Closed finding new paths

[Eoghan Blyth]

Feeling sweat drip down the back of his neck wasn't a sensation Eoghan had much experience with before he'd come to Hogwarts. Now, however, six sessions in with his weekly run with the Gryffindor who was trying to demonstrate firsthand the importance of keeping physically fit when it came to balancing magic and spellcasting, it was a sensation that Eoghan was getting increasingly accustomed to. He was doing his best to focus on his breathing as they started their track around the great lawn. When he'd signed up with the Student Defence Association, he hadn't realised this was going to be the result of it.

Eoghan wasn't sure yet whether or not he called Tori a friend, but she was certainly more than some of the acquaintances he had come to learn the names of. She was interesting and Eoghan could tell that she wasn't just here to waste her time like some of the other students, and instead she had the ambition and determination that Eoghan found to be very rewarding in a friendship. It wasn't that Eoghan felt as though he needed to gain anything from those he called a friend, quite on the contrary the only thing he would ask for was mutual trust, however, he did like to witness other students doing things to better themselves, and running as it happened, was doing just that. "How far are we going today?" he'd asked Tori, taking her lead since she was the one more accustomed to this kind of activity.​

 

[Victoria de Lacey]

"I think we can swing by the lake this time," Tori answered, shaking out her arms to help with the stretching. When she'd offered for Eoghan to go running with her like she did most mornings, she'd not specifically expected him to join her, but was glad that he had done so. Back home, she used to run the length of her street in Obsidian Harbour and it would usually take her fifteen minutes. She'd started adding to her numbers when she'd gotten to school, working her way around to all the open areas just on the off chance to found somewhere really good to run. She'd immediately sworn off the forbidden forest since she knew that was dangerous and unlike Lumos she actually did respect his dad, mostly. Well, not so much since the incident with Jasper, but she would get over it eventually probably.

She pulled her hair up into a ponytail as she ran, the warmer summer air making her hair stick to the back of her neck uncomfortably. They might have to move their activity closer to the school for some shade later in the month, but for the moment they'd be fine. "Eventually I'm aiming to lap the whole school," she told him, just some basic small talk. She wished she could listen to music like those times her mum had taken her on a trip into the muggle world. They had these cool things called AirPods and she didn't even have to be anywhere near the device that had the music in it. How coool. Maybe they could invent like a mini magic orchestra for her ears.​

 

[Eoghan Blyth]

Eoghan wasn't exactly a fan of the lake although he hadn't told Tori of the day he'd fallen in it. At least they would only be going past it and not through it, that was something. Unlike Eoghan, Tori seemed to have an easy time getting into the routine of running and perhaps that was because she was more used to it than he was, but he was trying not to let it defeat him. Instead, having someone who was already this motivated was what he kept telling himself, that it was good for him to spend time with someone who was trying to help herself and him at the same time. "The whole school?!" he repeated, trying to work out how far and how long it would take them to do the entire lap.

"Hold on, hold on," Eoghan hadn't been running long when he had to pause, and as much as he didn't want to weigh Tori down he needed a moment. The pain on the side of his stomach was made so much worse when he was running, and he just needed to pause for a second for it to clear again. "How do you not get a stitch?" he asked, resting his hands on his knees as he felt as though he would fully keel over if he kept running without a pause. ​