Closed Flying High Keith Moore

"Aye," Colin said quietly. "He was a good lad. Liam. Best brother a boy could ask for, and I've got three brothers! Well ---" he paused "--- two now. We never really got on with Alex or Angus. We loved to run and swim and fight and study and draw together! He was mad for potions and herbs. I love astronomy and charms. We drove everyone mad by talking in our own language. Moira, she's our older sister, she would give us each a thump and tell us to speak plain! Da got us though. He was a twin too, and he once told us that he and his brother did the same when they were at Hoggys."

What Colin heard after he told Keith about his lycanthropy melted his heart.

"You are not a monster, and I still want to be friends with you."

He whispered a silent prayer of thanksgiving, that friends found their way to him rather than enemies! Colin opened his eyes and saw that Keith had stood up and was offering his hand. Colin was very tempted to --- he smirked at the younger boy.

The smirk turned into a huge grin as he smiled up at Keith, showing him all his fangs. He grabbed Keith's hand, and --- yanked him down to the grass with a merry laugh! His bright green eyes sparkled with mischief and he rolled his new friend over onto his back and pinned his shoulders! "You won the race, Keith, let's see you win this! Liam and me were great wrestlers! And yeah, I'd love to go down to the lake! It is bonny --- I like to draw down there! But first, let's play!"

@Keith Moore

Word count: 210
Interacting with: @Colin McCoire
Permission to god-model Keith in the wrestling match,

Colin noticed something about Keith as they wrestled and talked. And that was that Keith didn't talk much. He wondered about that. Was he one of those kids that felt like he had to hide everything? Or was he just shy? Colin remembered being shy about this time last year, when he first started Hoggys. He also understood having to hide things... Of course, all that stopped as he found friends. Maybe it was just normal? Or maybe he never had anyone to talk to?

Time to find out if this lad can talk!

"YEEEP!"

Keith grabbed Colin's arms, wrapped his legs around Colin's back and flipped him over! "Crikey lad!" Colin said as they went down, this time Colin on his back! They wrestled around on the grass for a while and Colin decided get Keith to talk. "So tell me! Do you have any brothers or sisters? You're pretty good at this, Keith, so you must have practiced!"

It took a bit of work, but Colin managed to hook Keith's leg with his own and bring him down again. Pinning him again, he said: "I won't let up until you spill all your secrets!" But he didn't mean that of course! He'd be happy with just some secrets, and he laughed as he stood up. This time it was Colin's turn to offer his hand. "Come on lad, let's go down to the lake and talk proper!"

@Keith Moore

Wc:237
Interacting with: @Colin McCoire

"I HAD a sister."

Four words that stung Colin in his very heart. Visions of his own little sister Ciarán danced in his imagination as he walked down towards the lake with Keith, his robes and shirt tied into a bundle to his broomstick and that slung over his shoulder. She was his favourite. More like him than even Liam in many ways. Colin's heart broke for this green haired boy and he felt tears beginning to flow in the corners of his own eyes. "I'm so sorry laddie. I've a younger sister at home and I'd go mad if Ciarán were taken me."

He rubbed his eyes with the heel of his free hand. Colin knew for sure he'd found a friend he shared a deep connexion with. "So, what are your favorite thing about Hogwarts? I ask more questions than anything, so I hope you won't mind if I spit out a bunch of random questions. I don't talk a lot, but if you get me started I will talk a bunch," Keith said.

Colin laughed and draped his left arm over Keith's shoulders. "Favourite things about Hoggys he asks!" Colin said excitedly "It'd take years to go down that whole list, boyo!" He paused for a moment, thinking about Liam and Ciarán and the time he'd been at Hogwarts --- the answer was obvious to Colin. "Best thing of all, Greenman," he said ruffling Keith's bright green hair, "is friends. Aye. Sometimes ye'll make a friend and they disappear; and sometimes they betray you, aye, that happens; but more often, ye find someone loyal, someone you can talk to about the hard things, someone ye can just be yourself around! Aye, lad, that's the best!"

Colin led Keith over towards the tall tree that overhung the water. He leaned his broom and bundle up against the broad trunk and sat at the tree's deep roots. "Bailey and Jarael and me climbed up there last year," he said, leaning back and pointing way up near the top. "I had me hair black then. Jarael found some wee baby birdies up there in need of feeding. So I dug around in the mud there by the lakeside for worms. Greenman, my mouth was full of worms and mud, but I climbed all the way up so she and Bails could feed the birdies! That was grand. I miss Jarael."

He leaned back against the trunk, its rough bark pressing into Colin's skin. It felt nice. "So! Ye said ye'll talk ma ear off if I get thee started --- so you tell me, Greenman, what's your favourite thing about Hoggys now you've been here all of ten minutes!"

@Keith Moore || Mentions @Bailey Glade | @Jarael Morningstar

Wc:449
Interacting with:@Colin McCoire

"Ah! Bailey! And isn't she a sweetheart? We actually met in the library --- I reckon that makes sense to befriend a Ravenclaw in the library! Do you know? She knows just about everything! I don't mean just magic. But she's very smart. Always reading, and I think she plays musical instruments too! And I know she's into martial arts and even cooking!"

Colin laughed aloud. "I'd love to spar with her some time. She's got a sword, you know!" Colin's eyes lit up when he mentioned that. "And I'm pretty sure she's got some kind of expandable fighting stick. I've never seen anything like it!" he said excitedly. "I know how to stick fight, too, but I haven't learned sword fighting yet. Maybe by next year I'll start on that!" He thought about Bailey's cooking and remembered the picnic they'd shared with Kim and Taizu last year. "Heheh. I can just about manage to burn water! Whenever I try to get into the kitchens at home, the Elves always push me right back out the door! But Bailey's pretty amazing with the cookery. I got her a cookery book for her birthday last year! I'm pretty hopeless, so I don't think I'll ever try to go up against her in the kitchen. I know she'd beat me into the ground!"

Colin sat with Keith in silence for a while, until the latter finally spoke. He'd asked his friend what his own favourite thing about Hogwarts was, and had been eagerly awaiting the answer. He thought it might be the castle or the grounds or even making friends. Colin wasn't expecting the answer he got. "My favorite thing about this place is my parents can't get me here..."

Colin drew a sharp breath and his eyes widened with surprise. He let out the breath with a long sigh. Poor lad! He'd lost his sister, and now he says this! It seemed like everywhere Colin turned, his friends and classmates had come to Hoggys out of disaster. Colin looked into Keith's eyes as he said it, but the latter turned away, leaving Colin to stare at green hair in stead. What could possibly have happened for this nice boy to say something like that?

"Wh---what do you mean lad?" he said softly. "Wh---Are they after you somehow?" Colin straightened up. He'd taken Keith as a friend. That meant he'd stand in the way if someone tried to hurt him. Even if that someone were older and could destroy him easily. "Well, I reckon you've got new family now. Here anyway. You've got your House. Your House is like your family, right? Even if you did land in crazy Gryffindor land!" He poked Keith's side with his toe. "And you got me."

"So, what else do you like then?" Colin said, wanting to cheer himself up as much as Keith. A friendship born out of shared pain needed to be balanced by as much joy as possible!

And Keith opened himself up to it! "I also really like having all these places to run and explore. I'm going to have fun here."

"Laddie, you and me are going to get along most excellently! My recent tumble into the sod notwithstanding," he said as he indicated the wide lands around Hogwarts with a sweep of his scarred and marked arm, "all of this is our for the running and exploring! And swimming! And flying of course! Speaking of, you know lad, if you wanted to join Gryff racing or quidditch, they'd give thee a broom! If you don't have one already, that is." He nodded towards his silver arrow. "Slytherin gave me this one over the summer --- so how can I not go out flying!"

Colin gave Keith a friendly nudge in the side and laughed as his friend asked him a million more questions! He was so glad he'd met Keith and made friends with him. He took a deep breath as he prepared to dive into their long talk ahead!

@Keith Moore || Mentions @Bailey Glade

Wc:415
Interacting with: @Colin McCoire

OOC note- the questions were in a previous post, I think you know what I'm talking about, but here if you don't- "Who is your favorite teacher? What is your favorite class? Do you hate anybody yet? What's your favorite animal? ...Sorry I did warn you, I get curious..."

Colin smiled as Keith talked about living with his aunts. They sounded grand, although he was kind of leary about living so close to Muggledom. "How is it, living so close to Muggles? I mean, my first foray into Muggledom was just this summer! It was actually pretty terrifying! It was just too much, well, for me anyway. But I reckon you must have gotten with them if they're your friends. I reckon you must know all about the pewter and the tell and the leckitriskity. Monica, she's one my housemates, she tried to explain some of that to me. A lot of it just didn't make any sense." He sighed, though with a smile on his face at the recollection of one the last really happy moments in his life.

That smile faded, though, when Keith told Colin about his parents. "Wait. Wh---what do you mean 'blood traitor!?'" Colin straightened up and faced Keith. He couldn't understand how parents would do that to their own kid! "I'm sorry, Keith. I know they're your parents and all, but that's just mental! Neither of them got to choose their houses. Hah!"

Colin barked out a sudden laugh. "Hey! Maybe they never read Hogwarts, A History right? I mean, I certainly didn't choose Slytherin, but everyone knows the Sorting Hat chooses your house, and everyone knows the Sorting Hat is right. Even when it's wrong. But that's no reason ---"

Colin paused. He was mad. Not at Keith, of course, but at the situation he'd landed in. Colin reached across the space and took Keith by his shoulder. He lowered his voice: "Listen to me Greenman: you're my friend now and Gryffindor is your kin. I've been called blood traitor for being what I am, and I didn't choose that either. I don't think I'm one, and I know you're no blood traitor for being in the maniac house, alright? It's a good house, and you were put in it for some reason known only to the Hat. Just as I was put in Slytherin. I'm sorry they said that to you, but it's not true. I don't want you to start thinking it is, okay?"

Colin left his arm around Keith's shoulder as they talked about all kinds of things. He felt very happy that not only that he had found a new friend, but also that Keith was comfortable around him as well. He hoped very much that this first bonding would lead to a deeper friendship.

Keith Moore

Wc:378
Interacting with: @Colin McCoire