Clash of Temperatures ((Casey))

[Harmony Chan H6]

Harmony tugged on Aurora’s sleeve playfully, a teasing but encouraging grin on her face as she gracefully skidded around her cousin’s still figure. “Come on, Aurora!” Harmony pestered with a wide grin. “You can’t stand there doing nothing all day!” Aurora had been wobbly remaining in the same position by the handrail the moment she had entered the ice rink ten minutes ago, her grip on the metal tight as though her life depended on it. Her face was a pale shade of white, sucking the blood out of her as her shaky eyes stared warily across the rink filled with many moving figures. “You can’t come to an ice rink and not ice skate.” Harmony added gently. She had always been an extremely patient person unlike her cousin Leo, who although like Aurora had not stepped foot on ice for several years had taken to it like a duck to water, had merely rolled his eyes in exasperation at his reluctant sister and skated off, albeit shakily, to gain more control over his feet, not patient enough to stand by and watch Aurora struggle. Aurora had argued that Leo had always been the sporty kid of the family, and her body was just not made for such physical exertion. That was always her excuse for every single sport in the world. Plus, Aurora had added with a roll of her eyes and a wry grin, Leo didn’t mind practising over and over again until he had smashed his head into the ground and could move no more (and even then, she had pointed out, he would’ve stilled wanted to continue). Aurora lacked that Gryffindor fire, passion and motivation, nor did she have the desire to hurt herself doing something she didn’t enjoy in the first place. Aurora Chan was still too young to die, thank you very much.

Aurora sighed softly at Harmony’s words, and tried hard not to slip and squeal as she manoeuvred her way slowly to face her spinning cousin. “I’m sorry. Although ice-skating is one of my preferred sports, I haven’t done this for ages, and I’ll admit it – I’m scared of falling down. Even if I like it, it doesn’t mean I’m any more good at it than anything else and that the pain of falling over will be any less.” Chuckling dryly, Aurora’s attention was drawn away when Ariane skated over to them expertly, coming to a skidding halt before the two girls with a slight frown.
“Still here?” Ariane blinked, using her stoppage time to throw her inconveniently long hair into a high ponytail. It was ironic how the Chans had come ice-skating during this season of all seasons: summer. It was a total clash of temperatures, the outside baking hot and with many happy families at parks and fairgrounds enjoying the sun; the last thing one would think of doing was ice-skating at this time of year. But Harmony had insisted, since it had been a while since Ari and her had touched the ice, and Leo had seemed keen too. So had Aurora, in fact, before she had stepped onto the rink. After that, she had just turned to mush. Literally.
“Yep.” Aurora sighed, though she grinned through her nervousness, not wanting to bring a downer on the situation. Although it was odd to be indoors ice-skating, there were still quite a few people circling the large rink, and Aurora watched on anxiously. Seeing her best friend’s expression, Ariane sighed too, and skated forward, grabbing Aurora’s hand.
“C’mon. Come with me.” Ariane demanded roughly before dragging a bewildered Aurora behind her, ignoring her increasing protests as she shakily made her first mark on the ice since she was twelve. Harmony giggled at the sight of the two girls, one so steady, the other raging with shrieks and cries of fear and shock. Soon they dissolved into the crowd of skaters, leaving Harmony to ponder by herself by the handrail.

Glancing around, Harmony could catch no sight of Leo either, and deciding not to waste anymore time, smiled and took off in the direction the flow of skating was going. It was exhilarating to feel this sensation again after such a long time, Harmony thought as she circled the rink with her head in the clouds, her lithe body weaving in and out of several couples and groups of giggling girls. She would perform some dance steps on the ice, but there were so many strangers surrounding her, and Harmony was much too shy to start pirouetting in the middle of the arena. Laughing softly to herself, Harmony let her feet glide smoothly across the white surface, just savouring such sensations with a fond smile. It was nice to feel this relaxed after all that had occurred in the last few months, Harmony decided. It was nearing the start of school now, and she was glad that the four of them had had this one last chance of going out and having fun together. She would miss the fun days at home, but she also looked forward to a new year of school back at Hogwarts. Harmony almost gave a surprised shriek as a younger boy propelled past her in the opposite direction, flailing wildly and narrowly missing crashing into her body if she hadn’t swerved at the last second. She breathed a sigh of relief, her eyes following his figure as she steadied herself, wanting to call to him to warn him that one must always go in the same direction as everyone else. However, her gaze being directed behind her, Harmony wasn’t keeping an eye on things upfront, and the next thing she knew she was lying flat on her back, a heavy weight pressed against her as a familiar loud voice thrummed in her ears. Pain wracked her back, but it was beginning to subside already, although the cold was starting to seep in. Groaning, Harmony lifted her head, attempting to get up and stare at the person who had knocked her over. All she was met with was a mass of brown hair, aware that many ice skates were passing them by and it would be much too dangerous if they remained in this position any longer. “Hey, are you okay?” Harmony asked loudly as she struggled to get up, blushing and pulling her hair out of her eyes.

[Casey Allen G5]

“Wake up, bud.” Bradley called shaking Casey light. “Mmm..” She murmured in her sleep. “C’mon bud. We had to get to the skating rink.” “Mmm..” She murmured again. At that moment, Joel entered the room and ran over to Casey. “Get up!” He screamed in her ear. Casey’s eyes opened widely and she shot straight up like a cannon. “Joel!” She screeched in reply. Joel laughed widely before running out of the room. “Why I otta!” Casey called, getting up to chase after her annoying brother. “Now, now Case.” Bradley said as she grabbed her shoulder, making her stand in place. Casey nodded. “Okay, now get into that pretty little outfit of yours. You have to skate like a pro for that commercial Eden’s doing.” Casey sighed. “Why did you sign agree to that?” She whined. “I can’t skate.” Bradley sighed. “You’ll learn. Now, put that outfit on, slap that wig on your head and move!” He ordered before leaving the room. As the door shut, Casey turned and went to lie on her bed again. “Casey!” Bradley called knowing his daughter too well. “I’m up, I’m up.” She responded, but continued to lie on her bed. After a second though, Casey got up and started to get ready for the day.

Eden walked into the ice-skating rink before it was to open. She would have private lesson preparing her for the energy drink commercial. Casey had only skated twice in her whole life. The first time was for a skating party that her friend, Raquel had when she was eight. The second time was for a date. A boy guitar player Paul asked Eden on a date for Christmas ice-skating the previous December. Basically, Eden humiliated herself by falling and ripping her pants. Thankfully, no paparazzi were present or they would have had a field day. Casey laughed remembering those crazy times. This commercial would be a disaster. Couldn’t let get a real ice-skater to do it? Accord to Bradley, Eden needed this publicity to promote a new single on top of her second album that would be out in the spring. Plus, apparently the public wanted to see me singers in commercials. Casey didn’t know where this research had come from, but oh well. She would be in the commercial, two left feet and all. Hopefully, she wouldn’t make a fool of Eden Sweden.

Eden feebly skated to the center of the rink wearing the warm-up suit that the energy drink company had provided for her. She wore a simple aqua leotard with soft, purple pants and a high cut purple cardigan. Eden’s blond hair was pulled into two French braids that Bradley had provided the magic for. As she came to the center of the rink, her instructed, a man with a high-pitched voice clapped for her. Eden could only smile, a bit confused. “You look fabulous Eden Sweden as always. I am Jean Claude; you’re instructor for the next couple of days before the commercial will be filmed. “I must warn you, Jean-Claude. I’m a horrible skater.” She told him. He nodded and smiled. “I’ve been warned of that, but it is no problem. You will learn very simple things first and then we will try just a few harder things. Plus..” He neared her in a whisper. “magic makes everything look a lot better.” Eden smiled since she hadn’t known that this man was a wizard as this commercial was for a muggle drink. Casey assumed that Bradley set this up which was just like him. She nodded. “Awesome.”

After an hour of practice, Eden was given several hours off. She would only have to return to another lesson when the rink closed later that night. This thrilled Casey as she was tired to doing the same things over and over. She had to admit that she had done some improvements. At least she could now skate decently without falling too much. She was having a hard time with any stunts at all, but she knew that she wasn’t expected to do a double-axle or anything that advanced. Casey was still tried to repeating the same thing over and over. So, she decided to stay at the rink longer for some plain, fun skating. Casey had already changed out of her Eden clothes and wig and put on some jeans and a pink tank-top with a yellow cardigan. She put her white skates back on and began to skate in a circle with the huge crowd. However, she soon found herself falling behind with the crowd. She couldn’t keep up and she almost fell a couple of time. So finally, Casey skated the opposite direction, trying to get out of the overly crowded rink. Casey noticed a girl that had turned her head and wasn’t watching. She tried to swerve, but two bodies were pressed too close to her. So, Casey had no choice but to crash into the girl. As they hit the ice floor, Casey noticed who it was. “Harmony! I’m so sorry.” She called to the Hufflepuff girl. However, Casey noticed that they would be trampled by the fellow skaters in any second. So she got up, and pulled Harmony with her. Casey then pulled the girl to the center of the rink, momentarily away from all the fast-paced skater. Casey turned to face Harmony. “I’m so sorry. I was falling behind every one and decided to go back before I got hurt, but I guess my thinking was a little off..” She murmured feeling guilty for pushing Harmony to the ground. “Are you okay?”

[Harmony Chan H6]

“Casey?” Harmony blinked at the sight of the familiar face, her eyes wide in surprise at seeing her classmate. Casey Allen was a Gryffindor in her year, one whom Harmony had spoken to a few times over the past three years. She was a cheerful, friendly girl; Harmony didn’t expect to meet anyone here at the skating rink, never mind Casey. Before Harmony could fully absorb the situation, her head still seeing stars from the rather painful fall, Casey had grabbed her hand and pulled her up, helping to steady her through the pain that throbbed in her body. Gratefully, Harmony let Casey lead them into the centre of the rink, where there were less people, and began to apologise again. Finally, Harmony’s brain understood all the information going to her head, and she waved off Casey’s worried apologies with a bright smile. Thankfully, the pain was subsiding a little, leaving only thin traces of ache. “I’m fine now. You caught me by surprise, that’s all. There’s no need to say sorry, it wasn’t your fault. It’s quite crowded here for the summer…” Harmony trailed off as her eyes darted around the masses of people circling them. She thought she caught a glimpse of bright yellow for a moment, Aurora having insisted on wearing this fluorescent jacket as a joke from Leo, but it was a momentary flash, and gone in an instant in the hoards of skaters.

Harmony turned her attention back to Casey with her usual smile. “It’s a surprise to see you here, Casey. Are your friends and family with you?” Harmony didn’t know much about Casey’s personal life, if she had siblings, what were her likes and dislikes. It was obvious to Harmony, however, that Casey was somewhat new to ice skating. It wasn’t just because the Gryffindor girl had crashed into her so haphazardly earlier. Casey herself had just said she was falling behind, and from the slightly unsteady way she held herself, Harmony could tell she had little experience, like Aurora and Leo. On the other hand, Ari and Harmony had been ice skating since they were children, because their mother was a passionate ice skater. Ariane had a natural affinity for sports, and Harmony had always been good at delicate, graceful activities. Both of them had taken to the hobby with enthusiasm, and their usual practices were broken only when they had left America to move to England. Since then, Harmony and Ariane had rarely visited any ice rinks. There weren’t many around the area they lived, but Lorraine still did her best to get her daughters to them whenever the opportunity arose. Of course, once they had been initiated into Hogwarts, the chances were often rare.

Harmony’s skills in ice skating improved as her dancing level increased. Ariane could ice skate well, but unlike her younger sister, she couldn’t do anything else on the ice. Ice skating was Harmony’s passion only second to dancing, but it seemed that both of these things were sometimes stomped out of her life due to other things and circumstances. That was why she was so glad to be here today. To ice skate was to relive happy memories with her sister and mother. Harmony smiled a little sadly to herself. She hoped Casey had somebody with her… because she thought skating by oneself was lonesome. “Is this your first time ice skating, Casey?” Harmony asked curiously with a supportive smile. “I can tell you don’t come often, right? You’re doing well though.” Harmony observed her friend’s stature. “It’s probably not a good idea to turn around in the crowd of skaters though.” She suggested with a hand gesture at the people moving around. “Because like what happened before, you’ll be pushed over pretty easily, especially in that crowd. There’s a reason we all go in the same direction.” Harmony smiled kindly at Casey. “It’s best to go round with everyone until you reach the exit.”

Harmony was itching to practice ice dancing, but in this area, it really was unsuitable. Plus the pain in her head and back hadn’t completely resided yet. Harmony had a sneaking suspicion that she would be sporting quite a few horrible bruises when she left the rink today, and made a mental note not to let Ari notice. That girl could sniff anything out in a second. “Have you had a nice summer so far, Casey?” Harmony asked the Gryffindor as she brushed herself down, trying not to notice the cold that affected her back through her clothes. “It’s almost the beginning of school soon. Are you looking forward to it? I kind of want to see everyone again.” Harmony chuckled to herself fondly, thoughts and memories of Hogwarts floating into her mind. Hogwarts was her second home… and was literally her first home because she spent most of her life each year there. When she was at Hogwarts she missed her home in London (now Manchester) so much, and used to love going home to see her mother. But when she did finally reach home, she would long for the magic atmosphere of Hogwarts again. Harmony smiled. She had a fickle mind indeed.