Running Up That Hill PV A. Jones Finished

It took quite a level of willpower she wasn't willing to admit to in order to keep her facial expression in check as the cheeky badger teased back. Merlin forbid she let him think she might be any level of susceptible to a bit of boyish charm. Hardly. Not her. Not today. Though she had to admit, he was at least a little amusing. A refreshing change from the people who she normally found herself around that always fell into some category of either brooding, troublemaking, or whining.

She followed his lead as the boundaries were set and an endpoint agreed upon, "On your mark then." the girl nodded. His eyes glanced away from her as she willed her shift back into her animagus form. She always felt so much more self-aware in this form when she was in the presence of someone else. It was second nature at this point; no different a change then switching jumpers, or even simply shifting one's weight from one foot to the next. It felt natural. It was only when someone else was there to bare witness that she was aware of the gravity of the ability.

Nevertheless, paws hit the soft, wet earth. Once pale blue eyes had darkened and warmed to an amber color, which now set up at the boy beside her with a tilt of her massive head; and he looked back at her. His expression was hard to discern in the moment, whether he was shocked or impressed or intimidated, it was lost to her. There was a fleeting moment that perhaps her form was less then what he had expected. Perhaps it made him uncomfortable; which in most cases Illowy thought of as a blessing, as most people weren't exactly buzzing to be near a massive black dog they likely didn't know to be her. She wasn't a breed that was sweet and cuddly in appearance, with massive puppy eyes and a darling playful disposition. After all, she was still herself, and herself certainly wasn't any of those fluffy things either.

Her ears twitched forward slightly as she tried to read him before ultimately giving up and setting her eyes ahead, waiting for his word.

Then they took off. Admittedly, she hadn't put her whole heart into the race. For the first bit, she stayed at his side. After all, she ought to grant him some dignity for having the confidence to propose the challenge in the first place. Ultimately though, she pulled ahead as long and powerful legs easily galloped through the short distance. By the time he reached the tree, she'd made herself comfortable sitting beneath it.

If it was possible for a dog to look a little smug and amused, she might've achieved it, ears forward, head slightly tilted and tail sweeping back and forth as the Fifth Year caught his breath. That was one downside to this form that she hadn't quite mastered; it was a bit harder to control outward expressions. In her defense, tails were hard.

She stood once he'd recovered, laughing and summoning his broom as he prepared for their next race. Her gaze swept over his broom, trying to weight out her chances of outrunning it. Not that she knew much about brooms beyond that her own was a fairly nice one being a Nimbus 2001; it was also a hand-me-down though, having been picked out by her cousin who was much better schooled in the qualities of brooms then herself. Overall, she settled that they might now be a bit more evenly matched and Illowy pawed the ground a bit in anticipation before they took their mark once again.

She set her sights on their finish line, taking a bit more care this time to get into a position that would offer the best start. When he asked if she was ready, she kept her eyes forward and offered only a short bark of confirmation. On his count, she launched herself into a proper sprint with a significant increase of effort on her part. While she had never actually measured how fast she could run, despite her best efforts, she was acutely aware within seconds that she wasn't going to be faster then a broom. For a moment, albeit a short moment, she maintained speed with it, but it hadn't taken long for him to leave her behind to reach the finish.

She'd still finish strong, if anything to save a bit of face from the loss, maintaining her speed until she slid over the wet grass to a stop past the finish point. It was a swift and fluent movement between sliding to a stop and shifting back into her proper human form as she turned back to face him, "I'll concede, I am not faster then a broom." she huffed a short laugh, panting slightly, "Thought I'd stand a better chance." the girl admitted, tossing her braid back over her shoulder before resting her hands on her hips.

Aaron counted them down once Illowy barked she was ready, and then they were off. The Hufflepuff was not holding anything back this time - it actually didn't even cross his mind to do so. When he was on a broom, it came naturally to put in his best effort. All he trained for was perfection in the air. For a few long seconds Illowy managed to keep pace, but it was clear that was because she really sprinted out of the gate. Moments later Aaron had pulled ahead by a significant chunk, but he didn't look back to check until he had passed their ersatz finish line. At that point, he pulled a very swift midair swivel-and-brake action, a big grin on his face from knowing he'd won. It wasn't too long before Illowy's canine form skid across the finish line, and his grin faltered into a look of surprise with the grace that she transformed back into witch form. That had been pretty cool.

"That was fun," Aaron said with a chuckle, dismounting his broom and letting his feet touch solid ground again. He adjusted the broom in his dominant hand as Illowy mentioned not being faster than a broom. "To be fair, you kicked my arse during the first round, so it's only fair I got to kick yours during the second," he joked, his grin returning in full force. "But that does make us tied. Maybe we could race again sometime? When we're both fresh and on two legs?" A round three would definitely be needed.

"We could discuss the details over breakfast if you're free. I'm kinda starving," he said, as a slight grumble in his stomach reminded him of that fact. The adrenaline of the race was wearing off and, as a growing fifteen-year-old, his mind was often on food. "Or just on the way back to the castle if you've already got plans," he added, in case she'd be eating with her friends. He put his sweatshirt back on over his tanktop as he awaited her answer, since the wind from his flight moments ago had chilled him a bit.

@Illowy Magnard

The witch smoothed back the flyaway from her face that had fallen loose from her braid, "I suppose that's only fair. We had t'make sure yer dignity remained in tact somehow." she teased, smiling as she caught sight of his silly grin before he proposed a future rematch. For some reason, that surprised her a bit; that he would be so keen to a second, more intentional interaction. She supposed that's what came from not absolutely biting the head off anyone that chose to come within a five foot radius of herself.

"I think a third round could be arranged." she agreed, bending to pick up her sweatshirt from the grass and pulling it over her head. The morning chill was creeping in now that they were settling. Just as well, she hardly wanted to walk back into the school in just her tank top. There were many instances of public impropriety she would be open to, but looking that level of disheveled and exposed in the halls wasn't quiet on that list.

As his stomach grumbled, she couldn't help herself from chuckling as she tucked her hat into the belt of her wand holster, deciding that while it was cold enough to put her sweatshirt back on, she was still too toasty to add anymore layers on her, "I haven't any real plans that can't wait until after breakfast." she smiled, "Besides, I don't think I could do one more single thing until I have a cuppa." with the chill of the morning and nervous energy exhausted from the run, the single thing Illowy would love is a hot cup of tea in her hands at that moment. To say that one of Illowy's most favored spells was the water heating charm she learned in her first years at Hogwarts would to an understatement, "We best go 'fore ye wither away t'nothing."