VIBRANCE || FRED WEASLEY [1]

[08]: AMONGST THE WILD WINDS

—
CHAPTER EIGHT;
[ AMONGST THE WILD WINDS ]
[VIBRANCE || FRED WEASLEY]

—

EXACTLY ONE MONTH HAD PASSED SINCE ARDEN HAD ARRIVED AT HOGWARTS, and she was feeling more tired than ever before. October had climbed atop the many students like a blanket of pressure, the homework more frequent than usual and the teacher's stricter than they had first been towards the beginning of September. Many people had fallen used to their stay at Hogwarts—the classes, the expectations, the routine they carried out day by day.

Unfortunately, Arden was not amongst those people.

Despite the many attempts at getting the girl to join in on her brother's plans with Jason, Thea, and Rowan, Arden had become accustom to declining the many sorts of invitations brought to her by the group. Instead, she found herself spending most of her spare time with Alice or Cedric—the nice Ravenclaw who always kept her company in the common room and the Hufflepuff with a fairly decent sense of humor and remarkably intact morals. Amongst the many, Cedric had been the most easiest to come around.

He lacked the sense of want to become a closer friend to Arden (and take a peak at what she was really feeling). Rather, Cedric seemed content with the limited conversational skills that Arden possessed and her lack of will to seek out information from the boy. They were fine with the relationship they had now—and that was all Arden could ever ask for in such a place she wished to leave.

Quidditch tryouts, for the most part, had been the source of conversation between Arden and Cedric. He had kept his promise to teach the girl all he knew about the sport and its very intense game—taking her out to the pitch two times a week to practice her gradually increasing skills. Arden now knew how to fly, how to gain speed, and how to skillfully advance on other players during a chase. All that was left for Arden to learn was the properties of being a feared Beater—a position that Cedric insisted on her trying out for because of Arden's athletic physique, and most importantly, her rather muscular arms.

Arden had awoken that Saturday morning with the intentions of dressing in her most comfortable clothing to practice. Her black pants sat rather tightly on her hips, Arden's navy blue t-shirt loose and hanging off of her broad shoulders. Cedric had recommended she tie her hair back because of the wind, an idea that Arden had taken into account—her lavish black locks pulled back into a sturdy ponytail.

As she did so, Arden caught a look of the leather that coated her hands. Cedric had personally gifted her with a pair of black gloves after noticing that Arden's hands had begun to crack and bleed from the tight grip she held onto her broom with. They fit perfectly, and much to Arden's small pit of satisfaction, he had them specifically sown with her initials. A gift he had said he gave to all those on his team (although, Arden had made sure to check for Hufflepuff's player's hands, and she expectantly saw that none bared their own personal possession from Cedric). She hadn't mentioned it, though. Arden felt grateful that Cedric had taken such a liking to her in such a short amount of time, enough for her to begin looking forward to the following days because of the brunette and his tidious remarks.