Closed A Silly Little Fear

[Lillian Lockwood]

Lily had been hiding for what felt like forever. At least she'd manage to stop crying. Not that it really mattered- she still felt terrible. She swiped at her face with her sleeve, though it seemed she just spread the wetness on her cheeks instead of drying it. She had been so sure she could overcome her fear, be brave like her sister or even the other students in her class. But she just couldn't seem to find it in herself to get back on a broom. She hugged her knees to her chest, staring off into the distance sadly. She felt so ashamed. It was silly of her to be afraid, but she couldn't tell anyone either. She knew how ridiculous this was. Who could she possibly tell? She sighed, burying her head in her arms. She couldn't imagine things getting any worse.

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot couldn't help the sinking feeling in his stomach when Professor Holland confirmed she hadn't seen Lily either. With any luck, she was back at their dorm already, but he couldn't leave the pitch yet until they'd at least tried looking for her.

The pitch seemed impossibly big when it was this empty, with so many spots someone could hide or be missed with all the stands and locker rooms. "Lily?" he called out, feeling like it was swallowing his voice even as it echoed a bit across the empty space. He glanced at Professor Holland as they looked, she would have seen someone leaving class, right? "Lily," he called again, "Are you still here?" He sure hoped she was okay.

 

[Professor Grace Holland]

This was only Grace's second year of teaching, and she was now realizing her first year had been exceptionally smooth. This semester she'd had someone fly off when she had told them not to, someone fly one-handed when it wasn't allowed and now she had a disappearing student. She hoped they could find Lily soon, and really felt bad for not noticing her absence during the lesson. Grace looked around for a little while with Mr. Briar, who had alerted her to the missing girl. Then decided to use magic. She used the Hominem Revelio spell, which told her there was another human being nearby. Hopefully it was the girl they were looking for. Thinking for a moment, Grace pointed the boy in the right direction. "Why don't you check there?" She asked, intending to follow a few paces behind. Miss Lockwood had looked nervous in the previous flying lessons, so Grace had a feeling she was hiding from fear. She assumed it would be easier on the girl to be found by a friend, instead of a professor. Though if she really did hide because she was scared, Grace didn't intend to get her in trouble for it. It was her job to provide a safe and secure environment to fly, and if she had failed in that it was something she had to fix, not something she had to punish her student for.

 

[Lillian Lockwood]

Lily nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard Elliot calling her name. Her lip trembled a bit and she was tempted to hop up and run out to the boy. She shook her head, hugging her knees even closer to her chest. With any luck, El would just give up and go back to the castle. She would find him later and tell him she'd just gone back first. Rosie had told her she was a pretty crier, but Lily still didn't want him to see her like this. She knew she was stupid for hiding, but she had been terrified the Professor would've seen her trying to slip away early. She buried her head in her arms again, biting her lip as she tried to ignore Elliot calling for her.

 

[Elliot Briar]

Professor Holland did something with her wand that Elliot didn't catch before motioning towards a spot near the North stands. She seemed concerned, but not overly so, which helped Elliot push back some of the more dire thoughts he'd been toying with. If the Professor was able to be so calm Lily probably wasn't in any real danger, right?

Rounding the corner, tucked in between the stands, was Lily. Elliot felt his heart break at how miserable she looked and he hurried over, crouching next to her. "Hey, Lils," He kept his voice soft, worry replaced by concern for the look on Lily's face. He reached out, lifting his hand to comfort her before pausing. Maybe she wouldn't want to be touched right now. He dropped his hand back to his knee instead, crouching down further instead, trying to catch her eye, "You alright?"

 

[Professor Grace Holland]

Grace followed the boy at a small distance, and watched as he found her and crouched next to her. It was nice that the girl had such a good friend, and Grace was glad that he could help put her at ease. She approached and crouched down as well, in front of the two of them. "Miss Lockwood, please don't be afraid. You're not in any trouble." Grace said, her voice gentle. "If something's wrong, please allow me and your friend here to help you. I promise it will be okay.." She hoped the girl would believe her, and be open to her help. "What happened during today's lesson that upset you so much?" She feared another student had made fun of her, in which case Grace would have to step in and be firm with them. But if something else was the problem she needed to know that too.

 

[Lillian Lockwood]

Lily jumped when suddenly Elliot's voice was so very much closer. Without thinking, she tried to pull further back into the shadows. She looked up through her mussed hair with wide eyes. Elliot was crouching in front of her, and right behind him was Professor Holland. Lily lowered her eyes again, using the sleeve of her robes in a useless attempt to wipe her face dry. She shook her head, ashamed. Elliot was so sweet, and the Professor was so nice. She didn't know what to say. It wasn't until the Professor asked what happened that Lily looked up again. Her lower lip trembled and she curled into herself tighter. "I... I'm afraid of, um, of h-heights," She stammered softly, a blush coloring her cheeks. It hurt her to say it aloud. Her lower lip trembled. She looked away, too ashamed of herself to look either of them in the eyes.

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot had almost forgotten Professor Holland was with them, having to rebalance himself in his crouch when she joined him with Lily. It was a relief to hear that Lily really wasn't in trouble, and Professor Holland seemed genuinely concerned about Lily like he was. Glancing at Lily right now, it was hard to imagine anyone couldn't feel sympathy for how upset she looked. Elliot was almost relieved when Lily admitted she was just scared of heights, though he guessed it was a pretty serious level of fear to cause Lily to run and hide like this. He frowned. Not exactly something that he could fix easily then.
He watched Lily's face seem to crumble again, Lily looking away from both of them and couldn't help but reach out this time, tentatively resting a hand on her shoulder. He didn't really know how to deal with people when they cried. Maybe Professor Holland could handle it better, being a teacher surely meant you were better at that stuff. And maybe she would let Lily skip the rest of their flying lessons, though he'd miss being in class with her.

 

[Professor Grace Holland]

Grace wished she had someone here who had more authority than her. Being the teacher meant she had to take care of the situation, but she really wasn't sure what to do. The crying girl was clearly terrified, and Grace really wanted to help her. She waited patiently for the girl to talk to her, but when she did she had to suppress a sigh. A fear of heights wasn't exactly something she had a fix for. She noticed the girl's embarrassment and gently reached out to touch her arm. "That's not something to be ashamed of, everyone is afraid of something. My cousin is afraid of heights too, it's not anything strange." She said softly. "Let me help you, Miss Lockwood. We can agree on different things you can do in flying instead of what the rest of the class is doing, perhaps agree that you have to fly less high if that's easier for you. Or I could help you in between classes to get a little more confident on a broom." She smiled encouragingly. "I know a fear of heights isn't always rational, but I do want you to know I would ensure you don't get hurt even if you fall. I'll help protect you with a cushioning spell." She glanced at the boy and smiled at him too. "And I'm sure you'll be willing to help, right? We can figure something out. Whatever you need to make the classes bearable for you." She held out her hand to the girl. "How about we had back to the castle now, and you take some time to calm down? We could drink some tea in my office and talk about this, or you can return to the common room and we can talk about it later. Whatever you want to do." She didn't want to overwhelm the girl, but also wanted to give her options. She remembered from her own school days how frustrating it was to have teachers decide everything for them. And only Lily knew what she would feel most comfortable with.

 

[Lillian Lockwood]

Lily looked up as Elliot placed his hand on her shoulder. She still felt embarrassed, but his touch calmed her a little. Without thinking, she placed her hand over his, leaning her head against her hand. She looked over as the Professor began to talk, placing her hand on Lily's arm. Lily listened as the woman encouraged her, She sniffled a little, squeezing El's hand a bit when the Professor asked if he would help. She sort of hoped he would. "I... I tried to fix it," She admitted softly. "I thought I could climb up a tall tree and it might help, but..." She winced at the memory. "I couldn't get into the branches. I kept falling out," She gave a wobbly smile.

After a moment of thought, Lily gave a small nod. "I like tea," She said softly before glancing at El. She wasn't sure what to do, but she did know she felt better with him around. "I... I'm sorry I left without telling you." She murmured. "Would... would you come with me?" She asked him. She wouldn't blame him if he didn't want to be involved. She wouldn't want to be involved with her either.

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot was glad Lily seemed to be calming down, nodding encouragingly as Professor Holland spoke. He ducked his head a bit when Professor Holland addressed him, but nodded again more confidently when she offered a plan to help Lily. "Yes, ma'am, I'm happy to help. Whatever you need, Lils," he said softly, pausing before admitting, "I find heights pretty scary too, we can figure it out," He wished Lily would have said something sooner, though he could tell how uncomfortable she'd been in class lately. He was glad Professor Holland seemed so cool and calm about everything. They could make this work.

It was a relief when Lily nodded, agreeing to tea with Professor Holland and El tried to smile reassuringly when Lily turned to him to apologize. "It's okay, Lils, just.. Talk to us next time?" Elliot stood up slowly as he spoke, holding out his hand to help Lily to her feet. "You don't have to be scared,"
He looked to Professor Holland for reassurance, glad again that he'd gone to her for help, "If it's okay, tea sounds great," He'd stick around as long as Lily needed him.

 

[Professor Grace Holland]

Grace watched the young girl carefully, wondering how she would react to her offer. She hoped she was doing the right thing here, as the priority seemed to be to get Lily to calm down. Grace was surprised to hear the girl say she tried to fix her fear of heights by climbing trees, that showed a determination she hadn't expected. "That's very brave of you, but maybe we can try it with brooms instead, and with me there to help you. And we'll build it up slowly." She said gently. "I'll try my best to make sure you don't fall, okay?" She was glad when the girl accepted her offer for tea, and then was quiet for a moment as the girl talked to her friend. The boy seemed very supportive and sweet, and Grace was happy to have him along too. She gave him a smile when he looked at her, reassuring her that he was dong the right thing. "We'll all have tea in my office, and we'll discuss what we're going to do to help you, Miss Lockwood." Grace extended her hand to help the girl up. "I promise it will be okay."