Fly high PV Amber Bullhorn Finished

@Amber Bullhorn

During his time at Hogwarts, Theodore played as a Beater and Seeker. Not soon after he joined the team, he became co-captain. Whenever he played Quidditch, however, Edmund had the most fun being the Chaser - it got his blood pumping and he could get pretty into it, depending on who was on the opposing team. Racing was a big part of it, too. Things got competitive easily among his cousins and he had to rush to the other side of the court to score.

"I'd go for Chaser," said Edmund with a shrug, before scrunching his nose at the question about his father's profession. There we go again.... "Yeah, he plays Quidditch for a living. Theodore Dempsie. Have you heard of him?"

The honesty in Amber's voice when she complimented him had him shy, eyes going up as he avoided her general direction for once. He was more than used to compliments, mind you. Granny found every single thing he did adorable and-or perfect, so he felt noticed and appreciated, but it was always nice, especially when it came from someone you barely knew. And a girl too... Whatever. He had to act cool.

"Don't mention it," He laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

He watched as Amber sat on the broom. Then, she grabbed his hand right away, eyes closed and he laughed some more. To be frank, Edmund had been teasing when he offered his hand to her. He hadn't expected her to do it.

"Wow, come on, open your eyes. You're definitely going to fall on your butt if you keep your eyes closed, and it'll give me a free pass to laugh at you, you know," said Edmund, half-joking, grabbing her other hand and squeezing to try - emphasis on try - and comfort her in a way. Amber squeezed his bruised hand and he winced. "It's not even moving!"

late september 2021 / with @edmund dempsie

Was now the time to admit how utterly uncool she was? Amber gave Edmund a sheepish look, "Um, I don't know... I might have heard about him?" Because she some popular players named from time to time by others but beyond that? Quidditch wasn't really a big deal in her house - with so much to do on the farm all day, her Da never bothered (and hadn't played at school, neither had her Ma). Her Da's sport of choice to relax and unwind was Gobstones.

"But that's cool though! You're lucky to have such a cool da!" She smiled, complimenting Edmund once more.

Of course, her joy was short lived because she was struggling with the broom. She had squeezed his sore hand too, felt the plaster under her palm and pulled her hands away in a hurry, "God, I'm an idiot! I'm so sorry, is your hand ok—" She didn't get much further than asking that since she hadn't gripped the broom when she let go of his hand so...

Amber slid off the broom and landed on the ground with a thump. Luckily she hadn't been all that high at all and it wasn't a crash landing like Edmund. She sat on her butt, leaning up on her hands and burst into laughter, "God, I'm a ninny. You must think I'm so stupid! Imagine, not remembering to hold onto the broom!" Her laughter continued however, for a good few moments before she managed to get to her feet again.

"Alright, let's try this again..." She said, giving Edmund a determined look. She mounted the broom once more and this time held on properly. Amber put her hands where Edmund had mentioned before and let out a soft sigh. The broom rocked side to side a little and she fought to keep her balance, the broom gently rising a few feet off the ground. "Woah, woah, okay..."

@Amber Bullhorn

Alright. She didn't know his father - how weird. He figured Amber wasn't one for Quidditch. It was surprising, but not unbelievable. Not everyone had to like it. Some other wizards and witches he had bumped into also didn't seem excited about the sport. At least, she wasn't a fan of Chuddley Cannons or they'd have some problems right away.

Once Amber fell off the broom, Edmund deadpanned, rubbing his hand over his face, acting like an old man trying to discipline a child - finding her reaction all too amusing, "You really have to pay attention," He said, crossing his arms, watching as she laughed with a small smile on his face, too. "Just a bit stupid," added Eddie.

He moved closer to her when Amber decided to try again - it was the best way to help in case something went wrong. If she fell again, he could stop before she hurt herself and the two of them returned to the Gryffindor common room with more than a few scrapes. Edmund didn't even want to think about how the Prefects would react if they saw what they were doing right now. Would they go straight to detention?

"See, you're doing it," said Edmund, patting her arm, as motivation. "Don't be scared. Just do a little circle around me. It's easy,"

late september 2021 / with @edmund dempsie

Paying attention was easier said that done sometimes... But Amber wasn't offedned or hurt when he agreed she was stupid. After all, she had said it first and she had been stupid. She could also tell he didn't mean it in a bad way - he was laughing as well.

But her second time on the broom definitely went a lot better. Edmund told her to fly around in a circle and she leaned, ever so slightly forward, to coax the broom to move. This resulted in Amber moving at the slowest speed possible, circling Edmund like some kind of lazy shark. But she was pleased with herself and gave him a grin.

"Look! I'm doing it!" She thought she was doing quite well, actually. Okay so she was still a bit wobbly but at least she wasn't on the ground. Amber felt a boldness creep over her and she leaned forward again. This time, however, she didn't hold back and because of that she shot off like a rocket. "AAAAAAAAH!" She flew like a bullet right over the lake.

Amber gave the broom a hard tug and it started to go upwards, then over and then she was clinging on as she flew upside down and directly towards Edmund again. "OH NO! OH NO NO NO!" She shouted, trying to climb back onto the broom so she could control it. Luckily, she managed to jerk it to the side so she missed Edmund but she didn't miss the tree by the lake.

The broom crashed into the top branches and Amber with it. She let out a sigh of relief at being freed from her sky diving antics but now she needed to figure out how to climb down out of a tree.

As for the broom, it fell through the branches and landed on the ground at the bottom, miraculously in one piece after two crashes. "Er, Edmund? Are you about?" Amber called out to her new friend, getting herself the right way up and sitting on a branch so she could figure out what to do next.

@Amber Bullhorn

Edmund smiled proudly as Amber awkwardly circled him like he had told her to. He could tell it was hard for her to maneuver around, but she didn't look as frightened and she was flying and that's what mattered. He gave her a thumbs-up, "Miss Amber, you have successfully passed your first unofficial flying le--"

Before he could finish his sentence, however, and add that he'd go back to the school broom cupboard to grab another broom for himself, the girl shot forward, as though she had spotted the golden snitch. Eddie called for her, making sure that no one was paying any mind to them, waving in a pathetic attempt to help - or... something! He couldn't do anything! He could only watch as Amber controlled the broom and panicked - her reflexes were impressive, though.

"Oh, Merlin..." Edmund let out before jumping out of the way, rolling over. He muttered under his breath, "Let's not do that again,"

He got up, patting his robes again, broom landing right next to his feet - inviting him to try and fly too. He kicked it away, kindly, and moved closer to the tree, staring up at Amber. "Uh... do you know how to get down? If you fall, I can try catching you,"

late september 2021 / with @edmund dempsie

Well, at least she had a great view from up here...

Amber looked down at Edmund and laughed, "Don't worry, I climb trees all the time back home, around the farm." She was, however, forever falling out of them too, but she felt that was a detail that Edmund didn't need to know. Amber just needed to... Take her time, go slow and she'd be down in a jiffy.

And Edmund wouldn't need to worry.

"One moment." She called down to him, looking to see what good options she had for footholds. It would have been easier if she had climbed up the tree in the first place. Then she could just retrace her steps and go back down the way she came. Sadly, she had had the smart idea of crashing into the tree instead. Amber flipped a long braid over her shoulder and started her climb down.

It was, well, a mixed success.

Her feet slipped a few times and at one point a branch snapped, making her squeak and grab another in her panic. After resting a few moments, she finished climbing down to the lowest branch and had to fall the last couple of feet to the grass. Luckily, she landed like a cat and quickly sprang to her feet again, "Ta-da!" She grinned at Edmund, "Safe and sound now. So... About that broom..." Amber looked to where Edmund had kicked it away.

Was this enough excitement for one day? She supposed they could call it quits if Edmund wanted to. It wasn't like her skills on a broom were good enough to give him a proper race around the school anyway. Amber put her hands on her hips and sighed, "Should we take it back?" Of course, if he said otherwise, she would follow his lead.

He seemed to know what he was doing anyway.

@Amber Bullhorn

Though she said it was fine and that she could do it, Edmund was still worried. It seemed both of them had the recipe for disaster in them, so it wasn't unlikely for either of them to slip.

Whenever she moved from one branch to another, he'd walk with her, body ready to serve as a pillow in case she fell. Every time she slipped - or when that one branch snapped - he held his breath, holding his arms out, counting on feeling her weight on top of him again, as if it was a life or death situation.

He only relaxed when Amber was on the ground, standing right in front of him with a goofy smile on her face. He rolled her eyes, toughening up like he didn't care if she had fallen or not. Eddie stared at the forgotten broom, hands on his hips.

"I wasn't planning on taking it back today, to be honest," confessed Edmund, tilting his head, tapping it with his foot again. He scratched his chin with a shrug. "I was hoping to fly aaaaall the way to the Gryffindor tower with it. But if we fly like that we might hurt ourselves, so, I don't know. Do you not want to fly around anymore?"

late september 2021 / with @edmund dempsie

"All the way to our common room...?" Well, she didn't doubt such a thing was possible but how would he get inside once he was there? Someone would have to open a window or something for him. Thinking about it, did the windows in their common room even open? Suddenly, Amber had no idea. "...But that does sound like fun too." She admitted with a laugh.

And she didn't want to miss out on all the fun.

She remembered something, folding her arms, "You said something about getting another broom... Stealing it?" Amber raised her brow at him. So he didn't have permission to use this broom after all, did he? Amber didn't really mind breaking some rules (to her, a few of them were silly or she simply forgot what she wasn't allowed to do at times) but she wasn't comfortable with stealing. What if someone else needed the broom?

Amber bit her lip, waiting for Edmund to explain himself as she worried about it herself. It would be just their luck for a prefect or teacher to find them with a stolen broom as well, "Also, if your da plays Quidditch professionally, or whatever, how come you had to steal a school broom? Wouldn't he give you one?" Amber played with one of her plaits, thinking about it a bit too much now.

@Amber Bullhorn

Edmund's excited grin disappeared at the mention of his previous words.

He looked up, scratching his head as he thought of a quick excuse. He had slipped up when using the word steal, but he thought Amber hadn't paid much mind to what he had said. It was true, yes. He didn't have permission to use the broom, but no one had noticed or stopped him - no Prefect had shown up and given him detention.

Plus, he made sure to take the ones from the furthest cupboard, the one no one used. Hogwarts surely had enough brooms for most of its students, right?

"I have permission for this one," pressed Edmund, defensive, grabbing the broom in case Amber tried to take it, or worse, make him give it back!

The thought of getting detention so early on made him shiver.

He clicked his tongue at her other questions, to which he, thankfully, had the answer for - one that wasn't a lie, that is. Edmund puffed his chest, bragging a little, "And I have a broom - at home. It's a Thunderbolt, mind you. My father didn't want me to bring it with me in case I joined the team, or decided to race. It'd be unfair to others, don't you think? So, I have to use the school one,"

late september 2021 / with @edmund dempsie

"So... It would just be borrowing a second broom for me to use then? And not stealing, not really." Stealing implied they weren't going to give it back - which they totally were. Amber didn't know exactly where the brooms were kept so she shrugged, smiling at her housemate, "Let's go get one then?"

Hopefully he wouldn't change his mind and back out not.

As Edmund explained about his broom at home, Amber raised her brows, "Is that a good broom" She really had no idea. Well, judging by how Edmund talked about it, it must have been one of the very best since his da didn't allow him to bring it to school. "But if you joined the team, why wouldn't your da would let you have your broom from home? It's not your fault if people don't have the same broom, is it?"

Amber felt it was unfair in a way that Edmund wasn't allowed his own broom at school, "Or would your da just buy you a different broom for school then?" She wondered what it was like to have so much money to just buy a lot of brooms whenever you felt like it. Amber wondered how her own parents would feel if she asked for a broom for school.

Not that she would want a fancy Thunderstruck or whatever it was Edmund had said his broom was. Just one good enough for her to take part in races.