perfect flying weather {open!}

[OSCAR JACOB SMITHSON]

It was an absolutely gorgeous day; the weather was that perfect sort of mid-season coolness that made days like these Oscar's favorite kind in which to go out flying. There were a few other kids down at the pitch practicing and just having a casual fly, but Oscar hadn't had anything planned, really. Sometimes he liked a rigorous and focused practice, but today it was much more of a spontaneous thing; really, he had only gotten a few feet outside of the castle before immediately deciding to dash back for his broom. When the flying urge struck for Oscar, there was really no arguing with it-- and why would he want to?

He entered the pitch, Quidditch bag in one hand, broom in the other. He had his favorite scarlet and gold Gryffindor Quidditch light hooded sweatshirt over him in case it got chilly as the sun went down, but other than that he didn't intend on donning any other protective gear. Knee pads and goggles were well enough for the intensity of games-- one would be stupid not to wear them during serious matches-- but he wasn't exactly planning on needing them for the moment. It wasn't like Oscar fell. Falling off brooms was for first years, and Oscar was a big, manly fifth year. His muscles would SURELY be protection enough.

Once he found a nice spot to fly, Oscar realized that the sun was very much still out and that he would really have no need for such excessive layering quite yet. "Come," he instructed his broom, and it trailed loyally after him as he wandered over to the stands. Sure, he could have carried it, but why would he when a quick broom-training session made him look that much cooler? After a quick glance-over of the stands, he made his way over, hoping to find a cute, spectating girl to leave his things with. Ever the multitasker, he began pulling his sweatshirt up and over his head while walking, his striped shirt beneath riding up a bit as he wrestled out.

[DOMINIQUE AMELIE WEASLEY]

dominique weasley had changed immensely in the past few years. she looked different, and acted different, and had different friends than she had back in her first year. but one thing that hadn't changed was her love for quidditch. she hadn't played much recently, due to the fact that she hadn't been put on the team. it was because teddy lupin was the team captain, and they didn't get along. teddy believed that she couldn't work with other people, so he didn't give her the position of keeper she had been fighting for so terribly. the fifth year had glowered for days after the list had been posted.

dominique really didn't enjoy practicing quidditch by herself. it was hard, when one played the keeper to play alone. the only thing she could do was practice her speed circling the nets, diving at an imaginary quaffle. it was so much easier when there was another person there, shooting at her so she could try and catch the ball before the chaser succeeded in making a goal. but this morning, she was feeling particularly antsy and needed to get out of the castle. so she dressed in some movable clothing, old jeans and a tshirt, and headed outdoors to the quidditch pitch, making only a brief stop at the broom closet to pick up her broom. it wasn't the highest model, but it worked well enough. she wouldn't trade her broom for even the newest firebolt model.

dominique hadn't expected that someone else would have had the same idea as her, to practice today. she watched as a boy walked towards the stands, a broom following him. she snorted, wondering why he couldn't just carry his broom. was he so lazy, that a broom seemed heavy to him?

dominique slowed her pace, walking slowly towards the pitch now so she could examine the boy a little longer. when she was close enough to get a good look at him, she recognized him. oscar smithson, a gryffindor in her year. if she remembered correctly from her classes with him, he was a pretty cocky bastard. he was also on the quidditch team, a chaser. a small smile crossed dominique's face, at the thought that perhaps the boy would practice with her. she could knock him down a few pegs by proving that she could handle herself better on a broom than he could. "not strong enough to carry a little broom, smithson?"

[OSCAR JACOB SMITHSON]

Oscar had been playing Quidditch for about as long as he could remember-- which, granted, wasn't very long; everything he knew about his life had sort of started to go fuzzy lately, and it had been freaking him more and more the longer it lasted. Regardless, he tried to put that out of his mind, because, well, worrying about things was probably one of his least favorite activities, sitting just beneath homework, studying, classes, and losing.

One of the few things that he did know for a fact was that Quidditch was his Thing, and that he was good at it. When he was out there, wind whistling through his hair and past his ears, guiding his broom to Gryffindor victory, it just felt... right. Like that was where he was supposed to be, and flying was what he was supposed to be doing. And if ever trusting his instincts came easiest, this was the time, because he absolutely loved it. He felt impressive out there doing what he did best-- impressive and awesome.

He was slightly disappointed that he hadn't found anyone, cute girl or otherwise, to keep an eye on his gear, but there weren't really too many people out here, so he figured it would be alright to just leave it on a bench-- this was a far easier solution than walking all the way to the lockers just for a casual fly. Running a hand through his hair, Oscar turned to head back out to the center of the pitch when he heard a voice to the side of him. Glancing over, he recognized the girl as one of the Weasleys, although there were several of them in his year. This one wasn't black, nor did her hair color look 100% natural, so he was pretty sure he could place which one she was.

"Well, now," he said, raising an eyebrow at her, "gotta save all my strength for the field." He grinned his most charming grin at her and plopping down sideways onto his broom beside him like a floating bench-- because the only thing cooler than walking while your broom loyally followed you was, obviously, allowing your broom to simply float you wherever it was you wanted to go.

[DOMINIQUE AMELIE WEASLEY]

dominique had been playing quidditch for most of her life. most of her family played the game, and with all of them, they could probably make a quidditch team of their own. however, fleur didn't approve of girls playing quidditch, she thought they had to be raised to be perfect french ladies. so victoire and dominique hadn't been allowed to play quidditch, and she only experienced it when her mother had gone to france for two weeks, and she had asked her father to teach her to play. he had, and she loved it. of course, when her mother returned she had flipped her lid, but dom was proud of herself for learning the sport. it was one of the few things that made her happy now. the feeling of wind going through her hair made her smile, and the adrenaline rush she got when she was lunging for a save sent her heart pounding. quidditch was the only thing that could really get her cheeks red with excitement and a full out grin on her face.

maybe dominique liked quidditch so much because it was the one thing she had always been better than victoire at. victoire had been the favourite of the family, the pretty one, the popular one, the smart one and the one that picked up on everything so fast. but the one thing she had never been able to get was flying. she was too nervous and jumpy to stay on her broom for long, and dom could remember many instances where she had come so close to falling when teddy had been trying to teach her how to ride. now, victoire could ride a broom, but barely. dominique could fly one hundred circles around her before her sister would even know what was going on. in the air, she was in control. and she loved it.

dominique made her way to the stands, so she could talk to him without having to shout across the field. a small smile crossed her face when a breeze made her hair fall in her face, she loved flying on breezy days. it made the feeling so much better. but by the time she had reached where oscar was standing, the smile was gone, replaced with the neutral look that was most commonly on her face. her smiles never lasted long, because she was so used to hiding them from the world. "you were expecting company" she accused, pointing a finger at him. "and you did this to give yourself the upper hand because you know you can't beat them."

oscar was a good quidditch player, she had seen his at callbacks for the team. however, she was confident that she could beat him. she had been far better than any of the keepers on any of the house teams, including the boy who had gotten the spot over her on the gryffindor team. it had been her people skills to screw her over in the end. teddy had thought it would be too awkward to have her on the team, seeing as she absolutely hated his guts. made sense, although it wasn't completely fair. somehow, she would make it on the team. maybe a member would have an accident. she was sure phoenix wouldn't disagree to helping her set one up. "you may look cooler on your broom than i do, but i assure you, i can kick your ass"