Attempting to lift off

[Alexandra Johansen]

Alex made her way to the quidditch pitch, thinking that she should probably become more active in extra-curricular activities. She wasn't sure what she was good at, other than potions, so she decided to try out quidditch. Her palms were getting a little sweaty as she approached the broom shed to take out one of the accessible school brooms, and the Cleansweep Six she was holding nearly slipped out of her hands as she was taking it out.

Alexandra positioned herself in the centre of the Quidditch pitch, so she wouldn't hit anything in case she went the wrong direction. She pulled her hair back into an elastic, so it wouldn't go into her face, then she cautiously mounted the borrowed broom. Nervously, she lifted off the ground, and hovered six feet off the ground, pleased that she had succeeded in lifting off, though she was too scared to look down or go any higher. Alex stayed put in the middle of the pitch, when she realised that she didn't know how to land the broom. She was stuck, too scared to go up, and unsure how to go down.

 

[Ella Greene]

After not having attempted to mount a broom since she went to school in Beauxbatons, Ella never had the interest in purchasing one of her own. However, after having to deal with the celebrations of the Gryffindor quidditch win, she decided it might be a good idea to become acquainted with the art of flying. Hey, what if a spot opened up on the quidditch team?

Ella made her way out to the quidditch pitch, with an old and worn out school broom in tow. Wait, is that Alexandra?? Ella grinned and waved her free hand at the girl she met in the forbidden forest the year before. It seemed the girl was hovering stationary, not flying around the pitch or showing off like most other students enjoyed doing. "Hi!" Ella yelled, hoping Alexandra could see and hear her. "Am I interrupting something here?"

 

[Alexandra Johansen]

Alexandra was beginning to get nervous, refusing to look down. She then got the idea that if she started to kick her feet back and forth, it might physically cause the broom to go down. She thought she was alone, and nearly flew off her broom when she heard a familiar voice yell out, Hi! to her. She hesitantly looked down, noticing it was Ella, whom she had met in her second or first year. "Hello Ella. You are not interrupting anything at all." She said with a little bit of anxiety in her shaky voice. She stopped kicking her legs, and looked straight ahead of her, for her stomach felt a little queasy looking down. "You don't by any chance know how to land this thing, do you?" She yelled quite loudly for her small voice, and closed her eyes as she was getting dizzy.

 

[Ella Greene]

Oh my gosh, what has she gotten herself into? Ella thought as she watched Alexandra struggle on her broom. It's not like Ella would be much help to the Slytherin girl, as she really knew very little about the whole art of flying. Ella glanced around the pitch and was glad to see that it was practically empty, other than a few silly first years and the two third year girls. "Land a broom?" Ella asked, trying to keep her voice quiet, while at the same time hoping that Alexandra could hear what she was saying. "I'm not sure exactly, but I can try and fly up there to help you!"

Ella placed the old broom on the ground and called, "Up!", in the fasion that she was taught as a first year at Beauxbatons. She was very pleased when the broom did as she commanded, and she was able to grasp and mount the thing. Maybe I am a natural... Ella quickly glanced around the pitch one more time to see if any other students were watching, before uncomfortably hovering up to Alexandra. To her dismay, Ella was not so smooth on the old broom and her short hover was rather bumpy. Ella cleared her throat, "Now to land...."

 

[Alexandra Johansen]

Alexandra gave a weak grin to Ella, and watched as she mounted her broom and rose to the same height as her. It was comforting to have someone else at the same height as her, and she wasn't as nervous now, but she still wanted to get down. She fought the knot in her throat, and swallowed hard. "Now to land." She repeated. How am I supposed to land this thing? Maybe if I think really hard, then the broom will land itself. Alex thought to herself, then closed her eyes. For some reason, she thought it would help her concentrate more. She willed her broom to drop, and held her breath. Nothing happened. She opened her eyes, and said aloud to Ella, "I'm all out of ideas." She didn't dare tell her about the thought she had that willing the broom might work, for fear of embarassment.

 

[Ella Greene]

Ella concentrated on keeping her broom stable, so her gave was fixed on the broomstick and ground. She looked to her side to see how Alexandra was doing, and noticed that the girl had her eyes closed! Oh, this can't be good... Ella thought, Don't tell me that she flunked out of her flying lessons as well. Ella waited for Alexandra to open her eyes on her own and kept silent, because frightening someone who is not too confident on a broom would not be a good idea. At all. When Alexandra opened her eyes and announced that she was out of ideas, Ella frowned. The situation seemed pretty bleak.

Ella tried to remember what she learned in flying lessons, but couldn't think of much. "Is it too high to jump off the broom? Wait, that would not be a good idea. We could try flying around, I mean, we might end up making it to the ground, right?"

 

[Alexandra Johansen]

Alex looked down, and gulped. NO way I'm jumping off from this height. I don't want to wind up in the hospital wing. She thought to herself, then cocked her head sarcastically at Ella, and shook her head. She then heard the other idea, and her facial expression changed to something more neutral, as though she was ready to try that idea out. "Yes, I agree. If we angle the broom correctly, we could make it to the ground without crashing." She tried to sound convincing, more so for herself than Ella.

Alexandra began to force the broom forward, and she began to wish that she actually remembered what she learned in flying classes. She tried to push the broom forward by thrusting forward with her body, but that failed when she nearly skidded herself off the broom completely. She wouldn't admit defeat, so she scooched back to where she was positioned on the broom before, and sat there pretending she was doing something, while waiting for Ella to make a move.

 

[Ella Greene]

Ella noted the sarcastic look Alexandra gave her and grimaced, jumping off the brooms from this high up was a stupid suggestion. But they didn't have many options available. I should have known better than to just jump up on the broom and fly up here! I should have went and got help. Because of me we're both in a mighty big mess. Ella nodded when Alexandra said something about angleing the broom correctly, however, she could not see herself being able to angle the unsteady broom at all. Oh, I hope we don't muck this up!

Ella watched as Alexandra started to make an attempt at landing, she looks like she might know what she is doing.. As long as she doesn't rush down, she might be okay. Ella was confident in Alexandra's attempt until it looked like she almost jumped right off of her broom! Ella's eyes widened in fear, landing seemed like it just did not want to be an option in the forseeable future. Ella cleared her throat, "um, maybe we should practice flying straight for a bit first? If we can master that, we might be able to manage some sort of landing?" Ella wasn't confident in her idea, but what other choice did they have?

Ella leaned forward on the old school broom, but it looked more like she was laying down on the thing to take a nap. Ella's action caused the broom to shake about, prompting Ella to sit up straight again immediately. Well, that didn't work, Ella thought, becoming more frightened at the prospect of falling after the failed attempts. Determined to do something, Ella leaned slightly forward on the broom, allowing it to move about eight feet forward. "Well, that's something.."

 

[Alexandra Johansen]

Alex watched as Ella leaned forward, just slightly, rather than the forceful pushing the Slytherin had been doing just moments before. She imitated what Ella did, and went a little further than eight feet, to about ten feet. Excitement jittered through her veins, and she was proud she had accomplished something so small. Alexandra concentrated a little harder, and veered herself a little more forward, and she moved again, at a steady speed. Alexandra was overwhelmed with the motion and got dizzy, something she had never experienced while flying two years ago. Not paying attention, she collided into the curved wall, and spiraled to the ground without a sound.

 

[Ella Greene]

Ella was proud of their accomplishment as she watched Alexandra swoosh two feet ahead of her on the broom. Maybe my idea will work! Ella continued to learn forward slightly and felt herself glide ahead a few more feet. She continued to fly until she noticed Alexandra was getting pretty close to the wall. Ella opened her mouth to protest, but was cut short when she watched her Slytherin friend hit the wall and fall to the ground.

Oh my gosh! That did not just happen! Ella sat on the broom and hovered in mid air for a few seconds, just to make sure she was not dreaming and that her friend had actually flew into the wall and spiraled to the ground. When enough time had passed to prove that this was the reality, Ella screamed both "Alexandra!" and "Help!" In a panic to help the Slytherin, Ella leaned forward and aimed the handle of her broom directly at the ground. This was not such a great idea, as Ella found herself speeding towards the ground at nearly a 90 degree angle. Ella winced because she knew what was coming, and in no time at all, she ended up landing face first in the mud, no more than ten feet away from Alexandra. The school broom she was flying on had snapped in half, and Ella had a very terrible headache.

 

[Alexandra Johansen]

Alex opened her eyes to find that she was face-first in the grass, and the borrowed broom on top of her- make that half the broom on top of her. She didn't care where the other half was. She tried to push herself up with her right arm, and a jolt of pain shot through her arm and she dropped back onto the ground. Her arm hadn't hurt her until she was actually aware that it was broken. Just what I need. Where's Ella? Alex thought to herself. She hadn't heard anything, until she opened her eyes. Had she been knocked out? If so, how long?

She rolled onto her back, wincing slightly because of what felt like a sore ankle. Slowly, she lifted her torso up, using her abdominals, then using her good leg and arm, she brought herself up to her feet, when she saw Ella on the ground, too. She limped as fast as she could, refraining from crying out in pain. When she approached Ella, she held out her left arm, and asked, "Are you alright, Ella?"

 

[Ella Greene]

Ella thought she heard noise coming from the direction Alexandra had fallen, but the pain stopped her from concentrating enough to be certain. She winced and knew she had to get up, or at least sit up and assess all of the damage that was caused. Ella rolled onto her back, and noticed that there was a familiar shaped solid object under her. Using her right arm, Ella reached for and grabbed the object she was laying on and held it out in front of her. She couldn't see much through the coating of mud on her face, but it resembled part of the school broom she was flying on. Wonderful, she grimaced. How am I ever going to explain this?

Just after she had tossed the broom handle away, Alexandra had made her way over. She is alive! Ella slowly sat up and attempted to smile. During this attempt, she realized that there was something sharp in her mouth along with quite a bit of liquid. Turning her head, Ella spit out the sharp object, which happened to be one of her incisors. "My.....my tooth," Ella gasped and she held her hand up to her face, which instantly caused her to feel acute pain around her nose.

Ella turned back to Alexandra and took hold of her arm. She managed to pull herself up, but definitely felt the effects of falling on her head, and took a few seconds to steady herself. "I'm alive.... I think. Are you okay? Are we in trouble?"

 

[Alexandra Johansen]

Alex watched, disgusted, as her Gryffindor friend spat out a bloody tooth. "My arm and ankle hurt, but I'll be fine." Alex said, feeling her right arm a bit limp at her side. "And we won't be in any trouble if I have anything to do about it." She said with a malicious look on her face. She easily found the other piece of Ella's broom a few feet away, and she limped over, bringing it back to it's other half. She took out her wand from her pocket, and winced when it poked at her hip, which she then discovered had a large, purple bruise in the shape of a kidney bean.

She aimed her wand at the two pieces, thankful it was her right arm broken, and not her left. "Reparo." She commanded, and was contented when she saw the two pieces of the broom repair themselves. She then turned to Ella, "Your broom is repaired, but I don't know where the other half of my broom went." She explained, as she pointed to the bristled half that was on the ground where she had landed.

 

[Ella Greene]

Ella was relieved to hear that Alexandra was, for the most part, alright. Ella managed to give Alex a small smile, however, it was still a bit awkward with a missing tooth and broken nose. Ella noticed Alex's limp as she walked over to the piece of broom, ouch! That looks painful, Ella thought and grimaced as she watched Alex pull out her wand. Alexandra's quick thinking had fixed the broom that Ella managed to snap in half, lifting a huge burden off of Ella's conscience. Now I won't have to pay for that.

"Thanks," Ella responded after Alex had fixed the broom. She wanted to laugh at the bottom portion of Alexandra's broom on the ground, but knew better than to do so. "I'm sorry Alexandra, I have no idea where the other part of your broom is. We could try to find it if you'd like..." Ella didn't want to admit it, but her headache had worsened and she did feel dizzy from the fall. And the way Alexandra winced when she pulled out her wand and walked with a limp showed that the Slytherin girl wasn't doing all too well either. Sighing, Ella had a defeated expression on her face, "Do you think we should get help?"

 

[Alexandra Johansen]

Alexandra nodded, and responded in a serious tone, "No, there's no point. We should go to the hospital wing to get fixed up." She then turned to the half of the broom that she had and limped over, picking it up. Holding it up with her left arm, she got a malicious smile on her face, transforming into her altar ego, Greta. "They won't know what happened to this broom." She said in the slightly deeper tone she had adjusted for her alias. She threw the broom behind her, they could only hear it land on the ground.

"Come on, let's go to the Hospital Wing. That smile won't get any better." She said, growing her hair back to it's length whilst dying it an intensely dark colour. She began to limp her way towards the exit, pausing once she got there to wait for her friend.

 

[Ella Greene]

Ella was relieved when Alexandra suggested that they head to the hospital wing. It would have been nice to be able to fix the school broom, but there was no telling where the other half of the thing could be as the handle didn't look much different than a stick. Ella watched Alex pick up the broom and grin, wondering what scheme the young Slytherin was capable of thinking up.

Ella jumped when Alexandra transformed. She had seen her do it before, but it was totally not something she could ever get used to. "Whoa," Ella said as she heard the tossed broom land, where ever that happened to be.

"Okay, let's go," Ella agreed and walked to the exit with her once again transformed friend, Alexandra.