...just a little on edge (OPEN)

[lydianowan]

Lydia marched out onto the Quidditch pitch, carrying her broom firmly in her hand as she battled against the wind. It was not horrifically bad weather, but even Lydia could not deny the strong extent that the wind pushed against her. However, it was not bad enough weather to prevent a Quidditch practice, in Lydia's opinion, and she was determined to improve her skills even more before the next game. She was determined to score on her sister Paris, not once, but several times; and even more, she was determined to win the Quidditch House Cup. These were no laughing matters. They were Lydia's hard, established, goals. She was not going to back down now.

Quickly after making her way to the center of the Quidditch Pitch, and gladly noting that no one else was on the field, Lydia mounted her broom and went flying as quickly as she possibly could in such a short time to accelerate. Her direction was towards the sky, and as she picked up speed she began to climb higher and higher. Today was not about practicing her shots; she'd already practiced that enough these past few days since that was more of her weak spot. Today was about improving on her strengths; speed and endurance. She climbed higher and higher, the cold waring on her like a dog. Finally, after reaching a level that she could no longer stand, she began her quick decent down wards; once again, incredibly fast. Lydia new well that she was perhaps taking too much of a risk, but that was what this practice was about; establishing her limits.

As she raced faster and faster, the ground began to come into view and she quickly halted herself; this caused her broom to react by slamming against her waist and body. But Lydia tried hard to ignore the pain. She wouldn't let it effect her game play now, although she made a mental note to avoid doing the same thing in the future. Satisfied with her first test, Lydia began to circle the outer perimeters of the Pitch, making sharp turns as fast as she could. After a few minutes of this she began her next task.

Flying inside the pitch, Lydia began flying in circles at a higher elevation; just about aligned with the tops of the towers. Her goal was to immediately begin a decent, but not one like she had done before. She would continue flying in circles, picking up rapid pace and subtly lowering her elevation with every turn. By the end, she would not only be testing the extent of her speed, but also how low she could go without hitting the ground. Few Quidditch players took advantage of low altitudes, but Lydia had determined now to figure out how to deal with them and use her knowledge to her advantage in games.

So, she began. Picking up the pace and she continued to fly in circles, Lydia began pushing herself to the limits. She quickly caught on that the idea had seemed easier in her mind. And as she got faster, and in her circles, descended gradually, she was beginning to find the effects of the wind tearing on her. But she wouldn't give up. Not at all. Instead, her mind went into full focus. All she could think about was her speed and hanging onto her broom for dear life; all thoughts of weakness left her. She was in pure concentration, lowering her highness gradually as her hands firmly gripped her broom. She was getting lower...and lower...and lower...until she had finally reached a point so low that she was merely a few feet above the ground.

That's when it happened.

Going too fast, and flying too low, it truly was inevitable. The back of her broom merely skimmed the ground, but with her high speeds, it was enough to send her flying. Lydia was thrown off her broom, flew throw the air, and hit the ground hard, several feet away.

[Katherine Knightswood]

Katherine was sick and tired of being indoors. She’d gone through enough parchment to choke a hippogriff, covering it with notes from classes and from translating the book Dylan had given her. Today though, wasn’t a day for note taking or reading. Katherine had grabbed a warm jumper, a scarf and her Firebolt, intent on getting to the Quidditch Pitch in record time. Stretching her legs and going for a few laps around the Pitch would ease her cabin fever so she could get back to work.

The weather was typical for a Scottish February. Wind tore at Katherine’s hair, trying to undo her French braid. She grinned in anticipation. Flying in the wind was not only refreshing, it was challenging. The Ravenclaw tucked her scarf around her neck and snuggled it up tight against her neck. Thank goodness her jumper was good solid wool and tightly knit or she’d have been frozen in short order! Katherine hummed as she walked across the grounds toward the Pitch.

When she arrived at her destination, Katherine was surprised but pleased to see another student already hard at work. The first year smiled, glad to see that there was another Quidditch-mad schoolmate practicing. She squinted at the figure flying circles high up, barely making out the girl’s face. Katherine didn’t know the girl’s name, but she did recognize her as a member of the Gryffindor team. Ah, now there was a team to fly against! All their players were fast and furious, full of spunk and vinegar.

Katherine watched in fascination as the flyer tightened the circle and started descending. The first year gasped at the utter recklessness of the maneuver. Low altitude high-speed flying was the ultimate Chaser and Beater challenge. You could easily forget how low you were if you got wrapped up in the thrill of your speed. Broom in hand, Katherine watched the other player’s progress, holding her breath. Oh man, if she bottoms out, that’s gonna hurt! Katherine bit her knuckle, watching with her nerves on fire.

The Gryffindor flyer was down to just a few feet above the ground, when all hell broke loose. The flyer’s broom snagged on the grass of the Pitch, bottomed out, and set its passenger flying to hit the ground hard. Katherine gasped, and then leapt into action.

Fast as a shot, Katherine was on her broom, streaking down the field toward the fallen flyer. She landed a few feet away and hit the ground running. The Ravenclaw lay her broom down off to the side, and hauled out her wand. “Accio medical kit!” she roared, putting as much “oomph” as possible into the spell. A small green leather case came zooming toward the Pitch, and Katherine snatched it out of the air. She hurried to the girl’s side and put a hand on her upper shoulder. “Can you hear me? Don’t move, you may have broken something; that was a bad fall at high speed.” Katherine opened the kit and laid it on the grass beside her, trying to remain calm. Blast it all, she was going to need the School Nurse or the girl’s Head of House to help here.

It was with a huge sigh of relief that she saw her snowy owl, Archimedes flying over the Pitch. “Archimedes! Come here!” The owl spiraled down, and she jotted a fast note. Need Nurse or Gryffindor Head on Pitch. Injured Gryffindor student. [/i] “Take this to the first teacher or Prefect you see, Archimedes! And hurry!” The owl departed in a flurry of feathers, and she turned back to her schoolmate. “Help’s on the way, Miss. Hang tight. I just sent my owl for the Nurse.” Katherine laid a careful hand on the girl’s uppermost shoulder. “I’m Katherine, from the Ravenclaw team.”

[lydianowan]

She was still flying.

It was in those short milliseconds that Lydia felt her body move through the air; this time, without her broom. It was amazing how such a small, brief touch of the ground on her broom's part could send her so far away. She barely had enough time to realize what was happening to her, since it all happened so fast. But once she did, she hit the ground, landing directly on her back. Immediately after, she was asleep...

Her next moments of consciousness came in as a blur. She could barely sense the movement around her; but someone was there; she figured that out. Her thought process was twisted and she was so out of it that she could barely sense the pain. She new that she was lying on her back, for some reason....but it wasn't on her bed it was somewhere else...and it was windy, she could sense that as well...But why was it windy? The more her logic returned to her the more she could feel the pain. It was getting worse. She now had gathered enough strength and consciousness to open her eyes; It all came in as a blur at first. But she say some sort of figure before her. She blinked once or twice, and her vision came in normally as a result. The pain also came in unbearably now. She also realized that the person that was here was a girl; and that she had put her hand on her shoulder.

And then, realization hit her.
Lydia let out an angry groan, grabbing her arm and holding it tightly. The arm was not in as much pain as her back, but it still hurt none-the-less. She was deeply mad at herself for letting this happen, and mad at the situation. The pain was hurting her badly but her anger was a good distraction. In fact, the anger was such a good distraction that it took Lydia a few seconds after the young girl had made her last remark for Lydia to process the information....But once she did, for a brief second, she forgot about her current state of pain.

"Knightswood?" She exclaimed, almost sitting up and, as a result, causing extreme pain to rush to her back and she immediately laid back down, letting out groan of pain as she did so. Lydia was somewhat...Quidditch-obessesed. Every year she memorized the names and faces of every member of all the Quidditch teams, along with their strengths and weaknesses. Of course, she was far more concerned with her own team and their own performance, but Lydia thought that it did well to be informed of all the other teams' dynamics. So, Lydia, already knew who this first year Ravenclaw was.

Deeply embarrassed, Lydia tried to suppress her own pain. She didn't like show any sort of weakness; both physical and emotional. I'm not going to cry. I'm not going to cry. I'm not going to cry. Lydia told herself over and over. She simply clenched her jaw and refused to let the tears spill over.

After a few seconds of this, Lydia decided it was time to stretch the limits and try to get out of this. She didn't deny that she probably needed hospital attention, but she didn't want to be shamed as being a weak one who just lied here like a hurt dog. "Thanks, really, Katherine, but I'll be fine." She said in an attempt to sit up, but it instantly fell through as the pain came rushing in and she was too weak to do it. "Okay, maybe just a little less than fine..." She added as she used her arms to push herself up, this hurting very much as well but she was able to accomplish her task. "But I think I'll be okay." At this point Lydia realized that there was no way she was going to walk out of here. The least she could do was sit up and make conversation until help came. Her worst fear was that this younger Ravenclaw would think her less tough in Quidditch. Lydia was an aggressive player on the field, sometimes, so aggressive, that she got in trouble for it...

"Thanks." She said with a forced smile to the younger girl. "Who-who did you call for?" She asked in reference about the "help on it's way," while her arms held her up in her sitting postition.

[Caitlin Collins]

Caitlin was finding herself more and more comfortable out of doors of late and ironically enough, considering her original aversion to the bad weather, especially when it was raining. With all her homework done, she had nothing much to do. Instead she decided to head outside and try and perform some of her duties as both Shadow Warrior and prefect by making sure no one was making any foolish escapades into the forest. Wrapped up warmly against the February chill, she left the castle and made her way down the gradual slope to the forest, turning and beginning to go around it in an arc still a fair distance away. She didn’t want to end up in danger herself while trying too hard to make sure other people weren’t.

Seeing no movement near to the forest, she glanced around to the other side of her. Another student was entering the quidditch stadium as she looked, and not long after Caitlin could see the person streaking up high into the air on a broom. She shuddered a little; broomsticks were not her forte. After that episode with Quin and the Astronomy Tower all those months ago, she disliked them even more. She just got scared that she was going to hit something or someone. She was just too overcautious to enjoy it, and the fact that she had no natural skill at flying didn’t make it any easier. The flyer had suddenly turned and was now racing downwards at an alarming speed. A few minutes later, Lydia came into view again, circling near the tower tops. When she descended, Caity waited patiently for her re-emergence. She might not like flying herself, but that didn’t mean she didn’t enjoy watching. She was nowhere near as bad as her younger brothers were with football, but it was fun to watch a quidditch match here and there.

Several minutes later she was still waiting, and beginning to wonder where the other girl had disappeared to. As far as she had seen, Quidditch players were not exactly known for staying low for too long. There was the occasional risk-taker who swooped dangerously close to the ground, but they generally rose high again soon after. It was the snowy owl swooping down then quickly leaving again towards the castle that alerted her that something might be wrong. Hurrying up the slope again to the pitch, she reasoned that if she was just being overcautious then at least she’d have a better view from inside the stadium. There was no one that close to the forest right now, anyway, and it would be pretty stupid to venture in during the middle of the day, when anyone could see you.

Reaching the stadium and entering through the nearest gateway, Caity saw that her worries had not been unfounded – the girl she had seen flying earlier was now on the ground, her broomstick a few metres away. Another girl, maybe a first or second year, was leaning over her.

It didn’t take long for her to run over to the other students, kneeling down. For a moment she thought it was Paris Nowan who was injured, but a moment later remembered that the Slytherin had a twin... Lydia. She couldn’t have said what the differences were, but Cait could tell it wasn’t the same girl she so vehemently disliked.

“Are you okay?” she asked, glancing up at Katherine then down again. “What happened?” The question was open to be answered by either of them. Without making any conscious decision to do so, her wand was in her hand and various healing spells were going through her head. “Was that owl going to get help?” Even though it had not seen her in the opposite direction to where it was flying, it had still managed to attract the attention of a prefect, exactly as its purpose had meant to be.

[lydianowan]

The fake smiles were draining, and Lydia gritted her teeth together to contain the pain. In between such actions she'd let out a few sighs of pain, flash a fake smile, and then resume gritting her teeth. Lydia told herself to calm down, reminding herself that she'd experienced a great deal of pain in her life and this was no different. Pain made you stronger anyways, right? And so far, the thrill of speed she'd experienced when flying so low to the ground was worth it. Pain was a good payment for such an exciting moment...

Her arms still holding her up, Lydia caught sight of another girl on her way. As she got closer, she realized that it was a familiar face; a hufflepuff of her own age group. Lydia wished that she knew more about the girl...but alas, she did not. The girl was noticeably more quite, and Lydia had not spoken to her before. However, they shared classes together and she was certain the Hufflepuff had at least witnessed one of Lydia's scenes in class; probably just getting scolded for talking too much; nothing too big.

At first, Lydia breathed a sigh of relief. There was something comforting about someone familiar...but it only took her a few seconds to change her opinion. Ahhhhh....how shameful! Lydia wanted to hide herself. Both Nowan girls had tendencies to avoid showing any signs of weakness, both emotional and physical, but Lydia went even more to the extreme. She hated feeling weaker than anyone, and this moment was, indeed, very embarassing and exposing...After all, she could barely move! She'd tried to manuver herself up straighter, as if to look as she was sitting more casually as the Hufflepuff approached, but the attempt was failed.

"What happened?"

Lydia immeadiently went into conversation mode, thinking it better if she answered. Lydia didn't want the younger Ravenclaw to make it look as if she was as hurt as badly as she really was. Lydia possesed a certain level of pride that that had been wounded by the whole ordeal.

"Um...nothing, really." She said quickly, flashing a fake smile. "I'm fine,...I just...well, I got a little too agressive and made a bad move on my broom, that's all." She continued, using all restraint she possessed to stop herself for crying out in pain. "It's-I'm-I'm fine. Thanks, really, though." She sighed in pain, but retained her fake smile. But when the girl continued speaking, Lydia knew that her poor attempt to ward off her fellow sixth year was in vain. It was obvious that Lydia needed medical attention, and her fellow sixth year was still standing before her.

"Was that owl going to get help?" At this, Lydia merely responded by looking over at Katherine, as if to ask the same question although she was quite sure of the answer...

[Katherine Knightswood]

Katherine was relieved to see the Hufflepuff Prefect – Caitlin Collins, wasn’t it? – come up to them on the Pitch. She answered both Lydia and Caitlin’s questions at the same time. “I sent Archimedes for Professor Oreldrin and the Nurse,” she said softly. “I hate to say it, but you’re probably going to need a dose or two of Skele-gro – I'm fairly sure that’s more pain than a sprained wrist or strain of your arm muscles would give you.” Katherine was all business and very gentle, trying to make Lydia be still without hurting her further. “You might want to stay still so you don’t injure anything else.”

Katherine opened up the green pouch next to her and pulled out a small bag-shaped item about the size of her hand. She tapped it with her wand and muttered something that sounded like “Frigidus.” The bag glowed a soft blue, and then Katherine set it on the ground next to Lydia. “It’s a cold pack. If you put it where the pain is the greatest, it’ll help a bit until the Nurse gets here.” Katherine got up and shaded her eyes, looking back towards the school. There wasn’t anyone in sight yet, so she sank back down onto her heels, kneeling next to Lydia.

“That was some damn fine flying. Shame your broom caught the grass, or you’d’ve pulled that off nicely.” Katherine grinned. “My cousins would have given you a standing ovation anyway, just for trying that one. Maybe someday, I’ll have enough guts to try it.” The Ravenclaw tilted her head. “Hopefully they’ll get here soon, and patch you up so you can try that again. If you want me to, I can help with Cushioning charms on the ground under you next time. You know, play spotter for you.” She looked over at Lydia with open admiration on her face. “I can’t fly like you can, but I’m right good at Cushioning charms. Had to save my crazy cousins from certain crashes somehow . . .”

[Caitlin Collins]

Caitlin could tell that Lydia was in more pain than she was letting on, but could quite easily understand why she was hiding it. Back when she had fallen ill during Defence, partly caused by the mental backlash of Gat’s death and partly caused by simply not looking after herself properly, she had been most upset at having Zee discover her in that state. Being in pain just seemed to make people feel weak in front of other people.

Closer now and paying more attention, she did recognise the Gryffindor from a few of her classes, as not Paris. This was the twin who seemed to enjoy playing up to figures of authority. Personally, Caity couldn’t understand it, but each to their own she supposed. And she didn’t really have anything more to worry about... like wars, or fighting, or people dying. Thoughts that were a near constant in her own mind, but which most of the students had no idea about.

Lydia’s brushing comments about how she was fine worked just about as well as her own comments about being fine had worked on Zee on that other occasion – she wasn’t convinced in the slightest. However, she was relieved to hear that the Ravenclaw had sent her owl for the new Gryffindor Head of House and the Nurse. This girl at least seemed very ready to deal with such a situation as this. Caitlin didn’t know whether it was past experience or something else, but she was grateful.

“She’s right,” she added when Katherine advised Lydia to stay still. “Just don’t move, they’ll be here soon. That owl was flying pretty fast.” Glancing at the obvious injuries, where the skin was already beginning to bruise, she made a quick assessment of the injury before deciding it was best to just wait if the Nurse had already been sent for. “Your wrist might be broken... I know the spell to fix it, but I’d better not use it just in case it’s something else. I don’t want to make it worse by accident. But... hang on...” Murmuring a single word spell, Caity performed a charm that was supposed to make pain fade for a short while. Unfortunately, she had to keep topping it up with her own magic. Although she didn’t really lack magical prowess or power, it was really quite draining to keep such a spell working as effectively. Hopefully one of the adults called for should arrive soon. “That should help.”

Although any thoughts of becoming a qualified Healer were looking very unlikely as far as grades went at the moment, she had still thought it prudent to learn certain spells such as how to mend broken bones or reduce pain, considering the fighting that would inevitably take place at some point or other in this war. The talk moved onto quidditch and although her attention didn’t move, her interest did fade a little. Quidditch was fun to watch, but talking about it seemed to go straight over her head every time.

[lydianowan]

Lydia listened as the other girls offered words of comfort and encouragement, Katherine getting her a pack, Caitlin even casting a slight spell to make her feel better. Lydia, not being much of an expert in healing herself, was grateful, although still somewhat ashamed of what had happened; especially since this fellow Sixth year knew about the whole thing and saw her here, trying to disguise her pain. But it had been worth it...hadn't it? Those seconds of adrenaline rush that she had received when she was flying, and even when she was thrown into the air, were indescribably amazing. Although through some other adventures she'd come close, she'd never exactly felt that way before.

She muttered a "Thanks," to the Ravenclaw, and then the Hufflepuff before flashing her fake smile to Katherine as she complimented her bold move. This remark only brought out a real smile from the older Gryffindor, even with the amount of pain she was in. Quidditch was one of her great loves, and acted very quickly as a medicine in the situation. She also found it delightful that the young first year had taken interest in the sport. Lydia only wished that she would be able to stick around and see how the younger girl would grow in her talent throughout the coming years. But, alas, Lydia would be gone after another year. “Cushioning charms? That is quite creative…” Lydia replied, still smiling. It could be quite useful…but Katherine still a member of the Ravenclaw team. It wasn’t that Lydia didn’t trust her; it simply was a matter of pride for her. But she still was delighted that the girl had offered, despite her feelings of denial. “But no thanks, I think I can handle it in the future. You know what they say; one learns the most from pain.” She said, giving an ironic smile. Next she thought about Katherine’s last words, feeling happiness exert itself from her as Katherine looked at her in admirable way. “You are obviously good, though, Knightswood. To make the team your first year? That’s quite a big step. Providing the cushioning charms must have done you some good.” She spoke her words happily, still ignoring the growing pain in her arms. Next, Lydia sighed, finally somewhat acknowledging her pain. “Ah…well, perhaps medical attention would be more ideal at the moment…” She said, trying to remain in a happy state. Her last words were spoken in a suppressed nervous tone, as she was fighting off the pain.

Finally realizing that holding herself up with her already hurt arms was going to be too much for her endurance, Lydia laid herself down, staring up at the sky. The wind was increasing ferocity, and truth be told, it made her a little nervous. Her thick, long, blonde hair was being swayed up even though she lay perfectly flat on her injured back. Her eyes widened a little bit, before she decided to mask her nervousness by closing her eyes. Lydia usually loved the wind, it was exciting and fun to watch; she often felt peace when she felt her body be gently touched by it, but now Lydia was predicting the prospect of rain; the mixture of heavy rain and wind would not meet well with her injured body.

[Katherine Knightswood]

Katherine frowned as the rain started to come down, driven by the wind. What was that charm Nana had taught her to keep dry when they were out in the gardens in spring? She thought hard for a minute, and then remembered. She drew her wand out of the sleeve of her jumper. “Amiculum,” she muttered softly. The charm wouldn’t hold forever, but at least it would keep the three girls somewhat drier until the Nurse or Gryffindor’s Head of House showed up. A soft cloak of shimmering blue-green sparkles danced over the heads of the three girls, acting as a sort of magical umbrella.

Katherine blushed a little when Lydia complimented her on making the Ravenclaw team. “Thanks. We may have lost out first game, but we’re gonna work harder.” The younger girl frowned. “I thought the Nurse or Professor Oreldrin would be out here by now. It’s miserable out here.” Her blue eyes were full of worry as she looked first at Caitlin and then Lydia. Lydia was obviously hiding the fact that she was in pain. When the older Gryfffindor lay back, Katherine knew she’d hurt her arms. If only she knew more! Then she'd be able to actually do something.

Katherine looked back over to Caitlin. “Maybe I should go and get someone? It’s taking an awfully long time for people to come find us.”

[Caitlin Collins]

Had Caitlin known Lydia’s thoughts of her current pain and possible broken wrist being worth the few seconds of adrenaline, she would have disagreed fervently. There were plenty of ways to get adrenaline rushing through your body without ending up in the Hospital Wing, as was likely going to happen on this occasion if only for checking she wasn’t too badly hurt.

The conversation continued on the lines of quidditch and Caity half kept her attention there, but glanced around the stadium. Seeking out an exit facing the castle with her eyes, she peered through from the distance in the hopes that she would see the Nurse of new Head of Gryffindor coming. But no such luck. She had overheard various stories about Professor Oreldrin, but wasn’t sure that they could all be true. Honestly, a “tree man”? Having not yet seen him, what with her recent tendency to avoid meal times and not taking Arithmancy herself, she had no idea just how true these rumours were.

Suddenly hearing Lydia’s wish for medical attention, Caitlin turned back and renewed the spell, feeling it sapping at her own energy. There surely must be a better spell than this to ease pain. The rain began to fall and she felt the calm trickle through her own body at the water’s touch, making it easier to hold the spell in place. Unfortunately, only a moment later Katherine had performed some sort of umbrella spell and the drizzle was diverted. It was probably a good idea for Lydia’s sake, but Cait could certainly feel the sudden halt of liquid dropping down on her efforts to keep refreshing the charm. Moving one hand, she placed it just outside where the umbrella was covering so that the rain could fall on it and the energy she was gaining from the water continued to help.

The waiting was obviously not any easier for Katherine than it was for Caitlin, although the idea that she was doing something to help, however minimal the pain relief might be, helped her not be too impatient or want to run off and find someone. “Yeah, that’d probably be a good idea. They’re taking a while,” she replied, glancing back again through the exit to the castle to see if anyone was coming. “Just get any teacher, I guess it doesn’t really have to be Professor Oreldrin.”

[lydianowan]

Although Lydia probably should have sensed the slight increase of the power in Caitin's spell when the rain hit, and then the slight loss of it when Katherine put her Umbrella up, she didn't. By now it was hurting too much; she was too distracted. "Thanks." She murmured, her eyes still closed and not even knowing which of the girls had cast the spell of the sheltering umbrella. When Katherine proceeded to answer to Lydia's compliments, Lydia nodded slightly while still laying down. There was nothing like a loss in a Quidditch match to motivate the players; but that being one loss, not several. Several losses were depressing. Several losses were despairing. Several losses were an equivalent to Lydia's worst nightmares...but Lydia didn't let herself think that way any further.

When Katherine suggested the idea of going to get someone, and Caitlin concurred, Lydia did not give any input. Part of her wanted to insist that she could get up and make it to the Castle by herself, but she knew she couldn't. She needed help, particularly by a teacher. However, although she recognized that she was badly hurt, she told herself that she wasn't damaged to the extreme as the other girls thought. She was tough. She was used to this kind of thing happening. She was nearly certain with confidence that she would be perfectly fine by her next practice and perhaps even be peaking normal by tomorrow. But right now, she needed help. Her hammered body was hurting greatly.

She sighed, listening to the sound of the rain pour down on the ground, the wind slamming against it. For a second, it was almost as if she wasn't there; gone to another world. What happened with the other two girls, she did not know. She didn't even know if they too were in silence or were making conversation. Lydia Nowan wasn't there.