Out for a Joy Ride (OPEN)

Ethan was glad to be free from class. It was after all a Saturday in February and he was on the Quidditch Pitch. It was a good thing that he was wearing jeans. He mounted his broom and was about to take off. He always loved the feeling right before he took off. It was the sense of freedom. Smiling at his silly thoughts, he kicked off the ground hard, and went soaring into the air.

He lapped around the pitch a couple of times, grabbing a hoop from time to time, almost unseating himself from his broom. He laughed hysterically at this and dived. He was getting closer, and closer to the ground and pulled up. The level of concentration was plastered across his face. He grimaced as his feet scraped the ground and he rocketed upward once more. He yelled in delight once more. The thrill of this would never become old to him.

Layla walked with no destination in her mind, however, in her hand was the broomstick she'd received as a birthday present. She wasn't sure why she'd grabbed it, she was good at flying, yes, but she wasn't much of a fan of it. Nonetheless, her hand had grabbed the broomstick and her feet took her to the place they so often did. The Quidditch Pitch. She could hear the sounds of another person and stopped, wondering whether she should interrupt but before her mind decided, her feet did. They dragged her inside.

She mounted her broom, but stopped just short of lifting off. She focused her attention on the boy that seemed familiar, maybe just a housemate. He was an excellent flyer, maybe even better than she. She found herself biting her lip before she lifted off the ground, hovering at hoop level to get a better eye on him. She smiled at the happiness that radiated off of him, wondering why she didn't do this more often. It seemed enjoyable enough, didn't it? Maybe she'd even try out for Quidditch next year.

She stuck to her spot in the air, not wanting to interrupt him and break his concentration nor ruin his happiness. Instead, she quietly smiled at him.

Dive pull up. Dive, pull up. Circle the pitch. This went on for what seemed like ages. Ethan saw somEthing shortly after that. A person, a girl. Yes he had seen her around the common room. He watched her mount a broom of her own and get hoop level in the air. His famous lopsided grin forming, he rushed at full speed toward her, at the last second he veered and barely missed her. He turned and hovered in front of her.


"You're a Gryffindor" he stated as if making sure he was right. "I'm Ethan. Ethan Girth to be exact." He gave her A lopsided grin. "What brings you out to the Quidditch Pitch, my dear?" Maybe they would become good friends. He kicked his legs up on his broom stick to where it looked like he was napping on it. Without the slightest care in the world.

She felt her heart beat faster as the boy rose from a dive an headed straight towards her. Would he hit her? Surely not! She wanted to close her eyes, yet curiosity held them open. She wanted to move out of harm's way, yet trust held her there, a big smile still on her face. What was wrong with her? Right before they collided, her veered off, barely missing her. He had missed her so narrowly, that she could almost feel him brush against her, the wind from him brushing up against her face.

She nodded and let out a tiny roar, her smile growing bigger. She was indeed a Gryffindor and quite proud of it too. It meant she was brave, didn't it? Who didn't want to be labeled as brave? "I'm Layla, it's nice to meet you Ethan." She was thankful that he seemed to be friendly. There seemed to be a lot of people around here that were rude for some reason and she wasn't too fond of that. "I like flying...well...I think I do." Her face blushed red. Who didn't know if they liked flying? "I mean, I'm good at it, but I don't know if I actually like it but maybe I'll try out for Quidditch." The words poured out of her mouth quickly as if she had five cups of coffee that morning. She was growing nervous and embarrassed and she wasn't even sure why.

He smiled at her once more. Layla was a beautiful name in his opinion. "Beautiful name, Layla." He said. His eyes were closed and his face was up to the sun. It finally struck him. It was February, and Valentines day was coming up. He face palmed. "Oh god. . ." He mumbled. But all of that was forgotten once more as Layla said she wasn't sure if she liked flying. He shot up, pure disbelief etched in every feature of his face.

"You're kidding me?" He whistled. "Wow. Okay then. Then lets make sure you enjoy this hmm?" He was about to take off when she mentioned the Quidditch team. His lopsided grin returning he wheeled around "As Quidditch Captain, i think you should. We could use a keeper. And a couple of other positions." His eyes lighted up with mischief. "So you want to know if you enjoy Flying? Follow me." He left it at that, flying at the ground and waited, planting his feet firmly on the ground, looking up at her, Waiting patiently.

"Thanks, I like Ethan too," she replied shyly. She watched his face as he soaked in the sun and to her, it made him look like an angel. The way the sun shone down on him was amazing and for a split second, she wondered if she would look just as great soaking in the sun. Before she had the chance to try, she saw his palm connect with his face and heard him mumble. A look of confusion spread across her face, but she pushed it away, not bothering to ask what was wrong. She crouched against her broom as he shot up in disbelief.

The embarrassment grew at his outburst. Her hand instinctively went up to the back of her neck, her eyes diverting to look at the ground below. When she had mentioned Quidditch, however, a grin formed on his face once more. He was Quidditch Captain?! She just told her house Captain that she wasn't sure ow she felt about flying. "Keeper? I'm not sure I'm good enough," her voice was still quiet, which was odd considering she wasn't shy. Follow him? Just as soon as he had said the words, he flew towards the ground and waited for her. Her confusion and embarrassment turned to a smile and she did just that, followed him.

He smiled as she had said she had like the name Ethan. That was a good thing wasn't it? He watched as she flew down. "So. I know a perfect way of figuring out if you like flying. It only requires, You , Me, and two broomsticks. And something out of the changing rooms, so i'll be right back." He hopped off his broom and ran into changing rooms. Grabbing what he needed, he mounted his broom once more, throwing a rucksack over his shoulder in the process.

"In said bag is said items i will show you later. As for now, Do you trust me?" He asked. If she didn't trust her, how would he be able to show her this said place. His bag moved on his shoulder, and he pushed back once more. How he had kept the thing alive he had no idea, but he as sure if any of the professor's knew, he would be kicked out Hogwarts in an instance.

She was curious now and it showed. Her head tilted to the side as one of her eyebrows raised. She nodded and watch as he jumped off the broom and ran into the changing rooms. Maybe one day, those wouldn't be just for the Quidditch teams, but for her as well. She smiled at the thought. She could not only be an international popstar, but maybe she could be a fantastic Quidditch player! When she saw him return, she focused all her attention back onto him as he mounted his broom, a rucksack over his shoulder.

She was impatient and wanted to know what was in the bag now, but for the sake of playing his game, she'd wait. Do I trust him? It was hard to trust someone you just met, even if they were handsome and charming. Wait, no, she couldn't think like that.. She tried to clear her thoughts and think about whether she could trust him or not. Her mother would call her reckless if she did and her father would say she was chasing after boys, when that's not what she was doing. Her answer was one that surprised her, but it was most likely the reason she belonged to the House she did. "I trust you."

His grin only widened as he watched her head tilt. Smiling as she agreed to trust him, this was one of his favorite things to do when he was bored. He pushed off, relishing the feeling of being in the air once more. Glancing down he said once more. "Follow Me." He shot upwards not waiting to see if she was following him. Reaching a near tree in the Forbidden Forest's trees right next to the Quidditch Pitch. He jumped into the tree, and propped his broom against the trunk. He opened the rucksack to see a couple of jugs of pumpkin juice and food and a snitch he had taken.

He closed the sack once more and looked out to the pitch, waiting, simply waiting. Brushing the hair out of his face on an occasion.

His smile was beautiful and for the first time that day, she smiled.

Just as quickly as he told her to follow him, he was off. She pushed off the ground and tried her best to stay close behind him. He was fast, but she was just as fast and quickly, she found herself almost right beside him. He flew towards the Forbidden Forest and she could feel doubt forming in her mind. They could get into so much trouble, but she trusted him, so she followed. He jumped into the tree, leaned his broom against the tree and opened the bag, speaking into it.

As she hovered in front of him, a bit frightened to be in the tree like he was, she felt panic rise through her. She wasn't used to being up in the air this much or quite this high and she was starting to feel scared. "Ethan," her voice came out slow and steady, trying to keep the panic hidden,"what's in the bag?"She watched him close the bag and look out to the pitch, his hand occasionally brushing his hair from his face. She wasn't sure why exactly she trusted him especially with his seemingly suspicious attitude, but she did.

Working up her courage, she jumped into the tree like he had done and held her broom in her hand. "We're not doing anything dangerous or harmful right?" Her voice quivered a bit from the thought of being in a tree, but she did her best to hide it.