Just... Try?

Christiare Le Clerc, known to some simply by Tari, was walking the grounds with her favorite professor, reviewing events from recent, and simply talking to him. However, Tari didn't like much where the conversation was going.
The young black-haired professor ran a hand through his hair as he walked, and went over a deal they had made earlier that year.
"So far, in the span of seven months you've made a handful of friends, broken out of your shell, learned about a whole new world, and taken it all very well. Yet, we still have one simple issue." He said carefully, looking down at her.
Tari looked up at him curiously.
"Is it my scars?"
She asked nervously, afraid someone would hear.
The professor stopped and placed his large rough hand on her small head.
"Your smile, I still haven't seen it. Tell me Tari, are you happy?"
Tari looked at the ground, contemplating it.
"Ye- maybe... I dunno. I don't feel like it sir."
The professor frowned.
"For now, how about we focus on that. You're already at the top of my class, and, from what I hear, you could do with a study brake. My goal Tari, is before the end of your first year, I want to see you happy. I don't know anything about your life outside of here, but seeing a witch as bright as you with a face like that everyday burdens me."
He paused, looking up, and then noticed a figure walking towards them.

Arya, Seamus, and Gavin walked along the lake, brooms perched on their shoulders. It was the first really nice day in March, so they’d spent the entire morning flying. At first, she thought zooming around over the Black Lake was a rather risky game, but after watching the boys do it she knew she had to - and it was awesome.

“What if you had fallen in, Seamus?” Gavin laughed, recalling a tricky stunt the Ravenclaw pulled.

“Ay, I’d ‘ave been swallowed by yer ole squid pal!”

Arya grinned at the thought, and at her friend’s accent (as always). Before Hogwarts, she’d never known anyone from Ireland; actually, she’d never really known much existed beyond her little world. She opened her mouth to say something, but swallowed her words when she saw two people getting closer. It was Christiare and Professor Vici.

“Those two have a rather strange bond, don’t you think?” Gavin muttered under his breath. Arya punched him in the arm.

“Hello, you two!” she greeted the pair.

Professor Vici Smiled as he noticed the trio approaching. Imeadatly he walked a little ahead of Tari as to greet them.
"Arya, Seamus, Gavin, excellent! Just the three I had hoped to see! If I understand correctly, Arya, you and Tari here have a bit of a friendship blooming yes?"
He grinned wilding before noting the brooms on their shoulders, an idea popping into his head. Snapping his fingers, he gave Tari one of his heart burning grins, and pulled out his wand.
"If I understand correctly, all three of you are excellent flyers, and I'd love for you to teach Tari on it. Currently, she's in a bit of trouble with Renoir as she hasn't actually flown yet, she's skipped every class."

The three pals stood silently after Vici asked them for help, and an awkward moment passed where the five just stared at one another. Finally, Gavin spoke up.

“Pardon me,” he said gentlemanly, clearing his throat. “Might we consult first?”

Without waiting for an answer, he pulled Seamus and Arya into a shady area under a tree.

“We can’t possibly do it, he’s a teacher,” Gavin muttered, glancing nervously toward Vici and Tari.

“Ay, we aren’ s'posed te be flyin’ anywhere but ta pitch,” Seamus nodded in agreement.

“Don’t be stupid,” Arya said impatiently, rolling her eyes. “If he was going to turn us in, he’d have done it by now. He’s not trying to trick us, he’s not Aitken!”

With that said, she marched back over to the waiting Gryffindors, Seamus and Gavin reluctantly following.

“We’d love to help, Vici,” she smiled broadly, hands on her hips. “Er, I mean professor. What shall we do?”

Professor Vici beamed, pulling out his wan and summoning a broom.
"Simple." He said as he grabbed the broom. "Teach Tari what you've learned in flying class."
Tari smiled relucantly.
"No need to worry, if im thinking correctly, the pitch is not currently in use,and if you do this for me, I wont bother telling Headmistress Ellington that three prominet quidditch players were flying outside of the pitch.
He smirked slightly, and knowingly.

Arya studied Vici shrewdly; she wasn’t buying it. He wouldn’t actually turn them in..or would he? Was he seriously blackmailing them? She didn’t care to find out, she’d meant what she said about helping.

“Let’s get going then,” she said cheerfully, leading the way.

It didn’t take them long to get to the pitch, they were quite close when they started. The professor was right, it was completely empty. Even Charles Stone couldn’t be found; being a frequent visitor to the pitch on days off, Arry usually saw him polishing the brooms and equipment, or helping Alyn Rivers with the caretaking.

“First thing’s first,” Gavin began, diving into captain-mode. “Balance. Before you can learn anything else, you’ve got to be comfortable on the broom.”

They reached the middle of the pitch and kicked off, hovering about ten feet in the air. Arya was delighted; she’d never seen Gavin this way before. He was quite intriguing when he was in charge.

“Alright, come on up and show us what you can do,” he directed, gesturing for Tari to join them. “Just fly around a few times.”

Tari looked at the broom uneasily. Biting her lower lip, she looked at the group, then the ground, then the broom again. She was more nervous then than she had been in the forest with Arya. It was as if, when she got on the broom everything would be official. She was a witch. An evil servant of Lucifer himself...
Gulping, she straddled the broom with ease, and attempted to kick off. As expected, it takes her a few tries to get off the ground, but then she gets in the air, only a few feet up, but still, she's up.

Arya watched as Tari struggled to kick off; she finally made it, but didn’t fly around like Gavin had instructed. I was scared out of my mind too, she recalled her first time on a broom. As a muggleborn, the whole thing seemed positively unnatural to her, until she realized that it was natural; she’d never felt more at home than when she soared through the air.

“Alright, I can see you’re feeling uneasy, but you need to be comfortable with the broom,” Gavin stated understandingly. “Just, um… fly to Arya. It’s only a few feet.”

Once Christiare had successfully done that, Gavin nodded to Arya to take over. She smiled proudly.

“Now let’s try flying up a bit higher,” she said to Tari, trying her best to sound encouraging. “You’re gonna pull up the tip of the broom extremely gently, watch me…. If you pull any harder than this, it’ll jerk up and buck you off. You try!”

((OOC: Just saying, that last paragraph…. Talk about ‘innuendos’ xP))

Tari nods and uneasily, but gracefully and swiftly flies to be parallel with Arya, her expression no longer frightened, but curious, intrigued by new feelings rushing her. It felt, though she didn't want to say it or admit it, good to fly. Really good. She was almost happy, being on a broom, separated from a world of chaos and hate. Where nothing was to harm her, to burn her, to hunt her or hate her for who she was. Then, something happened that no one at Hogwarts had seen.
Tari smiled.

Arya grinned as she watched Tari fly; the girl wasn’t half bad. Just a bit more practice and ease, and she’d be a shoe-in for the Gryffindor team next year.

“Great job!” Gavin clapped, smiling. “Shall we race?”

“Or we could practice tossing a Quaffle,” Arry suggested, looking at the captain.

“That’s a good idea, actually,” he agreed, thinking about it. “Y’know, Christiare, you might turn out to be a rather good Chaser if you practiced.”

Seamus took initiative and flew down to the broom shed, where Charles Stone also kept the Quidditch equipment. Five minutes later, he was back up in the air and tossed a beat-up Quaffle to Gavin. Gavin threw it at Arya, who caught it but nearly fell off her broom.

“Bloody hell,” she muttered, gripping the broomstick. “Right, um, okay. Well I’m no Chaser, but…”

She shook off the nerves, and threw the ball to Tari.

Her smile growing gradually, Tari caught the ball, glee flooding her.
"I- I Can't beleive I'm actually doing this!" Tari mutters slightly before tossing the ball to Seamus.
Tari actually had a surprisingly accurate aim, despite her lack of practice, and she really seemed to be enjoying it, oddly enough.
Of course, Tari was happier than she had been in a long time. Her shell was breaking, and Tari Le'Clerc was on her way of breaking out.

They passed the Quaffle around for several minutes, and Tari was actually quite good. She was clearly enjoying herself, and Arya was proud. The Gryffindor was finally starting to find her place here.

“Whoa!” Arry shouted, falling into a Sloth Grip Roll as she fumbled trying to catch the ball.

“Good thing you’re a Seeker,” Gavin snickered.

“Aye, ye definitely wouldn’ make it as a Chaser,” Seamus grinned, catching the Quaffle.

Arya rolled her eyes and made a quick lap around the Pitch. Seamus threw the ball to Gavin, who tossed it Arya, who threw it to Seamus, who whipped it over to Tari.

“You should try out next year, Christiare,” Gavin insisted. “You’d be a shoe-in for Gryffindor!”

Tari laughs lightly as she catches the ball. Spinning it a little she tosses it to Seamus. She smiles pushing her blond bangs out of her face.
"Maybe, this is really fun."
She watched eagerly, eyes following the ball as it was tossed between the quidditch players. As the ball went off course in the wind, Tari quickly dove for it, a new smirk, which would later become a signature one, plasted across her face as she hooked the ball in her arm, and flew up to toss it through a ring playfully.
"I do feel a bit guilty though... this is really my first time on a broom... and I should have just went during flying class I suppose..."
Tari says sheepishly as she takes the ball again and tosses it at Aya.

After nearly falling off her broom for the third time, Arya called it quits. She simply didn’t have the coordination to be a Chaser. Considerately, she caught the Quaffle one more time, then tossed it to Seamus before making a few laps around the pitch. She parked it in between Tari and Gavin, practicing her Sloth Grip Roll.

“D’you mean to say you’ve never participated in a flying lesson?” she questioned, hanging upside down.

“And Renoir hasn’t totally destroyed you yet?” Gavin laughed, astonished.

“Oi, I missed one lesson ‘cause of an injured leg,” Seamus explained, furrowing his brow. “She never let me hear ta end of it!”

Arya chuckled, mainly at her friend’s accent. It never got old. She swung upright, suddenly noticing Vici down in the stands.

The dark haired professor looked at Tari curiously. This was one of the few things she had told him. He was aware she had been afraid of integrating into the magical world, but his peer was a force to be reckoned with if angered. If all was the way he suspected it, he needed to intervene, and soon. Mentally he noted to himself to speak to Renior that afternoon of the matter.

"I suppose that should be enough for now, the afternoon is still young, perhaps you four could get some homework done hm?"

Vici shouted from the stands, his voice lifting an air of encouragement.

Arya swooped down to the ground and landed with a soft thud. Clouds were gathering overhead, and she could feel a storm brewing. Pretty soon the rain would be pouring down, and she had no intentions of getting drenched.

“Good practice, mates,” Gavin said, landing less gracefully.

“Christiare, ye gotta try fer Gryffindor,” Seamus insisted eagerly, excited for fresh competition.

“Definitely,” Arry agreed with a smile. “Asher could use you!”

The group tossed their equipment back in the storage shed and headed up to the castle.