Flying Away

[Sapphire Michaels]

Sapphire had made her way out to the Quidditch Pitch, her new Sapphire Streak in hand. She needed to get away, clear her head, and this was the only thing she could think of. She had a letter in her bag, unopened. She was still having trouble wrapping her head around the fact that she had a twin brother.

After spending so many years alone, to think that there was someone out there who genuinely wanted to know everything about her was... well, it was odd. Kind of nice, but also a little scary. What if Onyx had built this whole dream version of her and she ended up disappointing him?

She had been a bit distant since returning to school, but if either of her friends noticed neither of them had said anything yet. Not that she had really seen either of them. She hadn't told anyone of Onyx yet. Honestly, she wasn't sure what to think. And how did you bring something like that up in casual conversation?

Sapphire hid her bag before mounting her broom and kicking off into the air. She sped around the pitch, letting everything go as she tried to forget her troubles.

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob had gotten the broom he'd wanted for Christmas but he hadn't brought it to school. He hadn't even ridden it since...just since. Jacob could barely even remember the rest of his holidays which had passed in a fog of tense days, tears, and constant floo messages. For having done so littlr during it, it had been an exhausting time. But today, Jacob felt like flying. It always made him feel better, and he figured he'd be able to borrow a school broom, but he'd reached the shed to find it locked. He tugged at the padlock, grumbling to himself. These were supposed to be for student use! Why were they locked away?!

So he was startled when the padlock suddenly clicked open, looking up to see an older student and giving them a watery smile. He sniffled before heading into the shed, taking in all the brooms before choosing one. It was an old Emerald Streak but it looked in better condition than some of the other brooms he saw.

 

[Sapphire Michaels]

Sapphire had been so sure that this would work. It did, sort of, but not as well as she'd hoped. She dove back to the ground, running from all thoughts of Onyx and what he meant. She jumped off her broom, keeping it in hand, and had to run to keep from falling over.

That meant, of course, that she ran right into someone coming onto the pitch. She fell onto her back, the broom dropping from her hands and hitting the ground with a softer thud than she had. "Ow..." She whined, waiting for her head to stop ringing before opening her eyes to see who she'd run into.

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob didn't realize just how distracted he was until he was being banged into. "What the heck?" he whined as he too fell, his knee scraping against something hard and painful. He rolled over, clutching it and saw that not only had his pants ripped but he'd skinned his knee. He let out a painful hiss, his head swimming a little. Jacob did not like the sight of blood, and his knee was a bit of a mess right now.

 

[Sapphire Michaels]

Sapphire opened her eyes when she heard the other kid hiss. She sat up, and was surprised to see Jacob the Gryffindor. And from the looks of it, he didn't like blood. She was instantly distracted from her own issues and hopped up quickly. Her bag was nearby, and she rushed over to where she had it hidden.

She was back quickly, kneeling by Jacob and trying to look at his knee. "Hey, Jacoby," She greeted him, "Hold still, I'll fix it." That would consist of a wet wipe or two for the blood and a big band aid, but it was better than just leaving it.

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob shook his head at the girl’s offer for help, and then stopped abruptly. His head was not liking the extra movement. “No” he said firmly, covering his knee with his hands to keep it away from her. “You did this to me, Sapphire. I’m not letting you near my knee” he continued, fairly surprised that she even offered.

She wasn’t a Healer. She was just eleven like him, and he didn’t go walking around with anything that would help him obtain help in this kind of situation. So, he definitely wasn’t going to let her do anything that was going to make this worse. He’d heard stories of people thinking they could help someone and them losing bones and other things. No, there was just no way. The items she held looked normal enough, but no. Jacob had walked onto the pitch in a grumpy mood and none of this had helped.

 

[Sapphire Michaels]

Sapphire snorted at Jacob's reluctance. "Do I look like I'm going to use magic? No." She shrugged her hoodie off and pulled up the sleeve of her shirt, attempting to show Jacob the gauze on her arm. "I'm not exactly graceful. I've dealt with worse than your knee." She tried to look him in the eye, and nudged him to get his attention. "I'm literally just going to wipe off the blood and put a band-aid on it."

She decided to try to tease him to lighten the mood. "I could just sit on you and do it anyway." She poked him playfully. "Since you wandered in front of me since I was trying to land."

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob was almost about to let her, realizing he was probably being silly. His knee was smarting, and he knew it probably wasn't a great idea to let whatever bacteria was there time to fester. But then, she tried to act as if it was his fault, and though Jacob would later realize she'd been joking, he hadn't been in the mood before he'd arrived on the pitch and wasn't now. He bristled, forcing himself into a standing position. " Maybe you should learn to fly better" he said through gritted teeth. "Thanks but no thanks" he said rudely before he turned his back and limped towards the broom he'd never made it on.

 

[Sapphire Michaels]

Sapph raised a brow as Jacob got grumpy and limped over to his broom. Apparently, he wasn't in the mood for jokes. She hopped up, grabbing her broom and following him. "Yeah, probably." She replied nonchalantly. "I haven't flown much outside of class. I was going too fast when I hit the ground anyway," She admitted, as close to an apology as she could get. "You're a pretty good flyer, though," She complimented him in hopes of getting back on his good side.

Sapphire wouldn't admit it but she hadn't had much interaction with any of her friends since break had ended. She wasn't sure if Jacob counted as a friend after that morning they had breakfast together, but this was still the most she'd talked to anyone besides Professor Pendleton. It was probably a good idea not to make it into a fight.

She did enough of that outside of school.

She caught up to him quickly, deciding he looked like he needed a distraction. 'I've seen you in the air, you're way better than me. Do you have any pointers for me?"

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

"Yea, don't crash into people" Jacob replied, still a bit upset though his temper had calmed some as he'd walked to the shed with his broom. He opened it and gave the school broom a gentle toss into a pile of other brooms. It wasn't the broom's fault he was injured. "And when you dismount, dig your heels in a bit and you'll be able to stop yourself without falling over" he explained, even less mad. Jacob knew he'd come across more grumpy than usual, and he was already feeling a little bad about it though his hurting knee kept him from feeling too bad. "Sorry for being grumpy, Sapphire" Jacob mumbled as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. He certainly wasn't going to explain that he'd been grumpy before heading down and definitely not going to tell her why.
"I better go see the nurses. See you around" he added.

 

[Sapphire Michaels]

Sapphire could tell something was bugging the boy, but she didn't think it was her. She also wasn't the kind of person to pry into his personal life. Still, she could try to cheer him up. He gave her advice on flying, calming down as he did so. He apologized for being grumpy and tried to say bye, but she stuck a hand on her hip and smiled cheerily at him.

"I can still patch that up for you, ya know. Maybe then we can race around the pitch. Harder to be grumpy when you're flying." She offered, not certain he'd accept but still wanting to try.

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob grinned even as he shook his head. "Still not a healer, ya know" he teased as he backed away. No one but a professional or his mother was getting near his bloodied knee. Jacob was not great with blood or scrapes and bruises, and he was already embarrassed. There was no way he'd let another first year seeing him hissing and moaning as it got cleaned up. "See ya" he limped away, gritting his teeth through the pain.

 

[Sapphire Michaels]

Sapph sniggered a bit. This kid was stubborn, she'd give him that. "Alright, alright," She conceded. "That race offer's still open. I'll be by the lake if you change your mind." She stuck her tongue out at him playfully before sauntering away herself. She still felt a little guilty for knocking him over, but she would make it up to him. Eventually. If she didn't forget.