Afternoon jog

[Lizzie Parker-Taylor]

As soon as Lizzie set foot on the grass, she knew she had made a good call. Going from doing sports every single day to sitting at a desk, remembering facts and writing essays was gruelling, and she longed to feel the wind through her hair, even if it wasn't in any of her preferred forms.

Most of Lizzie's clothes were more suited to colder weather sports, but she had managed to dig out her tracksuit pants and a tank top, pulling her hair into a messy ponytail as she walked across the grass, trying to pick a good area. Finding a nice, mostly clear space on the grounds, Lizzie felt her heart thud with excitement, barely remembering to do a quick stretch before throwing herself into an easy jog. She started light and slow, against every urge in her mind, but even that was enough to kickstart the adrenaline she was so used to, and as Lizzie jogged lightly across the grass she finally started to feel like herself again, the wind running through her hair just like she had needed.

 

[Zara Lovette]

Maybe Jean wasn't on her back to practice but Zara felt vaguely haunted by an expectant and familiar team captain's voice every time she passed by the headboy in the hallway or the common room. Sure, he was friendly and innocent-looking whenever they passed by each other but she felt like that was because there was some sort of understanding that she would practice when she could. Even if she was just a substitute for the team that didn't give her permission to slack off and Zar felt Jean's headboy powers would somehow know if she slacked off.

Perhaps Zar was overthinking things a lil bit. And when Zar felt she was overthinking things, she liked to enjoy some fresh air. Lying in bed all day sounded like the absolute worst thing for Zar; every day held so much potential and wasting it like that... Her brother would do anything to not have to lie in bed all day whilst some wore it like a badge. And Zar wouldn't judge other people's actions, but she wasn't about to let them affect her own habits. So she thought she would go out for a stroll, despite not even her cat wanting to tag along today.

Humming the ever-so-popular Bach's "Chaconne" to herself, Zara eventually found herself on The Great Lawn, barefoot as she carried her sandals in her hands, liking the feel of the grass between her toes. Observing her surroundings, she noticed a familiar speck in the distance and grinning at the thought of sudden company, approached the figure in a slow jog herself, waving excitedly. "Hi Liz!" Zara called as she ran; not that she was in any position to run with her own getup, a combination of clothing absolutely not suited for this type of physical activity. But she continued to run anyway, catching up and tagging along side her friend. "Out for a jog? Mind if I join?" ​

 

[Lizzie Parker-Taylor]

Lizzie didn't hear her name being called at first, lost in the rushing past her ears and the blood rushing through her veins. The thud of footsteps behind her eventually alerted Lizzie to the fact that she wasn't alone though and she slowed down, smiling when she saw Zara. "Hi Zara!" She slowed down further, matching Zara's slower barefoot pace. As much fun as running as fast as she could alone was, Lizzie always preferred company to solitude.

"Of course you can join, beats running alone. I just get so bored and stir-crazy in this place sitting around doing nothing..." She smiled, brushing some stray hair out of her face. "I'm not used to spending so much time indoors doing nothing, it's a nightmare..."

 

[Zara Lovette]

Zara nodded, agreeing with the sentiment of having to keep active. Keeping active was an absolute must to staying insane. She just didn't understand how anyone could be cooped up inside all day, especially with the wonders of Hogwarts that awaited everyone. The grounds were beautiful and there was just so much that you could do! "I totally agree like it's really fun to run around and you were like running super fast that's so cool were you on the track team did you go to muggle primary school I mean I've seen you ride your broom and you're pretty good so you're obviously not a muggle born!" As usual, the young girl's speech was rushed and slurred, no breaths taken as she kept on running. Her feet padded against the ground, grass tickling them as she continued running with her friend. Her flowy pants were long and dragged behind her but the small girl was light on her feet, a practice from having been a long distance runner back in school. Despite showing little control over her voice modulation and speech patterns, her breathing pattern as she ran was constant-- measured like a metronome. "This is fun! Did you use to do this often?"​

 

[Lizzie Parker-Taylor]

Lizzie kept her running pace slow as she listened to Zara, surprised that one person could ask so many questions at once. "I went to muggle school, but we didn't have any sports teams, there aren't enough people in Queenstown to bother. But no, both my parents went to Hogwarts, we run a holiday lodge for wizards who wanna use magic on holiday and not worry about having muggles around, so we play Quidditch pretty often with guests. I really wanna play here once I'm old enough, the flying lessons are so boring..."

Lizzie was able to run a bit easier at this slower pace, feeling more relaxed and no longer worrying about her breathing as she ran. "I never really ran much, but I've gotta do something, I hate that there's no sports here. I miss skiing and snowboarding and ice skating and quidditch and EVERYTHING..." She sighed, throwing her hands up in the air. "I NEED sports! And there's NOTHING here!"

 

[Zara Lovette]

Zara was vaguely aware that Queenstown was known for its ski tourism, but a wizard holiday lodge sounded like so much fun. "Really? Oh that's so cool I'm from Auckland so I guess it's pretty different huh now I wanna go visit ooh I've been to Queenstown before and it was pretty but we stayed in a regular lodge next time I'll make sure we visit. Then we can play Quidditch and you can meet my dad he was a professional Quidditch player when he was young so it'll be tons of fun and you can meet my brother too he's very nice and a very good listener." Zara yammered on, stopping to regulate her breathing once more. Recalling more of Lizzie's earlier words she continued on in an attempt to get everything she was thinking in to the conversation. "Try out next year! I'm an alternate so hopefully I'll get a regular position next year but if not then we could still be on the team together you fly well in class after all and hopefully Lucas too and we could practice together wouldn't that be fun as well?" It was like she was on a sugar high, exciting future prospects making the Gryffindor even bubblier.

Zara had always managed to keep herself busy and wouldn't know what she would do if she couldn't, so she could sympathize with Lizzie's situation. "I'll do some practice games with you! And run with you too but you're right there's like no teams around here. At my muggle school we had lots of sports like track and rowing and basketball and softba--" And then without warning, due to her klutziness and lack of preparation her foot caught on a bump and she went tumbling, dropping her sandals in a last minute attempt to bring her arms up and shield her face from harm.

"Ouchie..." Zara groaned, not even bothering moving herself as she processed what happened. Geez, this had happened more than enough! This had to be the what-- third, fourth time since the beginning of the year? Zara slowly rolled herself over, noticing a slight pain in her arm and looking down to see a small gash from what was likely a rock or something similar. The blood trickled down and she looked away, not a fan of blood but glad it was only her own. She would damn near pass out if it was anyone else's. "Well... Nothing's broken," Zara laughed. ​

 

[Lizzie Parker-Taylor]

Out of Character:

AAH I'm so sorry this is so late omg I've had some irl stuff going on and I haven't had time to get on at all lately D=

Lizzie grinned excitedly. "Oh, yeah! You should definitely come stay with us! My dad would love your dad, my dad played Quidditch at school, we play all the time! And we could go skiing together and I'll teach you to snowboard, it'll be awesome!" Lizzie's heart slowed and her face fell as she heard her friend was on the quidditch team. "You're an ALTERNATE? I thought we weren't allowed to play until second year! I wanted to try out SO BAD! I can't believe it!" Lizzie stared down in shock and dismay, heart sinking all the way down until she felt like it was oozing out her toes, barely even running anymore. She had to wait a whole nother year before she could play now, and she had missed her chance completely. ((I didn't realise first years could try out until after it was way too late and I feel so bad SORRY LIZZIE))

Lizzie was so downcast she hardly heard anything Zara was saying until she fell, instinct immediately kicking in as Lizzie stopped midstride and dropped down to help her. "Oh my god! Are you okay?" She was well accustomed to guests falling over on the ski slopes, and you could never tell who was fine, who was seriously injured, and who was going to make a big deal out of it even though they were fine. She was relieved to see that her friend seemed alright, asides from a little scratch. "It doesn't look too bad, do you wanna go back up to school to get a bandaid or are you okay?"

 

[Zara Lovette]

Out of Character:

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No worries, hope you're doing well! Real life's always the priority ​

​

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<FONT font="Georgia"><SIZE size="50">Extremely cheery at the prospect of a vacation at her own friend's place, Zara was thrown off guard at the sudden drop of mood at Liz's reaction to hearing she was on the team. Listening, Zara could understand Lizzie's disappointment; she would have definitely kicked herself in the leg if she found out that she had missed a chance at trying out for the team. But her friend wasn't entirely wrong, and not wanting her to feel worse, Zar quickly tried to comfort her. "Oh but technically you are only allowed to try out in second year. I'm fairly sure Gryffindor is the only team with any first years... The only reason I was allowed to try out was because I literally begged the captain. He said no at first but I can be pretty annoying and I talk a lot you know like I'm talking right now just can't stop." Zara almost added in that there was always next year but she knew that the other Gryffindor was absolutely aware of that fact and didn't want to sound mocking.

Seeing Lizzie's concern, Zara only giggled. She was really such a klutz, a contrast to her athletic nature. Her legs were scarred and her step was awkward, but her father only ever told her it was part of her charm. It had been a while since she'd seen someone concerned over her and not immediately laugh at her, and she didn't know she missed it until now. "I'm just fine, though thank you for your worry. It happens all the time," Accepting her help, Zara stood to her feet and gave a shaky twirl. "See? Just fine~" Zara gave a smile and shook her head at the thought of going back to the school for a bandaid. "Maybe we could just go for a walk instead? Unless you wanna keep up your momentum, then I can go back." She knew part of the reason she tripped was because she was absolutely not supposed to be running with these flowy pants, but she didn't want to hold her friend back. Friends didn't do that to each other.​

 

[Lizzie Parker-Taylor]

Out of Character:

Aaah thanks Everything's alright now haha I just had a lot going on all at once & no energy left to rp

Lizzie groaned softly, completely dismayed. "I can't believe it, I should have talked to him too, I really, really wanted to play, I HATE having nothing to do at this stupid school... What kind of school only has ONE sport? It's the worst!" Lizzie could tell that she had crossed over from initial dismay to whining about her situation, but she couldn't quite bring herself to stop, stomach still curling with upset and envy and the feeling of being left out.

Helping Zara up, Lizzie was relieved to see she seemed just fine. She had a tendency to overreact to seeing people fall over on land, instinctively reacting to how badly a person could potentially hurt themselves falling over on the slopes. Zara seemed alright though, and Lizzie managed a little laugh as her friend twirled, still crushed about missing out on Quidditch. "We can totally walk, it's fine... that outfit can't be easy to run in, sorry..." She hesitantly set off at a light walk, keeping an eye on Zara to make sure the pace was alright.

 

[Zara Lovette]

Zara could see that she wasn't exactly helping, and decided for once just to listen. Maybe all her friend needed to do was to let her frustrations out, so she nodded along as Liz continued to grumble, voicing her agreements. "That's true, there should be like broom racing or something... You could always start a sport yourself," Zara offered, and though she was mostly just making passive comments, she considered the idea for a moment. Although broom racing just wasn't her type of thing, as she wasn't an agility-based flyer or anything of the sort, she thought there must be quite a few thrill seekers around Hogwarts who might want to join. Wasn't there an entire house dedicated to this kind of stuff? And heck, wasn't she in the house dedicated to this kind of stuff? Broom racing could be hella dangerous, but that was expected from a world where quidditch was allowed.

Zara nodded, having the decency to blush slightly for slowing her friend down. Never wanting to be a big bother, she purposely hurried up the pace of their walk to less of a stroll. She stumbled slightly at the start, slightly disorientated, but quickly straitened herself up and returned to normal. To intrude on her friend and then mess it up... Her brother would give her a scolding. "No no, it's my fault for attempting. And then I went and made you feel bad about Quidditch. Sorry Liz," She sighed, eyes trained on the road ahead of her but passing her friend an apologetic glance. "How about another topic... Um, that ball thing is coming up soon! After exams, right? I'm not even sure if we're allowed to go but it'll be fun if we do," Zara babbled, hoping to divert Liz's attention once more. ​

 

[Lizzie Parker-Taylor]

Lizzie frowned and nodded slightly, thinking about it. "It's weird that there isn't even like, touch or netball or anything... I do kinda want to set it up, but we'd need like... equipment and players and stuff..." She trailed off, thinking about it. "I might ask a teacher. It seems really silly only having one PE subject in the whole school, and only letting certain people play it..."

Lizzie kept pace with Zara as they walked, glancing at her friend's gait occasionally to make sure she was really alright. She smiled when Zara brought up the ball, not having really put much thought into it yet herself. "Oh! Right, I keep forgetting about that... I hope we can go, it seems really fun." She smiled, imagining it. "Oh my god, I bet Evelyn's going to make such a fuss about all our outfits and hair and stuff..." Lizzie giggled. "She's gonna look so pretty and perfect, and I'll probably get grass stains on my dress somehow, and I have NO idea how to even TRY to put makeup on..." Lizzie giggled harder, imagining her perfectionist friend's reaction to Lizzie's inevitable mess of an outfit.

 

[Zara Lovette]

It really quite... Weird when one stopped to think about it. Sure, Quidditch pretty much dominated the magical world when it came to sports but it wasn't as if it was the only one that existed. "Maybe there could be like a house league sort of set up, if people are only interested in Quidditch. Like games just for fun, and they could be inter-house too! That would be amazing, wouldn't it? A great way to bond with others as well as play a fun sport." Zara got more and more excited just thinking about it. "Yes, a professor might know what to do." Maybe it wouldn't happen this year but with some time and planning, something could certainly come out of such talks!

Zara's walk soon steadied and her bounce was soon back as the exciting topic was brought up. "Oh my Godric, you're so right. Evelyn is going to have such a blast! She'll probably go with Luke, they seem to have something going on," Zara crinkled up her nose at the thought of her two friends. "Blech. As long as they're not weird around us," Zara laughed, inwardly cringing at the thought of the two lions treating each other with such affection. They weren't exactly old enough to be a couple, but that was certainly the road they were heading down at this point. She shook her head at the thought. "Have you ever been to a ball I have and they're kind of boring but this time I'll be with friends and that will be tons of fun dontcha think." Her speedy chatter was back, bubbling at the thoughts of a night of dancing with all her friends.
​

 

[Lizzie Parker-Taylor]

Lizzie hesitated, thinking. "I dunno if they'd let us set up a whole nother league of inter house games, 'cause it's basically the same thing, but what about mixed teams, for like... house unity and stuff? I bet that'd sound good!" She smiled. "I'll talk to a professor about it, and see if that, or like... a muggle sports club or something is an option..." Lizzie pulled her hairtie out and fixed her ponytail as she thought about it, looping the thin band around her hair. It shouldn't be too difficult to sell the idea to a teacher, with house unity and fitness as a goal, but she would have to choose which teacher carefully, as well as how to present it.

Lizzie's eyes widened at the though of Evelyn going on a real date with a boy. "She's dating someone already? Oh my god, that's so weird, ew..." Lizzie tried to imagine going to the ball with a boy, but the idea was... pretty gross. She didn't need someone pulling out her chair, or leading her around the dancefloor, or anything like that. Gross. She gasped at the next thing Zara said, pulled quickly out of her thoughts. "You've been to a ball before? That's so cool, what was it like? I've never been to anything like this before, when we have parties at the lodge it's more like, hot chocolate and singing songs and stuff. Though we do have weddings there sometimes, that's sort of like a ball. They're always so pretty, everyone looks so happy..."