Clear Skies (Tag: Sebastian)

Just like any other fair-weathered day, Emma could be found outside with her broomstick in hand, but she was nowhere near the Quidditch Pitch. She had hiked her way up through the forest to reach the very outskirts of the school grounds, and it had been a long and difficult trek. She wore a fixated expression on her face, which was almost foreign compared to her usual toothy grin when she was around other people. Her thoughts were weighing heavily on her today, and she needed to lighten the load, not out on the Pitch, but here in the muddy clearing, away from the open windows of the castle, and away from any Professors that would surely give her a months worth of detentions. When she first made it to the clearing, she spent some time polishing the broom's handle, and clipping the lengthy twigs of the tail, and while doing so, she contemplated whether or not she was actually going to do this.

On the hill above stood the Whomping Willow, of which Emma was absolutely terrified, and would be steering as far away from as possible. Sure it seemed peaceful and motionless now, but it sure as hell wouldn't be if Emma strayed too close to its club-like branches. With her broom taken care of, Emma pulled out her Quidditch gear from her bag, and started putting it on. She'd only brought the protective bracers, for her arms, chest, and shins, as well as the goggles (which she wore around her neck no matter where she went), just in case the wind picked up. With all her safety gear on, she launched herself into the air on her broom and flew above the trees, though not traveling so high as to be seen from one of the castle windows. She was cautious like this for awhile, until she forgot about what had been eating at her all day and started to enjoy the flight a little too much. First she shot up towards the sky and dove back down like a missile. Then she started drawing figure eights in the sky, slowly ascending as she did so. She stopped about fifty feet in the air to look down and see how high she'd come; the image of falling made her clench tightly onto the broomstick, but when she looked on towards the horizon, the Forbidden Forest looked like a vast and limitless sea.

With a big smile, Emma took a huge breath of the chilly morning air, and then swung herself upside down, so that her legs wrapped around the broom and the grip of her hands were the only things tying her to the broomstick. The sense of fear bubbled up inside her, enough that it became difficult to take breaths, but she didn't look down now. Instead, she closed her eyes, and one finger at a time, she started to let go of the broom. She wrapped her legs tighter and tighter around the broom as the sense of insecurity started to take hold. When she finally opened her eyes, the world was upside down, and she could feel the blood rushing to her skull. Immediately she swung her broom around so she was on top again, and she shakily exhaled as she recovered from the fright. With trembling hands, she dug something out of her pocket; a box of Every Flavor Chewing Gum, and she stuck one of the flavors in her mouth, only to cringe at the taste of brussel-sprouts.

The bulk of the Hufflepuff quidditch team was heading away from the pitch, chatting and joking their way up to the castle. Practice had just ended for the day and it had been, as usual, light hearted at best. Sebastian held back, volunteering for the responsibility of putting the equipment away. It was his usual role, and most of the team now assumed he would do it without asking; while this may have bothered someone else it did not even register to Sebastian that he may be being taken advantage of. In truth he enjoyed the task. It gave him a few extra moments outside, and in the air. Plus, the musty smell of the supply hut always made up for the extra duties. He liked to just stand inside the small space and enjoy the way it smelled of wood and leather, and how if he closed his eyes he could imagine he was still in the game.

Tasks done and broom in hand, he started towards the distant figures of the rest of his team and the castle. He was not looking forward to what lay inside – a history of magic essay so tedious he had put it off until the last moment. With the dread of homework casting its shadow over him, Seb decided to take a detour.

He was busy skirting around the edge of the forest, mind on nothing in particular, when something caught his eye. Far in the distance, nearly to the mountains that kept the school safely enclosed, something was falling. Seb squinted his eyes, raised his hand to shield them from the sun, and tried to focus. Whatever it was, it was going fast. Plummeting, even. Sebastian was riveted, and watched its descent without realizing he was gripping the hilt of his broom in a death lock.

Just at the moment before collision the object made a complete change of course and shot upward, proceeding to form lazy figure eights in the sky. It was then Seb let out the breath he did not know he was holding, and loosened the grip on his broom.

Broom. That was it. That's what the object in the sky was. It had to be; nothing else could maneuver like that. But what was it doing way out there? Seb shook his head, trying to clear the confusion. The broom, flying...that meant there was someone out there, too. Someone where there was supposed to be no one, according to the rules. No matter how fun it looked, that wasn't right.

He stood staring up into the sky, deliberating.

Technically he wasn't supposed to go into the outskirts, either. No student was. Seb wondered if even professors did. Maybe Professor Grace, or Professor Valenta, but that was different – they were adults and knew what they were doing. The mysterious flier had to be a student, as Seb couldn't imagine a professor flying like that.  Which meant, of course, they were both in danger and in violation of school rules.

I should go tell someone about this, he thought as his hands again took firm grasp of his broom. It would be best to let a professor reprimand whoever it is out there. One leg swung over the broom. I wouldn't want to break the rules myself. The ground was rushing away from him as he took to the air and headed straight for the outskirts.

It took some time to reach the area he had spotted the other student, and during that time Seb rationalized his actions. If he had taken the time to find a professor who knew what may have happened. The other kid could have fallen or gotten hurt or any number of terrible things. Heading to them right away was really the best course of action. He would  explain his reasoning to the headmistress once they got back, if needed. It would be fine.

When he reached the clearing he quickly recognized who it was flying around so skillfully. He should have been able to tell right away from watching her fly, as he had done many times before.

“Emma? Hey!” Seb grinned across the open air to his fellow student, happy to see her. He was slow to remember why he was there, and his voice shifted to a more serious tone when he spoke next. “Oh, right. You're not supposed to be out here.”

Emma grimaced as someone called out to her, half because of the awful taste in her mouth, half because she'd been found out. It was just simply too soon, she'd hardly had any fun yet. It was too soon! She turned, her broom rotating in the air, until she faced the source of the voice, and a grin stretched across her face.

"Sebastian!" Surely, the seeker of Hufflepuff would understand why she was out here. Maybe he'd even fly with her. But her hopes were swiftly crushed as he reminded her that she was breaking the rules. She knew she was, and she also knew that she was likely to get caught, as she just had. It would have been worth it had she gotten more time out of it.

She thought she could persuade Sebastian into pretending she wasn't here, if only for a little while, "Oh, but that's no fun. Can't you be more fun, less prefect?" Her phrasing stuck in her mind for a minute, and she chuckled upon discovering her clever pun, "Can't I stay a little longer?" She asked, sounding just as childish as she would if she spoke to her mother.

Knowing that Sebastian was a prefect, her chances weren't great, but he was also a Quidditch player. If he loved flying as much as she did, he wouldn't be able to resist, especially seeing as how few chances students have at flying anywhere but in the Pitch.

“Uhhhh.” He hovered in mid-air, processing the situation. Was he not fun? He had heard that before – mostly from Milo when he stopped his brother from some antic or other. But it was the rules to take Ema back, fun or not. He chewed his lip in consideration, torn. He wanted to do the right thing, really, but it was just so nice out here in the open sky. “I really should make you go back. But....no one knows we are here. And it's so clear. I guess a little while longer won't hurt.” The words left his mouth in halting pauses as he struggled to come to a decision. It was against his better judgment, but for once he wanted to do something he could enjoy without thinking of all the possible consequences.

“As long as you don't get hurt,” he added hurriedly. “Then I'd have to tell someone you were out here, and take points from your house. So. Don't fall?” Seb couldn't resist giving Emma a wide grin as the humor of the words struck him. Emma, fall off her broom? That was about as likely as the moon not rising in the evening.

With a quick start, he sped up farther into the sky, leaving Emma looking after him. If he was going to be out here when he shouldn’t be, he was going to take full advantage of it. He hurtled up reaching for the far off clouds like a drowning man grasping for an out stretched hand. He wanted to get as high as he could. The farther from the ground he was the more nothing else seemed to matter. He wanted the trees and dirt to look like nothing more than playthings; and though he knew he could not get that high up on his broom alone, it was still tempting. The biting chill up here was strong as it prickled his skin, and the brilliant sun was all in his eyes. Even so, Sebastian felt better now than he had in some time.

"Yes! I knew you'd understand!" Emma spun on her broom as he zoomed passed and watched him skyrocket up into the clouds. It was only a moment after that Emma sped after him, the feel of the wind on her face pumping adrenaline through her. She only slowed when Sebastian did, and that point her heart was pounding so hard that she could be seen visibly trying to catch her breath. Looking below her dangling feet, Emma could see the castle grounds much, much farther down. Even the Quidditch Pitch looked tiny and insignificant. She turned her gaze beyond, towards the sea of trees and the thorny spine of mountain ridges across the horizon. From way up here, it looked like that was all there was to the world. Hogwarts, and the unknown.

"Pretty cool huh?" Emma turned to Sebastian with a great big grin. She had to shout just so he could hear her over the wind, "I was hoping we could see Hogsmeade from up here. Guess it's farther than I thought!" This had been the very first time Emma had ventured out into the Outskirts like this when she wasn't supposed to, but now that she was here, she only wondered why she hadn't thought of it sooner! It was absolutely exhilarating, both the view and the rush from having her feet so high off the ground. Those with a lesser backbone would surely die of fright just thinking about a fall from this distance, but for Quidditch experts like Sebastian and Emma, they trusted their skills and their broom that it would never come to that.

"Well..." Emma smiled thoughtfully, "Nothing left to do but... race ya!" Like a bullet, Emma started climbing upwards again, this time with the head start as she tried to climb even higher than before, as high as possible. She zoomed through and around the clouds, and she could feel her breath getting shorter the higher she got. She remembered reading about the protective barrier that surrounded Hogwarts, and she was dying to know just how large their cage was.