Old Fare ((Jazz))

[Sapphire Phoenix R7]

Sapphire tapped her friend on the shoulder as she got within reaching distance of her in the queue to enter the stands of the Hogwarts Quidditch Pitch. She smiled at Jasmine once she had eye contact, and then jostled her way forward to walk next to her as the queue began to ascend the stairs up to the more worthwhile seats where watching the game didn't require craning one's neck at an unbearable, unsustainable angle. It was fairly easy to push through a crowd once you were in seventh year - people tended to let you through without an excessive amount of force being necessary, so Sapphire could get where she needed to go (in this case to her friend's side) without feeling too guilty about the tactics employed.

"So, what's it to be then?" she asked after they had swung their way down into a couple of desirable seats in the middle of a row. The people around them didn't seem too rowdy. Such antics would not have been possible from Sapphire had she been wearing the high heeled boots which she normally favoured, but since it was very cold she was in a warm pair of corduroy trousers with flat shoes, a thermal vest, long-sleeved top, a woolly forest green jumper, and covering all that, her Ravenclaw scarf and a long, thick coat. She'd also remembered to put on a pair of gloves (black) to retain the use of her fingers, and of course her navy blue hat. Having lived in Russia, she was used to dealing with the cold, and she was certainly prepared today.

So as not to mystify her friend with her last question, she picked up the sturdy bag that she had by her side, and began displaying its contents - which consisted of an assortment of drinks flasks.
"We have hot chocolate, of course, and coffee; there's no tea becaue that's not very good out of a flask and I don't really like it anyway... we have orange juice, though that might be a bit cold for today, and, um... I think this one might be mulled wine. No, not really." She opened the flask to find it half full with warmed wine, and smiled with some amusement and some embarrassment. "Well yes actually, it really is. I guess that jokes aren't really... a good idea around house elves. Anyway, I'm sure it'll be very pleasant." She grinned at Jasmine. "And for eats, we have chocolate chip cookies, still warm... at the moment, that is, but they won't be soon... and also cheese cookies."

Sapphire settled down in her seat as she let her friend respond.
"It feels good to be back here again, doing the same old," she commented contentedly. "So who are you supporting then?" she asked curiously. "I'm cheering for Gryffindor, of course, because Zara's playing. I just hope no one takes her out with a Bludger... I really hate those things, and the Hospital Wing gives me the creeps now, if it didn't before."

[Jasmine Anderson]

It was the first Quidditch match of the season, and Jasmine had to make an appearance. What kind of a Quidditch captain would she be if she missed the game? Anyway, since Ravenclaw was playing Slytherin in a short while, Jasmine also had to watch the other teams playing tactics for the near future. Glancing around the room, Jasmine saw the other girls getting dressed, but she couldn’t spot Sapphire. She was supposed to watch the match with her best friend. “She must already be in the Great Hall or wit Zara,” Jasmine told herself with a slight smile on her lips. Pulling on a white thermal shirt over her shoulder, Jasmine tugged on a blue long sleeved shirt over the under shirt. It was cold outside, so she decided to dress warm to avoid catching a cold. Grabbing her favorite beanie and scarf from on top of her trunk, Jasmine tugged them both into her coat pockets. Once set, Jasmine quickly left the dorm room, making her way down to the Great Hall. Her stomach was giving quick jabs of pain, rumbling in hunger. Taking a deep breath, Jasmine entered the hall, the smell of Breakfast hanging in the air. Grinning, she took a seat down at the Ravenclaw table next to Brantley. He was also going to match, but they weren’t going to be together. Jasmine had to spend some alone time with Sapphire, and Brantley with his friends. Scooping up some scrambled eggs onto her plate, Jasmine also picked out two pieces of warm toast. Taking her spoon, she scooted the eggs onto the toast before rolling the bread in half. Biting down into the food she set it down pouring herself a glass of pumpkin juice. She and Brantley normally talked about almost everything under the sun, but some days all they need was silence. They weren’t the kind of couple that was clingy or loud. Sometimes saying nothing meant everything.

As she finished, Jasmine leaned across the table kissing Brantley on the check saying her good byes. Smiling, Jasmine left the Great Hall, following the crowds of students out onto the pitch. Quidditch was a popular sport, and the stands were always packed at every match. Feeling someone tap on her shoulder just as she was about to enter the pitch, Jasmine stopped turning around to see Sapphire. “Sapph!” Jasmine greeted with a large smile following her friend into the pitch. The two found a spot to sit in. Jasmine took out her beanie, pulling it down over her dark hair. As Sapphire ask what she wanted to drink, she stared down at the brown bag her friend carried out onto the field. “Ehh...No coffee. Hot chocolate sounds really good though,” Jasmine said with a nod as she wrapped her blue and silver scarf around her neck. A slight chilly wind rushed by them sending a shiver up her spine. Taking one of the mugs from her friend, Jasmine held it close to her numb hands, enjoying the warmth it gave. “Chocolate chips? Cheese cookies?” she questioned glancing over her shoulder at her friend. “You know me too well. I’ve been wanting chocolate for the longest time.” Nodding, Jasmine narrowed her eyes playfully at her friend. “Hand over the bags, girly!” Waiting as her friend dug around for the snacks, Jasmine looked out onto the pitch. The teams were already beginning their warm up laps around the pitch. “I think I should try to enjoy the game. Not think of it from a captain’s point of the view.”

As Sapphire asked about which team Jasmine was going to cheer on, Jasmine stared over at her friend. “I don’t know. I think I might remain mutual in this match. Hope Zara doesn’t get to hurt. Beaters can be quite ruthless.” Staring back onto the pitch when Zara mentioned being afraid of the hospital wing, Jasmine kept silent. It was all because of that one day with Dana that really scared her friend. Jasmine really didn’t know she could forgive her friend. Who would abandon their best friend like that? Shaking her head, Jasmine watched as Madam Hooch blew the whistle signaling for the game to begin. “Don’t worry about Zara, Sapph. She’ll be ok.”

[Sapphire Phoenix R7]

Sapphire grinned as Jazz accepted her offer of hot chocolate, and once she'd set the other flasks safely back in the bag she carefully unscrewed the thermos lid and extracted the mug that was integrated into it. A cloud of warm air escaped from inside the flask as she did so, condensing in the air in front of her so that when she leant forward slightly, she could feel it on her face, wet and still slightly warm. She smiled and filled the first mug, which she handed to Jazz, and then took out a small, slightly battered tin mug from her bag which she filled for herself. She put one hand round her mug to steady it as she put the lid back on the hot chocolate flask and returned it to the bag, enjoying the warming effect for her fingers that came from having them clasped around a mug of hot liquid.
"I approve of your choice - I think it's an excellent one, but then I would considering how much I love hot chocolate," she said. "Do you very much dislike coffee, or are you just not in the mood for it? I'd never realised you didn't like it."

Sapphire thought momentarily of the two extremes of coffee-appreciation that she'd encountered - Dana, who was surely more addicted to her habitual cups of coffee than Sapphire was her hot chocolate, and then Dana's friend, Nasser, who disliked it so much that he couldn't even bring himself to swallow it once he'd already taken a sip! Even this small comparison left her sombrely contemplative for a few seconds, before she reacted to Jasmine's demand for the immediate supply of chocolate cookies, and leant over to take them out of her bag. They were wrapped up in brown paper, which seemed to be somewhat greaseproof, and then tied with string in a neat bow. It seemed that house elves liked to wrap up their produce. She untied the bow and took out the uppermost cookies, balancing the rest of them, still in the paper, on the space between her seat and Jasmine's. Jazz could decide how many to eat at once!

"Were you trying to starve yourself of chocolate?" she asked lightly. "I'm sorry if I'm making you indulge when you didn't want to." She smiled playfully at her friend. "A good bit of baking never did any harm, though." She bit into her own cookie, enjoying the chocolatey flavour. Sapphire was much more fond of hot chocolate than she was of the treat in its solid form, but she still wouldn't deny that she was enjoying it, very much. She smiled as she saw Zara's bright red hair zooming around just a little way above her trusty broomstick. Sapphire loved the colour of her sister's hair, and yet another good point to it was that she could always distinguish which one was her sister, even when they were going too fast for her to be able to pick much else out. There was another girl with reddish hair in crimson robes as well, but her red hair wasn't quite as vibrant as Zara's, so Sapphire would still be able to distinguish between them. Wonderful. Perhaps she'd actually understand what was going on in this game, especially as she had a distinguished Quidditch Captain beside her to explain to her!

"Can you ever really stop thinking from a captain's point of view?" she asked. "I mean, you don't see the captain of an opposing team going around looking a bit ill and think 'That's good, at least they won't be getting much practice in before our match against them!'?" She laughed a little. "That sounds decidedly uncharitable and cold-hearted, but my point is... when you watch them, you have enough knowledge that you'll understand their strengths and their weaknesses. How do you stop yourself from weighing them up against members of your own team in your head?"
Sapphire stared back at her friend unashamedly. It wasn't such a strange question to ask who she was supporting, surely? She laughed a little at the first part of Jazz's answer, and then nodded seriously at the second part.
"Being neutral is all very well," she retorted, "but how do you intend to get any excitement that way? How will you decide whether you're pleased or displeased about who scores the first goal, who gets the lead, who wins?" She knew that having these emotions probably didn't matter to Jazz particularly, but still, she had always liked banter.

"I hope that she will be okay," she added quietly.

[Jasmine Anderson]

Jasmine looked over her shoulder at Sapphire, eyeing her best friend. She watched as the Ravenclaw carefully opened the lid to the large thermal full of steaming hot chocolate. Jasmine could have drunk right from the thermal, but maybe Sapphire wanted some. Smiling as her friend handed her the warm mug, Jasmine held it protectively between her hands, enjoying the warm sensation through her thick leather gloves. Jasmine loved hot chocolate, especially on cold morning such as these. Warm drinks, food, and Quidditch made a good equation to having fun at Hogwarts. Jasmine didn’t know anyone else she would rather spend this game with. Well, there was Brantley, but he wasn’t much of a Quidditch person. He was here watching the game, just sitting with his guy friends. He respected Jasmine space, and when she wanted to spend time with just Sapphire. Smiling secretively at her thoughts, Jasmine stared back into the pitch, her hazel eyes sparkle from the sudden gust of wind. She hated conditions like this to play this certain game in. It took so much concentration not think about your numb limbs. That’s al Jasmine ever did during the game, but she had learned to put her full focus on only one thing: the golden snitch. Her team was counting on Jasmine to lead them into victory, which made losing all the more worse. That was the worst part about being captain. Everyone had complete faith in you, but if you made a slight mistake everything seemed to go wrong.

Sighing, Jasmine shook her head from those thoughts as Sapphire spoke about chocolate cookies. Grinning, Jasmine stuck out her tongue playfully at her friend. “I’ve been trying to cut back on chocolate late,” she clarified, her mouth watering Sapphire reached into the bag taking out some cookies from within. Reaching a hand forward, Jasmine grabbed a couple, stuffing them both into her mouth. Her eyes closed at the sweet delectable taste the made her taste buds water in response. Laughing, Jasmine tilted her head toward Sapphire taking a couple more cookies. “You know I’m the cookie monster,” Jasmine stated nibbling happily on one of the cookies instead of stuffing them both in her mouth like before. “Oh goodness. I think all those cookies are going to be gone before the whistle even blows!” Smirking at the idea, Jasmine tried to slow her eating, as she stuffed the last bit of dough into her mouth from the first cookie. Chewing happily, Jasmine watched as each of the Quidditch members mounted their bombs, flying up into the air. Cass and Ivy were still waiting in the center of the pitch as Madam Hooch was getting bundled into her own warm clothing. As the two girls shook hands, Jasmine took a sip of her own hot chocolate. “I wasn’t in the mood for coffee. I don’t need it to stay awake right now. It’s far too cold to even think about taking a nap right now.” Nodding, Jasmine took another sip of her drink, enjoying the warm liquid that escaped down her throat.

As Sapphire spoke, Jasmine looked over at her friend as she responded to Jasmine’s comment. “You’re right. I probably won’t look at it like a student who wasn’t on the team, but its hard not to.” Nodding, Jasmine stared back into the pitch hearing Madam Hooch’s whistle blow loudly. The Hufflepuff and Gryffindor chaser both leapt forward toward the quaffle, but the golden robes caught it first. “Like you can tell Gryffindor’s offense is off today.” Jasmine stated as the game continued on for a while. “I like being natural. It causes less disappointment at the end if your chosen team lost.” Nodding, Jasmine reached forward into Sapphire’s bag pulling out some cracks that were still in their wrappings. “Have I mentioned I love you for bringing all this food?” Grinning, Jasmine ripped open the wrapper, handing a couple of crackers to Sapphire before taking some of her own. “She will be alright, Sapph. She’s a good player.”