boundless (Amit Thakkar x OC)

Hippogriffs (or, the leap of faith)

Emilia and Amit met the next day.

And the next. And the next.

If one listened closely to the whispers of the student body as the pair walked by, you could piece together a common consensus; they were weird.

From afar, many students didn't think them friends at all. Half the time, they would sit together, open their notebooks, and not speak for hours as Emilia revised her maps of the Hogwarts area and Amit checked and double-checked his study work, until the two waved goodbye and went their separate ways; the other times, either one of them would go on tangents that lasted the better part of an hour while the other sat in complete silence. What really baffled passersby was the fact that neither of them were looking at each other while doing this.

"They nearly drove me batty," a second year sitting behind the two in the library whispered to her brother.

"The new fifth-year must be very interesting if she's made Amit drop out of Gobstones club," Zenobia Noke observed stiffly.

"Amit's never had a non study-related friend before. Good on him," chimed in Amit's bunkmate, Everett Clopton.

"My friend and I heard they were going to check out an Astronomy table, so we asked to come along," Charlotte Morrison recounted to her friends in Crossed Wands. Elbowing her friend playfully, she continued, "Like that made any difference to them! They hardly took their eyes off each other. I'm calling it now; someone's got to give sooner or later."

All this flew far over Emilia and Amit's heads. Whether parked beneath Central Hall's bard portrait, reading in Astronomy Tower's study space, or set off to find another Astronomy table; as the chill of autumn deepened to threaten winter, the two found themselves spending the most time in each other's company.

This night's Astronomy table was far from the castle, deep within the Forbidden Forest almost directly west of North Hogsfield.

The chill wind slapping sharply against her face, Emilia watched the ground for clear places to land. She glanced at Amit to find that he was well ahead of her. He made a gesture for her to descend; obliging, the two landed gracefully within a gap in the trees, a spiral path leading to the Astronomy table.

Amit rubbed his face with his hands and made a brr sound. "My! Flying in the autumn stings the face, doesn't it?"

Emilia giggled, then retrieved her map to check where exactly they were. Walking up the path as she read, she barely registered Amit's sharp gasp before she was pulled behind a nearby boulder.

Frantically, Amit pressed his finger to his lips. Then, slowly, he led Emilia to peek out from behind their hiding place. Softly, the two gave a delighted ohhh.

A fulsome of Hippogriffs, three to be exact, milled about peacefully on the hill. One settled down beside its sleeping friend and preened while another, keeping a careful watch, yawned and shook its wings. It was a beautiful sight, to be sure, but when Emilia looked to Amit, she was surprised anew at how Amit's eyes sparkled as he watched the beasts, a small smile playing across his face.

Emilia suddenly felt uneasy at the sight of him and looked away, catching the attention of the sentry Hippogriff. The pair dove behind the rock again, holding their breaths until they heard three pairs of wings flying above their heads, deeper into the forest and out of sight.

Sighing dreamily, Amit rose to his feet. "Such beautiful beasts... It's my dream to be able to ride one, someday."

The comment caught in Emilia's mind, and her thoughts immediately went to the unusual knapsack she had in her coat.