Closed A Shaky Start PV

With a broom in one hand and a sandwich in the other, Ethan was making his way to the Quidditch training pitch. A little bite, he reasoned, would give him the energy he required to practice, as he was feeling a little bit hungry. He was determined to improve even more for the spring game, despite the fact that the Quidditch winter game had just ended.

When he reached the pitch, he saw that someone was already there, practicing..?

Ethan found himself laughing. Ridiculous, she looked absolutely ridiculous trying to fly a broom. He couldn't help but tease her a little bit.

“What are you doing?” he called out to her. “Are you going to fly or not?” He was laughing so hard that he could hardly ask.

He grabbed his broom and leapt into the air, showing her how it's done. His laughter echoed in the air as he showed her some tricks, his smirk never leaving his face. He flew around in circles, dipped and dived, looped the loop and generally made a mockery of gravity.

He chuckled and flew down to her, circling around her like a bird of prey. “HA! Can you do that?” he challenged.

@Lea Hirsch

@Ethan Smith

She hadn't expected that others would be out here although she probably should have considering that it was an open space. But a person being here and not minding their business? Well, the third year had very little patience for it when she was struggling to an embarrassing degree. "I'm getting used to it!" She replied indignantly. "I am going to!" Eventually was the unspoken word. "I'm just warming up-" A valiant excuse, but one that could be easily seen through. How one could warm up so close to the ground while not touching it would be anyone's guess.

What made matters worse was that he was a good flyer. She stared, a look of both contempt and a little jealousy. Had the idea of falling never crossed his mind? Not to mention his loops around her made it hard to actually follow what he was doing. The girl would just sit there until eventually he seemed to have calmed down from his showing off, a sigh following. "Maybe if you slowed down a bit, I'd be able to follow along." She was far less sure than her words made out her confidence to be.

"I don't know how exactly you expect me to go from this-" Lea gestured at herself, well aware of the lack of skill. "To that." Her hand now gestured in the general area of where he had performed the tricks just a few moments ago before glancing towards him with one bored eyebrow raise.

He just laughed and continued to circle her, his broom moving effortlessly beneath him. “I don't know, but it's not like you're going to figure it out by standing there.”

His laughter died in his throat as he realized how insensitive he had been.. “I'm sorry,” he said quickly, trying to cover his mistake. “I didn't mean to laugh. It's just... you're so bad at this.”

He wasn't that great at Quidditch, even though he loved playing. He looked at her with a bemused expression. He sighed and shook his head. He decided that maybe he could give her a few pointers. He flew over to her and landed beside her with a flourish. “Fine then, let me give you a few pointers.” He said, as he gave her a reassuring smile. “By the way, I'm Ethan.”

“First of all,” he started as he walked around her. “You need to relax. You're way too tense.”

He furrowed his brows in concentration, trying to remember his first days of flying lessons and what his professor, Miriam Stube, had taught him. “Let's start with mounting the broom,” he said.

“Remember, you must have balance. You must be able to control the broom with your mind and your body. You must be one with the broom.”

He goes through the motions of mounting the broom himself, slowly and deliberately, so that she can see. He placed the broom between his legs. “You need to put your legs on either side here,” he says, pointing to the spot just behind the bristles. “Now, hold onto the broom tight.” He instructed, “And then swing your right leg over. It's not complicated.” He demonstrated with a firm kick of his own, sending the broom soaring into the air. “Anything's possible if you set your mind to it.”

“Now, try it on your own.”

@Lea Hirsch

@Ethan Smith

That… was why she was out here. To figure it out: even if it meant just standing around this first time in order to get over a fear of flying, heights, and the general lack of safety that accompanied flying on a broom. This, for her at least, was a pretty good attempt at trying after having done nothing for the past year plus. The third year partly wanted to just yell her frustrations at him, but the words never formed instead continuing her blank stare at him until he reevaluated his words.

Which he did- kind of. “Gee, thanks.” Lea rolled her eyes, still tightly grasping onto her broom as she spoke. “You know, teasing me right after an apology kind of discredits your apology. Just saying-“ Not that he was wrong, but it wasn’t a particularly enjoyable situation to be in. Still, it seemed he hadn’t completely burned the bridge as she made no move to get away from him or stop practicing. Clearly he knew a little bit about what he was doing and it seemed that he was somewhat open to teaching or working with her after his dare before.

While he landed, she would ungracefully topple to the side, a couple of hops on the ground as she descended and regained her balance from the barely floating broom. While the Hufflepuff did partly want to, she wouldn’t thank him yet, instead offering a small head nod. “Lea… I’d say it’s nice to meet you, but I haven’t decided yet on whether that’s true.” She’d let out a sigh, a pause to figure out her mind, before continuing. “But I do appreciate you offering some pointers.” There, now it wouldn’t be her fault if the bridge did collapse.

His next words confused her though. “…How are you comfortable enough to loosely hold a broom while flying over your potentially impending doom?” It was a bit dramatic, but fears typically ran to the extremes rather than looking at the issue with logic. His advice wouldn’t be ignored, though, taking the time as he thought to shake out her arms and legs and roll her neck.

“Alright,” She was fairly sure that this part wasn’t her trouble, but maybe it was the start that ruined the whole thing. Lea didn’t know and she assumed that Ethan at least somewhat knew what he was doing. “I tend to be alright at balancing… on land.” The Hufflepuff had learned to be when she was a part of dueling as dodging and getting ready in time to fire another spell involved both balance and focus and one-ness. The issue was when the broom had to be added into the equation. “But I’ll keep that in mind.”

Brown eyes followed his movement the first time, trying to make note of each step and what could be improved. She’d nod at the end, mentally replaying the key concepts back to herself. Eyes would roll at the inspirational quote at the end, but a small smirk would appear for an instance. “Alright.”

Grabbing her own broom once more, she’d place it between her legs before trying to bring her legs and feet to the indicated spot. One leg was fine, adjusting herself with the grounded foot. The issue came with getting the broom up and her other leg off of the ground. Her kick only sent the broom up, shakily making its way into the air. Improvement already, but certainly not as much as she had hoped. Despite her best efforts, her arms were still tight against the broom, either shaking with her or requiring a forceful jolt to turn in any direction. “What now? And how are you not tense?”

He winced at the biting words, knowing she was right. “I know, I know,” he said, cutting her off. “It was wrong of me to laugh.” His eyes rolled skyward, frustration drawing the lines of his face taut. Yeah, he'd apologized—but what did she want from him now? for him to grovel and beg for forgiveness? No way. There was no way he was going to do that. I mean, it's not his fault that she's so bad at this. He just couldn't help his laughter.

Lea seemed genuinely curious, and the question made Ethan pause for a moment. He considered his answer carefully before replying. “It's not easy, you know,” he said with a wry smile. “Flying requires a lot of focus and concentration. It's not something that comes naturally to everyone, and it takes a lot of practice to be able to control a broomstick. Even then, it's still important to be careful, as one can easily lose control if they're not careful. Clear your mind and focus on what you're doing, and you'll be amazed at what you can achieve.” He could tell she was nervous, and rightfully so. Broom wasn't the easiest thing to fly, after all.

“In short, if you focus on the broom, and on flying, then you'll be fine. But if you start thinking about the fall, then you'll lose control and you'll end up falling.”

Ethan watched as she mounted the broom herself, placing her legs on either side of the broom just behind the bristles. He could see the concentration in her eyes and the determination in her movements. He knew that she could do it if she set her mind to it.

And she did.

With a firm kick of her leg, she sent the broom soaring into the air. “Good job!” Ethan exclaimed as she successfully completed the task.

“I’m not tense because I know I can do it,” Ethan replied. “Now we fly!” He soared through the air, his grin was wide and enthusiastic, his eyes were alight with joy. The wind whipped through his hair and clothes as he climbed higher and higher. 
 
He took a little pause and turned to face Lea. “Come on!” Ethan called as he disappeared into the sky, his broomstick speeding through the air.

@Lea Hirsch

@Ethan Smith

She kind of wanting to continue, mid-word as she debated. Lea would quiet for the moment though, a quick nod acknowledging his correction. No quips at the end were a good start, leaning back a bit as the Hufflepuff waited for her answers. His pause got a little smirk, lasting only a moment before brown eyes simply stared.

"...It's not something that comes naturally to everyone..."

"No kidding." She muttered under her breath, an unimpressed expression towards the ground meant more for her than him. Despite her dramatics, Lea still seemed to take note of his words with a small nod. "Practice and focus." She reiterated, a quick eyebrow raise towards Ethan to make sure she had gotten the general gist. It sounded easy enough, if only the motivation to go out and practice- and fail- was there. The Third Year would be doing so much better already.

He added on his own summary, though. If you think about falling, you'll end up doing so. She squinted, wondering how exactly to stop the cycle. But at least Lea could now identify what was going on asides from her lack of experience. "So... don't look down?" She had heard the advice a little before Hogwarts whenever she happened to be climbing something. It was probably a little more challenging to do with a sport that required movement in all directions, though.

The exclamation brought more joy than Lea was willing to admit. A smile forced itself on her face, glancing away for a second to regain control of her features. The broom and its flight would be far smoother in those few moments, although drifting a little, but only Ethan would have the potential opportunity to notice such a thing.

"Wait- already?" She exclaimed. Sure, it was the natural next step but it seemed so quick. And yet there was no question about it to Ethan apparently as he soared up and away. A shake of her head shook the broom as well, returning the shakiness from before. But with a sigh, brown eyes latched onto the other student, looking no where else as her forced movements in an attempt to be loose did the exact opposite.

It would be about halfway up to Ethan that Lea made the mistake of looking down. "Shoot." was all that she muttered as her muscles locked up, closing her eyes as she balanced on a quivering broom.

Ethan felt the wind rushing through his hair as he flew through the air on his broomstick. The sensation of the air against his skin was exquisite, and he chuckled with glee. As he flew higher and higher, the sun warmed his face. He used his broomstick's tilt to move back and forth through the air.
 
He turned to see that Lea was having some difficulty keeping up with him; she was frozen, her eyes closed, and her body shaking. Ethan experienced a sense of regret since he had been having so much fun that he had forgotten about her.
 
“Hold on, Lea!” He called out as he zoomed towards her. “I'm sorry,” he said. “I didn't mean to leave you behind.”
 
“What happened? Are you okay?” He asked, concern etched on his face. “Just open your eyes and breathe. I'm right here with you.” He spoke softly as he rubbed her back. “It's okay, I'm here. We'll take it slow, okay?”
 
He didn't want to push her too hard. “Just tell me when you're ready to move again.” He moved away from her slowly, giving her space to breathe. He remained close by, ready to catch her if she fell.

@Lea Hirsch

@Ethan Smith

Forcing one's eyes open was an interesting task. On one hand, Lea knew it was entirely possible. On the other, her muscles seemed to have locked in place, only flickering enough to occasionally see a glimpse of green far off and remembering why she had froze in the first place. She could hear the faded shout of Ethan realizing her petrification, a wave of embarrassment washing over her. Even if she didn't like the idea of needing help, having someone else there allowed her a bit of space to calm down. Should she fall, at least someone could notify the Hospital Wing or make sure that the Hufflepuff was alright.

"It's alright." She muttered. "Just- stupid fear of heights." Rather than fear, the girl just seemed- angry, for the time being. But the instructions guided her next actions, focusing on her breath as she slowly convinced herself to open those eyes and look forward instead of down. That progress alone seemed to help, regaining some of that dropped confidence. This was doable, looking down was now something to definitely not try unless necessary.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm ready. You were fine, I'm just- not used to be so high up with nothing underneath my feet." The third year paused, before sighing. "It's going to take a bit." And that wasn't his fault. With that, she'd hesitantly lean forward to slowly continue skywards with the broom, glancing a bit in his direction to make sure she was flying properly.

He moved the broom slowly, at a pace that he knew she could handle. He turned to her every now and then, making sure that she was okay and that she wasn't overwhelmed with the task at hand.

“See,” he said, his voice gentle and encouraging, “we're slowly descending towards the ground.” He knew that she was struggling with a deep fear of heights, but he also knew that this was a great opportunity for her to face her fears head-on. “Just focus on the ground,” he continued, his eyes fixed on her, “and remember that I'm here if you need me.”

With each passing moment, he felt a sense of responsibility as he led her down. He knew that she was placing her trust in his instructions, and he wanted to make sure that he did everything he could to help her conquer her fear. But he also recognized that she was making progress despite her nervousness.

“Remember,” he said softly, his voice calm and steady, “you can always set your own pace. There's no rush.” He wanted to make sure that she felt in control and that she could take her time. He wanted her to face her fears on her own terms.

@Lea Hirsch