| Details for Future Options |
| Summary: | Brody and Violet cross paths on the lake shore and talk about the opportunity Brody has leaving Hogwarts. |
| Date: | 18 June 1941 |
| Location: | Lake Shore, Hogwarts |
| Related: | — |
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Exams having finally been completed yesterday, many students are taking the opportunity to get some much needed relaxation and to get out of the castle for some fresh air. Brody seems to be experiencing a bit of bittersweet emotions as he comes to the realization that his days at Hogwarts are really almost over. Seeking a bit of isolation from the other students the Ravenclaw Keeper, for another few days, heads out of the entry hall and onto the Hogwarts grounds. His feet carry him in a direction of their own, which just so happens to be down toward the lake shore. He walks without really paying attention, not stopping until he reaches the edge of the bank, toes almost touching the point where the water laps at the stones.
There's already at least one other student at the lake shore, and while she's not hiding, she still might not be noticed right away. Violet found the perfect rock, just in the shallows, out of the water enough that she can sprawl across it without getting soaked, but low enough that she can stretch her neck out and get her face into the water. Her shoes and stockings are in a pile on the sand, and she's angled parallel to the shore so she at least has some chance of seeing anyone else that happens by. Still, for that, she doesn't notice Brody immediately, and her head stays down for a considerable amount of time before she lifts her head and puffs a few breaths.
Brody spots the younger Ravenclaw with her face in the water and his brow lifts in slight confusion as she stays down for longer than he would have thought prudent. Frowning in thought, the older student crosses his arms over his chest and is silent for a long while until she pulls her face from the water. "Hey!" he calls out with a good natured, though still confused voice. "It can't be that bad. They are just exams. They aren't worth drowning yourself over."
Violet sits up at the sound of her housemate's voice, turning to sit cross-legged with her skirt tucked around her knees, and water dripping from the tip of her nose. This gets a hard breath huffed upwards from her lips to blow the water off. The girl's smile is bright as she laughs, answering in her clear Scottish lilt, "Aye, so they aren't." Rising, she steps into the water and wades back to shore. "An' my worst isn't until next year. How did yours go then?"
Brody shrugs his shoulders and says with a faint smile, "I think I did well enough. As well as I had expected anyways. You can only expect so much when you spend so much of your time tinkering with brooms. And it isn't like I needed certain marks for a job after school, so I am not overly worried about it." He watches as Violet walks through the water back toward the bank and says, "What were you doing there?"
The smaller Ravenclaw splashes back up onto the sand, the hem of her skirt darkened where it dipped into the water. "What, there?" Violet asks, twisting to look back at the rock then back up to Brody. "Watchin' the fish. There's lots of wee ones that'll swim right up." The fringe of bangs on her forehead got their tip dipped as well, and the strand lays plastered to her temple, carelessly pushed aside. Her face is drying off on it's own, and the dripping from her nose has stopped. "Will ya be a broommaker then? Ya'd have t'be a dab hand at charms for that, makin' 'em fly an' all."
Brody nods slowly and then shrugs. "I am not sure. I was planning to be a broommaker, I had every intention of being one. And then I got a letter the other morning from Puddlemere United inviting me to come out and try out for their team. I don't really know what to do honestly. This was the first year I had actually played Quidditch. I never thought I would be invited to come and try out for a professional team. I am not sure what to make of it yet."
Violet bounces on her bare feet, her curls sproinging as she does, clasping her hands together, "How excitin'! Ya have t' try out, don't ya think? It's such a chance, an' ya have the brooms t'fall back on." Out on the lake there's a splash in the water, and her attention shifts for a moment. In the deeper water, rings expand out from a central point as if something had breached the surface there. Her distraction is only momentary, and she's back on task at once, looking at Brody inquisitively.
Brody turns his head and glances in the direction of the ripples, his brow lifting briefly in curiosity before he shrugs his shoulders and looks back to Violet. "I guess I will have to go. I don't know that I could live with myself if I got an invitation to try out and didn't at least show up. I just don't see how I could possibly make it when I have only played for so little of an amount of time. I would just think that surely they had their eyes on someone far more talented." He shrugs his shoulders lightly and says, "And yes, I can always fall back on the broommaking. It is just an odd feeling when all of your plans change so quickly.
While Brody talks, Violet gathers up her stockings and shoes from the sand, looking back to him often and nodding to show she's listening. "Of course ya have t' go," she says matter of factly as she moves to another rock, this one clear of the shoreline, and turns with a flounce to perch on it. As she brushes sand off her left foot, she says, "Maybe they think ya have potential. They're a professional team, they wouldn't invite ya just havin' a lark." She pulls her left stocking on and up to her knee, folding the top over in a neat cuff, and starts putting her left shoe on.
Brody nods again and says, "Yeah, that's what I was thinking myself. But it is still confusing." He huffs out a small sight and shakes his head once more before saying, "The fact that I am about to leave Hogwarts has been weighing on my mind a lot too. It is a bit of a sad thing. I always looked forward to coming back every fall and now there won't be any coming back. When we climb on the Hogwarts Express this time, it will be over for good."
The process is repeated with her right sock and shoe, and Violet remains seated on her rock as she plants both feet back on the sand, safely ensconced in her maryjanes. "But look at everything in front of ya. This time next year, ya could be anywhere in the world." There's admiration in the words, and perhaps the smallest bit of envy. "An' when ya get too old to play, ya can make brooms, or be one of them that goes to help at Quidditch camp in th' summer." Brody is positively ancient, after all, being three years her senior, but at least she'll concede that he may still have some good years in front of him.
Laughing at this, Brody gazes at Violet with twinkling eyes and a smile as he says, "Well aren't you just the optimistic one? I can't say that that's a bad thing. An inclination toward cheering people up is a pretty nice trait to have. Thank you." He seems honest in his evaluation of the younger girl, and truly thankful to have bumped into her. This being their first real conversation that he can call to mind, he says, "I hope that things go well with you in the years you have left at Hogwarts. And that you have a great summer."
A light blush rises into Violet's cheeks at the older boy's words, and she ducks her head, her smile bright when it lifts back up. "Aye," she says, "Ma says there's always somethin' t' look forward to if ya just try an' find it." She pops up onto her feet. "An' you as well. I'll watch for your name t'show up on the Puddlemere roster."
Shaking his head and laughing, Brody says, "Alright. But don't hold your breath! I could go and try out and fall flat on my face. You never know." He lifts a hand and waves as he turns and heads not back toward the castle, but further into the grounds in the direction of the forest.