Once the conversation turned to weather and, to a lesser extent, to quidditch, Lindsay began to relax once again. The fact that Nigel was answering her at all was a good sign, in her opinion. It meant that he wasn't so thoroughly aggravated with her that he wasn't willing to try talking again. Of course, there was always the chance that he was secretly emotionally distraught and just didn't want to admit that she'd ruined his life, but she tried not to think about that once their chat about the cold weather picked up a bit. She was comforted by the fact that the exchange was no longer as awkward as it had felt just a moment before. 

“I actually got hurt last year – last year in the winter, so maybe more than a year ago,” she explained as they walked along. “A bludger hit me just here,” she went on, indicating the spot on her belly where the iron ball had burrowed itself before continuing. “I wasn't feeling well just before that, so my spleen was bigger. It was, um, it was swollen a bit from being ill, and when the bludger hit it like that, it popped, sort of,” she finished unceremoniously. It wasn't exactly a heartwarming story – it was more of a cautionary tale – but it explained how a quidditch injury could make her more susceptible to illness. She'd caught more pesky colds since losing her spleen than she had in her entire five previous years at Hogwarts. It was quite a pain for Lindsay, but wonderful for anyone who'd thought to invest in Pepperup Potion since the previous winter. 

“I don't mind it when it rains just a little, but when it rains a lot it gets hard to see,” she added when he brought up the rain. She was still thinking about flying now that the topic of quidditch had made its way into the conversation. “I don't care about mud so much, but you're right about the cold – it's terrible. When it seeps into your clothes like that especially,” she added. She was hyper aware of how painfully banal this all was, but she couldn't stop prattling. She didn't want to be rude. She'd already ruined this boy's day once (or assumed she had) – she didn't want to do it again. The only way to make it more interesting would be to bring up quidditch again... so she did. She couldn't understand how someone who'd tried out for their house quidditch team couldn't be interested in quidditch – he had to be! It didn't make sense that he wouldn't be! 

“It's worth it to try flying in that kind of weather when you can, though. It makes a difference. Even just having a wet broom makes a difference to how you play. If you've never flown in that kind of weather before then it's a little bit scary, so I'm glad I have, even though it's really cold some of the time.” Nigel had never actually subbed for any of the Gryffindor players as far as Lindsay could recall, so maybe he hadn't had that experience – it was sage advice, though, as far as she was concerned. “Are you going to try and make the starting team next term?” she asked, still not catching on that he didn't have any interest in actually playing quidditch.


we don't realize our faith in the prize unless its been somehow elusive
how swiftly we choose it - the sacred simplicity of you at my side