To be honest, Zia wasn't totally sure if she was allowed to be on the Quidditch field.

She certainly wasn't a team member. She wasn't a lost cause when it came to sports; she had grown up beating Nico and Lee at quidditch all of the time. Admittedly, Nico and Lee were the worst of her brothers at anything sports-related, and they both were well aware of the fact. But still, Zia felt secure in her athleticism. Wasn't that enough of a qualification? She had her own broom, so why shouldn't she be allowed to? It was actually fairly nice outside, and Zia just wanted to zoom around and feel the wind on her face.

It had been cold for so long, and Zia was definitely susceptible to cabin fever. She couldn't stand staring at the same four walls again, and despite the fact that the castle offered her several different sets of four walls, they all felt worn out to her. Today, she was going to go outside! When she walked out, it was a little cooler than she expected it to be, and so she Accio-ed herself a pair of gloves and a hat in addition to her scarf. She put them on and walked boldly towards the Quidditch pitch.

And as she had hoped, the field appeared to be empty. Without thinking twice about it, Zia mounted her broom and pushed off, that good feeling of wind in her hair acquired. She couldn't help it. Zia let out a long "Whooohooo!" into the air and zoomed around in circles gleefully. It felt so good to be outside after this long winter! Zia  hadn't even noticed that in the process of ricocheting around the Quidditch field, somewherea long the line her hat had fallen off. She was too busy flying.

The infamous 'Flying Fish' (if anyone was actually calling her that) of the Hufflepuff Quidditch Team didn't come to the Quidditch Pitch often when not on game or practice. Yet today didn't find Heliotrope plunged in the icy depths of the lake for once. She had her borrowed lakeweed covered broom over her shoulder.

Heliotrope didn't have any great plans for Seeker practice, though instincts to grasp at things kicked in the moment she got onto the open section of the pitch: the pink pom of a blue knit hat. After retrieving it from where it had been discarded Heliotrope stretched the brim a few times, enjoying the texture of the weave, before pulling it onto her own head.

Then she got onto her broom, prepped to take off.

Man, the weather was nice! The high speed was starting to make Zia get chilly, though. She did a few corkscrews and then pulled back on the handle, slowing down to a casual glide. Zia closed her eyes and let the sun warm her cheeks. When she opened them, she noticed that she was no longer alone on the field.

A wave of nervousness washed over her. She still wasn't entirely sure if she was even allowed to be flying around on the field, and Zia hated getting in trouble. She'd managed to avoid getting seriously punished by her parents as a kid -- maybe because with their thirteenth child, they were over the whole 'punishing' thing, but Zia also aimed to please. The last thing she wanted was to lose her house a bunch of points just because she wanted to fly around.

When Zia got a little closer to the new person, she realized it was a pretty young girl. It was unlikely that she could take away any house points. Zia also noticed that she had the same hat! As she saw it, she unconsciously put her hand to her bright pink hair, where her hat was supposed to be. "Wait..." Zia said under her breath. Her eyebrows furrowed and she slowed her broom to a stop.

"Hey!" Zia said, in a way that she hoped was friendly. The last thing she needed right now was to be hexed!

Kick off in three, two...

Having an older student flying in close caused Heliotrope to reflexively change her angle of launch. Which caused her to fly off diagonally but not in any way to keep height or speed. So at the other end of the parabola Heliotrope crashed backed to earth again.

Not in any painful way as the mermish second year used outstretched arms to brace rolling across the ground, broomstick bouncing off a different direction. She'd had nastier plummets during some Quidditch games.