Open Small Victories

[Leah Thorne]

Leah couldn't believe she had done it. It had been harder than she thought to convince her parents to let her start school in New Zealand. Now that her parent's divorce was final and she was constantly traveling back and forth it had taken twice as long to plead her case. But in some ways it did work in her favor and she wasn't they type to give up until she got her way. Her father wanted her to go to Hogwarts Scotland where he had gone, while her mother had graduated from Ilvermorny and wanted her daughter to do the same. What finally tipped the scales in her favor was when she pointed out that neither would get their way if she went to a completely new school. Some how that had done the trick.

But that hardly seemed to matter now as she walked around the harbour with her mother somewhere behind her. Today was simply to check out some shops since she technically hadn't gotten her letter yet. She cursed having such a late birthday but she knew it would come soon enough. Leah couldn't stop herself from pressing her nose against every store front she could see. They of course had shops just like this back home in London, even an Ollivander's, but everything felt so new and exciting knowing no one else in her family had been here before.

 

[Chase Campbell]

While Chase's life had always felt like a mess that feeling had seemed to subside a bit lately. He had always known there ought to be magic in his blood like there was in his mum's but it had taken way, way longer to make itself known than he would've liked. He was glad it did though because it meant he took after his mom more than he did his dad. Or it felt like it did, at the very least. He couldn't know for sure. He'd probably never know for sure. The problem was that the idea of heading to another school was now becoming very real. It wasn't that he liked his current school but he had managed to build himself a reputation there. One of a loner, sure, but he didn't mind. Or he thought he didn't. At least it meant most of his annoying classmates kept away from him. Even if it caused the few he might have liked to do the same.

Tagging along to Obsidian Harbour with his mom was something Chase did a lot, which had by now earned him the right to walk around on his own while she was catching up with a friend. As long as he was at their meeting place at the time they agreed on they'd be good. And he always did. He had taken one of his baseballs from home and tossed it up and down as he made his way down the street, trying to throw it higher and higher each time. Which meant he was likely to fail catching it sooner or later. It just happened sooner than he would've guessed and he groaned as the ball rolled down the street, stopping at another kid's feet. "Hey!" He called out to get her attention, hoping she would hear him because he couldn't actually be bothered to make his way over. "Could you toss that back?"

 

[Leah Thorne]

Leah had just stopped in front of a shop when she heard someone yell. She turned around and saw a boy around her age and gave him a curious look. It wasn’t until he mentioned the ball near her feet that she realized he was talking to her. “Oh sure!” she said and grabbed the ball. She tossed it in the air once and grinned when it landed solidly in her hand. Leah had enjoyed nearly every sport she had tried over the years, even though she never got to play them much. Her parents would never let her join any muggle teams and it wasn’t like she had any siblings to play with. She reached back her arm probably a little too far before throwing it back at him. Leah let out a little giggle as her aim was a little off but she hoped he would catch it anyways. “Sorry.” she called out, laughing at herself again. “What’s your name?” she asked when she realized he looked to be around her age. Maybe he would be going to school soon too.

 

[Chase Campbell]

Chase was starting to wonder whether the girl had heard him or if he did need to make his way over when she suddenly looked at him. He just stared back at her untill she noticed the ball, glad when she did. If he could spare himself the trouble of walking over her then he'd happily do so. He slightly raised his eyebrows when the girl tossed the ball up in the air and caught it again instead of just tossing it straight his way. When she finally tossed it back he took a couple of steps backwards, almost stumbling in to someone else before catching the ball. Chase very well knew it had been his fault but he still shot the person an annoyed look before looking back towards the girl. "You should work on your aim." He noted as he stepped her way. She had done him a favour by tossing back the ball so he might as well return it by answering her question. "It's Chase."

 

[Leah Thorne]

Leah sighed and rolled her eyes when he said she should practice on her aim. Obviously she knew that but she didn't like the way he said it. Defiantly, she stood with her hands on her hips and looked at him. “Well throw it back and I can get some practice now.” she said and held out one of her hands expectantly, a slight challenge in her voice. If he wanted her to get better than he could help. But she smiled anyways when he introduced himself. “Nice to meet you.” she said with a forced sincerity that would hopefully make him feel bad for being so rude. “Aren’t you going to ask me for my name?” Leah asked as she crossed her arms over her chest. She had never been good at sitting, or standing, still and today was no exception as she waited for him to speak again.

 

[Chase Campbell]

Chase could notice the girl wasn't too pleased with his remark and almost expected her to just be done with him and move on like most people did. Needless to say, he was a little surprised when she held out her hand for the ball. He took a second to consider his options. Not that he had a lot. It was either strolling along and minding his own business or tossing the ball back and seeing what would happen. Plus, he had already introduced himself now anyways so he might as well see what would happen. "Yeah, uh, sure." He shrugged when she mentioned him asking for her name while taking a step back so he could aim his throw. "What's your name?" Chase asked as he threw the ball her way, keen to see if she would catch it or whether it would hit someone else.

 

[Leah Thorne]

Leah wasn't sure if Chase would play along with her, literally. But she grinned when he took a step back so he could throw the ball better. She watched his form so she could try and copy it. She watched as the ball sored through the air and she had to jump a little to catch it. "Ouch." she said with a sucked in breath as it made sharp contact in her hand. But she turned to grin at him triumphantly and answer his question. "My name is Leah." she said with extra sincerity. "So do you live around here?" she asked, curious to know if he would be going to Hogwarts New Zealand too. She took a deep breath and took a step back like he had done before and tossed the ball. It was a better throw this time. It went high in the air and she hoped he'd be able to catch it.

 

[Chase Campbell]

Chase watched as the girl had to jump a little to catch the ball, nodding approvingly when she turned back to him with a grin. So far, this seemed to be slightly more enjoyable than strolling around through a place where he knew every nook and cranny. "Cool." He simply replied when Leah introduced herself, giving a shrug at her next question. "Yeah, not too far from here." He added before cocking his head a little and firing the question back at her. "You?" Chase watched as Leah tossed the ball, looking up to see where it was going so he could catch it. He wanted to take a step backwards so he could properly catch the ball but his way seemed to be blocked and he bumped into someone else's back instead. Perhaps tossing a ball back and forth in the middle of a shopping street hadn't been the best idea. Nevertheless, Chase still raised his hand in an attempt to catch the ball but before he could even try and grab it the ball had already made contact with his nose. "Crap." He muttered as he touched the spot where the ball had connected with his nose and could feel something wet, noticing a touch of red on his fingers as he pulled them away. It was only a little though so things couldn't be too bad and he calmly looked around before glancing back at Leah. "Did you notice where the ball went?"

 

[Leah Thorne]

Leah eyed him with renewed interest when he said he was from around her. She hadn’t met a real local yet and she was dying to ask him all about it but then he had returned the question. “I am from quite far.” she said and laughed to herself. She opened her mouth to explain that she lived in London, but that wasn’t true anymore. That was where she had grown up and lived most of her life. But the last few months or so she had been going back and forth between her grandparent’s house in America and the new house her father lived in on the coast. Before she could explain her situation she watched as Chase bumped into someone and he missed the catch but not before getting hit in the face. She felt a small pang of satisfaction that she hadn’t been the first one to drop the ball, but it quickly passed and she rushed to help him. “Merlin's beard!” she exclaimed when she realized his nose was bleeding. Without thinking Leah pulled the scarf from around her neck and held it out for him to take. "Here take this." she insisted. She had argued with her mom about wearing it this morning but she was glad she had it now. “Um, try tilting your head back.” she suggested. That sounded like the right thing to do. She looked around the street for the ball and found it had rolled down one of the alleys. “There it is!”

 

[Chase Campbell]

Chase couldn't suppress a soft snicker when Leah responded to his question by mentioning she came from quite far away. He wasn't sure what he had expected her to say but seeing as he had given as little information in his own answer it seemed like a fair way to respond. He squinted for a second when she opened her mouth and closed it again, wondering what she had wanted to say but decided against anyways. If anything, he had to admit it made her a little more interesting than she had seemed before. Chase pinched his nose in an attempt to keep it from bleeding all over him, still looking around to see where his ball had gone. It was his only baseball and losing it would be a shame, especially since he didn't want to have to ask his mom for a new one. That was money better spend on other things. "Uh, thanks." He muttered when Leah handed him her scarf, quickly using it to keep himself from ruining his shirt as well. If he could keep the blood stains limited to his hand and now Leah's scarf than things wouldn't be too bad. "Yeah, yeah, right." He nodded at her mention of keeping his head tilted, trying his best to do so while also looking for where she said she noticed the ball. "I'll go get it, I let it roll away anyways." He shrugged as he stepped forward before realizing he couldn't just walk off with her scarf. "I mean you're welcome to go get it with me but I could also just come back to return your scarf. If you still want it, it's pretty gross now.. Maybe I could get my mom to try and wash it or something..?" He muttered, taking the scarf away from his nose before quickly bringing it back when he noticed it was still bleeding. He wasn't sure whether blood would even come out or if he had ruined the scarf forever but she hadn't hesitated to hand it to him so he might as well try to be considerate.

 

[Leah Thorne]

Leah almost wanted to laugh as Chase started to ramble about getting the ball back, and part of her was growing concerned he had hit his head much harder than she thought. "I'll go with you." she said firmly. "I don't need you going off on your own, getting dizzy and cracking your head open." she added seriously. Her scarf could hold back a bloody nose but a head wound would be much harder to deal with. It wasn't like she knew any healing spells or even had a wand for that matter. When he mentioned giving the scarf back she frowned, realizing just then which scarf she had given him. It had been one of her mother's favorites and quite expensive if she remembered correctly. But blood wasn't anything a cleaning charm couldn't get out, right? She felt a bit panicked as she tired to figure out what to do, Would it be worse to come back to her mother with a bloody mess or no scarf at all? She could say it got lost. It wouldn't be unlike her for that to happen, no mater how upset her mom would be. "Are you going to Hogwarts this year?" she asked suddenly having an idea.

 

[Chase Campbell]

Chase frowned for a second when Leah almost seemed like she was lecturing him. He opened his mouth to say something in retaliation before, hopefully wisely, deciding to close it again. If only because her being firm with him sounded like she was good enough to care about his wellbeing without even knowing him. Plus, she didn't seem like someone he would enjoy arguing with. The likelihood of him losing would be too high. "Alright, fine." He nodded in agreement, making sure he looked around before stepping forward towards the alley. Even if his nosebleed had come from the ball hitting him rather than him bumping into someone before he wasn't keen on bumping into anyone else. Chase made his way across the street, keeping the scarf close to his nose and checking behind him a few times to see if Leah was following before he reached the alley. He grinned when he noticed his ball, picking it up and happily tossing it in the air once. "Yeah, I am." He answered before lowering the scarf now that he had a feeling the bleeding had stopped. His nose probably still looked a mess, as did his hand, but that was nothing a little water wouldn't fix. "Why? You want me to hand it back then?"

 

[Leah Thorne]

"Good." Leah said with a pleased grin and followed Chase as he made his way to the alley. She gave him a curious look when he seemed to smile for the first time. "So what's so special about this ball?" she asked. She was pretty sure it was called a baseball but she wasn't very familiar with muggle sports. One of her cousins on her mother's side did though and wouldn't stop talking about it last time she had visited him.

Leah beamed when Chase confirmed he would be going to Hogwarts too. "Perfect." she said enthusiastically but made a face when he pulled the scarf away and she could take in the state of his face. It looked far worse that it probably was. It almost looked like a hippogriff attacked him, but just his nose. At least it did look like the blood had stopped actively flowing. Leah nodded quickly as Chase seemed to pick up on what she was thinking. "Yes, I can tell my mom I lost it but if you can get it clean by the time we meet at school I can pretend this never happened. I'll tell her it was in my pocket the whole time. She won't have to know!"

 

[Chase Campbell]

Chase made sure to keep the baseball in his hand this time around, not wanting to take the risk of tossing it around again and either losing sight of it or getting hurt. He looked back at Leah when she asked him about the ball, figuring it was no use trying to come up with anything other than the truth. "Not much, really. It's just the only baseball I've got and I don't want to ask my mom for another." He replied with a shrug, hoping she wouldn't be curious and ask more about it because that was all there was to it.

"That bad, huh?" Chase frowned at Leah's expression after he had taken the scarf away from his face. Maybe if they stepped back into the shopping street he could get a glance at one of the shop windows to see the state of his face, but for now he didn't care much. He just needed to make sure he cleaned up a bit before heading to meet his mom. "Uh, yeah. That could work. I'm sure my mom will know a spell to get it cleaned or something." He nodded. He had seen his mom clean things using magic before and surely a spell would work better than just trying to wash it manually. But surely she would know best. "I'll try not to forget it, but I'm sure my mom won't let me anyways."

 

[Leah Thorne]

Leah shrugged at his reasoning but didn't ask any more questions about it. She still wasn't sure what was so hard about just getting a new one. They seemed common enough around muggles. They surly couldn't be that expensive. She did feel bad for having such an obvious reaction to seeing Chase's face. "No." she lied and was pretty sure it wasn't a very convincing one. She had never been that good of a liar. But she did know she was likely good enough to fool her mother. She relaxed slightly when he agreed to the plan. Maybe this would all work out after all. "You better not forget it." she said seriously and poked him in the shoulder. "I'm trusting you."

 

[Chase Campbell]

Chase could appreciate that Leah didn't question him any further about the baseball, especially since he had a feeling she was quite the curious type of person. "That's not very convincing." He replied with the slightest hint of a grin although he was still not too keen on seeing it for himself. Or even more so having his mom see it. She'd just be worried about nothing. "Promise I won't." Chase said when Leah poked him, holding his hands up as an act of innocence. He knew the best way to go about this would just to get it cleaned right when he got home and put it in his trunk already. That way he wouldn't be able to forget it and he wouldn't break the trust she somehow had in him to return it to her. "I should probably go now though, gotta get this cleaned up before getting back to my mom." He explained, ready to walk away before deciding he had one last thing to say. "See you at school then."

 

[Leah Thorne]

"Sorry." Leah said apologetically when he didn't believe her. "I'm not a very good liar." she teased lightly. "I hope it's not broken." That would be a lot harder to explain to his mother than simply a bloody face. She grinned when he promised her and she believed him but she still thought his innocent act was a little funny. "Oh right." she said when he mentioned heading back to his mom. Leah hadn't been paying attention to the time at all and realized she had lost sight of her mother completely. "Yes you will!" she called over her shoulder as she started to walk away.