The Fall Out Boys
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| Date: 22/09/25, after Skyborne Scuffle Kerfuffle | Word count: 444 |
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Frederick was flying. Not on a broom, as one would normally expect when hearing that an eleven-year-old wizard was flying, but flying with his arms spread wide, cutting through the air like some great human bird. The sky was clear, glowing with a cheerful blue, and the boy felt a pleasant breeze play across his face. From above, he looked down at Hogwarts Castle, its dark, imposing stone standing out sharply against the bright day, some of its stained-glass windows catching the sunlight.
Still high in the sky, he made a wide turn in a great arc, taking in the scenery around him with incredible clarity. The few scattered clouds, the distant shimmer of the Black Lake, the green sweep of the grounds, the rustling tops of trees near the forest. And suddenly, everything changed. As he finished his curve around the castle, Frederick felt his body drop, a violent yank pulling from his navel, cold rushing through his stomach as gravity swallowed him whole. He was no longer flying. He was falling, plummeting like a dead weight toward the ground with nothing to stop him. With a jolt against the mattress of the Hospital Wing, Fred woke up.
“What the hell?” The boy opened his eyes and was met with an entirely different world than the one in his dream, the shift from sleep to reality sharp and disorienting. Adjusting himself slowly on the bed until he was half-sitting, half-lying down, he blinked a few times while looking around. After a moment, he realized he was in the Hospital Wing, and had to put in some effort to remember why he was there.
He had taken part in an absolutely chaotic Quidditch match, one where no one played as Seeker and the main objective was to knock out every player on the opposing team. He remembered thinking the other team was much stronger, but he also remembered how much his own team had committed themselves, and how much fun they all seemed to be having while he was still on the pitch. Shifting again so his back rested comfortably against the soft pillow and his legs stretched out, Fred couldn’t quite recall exactly how he’d ended up there, but he did remember the sharp, searing pain of being hit by a Bludger during the game.
Looking to the side, he noticed that the bed next to his was occupied by a vaguely familiar face. He scratched his head, which throbbed a little, then looked again at the boy. “Ah, Percival, right? You got knocked out too, I suppose.” Fred offered a sympathetic expression, the kind that meant, well, what can we do.
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| Interacting with: @Percival Rocier |
OOC Notes: This post has been translated from it's original language.
Sta 8 | Eva 8 | Str 6 | Wis 5 | Arc Power 4 | Acc 10
Abilities: Evasive Maneuvers, Keeper's Catch
The Fall Out Boys
Banner by: Maisie Gemmell
Percival's eyes opened with a pained groan and adjusted to the light. Cabinets with vials and medicine slowly blurred into his vision around him, and so did the other beds and staff attending to various student injuries. On instinct, he tried to turn his head and body to assess his own state, but a sharp sting in his lower ribs forced him to roll onto his back again.
The last thing he remembered was a last-ditch plan to turn the game around, but that's when everything had abruptly gone dark. He now figured he had at least gotten hit in the ribs, judging by the pain he felt, but he didn't remember how he went down. Maybe the fall had knocked him out? Or had the other team been so desperate to finish him off that they also went for his head?
He sighed and supposed it didn't matter much — the game was lost either way. Still, he felt some pride over the fact that he managed to score twice during his very first game of Quidditch. At the start of the game, he had been very nervous about it, but looking back, he was happy that he had gone through with it.
Even though he was in a hospital bed now.
A few minutes passed when Percival heard someone awakening next to him, followed by the mention of his name. Turning to face the other boy, he finally recognized him from the game and smiled, "Yeah, pretty sure we all did." Without a golden snitch, it was the outcome he should have probably expected. He had just hoped it would have been the other team, rather than his own.
Maybe next time.
"How are you feeling?" Percival continued, "I've seen better days but... the game was still fun." He wondered if Frederick would feel the same way about it. Was this his first game, too?
@Frederick Buckley
The Fall Out Boys
〚 •• ✎ •• 〛
| Date: 22/09/25, after Skyborne Scuffle Kerfuffle | Word count: 388 |
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Frederick shifted on the bed once more so he could continue the conversation he’d started with Percival. His head throbbed a little, and just the movement of sitting up a bit more instead of lying down made his right arm ache as well. When the boy answered him with, “yeah, pretty sure we all did,” Fred silently agreed. Of course, that was the whole point of the game they had both taken part in.
While Percival spoke his next words, Fred glanced around quickly, trying to see if any other familiar faces were occupying the beds. The hospital wing wasn’t crowded; in fact, it was rather empty, considering how many people on his team had been knocked off their brooms. Maybe not everyone needed medical attention, Frederick thought as he looked back at Percival, still wearing a friendly expression. “At the moment, it’s just a headache. How about you?” He really didn’t remember anything after being hit by the Bludger and, despite the twinge he’d felt in his arm just a few minutes earlier, he decided not to mention it. “The match was really fun, up until the part I can actually remember.” Frederick finished with a nasally laugh.
Fred tried once again to recall the path from the Quidditch pitch to the hospital wing, but his mind was completely blank. He wondered whether this happened every time a player got hit by a Bludger. Momentarily lost in thought, he quickly added to his last sentence, wanting to keep the conversation going with the boy beside him. One thing Fred was truly good at was making small talk. “I’m having trouble remembering what happened after I got knocked off my broom. Did our team manage to do anything else?”
Waiting for Percival’s answer, and struggling to stay still now that he was fully awake, Frederick looked around again and saw, on the metal bedside table beside him, a glass of water and two caramel candies. Not wanting to be rude, he turned quickly to reach for the candy and grabbed both pieces with his left hand, immediately offering one to Percival so he could open the one he planned to eat afterward. Frederick peeled off the golden cellophane wrapper, the typical crinkling noise echoing through the room, before tossing the caramel into his mouth and beginning to chew.
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| Interacting with: @Percival Rocier |
OOC Notes: This post has been translated from it's original language.
Sta 8 | Eva 8 | Str 6 | Wis 5 | Arc Power 4 | Acc 10
Abilities: Evasive Maneuvers, Keeper's Catch