Soccer Practice

[Irvine Willowsby]

Irvine had become restless and bored his second year at Hogwarts. With the upcoming electives fair Irvine realized now that Wizards often had to pick their futures earlier - and he wasn't prepared to do so. He'd always wanted to be a soccer star before arriving at this school, however it seemed fairly correct to assume that wasn't what he was destined for. Irvine had even prayed like his parents always did upon coming to the school. He prayed for guidance, and asked his parents for advice - he was twelve what classes was he supposed to take? What career could he have? The boy kicked the ball he'd brought from home, winding one leg over the other practicing his foot work. The ball sailed quicker than Irvine could keep up and soon the nylon covered air was floating in the lake. "Crap..." The Gryffindor muttered. Sporty as he was the boy never learned how to swim.

Irvine was prideful though, and didn't bother asking for help. Instead he ran to find the nearest stick, and leaned over the edge, attempting to bring the ball to himself. It rotated again and again, but did not inch closer. However Irvine was not going to ask for help, and only hoped that maybe no one would notice how he'd lost his ball. Or maybe someone would and they'd not laugh at him for it. After all if they could swim they could reach it. Maybe not being able to swim was normal as well. But if they didn't know how to swim how was he to get his ball back? There were so many issues... Irvine could only hope for the best.

 

[Kauri Morales-Tipene]

Kauri didn't want summer to be over yet. He had had such a nice time, spending his days outdoors in the warm sun. Unwilling to say goodbye to the sunshine yet, he took every opportunity he was getting to enjoy the nice weather outside. He had decided a walk by the lake was just the thing for today, and wandered along its edge, contented for the moment to just watch his classmates going about their business. It was nice, sometimes, to just observe the world going on around him without trying to be the center of it.

Kauri was just looking around idly when he saw one of his roommates he wasn't particularly close with having some struggles just up ahead. "Hey, Irvine!" He called out, half-jogging over to the other boy. "You alright?" He looked out at the soccer ball drifting on the lake's surface, quickly putting the pieces together. "Do you need a hand? I can grab it for you if you like, I'm an alright swimmer."

 

[Irvine Willowsby]

Irvine was startled when a familiar voice approached him, and he looked back as Kauri, a boy in his dorms. He felt his face heat up when he mentioned getting it. "I can swim!" He defended his pride, lying. Then he realized that it sounded ridiculous. If he could swim wouldn't he be in the lake. "I just uhm, don't want to get my clothing wet." He spoke in defense of his ball which pathetically spun and bounced in the gentle caress of the water. The boy sat in the grass, now he'd look even dumber because he should have just taken the outer layer off and gone in. "I can't swim that was stupid." He admitted, now realizing how much of an arse he looked like. "Can you help please." He asked, wondering if the boy would think it funny he didn't know how to swim. What kid didn't know how to swim? Irvine sat there waiting for the boy to help him getting the ball out of the water.

 

[Kauri Morales-Tipene]

Kauri listened to Irvine, surprised by the other boy's jumpiness. "Oh, hey, don't worry!" He said with a friendly smile. He could understand being embarrassed, but didn't want to make the other boy feel bad. "Loads of people can't swim." He said reassuringly, sitting down to take off his shoes. Once he was down to t-shirt and shorts Kauri stood up, taking a couple of steps back. He realised once he was already running that a cannonball would almost certainly push the soccer ball further from the shore, but he was moving too fast to change his mind. Hitting the water with a mighty splash, Kauri surfaced with a shake of his head and began swimming out to the soccer ball that had been pushed much further out by the ripples of his impact. "Got it!" He called out, once his hands closed around the ball. Holding it out in front like a board he kicked back over to the shore, holding the ball up to Irvine once he was back. "Problem solved!"