Padma "bollocks of steel" Patil (ravenclavian) wrote in thispurgatory, @ 2011-01-27 14:32:00 |
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Padma smoothed her hair one more time as she approached the pitch, walking at a brisk pace so she wouldn’t be late. When she caught sight of Anthony, she put a little skip in her step and gave him a big, cheerful wave. It was definitely more exuberance than Padma usually demonstrated, but she had years of experience of pretending to be her sister, and knew that body language was key. Gestures should be bigger, energy should be higher, she should lean in closer when she spoke to people, laugh louder at their jokes. A few younger years were tossing around a Quaffle at the other end of the pitch, and while she doubted they would give her a second look, much less know the difference between the twins, she wanted to play the part perfectly, just in case. And anyway, some part of Padma enjoyed being Parvati, more than she would admit. It didn’t feel entirely natural to give Anthony a wide grin instead of a small smile as she walked up to him, and toss her head in a way that she knew would make the sun gleam off her earrings, but it was sort of… liberating. That was the word for it. “Hey, Anthony,” she said, in her normal voice. If anyone had been within earshot, she would have made sure that greeting had had a big exclamation point at the end, to sound like her sister. Suddenly, though, a wicked idea crossed her mind, and she pitched her voice slightly higher, speaking now in Parvati's voice. “Padma said she’s sorry, but she had to stay back to help Zacharias with his flitterbloom, and she doesn’t think she can make it. But I’ll fly with you, if you want!” She cocked her head and looked up at him from under her lashes, smiling brightly and twirling the end of her braid around her finger as she awaited his reaction. It wasn't a date, it was just a friend taking another friend for a flight to cheer her up, and since she was clueless about his feelings then it was ridiculous to be so excited about this little outing. However, Anthony couldn't help but feel excited and nervous, and taking a bit more care with his appearance this time rather than just raking his fingers though his hair. He was at the pitch ahead of time, and to prevent pacing, he did a couple of loops around the stands, using flight to calm himself down. By the time he caught sight of Padma, Anthony felt more relaxed, although his heart did a little thump when she waved so exuberantly. He knew it was because she was acting like Parvati, but he couldn't help wishing she was being like this because she was as happy to see him as he was to see her. Shaking his head at his foolishness and waving back, he flew down to dismount and greet her. "Hey... Parvati," It was odd, but despite the mannerisms she was putting on, he kept seeing her as Padma. However, when she suddenly used Parvati's voice, he blinked and recoiled slightly. It was disconcerting hearing 'Parvati' coming out of Padma's mouth, and his mouth twisted, laughter suddenly bubbling up. "Oh... right," he wrestled with the laughter, clamping down on it. "Well, that would be very nice, Parvati!" He mounted the broomstick then and held out one hand. "Hop on in front then." Padma couldn’t help but smile to see that he knew her too well to be fooled, although she would have been really tickled to see his reaction if he’d fallen for it. “Damn,” she said, dropping the act. “Am I that obvious?” As he held out his hand, she regarded it hesitantly. She wasn’t much for flying, really. Every time she was on a broomstick, she felt like she had to fight to get it to go where she wanted to, and was constantly convinced she was moments away from falling off or crashing into the ground. She didn’t like feeling out of control. But on the few occasions when she’d been able to really feel that she had it, she’d enjoyed the feeling of soaring, and had understood—if only for a moment— why so many people loved flying so much. Flying with Anthony seemed like an opportunity to enjoy the wind in her face without worrying about plummeting to her death. She just hadn’t really thought about how they were going to actually share a broomstick, and hoped she wasn’t about to make a fool of herself. “Okay,” she said, taking his hand firmly and letting him pull her on, hoping she wasn’t flailing too awkwardly as she settled in, pulling her long braid over her shoulder so it wouldn't be in Anthony's face. She felt better when her hands were securely on the broomstick, which she grasped more tightly than was probably necessary, and it felt strange but comforting to have Anthony right behind her. “Do we… kick off together?” she asked, as her feet were still barely touching the ground. “And I should warn you, I don’t think you know how bad I am at this…” "No," he said with a little smile. "I just know you too well," and of course had a huge great crush that meant he could likely pick Padma out even if she'd had six identical sisters. His hand closed firmly over hers and he helped her on, settling her so she was comfortably against him. Anthony had taken people up before, he quite liked giving rides, but never Padma and he hoped she wouldn't feel that his heart beat was probably a little faster than usual. But it was hard not to get butterflies in the stomach as his arms went around her so he could grip the broomstick. "Leave it all in my hands," he assured her, taking a brief moment to steal an admiring glance at the sweep of her neck and breath in her scent. Perhaps today would be the day he'd confess, but not right now. "Just relax and enjoy!" he instructed as he kicked them up, sending the broom soaring up. “Okay,” Padma replied, and she had only just lifted her feet from the ground when he suddenly kicked off. She’d expected a little more warning before they shot into the air, and she gasped audibly as her stomach gave a lurch. She was immediately embarrassed by her reaction, and her face and neck flushed pink to prove it. “Er, sorry,” she said, with a small laugh. “Relaxing now.” She took a deep breath in and let it out slowly, and realized that she was surprisingly comfortable. It made all the difference in the world to be held in by his arms, and she found she wasn’t nervous at all. Flying was fun, when you were ‘buckled in,’ and didn’t have to steer. “You’re much better at this than I am,” she observed, speaking up so he could hear her although she was facing away from him. “Can we fly over the lake?” "It's okay," Anthony personally thought Padma was cute when she blushed, perhaps it was that sign that she had her little flail moments like everyone else rather than being so self-possessed. "I should have warned you," he apologised, but since she was relaxing now, Anthony didn't slow the flight. He wasn't flying too fast anyway, just enough to feel a decent breeze and the tug of the wind on their clothes. He chuckled. "If I was bad at flying then that would be a problem for the Quidditch team!" Anthony steered the broomstick towards the lake. "Your wish is my command, milady!" he said with a charming smile that was unfortunately lost since she couldn't see it. The lake surface was smooth so he took them down low so Padma could see their reflection in the water, skimming along so their toes only a couple of inches from the surface. "Don't worry, I won't dunk you in." "Thanks," Padma said, somewhat distractedly, as she looked down at the reflections in the water. It was fascinating to see herself reflected back, skimming along the top of the lake and shimmering with the ripples in the water. She stretched out her foot and just barely managed to brush the surface, sending small waves rippling out behind them, glinting brightly in the late afternoon sun. She shifted her focus to Anthony's reflection, looking focused and confident as he steered them along, and only as she looked at the image of the both of them together did she realize that it was very odd to see herself in Anthony's arms, even if it was only for flying. They certainly looked very cozy, for a couple of friends. She was strongly reminded of Parvati's insinuations about their plans for the afternoon, and it made her acutely uncomfortable. "Would you trust me to steer?" she suddenly suggested, wanting to give herself something else to think about. "Maybe not over the water, though, to start," she added, with a self-deprecating smile. Anthony was content to fall silent as they skimmed along the lake, enjoying the presence of Padma so close and the wind in his face. He felt as if he could fly like this forever, past the grounds of Hogwarts and take them both far away from the castle and the stress of the year. What with raids, pets being killed in front of students and now two students being called out of class and not seen since, Hogwarts was no longer the home away from home it once was. Only the presence of friends, in particular Terry, Michael and Padma helped keep him steady. If not for them, Anthony suspected he would have taken refuge in weed much more than he’d done so already. But for now he had his dream girl literally in his arms and he was making her happy, frankly Anthony couldn’t ask for a better moment. Well, aside from living the fantasy of telling Padma he liked her more than a friend and her reciprocating. “Hmm?” he was pulled out of his thoughts by her question. “Well...” he pretended to think about it, but then laughed, warm breath puffing against her neck. “All right then,” Anthony steered them off the lake to the shore and above a area of ground that was mostly grass - just in case. “All right, lay your hands on mine and when I take mine away, it’s all yours.” "Okay," said Padma, following his instructions and putting her hands over his. They felt very warm, she noticed, and with a slightly irritated expression she banished the mental image of her sister squealing and clapping her hands in boy-crazy delight. "Don't worry, I have done this before," she assured Anthony. Although, really, she could probably count on one hand the number of times she'd been on a broomstick since the end of their First Year flying classes. And she'd never had someone else on with her. Before she could get nervous-- because honestly, this was silly, was she a witch or wasn't she?-- she said "Ready!" and waited for Anthony to remove his hands. |