Do Badgers Fly?

[Graeme Fergusson]

Having played on the team, in a surprise change of events the Hufflepuff was feeling a little more anxious about if they would once again expect him to take part, and also do well. He wasn't sure what had gone wrong in the last match, just that it had been over before he'd really gotten a chance to play. That being said, the hufflepuff knew that the other person was going to have won, they had more experience, and that had been Graeme's first game. Since then, he'd taken a couple more opportunities to practice, but none of those practices seemed to make him any better at the sport. Grae was much better at his muggle sports than he was at other sports. Others were easier, they made so much more sense to him. He just knew what to do, and there wasn't that added-ness of height. Not that Graeme was afraid of heights, just that it was the free falling off a broom that made him feel less at ease with everything. That being said, Graeme found that quidditch was the replacement for all the sports he used to do back home. It was the sport that he could do with relative ease, and since it was a lot of flying around it was almost exactly like cycling. The boy was on the pitch that day, because he knew he would not actually be going home for the holidays. His home was a remote house on the isle of Skye in Northern Scotland, and he knew that his mother didn't have the money to fly him home. He'd stay with his grandparents, as long as they remembered who he was, and let him in the house. They were old, his grandparents. They looked old, and neither one was very good at looking after the other. It was a losing battle he was glad to have not dealt with for most of the school year.

The pitch was pretty quiet when he arrived, despite the fact it was midday and a relatively nice day. By that, it was just not raining, and instead of a completely overcast sky, there were just a few dark clouds. Graeme wasn't really sure if he was actually going to play, or if he was just going to stand around the pitch watching. In the end, the young hufflepuff decided he would take to the air. He flew around the pitch several times. Assuming different positions on the broom, not the usual way, but sitting as if his broom was a swing. He made sure the broom was steady, and high in the air, and just let himself breath in the sights of the school. The scenery that New Zealand had to offer, that he had grown accustomed to, rather than what he used to see which was the scenery of Scotland. He had grown to enjoy this, but he really still did miss his home. People got that, whenever they asked him where he was from, Graeme talking about his home, and the way the clouds would help the scenery as much as the sun did. Or talk about the tourists who just didn't know how to treat the beautiful land in his opinion. Smiling to himself, swinging his leg that were dangling off the broom, he just took a deep breath. Holding it in for a few seconds before breathing out for a longer more elongated time. He decided that, he'd had enough, and flew back down to the ground, when he was not too far from the ground, another person who was flying around the pitch, zoomed passed him, surprising him so much, he lost his balance on the broom, and fell.
​

 

[Matilda Undersee]

Since arriving at Hogwarts, Matilda had kept to herself, avoiding interactions with other students at all costs. There were times in lessons where partnering up with a fellow Ravenclaw was something she couldn't sidle out of, but the Ravenclaws generally regarded Matilda and accepted the fact she rarely spoke. Being so studious meant that having Matilda as a partner was not always a bad thing. She was happy to work, as long as it didn't involve using her vocal chords. Matilda's mental filter still wasn't up to scratch, and she knew that if she spoke her mind she'd make more enemies than friends. It was a lonely way to start her life at Hogwarts, but she knew better than to go around befriending everyone. One of the things Matilda was talented at was seeing through people. If someone wasn't genuine, she could feel it, and rather than going through the hassle of making friends and then losing them, she opted to stay quiet and alone.

In terms of weather, it wasn't a bad day. There were some dark clouds forming in the late morning sky, and most of the students were heading to the great hall for lunch. Matilda could have laughed at their stupidity. It seemed that people were so afraid of a few spots of rain that they would rather spend their lunch crammed into a noisy hall than get some fresh air. This didn't bother the young goblin, though, as it meant there was less chance of her running into anyone if she took a walk. Slipping on her little boots (designed for 7-8 year olds), Matilda picked herself up off the common room floor, stuffed two fat, leather books and some food into a bag and swung it over her shoulder. The bag was heavy and that straps cut into her shoulder, but she wouldn't be carrying it for long. She knew exactly where she was heading.

As expected, the weather meant that the Quidditch pitch was fairly empty. There were a few students practising, but none of them would take any notice if Matilda sat and watched. She smiled as the sun momentarily peeked out from behind the dark clouds, before vanishing again behind a particularly thick, grey one. It did look as though it might rain at some point, but Matilda judged it wouldn't be for at least an hour or so. With so much time on her hands, Matilda tended to study everything around her. The way it moved, the way it worked, and how it worked. This meant she was hardly ever wrong about her weather predictions, though she couldn't judge more than a couple of hours into the future. Sitting herself down in the Ravenclaw stand, Matilda pulled an apple out of her bag and sunk her teeth into it. As she ate, she watched the players on the pitch zoom around on their brooms. It looked exciting, though not something Matilda would personally enjoy. One player in particular caught her eye. He was sitting rather oddly on his broom, and though she could only see the side of his face, a glimmer of recognition sparked inside her. A slight smile formed on her lips, though this was cut abruptly short as Graeme flew down to the ground. She could see another player flying exceptionally fast towards him. "Hey!" She yelled in a high pitched squeak, her forehead creasing as she frowned angrily, but her voice was carried away by the wind, and a few seconds later Graeme had fallen the short distance to the ground. Matilda stood up so quickly that her bag fell to the ground. Putting her half eaten apple down on the seat, she hurried down the steps beside the seats to the grassy pitch and sank to her knees next to the boy. "Graeme? Are you OK? I tried'a to stop him but it was'a too late," Matilda gabbled, furious at the carelessness of the player who'd startled him.

Out of Character:

My muse is lacking because I haven't written in months, so sorry!

 

[Graeme Fergusson]

Graeme had never been incredibly agile. He was pretty good at most sports, but that wasn't really what made him stand out against most others, it was just in general carefree attitude. He would be careful, but if he got hurt, it wouldn't be the end of the world to him. He wouldn't mind too much. He would happily take it in his stride. Thinking there would be no point in doing about something that you really couldn't do anything about. If he had been careless then it would be different. Some might say that the teen had been careless, in that he hadn't been sitting on the broom properly, and he hadn't exactly been paying too much attention to what he had been doing, but it wasn't exactly a busy day, it wasn't like he had be intentionally trying to get in someone's way, or be near someone who just happened to throw him off balance, and therefore off his broom. Well, the school broom that he borrow whenever he had to practice. With not enough money to fly him he doubted that he'd be able to get a broom that he could use. At that, Graeme didn't think he was that good, so he really doubted that he'd get on the quidditch team again, though he would try, it seemed silly to not. But, it wasn't like a new broom was the thing that should be top of his list of things he needed to get. It was fairly far down that list, and while he was happy to be able to use any broom to be able to fly, it was like having his own bike. Something he become familiar with, something that would become an extension of him, and when it got destroy, it would be painful for him to find a good replacement. Graeme was not the most able of people, so, when he fell, he didn't really manage to do anything to break his fall. It was a fairly small drop, and it was only because he hadn't been expecting it, that he hadn't just been able to jump. He managed to put his hands out, just in the last few seconds before he landed. Groaning loudly, the boy muttered curses under his breath. He was glad that he had managed to put his hand out, to somewhat break the fall, but it didn't stop things being sore.

A voice, spoke not to far from where he was still lying on the ground. Having moved his hands out from underneath him, the boy had just lay there. He wasn't particularly hurt, his hands might get some bruises, he was pretty sure he had bite down on his lip hard in the fall, so he might have a small cut. Nothing that was dangerous. Graeme was fine, he just had no intention of moving. The voice got louder, and by this he assumed the person was coming towards him. He also realised that he knew the voice, so, he glanced up, just as the girl was on her knees beside him. He waved his hand, to show that he was alright, while nodding. Groaning slightly, but making no move to sit up properly. He pushed himself slightly and released a deep breath. Looking up at her, and giving his warmest smile. He hadn't seen Matilda in forever. "Am alright" He said, with a confident tone. "Wasnae a bad fall, wis alway ma fault slightly, so nae worries 'bout the other guy" He added. Knowing that she might be annoyed at the person who had made him fall, but he wasn't so bothered. It was alright. He wasn't so fussed about that kind of thing. He was alright, and he had run into Matilda because of it. So, the boy wasn't exactly going to start complaining, not really. He finally with a small groan sat up in front of her. "Am alright." He repeated brushing the grass stains away. "Am glad I ran into you, been a while." He added. "Whit were ye dain'? I didnae think you played?" He asked. He was glad to see her. Since they were in different houses, he didn't get many opportunities and he very much liked the time he spent with her. It was nice. And she was a very nice person. Though maybe just a little bit more shy than he was.
​

 

[Matilda Undersee]

Although Matilda took a strong interest in what was going on in the world around her, she was never one to pry about people's personal lives. So despite her curiosity as to why Graeme had to practice Quidditch on an old school broom, she kept her mouth shut. In the few encounters she had had with other students and from watching them interact with each other, she had picked up a few things. People didn't like it when they were asked personal questions, especially when money was concerned. As the Hufflepuff smiled warmly at her, she mirrored it with a soft grin. She was glad he was OK, if a little confused as to why she cared so much. Suddenly overcome with embarrassment, Matilda flattened her thick, wavy hair over her ears, making quite sure that her pointed ears couldn't be seen.

"I'm glad, you really scared'a me for a minute when you didn't a'move," Matilda breathed. Now confident that Graeme wasn't too badly hurt, she pushed herself up off the grass and fetched his broom, which had fallen a few feet away. She moved deliberately slowly, giving her cheeks time to return to their usual pale colour. Returning to face Graeme with his broom in her hand (which looked rather comical given that it was huge to her), she smiled sheepishly. "I'd give you a hand'a, but I don't a'think I could pull you up anyway," Matilda said, trying not to sound too upset. Though normally her small demeanour and size didn't get to her any more, she still felt her throat and chest tighten when she was too small to do something that most people found easy. Blinking rapidly, she bit her lip and smiled, speaking again without fully thinking about what she was saying. "Oh, I don't play, I just'a like being on my own." Matilda mentally kicked herself, but carried on. "I mean'a, I don't really like being around'a lots of people. I'm not a loner," she gabbled, but the way she looked down at the grass proved she didn't believe a word of what she was saying. Who are you trying to kid, him or yourself? She though harshly. She had hardly said a word to anyone for the entire year, and was very glad indeed to have run into Graeme. He was the only person she didn't feel was constantly judging her. But now she was making a fool out of herself, and Matilda was slowly remembering why she din't talk to people. Inhaling deeply, she mustered what little confidence and dignity she had left and smiled. "I've just'a been studying, really. What about'a you? It's nice to see you again."

 

[Graeme Fergusson]

Watching her carefully as she went to get his broom, he thought that it would be alright to just leave it for a while, and get when they were leaving. But, it was nice of her to do that for him. He liked Matilda, he was sort of upset that they weren't in the same house together so that they would then be able to spend more time together. But, Graeme knew that it didn't really matter. He would've never gotten into Ravenclaw, and he was perfectly happy with Hufflepuff. In his mind it was the best house. It had everything that he wanted. There were no pressures, he worked hard and he was loyal those things came naturally to him. He could easily talk to anyone from his house because for the most part they were all like him. He had no real problems with Hufflepuff. Graeme knew he didn't have as many friends as he could have, but that wasn't a huge issue to him. Having grown up on a small island, lived pretty far from others, he was very used to the fact that folks were just not around as much. He was used to being alone, so the lack of company had never once bothered him. Watching her, as she spoke, he shrugged smiling a small apology. "Didnae mean tae. I find when you fall, sometimes it's best tae just lay still for bit." He gave shrug. It was mostly something he did to be sure he was alright. To register if he had any real pain and where it was located. Sometimes because when he fell it was almost comical and laughing was in order. It was really a force of habit. "Ta" He motioned taking the broom from her. And putting it beside him. He gave a small laugh at the words that followed. He didn't mind, nor did he expect her to. He motioned with his hand to leave it, that it was fine. "I'm a big lad, nae need" He didn't really care that she was smaller, he wouldn't expect her to pull him up, if she was his size. He was alright, he'd be good. Graeme knew that it might bother her that she wasn't able to help him, but he was fine, and he didn't need the help, and he felt that making a joke about him being big was better than saying anything else. "But, I appreciate the thought, Matty."

Graeme smiled at her, brushing a hand through his hair, attempting to tame it slightly since it had been slightly messed up, he assumed due to his rough landing. He played slightly more than he had ever expected to, but since he didn't have many opportunities to do the sport he was really interested in, then quidditch was really the next best thing for him. He enjoyed it a lot. It was nice to be able to fly. He however wasn't surprised that she didn't fly. He was pretty sure that she had once told him that she was afraid of heights. However, when she said she liked being alone, Graeme had been about to agree with her, when she quickly tried to explain what she meant. Graeme knew that it would be hard for Matilda, she didn't really strike him as the sort of person who was particularly confident, so maybe she'd had a few more issues making friends. He didn't mind, he didn't care if she was a loner or not, she was still his friend in his eyes. Although he before he could explain to her, that he too enjoyed being alone, she continued. "It's nice seein' you too Matty. I've no been uptae much really. Some studyin', playin' quidditch. This and that" He gave a small shrug to her. "Tae be honest, this school is so much bigger than ma last, it's been pretty overwhelming." He gave a small laugh, just that he had expected it to be as small as his last, and the entire first year class was the double of what he was used to. So, it had been pretty different for him too. "I've no been tae social either. Plus, I also like being on ma own. I wis here alone, tae enjoy the view" He gave a laugh, now that he had said it out loud it seemed a lot worse than how he had intended. He smiled at Matilda, "You and I can be loners taegether." Graeme despite how what he'd said was slightly incorrect, found himself laughing anyway. He hoped that his relaxed tone would actually help Matty be more comfortable around him. "You goin' hame for the holidays?" He asked her.​

 

[Matilda Undersee]

Matilda's deep blue eyes shifted awkwardly to the ground. Though her experience with social interaction was limited, she could understand that Graeme was attempting to make her feel better about her size. She appreciated this of course - it was a very kind thing for him to do - but nobody had really tried to make her feel better about herself before. If anything, people tried to make her feel worse about her small build and pointed ears. Just thinking about the primary school she had attended made her stomach turn. It was no wonder she hadn't tried to make friends at Hogwarts. After everything she'd heard from her classmates growing up, she didn't trust anybody. Even speaking to Graeme made her feel a little on edge. She found it hard not to assume that since he was being nice to her, he either wanted something from her or planned to back stab her later. Matilda had seen that happen before, too. She had watched many friends fall out. In fact, almost all of the friendships the children at her school had made had eventually crumbled. What was the point? Matilda would rather not make friends at all than only have them for a few months before they showed their true colours and told everyone your deepest secrets. If there was one positive thing that had come out of her experiences, it was that she was an excellent secret keeper. She knew how devastating it was when someone twisted what you'd told them and then spread it around like a virus. It had happened to her. What was the point in friendships at all?

Matilda was on the verge of leaving when she felt a pang in her chest. She couldn't walk away. Maybe she couldn't see the point in having friends, but what about in books? She knew it was just fiction, but friendships in stories were often lifelong and fulfilling. Surely there was some truth in those words she read so frequently? Swallowing down the uneasy feeling in her throat, Matilda allowed herself a small smile. "No need'a to thank me," she said sheepishly, glancing at Graeme for a second before sitting back down on the grass. It was dry anyway, and the Quidditch pitch wasn't such a bad place to sit. There was a distinct lack of trees, but that couldn't be helped. Matilda's smile widened when Graeme next spoke. She wondered whether he saw her as a friend or not. They hadn't exactly had much of a chance to get to know each other, but Graeme didn't strike Matilda as someone who was surrounded by friends, either. Did that make them friends? Was friendship something that had to be mutually agreed upon by both participants? She giggled at his statement about being loners together. The fact it didn't make sense made it all the more amusing. "Nope, I managed to convince Mother to let'a me stay," Matilda said, grinning. She hoped he remembered from their last meet that her Mother was not exactly the friendliest of people. Suddenly, her smile faded. There was still something on her mind. "Graeme, would you say we were friends? Or is'a there something we have to do to call ourselves that? An agreement'a maybe? Or something we have to sign?" She gabbled, accidentally bombarding him with questions. She would have probably felt more embarrassed if she had realised how silly she was being, but fortunately she was oblivious to her mistake.