Closed Clear the air

[Teddy Pirrip]

Audrey, my friend, I must confess,
In my haste, I made one big mess,
I left you out of our prank invite,
And now I'm here to set things right.

Please forgive me, I don't want to fight,
Grab your broom, let's set off on a flight,
No schedules, no homework to do,
I'll be at the cliffs at half past ten waiting for you!

- Teddy!

Teddy had heard on the post-Yule gossip grapevine that Audrey had confided in someone at the Yule Ball. A pang of guilt struck Teddy, felt responsible for her feeling left out, even though it really wasn't like that. It really wasn't, it wasn't his intention to exclude her. He knew he needed to clear the air and decided to write her a poem - something he thought would grab her attention. He send it via Owl on the morning after the Yule Ball then headed to the cliffs, broomstick in hand to wait for her.

@Audrey Beauchamp

 

[Audrey Beauchamp]

Audrey had been expecting to pack up and go home after the Yule Ball, but it wasn't until she was about halfway through putting things in her suitcase that she remembered she wasn't going home. She half expected the letter that came for her to be insult to injury, but the owl thankfully didn't attack her and just left the letter with her. She had been a bit of a baby complaining about things last night, but when it came down to it she really was just a kid. But she read the letter and felt inexplicably happy, almost embarrassingly so, to the point where she'd barely finished reading it before she had her broom in hand and was jogging down to the cliffs.

Logically, she did know that it was okay if Teddy and Lucy wanted to hang out and it didn't mean either of them wanted to cut her out, but logical brain and emotional brain were generally on different wavelengths.

Audrey jumped onto her broom as soon as she could, zipping over towards where Teddy was because she could fly faster than she could run, and jumped off in front of him with grace. Well, less grace, more being slightly red faced and obviously looking like she had been in a hurry. Which she tried to play off. "Gonna start writing kids books now, are you?"

 

[Teddy Pirrip]

Out of Character:

You can tell I was inspired by kids TV! I wrote that because this song was stuck in my head: Hey! Tiger

A grin spread across Teddy's face as he spotted Audrey approaching on her broomstick. Her presence either meant she wasn't annoyed as he thought, or that she'd come to enact revenge. You could never quite tell with Audrey. She kept Teddy on his toes - she was the reason he looked over his shoulder when he was running these days.

Regardless of the reason for her arrival, Teddy found himself incredibly glad to see her. She brought excitement and an element of unpredictability that he enjoyed. With a playful glint in his eyes, he replied, "I had been thinking about a career as an Unspeakable, but perhaps this is my true calling. Oh don't get comfortable, we're not sticking around here!" He quickly changed the subject, not giving Audrey a chance to rest, he jumped onto his broomstick and started off further towards the cliffs.

 

[Audrey Beauchamp]

Audrey had wondered if she'd have to jump in to a heart to heart, something she wasn't very good at, but to her immense relief she did not. She was glad to see Teddy seemed to be in a good mood. A tiny, tiny part of her felt a little guilty that she'd kind of been acting spoiled enough for him to have to go out of his way to make her feel better. But that was drowned out mostly by her happiness that he did care enough to want to. She hopped straight back on her broom, pondering his words as she followed. "An Unspeakable, hm? Does that mean when we're adults and get coffee and do the how's work thing it'll just be awkward if I try and ask?" She paused. "It's a boring question anyway, so that's probably a good thing. Merlin, I can't even imagine it." She was blathering a little, she realized. Her muscle memory made her fly in an almost regimented manner, though she tried to break out of it by going a little slower than usual, relaxing her stance as much as she could. Easier said than done, apparently.

 

[Teddy Pirrip]

Teddy steadied his broom, allowing them to fly side by side for better conversation. Audrey, a true flier and undeniably better than Teddy, quickly caught up. "Yeah, I guess so," Teddy replied, "But I can't imagine us ever being mature enough to meet for coffee. That sounds properly grown up!"

Teddy's eyes sparkled as he took in the views. He'd never thought of flying over the cliffs before but it was much more exciting than flying around the Quidditch pitch. "Technically, we're not supposed to do this," Teddy said, shrugging nonchalantly. "But I figured that the professors and prefects have better things to do than bother with holiday patrols. So we can do as we please!"

 

[Audrey Beauchamp]

((comes back a month late with starbucks))

It was nice to relax when she flew, Audrey thought. It was hard to get past the muscle memory, and the instinctive expectation that she had to fly like a professional, as opposed to someone flying to have a good time. "Well, I'm going to be a super glamourous and stylish witch one day," Audrey insisted, flipping her hair (which mostly caught in the wind and flew into her face). "And do all kinds of grown up things. Except I won't be boring." She gave a rather childish grin at that.

Despite her protestations of maturity, Audrey giggled. "Bet the prefects and professors couldn't catch us, anyway! And if anyone flew out here who couldn't stay on a broom, that's their own fault."

 

[Teddy Pirrip]

Teddy let out a hearty 'HA' when Audrey mentioned her glamorous and stylish future plans. "Oh that's exciting!" He paused, "And when's the transformation makeover happening?" He teased, keeping a playful distance from Audrey, half-expecting some retaliation. "Although I do agree—you're definitely not boring," he added with a smirk, keeping it light-hearted and not bullying.

Teddy glanced back over his shoulder. "You know I would absolutely love broom pursuit. It would be so much fun," The wind tousled his hair as he flew effortlessly, his gaze briefly meeting Audrey's. "They wouldn't catch us."

 

[Audrey Beauchamp]

Audrey pouted a little at Teddy's response, though even she knew she wasn't exactly a beacon of glamour yet. It would just take time, she thought. "Well, when I turn sixteen, of course," she said, somewhat insistently. That seemed to sound right, in some stories she'd heard it always seemed to be a sixteen year old princess. "So, laugh it up while you can." She stuck her tongue out at him, in a very unglamourous gesture.

She couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at Teddy's seemingly meaningful words. "Should we get some practice in?" She smirked. "See if I can catch Gryffindor's star seeker?"

 

[Teddy Pirrip]

And Teddy did 'laugh it up' when Audrey declared her glamour at sixteen. It was an entertaining moment of youthful optimism. He silently vowed to be her grounding whenever she needed it though.

When Audrey suggested a chase, Teddy's mischievous smile emerged, "I'd love a chase from the most glamorous Beater on the Ravenclaw team" he chimed with a grin. Teddy wasted no time, mindful that he was disadvantaged having not had the lifelong broom training that Audrey had. He leaned forward, urging his broom forward with all the speed it could muster.

 

[Audrey Beauchamp]

After all, Audrey thought, it was all well and good to be clever but she knew she also had to be beautiful to really stand out. Nobody was going to want to give her attention if she wasn't pretty. Fortunately, Audrey happened to know she was pleasant looking, if a little hampered by the awkwardness of being a young teenager and all the perils that tended to bring.

(It had been a great relief that the looming acne that threatened to ruin the dance had not made itself known.)

"I dunno, Monday's pretty glamourous, I've got a lot to live up to..." Audrey joked, letting Teddy set off before quickly giving chase. She may have had a lifetime of training, but Audrey's parents were beaters and had coached her for endurance and power over speed. The way she carried herself didn't allow her to get as fast as Teddy probably could, though Audrey wasn't a slouch. She just had to try and urge her body to limber up to go faster, try and catch up without losing her grip.

 

[Teddy Pirrip]

Teddy considered that perhaps Monday might be the more glamourous Ravenclaw beater but that will change once Audrey turns sixteen, apparently. Teddy accelerated looking over his shoulder to see she was struggling to close the gap. "Come on, no need to be so prudent." he playfully called out, injecting the encouragement he thought she needed to get her to speed up and entertaining himself with a joke he was well aware that it might ruffle Audrey's feathers.

 

[Audrey Beauchamp]

Audrey hated how well Teddy could get under her skin, sometimes. He was easily in her top three favourite people at school (behind Lucy and Kit, naturally) but perhaps that just meant that any jibes from him cut a little closer than from anyone else. It just also made her resent her parents for lumping her with such a stupid name. She frowned, leaning forward a little bit and picking up speed, seemingly exactly what Teddy had hoped she'd do. "Shut it, Dora," she grumbled, not managing to actually come up with anything clever. She relaxed after a moment, though, a smile crossing her face once more. "Sometimes I forget that flying can just be really fun, you know?"

 

[Teddy Pirrip]

Audrey's third favourite person! Third! Lucky that was narrative because Teddy would not want to hear that. No one likes to come third, especially not Teddy! Or Dora? That one went over his head.

He noticed Audrey was gaining now and he loved it, he took a sudden left turn, then sharp right in an attempt to throw her. Hearing her surprise at flying being fun reminded Teddy that being groomed for Quidditch stardom probably wasn't that enjoyable. "It's even more fun when you're the one being chased. Wanna swap?"