Broken Bones and Broken Records Solo Complete

Date: 6 July

Dialogue: #001e57

"Do I have to ride the BlueBottle again?" Avis whined, giving the broom in her right hand a withering glare. Will rolled his eyes.

"Yup, you owe me from that game of Exploding Snap I won. Remember, we said before. The winner gets the- " the boy started and Avis sighed heavily.

"-gets the Comet, I know," she moaned. Will chuckled. He was floating a few feet above her on Da's old broom and she stuck out her tongue at him. He made a silly face at her in response and soared upwards before she could say anything more. Avis glanced around carefully and, once she was certain the coast was clear, quickly stuck up her tiny middle finger at her brother, who was now a tiny dot in the sky, before shoving her hand nervously back into her pocket. Merlin, if Mam had seen that, she'd be grounded for weeks!

With another sigh, she clambered onto the family's old BlueBottle and pushed off. "Up!" she squealed and after a few stomach dropping pauses, the BlueBottle began to rise up, gaining speed as she urged it forward. It was a comical sight to be sure, the tiny 7 year old girl sitting a top a massive broom made for 2 or even 3 people, but she wasn't worried about looks right now. All Avis was worried about was catching her older brother, who was circling her high above on Da's Comet 260 against the summer dusk sky behind him.

Finally, she pulled up next to him and surveyed the scene below. The Irish Sea stretched out for miles beyond the sea cliffs the family's cottage was positioned on and Avis caught her breath as the wind tousled her dark hair around her face. She grinned. Ever since Da had brought her up her one year when he'd still been around, flying had been her favorite feeling in the world. Nothing compared, not even Mam's fresh apple cake, which was a very close second.

"Alright what say we have a contest, aye?" Will said suddenly and Avis raised a dubious eyebrow. He knew she would never turn down a competition, no matter how dangerous it sounded, but his ideas usually got the two of them into deep trouble.

"What kind of contest?" she asked carefully and he grinned. It was the type of grin that Will usually sported before knocking someone clear off their broom with a Bludger and Avis gulped nervously.

"Well you remember our diving contests? We'd do those for speed, but I was thinking today, since you have the BlueBottle and have no shot at beating me with that-" Will began and Avis interrupted him was a hard smack across his bicep, which of course, practically felt like a light breeze to the 12 year old. "-We could do it for height this time. Whoever dives and pulls out from the highest point wins," he said, the grin still painted across his face. Something inside Avis told her this was a very bad idea, but she wasn't about to let her older brother call her a ninny.

"You're on," she retorted, sticking out a small hand for him to shake. Will shook it heartily, his hand engulfing hers in his grip.

"Right, I'll go first. Just to show you the ropes," he winked and Avis made a face before he rose straight up, giving her a cheeky wave. Now that he was out of earshot, she let herself breathe. Her chest rose and fell in quick nervous gasps. They were very high up and she'd only dove from heights that were about 6 meters below them. And Will was still climbing!

She wouldn't be bested though. Avis couldn't bare to see his cocky smirk for any longer than a day and longed to wipe it off his face.

She watched as he let out a whoop from above and rolled into a sharp dive, gaining speed as he whooshed past, forcing her to grip her broom handle with both hands. Despite herself, Avis let out an excited cheer which turned into a worried expression as he neared the ground, still flying at breakneck speed.

With a gasp of relief, she saw him pull up last minute. She squinted to see him waving from the ground as he dismounted. The small girl took a breath and began to ascend slowly.

"Ok, Avis. It's easy. You've done this a million times! You can pull out of a stupid dive," she whispered to herself as she passed Will's starting point. Going up another meter or two, she stopped, studying her surroundings. The air was much colder up here, indicating to her that she was much higher than she should be on this old BlueBottle. It shuddered beneath her and Avis felt every muscle in her body tense. Here goes nothing.

Without another thought, she tipped her broom handle downwards and began to descend, slowly at first and then gradually picking up speed. The BlueBottle kept shaking and Avis gripped onto the polished wood for dear life as her surroundings began to blur past her and the wind roared in her ears. All she could see was the grassy field beneath her, rushing up much too quickly. In the background, she could hear someone shouting at her to pull up, but she couldn't tell if it was the wind or not. Finally, her consciousness kicked in and she started to yank desperately on the handle.

"C'mon you old brute! C'mon!" she implored her broom as the ground grew closer. Finally, the broom handle began to level out and she sighed in relief before glancing down and letting out a shriek. She'd underestimated the distance and with a terrible sound of cracking wood and crunching bristles, Avis tumbled into the ground, everything going instantly dark.

. . .

"-ilson Tobias Greymond, you are going to be the death of me and your poor sister! I cannot believe you let her go up that high! She is 7 years old! You shouldn't even be up that high, young man!" Avis heard her mother's voice echoing angrily in her head as her vision started to clear. Everything was so fuzzy sounding and her body felt like it was floating in a cloud... before reality suddenly set in and the outside world was sharp and loud. A searing pain shot through her arm and she groaned in agony.

"Mam, look, I'm sorry. We've done this before and- oi, she's awake!" Will cried and leaned in close to his sister's battered face. "Gee, Avis. You look a sight," he chuckled, which was followed by an immediate 'ow!' as Mam's hand rapped him over the head. He moved away, rubbing his forehead and Avis' mother leaned in, her face a picture of worry.

"Avis, dear, you could've died. Let me fix up your arm quickly. It'll hurt a bit, but you won't feel a thing after, me love. Merlin, I don't know how you had the nerve to be up that high," she muttered, pulling out her wand. Avis didn't have time to react before her mother pronounced a clear 'Brachio Emendum' and she grimaced as she felt every bone in her arm start to rearrange itself. Soon enough, though everything was back in the right place and she felt right as rain, save her throbbing head and shaky limbs.

Mam stood and mumbled something angrily to Will, who immediately moved to pick up his little sister. She coughed weakly, before looking up at him.

"Can this count as a win for me?" she croaked and Will laughed.

"Alright, I'll let you have this one, but only cause you had the guts to do it in the first place and you broke the record for the highest the BlueBottle's ever been," he joked, receiving another sharp rap from his mother as the group walked towards the house, his sister held gently in his arms.

"Don't encourage her. Both of you are grounded for the next two months and that broom shed will be locked up immediately," Tabitha snapped. Will glanced at Avis and the two of them stifled a giggle. It would be quite the story to tell for the next couple years.