On Edge

[joel]

Don’t care about a thing today,
I used to but I’m fed up.

Have you ever experienced pure bliss? If not, you really should try it sometime. The feeling was marvelous – you were invincible, limitless, and heck there was nothing that life could throw at you that could possibly shake the ground you stood firm on. Or, in this case, damage the sky you were flying around in. Joel zoomed back and forth about the pitch, doing a number of crazy stunts that performed incorrectly could land him in the Hospital Wing for weeks. Luckily, he had skill on his side – although, more probable, luck on his side. Joel had been out at the Qudditch Pitch all morning it seemed. From the second he had woken up he’d been restless, ready to go and do something worth wild. Well, needless to say there was a certain amount of “wild” anyone could get around Hogwarts so he took the next best option: being reckless. It is, after all, what Joel did best. The wind plastered his hair against his head, his clock flying madly behind him as his speed slowly accelerated. It was now or nev-

“Joel!”

And now for the crash and burn segment of today. Startled he immediately lost his grip and went hurtling towards the ground. Oh God, oh God, he chanted as the ground all too quickly barreled towards him. Somewhere in the back of his mind he had time to register a terrified scream before he suddenly – stopped falling? Joel’s free fall to his death was put on pause, his body now floating only mere inches from the ground. His broom fell with a loud thud against the grass and then Joel crashed next to it. He groaned and pushed himself up into sitting position. “What the h–”

“You idiot!” Vivienne yowled at him, her hands clamped into two fists, one of which was near breaking her wand in half. “What the hell were you thinking?!” It was so unlike her to swear – alright, she was pissed. “Are you trying to kill yourself?! You almost died! Where’s your common sense gone, you stupid Gryffindor! What on earth–” Joel cleared his throat loudly, interrupting her: “Viv, if you hadn’t noticed, I was doing fine until you decided to pop in and call for my attention. You just startled me is all. And I’m fine, look.” He wiggled all his fingers and tapped both feet against the ground. “Everything’s still in tack, relax will you? What the heck did you want anyways?” He looked at her curiously, always wondering what was going on in that head of hers. “Oh never mind,” she said hurriedly, brushing her hair out of her face. Before he could even think over her reply Vivienne had already vanished back up towards the castle.

“Well then…” Joel muttered, all too confused but not bothering to chase after her. And, he was still a little too dazed to pull himself up either. Sighing, he leaned back flat against the glass and stared up at the sky. It was a murky sort of gray, and the ground was rather cold now that he thought about it. Joel considered getting up, and didn’t. Might as well catch his breath. Near-death experiences could do that to you.

[Reserved for Harper]

[aves3]

Harper sang a bit of a song floating through her headed as she headed towards the Quidditch Pitch. It was true that she hadn’t been on a team since her fifth year, but it was her guilty pleasure to watch practices and games. Her house didn’t even have to be playing, but even when she was just watching she felt this… Rush! Merlin, it was glorious… And it was even better when she’d been playing. When Harper had been up there on her broom, high above the ground and the crowd… It’d been better then any magic!

Harper tried to not think about Quidditch or the rush and instead concentrate on the song going through her head. It was a good song, though she couldn’t really remember where she heard it, who it was by, or even what it was called… But she knew it was definitely a song she liked, why else would it be stuck in her head?

“Life's too short for you to die, so grab yourself an alibi… Heaven knows your mother lied, Mon Cher!” She sang in a soft tone as she continued to walk towards the pitch “Separate your right from wrongs; come and sing a different song… The kettle's on so don't be long, Mon cher! So come on, let me entertain you!” Ah! That was it! The song was called Let me entertain you! But the artist and where she’d heard it where still a mystery to Harper… Well, it happened! Some thing just needed to be forgotten, there was really no use trying to remember them once they were gone…

Harper stopped singing as she finally reached the Quidditch Pitch, never know who could be listening after all, and spotted Joel Madden laying in the grass. She grinned when she spotted the Gryffie. Yeah, it was true she didn’t know him to well, but Harper could talk to just about anyone if she was in the right mood and today her mood was saying that she needed to go say hi.

“Oi! Joel!” she called as she strolled over to his side “Anything interesting up there in the Great Everlasting Blue… Err, I mean Gray…” she asked with a devious grin and a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

[joel]

And I can hear the words you say;
I wish that you would shut up.

Alright, the ground was really cold. Joel reconsidered his early idea of getting up on his feet but despite the chills running through his spine he was rather content just lying there. It felt good to finally calm down and take a couple moments to breathe. He hadn’t realized it, but maybe he had been running around for too long this morning. He needed time for his mind to catch up with his body, or body to catch up with his mind – he wasn’t so sure which came first. So Joel just laid there, oddly comfortable on the earthy floor. He even went as far as to close his eyes, let his mind wander a bit. Of course, it immediately rushed to Vivienne and what on earth her problem was. She comes all the way down here in search of him, finds him, nearly kills him, saves him, and then all she has to say is “never mind”? Well, girls always had confused him. It’s not like today was the day they would miraculously start making sense or anything.

“Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall…” he muttered under his breath, coming up with no better option to distract him for the time being. He had got to ninety-five before he got tired of the old rhythm. Joel rubbed his eyes tiredly and groaned – the impact of hitting the ground was starting to take its toll on him. Dang Vivienne – why couldn’t she have put him down gently? Would it really have been that hard? Maybe she’d done it on purpose – yeah, that seemed likely. They hadn’t exactly been getting along well lately. Joel of course fully intended on blaming her for that, but, well…

“Oi! Joel!” He was pretty certain it was possible to jump a good foot in the air without even trying, the sudden shout startling him – yeesh, was everyone out to get him today? Joel sat up and arched his back, hearing it crack loudly from the stiffness. “Oh, hey Harper,” he muttered, blinking his eyes into focus as she came near. Okay, so she was taller then him to begin with but sitting on the grass with her standing make him feel impeccably short. Joel pushed himself and wiped off his jeans. “Not really, I wasn’t even looking at it to be honest.” Only after he’d answered it did he realize the question didn’t fully deserve an answer. Well, too late. “I was just taking a nap, you know, catch up on sleep.” He shrugged it off, “What brings you down here?” he asked, realizing she carried no broom herself , and then glanced at his own lying pitifully off to his left. It was a miracle it hadn’t shattered from the high fall. Well, it could stay there for a little longer.