Charlie Weasley wants to fly. (seekingweasley) wrote in thedisplaced, @ 2018-02-24 23:38:00 |
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Entry tags: | !log/thread, charlie weasley (ex), julia wicker |
log; charlie (exoblivione) & julia
Who: Julia Wicker and Charlie Weasley
What: Charlie shows Julia his Firebolt.
Where: Not far from the ship.
When: A few days back.
Rating: I think we managed to avoid any embarrassing innuendo. >>
Julia didn’t care if people might start to think she was a wand chaser. She got to smoke hobbit weed with Percy, and now she was going to check out a real, actual firebolt broomstick with Charlie. The hardest part was not revealing how incredibly giddy she felt inside. Her body felt wound up on a spring, like there was a little extra bounce in her step threatening to erupt at any moment. And despite her hardest, her lips would not uncurl, not even when she chewed on her lower lip excitedly or tried to convince her eyebrows to come down from the ledge of her face before they hurt themselves. The really sad part? Julia wasn’t some Potterhead. She read the books in elementary and middle school. (Alright, she’d read the third one at least twice because it was her favorite.) The movies were too weird and a little disappointing so she’d stopped watching them, and her knowledge of the sixth and seventh books were incredibly hazy, at best. But it was still Harry Potter. And unlike Fillory and Further no one from the former books had been a disappointment, tried to kill her friends, or completely fucked over her life. Maybe her feelings had to do with the fact that she felt less cynical with Hogwarts alums around. Julia waited at the designated meeting place, waiting to spot that signature red hair, while trying (and only failing a little) to push away the more negative connotations of that particular hair color. If Charlie were being perfectly honest, the idea of showing off the Firebolt, and some of his moves on it, to someone who seemed appreciative, was an opportunity he was all too excited about. At home that had been something he'd been able to do quite frequently. He was the Cannons seeker, after all. And while he'd hardly been able to raise them to a winning team, he had been able to be strong enough to earn a name for himself and there were always people, and particularly women, who were interested. He told himself that Julia was likely more interested in the broom than him, but then again, she hadn't met him in person yet. He resisted the temptation to take the broom and fly over to where he'd told Julia they could meet and make a real entrance, and instead simply made his way down the steps with an extra leap down the final two. Charlie spotted her, at least he hoped it was, and he offered a quick, winning grin as he stuck out his hand. "Julia yeah? I'm Charlie." Julia was, by her nature, a little protective of her hands. But Charlie’s smile was a little infectious and she slid her hand into his carefully, her fingers only curling around his firmly enough to be present. “Hey, Charlie. Nice to meet you in person.” Her eyes naturally gravitated toward the broom, but Julia managed to pull them back into more polite territory and keep them on his face. Mostly. “So that’s the firebolt?” Julia asked. She was both eager to see it in action and a little nervous. It wasn’t as if she was expected to ride it, though she wanted to about as much as she didn’t. The thought of getting too high up in the air made her stomach clench uncomfortably. "Pretty sure the pleasure's mine," Charlie said easily. One might have expected that Charlie would be annoyed by the broom taking prominence over meeting him, but one would have been wrong. Charlie Weasley was a flirt by nature, but he loved Quidditch, and he loved talking about it with people, and this was just another opportunity to do that. He pulled the broom to the front though, leaving it down as if he were going to sweep the ground with it, but of course this wasn't the sort of broom you did that with. "This is the Firebolt yeah," he held her out proudly. "She came at Christmas, and she's my baby. Pretty much top of the line when I come from back home, although I have this sneaking suspicion if anyone else gets one here, they may have faster and better models. I'm from several decades back from most of them, but this is the broom I caught the snitch out from under the Falcon's seeker's fingers with." He was grinning at that memory. That had been one of his best plays of recent. "If you want we could walk out a bit here, and I'll show you how we ride." “Yeah, that sounds great.” Part of Julia was relieved Charlie planned on merely demonstrating his skill with the broom, but part of her was going to wish she was on the broom no matter how idiotic that was. She couldn’t help it. Julia didn’t even like planes but the thought of flying through the air on a broomstick was just cool. The reality was not so much. Still. Just seeing a real life broomstick in action was enough to keep Julia eager to follow Charlie. She barely registered the flirtation, or perhaps she subconsciously ignored it. Whatever the case was, she had no second thoughts about following him to wherever he thought would be a good location for flying. “So the Falcons? You play professionally?” Julia asked. She remembered from the fourth book that there were professional teams, though she couldn’t really say she remembered anything else about the league or leagues. She wondered if American wizards and witches played the same sport. “As their seeker?” "I play for the Chudley Cannons," Charlie replied, a quick grin of pleasure knowing that she knew something of it. "And yeah, I'm their seeker. Seems like in the universe from the books that I work with dragons, which, is also cool, but I do like my profession. It's been a bit weird going from playing and practicing nearly every day to hardly at all. Didn't even have a broom for a while, but then it showed up for Christmas, but then we've been on this ship, and it's a bit difficult to set anything up here." He led them towards an open area near the ship but far enough away to allow them some space. "I don't know how your magic works, but in theory it's pretty simple to get on brooms. You can line it up where you want it from the ground or, you can just…" he dropped the broom handle from his hand, and walked forward enough so that by the time the broom hadn't hit the ground, but instead had been brought up horizontal with the ground, even with where his hand had come back in contact with it, but this time by his side and ready to go. He shrugged, then grinned. "Mount and fly with the wind." Julia did remember that scene from the movie, of school children looking at their brooms laying on the ground and saying Up, up! to varying degrees of success. That part had been pretty cute. “Ha. You make it sound so simple.” Her look lingered as she chewed on her lip thoughtfully. “Okay, how much of broom flying is dependent on magical talent? The brooms are enchanted, right? So in theory could a muggle operate a broom?” Because Julia may have been contemplating a Quidditch league among the displaced. And if it was open to more than just magical types, then there was a chance of getting some actual teams going. She was thinking. “How much do you know about making a flying broom?” "We won't talk about the first time I got on one," Charlie laughed, but he turned somewhat serious with her questions. They weren't all ones that he knew the answers too because this sort of magical theory was, generally, a bit beyond what he'd studied, or in some cases been allowed to study. He was growing to suspect that his own magical education was not equal to what the Charlie who had lived in the other timeline had learned, which meant he might not be the best at answering any of this. "It is enchanted, although you have to be able to steer it and tell it where to go, you know? So a Muggle would probably have difficulty with a traditional broom. Could one be made to work for Muggles - maybe? But it would have to be made with that in mind, and that might be beyond my abilities. I know some of the others have been working on things though." Julia nodded, thinking it over. “Probably can’t have a Quidditch league if we don’t figure out how to make something muggles can use. Or how to make brooms in general. Okay,” she stated, preparing herself for a subject change. “Show me what you got.” Julia grinned, but most of the time, no matter how hard she tried, it didn’t always reach her eyes. No matter. She clapped her hands together in front of her chest and kept them there, waiting to be impressed and a little bit jealous all at the same time. "Before we left Tumbleweed Charlie, uh, the other Charlie, and some of the others were working on that. I got my broom shortly after, then we came here, but there's a lot of us that are very interested in making that happen," Charlie reassured her. But he was definitely ready to show her how things worked. He mounted the broom, and kicked off, the thrill of doing so as ready and easy as it always was. Charlie loved to fly. He had from the time he was a small boy, the first toy broom that barely did anything, but he'd pretend that it was the best broom in the world. And the best broom in the world hadn't been something that the Weasley's would have ever been able to afford, and it wasn't something his Uncle's were so capable of affording either - not with all of them. But once he'd gotten into the leagues, he'd gotten the best because it was essential, and he loved it. He shot up, making a wild loop as if he were ducking from a bludger and chasing a golden snitch. He brought it back around, flew by her low, and then went up again, another circle, and finally pulled it back down beside her, putting one foot on the ground, and throwing his other leg over the broom. "You want to try just getting on it?" Julia’s eyes went wide and she felt a sizable pit of excitement and anxiety plant itself directly into her gut. She looked at Charlie, then at the broom, then at Charlie again. “Just getting on,” she confirmed. “Not actually flying anywhere?” It didn’t have to be more than a few inches off the ground, right? That wouldn’t set off her fear of heights. She’d ridden horses before, and the back of an ex-boyfriend’s motorcycle. Clearly this wasn’t any different than that. She was not looking for a golden snitch. “Um, yes,” she said, nibbling on her lower lip nervously. Julia would hate herself if she said no. And if she hated being on the broom at least she’d know and get that experience out of the way. Stepping in close, she looked again to Charlie for instruction. "Yeah, just getting on," Charlie nodded, with a grin. "I'll keep my hand on it if it makes you feel better." He stepped back, his hand still on the broom though as he gave her space to step in. "You don't need to do anything special, just go ahead and get on. I'm not really certain what your magic is like, or if you'll be able to feel it in the broom or not, but you should be able to sit on it either way without any difficulty. It won't take off without you." Well, it might, but it wouldn't with Charlie there and his hand on it, which was the important piece. Julia steeled herself. Placing one hand on his arm and the other on the broom just below his, she slowly eased herself onto the broom as if worried it might try something. Once she was seated, her second hand steaded herself on the broom, Julia shuddered slightly. Like the wand, she could feel a small current of the magic inherent it. And not a second passed before the broom lurched very quickly and was stopped by Charlie’s hand. Julia froze. She remembered to breathe, even if her eyes went a little wide with the unwanted jolt, until it was clear Charlie had the situation under control. Julia sucked in a breath: “Please don’t let go.” "Hey, I gotcha," Charlie said easily. "I wouldn't send you off without me, and certainly not without some instructions in how to manage it… and you know, even really checking if you can. I've got no idea how that sort of thing works. But even someone in our world wouldn't want to get on a Firebolt first time without some practice probably." He kept his hand just behind where she was sitting and kinda looked around so he could try to see her face. "How's it feel though?" “Like learning to levitate is probably easier?” Julia tried joking. She was still uneasy, but the longer she was on the broom, the less she felt like ten year old her about to fall from a tree and break her arm. She wasn’t relaxed just yet, but she wasn’t about to start hyperventilating, either. Julia considered that a win. Both her hands were locked on the broom handle in front of her. On the inside of one of her arms was a series of seven pointed stars. Four of the stars had a keyhole shape inside, while the fifth was a white circle with the number 50. Each of the stars were crossed out with red Xs that almost looked painful. Julia sometimes used a spell to cover them, but didn’t feel the need among the displaced. “Maybe now would be a good time to mention my slightly more than mild fear of heights? This is fine. It’s not that horrible.” Slowly, the more she talked, the more she was starting to relax. Charlie's eyes twinkled and he laughed at her response. "I don't know, magical levitation can be done, but it's outside my particular skill set. Give me my Firebolt," he grinned. "You can get off if you want," he added. "But you can also stay on as long as you wish. I'm not going to let go and you won't get too high up. You could get pretty high up, but again, not the best idea unless you're used to it. But you're doing fine." Julia nodded. In an attempt to relax, she tried thinking of something else to talk about. At least until she felt more solid on the broom. “I think I promised to tell you about the dragon I met. My friend Q and I were trying to get to the Underworld. Dragons are considered ancients, they’re sentient, they talk. Uh…” She swallowed, but as long as she reminded herself she was doing okay, she continued. “...It was living underneath New York City. To unlock the door, we had to offer it a milktooth. I guess that’s one of things it collects. And then after giving it a magical button, we got to go to the Underworld for twenty-four hours, which, wasn’t as exciting as it sounds.” Julia shifted her weight slightly, and didn’t feel like she was going to fall off, which was an improvement. “Okay, I’m going to try to turn.” Julia said, as though mentioning a talking dragon and the Underworld wasn’t a big deal. To be fair, she was a little distracted. Julia leaned in slightly toward Charlie to see if she could, in a slow and controlled fashion, get the broom to make an easy circle around him. "Your dragons talk?" Charlie was momentarily a bit startled by this revelation. While he didn't work with dragons like the other him did, he had taken plenty of classes of Care of Magical Creatures and he'd enjoyed it. He could easily see how he might have chosen that career without the particular draw that flying with the Chudley Cannons had held for him. But the idea of dragons that spoke, that were sentient? That was something else, something genuinely intriguing. "I'm pretty certain no one would want one of our dragons living under New York City," he chuckled. But he shifted with her, letting her take the lead and see how she would work with the broom and it with her. He didn't let go, but he tried not to put too much effort into guiding it. If she could feel the magic the broom had and work with it, then let her do that. "Fear of heights or no," he grinned. "We might make a quidditch player out of you yet." “Ha.” Julia was unconvinced. The flat expression and look in her eyes as she glanced at Charlie said as much. “The question is if I can stop.” And thinking it through, it was a bit like a motorcycle or riding a bike without using her hands, she pulled in on the handle just slightly as the broom glided a few inches and came to an unimpressive stop. “My mom made me take polo lessons. Pretty sure I could make a decent beater,” she said wryly. “You know, if I don’t have to fly more than three feet off the ground.” She smirked at him. “Can this broom support two people or does that require a different model?” She didn’t want to do anything crazy, but as long as she wasn’t steering, she was also okay with doing a little more than a merry-go-round style circle. "Nah, I could take you up, but it'll be more than three feet off the ground," Charlie warned her. "If you get motion sickness or anything like that, may not be the best experience. But if you want, I could take you up a bit. I don't have to go super high, and if you look straight ahead - don't think about the ground, you might enjoy it more." “Yeah, I’m not sure I’m ready for that yet.” Julia smiled apologetically, feeling a little cowardly as she dismounted the Firebolt. “But on the plus side I didn’t crash anything.” Once her feet her back solidly on the ground, she felt the anxiety release pleasantly from her core. “I’m not sure if all dragons talk on my world. I’ve only met the one,” she said, able to focus a little more on the conversation now that she wasn’t using it as a mere distraction. “She did threaten to eat us if we took too long in the Underworld.” The hedgewitch shrugged. Charlie pulled the Firebolt back up to his side after she dismounted it, and he shifted his weight, smiling at her. He wasn't really bothered by the decline of his offer - after all she'd made it pretty clear heights might not be her thing and if she changed her mind, well he'd happily take her up. The dragons thing was interesting though, even if it wasn't his profession. "Threatening to eat you sounds more like our dragons, or you know, roast you alive for tasty nuggets," he grinned. "Charlie, the one that works with dragons, could tell you a lot more about them from experience, but I took Care of Magical Creatures at NEWT level, I can tell you that at least the one you've met would be exceptional in our world." “Yeah, I get the impression dragons and magical creatures are way more common on your world than mine. Even Fillory didn’t have as many magical creatures as I thought. Um, you don’t have the Fillory books on your world, do you? No one else seems to have heard of them. It was another world I visited. Some of the animals talk there? There are centaurs. But, there doesn’t seem to be nearly the variety that you have.” Julia wasn’t against talking to the other Charlie, but the one in front of her seemed much more social and forthcoming. She was happy to continue speaking with him on the walk back. “So there are NEWTs and OWLs, which one is higher?” Julia asked. She hadn’t remembered from the books. "They're pretty common," Charlie nodded. "I couldn't say if they're more common than your world since I don't know it so much, but we definitely have a lot of species and varieties. We've got Centaurs, obviously too, although you might not know that," he shrugged. "NEWTs are higher. We sit OWLs at the end of fifth year, usually that sort of determines where you move forward into NEWTs - depending on how and where you excel in your OWLs and then your NEWT level classes are sixth and seventh years, we focus in, and the classes are more rigorous." He glanced over and after just an instant's hesitation asked: "You want to go get a drink? I've not heard anything about the Fillory books, but that doesn't mean we don't have them - just I haven't read them, and I'm not much of a reader. That doesn't mean I wouldn't be curious to hear about it." Julia considered. Just because it was a drink didn’t mean it was a drink. After deciding that she found her smile and nodded, “Sure.” If she thought about it, nothing about being displaced should have surprised her. She already new about alternate timelines having lived in forty of them, even if she didn’t remember them. She had already experienced finding out a fantasy story from a book was real. None of this should have really shook her, but it did. Maybe the timing had just been bad. But thinking about her life since discovering magic was real, Julia wasn’t sure there was any point in her life recently where the timing would have been any better. Charlie grinned at her response. It might not amount to anything, and he wasn't one to push, but so far he'd enjoyed talking to Julia and he'd enjoy a drink and conversation because he preferred that to sitting alone in his room by a long shot. "Brilliant," he told her. "And while we do, I want to hear about Fillory." |