Dear Merlin...

[Kendra Vyhnal]

Kendra Snow thought that today was a great day to take her broom out and she get some time out on the pitch. She was supposed to be the Keeper, but she could not help but want to practice her Chasing skills. Because she was once a Chaser, she knew on how a Chaser would work, giving her the edge on being the Keeper. Though next year, she may just go for Chaser again, and let that second year have Keeper. That is, if the second year even tried out next year. Things under Isabella's rule on the Quidditch team was a little on the rough side. Why? Because Isabella was really hard against the team, but Kendra did like Ariah as a Captain too. Ariah seemed nice and all, but she was dating or were dating that Prefect, Leviathan. Kendra did not know the full story. Kendra did not want to know because relationships tended to be a little complicated. Kendra shook her head as she put her hair into a ponytail, put on her sunglasses over her blue eyes. Smiling, she took her broom into her hand, and she went on her way to go play some Quidditch, alone. She did not think that anyone would bother right now, but perhaps she could con them off the Pitch using her unique charms. Though she was sure that her charms only worked on males, so if there were any girls out there, she would not have her charms to help her other than just good ways to convince them to just leave and allow her some peace. Kendra vaguely thought of that one boy she had run into a few times, but the thought left as soon as she stepped outside into the sun, and out of the castle.

It did not take long for the young Slytherin to make her way down to the pitch. No one was here, and she set her broom down while she ran to the cupboard before she got out the Quaffle, and a single bludger. What is a solo practice without a little danger? Kendra beamed, and she rushed back to her broom. She mounted her Streak and she soared into the sky with a quaffle under her arm. The warm air rushed through her clothing, and she just felt like she was free. Because of this, she had long since forgotten that she had released the bludger onto the pitch, rushing around waiting for someone to pass so it can attack. Kendra went over to the north hoops, circled around before she tossed the Quaffle in with force. Blue eyes watched as it went through the left hoop with ease. Leaning forward, she continued to fly, this time catching the quaffle just before it hit the ground, and she went back toward the south hoops, and in her mind, she could visualize scarlet robes were rushing around her, attempting to get the quaffle. They weren't there, but it was nice to pretend that they were anyhow. Though her eyesight was bothering her, and though she needed glasses, she refused to wear them. She tossed the quaffle into the right hoop, and as she soared down to get it, she never saw the streak of black. About twenty feet above the ground, the bludger showed no mercy against the Slytherin, hitting her in the chest, knocking the blonde complete off of her broomstick. Quaffle reached the ground, and not long after, Kendra landed with a thud on her back. For a moment, she rested there before her brain registered what happened. As soon as her brain realized that a bludger had hit her, she felt the pain done to her ribcage.​

 

[Jeremy Thorne]

Jeremy had awakened earlier that day with an itch to do something. What it was that he wanted to do, he did not know at first. He'd spent his first waking moments of the morning in bed, reading the book his mother had sent him for Christmas. He'd finished a chapter before realizing that he wasn't in the mood to be so sedentary. The teenager wanted to move, so he'd gotten up, washed up and quickly dressed, pulling on a baseball cap over his hair. He had a bad case of bedhead this morning that was not being tamed very well by his brush. The first plan was to stroll along the corridors aimlessly, but after doing that for several unsatisfying moments, Jeremy headed outside. He enjoyed hearing the birds chirping as they enjoyed the summer's day. Making his way out past the greenhouses, Jeremy found himself walking towards the pitch. Perhaps if he was lucky, someone else would be there getting ready to start a game and he'd be able to join in. The teen was eager at the thought as made his way to the very familiar area. Jeremy spent a lot of time on the pitch with the Ravenclaw team, running drills and holding team meetings. It was easily one of his favorite places in the entire school.

As he got closer, Jeremy was glad to see that someone was on the pitch. He didn't know who it was exactly because he was still a fair distance away, though he could tell that the person was female. Jeremy watched as the person flew around and could quickly tell that the person was probably on one of the teams. She flew extremely well. He saw the girl throw the quaffle easily and smiled as the person quickly regained the quaffle and went to do it again. Jeremy was just passing through the gate when the girl scored again. He was so busy watching her fly that he barely saw the bludger rocketing towards her and had no time to warn her. The hit was hard and Jeremy had broken into a sprint when she fell off her broom. His wand was out but his spells weren't far reaching enough to prevent her from thudding to the ground. Jeremy reached the girl a few seconds later and quickly fell onto his knees beside her. The prefect didn't even pause for a second to fully recognize who was in front of him. All he knew was that the person was likely hurt and he was the only one around. The fledgling healer in him was bound to help if he could. "Good Merlin! Are you ok?" he asked and then realized what a stupid question that was. "What hurts?" he added, pleased that he was asking a more useful question now. His blue eyes looked at the grass around her and was relieved to see that there was no blood. It was then that Jeremy realized that the bludger was still loose and they were sitting ducks. His eyes quickly flitted to the skies, but he didn't see it anywhere. That was not comforting at all.

 

[Kendra Vyhnal]

Kendra was in a slight daze from being hit, and did not realize that there was still danger in the area because of the bludger about, but her eyes were closed, and she just lay back. The pain was starting to increase, but thankfully the adrenaline was keeping it at bay. It would have been hurting so much more if it was not for that. Kendra slowly tried to think about what had happened, before she let out a soft groan of protest, and she was fighting to move. However fate had an interesting way of working. When she was hit, she managed to get seen by someone that she really did not want to see her like this at all. She just did not want to be seen by anyone. If her little sister or brother had seen her like this as well, they probably would not let her live it down. There was a Quidditch game that was coming up, and somehow she managed to hurt herself, possibly cracking a few ribs or something. She did not know what kind of injuries that she had suffered but all she knew was that she was feeling the pain isolated on her ribcage. Thankfully she was not suffering through a punctured lung. That would have been the end of her, almost literally unless she was rushed to the nurse's aid. Something the nurse could fix right now, Kendra was sure.

Hearing a voice, it caused her blue eyes to slowly open, and her vision cleared to see the face of Jeremy Thorne, Ravenclaw prefect, and also her rival in the game of Quidditch. However his question sparked the Slytherin side in her to react, "Does it look like I'm okay?" She slowly attempted to sit up before she felt the full extent of the damages. It quite literally took her breath away. She moved her blonde hair from her face before she muttered, "Sorry about the attitude..." Sometimes one had to apologize to a prefect. She did not want to lose Slytherin anymore house points. Her arm went to her chest, and she grimaced. What hurts? So he might not have seen her get hit, either that or the angle or something. But she had to get a good hold on this. She was not weak. She refused to be considered that. Kendra looked down at the ground before she looked around for her broom. She managed an answer for the Ravenclaw, "Um, my chest. The bludger nailed me." Her back was not hurting for landing on it after she was hit, but she thought that it might later on. She'd be sore for a bit. What amazed her was that this boy was kind enough to assist a Slytherin girl that was stupid enough to get hit by a bludger, and was a rival to his team unless they teamed up again, then they would be an ally. She was just the Keeper, and the Head Girl would likely be the one playing. Regardless, she might not be playing in the games. Letting out a sigh, Kendra managed a weak smile, "So, seen my broom?" She could not find it for the life of her, but it was actually close to the benches. Though one had to worry about the bludger that may still be out for blood.​

 

[Jeremy Thorne]

Jeremy was half expecting the response that he received from the girl. Once she spoke, he realized that he knew her. It was Kendra, the same girl that he kept running into. He'd seen her in the hall a couple of times since Halloween and he'd been a bit tempted to say hello to her, but his fear of rejection coupled with her being a Slytherin had prevented him from doing so. What if she looked at him as if she didn't know him? Or worse, what if she laughed at him? That didn't seem to be the case now, but they were alone and she wasn't on any real condition to walk away from him at the moment. "S'okay" Jeremy replied, eyes still towards the sky. He took out his wand and cast a quick protego charm over them both. He wasn't sure it would work though. His charm wasn't very powerful and probably wouldn't last long at all, but hopefully it would last long enough for Kendra to get up and for both of them to get away. Jeremy had the feeling that the bludger was biding its time until they least expected it.

As Kendra stated what was hurting, the Ravenclaw's eyes couldn't help but falling onto that area. He quickly looked away and then back to her face, a slight blush on his cheeks. A nervous smile crossed his lips. Jeremy knew he'd have to get over things like that if he truly wanted to become a healer, but he was still a teenager and Kendra was still a very pretty girl. As Kendra asked after her broom, Jeremy had a reason to look away from her. He stood up slowly, careful to pay attention as he looked for her broom. "Why were you using a bludger anyway? Aren't you like a keeper or something?" Jeremy asked, inadvertently letting it be known that he'd done a bit of information searching and found out that Kendra was a quidditch player and the position that she played. He'd overheard some Slytherins talking about her the other day and stored the information for future use. "There's your broom" he said pointing towards the benches. He pulled out his wand and was about to summon the broom, but then he paused and glanced back at Kendra. "Um...I think if we summon it, that bludger is going to come after us" he stated. The movement would be sure to attraction its attention.

 

[Kendra Vyhnal]

Kendra really wished that she had not given Jeremy the attitude, because he really did not deserve it after he had somewhat come to her side when he did not need to. The noble act would have been of a Gryffindor, but to a Slytherin girl? She believed that she would have gotten a laugh or something. Kendra was in a lot of pain, but she didn't know if she was going to need a nurse or not. What she wanted to do was get the hell off this pitch and back into a bed where she could lay and rest the injury out. The last thing she wanted was to scare off Jeremy, a Ravenclaw prefect. Many times she saw him walking in the halls, wanted to talk to him for the sake of friendship and something simple, but she just couldn't. Kendra watched as he cast a protego charm around the two of them, and she hoped for their sake, his and her own, that it would last in case the bludger came back. "Think that would keep a bludger at bay?" Kendra asked with a sly smirk, before she thought of blowing the thing up, but she couldn't recall if she even knew a spell that advanced.

She rolled her blue eyes, and she was so very tempted to say, 'If it pleases you to look, then just look,' however her thoughts remained where they should be, in her mind. Kendra wondered if her blood status would have anything to do with the way she appeared right now. But she was certain that her charm was off. Thankfully. Kendra was at least able to sit up on her own. She was then questioned, and she blushed slightly. Kendra smiled before she answered, "Well, as a Slytherin, I would want to be on top of my game. I wanted to make things a little more dangerous. But I was practicing my chasing skills, since that's a soft spot for me." It did not even occur to her that she did not really tell him this information, but she wasn't thinking about that anyway. She was just more or less amazed that he had even bothered to check up on a snake. Kendra managed to stand up, fighting off the injury as much as she good, and she would have to agree with Jeremy. If either of them summoned it, the bludger might catch the attention, and come back. Well, they would have to put it up eventually. Kendra thought for a moment, and she murmured, "Well, we will have to put it up. I say, we summon the broom, and the other uses that one charm to slow down a target enough to put it up. Not sure if I would want to be hit twice in one day to be honest." She used one arm of hers to hold the region below her chest.​

 

[Jeremy Thorne]

Jeremy watched as Kendra seemed to look a little better. She was at least better enough to tease him and ask if his charm would hold up. "Of course it will" he replied with false bravado. The truth was that he had no idea if the shield charm would hold. He'd put it up in a rush and he'd had such little opportunity to use it in the past that he wasn't very practiced in its execution. Like a typical teenager though who was speaking with someone of the opposite gender, the last thing Jeremy was going to do was to admit to any flaws in his magical skills. Her explanation of why she had released a bludger made enough sense to Jeremy that he did not question her further. He simply nodded his understanding, knowing that working on flaws in your game was the best way to become a complete player. Not that she had many that he could recall. They had played together last year and she had been really good. All of the Slytherins were and he had been glad that they had been on his side, even if it didn't mean that they were victorious in the end. He didn't know what the game would look like this year, but he planned on being on the winning team.

As Kendra went to stand, Jeremy stood nervously by, ready to catch her if she should happen to stumble or something. He didn't really know what would happen. He was glad to see her standing though. It had to be a good sign. Trying to look for another way to get them out safely with Kendra's broom in hand, Jeremy listened to her murmured suggestion. He thought about it for a second, the dawning realization that it was a pretty darn good plan and also the only one that they had. "Good idea, Kendra" he said, glancing at her quickly as he held his wand up. "How about you summon the wand?" he suggested as he spotted the black streak in the sky for the first time since it had hit Kendra. "There it is" he said, his eyes trained on its flight by the Hufflepuff bleachers. "I hope this works. I'm not keen to watch you get hit again...or to get hit by a bludger myself." Bludgers shots hurt like hell, and with Kendra probably already needing the nurse, Jeremy felt it was his duty as a prefect and gentleman to get her safely to the hospital wing. He certainly wouldn't be able to if he was in need of the nurse himself.

 

[Kendra Vyhnal]

Kendra narrowed her eyes at Jeremy’s response, but she didn’t press it. If anything, she could probably cast reducto or something on the damn thing. She could help them out if she wanted to. Her aim was good, but she kept her vision problems to herself, and a secret from others. Kendra just had some focusing problems, nothing too big. She was good right now, because she knew who was with her, and she trusted him. It was a surprise however that the Slytherin trusted the Ravenclaw. They were supposed to be allies at times, and other times, complete rivals. It was a good thing that the two houses could get along with one and another. Kendra did not think she could put up with a Gryffindor for nearly as long. She did not like them as much. Her blonde hair moved slightly as she turned her head to look around for the blasted thing. Kendra knew better than to shout but she figured that they could do this, after all, she had his brains, and had her cunning abilities. A simple bludger could not handle the two of them. And then there was the fact that she was a Snow. That alone had words of her heritage. However Kendra was not the nicest, nor was she the meanest. She had a mix of both in order to get what she wanted, and used it to her advantage. And then there was the Veela problem, but she could pretend that was not a factor in her life.

Fighting the pain that the bludger had caused, she remained standing. Kendra got out her wand, before she smiled at the Prefect for liking her idea. She was confident that it would work, but she did not think of how to get the bludger back into the shed into the box. By this point, the Slytherin did not care either. “It is the only choice we have really,” shrugged the Veela as she looked toward her broom, but her blue eyes went in the direction where he had seen the bludger. Of course it would be near the bleachers, and the Hufflepuff ones at that. Kendra hoped that her idea worked, because she did not want either of them to get hit by that bludger. It would be even more painful from a far distance. Like a run and jump, only a flight and hit with the bludger. “Let’s give it a shot, Accio broom!” Her broom came flying in her direction, and she released her arm from her chest, to grab hold of it, and she looked back toward the sky where the bludger should have noticed the action and the magic. If anything, she could probably fly the both of them off of the pitch. Bludgers couldn’t leave the pitch anyway. She might have needed a nurse right now, but she was strong. If anything, she could fight through this. Kendra looked to Jeremy and hoped that he knew the spell that she was thinking of, and hopefully it would work on the damn bludger.
​

 

[Jeremy Thorne]

Jeremy quite agreed that she was right. It really was the only choice that they had. It was obvious that Kendra was more confident in Jeremy's abilities than he was. That or she was confident in her own ability to protect herself. Keeping his wand at the ready, Jeremy barely got the chance to nod his head when Kendra summoned her broom. He tried to keep his eye on the bludger and watched it suddenly seem to register the movement and head straight for them. "Here it comes" Jeremy called out to the Slytherin girl. It wad funny that when his concentration was on something other than her, speaking to Kendra became easy. Not looking at her allowed Jeremy to make coherent thoughts. Jeremy's blue eyes swung to her in time to see her catch her broom. He quickly tore his gaze away and shouted "Protego". The sixth year hadn't yet learned the other protego spells that would have allowed him to further protect both of them. Jeremy watched the bludger bounce against the invisible shield created by the spell. It ricocheted off towards the stands once more but he knew it would be back.

"C'mon" he hissed, "We've got to go now." The Ravenclaw grabbed the Slytherin's hand and gave her a tug towards the gates. He hoped she wouldn't choose now to become argumentative. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't have done anything but she was already injured and he didn't know how far magic would go in stopping the magical item whose sole purpose was to cause injury. Jeremy didn't even realize that he was holding onto the girl's hand though he would certainly be thinking about it later. This definitely wasn't anything like holding his mother's hand. Not at all. The bludger was already returning and Jeremy gave a little hop to the side as it flew past his right kneecap. "Kendra...any better plans?" he yelled, his eyes falling on her broom only because he'd nearly tripped over it as he had hopped to the side. "Can it hold both of us?" he said,pointing as the idea to fly out came to him.

 

[Kendra Vyhnal]

The Slytherin looked up and Kendra narrowed her eyes. Bludgers were not toys that she should have ever decided to play with today. Those things were for the beaters, and why she had released it, she would never know now. The Slytherin girl would probably owe Jeremy something after this. She didn't know what would have happened to her if he had not come. Kendra continued to grip her broom and well, the bludger was well on its way. He had cast another protego, and hopefully the bludger would not break through it. She still had thoughts of using a powerful Reducto on it, but her aim was not that good. Kendra thought that they better get out of there if they didn't want to get pummeled by the damn thing. She did not plan on injuring herself again, or Jeremy for that matter. She wondered if there were any other more powerful shielding charms, but she didn't know. She was too young right now. She'd learn when she grows older. Kendra flinched when the bludger bounced off of the shield, and it went toward the stands.

And the bludger was well on its way of returning. However when Jeremy took charge, and also took hold of her hand and tugged her toward the gates, Kendra obeyed. Normally she would not have let anything like that happen to her, but she was injured, and well, certain circumstances had changed. Kendra looked down at their hands before she wondered if anyone was looking. Kendra admired the Prefect, yes. Kendra looked over to the side when the bludger nearly hit him. Kendra had no more ideas except...flying out of there. That was the only thing that she could think of. Kendra nodded before she looked down at her broom, and before she knew it, he was thinking the same thing. Kendra shrugged, "One way to find out! Get on!" Kendra mounted her broom, not caring who was going to fly the two of them out of there. She could do it, or she could let Jeremy. Her broom was strong enough to hold the two of them. She was a lightweight anyway. Kendra flourished her wand, and she cast, "Repello!" Kendra wondered if it would repel the bludger from the two of them. And if it did, why didn't they think of it before?​

 

[Jeremy Thorne]

Jeremy watched as Kendra mounted the broom first. He was wondering whether he should get on in the back or up front when the decision seemed to be made for him. Kendra cast the repelling charm and Jeremy scrambled onto the broom, throwing his leg across the broom's handle. Surprisingly, the broom was able to hold them both. He supposed that their combined weight wasn't enough to cause the broom trouble. Kendra was a thin girl and Jeremy was also on the thin side for a guy. It was probably a good thing. As the bludger was repelled a fair distance away, Jeremy glanced over his shoulder at the girl who was just behind him. "Good one" he complimented. He admired her ability to sit on the broom and shoot spells without complaining even though she had to still be in at least a little bit of pain. He shot her a small smile before turning around and gripping the front of the broom with both hands. He was certain that she would be able to provide cover for them with her spells. "Hang on, Kendra" he uttered as he began to move forward slowly. He didn't want her to fall off if he began moving too quickly. Jeremy kept his focus on the gates up ahead, his blue eyes intently on the open archway. He had once heard that the quidditch balls were enchanted to remain on the pitch, so once they got on the other side of the gates they should be safe from the nasty bludger.

Jeremy didn't fly them straight out because he knew that going straight would put a literal target on their backs. It was likely that they could outpace it but it wasn't worth the risk. Instead, he zig-zagged his way to the gate, giving them height and then lowering as well to make them more difficult to be hit. He didn't look behind him once, trusting that Kendra was keeping an eye on the bludger and protecting them. It was an odd thing for him. Jeremy wasn't used to relying on someone else's magic to protect him, but he knew that Kendra could do it. How he knew she could was a mystery to him. He had no idea if she was a good student and he had only ever spoken to her a handful of times but she was beautiful and to the teenage guy, that was enough for him to put his trust in her for a few moments. When they were 50 yards from the gate, Jeremy bent down further and sped up, bursting past the gate. He slowed then and called back, "Is it still following us?" He hoped that the bit of information he had been given was in fact true.

 

[Kendra Vyhnal]

Kendra was relieved that the broom could hold the two of them. Truth be told, she did not know if it would have, but she was happy that it would. She looked over her shoulder to see that her spell was lasting. Sure, it was hurting her chest to even breathe, but at this point she did not care. She just wanted to save her own butt, and Jeremy's too. She smiled when Jeremy complimented on her spell, and she heard him tell her to hang on. She wrapped one arm around his torso so that she could hang on to him. She crossed her legs underneath the broom, and she looked forward over his shoulder. Kendra hoped that the bludger would stay in the pitch, and that they could hang on long enough so that they could hurry up to the school. Isabella, her Quidditch captain, would love to hear about this story, and she would probably be made fun of for life. How a boy had to save her from a vicious bludger. It would be embarrassment that she could never live down. As long as she could hold up the spells, she and Jeremy would be able to get out of here without so much blood shed. Jeremy was zig-zagging, which was a good strategy or else the bludger would think that they were an easy target. Her repelling charm seemed to be holding off, which was a relief. She was glad that it held up long enough for them to get past the gates.

"Nope! I think we are safe." Kendra released a sigh of relief, and she knew that she needed to get to the nurse's office before she would have any lasting damage. She didn't have to hold on to Jeremy anymore. She felt that she could hold her own. She put her wand away, and she figured that they were safe for the time being. The broom slowing to a stop, she hopped off before she gave the Ravenclaw an appreciative smile, "I can't tell you how glad I am that you arrived. But I think a trip to the nurse's office would be best for me." She gripped her chest, before she grimaced slightly in pain. Though she would not mind if he tagged along with her. It would be a good story to explain to the nurse, depending on who was going to help her out. After all, she would need some help carrying her broom up there anyway. With her other hand, she gestured for him to follow her up to the castle. Now that the dramatic event at the pitch was over, she was in need of a good, relaxing walk up to the castle. She wouldn't tell the Ravenclaw though, she was not a good student. Quite average, and she even doubted her own spells. It was a little secret that she would live with.​