The sky is my home

Mary shivered and shrugged. "Slytherin, eh? Really, if she acted like that in her first year, I doubt she'll be any better in the next years either. Actually, I'll think she'll only get worse," she murmured, looking at her hands fr a moment.

"She's a Fae. Never really heard about them, although she claims she's one of them. I hardly have any beliefs in predicting the future though. You can guess a lot when it comes to that field, and she predicted we'd be good friends when we met in the Owlery. Turns out we became the opposite," she said and sighed heavily.

Mary looked away when he began talking about the Durmstrang teacher and shuddered. "You don't understand. She let a cobra be a participant to her lessons. Alena didn't say I was like her, but... I began reasoning that having a poisonus snake in your classes can lead to lethal cases," she breathed in heavily, stopping to think through her words. "I know it's silly. But my mom and dad always said Durmstrang people could never be trusted. They teach Dark Arts, and when I heard about the Durmstrang teacher having an actual snake in her classes... Well, I wasn't very pleased," she murmured and shook her head apologetically, regretting that she'd made herself an enemy/rival.

"I guess it goes by instinct to defend yourself when a person claims you're having a hard time in your best lessons," she murmured, and looked back at Sam again, her hazel eyes twinkling with gratitude. "Our personalities clash. She believes in what I don't," she muttered, trying to make sense of the situation that happened in their 2nd term.

Her eyes narrowed slightly, although she looked more concerned than angry with Sam for making an enemy too. "Be careful Sam. I don't want to lose my only friend," she murmured and hugged him tightly.

"Get worse? I think if she got any worse she might become the next Dark Lord- er... Dark Lady," he corrected, frowning.

"Yeah, she told me she was a fae; I've actually never heard of them before, but she told me they were fairies with no wings..." He trailed off for a moment, frowning in concentration, "I've never really believed in predicting the future either - they're either completely wrong or leads to trouble. Take Harry Potter for example: the prophecy changed his entire life, but when he did Divination, the predictions were ridiculous!"

A gentle breeze brushed through Sam's hair. "Durmstrang teaches Dark Arts? No wonder you'd be offended! It's like calling someone evil! I can't believe people still send their children to Durmstrang!"

"Be careful Sam. I don't want to lose my only friend," she murmured and hugged him tightly.

Sam froze for a moment, trying to ignore the raging butterflies in his stomach and the tingling sensation on his skin where she touched him. After regaining his senses, he hugged her back and rested his chin on her head. "You too, because Connigan meant business, and I just know you'll be dragged into this." He felt saddened that a couple of girls had the ability to make them so... serious, and act older than they really were.

Mary shivered. "Lets hope it doesn't get that far, shall we?" she murmured, although didn't mutter the scary thoughts that began developing in her head. Seeing that Coraline was a muggleborn witch, she probably would be very against purebloods instead. A reversed Voldemort, in other words.

"Fae or no fae, she obviously have nothing in common with me," she muttered and shuddered, a cold breeze raging past and making her light brown hair flourish slightly. "Divination is the single class I'm not taking. And that's it. I'll get really lousy marks on it, and it's not worth attempting to understand a world that only a few people seem to care about. And I've heard about Professor Trelawny, who had a tendency to predict a student death every year. Honestly, I won't attend a class to hear that one of my classmates is supposed to drop dead during the year," she said and sighed, and shook her head softly with dismay.

Her eyes widened and she blinked at Sam when he asked if Durmstrang taught Dark Arts. "'Course they do! There's several books where classes of the various schools are written, and Durmstrang have the most hard, evil and crazy lessons that is to be known. At least that's what I figured," she said softly, hoping they could leave the subject to die soon.

Quite reluctantly, she let go of Sam and looked at him with worried eyes. "Please. Can we discuss something else? We're just first years, we aren't supposed to think about rivalry, death and revenge," she murmured, her eyes blank with tears.

He managed a smile, "Well, we came down here for a Flying Lesson, we're gonna get a flying lesson."

The tension wasn't gone yet, but most of it was lifted by his comment. He summoned his broom and mounted it, "Let's pass the Quaffle around so you can get used to throwing and catching, then I can teach you some techniques to play on the opposing team. But if any Ravenclaws ask you who taught you them, don't tell them a Gryffindor did."

He grinned at her once more before making his way to the trunk and taking out a leather football-sized red ball. The Quaffle.

Glad the discussion was over, mostly because she found it uncomfortable to talk about these themes, and because their flying session would continue, Mary got up and followed after Sam, a new, bright smile flowing like fluid on her face. She found the broom she'd been allowed to use, and mounted it as well before taking flight, hovering in the air as he explained what they would be doing next. She smiled and tied her hair into a pony tail, to avoid it flying into her face while she was throwing the ball to Sam, or when she recieved it for that matter.

Lifting an eyebrow playfully, she laughed softly. "Yeah, guess they'd be very surprised if I turn out to use Gryffindor techniques," she said and laughed again. While he got out the quaffle from it's trunk, she made a few spins in the air, mostly just playing with speed, acceleration and how swiftly she could move. Her main problem seemed to be too quick braking, making her almost stumble forwards on the broom. It was gradually getting better though, and she could hang on without risking falling off.

Nervosity for having a large ball being thrown at her made her shiver softly, although that wasn't the main reason for her shudder. The breeze had become omniously much colder, and her lips were turning rapidly into a chilly blue. Her fingers had started to gain a white glow to it, and she seemed genuinly paler than earlier. She took out her gloves, put them on and wrapped her scarf even tightlier around her neck, trying to keep the little warmth she had left.

((I'M SO SO SO SO SORRY FOR NOT WRITING ANY SOONER! I was on major writer's block, and on top of that, I was rarely in the house!))

Noticing that Mary seemed to be really cold, he took off his coat and gave it to her.

"You'll need it," he told her seriously, before balancing the quaffle on the broomstick and setting his coat on her shoulders.

Then he took off his warm woolly Gryffindor hat and set it on her head. He ignored the cold breeze blowing through his hair, and making him feel colder. But he refused to take back his coat and hat, because Dove needed them more than he did.

((It's alright. I was wondering why you didn't reply! ;P))

Shuddering with the cold, she tried to bury her nose underneath her scarf, seeing that she couldn't feel it any longer. Winter sure isn't letting go easily, she murmured underneath her breath, as good as inaudible.

Mary looked up at Sam for a moment, and shivered, about to argue when he told her to take his cloak. Her mouth opened to spill out the words that were rushing through her head, although seemingly they froze in her mouth and she took hold of his cloak, wrapping it tightly around her. Immediatly the cold grip that she'd gotten from the wind released it's power, and she gradually got back her feelings in her fingers, able to hold onto the handle without allowing her knuckles to turn white.

Getting the warmth back, she smiled and looked at Sam, a look of great gratitude glowering in her eyes and her voice finally seemed to speak again. "Thank you, Sam," she said and smiled again, sorry that he had to be so cold because of her, but at the same time relieved to get away from the cold grip of the breezes blowing over her head.

I'll give him it back soon... I've got to, or I'll never forgive myself, she thought and shuddered, trying to reject her thoughts for once. "Why don't we try doing something? We might keep ourselves warmer if we start flying for real," she suggested, wanting to finish the session as quickly as possible, before they both froze to ice.

He smiled at her softly, "You're welcome," He said, and unknowingly voicing Mary's thoughts, he added, "And you don't need to give those back, I already have plenty."

Not letting Mary say anything to disagree with him, he quickly said, "Let's throw the Quaffle around, it'll get us warm. The key to catching the ball without falling is to stabilize yourself. And the best way to stabilize yourself is to cross your legs, just like when braking."

As another breeze came their way, Sam suppressed a shiver and reminded himself that he was trying to be a good friend by giving her the cloak and taking it back would be useless to both of them. None of this showed up on his face, though, which was good for him. He demonstrated throwing the quaffle upwards and catching it, with his legs immediately crossing when the quaffle fell back down again.

Mary looked at him with pure disbelief, and gaped at him with her mouth wide open. "You can't be serious..! You'll take the cloak and the hat, whether you like it or not," she said, and hardly made any note in her voice that may suggest she regretted it.

Listening closely to the next part of her session, she tilted her head softly to the side, and watched Sam very closely as he caught the quaffle, baffled at how easy he made it sound, and look. Being very determined on her case though, she swooped over to him, took off the cloak and held it out. "I've already got my own cloak. Now you've got nothing. Take it. I'm serious, I'm warm again," she said with a fierce determination, and her eyes suggested she would never give in, no matter what was said or done to her.

"Lets make a swap. You throw the quaffle at me, and I will throw the cloak at you," she suggested and smirked, even though she was frightened out of her mind when she thought of catching the large ball in her two hands. Her fingers were long, elegant, and hardly any use when it came to using them in physical activities. Piano, writing, sure. But anything that involved catching and throwing things? Nah.

Sam tilted his head sideways, "I'm not taking the cloak back. At the very least keep it until we get back inside. You need the warmth more than I do," he told her firmly, being the stubborn person he was.

Part of him also enjoyed seeing her wearing his cloak, but he wasn't about to tell her that. She'd surely laugh at him!

He sighed in slight frustration, "You're very stubborn, you know that?" He asked her rhetorically, before frowning, trying to think of a compromise. "I'll take the hat, but no more than that. That's as far as I'll go. I'm fine! I'm not cold! I swear!"

Sam tilted his head sideways, "I'm not taking the cloak back. At the very least keep it until we get back inside. You need the warmth more than I do," he told her firmly, being the stubborn person he was.

Part of him also enjoyed seeing her wearing his cloak, but he wasn't about to tell her that. She'd surely laugh at him!

He sighed in slight frustration, "You're very stubborn, you know that?" He asked her rhetorically, before frowning, trying to think of a compromise. "I'll take the hat, but no more than that. That's as far as I'll go. I'm fine! I'm not cold! I swear!"

This was the wrong time to say that, because a surge of wind coursed through them, and set Sam off course, but only slightly.

"See? Just fine!"

Narrowing her eyes with furiosity and pure frustration, she looked down at the ground for a moment and shuddered. Somehow, she'd found a person who was just as stubborn as she was. Now, how long would they quarrel about this cloak and hat situation? She hardly cared, although she felt slightly amused over the fact that they were both very firm on their side of the point.

A smile folded on her lips and she chuckled. "Thanks. I think you'd earn the possibility to gain the same trait, no?" she suggested and laughed a little more, before shaking her head fiercly.

"I'm still very firm that you're going to take the cloak. Let me see... You take the cloak, I take the hat. Besides, it'll take longer time for me to take on the cloak again, and then take off the hat. It's easier if you just grab the cloak and wear it, alright? Goodie," she said and threw the cloak into his lap, gave a grin of satisfaction and loped a little further away from him so he wouldn't throw the cloak back. "See? It's that easy," she said and laughed, finding the whole scene quite hilarious.

Sam gasped dramatically when she threw the cloak at him. "Cheater!" He exclaimed childishly, "You can't just do that without winning the argument!"

He threw the cloak back at her, making it land on her face, cover her view.

"...Whoops," He said, but he was hiding a small smile.

There has GOT to be a way for both of us to come out winning the argument, he thought to himself silently, but a look of concentrated frowning crossed his features. Then he came up with an idea.

He took out his wand from the inside of his robes and flicked it, pointing at the cloak in question. He muttered a spell, and a few moments later, the cloak seemed to be ripping itself in half. Before wondering what he had done wrong, the other side of each cloth formed by itself, making two new-looking cloaks.

"That's better, I think," He said.

Mary grinned broadly, and chuckled softly at his remark, although didn't make any specific moves to take back the cloak, even though the wind kept on raging, she knew it was the best if they both had a cloak on. Although it seemed Sam wasn't done with the discussion just yet, as she soon got a cloak planted neatly onto her face. "Oooph," she exclaimed and struggled to remove the cloak from her face, feeling oddly vulnerable when her eyes were covered, and the wind whistled over her ears and blocked any sound from ever reaching them.

When she managed to get it off, she noticed that Sam had a twinkling in his eyes that reminded her highly of amusement. She made a small smile herself, although wasn't pleased at all that the cloak had come back into her possession.

As the spell was cast, she watched with horror as the cloak seemed to rip apart in her hands. Great, now we've two halves instead, she thought at first, though soon enough the pieces seemed to regrow their missing part and became two well-formed cloaks.

Smiling, she grasped her wand, flicked it and made one of the cloaks fly through the air towards Sam, with a simple levitating charm. She made sure it landed as perfectly as it could, before she stored her wand back into her pocket. Finally, she took back on the cloak and smiled, teasingly at Sam. "Epic charmwork there, Sam!" Her call was almost blown away on the wind. "When are we going to start throwing the quaffle though?" she asked next, the wind turning even more furious and gradually blowing her sideways.

((I'M A BILLION TIMES SORRY I HAVEN'T BEEN ANSWERING YOU! I've had tests to do and I had no internet and I STILL have 3 tests left so I might not be answering as soon as I want...)

"Thanks!" He exclaimed, grinning broadly, yet modestly, "You've absolutely no idea how long I've worked on that..."

He threw her the quaffle as soon as she made her remark, and watched as the ball went over to her side and she struggled to catch it. He knew he caught her off guard.

"We're going to start throwing the Quaffle now," He told her, trying to act innocent of anything he did.

He covered a shiver when another breeze of freeze came over their way. He wrapped his Gryffindor scarf around him tighter trying to take in all warmth he had left in his body. He blew warm air on his hands and rubbed them together, then he rested them on his neck, and was surprised by how warm his neck was.

"Hey, I think it's gonna get colder, so after a few tosses of the quaffle, we should head down. Maybe we could go to the kitchens or something," He offered her.

((It's fine c: I understand, I've had the same problem the last few days. I've got one in two days, as well as a school trip which lasts the entire day on Tuesday. Don't worry, I'll be fine ;D))

Smiling softly, Mary had definitly not expected him to throw the quaffle so quickly, right after her remark. Gasping she reached out and caught it, although didn't have anything to hold her broom with and swirled around, hanging upside down. Giving off a shocked gasp, she grabbed the broom handle with one of her arms, shuffling the quaffle in her other hand. Finally she managed to turn the right way up, and shrugged softly. It could easily have become a nasty accident, if she hadn't clutched her feet around the lower part of the broom.

Deciding that she wouldn't show signs of weakness, she gave a reassuring grin to Sam, and a thumbs-up in an attempt to cover her almost-accident and took on the quaffle in both her hands.

"Sure, we can do that! I wouldn't mind going indoors, anyway. It's getting pretty chilly... And dark, for that matter," she pointed out, although sighed slightly at the thought of ending their session. She really had a lot of fun with it. Smiling she tossed the quaffle towards him, although it turned out a little more powerful than she'd have liked. Throwing things wasn't her speciality...

He gasped when she hung upside down and flew in her direction, wanting to help her for what he did. But as soon as he reached her, she was hanging in the air the right way up again, with the Quaffle in her hands.

"I'm so sor-" he began, but was interrupted by her reassuring grin. He sighed, relieved that she was saved.

He smiled at her, but it was short-lived when the Quaffle was thrown at him - well, at his face, more like. He had just enough time to fly back and catch it, but it pushed into his stomach and pushed him backwards.

"Oof!" He exclaimed, feeling winded. He subconsciously decided that being Chaser was definitely not Dove's thing. "You might need to work on aiming and throwing softer..." He commented, throwing it back to her.

Seeing his sorry expression, she knew he hadn't purposedly wanted her to fall of the broom, nor had he thought it'd turn out like that. She decided it wasn't anything of importance, as she hadn't been hurt in any way, and that everything seemed to be alright.

Looking up at him after she'd thrown the Quaffle, she realised it was just pure coincidence, luck and Samm's skills on a broom that had saved him from getting the big red ball punched into his face. Horrified, Dove gasped and covered her mouth with her hands, looking completely petrified by the thought that she had somehow hurt Sam in any kind of way.

"Oh my! Sam, I'm so sorry! It's official, isn't it? I can't be a Chaser," she paused and caught the ball, a little more controlled than the last time, but with the same expression of uncertainty. "We might as well call it off for the day, it's getting pretty chilly anyway," she commented, wondering if he'd agree with her, or refuse to leave. Her nose was getting cold, and her hands were just the same, despite the fact that she wore a pair of gloves.

((I am officially the most horrible person in the world. I'm so so sorry, I've been caught up with homework and tests and some of my other charries, and the fact that I've had writer's block and I didn't know how to respond to you for AGES...))

He chuckled at her reaction to him, and couldn't help the uncomfortable butterflies raging on in his stomach because she worried about him. What is going on with my body? he asked himself in wonder when he found that his hands were sweating, in the cold, I couldn't really be... could I?

Could he really have a crush on Mary?

Realizing that he should have responded, he smiled at her and said, "You just need some practice," he told her comfortingly, flying to her to pat her on the shoulder.

He sighed over dramatically at her next words, but agreed anyway, "Ah, if we must... Maybe we can go to the kitchens for some hot chocolate or something," He proposed, his eyes showing hopefulness as he made eye contact with her. He found it difficult to not get lost in her admittedly beautiful eyes. How could he not notice it before?

((If you'd still like to continue the plot with me, and I won't be angry at you or anything, I'll start the next thread. I promise that I'll be a lot more active with Sam from now on...))

((Don't worry, I've been kept up too. Tests, exams, pre-christmas and whatever else is going on. Most of my time online has gone to drawing comissions, so it doesn't matter! ;D))

Mary smiled kindly, oblivious to what Sam thought about. She just viewed him as a friend... A very good friend. His comfort made her nod happily and nodded with a soft chuckle. "Lots of practice, it seems. First of all, I should learn how to hold onto a Quaffle," she said and chuckled, imagining herself throwing the Quaffle at Sam several times before the end of term.

Holding his eye contact, her eyes sparkled happily and she nodded, slightly amused by the fact that he was obviously sad about leaving the field. "don't worry, Sam! We'll have another chance at the field, and at that point I'll be able to win a race against you," she challenged, and grinned broadly.

At his proposal, she nodded firmly and flew towards the ground, where their stuff had been laying ever since their 'lesson' had started. "Sure! I'd love that. Hopefully the elves won't mind having a couple of frozen first years in their kitchen for a while," she said and smiled softly, before landing on the ground elegantly.

((Sure I would! Why would you be angry at me though? D: Hopefully I'll be able to keep up with Mary too... ;P))

((You are an angel. And my holiday just started, so I'm free until January 7th.))

He chuckled with Mary, ignoring the uncomfortable feeling in his stomach successfully. "You're not that bad," He teased her, grinning. Then he demonstrated with the Quaffle in his hands. "You're supposed to hold it with your fingers, not your palms, because the Quaffle can easily slip out of them."

He scoffed playfulyl at her next words. "No one can beat the awesome, the amazing, the modest, me!" He joked, puffing out his chest, "...except you, in seeking. Because frankly, I'm quite horrible at it."

He waved off her comment about the elves. "They love me!" He exclaimed, before realizing what he implied. "Not that I go there a lot for some hot chocolate at night or anything..." He coughed, before making his way down to the ground and landing gracefully.

He put the Quaffle in the trunk and dragged it into the broomshed, before going back to Mary, who was waiting.

"Shall we go then?"

((Sorry. Wrong choice of words - I meant I wouldn't resent you for not wanting to continue the plot or anything.. Anyway, I'm writing up the new thread now, and I'll give you the link as soon as I finish it ))

((Sooo sorry, christmas preperation kept me up. ;_; God, I feel horrible for letting you wait over a week before I even looked at this.))

Mary smirked, and was quite grateful at his words. At least he was kind, although she had hoped he'd be more honest with her too. Because he, as everybody else, could surely see that she wasn't capable of being anything but a Seeker? She nodded eagerly as he showed her how she was supposed to handle the quaffle, and smiled softly. So that's what she'd done wrong.

"Oh, you're quite modest, I can tell," she said and grinned softly, wondering if he even knew what the word 'modest' meant. However, she picked up the joke and giggled. "Nobody's horrible in anything. I told you I'm horrible and being a Chaser, though at the same time you said I weren't. So I'm going to tell you straight to your face that you're a great Seeker too," she teased and winked.

She raised an eyebrow tentativly at his comment, although didn't make any further comments on what he did in the kitchen every night. She landed along with him, and held the broom in her right hand while Sam went off with the trunk. "Sure we should," she said and nodded firmly. "Here's your sister's broom, by the way," she said and held out the broom.

((Okay, I'll be waiting for the link. Though now they're technically in summer holidays too...))