When it rains

[Xavier Jeffreys]

The student lounge was not a place that Xavier frequented. He could usually be found outside, trekking around in the mud in search for bugs and other creepy crawlies while wearing his gumboots despite not caring less about his feet getting dirty. But there were days when he could not spend time outside like he usually did so easily and those days in particular were always rainy. Sometimes even snowy depending on the time of year and his luck with the weather. Neither of those kinds of days were any fun because he spent them indoors and while Xavier knew he could brave the rain and simply throw on his oversized rain coat to go outside on one of his adventures, he also knew that bugs tended to hide away when rain fell and any searches for bugs would be pointless. He knew worms left the dirt to keep themselves from drowning in the rain so in theory it would be easier to find them though in practice Xavier found it was just as difficult. So instead of going outside to spend his time the way he wanted to, Xavier deemed sitting inside somehow more worthy of his time, and was left to sit on one of the windowsills in the student lounge, feeling all too clean for his liking as he stared out to the castle grounds longingly while resting his head in one of his hands as he sighed.​

 

[Zara Cohen-Knight]

In an attempt to be a little more social this year, Zara walked to the student lounge. She had a few left over pamphlets that Lennon had made for their protest of the Quidditch Tryouts which had been even more of a success than she had originally expected. She wouldn’t preach to people today about it unless they asked her but she would leave the paperwork about for people to read as they pleased and maybe this would be a good way to weed out those she could become friends with. The bossy girl never wanted to be friends with someone who thought flying and quidditch were a good thing, especially for children. She felt it made a mockery of not only her families struggles but others because she knew there were a lot of people permanently in the hospital for Quidditch injuries. Mostly due to bludgers or ego but nonetheless it was a dangerous sport and she would leave that for people to hopefully read and understand that as they should. So when she walked into the lounge Zara discreetly put them on the coffee table before sitting on a large chair that made her almost feel like some sort of empress because of the shape of it. It also had her face the window where she saw a familiar face. “Bug boy,” she muttered with irritation in her voice before she could stop herself. She couldn’t remember his name but she would never forget his disgusting habits.

 

[Xavier Jeffreys]

Xavier continued staring out the window and to the castle grounds until the sound of someone entering the room caused him to turn his head. It was the girl he met in the beginning of his first year that followed him into the forbidden forest while he was on a hunt for worms and then later walked away when she realized he was looking for worms. He did not know her name but since that day always questioned what her problem was with such adorable invertebrates. They were as innocent as could be, constantly making a life for themselves as they burrowed in the dirt and malleable to all their surroundings. Why such creatures seemed to scare the girl was beyond Xavier so whenever he recognized her in classes or in the corridors he was tempted to ask her why. He did not have the courage nor the time to ask until that day so when she acknowledged his presence, calling him bug boy he smiled and shifted forward on the windowsill so he could talk to her. "Hi there." He said before nodding to the pamphlets she placed on the coffee table moments earlier "What's with the pamphlets?" He then asked to open conversation and bring the subject of his beloved worms in discreetly because it was clearly touchy to the girl if she was so ready to avoid them.​

 

[Zara Cohen-Knight]

Zara was surprised to see the little bug boy free from dirt and somehow without bugs on his actual person so while she was hesitant to converse with him it would be completely rude at this point so the girl picked up one of the pamphlets she’d just placed down and walked it over to him so he could flip through it. “My brother made them,” she said to start. “Quidditch is dangerous and people die from it. They get permanent damage from it. Scars, brain damage, lost limbs.” She returned to her seat as she spoke so that he could fully grasp the depth of this because not many seemed to. “I want to make it so that young kids like us can’t join the teams,” Zara said because that was the first step. There were so many steps she had to take before Quidditch would be eventually disbanded because it was a cruel sport. Most governments wouldn’t even inflict those sort of injuries on known dangerous criminals from what she could gather. After speaking with the nurse from the Hospital Wing Zara had gathered information on how many students went to the wing due to Quidditch or flying injuries and while she wished to have more details from worldwide organizations the girl was sure that the stupid Quidditch hooligans were in cahoots to keep that information from the public about all the dangers from playing. Never mind the dangers from particularly aggressive fans which now occurred to her this boy could be as if he couldn’t get worse.

 

[Xavier Jeffreys]

Xavier took the pamphlet as it was handed to him and gulped audibly when he realized what they were for. The quidditch protest. The protest in particular during the Ravenclaw quidditch try outs that Xavier not only heard from his older brother Isaiah, but from his twin brother, Ares as well. Both of which were quidditch fanatics enough to play the sport and even enough for Isaiah to be named the current captain of the Ravenclaw team. He immediately wanted to tell the girl so but refrained from his urge and instead listened to her words, understanding them more than he was about to admit. Isaiah was badly injured the previous year by bludgers and continued to play through the pain which left him fainting when the game ended and spending a lot of time in the hospital wing as his injuries healed. It was a memory Xavier could recall as easily as he could recall his breakfast that morning simply from how terrified he felt for his brothers safety and well-being. Now the game was over and Isaiah was essentially as good as knew but that did not stop Xavier from feeling terrified every time one of his brothers soared around the field during a game. It was the main reason he was yet to try out for his house team himself and wouldn't in the future despite Ares wanting him to. The mere thought of one of his brothers hurting themselves again sent a shiver down his spine. "It is pretty bad." He said partially under his breath as his eyes scanned the pamphlet for more details. "Have you had any success?" Xavier asked curiously as he looked up from the paper in his hands because while he had heard of the protest he had not heard how it ended or if it accomplished anything.
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[Zara Cohen-Knight]

Zara smiled at the boy, pleased that he was receptive to sense where so many others weren't. She sometimes could not help it and the only option left for her was to suffer fools gladly but at his question of the success of her goals she felt that perhaps he wasn't as much a fool as she had originally thought. Anyone with any care for how bloody and gruesome the sport was and how to change that was, at the very least, someone she felt a kinship with. "It's growing each day," she answered. "Before the protest it was just my brother and I fighting for this but we even were able to speak with the Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain." While Zara felt truly certain that he must have gotten too many quaffles to the head to continue playing even after any injuries he had seem polite and sensible enough and not at all like he was placating the wishes of second years. "My hope is to speak with the Headmistress to discuss this option but she is very busy, it may take time so I will be formulating a petition before this." She knew that Quidditch would never truly be gone as much as she wished it but with logic and reason on her side as well as the firm belief she was right there was no way small steps towards her goal couldn't be achieved.

 

[Xavier Jeffreys]

Xavier felt another shiver run down his spine as the girl mentioned talking to Isaiah during the protest. Again, he was reminded of all that happened the previous year and what was sure to happen in future quidditch games that each of his brothers flew in; injuries. Xavier's experience of the game was brutal as he only watched his brothers play and subsequently hurt themselves one too many times for his liking. Once was one too many times to be hurt in his opinion and he could only hide the worry he felt for his siblings for so long. As she mentioned a protest he simply nodded, attempting to commit that particular sentence to his memory because signing something that could keep his brothers from hurting themselves seemed worth it, even if it was only temporary. "I'd sign the petition." He said, shuffling the pamphlet awkwardly in his hands as he was unsure of what else he could say without revealing to the bug-hating girl that his brother was the captain for Ravenclaw and risk making himself seem like the hypocrite he certainly wasn't.
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