why make good choices when there are bad ones to make - hugo

[Deleted]

@hugo

in hindsight, it had probably been a bad idea to practice his gymnastics skills while there was snow on the ground. but being cooped up inside had never been an easy thing for eli to deal with. it was the day before he was heading home for the holidays, he'd decided that he didn't want to spend the christmas break at the school, he wanted to spend it with his siblings in france. not that it was really home but it felt more like home that his own house did. he'd been jumping from rock to rock, turning in the air and that had been okay, until he'd gotten cocky and tried to put a flip into one of his jumps. the rock he'd landed on had been wet, no watter than the others but his foot had hit it at the wrong angle and he'd fallen, slipping down to the ground, grazing his side on the rock as he'd fallen. he didn't think he'd done any major damage but by merlin it hurt. he sat against the rock with his legs pulled to his chest, his arm wrapped around his side as he waited for the pain to subside a little. he knew he was bleeding, he'd seen it through the fabric of his shirt but he didn't think it was pumping out so he was going to wait a little while longer, till he could move without worrying about making something worse. though there was one thing plaguing on his mind, what if someone had seen him?

[Deleted]

Hugo liked being outside. It was a good way for him to breathe and work through things, while everything seemed so messed up. It was hard having Xan so sick. He missed her in classes and missed being with her all the time. He visited her constantly, but that still wasn't the same. So he spent quite a bit of time outside. Today he paused when he saw someone jumping from rock to rock. The person was quite a ways away so he wasn't exactly sure who it was, but they were actually pretty good. Then they flipped and it didn't end up good. Hugo hurried across the difference to see if there was anything he could do to help. "Hey, are you ok?" he asked as he approached. When he arrived, he wasn't too surprised to see Elliot. 

@alexandre

[Deleted]

@hugo

"Hey, are you ok?" he'd heard the footsteps of someone approaching in the snow but he'd hoped that they wouldn't see him from where he was sitting against the rock and if they knew where he was it was almost certain they'd seen him take the fall. well that wasn't doing much to help the embarresment. he was supposed to be good and while he knew that falling was the only way to learn and you had to fall at times because things were beyond your control, it still sucked. it was hugo. one of his fellow gryffidor students, though he was a year above him, and someone he'd call a friend so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. he nodded his head slightly and pulled his hand away from his side in order to use it to push himself up from the ground so he could get to his feet. "i think so" he said as he slipped out of the jacket he was wearing and laid it on the rock next to him before pulling his shirt up to reveal the large graze down his side. it wasn't bleeding to badly but it hurt like anything but at least there was no bone broken and he could breath fine, it was just going to be painful till he could get to the hospital wing to have it healed. "i think the r-rock wanted to knock me down a peg" he said with a smile as he let his shirt drop and rested his hand back over the graze, it seemed to help with the pain that was going to turn into bruising.

[Deleted]

Hugo watched as Elliot stood up. Elliot was a little younger than him, but the two had always gotten along. The younger gryffindor lifted up his shirt to show a pretty decent scratch on his side. "That doesn't look like fun," he commented casually. He wouldn't tell anyone else what they should or should not do (though trying flips on rocks seemed like it should be on the not-do side of things) but he wasn't surprised that Elliot fell after trying a flip like that. "I think you're right about that," Hugo chuckled. At least Elliot wasn't whining and complaining about it. If you were going to do something silly and ended up getting hurt, dealing with it was definitely the better attitude to take. "So, why were you trying to do flips out here?" Hugo asked curiously. He couldn't help it, behavior like that was practically begging him to ask about it.

@alexandre

[Deleted]

@hugo

"That doesn't look like fun," he grinned slightly and shrugged one of his shoulders. it didn't feel all that fun but it had been worth it in his mind. it wasn't pumping out blood, if it managed to soak through his shirt then he'd wash it. magic had a way of getting stubborn blood stains out of clothes. "i'll survive." he said as he let his hand drop from his side and he leaned against the rock he had slipped off. "I think you're right about that," he laughed slightly and patted his hand against the cold stone of the rock and he looked back at hugo. "hogwarts rock: 1. gryffindor student: 0." he said with a laugh as he ran his hand through his hair, wanting to clear it of anything that might have stuck to it when he fell."So, why were you trying to do flips out here?" he shrugged slightly. there was no place that was bad to do flips, well if he thought hard enough he was sure he could come up with a pretty long list but the only hazard right now was the snow. "i've been stuck inside too long. i wanted to let of steam." he said with a smile again as he pushed off from the rock and he stepped toward the path that led to the castle. "want to go get a hot drink? i'm freezing now." he said. he was cooling off now after working out and his shirt was soaked through from where he'd fallen onto the ground so getting warm seemed like a good idea.

[Deleted]

At least Elliot didn't seem to be too hurt. Now that his shirt was down, Hugo couldn't see any of the blood, so things had to be alright for him. Probably. Hugo laughed when he said that the rock won. "Well you should see how you do against it when it's not all cold and slippery," Hugo teased. He nodded when the younger boy explained why he was outside. In all honesty, it was the same reason as Hugo, though they had different ways of showing it. Hugo didn't need to run and jump around, he just needed to be outside for a bit so he could breathe in the cold air. He turned around on the path and started walking back to the school with the younger student. "Sure, I'm always good for a hot drink. I'm feeling like a butterbeer right now anyway." After all, one of the best parts about coming outside was always going back in and stopping off at the kitchens for a good drink. When they reached the doors, Hugo opened it and led the way down to the kitchens. "So how long were you out there?" He asked curiously.

@alexandre

[Deleted]

@hugo

"Well you should see how you do against it when it's not all cold and slippery," eli just grinned and shrugged his shoulders. he knew how he would go against it when the rock was dry. he was a gymnast so providing things went okay while he was doing a stunt it would go pretty smoothly. though after his fall he didn't feel like he could point that out. he did like to back up his claim about being brilliant with actually being able to deliver. "Sure, I'm always good for a hot drink. I'm feeling like a butterbeer right now anyway." he could go for one of those too. it would do what he needed it to do and warm him up now he was damp. "hopefully the house elves are in a good mood." he said with a grin as he walked into the castle with hugo. So how long were you out there?" walking into the kitchens he dropped onto a chair by the fire that was warming the room and he shrugged his shoulders a little. "about an hour?" he said with a grin. "i only started to feel it when i stopped working." he said as he scrubbed his hands over his face and then held them out to the fire. "how about you?"

[Deleted]

Elliot seemed to be in the same type of a mood, which was probably a good thing. If he was tired enough that he was tripping, continuing with his gymnastic exercises outside in the cold didn't seem like something that would go over well. Hugo wouldn't say anything though. It wasn't any of his business. Hugo laughed at his friend's quip about the house elves. "Have you ever seen them not in a good mood?" he asked with a smile in his voice. Hugo hadn't. They were always happy to serve and provide him with anything and everything that he wanted, when it came to food, that was. When they walked in the room, Hugo asked for two butterbeers, figuring that if Elliot wanted something else, he would say so. He shrugged when the question was returned to him. "I'm not sure. Probably about half an hour. I just needed to get out of the castle for a bit. Not because anything bad happened, I just needed some air." Hugo was pretty sure that Elliot would understand that, but he explained himself anyway.

@alexandre

[Deleted]

@hugo

"Have you ever seen them not in a good mood?" eli grinned and shrugged his shoulders slightly, wincing a little when the action pulled at his graze. "when someone doesn't like their food?" not that eli had ever seen it happen but it was always a possibility though. as they walked into the kitchens he heard hugo ask for two butterbeers and he nodded his head in agreement and made to sit down at the table. "I'm not sure. Probably about half an hour. I just needed to get out of the castle for a bit. Not because anything bad happened, I just needed some air." he could understand that. often there was no reason why he wanted to get outside, it was just a call sometimes. "well the grounds are nice to walk around when there's snow about." he said as the elves came back with the two drinks. he smiled and reached out to slide one toward himself. "thanks." he said as he lifted the glass and took a sip. "how's xanthippe?" he asked, knowing hugo was dating the ravenclaw student.

[Deleted]

Hugo laughed at his friend's suggestion. "I guess that might happen, but anyone who doesn't like their food is crazy and deserves to experience their wrath," Hugo teased. Honestly though, who didn't like house-elves cooking? They were inside now and Hugo nodded when Eli told him that the grounds were nice to walk on with the snow. "Yeah, it's very peaceful outside with the snow. Especially right after a snowstorm." Really though, Hugo loved walking around outside when the snow was freshly fallen. Hugo sipped some of his drink as well, pausing when Eli asked about Xan. His smile lessened a little. He was still completely confident that she was going to get better, but it was still hard seeing her so sick. "She's ... still sick. They can't figure out how to help her and I know she's bored and tired of being in the Hospital Wing." He explained, not really sure how much Eli wanted to know. Oftentimes people would ask questions to be polite but they didn't really care about the answer and Hugo didn't want to overwhelm his friend with too much information.

@alexandre

[Deleted]

@hugo

"Yeah, it's very peaceful outside with the snow. Especially right after a snowstorm." he believed it. often it was because people hadn't gone out in it yet but he loved being the first to walk through fresh snow. he sipped his drink and nodded his head slightly, wiping his hand over his mouth when he set the glass back on the table. the conversation shifted when he asked about xanthippe and he saw the way hugo's smile wavered. "She's ... still sick. They can't figure out how to help her and I know she's bored and tired of being in the Hospital Wing." he nodded again as hugo explained. he could understand that. after the car accident that had killed his mother, he'd been in hospital for a few days and if h hadn't been dealing with his mother's death he was sure it would have driven him crazy. "they'll find something. i mean why wouldn't they? do they know what it is? and is she allowed to leave the hospital wing? if she is .. maybe she'd like to walk outside in the snow .." he asked as he shifted on his seat a little, tucking one arm around his chest to scratch lightly where he'd grazed himself earlier.

[Deleted]

Sitting in the kitchens with his friend was a lot more relaxing than Hugo expected it to be. As he sipped his drink, he smiled at the questions Eli offered. They were about Xan, so they weren't particularly happy questions but Hugo didn't want to make his friend feel bad for asking. "They don't know what it is, exactly. They know that she's having some type of a reaction to magic. Like, she can't be around it without getting sick. Which is another reason why the whole situation is so hard for her. But yeah, she can leave the hospital wing. I've taken her on walks around the castle and outside, but she's not always feeling up to them." Hugo didn't really know what else to say about it. He loved her, wanted her to get better and was sure that it would happen, but she didn't believe him and that made everything more difficult.

@alexandre

[Deleted]

@hugo

"They don't know what it is, exactly. They know that she's having some type of a reaction to magic. Like, she can't be around it without getting sick. Which is another reason why the whole situation is so hard for her. But yeah, she can leave the hospital wing. I've taken her on walks around the castle and outside, but she's not always feeling up to them." she couldn't be around magic without getting sick? for a few seconds eli wondered why they were keeping her in a place full of magic if it was making her sick. but then he wasn't a healer and he didn't know, it just seemed a little weird to him. he couldn't imagine being cooped up in a hospital bed for as long a time as xanthippe had. sitting still wasn't exactly a strong point of eli's. "well at least she's allowed out. otherwise she might start going crazy on top of things." he said with a slight grin as he sipped on the drink he had in his hands. "i know i would be."

[Deleted]

Hugo nodded at his friend's comment, "Yeah, she would go crazy. And so would I. I mean, I go to the hospital wing to see her all the time and that's not a problem, but it's more fun when we're allowed to leave for a bit. Get a change of scenery." Hugo didn't know why he was spending so much time explaining this to someone who clearly already understood, but he was. Weird. "So, what have you been up to lately? I haven't seen you around as much." Which might be because he was spending so much time in the hospital wing, but Hugo asked anyway.

@alexandre

[Deleted]

@hugo

"So, what have you been up to lately? I haven't seen you around as much." there hadn't really been much to get up to outside of classes and taking pictures for the newspaper. though he supposed that would be quite a bit. when the weather warmed up he'd be able to go outside and do more tricking but with the snow still like it was it wasn't very smart. as he'd proven to himself that afternoon. that said, he'd still probably try something in a few days, just to see if the same thing happened again. "just school and taking pictures for the paper." it sounded boring to him, he wished there was some fun filled story in there but there really wasn't. "and spending time with my cousin, after all he'll be back in france at the end of the year." he said as he sipped his drink.