Sands of Dragon Scales

Chapter 8

The song above is mentioned in this chapter. It's not a required listen, but if you would like its there.

Song: Scarborough Fair
Artist: Celtic Women

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Though the uniform had been a little big, there wasn't a little resizing with a needle and thread couldn't do. Their first practice, most of the boys had laughed as Newt couldn't tear his eyes off of her. Though, in his mind, he had agreed with the other boys that she had possibly gone mad. More than anything, he didn't want her getting hurt. However, she had proved them all wrong.

She was quick to learn the drills and effortlessly carried them out. And unto their surprise, she had caught the snitch every thirty minutes. She was agile with her broom and sharp with her movements. To make sure Rose could handle it, the boys had tried to chase her down. And unto their dismay, they couldn't. To Newt, Rose moved like the snitch itself. She would turn in ways that only left one guessing. At one point, she had pulled up, quickly slowed down, allowing the one chasing her to pass her, as she would then zoom off in a different direction. To say they were all rather impressed by the end of practice was an understatement.

"How on earth did you learn to fly like that?" Newt asked once out of their last practice before their first big game. A few of the other boys were trailing behind her, also curious of the girl's answer. "Well, I learned to fly at a young age. And though we bred Thunderbirds, my mom had a Golden Snidget that liked to stick around the stables. Considering the Golden Snitch is fashioned after the Snidget, I took a lot of time studying it's flight patterns and how it moved, along with a few hummingbirds," Rose answered honestly. "So... What you're saying is you studied the most rarest bird known to wizards and flew your broom like one?" Newt was a bit confused, as were the other boys. Rose just smirked, "Yes and no. I studied the birds so I know how the snitch moves. It's why I can catch it so fast."

With that statement, the males understood. Though the concept was weird, it made a lot of sense. They had all stopped to register the girls words, as well as to admire her wits, as the girl took the lead back to the castle. It was quite between all of them until one of the boys spoke up, a smile in his voice, "Man, she's something else." The group of boys agreed as they continued on, leaving Newt to stand there a moment longer.

The moment that specific comment was said, Newt realized that the team was beginning to admire the girl. No, not admire... what was the word? Fall for the girl? They were beginning to see Rose for who she really was instead of what they thought of her as. Considering she had introduced herself with a Jarvey on her shoulder, everyone was pegging her to be exactly like Leta or himself. It was true he and Rose had things in common, but he didn't necessarily believe that they had everything in common.

However, that didn't so much bother him. He did want everyone else to see the real Rose. But he didn't like the fact that the team might have been getting a little ahead of themselves. Rose was not a girl one could just walk up to and ask to go on a date. No. He had heard her the day Leta approached the girl. She said that she had known Newt for a little over a month and that they were no more than friends, best friends at the most. If anything, Newt had a strong suspicion that Rose would turn them all down.

He thought this because, one, the girl was at the top of their class. She made sure her grades and education came first. Second, her passion towards her creatures came next. He was sure if they didn't like her creatures, Rose would turn them down without a second thought. And third, Rose seemed like the kind of girl who wanted to get to know a guy before ever considering to go on a date with them. Being friends first seemed rather important to her.