Change of Pace

[Lizzie Parker-Taylor]

Last year, Lizzie had had nothing to do with her energy but jog and so jog she had, almost every day, just for something athletic to do. But now she had quidditch, and in the months since arriving back at school Lizzie had done almost nothing but fly. And despite what a relief it was to finally have something more productive to do with her energy, Lizzie had woken up this morning feeling like a change. And so she had laced up her running shoes for the first time since first year ending.

The air was a little warm for Lizzie's liking, but she made her way outside anyway, pausing on the grass to do a few stretches. As she settled on the grass and reached for her toes (close enough for her to grasp occasionally now!) Lizzie looked around to plan her running route. She wished the day had been a little brisker, warm weather was never her favourite, and was certainly less than ideal to run in, but the weather couldn't be helped, and she was desperate enough for a change of routine to go ahead with it anyway. So she sat and stretched and surveyed the grounds, trying to figure out a running route that could potentially lead to some more exciting adventure to fill the day.

 

[Tesla Wilde]

Tess probably should have practiced Quidditch that morning considering the sorry state of the last two games she had played in but instead she had decided to walk through the grounds. She was in a great mood and wanted to prolong that as much as she could so she let the wind take her in whatever direction it wanted while she thought about the upcoming summer holidays and how excited she was to go to the crib her parents had in Fiordland. It would be so nice to get closer to nature because she couldn't imagine having been so close to a forest and not being allowed to explore it until Hogwarts so this would be great, plus her siblings were sorely missed. As was wifi. Wifi was always missed.

The Hufflepuff walked past a girl she recognized from Quidditch and a few classes and said, "Good morning," while she kept walking, her slow pace making it easy for someone to join her or to quickly respond to have the briefest of conversations. Either way the gawky girl wasn't bothered in the slightest.

 

[Lizzie Parker-Taylor]

Lizzie was lost in planning her run route, startled to hear a voice from above. She looked up, surprised to see a girl she recognised from the Hufflepuff team greeting her. Lizzie had seen her around classes and games, but she didn't think they had ever talked. Still, Lizzie had been feeling lonely this year, and she wasn't gonna let the possibility of a new friend go to waste. "Good morning!" She said cheerfully. "Are you gonna go practice? You're on the Hufflepuff team, right?"

 

[Tesla Wilde]

Tess' walking pace slowed as the girl she had greeted actually started a quick conversation. She didn't know the girl in the slightest, actually she didn't really know her name but she was in a good mood so why wouldn't she respond more than the standard response? "No, I'm actually going for a walk - you can join if you'd like?" Tess smiled, stopping now to wait and see if the other girl would do so. "Yep. Chaser. You're the beater?" Tess knew this mostly because her goal was to avoid beaters as much as possible as well as getting goals. That was competitively, socially she was happy to be friends with most anyone so the girl smiled.

 

[Lizzie Parker-Taylor]

Lizzie smiled, surprised at the girl's offer, and got to her feet quickly. "Sure! I was just gonna go for a jog anyway." She smiled, falling into step with the Hufflepuff easily. "Yeah, though I haven't really done much during matches yet..." She sighed, trying not to think about her terrible performance during every game she had played so far. "Playing Quidditch here is so different to playing at home with family and stuff." She glanced at the other girl, realising she didn't know much of anything about her. "Had you ever played before joining the team?"