Date: March 2014

Location: Quidditch Pitch

This year, Isabella noted, was going rather decent. All morning, she had been outside in the warmed air, running around to play football with her brothers. They had received quite a few strange looks, probably from those who had never heard of Muggle sports. It was amusing that she and her brothers, raised purebloods, were familiar with Muggle sports, to which they owed their father intentionally throwing them into the Muggle world. Now, football, next to Quidditch, was one of her favorite sports, finding that she and her brothers were naturally athletic. They had even joined Muggle sports groups over the summer, enjoying the time to run around. It was still difficult for her, not having her younger brother, Timothy, around, who had just died the past summer. Though, no one in her family seemed to know how to deal with loss very well as they all thrust themselves into being distracted and never talking about it. This worked just well for her, Isabella thought, as she leaned down to tie her shoe, watching as her brothers walked ahead.

Deciding she wasn’t all that hungry and would just grab something to eat later, she pulled out her wand, summoning her broom as she changed her destination to walk towards the Quidditch Pitch. The nicest part about not really being the friendly one of her siblings was the fact that people generally left her alone. As her brothers were all naturally more outgoing, the crowd seemed to follow them, thankfully. Not her. Being in Slytherin, away from her brothers, and being a chosen seclusion type individual, the silence she received was much needed for as much time as she spent in her thoughts. Friendships just hadn’t been something she was very interested in, not necessarily seeing the point as people tended to leave anyways.

Shaking her head from her thoughts, she brought up a hand to take her broom that had just arrived. Smiling widely at the immediate satisfaction she felt, she threw one leg over the stick, easily kicking off into the air. So distracted by one of her greatest passions, she hadn't even realized that someone was already in the air until she was already close enough to tell that it was her best friend, and only friend, really. Seeing as he was one of her teammates on Quidditch, she supposed he could be allowed as an exception to her not really wanting friends. In reality, they had become quick friends during their first year and had grown rather close. He even came over during the summers, spending time with her family. He was certainly one of the only people she actually hadn't minded considering a friend. 

"Hey Roman," she smiled widely, flying towards her friend.

Roman was still a little off from his mother up and leaving their family to go back to the Death Eater scum his father had worked so hard to keep them from. He couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that a mother could just leave her family like that. His father had told him time and time again that ‘she isn’t right in the head’, though his father never meant it in a cruel way. He was just basically saying that his mother had mental illness of some kind, which he could easily see. That didn’t make it any easier but it did at least make some sense of it.

He still had his father, his friends, his girlfriend, and quidditch to keep him sane. As far as he was concerned that was all he needed. He had been shaky in socializing right after his mother left but bounced back pretty quickly. There was no point in punishing himself for something he had no control over. Of course not everyone knew about his mother outside of his closest friends, though there weren’t many of those. He had several acquaintances, but only kept a handful of close friends. It still wasn’t easy to tell them. The thought of them pitying him was annoying but it didn’t happen and things went forward as they always did.

It seemed like the weather was finally starting to warm up. It was a perfect day to get some flying in before the next game. He was cocky and knew he was bloody fantastic but a little extra practice wouldn’t hurt; besides it was far too nice of a day to sit in the castle. He swung his leg over the handle of the broom and kicked off into the air. He hadn’t been up in the air long before he heard a familiar voice and saw his teammate nearby. ”Hey.” He smiled back moving closer to her. ”Getting some practice in so I don’t have to pick up your slack?” He joked.

Roman was one of the only people, if not the only person, that Isabella could say she trusted outside of her family and a part of her hated that. She wished that she could find something to dislike about Roman as that would make not having friends so much easier, but she found it impossible. It was difficult to not befriend one’s own teammate that seemed to be easy-going and friendly to everyone. Isabella might have disliked the concept of friendships, but she wasn’t mean enough to push people away. Of course, she would always try to inconspicuously push people away, but some people apparently were just more likely to ignore those signs. Now, she considered Roman her best friend…even if she avoided him whenever he was around his other friends or girlfriend. It wasn’t like she was trying to befriend everyone, good grief.

She briefly remembered how it was like when he had confided in her about his mother leaving, guilt and anger settling in her heart. Being such a family-oriented person, Isabella really couldn’t understand how any mother could just leave her family. And then there was the Death Eater thing which was REALLY something she couldn’t understand, finding that she was slightly worried about a potential uprising if mothers were leaving their families to join their side. Seeing the difference in Roman’s demeanor after his mother left made Isabella want to go personally seek out his mother and convince her that the cause wasn’t worth the loss of her son. Of course, she couldn’t do that…but only because she had no clue where to search. It wasn’t like she was bloody scared of a bunch of Death Eaters…well, she supposed she should have been…but she also became irrationally stubborn and reckless when people she cared about were hurt. Never knowing how to act in emotional situations, Isabella had gone on treating him as if she hadn’t known, figuring that to be the best…and mainly because emotional situations made her feel slightly awkward.

Then, her brother died…and everyone knew about that mainly because he had been a student at Hogwarts. However, she supposed the loss of her brother helped her to understand the loss that Roman felt with losing his mother…to an extent, anyways. In her mind, Roman still had it worse because he lost his mother, but only because she chose to leave. Thankfully, Roman returned the favor and didn’t treat her with pity after the loss of her brother, even after he learned the truth of what had happened.

Shaking her head of her thought, she grinned at his response. “Oh please. As if I need to practice. Do you even play?” she asked, quirking an eyebrow in his direction.

Isabella had been one of the very few people he had told about his mother's departure. Aside from his girlfriend she had been one of the first to know. It had still been awkward but at least he was able to get it out though he was sure she had already picked up on his change in demeanor right after it happened. That was one thing he could definitely give her, she was far too observant for her own good though he never felt pressured to say anything. He had started to attempt to pull away from everyone and she was one of the few who wasn't going to give him that opportunity. They were teammates after all, there was no use in trying to get away from her. When he had finally come out about it she hadn't made any big to-do about it. She actually hadn't really reacted apart from just being there which made things much easier. Of course they hadn't spoken about it since.

Bella losing her brother the way she did had bothered him, but he had been sure to give her the same courtesy and not ask too many questions. He figured if she wanted to talk about it she would. He knew it would drive him mad if people constantly asked him if he was 'okay'. Then again his mother was still alive and he wasn't sure if that made it better or worse. But she seemed to know a bit about people just deciding to walk out on family. While she hadn't really shown it he could tell her aunt who had moved away to Russia had really upset her. He couldn't wrap his head around the fact that her aunt and god mother would just walk in and walk out as she had. It was low and disgusting, but mainly because he hated seeing anyone upset in any sense. It was especially true of those he was close too.

Roman snorted in amusement as she asked him if he even played. "I'm surprised you're still sitting that broom DiTraverso. It must be taking complete concentration to keep your arse from ending up on the ground." He chuckled before leaning forward to do a quick circle around her before shooting up farther above her. "C'mon now you slow tosser." He joked.

The Slytherin supposed it wasn’t absolutely horrid to have at least one friend, as long as it stayed at one friend. She wasn’t really certain where her aversion to friends came from as everyone in her family seemed to be rather outgoing and loving being the center of attention. Though, they were a naturally loud family so when they spoke, people listened. Even Isabella supposed she was a naturally loud person, when she decided to speak, of course. To her, she really just didn’t see the point in friendships. Friendships ended all of the time, so what was the point in starting them? Family had to stay there, mostly, but friendships ended whenever someone got offended, or something stupid. It wasn’t as if Isabella was blind and missed that. Through her years at Hogwarts, she had witnessed many groups of friends changing groups of friends each year, it seemed. Even her brothers didn’t have the same friend group as they had a few years ago. It was a way of life that she really saw no need in. All it would do was cause drama, which was definitely something she hadn’t wanted ever. So, she supposed she wasn’t necessarily shy, she was simply preferring to skip over the drama of friends.

Unfortunately, that determination could only go as far as people allowed it to. Sure, she was stubborn, but even she had her limits. And really, it couldn’t hurt being friends with someone on her Quidditch team as they would be forced to see each other all of the time…especially with how much time she spent on her broom outside of Quidditch…as well as many of the other Quidditch players. Quidditch wasn’t just a sport that everyone loved…those that played also typically had a passion for flying, wanting to be in the air whenever they could be.

“I’m surprised you even own a broom, Rudoplphi, with how horrific you fly,” she retorted, rolling her eyes with a grin wide on her face. She chuckled lightly as he completed a circle around her, flying high into the sky. Immediately, she followed him high into the sky, leaning close to her broom for added speed. Flying was definitely the best feeling in the world, she noted. It was a bloody good thing she wasn’t afraid of heights as that would be rather tragic. It was freeing, knowing that only a stick was keeping her from falling to her death…she supposed that was more of her adrenaline than anything that made her enjoy flying so much. “Oi, I know you’re not calling me slow, you wanker,” she called out, eyebrows raising in his direction as she approached. Blokes, she noted, were definitely easier to be friends with than girls, not that she really had anything to compare it to. It wasn’t like she’d be able to tell a girl she sucked at anything without them taking it bloody personal.

Roman loved the feel of flying. It was one of the most freeing things he could possibly even imagine, or at least the best one he had ever discovered as of yet. It was one thing his mom had been great at. His father could fly but wasn’t nearly as good as his mother was. She had played quidditch all through her school days and was amazing from everything he had heard. Every opportunity the pair got to fly they took. He remembered one summer they were flying around the property when he had flown smack dab into a tree bloodying his nose and causing him to plummet towards the ground. To this day he had absolutely no clue how she had been able to get to him so quickly and catch him before he hit the ground. He admired her skill and wanted so much to be as great as she was at the sport. Now he strived to be nothing like the woman that walked out on him and his father when they needed her the most.

He laughed loudly at his friend’s comment before giving her a rude hand gesture. ”What have I told you about talking shit? Do I have to continuously teach you lessons?” Roman flew up into the air watching as Bella came up on him fast knowing it would take her no time at all to get to him. ”Did you just call me a bloody wanker?!” He asked with a glare before smirking in her direction. ”Bloody bint… try to keep up hag.” He yelled over his shoulder as he did a nose dive towards the ground.

Isabella hadn’t been certain how her friendship with Roman would have worked after he had started dating, never really needing to worry about something like that before. Clearly, they were just friends…but bints could be absolutely crazy sometimes…especially when it came to their attractive boyfriends. As if Isabella was some bint who walked around trying to push herself between couples. Dating was certainly the farthest thing from her mind, finding that to be just as useless as having friendships was. Although, she would certainly never tell her mother that, knowing precisely what the woman would say about children being the woman’s duty to bless the world with, finding so much joy in the heart of a child. Then again, she supposed having a large family was also slightly interesting, but only because she absolutely adored her family. As long as she had her family, she would need no one else, she firmly believed. Especially her bothers. Her brothers were her rock in this world, knowing that as long as THEY were around, everything was going to be absolutely fine.

“You can, but you know me and listening…especially to dunces,” she replied innocently, ignoring his rude gesture as she had seen that many times before from him. Merlin, if anyone ever saw how they communicated, they’d think they’d hate each other sometimes. Heck, if her mother saw the way Isabella was speaking, she’d have a heart attack, saying she was being a bad example and would never marry with a mouth like hers. Though, she supposed that was another thing about her that her father said reminded him of her aunt. The thought almost made Isabella grumble in frustration, knowing she couldn’t get away from her aunt even at the distance. “Oh? Your hearing is still working? I was just checking to see if your head was too far up your arse again,” she smirked, raising an eyebrow as he suddenly did a nose dive towards the game. He wanted to play? Fine, she could play, she thought as she mimicked his move, no care in the world as long as she was in the air.

Roman always found his friendship with Bella funny. They had seemed to gravitate to each other the moment they met, even if Bella claimed to never really like having friendships. What was even more amusing was the few weeks they ‘dated’ during that first year. Sometimes he still liked to tease her over her awkwardness during that time. It was adorable which he knew irked his friend to no end. Of course he hadn’t been much better. It wasn’t common knowledge seeing as it was just about over before it began. He couldn’t remember the exact reason they ‘broke up’. But he was willing to say it was over something stupid like taking the last muffin at breakfast. He did remember them not talking for a few months. He was pretty sure she was responsible for a few pranks he fallen victim to afterwards. Even back then she was someone people tried not to mess with.

”Ha ha ha.” He said sarcastically rolling his eyes. ”You think you’re so funny…” He added before shooting off into the air. He was sure anyone who didn’t know them on a personal level would probably think they absolutely despised each other. His mum used to tell him all the time that that was just them still acting out their little kid crush. The thought made him frown slightly. She wouldn’t be around anymore to pick on him for fun. He pulled himself from his thoughts in time to give her a death stare. ”Put up or shut up, DiTraverso.” He said making his nose dive towards the ground. He hadn’t been diving too long before he could hear her right on his tail. Just before he got to the ground he quickly yanked up on his broom shooting back into the air and heading towards the goal posts at the far end of the field. ”Keep up grandma.” He shouted behind him.

There would never be a time that Isabella would claim that she actually found use in having a friend, even if Roman were to try to convince her of the benefits. Her family held more than enough entertainment and drama for her that adding anyone else really seemed a bit like overkill. It wasn’t that she hated people; quite the opposite, really. She found people enjoyable…incredibly daft at times, but ultimately amusing to be around. It was just that she preferred to stay away from the inevitable drama of maintaining these relationships and sticking with people she knew couldn’t leave her, like her family. Of course, there was the fact that her aunt had left, but that was something that Isabella tried to never think about. Annoyingly enough, Roman had easily slipped into her life, the only exception she allowed at the moment and that was only because they were teammates, and in the same house, and they had that stupid ‘together’ thing (absolutely NOT dating), and then he was friends with her brothers…so he was irritatingly difficult to try to ignore.

Even now, she would find herself trying to push him off, but it just seemed to end with them joking around about who knows what. She SUPPOSED they were friends, but it wasn’t like she was going to go blab it around for someone to actually hear. Merlin, they had an odd friendship, but it worked for them. “I only speak truth,” she grinned innocently. Unless the truth was not beneficial at the moment, of course. Despite their joking banter, Isabella noticed his slight frown as she approached, narrowing her eyes slightly. She had noticed his change when he had come back from the summer, something off from her only friend. Later on, he had told her that his mother had left, which had really irritated Isabella to no end. It just didn't make sense to her why the woman would leave her family for a lost , and incorrect cause. However, she worked hard on not treating Roman any differently, giving him a place of escape.

Isabella let out a laugh at his death stare, shaking her head lightly. “I’ll try not to show you up too horribly, Rudolphi,” she shot back as she took a sharp turn from her broom before it reached the ground, twisting it back upwards as she watched him fly towards one set of goal posts. “This grandma’s about to school you, boy,” the Slytherin laughed, flying quite a few feet away from him before bringing her broom to a halt, watching him. “So, are we going to actually do something challenging or do I need to teach the apprentice some moves?” she asked, quirking an eyebrow in his direction. It was a good thing he knew that she was kidding and actually did know he was a talented player, though for her to actually say that would just be ridiculous.

Finding friends had never been a difficult thing for Roman. He was naturally a pleasant person to be around and extremely outgoing. He played quidditch and was attractive which sometimes caused him issues. It wasn’t that he didn’t like making new friends, but he was getting tired of the girls hanging around the pitch just trying to grab his attention. It was somewhat amusing when they would get upset that he was paying them no mind. He was never rude about it but he preferred to surround himself with people that actually cared about him as a person and not a bloody object to show off. Bella never made him feel that way and she was excellent at getting rid of the bints when he was being far too nice to actually tell them to flat out bugger off. It was amusing that without even looking at him his friend could normally tell when he just wanted girls to leave him alone and took care of the situation herself. He wasn’t one to be rude, especially not to his female classmates regardless of how aggravating they were.

He was surprised that she had yet to have a talk with him about his current girlfriend. She seemed to be ridiculously protective of him and anyone that wanted a chance with him normally had to go through her. He had a sneaking suspicion that she probably wouldn’t approve of this girl either. They were polar opposites as she seemed to despise everything while he took everything in stride with a good bit of optimism. It was one of those ‘opposites’ attract things he supposed.

Roman rolled his eyes at his friend before he took off laughing loudly. She was just as good of a flier as he was which he would absolutely never admit aloud. That’s all he needed was her head to get bigger than it already was. He was sure he had lost her as he flew full speed towards the goal posts only for her to cut him off halfway there. ”Oi, you bloody cheater!” He chuckled as he came to a screeching halt to stop himself from colliding with her. He crossed his arms with a chuckle and a shake of his head. ”School me? You must be out of your bloody mind, but by all means you can try” He said with a shrug and a sly smile.