To the Broomracer pv Zephyr Deakin

Zephyr was up for more than two hours now and that was normal for him. Any morning habit he developed back home, he never really unlearned that habit. He already finished his usual stretches and a bit of flying practice earlier that morning to get his body moving and his clear his head. It helped him think or not think at all. There’s been a lot on his mind lately with added responsibilities to him, his focus has been messy. Adjustment to it takes time again. Even good things felt heavy when they’re all coming at once.

He was jogging his way to the lake to meet with Cassie as the girl sent him a note to meet. His only guess was she wanted to talk to him about the club they’re managing together. Or it could be something he helped with before. It’s no big deal to him, he’s always liked helping others. He easily spotted her as the lake came into full view.

He slowed to a stop and tried catching his breath, one hand resting on his hip before he straightened up. His sleeves were pushed up and his face was sweaty from the exercise. “Hi Cassie…” walking to her the rest of the way. “Sorry if I’m a bit late, I was doing my usual run.” There was a hint of curiosity lacing in his tone as he noticed what she’s holding. “You said you wanted to meet, is everything okay? You need help with the club?” There was no worry in his voice, he was curious more than anything.

Seeing the Hufflepuff boy, Zephyr Deakin, appearing in her sight, Cassie smiles and waves to him. 'Hi Zephyr!' she says in a cheerful voice. 'It is alright.' Cassie says when the boy apologizes for being late. It is so polite of him to do so, for it is still a minute before their agreed time. 'You are jogging in the morning? I do that too! You know, I am preparing for the spring royalty activity and I need to exercise more to increase my stamina. It's curious I've never met you during my morning jogs, the lakeside must be just too big.' Cassie says as she gives the huge lake beside them a look. 'Maybe we can jog together sometime in the future.'

Cassie takes a deep breath and turns the topic to her gift. 'Everything is alright, and it's not club issues!' she hands the yellow gift box to Zephyr. 'Here!' she looks at the boy, smiling as she studies his facial expressions. 'I made this at the Ramadan errand. I thought of you when we were asked to make gifts to friends. You did help me a lot in our club!'

She pauses for a second, and continues, 'I don't know what you might want, but I know you are on your house's broomracing team, right? So...' she is about to introduce the gift when she decides it would be a better idea to let the boy see for himself, she can make explanations afterwards. 'Have a look! I hope you will like it.' she waits eagerly for the boy to open the box and see the gift.

@Zephyr Deakin

It’s still a bit early but Cassie’s energy was a lot, it was nice to see her enthusiastic and happy. “You jog too?” Somehow that came as a surprise to him because he never met her around, or at least in areas he frequently visit. She commented on the place being big for the two of them, why they haven’t really encountered each other while jogging. It’s easy to miss people even if you’re both out there. “I usually stick around the outdoor club area more. Sometimes I come here after spending some time there, but not all the time. It depends if I feel like running or flying on my broom.”

Spring royalty activity?

His brows lifted at that. “What do you mean? You’re competing?” There was interest in his voice now. “What are you doing for it?” He had no idea about the specifics or mechanics of that event but it had been the talk of the town for a while now. At her suggestion to go jogging together, he shrugged and nodded without thinking too much about it. “Of course, we can do that. Who knows I can give you enough inspiration to stay consistent if you really need the workout before your competition.” He smirked, “Running alone gets boring sometimes.” He had not forgotten why they were meeting. “So, you called me here just to talk about jogging?” His grin forming already, “Or is there something else?” His eyes went to the box again, curiosity still there.

Not club issues? That was what she said and the box he’d been eyeing was given to him. For a second there, he couldn’t move and just stared at it in his hands. “A gift?” His brain was still trying to catch up as he looked at her in confusion. He didn’t expect a sweet gesture such as this, that’s all. “You made this? For me?” According to Cassie, it was from the Ramadan errand and that she thought of him, his expression softened upon hearing that. He was familiar with the event because he was a part of it. She thought of me? “You didn’t have to do this…it’s natural for me to help, I love helping other people.” It was normal and expected of him to offer his help whenever he can. But even as he said that, he knew it meant something to her. She wouldn’t just make this for no reason.

She was aware that he was part of his house broom racing team, news really travels fast huh? His smile naturally appeared. “I am, still trying to get better at it.” His eyes went back to the box. Now he was really curious so when she invited him to open it, he complied. “Okay then…” more to himself as he slowly opened it. The moment he saw what was inside, jade eyes went wide. “Woah...” He was staring at a miniature broom of a firebolt. He picked it up and turned it around to look at the details. “It’s a Firebolt…” He couldn’t believe it, and at the base, there was message. Our future’s best broomracer.

He didn’t know what to say or how to react. All he could do was looked at Cassie in surprise. Warm spread through his face and his ears. “You really made this yourself?” He needed a confirmation even though she already said so herself. “This is the coolest thing ever! I didn’t know you do wood carving too? I wasn’t expecting this at all.” Looking at the broom again, his smile remained. “No one’s ever made me something like this before.” At least outside his family. When he glanced at her again, there was a bit of awkwardness in the air as he didn’t fully know how to react properly. “And why me though? I get the club thing, but this one, feels like a lot.” He was not rejecting it at all. If anything, he was just trying to understand why he mattered for her to do this.

'Yep, I do!' From Zephyr's words, she can tell that the boy is surprised. Cassie was a bit surprised when she first saw Zephyr jogging here, but since he looks fit and slender, the fact that he exercises often isn't that much of a surprise. He then explains that he usually jogs by the outdoor club area. 'No wonder we've never seen each other before.' Cassie smiles, that explains it. 'I usually jog by the lake, because I'm really attracted by the beautiful scenery and the ethereal mist here. I've never tried broomracing before, so I'm not really familiar with the outdoor club area. I should explore it sometimes.'

Cassie is a little surprised when she sees the confused look on Zephyr's face. It has been on everyone's lips for quite a while, she doesn't expect him to know so little about it. 'Oh I have entered for the spring royalty pageant. And I'm planning to do a six-act Ballet performance. I've made a booklet about my performance and the interactions you could do.' she says excitedly as she reaches for her pockets, and realizes that her robe isn't with her. 'Oh. I don't have any of them with me right now, but I can send you a copy later if you'd like. I also put a few copies on the shelves of the library!'

Cassie's eyes brimm with excitement when she hears that Zephyr approves of her idea. 'I agree! Having a jogging partner definitely adds fun to the exercise. Thank you.' she smiles.

Cassie notices that Zephyr has glanced at the yellow gift box for a few times. Her grin grows deeper as she sees how surprised the boy is. He explains that it is natural for him to help others. 'It might feel totally natural to you, but you truly deserve this gift.' she says softly. In fact, seeing helping others as second nature is one of the most precious traits.

'Making it into the broomracing team is not an easy thing to do! You'll sure master this sport soon.' Cassie says, 'I used to be on the Quidditch team, but... anyways.' she decides not to talk that much about her experiences. After all, she is still waiting for him to look at the gift.

And the moment comes.

As Cassie's smile grows deeper than ever, Zephyr opens the box and looks carefully at the wooden miniature. A wave of warmth washes over her when she hears her gift being called 'the coolest thing ever'. 'Aww, it warms my heart to hear that!' she explains, 'You know, I am a part-goblin. So I learnt metal-crafting at a young age. And since I knew metal-crafting, why not learn wood-crafting as well, I thought. In my home, I have a display of the small wooden sculptures I made. But this one,' she looks at the yellow box, 'is my proudest piece.'

She stands in silence, smiling as the boy takes a closer look at the wood carving. She is delighted, for she knew her efforts and heart are cherished. She collects herself, noticing that Zephyr is looking at her. She notices the awkward silence, but she just smiles and realizes that she is blushing a bit. Zephyr breaks the silence first, by asking why Cassie made the gift for him. Cassie thinks for a moment, recalling her feelings when she was making the miniature. She can only remember how the name popped naturally to her mind when she was thinking of whom to give the gift to.

'You see,' she talks in a soft voice, 'at the very beginning of this school year, I don't have many true friends.' She doesn't know why, but the boy's prescence always makes her feel calm. She decides to tell him a bit about her past experiences, especially what she went through the past year, something she never shares details with others before, if he'd like to listen.

'That's a long story, are you in a rush?' Cassie looks at her side and sees a long wooden bench facing the vast lake, perfect for story-telling. 'Here.' she hands him a tissue, 'there's still a tiny bit of sweat on your nose.'

@Zephyr Deakin

"It’s hard to beat this view. I just defaulted to the club area when after jogging, I wanted to practice flying. Her excitement about the spring royalty pageant was very apparent with her tone of voice and the way her face would brighten every time she mentioned ballet. “A six-act ballet? What does it mean?” He was trying to picture it but since he had no idea about ballet and it's movement, he couldn't relate much. As for the booklet, he was confused, "Why do you need a booklet for your performance? Is that for the audience so they know what you're doing?" He was imaging a full guide for her ballet performance. "I wouldn’t mind seeing it sometime, you got me curious now.” It was more out of curiosity hence he wanted to see it. "Where did you even learn ballet? Six acts sounded a lot. That’s not just something you decide easily, I assume? So, I’m guessing there’s a story there.”

It was easy for him to agree to the jogging idea because it's already natural for him to do on a daily basis. "Glad to be of help if that will mean keeping you consistent, or at least try to." Doing it early wouldn't be a problem for him, since he's a morning person.

When they conversation shifted back to the gift, he stared at the miniature Firebolt. Her words about him deserving it was flattering. He didn’t know what to do with praise like that as it was not often given in this form. The older girl was very thoughtful. “Still trying not to fall off half the time.” A chuckled came out, not at all embarrassed to admit it to her. Another thing caught his attention. "Wait, so you used to be part of the quidditch team? What happened then, why did you stop?"

He still couldn't believe that someone made something like this for him. When Cassie revealed she was part-Goblin, his eyebrows lifted in surprise which he couldn't hide. Pure and unfiltered curiosity breaking through his composure. “Part-goblin?” He looked at her curiously as if assessing what he already knew about her. That explains the craftsmanship, as it's ridiculously precise. "Is the metalcrafting a goblin thing?” Following it with a careful correction, realising how it sounded. “Sorry...not a thing, I just mean, is that something you’re naturally good at because of it? Or something you’re taught early?”

How embarrassing his curiosity spilled out once it got going. It happened when he met a Veela and Metamorphmagus too. “I’ve met a Veela before, and a Metamorphmagus, this is another information for me. I hope you don't mind my curiosity." And she wouldn't find him rude and as much as he wanted to control himself, he cannot. “Does it feel different? Being part-goblin? You know...does it change how you experience things? Or is it more just part of your background?” She called the Firebolt her proudest piece, “With how it turned out, I can easily tell it's very important to you.”

“You said you didn’t have many true friends at the start of the year, what changed?” He's willing to hear it from her, "I'm not in a rush, I have time. I’m a better listener than I am a talker anyway.” He walked with her toward the bench without hesitation and settled down once they reached it. The morning air was cool against his skin, it was refreshing. When she handed him the tissue, he was surprised and laughed as he grabbed it from her. “Didn’t even realise...” He wiped his nose with mild embarrassment, though his expression stayed neutral.