Closed Off The Pitch PV

Percival blinked through blurry vision as the white stoned ceiling of the Hospital Wing came into view. He wondered how often he would come to see these familiar walls. It had been a bit since he had last been within these four walls, with the birds chirping faintly through the window. It seemed like time itself stood still. A calming atmosphere too promotes healing and the like. Percival let out a small snort as he brought his hand up to wipe away the blood that spilled from his nose. Looking down at his green sleeve to see a streak of crimson red. He lamented as he realized he had probably been hit harder than he had first realized.

The boy swallowed thickly, the tang of metal gracing his tongue, as he wondered if they would potentially make his Uncle aware of his most recent injury. He could already hear the dark-haired man now, ranting about how he was a Rainwood, and Rainwood's should not be putting their lives at jeopardy for such a dirty and lowly game. That there was nothing better to do as a Rainwood then reading stuffy books in a stuffy library. A weary smile would pull across his lips. He was a Rainwood, wasn't he? The boy was pulled from his thoughts, large white curtains blocked his vision a bit, but it did not stop him from hearing a young voice cursing from a few beds down. Making him become very aware that he was not the only person here. How many of his teammates were here with him? How badly did they lose? The voice was unrecognizable to him, was it someone from the other team? Whoever it was they were being far too loud in his opinion. Could he not just suffer in silence alone? "Stop being so loud." he would mutter out in a disgruntled tone. Though, his tone would not hold much malice, overrun by the bone tiredness he felt.

Interacting with: @Ulysses Drake
Mentions: @Avery Chen

His eyes flitted open to tall, domed ceilings, so different from the low, dark ceiling with green effervescent light that he was so accustomed to in his own bed. The sheets were so clean and crisp, so different from his mess of a bed, which was piled high with clothes, books, and random knick-knacks. Where was he? Heaven?? Then, he heard what he thought was Rainwood's voice. Wait, if Rainwood was here, it couldn't be heaven, because that boy was born of the devil. Even if he did seem more human recently.

He tried to lift his head to see who was talking, and that was his one mistake. A searing pain, burning like an executioner's axe, seemed to shatter the base of his neck and light itself through his shoulder blades and up to his skull. "AARGGHH!" he hollered, as if someone really was murdering him. Okay, maybe it didn't hurt quite as much as that, but our boy seemed to express every sensation and emotion about ten times more than most people did.

Then, the events of the day returned to him -- how ruthless Hufflepuff was with their 3-on-1 blatching move against him. How he had fallen on his neck without being able to save any of his teammates this match. Why was he so useless? A saver wasn't supposed to need saving. He grit his teeth and pushed himself up into a sitting position, letting out another yell as he did so, both in pain and in anger at himself for even being here.

His eyes landed on a disgruntled boy that could only be Rainwood, confirming his suspicions. Grumpy Rainwood and his grumpy face. Forever wearing an expression looking like he'd been wrongfully bludgered. At dinner, in the dorms, in the restroom, in a hospital bed, wherever. Was that blood coming out of Rainwood's nose? "You actually bleed?" he asked, jokingly, because Rainwood was the type who made others bleed. And maybe cry. As if he didn't know how to cry or bleed himself.

Then, his eyes found a smaller figure, similarly beat up, probably by bludger. He didn't know Ulysses Drake very well, since he was a newer player and a second string, but the boy showed some promise during practice, as far as Avery could tell, but whether he could be the new Percival still remained to be seen. Wait, he didn't remember seeing Drake falling. "You were supposed to be protecting Dan!" he said, more as a statement of fact than an accusation, though it would've easily sounded like one due to the urgency with which Avery said it, eyes wide and anxiety spiking as his mind questioned whether they had won or let the cup slip right through their hands after a hard-earned season of wins so far.

Interacting with: @Percival Rainwood, @Ulysses Drake

Date: 11 May 2024
Time: evening?
Location: Hospital Wing

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Nothing in all of her years of Quidditch had shocked Koko so much as seeing Avery get knocked off of his broom so quickly. Nothing.

She had targets she expected, even if she was disappointed when or if a bludger actually hit them – Erin, Percival, Dan, even herself on occasion, all of the upper years with more experience made sense to target.

In hindsight, she understood the strategical approach the Hufflepuffs had taken. Take out the saver, take out the team. But the more dominant, emotional side of her had taken over. She'd tried to latch Howard, foregoing all morals about cheating, wanting to give the badger a taste of his medicine.

Barring the fact that she had failed, Slytherin had gloriously won in what had to be the fastest, best-played game of Quidditch in all of Hogwarts's history.

But sometimes, there were things that were more important than winning. After the winning had been done, of course.

That was how Koko found herself heading to the hospital wing some time after the game against Hufflepuff.

She carried a few roses with her, nothing too fancy, just enough to be tasteful and perhaps kind. She could go get food if they asked for it – if that was allowed. Koko had largely been lucky enough to avoid the hospital wing in recent years, but she still remembered how often she had once come here for treatment. It was not an experience she wanted to relive.

She entered the room, her nose wrinkling slightly as the bleach-like smell reminded her of the queues of cursed Slytherins that had once lurked nearby. She blinked the memory away, but she did not bother to plaster a smile on her face as she scoured the room for more Slytherins – the ones who were really there, this time.

Koko would not deny it – she made a beeline for Avery.

'Merlin, I'm so sorry, you're okay, right?' Despite the urgent nature of her tone, her words were quiet. Koko set one of the roses next to Avery's bed. 'That was so foul of them.'

She wanted to add more. To apologise for not having caught him. For not being there as his captain should have been. But she remained silent and instead glanced at Percival and Ulysses before slowly meandering to their beds and setting roses next to them, too.

'I know bludgering isn't that serious, I mean, it's not like any of you lost a finger or something. But I do hope you feel better. It's never fun.'

She folded her hands in front of her, and then added, as if an afterthought, 'Oh, by the way, we won.'

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@Ulysses Drake · @Percival Rainwood · @Avery Chen

calming presence is in effect

The boy's face pulled into a grimace as he listened to someone yelling out quite loudly. His head felt heavy and the noises about him did nothing to ease the pounding. With a great sigh, the boy would heave himself up into a sitting position. Arms supported most of his weight as he looked toward Avery Chen with an indignant look. "Shut up Chen." he grumbled out glowering at the other as if he could light the other on fire with just his gaze. Not that he could, but he could not deny the ability would be lovely right now. The boy quickly wiped the blood further off his face no care for his green garment that was now stained a dark red.

Percival glanced towards a smaller boy, who was fairly new to the team, and someone he had not bothered to meet and greet with. A frown rested on his face, and no words of encouragement would fall from his lips. There was no way they did not lose. With the second-string beater being down it seemed almost impossible for the victory to be there. With a sigh, the boy would rub at creases that seemed to embed themselves in the space between his brows. Percival could not help a small breathless laugh to escape as he listened to Chen dig into the other for failing. Not that he did much better, and neither did Chen. They were all residents of the Hospital Wing, all failures for this round. A small inkling grew deep within the recesses of his mind. To tell Chen to calm down and that everything would be fine, and maybe don't yell at the newbie. How many times had he even been in a game? Though the inkling died out and all he could do was to shake his head slightly.

Glancing up in surprise to see Koko Riddle coming into the Hospital Wing. With no surprise the girl ran up to anyone but him. They were never close, he wasn't close to anyone anymore. Not since his falling out with him. Though, surprisingly enough it was Chen she seemed to be here for. The boy would look down towards the pity rose set next to him. No smile would be brought to his face, but he would pick up the rose for a second to look at it closer. The tension in the room seemed to grow, pulling him deep in throws of anxiety induced thoughts, and by the looks of it, he was not the only one. His gaze looked up from the sterile white bedsheets back to Koko, eyes wide with a pleasant surprise and relief. "Oh thank Lady Luck." he sighed out quickly. A small smile bringing its way out onto his face. The weight of it all fading away. "What exactly happened?" he asked carefully.


Interacting with: @Avery Chen
Mentions: @Koko Riddle, @Ulysses Drake

He couldn't have expected Percival not to glower at him. What, was he supposed to get off scotch-free? No way. Somehow, looking at his dormmate's indignant look now, he didn't have the natural inclination to grimace, rage, or snap back at him, like he once might've. Whereas he might've provoked his dormmate further out of spite a year ago, memories of being tripped by the beater in the Great Hall freshly gnashing at his insides, for once, he realized he felt rather calm looking back at Percival. A small, amused smile appeared briefly on his face in response, as he realized this. Perhaps he was getting used to Percival, and actually having had a real conversation recently with his dormmate may have helped him see the older boy as something less of an enemy.

"Alrighty, whatever you say, boss," Avery said in a sing-song voice, settling back into his soft pillow, hoping that was sufficient to cool down the flames Percival was sending in his direction. "You're the one hit by a bludger, so I guess I'll have to do as you say," he responded. All Avery had to suffer was falling from his broom -- and the awful, unexpected, and unfair way it happened, but he couldn't be more physically hurt than Percival, who was probably used to it at this point.

When he realized Drake was there, his anxiety spiked like no other, and he couldn't help blurt out the words he did (as unfiltered as his mouth usually was). Was Dan here too? He couldn't tell.

" I was protecting Dan, and then... i'm here with you folks, aren't I? " The younger boy groaned in frustration, and Avery could tell he really was upset with ending up here, too. At this, the panic in his face softened. This was Drake's first match, after all, and he had gotten a full taste of what happened during the worst of times. During Avery's own first match -- no, let's not think about that. "It's alright," Avery found himself saying, "the first time you fall is the worst, but there's no way to go but up from here, as long as you work hard for it."

He settled back into his worried melancholy shortly thereafter, but perked up as he saw captain Koko Riddle breezing into the Hospital Wing, roses in hand. "Koko!" he called out, happy to see her, the sight of their loyal captain taking him out of his gloom for a bit. He had known Koko since his first week at Hogwarts, where he had eagerly sat down with her for dinner as the Prefect was hoping to meet new firsties and help them get acquainted. It was Koko who had helped him train as a keeper once he joined the team as a second-string, prior to moving on to become a chaser. Come to think of it, he should invite her to hot pot next time he decided to cook a feast in his Potions cauldron! (much forgetting that it was Koko who had discouraged him from doing something so unsanitary during that first week, when he had accidentally poisoned Snape Dorm).

"I-I'm okay," he uttered, hoping it was a brave smile he was putting on when he smiled back at her. It still hurt quite a bit, physically and emotionally to be honest, but he was fine. "The Hospital Wing patched me up really well. But, I guess I'm bitter that I won't get to extract my own sweet revenge on Howard White next year, since he's escaping by graduating. What a chicken," he joked, rolling his eyes dramatically. "If it's any consolation, I guess they felt I was useful enough to be taken out so quickly," he laughed. Was this actually some twisted form of Hufflepuff's recognition of his abilities?

He picked up the rose she gave him, and held it to his nose. It was kind of her to think of them, and he found the scent of the flower comforting. With each exhale, he found himself relaxing.

However, his excitement soon took over as he heard the good news. They had won. All of a sudden, it didn't seem to matter anymore that he was in the Hospital Wing, because they had beat those guys. Ah, sweet, sweet revenge! They had done it! Three wins in a year! "Does that mean we win the cup? Did we get more points than Hufflepuff?" he asked excitedly, after Percival asked what had happened. What happened, indeed? All their beaters down, and they still did it? It had to be a story.

Interacting with: @Percival Rainwood, @Ulysses Drake, @Koko Riddle