remembered her having the silver hair that he had grown used to her having, he wondered if she would change it back? Or maybe she couldn't, he didn't wanna ask and seem rude, he would have to try to find a book on Metamorphmaguses later. "I didn't know you played for the quidditch team! W-when did you join?" This was the first time Dale had seen her come out here to practice, so it must've been recent.

✧༝┉┉┉┉┉˚*❋ @Dale Kurt ❋*˚┉┉┉┉┉༝✧

Waiting for Dale to make his way over to her, she stretched her legs hoping warmth would work their way back into her already sore muscles. In all honesty she hadn't expected Quidditch to be this physically demanding. Prior to Hogwarts she had only listened to her father talk about the game and assumed it was mostly flying brooms and throwing a ball around. How quickly she learned after practicing with Ruthie and having tryouts. There was a lot more intricacy to the game.

Looking up she saw Dale jogging closer, a smile snaking its way across her lips. He was so much taller than her and looked so much older than he was. Admiring his stride, Lark tried to not get too carried away with daydreaming about the boy.

"I didn't know you played for the quidditch team! W-when did you join?"

Rubbing at the back of her neck, Lark gave a small laugh showing her breath in the cool Scottish air. "Yeah... Sort of still new ta me. I hadn't even seen it played til I came here." She felt awkward about it but was glad to be part of the team.. and even more glad to be second string. Her nerves were still a bit too much during games and she didn't want to let her mates down. Compared to the other players she knew she was low man on the totem pole both with knowledge and ability. Her father had been so excited he bought her a broom after she mentioned wanting to simply try out, thanks to her recent friendship with Ruthie and bonding over the girl's love for Quidditch. After the Ball she just wanted to feel not so useless... be a part of something. Still, the reactions she would get to being on the team made her wince a little knowing it probably seemed absolutely strange to them for her to be part of the team, much stranger than her recent change of appearance.

"What were you doin' out here?" The young Ravenclaw asked curiously, her head tilting slightly to one side.

@Lark Flaer

"Yeah... Sort of still new ta me. I hadn't even seen it played til I came here."

Dale was glad he didn't do quidditch, as much he loved watching the sport, he would not only be very bad at it, he would also have to go against Lark, knowing him he'd probably fall off of his broom mid-way through the game.

While Lark was laughing he could see her breath in the air, Dale had no idea it was that cold. He honestly getting a bit too warm, maybe it was the combination of wearing a long-sleeve with a hoodie. Lark wasn't wearing an extra layer, and she looked a bit cold... maybe he could offer her his hoodie, not like he needed it anyways.

Before he could ask, Lark asked him why he was here... "Well... uhh" Dale looked over to the right side of the pitch, he didn't really know how to explain he just wandered around when he was bored... at least without seeming very weird. "I... wanted to get some fresh air?" Dale said with a nervous laugh, he noticed that slowly his stutter was going away, mostly he was glad he wasn't as awkward and nervous around Lark anymore.

"By the way, are you a bit cold?"

✧༝┉┉┉┉┉˚*❋ @Dale Kurt ❋*˚┉┉┉┉┉༝✧

Fresh air? Lark grinned and eyed Dale closely, a single silvery brow raised. "Oh really? Not following me out here then?" She teased not actually having anticipated that Dale would've done something like that. They had gone to the ball together but were friends.. right? Ugh boys were confusing. She hadn't even expected anyone else to be outside either when it was this cold. Another chill ran through her, maybe going in would be a good idea... plus her stomach was starting to grow in protest at her having chosen to skip out on breakfast that day. The couple of sandwiches she had from lunch were completely gone from her belly making tiny hungry pains pinch at her insides.

"By the way, are you a bit cold?"

She thought about denying the fact but was sure the truth would be plastered all over her face. "Yeah...yeah.. actually." Lark felt embarrassed not being more prepared. Part of her had anticipated practicing a bit harder and not noticing the cold as much. "I ah... guess I shoulda brought more than my uniform out." She huffed now realizing just how cold she was not moving around. Ruthie most likely would give her an earful if this ended up with Lark catching some sort of cold and meant missing on other practices or worse, an actual game.

@Lark Flaer

Lark was teasing him... not something he was used to, and it was definitely not good for his heart, "Oh really? Not following me out here then?" She said while directly eyeing him, His heart skipped a beat and his face went red, a wave of heat ran over him, not helping with how warm he was already. "I- uhh..." Dale looked away and rubbed his neck, he decided to teas back a little, he looked at her, eyeing her directly, "hmm maybe I was... Dale said with a teasing smile.

Lark had confirmed his suspicions of being cold, he took off his hoodie, it was one of his favorites, a light blue one with a small amount of text in the middle of it, it was pretty good at doing its job... sometimes a bit too good. he tossed it over to lark, "We can't have our star quidditch player getting sick now." he said with a smile.

It felt nice to talk to Lark again... it felt familiar, it had only been a few months since that had first met in the study hall, but it had felt like they had known each other since forever, even if they had hung out once or twice now... or atleast it felt like that.

✧༝┉┉┉┉┉˚*❋ @Dale Kurt ❋*˚┉┉┉┉┉༝✧

Lark held back a small laugh as she realized how her teasing got to the boy, his face turning a fine shade of red. Admittedly something about getting him flustered made her smile, although she had no idea why.

"hmm maybe I was...

Lark crinkled her nose and mockingly shook her head at Dale. "I seeeee.." It was a nice change of pace between the two. The more time they spent together the more comfortable she felt around Dale. Another wave of shivers made her realize as much as she wanted to spend time with Dale that she also didn't want to freeze to death before they could both get to know each other better. She was about to ask if he wanted to go back into the castle with her and maybe head to dinner when Dale took off his hoodie. Something about the small action shook the girl in another way. After the ball Dale had seemed different. Not in a bad way but there was something more... mature. The way his jawline framed his face, shoulders square and his posture much less gawky. He looked more confident standing in front of her and it took her a moment to pull back to reality and away from admiring the boy as he tossed his hoodie in her direction. Fumbling with it for a moment before holding it in her hands, Lark stared at it blankly.

"We can't have our star Quidditch player getting sick now."

This too felt different.. different from their normal friendship. She remembered one of the older girls in the Common Room fawning over her friend who was bragging about a Gryffindor boy letting her borrow his sweatshirt after a walk outside. What... What did this mean? Quickly returning the smile, Lark pulled the hoodie over her head. The warmth was a welcomed gift as she stretched her arms into the sleeves.

"Well.." She held her hands up, sleeves drooping over her hands and bottom of the hoodie setting just above her knees, more like a dress than a sweatshirt. She gave a playful laugh as she struck a pose. "Is this the height of Muggle fashion?"

@Lark Flaer

Dale smirked, Of course it is, in case you haven't noticed, I have great fashion sense." he said while motioning to the rest of his outfit, just a regular t-shirt and jeans... not exactly the most stylish thing one could wear.

Lark didn't exactly fit in his hoodie, but for some reason, he doubted many people could fit into his size, he had grown a lot over the summer, which he didn't really like initially, made him stick out more in a crowd, but he slowly got used to stares... but he still wondered why he got so many stares when he walked through crowded places, it was a little offputting to him... always made him think that there was something on his face...

Dale's stomach growled, his face a went a little red from embarrassment, he didn't think he was all that hungry... But he had come prepared because he had planned to stay out here until pretty late. "Are you hungry at all?" Dale asked as he reached into his bag and pulled out a sandwich and a canister of soup, the canister had a plastic spoon attached to it, he had picked it up before leaving the castle. He offered the soup to Lark, "Sorry... this is all I brought with me." If Dale knew he was going to run into Lark he would've brought a little more food. He rarely got to hang out with her...