Closed Impatience Should be a Virtue

[Amara Vayne]

Amara didn't know how long she'd been standing in front of the Quidditch shop, palms and nose pressed against the glass. She wanted to go in, but at the same time, she knew that if she did that, she would just be getting her hopes up. She used to climb the trees in her backyard quite often, but after falling out of one and breaking a few bones when she was seven, her mother was hesitant to let her get more than a few feet off of the ground. It didn't matter that healers had fixed up Amara well enough. Natasha Walker was adamant that flying was out of the question for her only child. And Amara knew now that her only hope of flying was to go to school and hope that they had brooms she could use. Unfortunately, school was still a number of months in her future.

She slowly turned away from the shop, a look of longing lingering on one of the shiny brooms on display in front of the window. Her head fell back with a thud against the window, and with a most dramatic sigh, she slid down the window until she was sitting on the ground, arms crossed over her knees. "It's not fair," she pouted, dropping her head back against the glass once more as she gazed off into the distance. "It's not fair."

 

[Jingyi Huang]

When it came to sports, there were quite a few that Jingyi was a big fan of. Soccer, baseball, basketball. But the one he was the biggest fan of and loved playing himself was Quidditch. The first time he ever saw a match he had been completely enthralled by the sport and wanted to try it himself. Though his parents had been a little worried to put someone who was as accident-prone as him on a broomstick, they eventually conceded and under watchful guidance, he had taken flight for the first time. Ad since that day Jingyi had dreams of eventually making the house team one day and he was pretty desperate to be recognized as a great Beater. Just because he was short didn't mean he didn't have any strength in his arms. And besides, he was sure he would have a growth spurt soon.

Every time he visited Obsidian Harbor, he was sure to stop by Quality Quidditch Supplies, just to have a look and imagine the day he might be allowed to have his own broom. His father had promised he could have one the moment he made the team. And even though that was some years off, even now he was still trying to pick which one he was going to get. With a lollipop hanging out of the side of his mouth, Jingyi was in high spirits as he wandered towards the shop for his usual look, though he stopped when he heard the rather mournful complaints of a girl standing outside. "What's not fair?" he couldn't help but ask, going straight to sticking his nose in her business.

 

[Amara Vayne]

Amara was so focused on her own brooding that she hadn't considered that she'd been pouting and whining aloud on a busy street in front of anyone who walked by and bothered to listen to a sullen ten-year-old. Normally, she'd be embarrassed, but it wasn't as if she knew anyone in this place, so it came as a shock when someone actually took note of her.

Seeing a young boy standing over her, Amara hoped that perhaps he'd be a sympathizer of her plight. She stood up and gestured towards the brooms in the window display. "That!" A sigh of frustration escaped the young girl. "All of these pretty brooms, and my mum won't let me have one. How am I supposed to make the Quidditch team when I get to school if I don't know how to fly?" It was bad enough she wasn't going to know anyone at the school. The thought of being the only student who didn't know how to fly was beyond acceptable.

It didn't matter that she'd been born and grown up on an island, being confined to the grounds of New Zealand just felt so restrictive. The freedom of the air was as enticing to her as a flame to a moth. She could only hope she wouldn't get burned. She raised a brow as she looked at the boy. "Do you know how to fly?"

 

[Jingyi Huang]

Jingyi frowned a little at the girl, sucking on the lollipop in his mouth as he tilted his head to the side as he listened to her complain. While he supposed he could see the reason behind the outburst of unfairness he didn't really see the point in it all. While he had his own worries about making the Quidditch team, it was more due to his height than his flying ability. Which was something he also thought was quite unfair, but was not something he could really do much to change besides sleeping and getting exercise which was supposed to help with growth.

"First years can't make the team anyway without special permission," he had to add with a slight smile, hoping that maybe his words would cheer this girl up, "And first years have flying lessons." He doubted she would be the only one who didn't know how to fly, there were all the Muggleborns who had no idea and the others who's parents didn't let them learn, either. Jingyi just supposed he was lucky that his parents had eventually given in and let him learn.

The question had him nodding his head, "My parents let me learn, but I'm not allowed my own broom until I make the team. That's what my dad said."

 

[Amara Vayne]

Amara knew the boy was right, but at that moment she wasn't looking for a rational answer. Even if she couldn't try out for the team until second year, she wasn't exactly looking forward to embarrassing herself in flying class. It's one thing for muggleborns not to know how to fly, and while her father might be a muggle, her mother had raised her well enough with knowledge of the magical world. They'd been regulars to the Appleby Arrows games back in England, and the reminder made Amara's pout deepen. Due the time difference, her mother had explained that they wouldn't be able to travel and go to the matches very often anymore.

Hearing that the boy knew how to fly didn't exactly make her feel better about her situation. She let out another deep sigh. "At least you got to learn. I fall out of a tree one time - one time - and I'm grounded. Literally grounded." If she had the ability to jump more than a foot off the ground, she probably wouldn't even be allowed to do that. "Are you going to Hogwarts next year?" Amara asked her new acquaintance. Maybe she could talk the boy into giving her some private flying lessons so she wouldn't make as big a fool of herself in class.

Realizing it would be impolite to ask favors of someone without a proper introduction, she smiled. "I'm Amara, by the way."

 

[Jingyi Huang]

He was just trying to make the girl feel a little better about things. He knew it had to suck not to be allowed to fly, not that he really had much personal experience in the matter as his parents had eventually given in on the matter and he had gotten some lessons. And now he had a taste of it there was no chance they were going to ground him and refuse to let him fly anymore. And Jingyi was pretty sure they knew that now and so continued to let him learn how to fly even if they did refuse to buy him his own broom right now.

"I've fallen out of trees a bunch of times," he responded, grinning a little as he nodded his head, "I've hurt myself as well from falling over and crashing into walls and lamp posts while riding my scooter. I think my parents have just given up trying to stop me from doing stuff because I get hurt even doing nothing. I'm accident-prone." And that was something he did sound rather proud about.

He did pout just a little as she asked about Hogwarts, "No, I'm still too young. My older sister is, though. I'm going the year after." Which was still way too far off for his liking. "But I'm Jingyi! Jingyi Huang."

 

[Amara Vayne]

Listening to how the boy managed to avoid getting grounded from flight, Amara concluded that there was only one real take away from his story. "So essentially, I just have to get hurt a whole bunch, and eventually my mum will consider me a hopeless cause and just let me go about doing stuff anyway!" The idea did have some merit, not that she looked forward to injuring herself. It wouldn't be anything to the extent of broken bones, as that had really hurt, but perhaps a few scrapes. In a way, Amara recognized that her mother's usual overprotectiveness had amplified since her parents' divorce, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

Amara mirrored the boy's frown. He was one of the first people her age that she'd met since moving to New Zealand, and while she still didn't really know him, she had been hoping his would have been a familiar face at school next year. "It's nice to meet you, Jingyi," she smiled. "Maybe I'll meet your sister at school. That must be nice that you'll at least know her when you get to the castle. Better than not knowing anyone." She let herself sulk for a few moments over still not knowing anyone before pasting a smile on her face. "And hey, now you'll know me too!"

 

[Jingyi Huang]

Jingyi paused, blinking as the girl only seemed to take one thing from his little story. "Um, I don't think that's a good idea..." was all he could weakly offer. Constantly getting yourself hurt was not very much fun, and he knew that from experience. And he didn't think it was a good idea for this girl to try and constantly get into accidents in the hopes that her parents might just give up and let her fly because of it. The opposite could happen, they could refuse to let her learn even more if they were sure she was going to hurt herself.

"It's nice to meet you, too," though it was a bit of a shame that she was older and they wouldn't get to go to school together. He would have liked to have some friends before he set off, but he supposed that he still had a little while yet. "She's called Xiuying. You just have to tell her you met her really cool little brother." Of course he was hyping himself up here. Though he was sure his sister wouldn't find it very funny, but it was pretty amusing to Jingyi all the same. And it would be nice if his sister and this girl became friends.

 

[Amara Vayne]

Amara reconsidered her conclusion at Jingyi's hesitation. "Hmmmm you may be right. I don't mind the odd scrape here and there, and the broken leg wasn't too bad, but I don't think I could do that on repeat for too long." Getting hurt meant getting better, and getting better usually involved her lying in bed nonstop resting and healing. Which was boring. And if she did something that her mum didn't approve of, she wouldn't even get ice cream, which was the most effective of medicines.

"I will most certainly tell her how awesome her little brother is," she laughed, reassuring the boy. If his sister was as nice as he was, Amara had hopes that she would have at least one friend during her first year at school. "Well, since we're talking Quidditch," the girl paused, raising an eyebrow, "what's your favorite team?"

 

[Jingyi Huang]

At least the girl seemed to reconsider her initial thought of hurting herself over and over to try and change their minds. "Yeah, getting hurt does hurt a lot. Even if magic can fix your bones with just a wave of a wand. Still wouldn't really recommend getting hurt on purpose." And that plan could very well just backfire and her parents would simply knuckle down harder on their views of not letting her fly a broom because they thought she was going to get hurt. At least Jingyi seemed to be lucky and his own parents had let him learn, even if they wouldn't let him get their own broom until he actually made the team.

"Yeah, that's the one sure way to get in her good books. You just have to compliment me and tell her she has the best brother ever." Though he did hope that this girl and his sister became friends, that would be cool. "Thunderers," he responded almost automatically with a large grin.

 

[Amara Vayne]

"Good to know! I want to be in her good books. If she's your sister's she's bound to be nice, but it can't help to get a couple extra brownie points, yeah?" Xiuying would likely be one of the first people she looked for upon arrival at Hogwarts. It would be nice to have that connection early on.

Only after asking Jingyi about his favorite Quidditch team, did Amara realize that there was a good chance she wouldn't know it. She was familiar with the British League teams and a few of the European ones, but she was not familiar with much in the Australian and New Zealand areas. She saw a match a few years ago when visiting family, but she honestly couldn't remember who had played.

"The Thunderers? Can you remind me where they're from? I just realized I'm not that familiar with the local teams," she shrugged, picking at the hem of her shirt absent-mindedly. "My team is the Appleby Arrows, but I guess I won't be seeing much of them any time soon."