Practice makes perfect PV Hannah Blossom Closed

Practice went... rather smoothly. Hannah enjoyed each time she went to practice with her teammates, but also alone. So, she decided to get some extra practice after the actual practice.

Everyone had been working really hard to just try and win, but they couldn't. One match after the other. They were loosing, it kind of seemed like a curse, well at least that's what Hannah thought. Also, one match after the other, she just seemed to keep falling off her broom, she hated that fact. The day had seemed perfect for flying. Clear skies, and a touch of warm weather. Now, there was some wind and dusk had come. The sky was beautiful, with it's touches of red and purple.

That was when, she lost track of time and ended up practicing more than she intended. Sweat was all over her arms, and she was way too hot in her Quidditch uniform, still, she kept practicing. That was when, a boy entered the pitch. Finnegan Conner. Hannah knew him from Quidditch, never a proper acquaintance. She didn't notice him though, only when he called out.

At first, she kept flying around, in maximum velocity, but then, after he called her name, she started going a bit slower, and slower, and slower, until her broom was the slowest possible. The girl flew down, she did not hop out of her Blatchin' Birch yet.

She had bumped into the boy once or twice in the common room, or on her way to class, but she only knew he was a second-string chaser, and his name of course. Other than that, she knew absolutely nothing of him.

After he said that they should head back, because of curfew, a thought struck her. Oh. Gosh. I've lost track of time.. Well I guess I better head back. She was still mounted in her broom. Then, the girl hopped out of her Blatchin' Birch. I think I should get a knew one in the Summer.

"Oh, yeah, we should go. Better not risk getting a detention." she spoke. Hannah had never gotten a detention, but it seemed like a horrible thing, she wouldn't want to get one. The girl took out her Quidditch gloves, she hadn't taken them out in quite some time, so it felt good to feel her fingers. She stuffed them in her pockets.

"Yes, just a second." she said as he asked if she was coming. She thought it was nice for him to wait for her. Hannah reached up to Finn. "Let's go?" she said, with her Scottish accent slipping in. The red-headed noticed the boy had taken out his wand and cast the wand-lighting charm. She took her wand out and muttered the word "Lumos"

Finnegan watched as Hannah gracefully descended from the air, her hair and robes flowing behind her. He couldn't help but notice how determined she looked, even after all the practice they had already done. It was something he admired about the Gryffindor Quidditch team, everyone was unwaveringly dedicated to the sport, it would only be a matter of time before it would pay off. Perhaps unknowingly, Hannah had proved herself one of the most dedicated of all simply by sticking around.

"I like your broom," he grinned after she had dismounted it. Not many players picked a Blatchin' Birch as their broom of choice, but it had its perks even if it wasn't the fastest or most handsome kind of broom. He cocked his head at her and added, "I think it suits you." There's something wild about her, he thought to himself. Not that she looked like some kind of savage, far from it, if anything, he was rather amazed how composed she looked after hours of exercise. Maybe it was the red hair, maybe it was the burning determination in her eyes, or maybe he was just imagining it. One thing was certain, she was tough as nails. She'd been knocked off her broom a few times now and for many aspiring players, one crash-landing was enough to make them quit. Not Hannah though.

While he waited for Hannah to join him in earnest, Finnegan glanced around the pitch, taking in the colors of the sky. It was a beautiful evening, with the fading sunlight casting an ethereal glow over the Quidditch pitch. He had always loved this time of day, the transition from dusk to nightfall, especially at this time of year, when many trekking birds passed overhead.

When she had lit her wand too - hers shone more brightly and steadily than his - he started on his way back to the castle. "Are you Scottish?" It wasn't hard to pick up on her accent, even if it wasn't all that heavy. "I think we have a great-great-great aunt who was Scottish like in the family, but all the rest of us is Welsh." There was an unmistakeable hint of pride in his voice. He might be a muggle, but at least he was a muggle from a country with a badass dragon on its flag. "You're called Blossom, right? Are you from the Blossom family?" Even he had heard a thing or two about them, though he couldnt recall much of it. History of Magic was such a snore. "All pureblood, right?" He hadn't really meant to broach the subject of blood purity, but in all of his first year at Hogwarts he had noticed that everyone he knew from pureblood families was better at magic than him, charms especially. "Did you get an early start flying? You're pretty good at it."

After Hannah gracefully dismounted Finn complimented her broom. The girl smiled, and then said after he did. "Oh! Thank you so much! My parents didn't really like the idea of Quidditch since it's a bit dangerous, but they got me the broom, because I needed one." "Still, I love Quidditch, so I'm trying my best, and my parents are starting to trust that I'm being careful." he then said he thought her broom suited her. Hannah smiled once again. "Yeah, I think somehow I feel connected to it. Do you? To your broom, I mean." she spoke, with a slight grin.

Hannah walked over, she couldn't help but notice Finnegan watching the sky. Surely, it was beautiful. The shades of red and purple all over the sky, clouds were very little, and a few birds passed by every now and then. Hannah enjoyed the faint melody of the birds, she loved bird-watching, even if it was only in the garden of her own home. The girl enjoyed laying down in the grass, and just observing the sky, the clouds, the birds and the hours pass by. She also loved the sky at this point of the day, it kind of seemed like a painting, of course, Hannah had tried to do art, but she wasn't any good at it. She liked observing it though.

After she lit her wand, the girl couldn't help but notice her Wand-Lighting spell shone more brightly than the boy's. Maybe it was because Charms was her favorite class, and she studied triple as hard than any other subjects. It was her favorite subject, and she intended in being an Auror in the future, or perhaps a Professional Quidditch Player, if her parents would even allow her. They probably wouldn't. Quidditch was already something she had to insist on them letting her do, she succeeded, but as a job? She could imagine them saying no. Still, she was considering becoming one.

As they walked to the castle, Finnegan asked her if she was Scottish. The accent gave it all in, didn't it? "Yes, I actually am, but..." she paused "I can do a pretty good American accent don't ya think?" she smiled, after she spoke in her New York citizen accent.

The boy then told her about his great-great-great aunt who was also Scottish. "That's really cool!" "What city do you live in? Wales is a pretty cool country!" she grinned. The girl nodded after he asked about her last name. "Yeah, my last name is Blossom. And yeah I'm from the Blossom family." she wasn't smiling anymore. "All pure-blooded, but that doesn't really matter." Except, Hannah didn't tell him that she wasn't a pure-blood, that was a secret. If they got to know each other, maybe she would tell him. "Uh, well, not really. I used to play Scottish Rugby with my neighbors, but then I came to Hogwarts and everything. It's kind of like Quidditch, but with no brooms." she grinned. "Maybe I could teach you someday?"

"Teach me rugby?" he slowed his pace and arched a sly eyebrow at her. "It's just knocking about in the muck, innit? Not much to teach, besides, I reckon our game against Hufflepuff wasn't far off." Out of all the games they'd played, that one had burned itself into his memory. Proper bloodbath, that was he thought to himself. But no need to regurgitate all the grimy, bloody details, he was sure Hannah had her own vivid memories of that game and didn't need reminding. "I'm from Cardiff," he answered while they sauntered along the dirt path meandering toward the castle. "Butetown to be exact, doubt you know it though," he shrugged. Somewhere at the edge of his awareness he had a feeling that Hannah was looking at him with heightened interest. Perhaps he simply imagined it, but he had a sense that she was interested in him beyond mere small talk.

With a soft groan he switched holding his broom over the other shoulder, it was a little too large for him, or he too slight for it, but it beat being thrown around on a sputtering old nimbus. "Not sure if I'd call it a connection," he said, "It's better than a school broom, that's for sure and certain. No fits and starts, turns pretty smoothly, doesn't try to throw me off. It's an improvement but..." He pressed his lips into a thin, thoughtful line, "everyone's got Silver Arrows for a reason you know? I got to fly one on my first game, so this thing," he patted the handle of his Comet 180, "is a bit of a downgrade." He had been a first string player too, but he decided not to mention that to Hannah. No need to make things awkward, he knew he'd earn his place back eventually.

He chuckled at Hannah's New York accent, it sounded so strange to him though he couldn't really tell if it was accurate. He'd never been to the States, though he supposed travelling far away had become a lot less expensive now that he was a wizard.

"Hannah?" he piped up after a short while, "have you ever wondered why us? Why you and I get to do magic?" He let out a wistful sigh, "every muggle I know would murder to be able to do what we can, I sure never thought I'd ever be able to fly wherever I wanted, let alone on a broomstick!" A bubble of bright laughter escaped him. At times the absurdity of it all compared to his muggle life came back to him in a flash of clarity. "I'm serious though," he added, his face darkening, "we're lucky to have all this. I'll happily lose every game of quidditch I'll ever play if that's what it takes to be able to keep flying."

The wind blew, as they walked. A feature most noticed about Hannah was her scarlet hair. What they didn't know was that it had a mind of it's own. One day it was straight, the other it was curly. Today, it was straight, she liked her hair both ways, but she had a favoring for it straight. "Well, uh yeah." "It's fun though." she spoke looking at her shoes. The girl kicked off some grass with them. She couldn't help but want to tell him more about herself... It seemed as if he was different, she couldn't describe her feelings.

"True." she spoke while she nodded. It was a bloodbath. She wasn't in the team yet though, but she had seen the game with attention, annotating everything, to get tips and everything. "Cardiff, huh? Haven't been there. My parents have though. Never heard of Butetown." she was looking at him, with a gaze of interest. "Yeah I'm from Glasgow, in a small neighborhood called.. uh I don't remember." she said, slightly embarrassed.

"It's a nice broom I mean. Better than no broom." she grinned. "Yeah, that's pretty cool. I've never flew one though, wish I could get one. I'm saving up for one, actually, but not sure if I'll get it soon." The girl held her broom, then looked at it. It could hold a lot of players, so at least it was good for something.

Hannah smiled as the boy chuckled. The accent wasn't any good, but it was funny, he had to admit. She'd been to New York. Once. In the end of Summer, just for her parents to meet some pure-blooded people. She stayed there for about three days. One thing was certain, American food was the best.

She thought about the question. "Well uh-" "I don't- Well it's nice- The truth is I've spent many sleepless nights thinking, but never of that. It's interesting." she spoke, truthfully. "I'll think about it." she said. Hannah started thinking about the question, it was surely very, very interesting.

While they meandered their way back towards the castle, Finnegan took in Hannah's reaction to his question. It wasn't something that everyone considered, he supposed. Especially not the kids who were born into a magical family and were used to magic. For a moment, he wondered what life would have been like if he'd been raised in a magical home. Far less normal than what he had now, he reckoned, though he didn't really know.

He frowned slightly. Did witches and wizards get surprised by the extraordinary things their parents could do, growing up? Perhaps he should be grateful he hadn't been born into a wizarding family, the wonder he got to experience was all the greatr for it. "It's amazing," he murmured mostly to himself as he looked up at the dozens of lit windows flickering in the distance, "all of it"

He glanced back at Hannah, who seemed to be similarly deep in thought. The path they walked was familiar, but tonight, it was getting dark fast, he felt unusually connected to his surroundings. The chirping of the crickets, the gentle rustling of the leaves, and even the distant sound of the castle's great doors-

The great doors.

That sound.

A realization washed over Finnegan. The castle's doors were being shut for the night which could only mean one thing.

"Oh shite." His voice cut through the contemplative silence between them. "Curfew’s started." Despite how tired he felt, he doubled his pace, even settled into a light jog before slowing down again when the castle took up the entirety of his view ahead. "Get down!" he hissed, then crouched in a flash. "N-nox," he added breathlessly, dimming his wand. With his free hand he'd tried to take a hold of Hannah's wrist to pull her wand-arm down so that the light wouldn't betray them.

Maybe it was just a figment of his imagination, but he could have sworn he saw someone up ahead. A Professor? Or worse, a prefect? He couldn't tell from this distance and didn't dare to stand up again to check. For a while he remained perfectly still, listening for any sound of footsteps coming their way. With one finger pressed to his lips, Finnegan turned while crouched, his movements slow so as to avoid making any noise. He leaned in close to @Hannah Blossom and whispered into her ear. "We're going to have to find another way in." He pulled away again, pointed behind them where they would be out of sight, tapped the handle of his broom before finally pointing skyward. She'd probably get the idea.

Hopefully.

Hannah walked besides Finnegan, while she thought. It was a hard question, since her family had been entirely magical. There were no records of squibs or muggles at least... However, she did wonder one thing, how did magic choose muggles to be born magical? Well magic was actually a force, not someone, but not something.

She heard the boy quietly mumbled something "Huh?" she said quietly. Forget it she thought, he probably wouldn't responde, eighter way. Sometimes Hannah hoped she had been born into a muggle family. To just not be magical, or maybe just be a muggle-born. The girl always knew she was a witch, the real question was if she was a squib or not: she wasn't.

Hannah was still thinking about what he had said, gripping tightly her broom. She raised her wand, extra practice had meant she'd be going inside later, which meant the sky would be dark, so they needed light. Then, she heard it.

The great doors.

The great doors closing.

Hannah knew this could only mean one thing. Curfew. Curfew had just started. Once she realized Finn had heard it too, she looked at Finn. His terrified face. Oh shite. I can't get a detention she thought. Before she ducked, she did one thing. "Nox" she whispered, then she ducked.

The girl remained completely quiet, she hadn't seen any professors nor prefects, but it was best not to risk it. Hannah didn't look at Finnegan, she wasn't too scared, though, but she knew they couldn't be caught. She remained perfectly still for a few moments, but she couldn't take it anymore. They needed to find a way in. She then looked at the boy. He tapped the handle of his broom, she understood what they needed to do. Hannah nodded, taking her broom. "Quick." she whispered, silently.

F I N N E G A Nx⳧xC O N N E R

☙ Practice makes perfect, 16th of September 2023 ❧

Finnegan felt a strange surge of relief when Hannah whispered to him and gripped her own broom. She'd got the message loud and clear. His eyes darted back towards the castle doors one last time, half-expecting to see a figure suddenly emerge and expose them, but the path remained empty. He glanced upward, most of the pretty colors had gone and dark clouds were gathering above. Just what we needed, he thought to himself.

Taking a deep breath, he straddled his Comet 180, the wood worn but familiar beneath him. It was an old broom, reliable to a point, and right now, he was depending on it not to fail him. "Let's go," he mouthed at Hannah, and before he swung his leg over his broom and kicked off as quietly as possible. It was tempting to lay down flat on his broom and ascent near-vertically, but it would betray their presence too. So he guided his broom up slowly while he looked around for something, anything to put between himself and prying eyes but there was nothing there. Everything they could hide behind was close to the ground, and that was the last place he wanted to go now.

Yet, the longer they spent up here, the bigger the chance someone would spot them. There was only one thing for it, they had to go higher. Way higher. He checked back over his shoulder to see if Hannah had followed suit, pointed to her, then to himself, then up repeatedly. She'd seemed to be able to understand his gesturing though perhaps she'd hesitate like he did. Though going high up had two major advantages, namely being out of eye- and earshot, it also had some steep downsides. Any slip-up, any mistakes, and they'd plummet hard toward the ground, turning into a little red stain on the Scottish countryside.

The higher he went, the colder it got. A chill seeped into his fingertips while the wind gnawed at his face. It wasn't pleasantly breezy anymore like it had been during practice. Up here the blustery weather was but a harbinger of things to come. He tightened his grip on his broomstick, a bit more anxious than usual to hang on.

He looked about for Hannah and this time used his head - he didn't want to let go of his broom handle - to motion for her to come over. The wind was picking up fast, pushing into his side, forcing him to lean against it to maintain a steady hover. "Hannah?" he looked about him, the growing darkness wasn't helping, nor was the sound of the gale, beating against his ears. His robes flapped angrily about him when he spotted her. "HANNAH, OVER HERE!" He could only hope his voice would carry itself against the wind.

Then he felt it. A cold something on his face. Then another, and another, and another. Shit.

It started to rain.

The wind turned now, blowing away from the castle. Like little ships on the ocean tide, they were increasingly at the mercy of the elements and it wouldn't be long until they'd be thrown around like leaves on a storm. "OVER HERE!" he shouted again. "STICK TOGETHER, LOCK ARMS!" It wasn't too dissimilar from one of those cheating moves in Quidditch, to lock arms and form a kind of battering ram together. But in this case the stakes were far higher.

"YOU TAKE THE LEAD, OK?" Even at close range he had to shout just to hear himself.

Stamina 10 ✶ Evasion 10 ✶ Strength 2 ✶ Wisdom 3 ✶ Arcane Power 5 ✶ Accuracy 10

As the pair flew around, Hannah couldn't help but feel a bit nervous having to fly this high in the dark, but she wasn't scared, and even if she was, she would not show it.

Then she looked around. Well, that is just great. Dark clouds could only mean one thing: rain, and not just any rain, heavy rain. Thunder sometimes. She hoped to not get hurt or anything, or else they would get in a lot of trouble.

She looked at the boy and nodded after he mouthed two words. One thing Hannah knew was lip reading, that was how she talked in class. In balls as well. She sometimes talked to her mother at balls with mouthing words. Notes were too risky.

They needed to go higher up. Or else, there would be a higher chance they would get caught and get detention. And a lot of trouble. If they did fall off their brooms though, they would have to go to the hospital wing, well, or else-

Hannah still felt cold, even with her very heavy uniform. She grabbed a elastic band from her wrist and carefully tied her hair in a ponytail, she knew her mother always told her to let her red hair down, but now, it didn't matter, they had to go quickly and one mistake could get them caught, so they had to be very careful.

Then she heard Finnegan shouting over for her. It was hard to hear herself, so she hoped he could hear her. "HEY!" She shouted.

Then it did start to rain. No, it wasn't raining, it was pouring. And then, she heard thunder, however, to their luck, it was far away, so she had to hope the thunder wouldn't hit them.

Wind started to blow, and her red locks did too. Good thing I put them up in a ponytail. Though the girl. She went closer and closer to the boy until she was right besides him.

"OKAY. WE HAVE TO GO FAST." she shouted. They locked arms and it was time for them to get to go, and they had to go fast, very fast. "ALRIGHT. I THINK WE SHOULD GO AGAINST THE WIND, AS FAST AS WE CAN, OKAY?" "LET'S GO!" She said looking at the boy. Hannah was feeling nervous, but quite excited as well. It seemed like the faster option, maybe not the best but, she knew they would get to the tower in time.