Post by Justin McDowell on Apr 19, 2012 23:25:50 GMT -8
Tuesday, 20th December 2011
6:00 p.m.
There was nothing better than an evening flying endeavor. At night in the cold winter air, Justin could be whomever he liked: Viktor Krum, the Quidditch legend, or even the up and coming chaser, Lincoln Dewey of Puddlemere United. He could perform stunts and actually do some flying. He may play keeper and be known more widely for his related skills, but that didn't mean he had bigger dreams when he was on his own and experimenting. Tonight, however, Justin had been focusing on relaxing. The past three days had been a little annoying and stressful. Everyone was different with the Imperium Guards present ever since the little princesses disappeared off the Hogwarts Express, and those who had stayed behind instead of returned to their families had to deal with it. Even the professors had seemed more on edge. It was enough to make even happy-go-lucky Justin tense up and get in a bit of a funk.
Sighing, Justin slowed to a stop, simply hovering in the middle of the pitch and closing his eyes with his hands firmly on his broom. After a few moments of complete and total stillness, he began to raise his arms, focusing on keeping himself centered and balanced. Once satisfied, he dared to open his eyes, almost immediately feeling like he was going to topple over. He lurched forward, desperately grasping for his broom, and resultantly going in a bit of a circle. Once righted, he sat there, dazed. Someone had to remind him not to try that move again. It was a little unnerving. Ok, more than a little unnerving--not that he'd ever admit that to anyone.
Sighing, he began his descent, not really certain what else to do. He'd been out here for about half an hour, having left immediately after wolfing down dinner, but the pitch was only entertaining so long by himself, especially when he wasn't in much of a mood to be doing aerial tricks by himself. But what else was he supposed to do right now? Most of his friends had gone home for Christmas, so he was pretty much on his own. With the Imperium Guard presence, there was no chance to try sneaking out to Hogsmeade to see if by chance he'd run into Lissa, whom he still hadn't heard from since writing back.
Justin quickly shoved that thought away. If she was that mad at him over something like a kiss, then so be it. Seriously, though, how could she have taken his leaving in such an out-of-context way? He'd been trying to show some restraint and keep her from getting in trouble by keeping her longer to keep the feeling going. And besides, the professor... He'd had no way of knowing what he now knew! All he knew was he hoped she was alright. He hoped she hadn't gotten caught sending that letter to him and been punished or his letter hadn't been intercepted by her master and gotten her in trouble.
The Hufflepuff stopped where he was, maybe ten feet in the air, and shook his head hard. Stop worrying about her, he scolded himself. It's not helping her, and it's certainly not helping you. He sighed heavily. Maybe he'd pay Professor Conleth a visit later, see if he had gathered anything yet about whom her master could possibly be like he was supposed to. Yeah, it didn't help him much when he was barely any closer to his goal of raising money than he'd been when he'd started. The fundraiser had raised money, but it hadn't raised nearly enough. In fact, he could have barely afforded a good fireworks show with the amount he had.
"Stop it!" he scolded himself aloud, descending the rest of the ten feet a little too quickly and regretting it almost instantly as pain shot up his legs. "Damn i--stupid broom!" he exclaimed, throwing the thing to the ground and stepping over it before throwing himself down on the ground and grabbing a handful of grass with force from the ground.