Closed Wildfire in Your Soul

[Harper Alston]

It was an unusually nice spring day, so naturally, Harper had decided to spend it outside. She'd brought her football with her, but she didn't plan to do any serious training this afternoon. Her muscles were still sore from the drills she'd done the day before. Today, Harper just planned on kicking around the ball and potentially roping someone into a friendly one-on-one game. It wouldn't quite compare to the real thing, but for that, she knew she would have to wait until the summer break.

For a while, Harper sprinted back and forth across the Great Lawn, enjoying the reckless, freeing feeling that came with running at top speed. She kept the ball under control, but just barely, sending it forward farther and farther. As she rounded a tree, she finally lost control of it, and the ball skipped ahead towards another person. Harper was about to call out an apology and retrieve the ball herself when she realized it was one of her roommates. "Hey Hester!" she called with a friendly wave. "Pass it here!" Maybe she could convince the other Gryffindor to join her in passing it back and forth.

 

[Hester MacGillivray]

Hester didn't much enjoy winter weather, but at least it was nicer up here than it was back home in Dunedin. She still took to bundling herself up tightly every time she went outside. Hester had brought her pipes to the lakeside hoping to charm another sight of whatever that creature she had seen in the depths was, but holding her pipes in her hands just brought up memories of home Hester was struggling more and more with the longer she spent at Hogwarts. So she had set the pipes down by a tree, considering going back to the castle when a soccer ball found its way over to her. Hester stopped the ball with her foot instinctively, before looking around to see where it had come from. She smiled at the sight of one of the roommates she found most pleasant to be around, giving Harper a cheerful smile. "Hey!" She greeted back, before kicking the ball back to her roommate. "Are you playing with anyone?" She asked, thinking sports might be a better diversion than her pipes right now.

 

[Harper Alston]

Harper's smile widened as Hester gamely gave the ball a kick back. It was a good thing the ball had found its way to Hester instead of a certain roommate who would probably just snap at her and complain about the ball not being magical enough or something. Harper stopped the ball and juggled it back up before letting it fall to the ground. "Yes, you," she said with a light laugh. "Want to join me? Or were you going to practice those?" she said, nodding at the pipes on the ground. She didn't mind running around dribbling by herself, but it would definitely be more fun to have someone else join her.

 

[Hester MacGillivray]

Hester shook her head at the question, moving closer to Harper. "Nah, I can practice later." She smiled, pleased that her roommate hadn't turned her away. Soccer might be just the distraction she needed from her thoughts of home. "I haven't played soccer properly since primary school, but I play a little bit with my brothers at home." Hester had worked hard to keep up with her older brothers when it came to sports, but George and Rob were adults now, and she hadn't won any of their family games for a long time.