Quidditch Pitch: Open! Pretty please?
This was not cold.
As she pushed her broom faster the sharp winter wind cut at her cheeks, and Jamie was brought back to a much simpler time. Long before her father realized she could fly circles around children twice her age, Jamie had just been a normal little girl. She'd spent her bleak, Canadian winters playing in giant snow drifts, sledding down smooth hillsides, and ice skating on the lake in her yard.
Once, her brother had thought it would be funny to play a prank on his little sister, "Wouldn't it be fun," he started, pushing their old, wooden toboggan toward the ice covered lake, "To sled across the water? It'd be like a boat!"
Jamie-- young, naive and gullible --nodded, eyes beaming as she smiled up at Henry.
"Well, hop on!" Henry grinned, slapping the toboggan down on the snow covered edge of the water. The ice was fresh, some places thicker than others. Henry hoped that it would crack a little, giving his annoying little sister a scare, "Don't worry, I'll come out for you when you stop."
Jamie grinned from ear to ear, gripping the reigns of the toboggan with her mitten covered hands, "Go!"
And with that, Henry pushed, running with the toboggan until they gained enough speed for him to let her go. The momentum and slippery surface was enough to take him off balance, sending him face first into the snow as he watched his sister slide across the thick, white ice..
Then onto the thin, gray patch at the center of the lake..
And before he could even blink, the old, heavy toboggan cracked through the surface, pulling little Jamie down with it.
The water shocked Jamie's senses. She opened her mouth to suck in a breath, but only icy water rushed into her lungs. Her hands swatted at the surface as she tried to keep herself afloat, but every bit of ice she grabbed crumbled away under her tiny fingers. Somewhere in the distance, she heard Henry screaming, calling her name, but it got farther and farther away as she sunk down into the darkness of the lake.
Just when she had lost the strength to kick her little feet, a hand clamped over her wrist and tugged Jamie through the water. She felt arms close around her; squeezing her, shaking her, stroking her hair, slapping her back. She coughed, choking up water from her lungs, "Mama," she cried.
"I'm here, baby," her mother sobbed, "It's okay."
That had been cold.
As quick as the memory came, it when and Jamie w3s back on the pitch doing speed laps. It was possible she'd zoned out longer than she'd realized, because when she glance down at the ground, she was no longer alone.
As she pushed her broom faster the sharp winter wind cut at her cheeks, and Jamie was brought back to a much simpler time. Long before her father realized she could fly circles around children twice her age, Jamie had just been a normal little girl. She'd spent her bleak, Canadian winters playing in giant snow drifts, sledding down smooth hillsides, and ice skating on the lake in her yard.
Once, her brother had thought it would be funny to play a prank on his little sister, "Wouldn't it be fun," he started, pushing their old, wooden toboggan toward the ice covered lake, "To sled across the water? It'd be like a boat!"
Jamie-- young, naive and gullible --nodded, eyes beaming as she smiled up at Henry.
"Well, hop on!" Henry grinned, slapping the toboggan down on the snow covered edge of the water. The ice was fresh, some places thicker than others. Henry hoped that it would crack a little, giving his annoying little sister a scare, "Don't worry, I'll come out for you when you stop."
Jamie grinned from ear to ear, gripping the reigns of the toboggan with her mitten covered hands, "Go!"
And with that, Henry pushed, running with the toboggan until they gained enough speed for him to let her go. The momentum and slippery surface was enough to take him off balance, sending him face first into the snow as he watched his sister slide across the thick, white ice..
Then onto the thin, gray patch at the center of the lake..
And before he could even blink, the old, heavy toboggan cracked through the surface, pulling little Jamie down with it.
The water shocked Jamie's senses. She opened her mouth to suck in a breath, but only icy water rushed into her lungs. Her hands swatted at the surface as she tried to keep herself afloat, but every bit of ice she grabbed crumbled away under her tiny fingers. Somewhere in the distance, she heard Henry screaming, calling her name, but it got farther and farther away as she sunk down into the darkness of the lake.
Just when she had lost the strength to kick her little feet, a hand clamped over her wrist and tugged Jamie through the water. She felt arms close around her; squeezing her, shaking her, stroking her hair, slapping her back. She coughed, choking up water from her lungs, "Mama," she cried.
"I'm here, baby," her mother sobbed, "It's okay."
That had been cold.
As quick as the memory came, it when and Jamie w3s back on the pitch doing speed laps. It was possible she'd zoned out longer than she'd realized, because when she glance down at the ground, she was no longer alone.