Beginning of the Future PV Anastasia B. Closed

Flushed and out of breath, Søren gripped onto his broom for dear life. He watched as Ana drowned herself in laughter. In any other circumstance, in front of someone who wasn’t his dear friend, his brows would have probably creased, anger boiling within his system towards the person laughing. Maybe a tear or two, coating his waterline. The eleven-year-old didn’t like to be laughed at. It was something he got used to when it came from adults; they would always laugh at young kids pretending to know what they were doing. But when other kids laughed at him, the pure arrogance tended to jump out. How dare they laugh at him? A Silverwood?!

Thankfully, he’s been in this situation with Ana before, sometimes even vice versa, when they were younger. The familiarity of the situation caused the blood pounding in his head to subside and he dissolved into a fit of giggles, mirroring his friend. Wiping the sweat off his forehead with the unprotected part of his sleeve, he stared in awe at Ana as she copied his Sloth Grip Roll, executing it with ease. So, this is what they meant when they said that second years were more experienced?

“T-that’s so unfair,” he slurred, wobbling his spindly arms that were reminiscent of the instant noodles he snuck into his trunk. “Why are you stronger that me? I can’t have that,” he breathed heavily, previous actions already tiring him out. Gosh, he would really have to do something about this. He would definitely need to work on his lack of upper body strength. Beater wasn’t his first choice, but if it were the only spot available, he would take it without a second thought, and his mandrake arms would definitely not help him in that situation.

Brought out of his thoughts by Ana’s teasing, he smiled once again. Her laughter wasn’t dainty, but he loved to hear it. The sound somehow quelled what little homesickness he had left. “Hm, would you consider a bribe? A dozen chocolate frogs?” he proposed. Extortion would be useless; he had nothing on her. But bribery? It could work.

@Anastasia Beckett

@Søren Silverwood

After catching her breath, Ana glanced at her friend. He didn't seem too traumatized by her mild mockery, which was good since they had been mocking one another for as long as Ana could remember. Even though Ana had mellowed a bit with age, she had always been on the spirited and exuberant side. That wasn't something that her parents had particularly liked, as shown by the constant lectures as to what someone of her status and birth was expected to do and how she was expected to behave and how she was failing to do any of it. It wasn't actually the best thing for a child's mental health.

"Ah, don't worry, young one," Ana said, with an air of mature wisdom as though she was an old mage and not a thirteen-year-old girl. "Someday after many years of training, you too will be able to be as strong as I am." She flexed on her last words like she was a bodybuilder. Truth be told, she didn't appear as strong as she was. Years of ballet and flying had made her naturally skinny build more muscular, which came in handy when she was trying to show off like she now was.

"Two dozen and I might consider it," she said after considering his offer of bribery for a moment. She had quite a few of the cards, but she was still trying to get the full set and the odds were always better if you opened more frogs at once. Also, chocolate was always appreciated. Shifting her focus back to her friend, or more accurately, his complete lack of flying skills. "Alright, moving on from whatever we're going to call that mess, let's have a look at your turns."

Turns were fairly basic, but being able to turn sharply when you flying quickly in the middle of a Quidditch game could be the difference between getting knocked from your broom and catching the Golden Snitch. As much as Ana liked the more complex and intricate flying maneuvers, and she did, she wasn't one to ignore the basics, since they were basic and fundamental for a reason.

Søren laughed as Ana made herself seem larger, both in words and body. He didn’t have the heart – or maybe he was just too tired – to point out that, while she was stronger than a few people he knew, she still had a ways to go before he would consider her strong. Physically, of course. Mentally, he could assume that Ana was truly quite strong. She had to be if her family was anything like his. Yet, the girl was considered for the Quidditch team and had surely gained more muscle throughout the years. Not that he’d been paying attention to all that, of course.

He moved to hover lower than her, displaying a physical representation of her words. “Oh, great one. Please bestow onto me your knowledge and power.” He held out his hands for a mock offering before raising his chin to give a wink. “Deal, two dozen chocolate frogs it is. And if I open one of those ultra-rare ones, I’ll pass them to you. Just never mention that again.” Truth be told, he was never much of a card collector. It probably stemmed from the fact that his parents never bought him chocolate frogs as a child. His gifts were much more superfluous, with a couple of the trademark treats thrown in here and there.

“I would say let’s kick it up a notch, but somehow practicing turns is still more than what I’ve been doing in flying class. I mean, it’s flying class for Merlin’s sake. At least let me fly,” he complained, mostly mumbled to himself as he shook himself off from the momentary distraction. Falling into the still-uncomfortable stance with his hands placed on the broom, he started moving. After a single lap around the pitch, Søren began executing a few turns. The were serviceable, he thought, but looked rather janky to the outside eye. After another lap, he continued with turns that were sharper, but still not as smooth as the ones of those on the house Quidditch teams.

He made his way back to Ana. “Need more practice with those, I think. But still passable, right?” He flashed his pearly whites, as if that would do anything.

@Anastasia Beckett

@Søren Silverwood

Ana pretended to pout before laughing with Søren at her flexing and peacocking. She wasn't especially physically strong or weak, which was fine with her, as brawn wasn't where her talents lied. If she was in danger or had to fight someone, her go-to would of course be her wand, and even in Quidditch, she realized more on her agility and speed than raw strength. Still, it was working out pretty well for her thus far. She grinned for a moment before turning her attention back to the task at hand.

She tossed her ponytail haughtily as he hovered slightly lower before bursting into another round of laughs. This wasn't a particularly productive round of flying assistance, but she hoped they were getting a bit done. "It's a deal," she said, after pretending to contemplate it for a moment. She wasn't a particular collector of chocolate frog cards, as her parents said it was immature and a pastime that was far beneath her, but she quite enjoyed the chocolate, so she would always accept them when offered. Her parents and ballet teacher were rather annoyed by her sweet tooth, so practically anything containing sugar was a way to make Ana happy.

She pressed her lips together and wrinkled her nose slightly as she watched his turns. They were by no means bad, but they certainly had room for improvement. "Those could definitely use a bit of work, but passable," she said. "Part of that's the garbage school broom though. You should definitely start pestering your parents about getting something a bit better." She cocked her head to the side as she thought for a moment. It wouldn't do him much good for them to practice any Quidditch maneuvers that required more than one person, as those depended as much on the skill of his teammates as his own skill, and there was exactly zero chance of Ana being on the Slytherin Quidditch team at any point in the near future. "How long does it take you to go from a dead stop to full speed? And vice versa for that matter?" That depended a bit more on his broom, but there was still a decent amount of skill needed to do it.