-ALIVE for the very first time (&IthinkIcanFLY)-

[Aleksander Nikolai Krum]

"Okay," Aleksander said between deep gulps for breath, wondering if he could even get his eyes to move right now. Not that he had a bad view. He'd never actually watched a sunrise from flat on his back before. "You've got to tell me how you do that."

"That" being flashing around the Quidditch Pitch fast enough to lap a Snitch while still holding his own against him and three Bludgers with a Beater's bat for nearly two solid hours - and the guy was a smoker. Aleksander couldn't imagine what the guy would be capable of if he had full lung capacity.

The plan had been to meet at dawn, but Aleksander had headed to the pitch early, partly because he still wasn't totally getting along with sleep lately, and partly so he would have plenty of time to warm up - he'd need it if he planned on keeping up with Greyback.

But as he'd touched down at the pitch, nearly an hour early, who should come strolling up at that same moment, Quidditch gear in tow, but the man of the hour.

They'd paused, then stared a moment, and then just had to chuckle. Yeah, Aleksander could definitely get along with this guy.

So after warming up separately for a bit, they had just jumped in, darkness be damned. They had started with the same exercise as last time - two Bludgers and two bats to volley them back and forth across the pitch, testing each other's speed and power - and then, as things picked up, eventually let loose a third Bludger, just to keep things interesting.

As it turned out, it made things a lot more interesting.

By the last half hour, the game had become less of a back-and-forth and more of a 'don't get your head bashed in, and try not to let it happen to that other guy, either.'

It was hard and messy and insanely fast-paced, and by the end Aleksander could barely inhale anymore, sweat stinging his eyes while his legs screamed at him from the constant direction-changing on the broom, and he finally called it when one of the Bludgers clocked him in the arm and rebounded straight into Greyback, sending them both into some pretty interesting stunts before managing to right themselves, grunting and shaking off the impact. It didn't matter if their reflexes were only slowing down by a fraction; with that many Bludgers flying around, that fraction could be the difference between a near-miss and a fifty-foot drop.

Once they had the Bludgers back in their box, they both lowered back to the ground and basically collapsed, right in the middle of the pitch. For a good ten minutes after that, they did nothing but gulp down the icy air like they were drowning, not saying a word (minus the couple of multilingual curses that snuck out under Aleksander's breath as he lay spreadeagle on the still-frozen grass). It was only a moment ago that Aleksander's voice finally decided to work with him again.

He let his head drop to the side, so he could sort of catch Greyback's eye. "How the hell are you not a Seeker?"

Tagged: The Flash (aka Seth)
Outfit: Layers & sweats
Notes: Bludgers, man. They'll ruin your life.
Lyrics: "Boom," P.O.D.
Credit: V

[Seth Alec Greyback]

"You've got to tell me how you do that. How the hell are you not a Seeker?"

Seth let out a chuckle.

He had to admit, being a werewolf had it’s advantages, even in the magical world.

”It’s, ah, a… benefit… of being a Greyback.”

Though, not all of his siblings or relatives had speed like he did. In fact, as far as he knew, he was the only one. Some had other attributes or enhanced abilities, but not speed. And his mother had recognized it early on so she did everything in her power to cultivate the ability.

"Never wanted to be a seeker, though. Seems like there's no athelticism in it. No game. It's really a lot of luck."

Seth stretched his arms out before proceeding to fold his hands under his head. His eyes never left the sky, the sun rise painting an entrancing picture above him.

"If the snitch flies by you and you happen to notice, then you're automatically an advantage. And besides," A small smirk came across his lips. "I doubt the professors would have allowed me to take such a position with my particular talents."

He knew that the magical world had come a long way in tolerance and acceptance since the Second War and werewolves, for the most part, weren't treated with such disdain like men such as Lupin and his father had been, but there was still hesitation, still inequality, and still discrimination, even if it was just a shadow of what it had been before. He had super-human speed. That was a skill that couldn't be learned and it would be incredibly unfair in a Quidditch match. He was lucky he was allowed on the team at all. But as a chaser, it worked. He was as fast as hell, sure, but other players catching up to him wasn't the challenge of his job on the team. The challenge was dodging the bludgers... and those buggers could outrun even him if they were hit right.

Besides, he wasn't as fast in the air as he was on the ground. His speed came from his physical being moreso than his magic, and flying, that was a lot of magic.

Seth's breathing slowed, the sweat on his skin dried, and he felt the blood that had only minutes ago been rushing through his veins faster than a freigh train, slow down to a quiet, flowing stream. As good of an athlete as Seth knew himself to be, he was more than impressed with Aleksander's unbreaking determination and stamina. He'd never had another player push him like that.

It was good feeling.

Tag: Alek
Notes: Ooooh boy! Friends! (Alek and Alec <3)
Clothes: www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=42810554
Lyrics: Florence and the Machine
Credit: Nic

[Aleksander Nikolai Krum]

Aleksander huffed a laugh under his breath. "Gonna have to fight you on that one. Seeking isn't a cop-out, it's just subtle." He closed his eyes, letting hours and days and years of his father's stories speak right through him. "Yeah, some guys just wait around to see some gold, but they aren't the ones who make it out of the wizard-school level. The ones who know what they're doing know they need to be the strongest in observation, strategy, and flight speed. They use fake-outs, nosedives, they improvise with the other players' positions to control the snitch's direction...it's a hell of a job."

After a moment, he glanced up, adding by way of explanation, "My father was a seeker. He's got a lot to say about it."

And as always, he left it at that. A lot of people would recognize his name off the bat, and especially in the quidditch world, it led to treating him...differently. Sometimes giving him whatever he wanted, sometimes making him work ten times harder for every inch. He didn't like it; he worked damned hard to get where he was in the first place, and he didn't want that ignored in favor of a famous name. He hadn't even mentioned his father's place on the Bulgarian National Team on his registration for quidditch tryouts fourth year. The idea of using his father's career to gain even one position, friend, or second look, just left a bad taste in his mouth.

"Besides," he said after a moment, shooting Greyback a good-humored smirk, "for most of us guys without superpowers, catching up to a Snitch is plenty of a workout."

It really was sort of a superpower. It wasn't the sort of thing you could charm your own body to do, or get from downing a potion. Aleksander could think of a lot of people who would get a hell of a big head if they could do what this guy could do, so Aleksander had to respect that he was so relaxed about it.

He didn't know too many werewolves, and none all that well, but it stood to reason that they might be sensitive about how they ended up that way. So Aleksander bit his tongue against the curiosity about any other effects of Greyback's lycanthropy and stuck with a question that was safer. "So you're related to the Transfiguration professor, right?"

The thought of gangly, bookish Professor Greyback next to this guy was such a contrast that it was funny, but he had to think it wasn't outside the realm of possibility.

Tagged: Mah quidditch buddeh~
Outfit: Layers & sweats
Notes: Viktor Krum: Epic Human Being. (Have fun living up to it, Alik! :D....;_;)
Lyrics: "Boom," P.O.D.
Credit: V

[Seth Alec Greyback]

Seth listened to his argument and had to give him credit for it. There was skill in seeking if the player's goal wasn't just to catch the snitch, but to throw-off his or her opponent as well.

And, if there was any one person in the world who would know about seeking, it was the son of Victor Krum. Seth knew who he was, knew his reputation, but didn't much care. The name was just that; a name. To him it was nothing, but to the Wizarding World, it held more weight than gold. Far more than it should have.

Still, being a famous Quidditch player was impressive. Seth always wondered if he could do it. If he could live that life and be a famous athlete. If he could be satisfied in it.

Alek's words continued to flow over him as he folded his hands across his stomach and let his head rest comfortably in the soft grass.
"Besides, for most of us guys without superpowers, catching up to a Snitch is plenty of a workout."

He grinned.

"Superpowers, huh?" Seth cleared his throat, and let the idea settle. "Never thought of it that way."

He liked it, though. In a world where everyone had super powers, it was a strange thought to think that he had something more than that.

Seth was never one to be prideful or cocky... on the contrary, his humbleness was one of his strongest attributes, which almost got him put into Hufflepuff in his first year, funny enough. He smiled softly at the memory. The hat, wise, confident, and relaxed, settled atop his head, searched his mind and soul instantly, and began their delightful conversation with, "Hmmm, if only there were a house of Huffleclaw." He'd thought it was humurous. The hat, obviously, eventually settled upon Ravenclaw because of his academic talents and more detached personality. Seth thought that was a better fit. Not that he would have minded being in Hufflepuff, but, he knew himself to be too unemotional to represent the house well. Ravenclaws tended to be much more logical in their thought process. He fit that well.

Alek's words brought him back from his own pensive thoughts.

"Storm?" Seth thought about his half brother and gave the tiniest of shrugs. "Yeah, we're related. We haven't talked much over the years, though." He said it as easily as he said what he wanted for breakfast. There wasn't any buried sadness or hatred or spite in his words. Just simple facts. He cared for his family, yes, a natural, human reaction. But Storm and he had kept a friendly, comfortable distance over the years.

Coming to Hogwarts was probably a bigger deal for Greybacks than it was for any other student. Who else turned eleven and met their siblings for the first time? And it was the same for all of them... coming in and seeing someone from their father's bloodline.

But it wasn't a bad thing for Seth. He didn't mind. He was happy about it, if anything else. Meeting more family was good to him.

"But he's a good guy. Most of us are." He was referring to the numerous Greyback siblings at the school. Again, the concept of a name came into play. Their father had a deadly reputation as a werewolf and follower of Voldemort. And Seth knew many others looked at him and his siblings and thought... how could they be any different?

But they were.

Tag: Alek
Notes: REVISED!
Clothes: www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=42810554
Lyrics: Florence and the Machine
Credit: Nic

[Aleksander Nikolai Krum]

Aleksander nodded, enjoying the chill of the air before the sweat could cool enough to make him shiver. Greyback didn't seem like much of a talker, just answering his questions without much fanfare, and he seemed to be done talking about his family, so Aleksander took over. His mind was gloriously blank for once, making it easy to sort of free-flow.

"You've probably met my sister, if you're in Ravenclaw," he said, closing his eyes and letting the topic float to his own family. "Lexi. Brown hair, know-it-all, gets all soppy over old Muggle movies." He made a mental note to check and make sure that deluxe behind-the-scenes photo book about Casablanca would still get here by Christmas, even as he shook his head at the utter weirdness of his little sister's obsessions. "You'd never see her around here, though. Except to watch, anyway. And lecture me every time I get knocked off the broom." He shook his head. "Think if I decided to make quidditch a full-time job, she'd stage an intervention."

Not that professional quidditch was the plan. He wasn't a natural at the sport; he just put in the work. Sometimes to the point of maybe seeming a little crazy to Lexi and his friends. He couldn't help it - whenever they lost a game, it would feel like something would snap and buzz behind his eyes and set off a pile of firecrackers inside him, and they wouldn't stop until he'd fixed it, somehow. Gone over any plays he'd messed up ten times flawlessly on his own, or, that failing, exhausting himself so completely that there was no room for the firecrackers anymore. Stas always eyed him with a weird, worried look on those nights, when he came in late, nearly too bruised to move and too tired out to speak, but Aleksander didn't like to think about that.

He was just dedicated. He was making sacrifices to make his father proud. He was being the Slytherin he was, accepting nothing but the best. There was nothing wrong with that.

Swallowing, he opened his eyes. He'd gotten stuck in that loop of thought so many times that he barely noticed it happening anymore. A gust of morning wind blew, sending a chill through him, and he dragged himself upright, resting his elbows on his knees and angling his gaze back down at Greyback. "You thinking about that? Going pro? Think the recruiters start showing up to games after the break." He dug his fingers through his damp hair to get it out of his eyes. "Bet they'd be all over you."

Tagged: Mah quidditch buddeh~
Outfit: Layers & sweats
Notes: Doop a-doop doop...
Lyrics: "Boom," P.O.D.
Credit: V

[Seth Alec Greyback]

Seth listened to him talk about his sister, listened to his voice lighten as he described her doing her sisterly duties of criticizing and protecting him. And even though she probably got very annoying at times, Seth liked the idea of her being so concerned about his well-being. Seth had only one person that he thought felt so deeply about him. His mother. He missed her dearly but knew she was doing well at home.

When he thought of her, the first image in his head, always, was that of her in the woods, her hair wild, her eyes wolf-like, and her smile comforting, as she stared at him after his first change. If she hadn't been there, he didn't know how he would have handled it. But she was and he learned. Well. And quickly.

And when he matured, his speed only grew faster and faster until he often ran circles around her in the woods. When they got back home, he teased that she couldn't keep up becuase she was getting too old. She threw an apple at his head.

The memory brought back a smile.

"You thinking about that? Going pro? Think the recruiters start showing up to games after the break. Bet they'd be all over you."

Seth rolled his head to the side and glanced at the boy next to him. He hadn't much thought about his future but he knew it would have something to do with the sport. He'd never stop it. It was a great release for him; helped him control things.

But play professionally? He doubted it.

Seth turned his head back and stared at the clouds moving ever so slowly across the sky.

"Not sure. I don't think I'd like to play professionally. Wouldn't want to ruin the love of the sport."

He loved Quidditch and didn't want to get worn out on it, having to play all day, every day.

"But maybe I'd teach it or something. I think I'd like that." And as he said the words, the idea settled into his brain and he felt incredibly relaxed and at ease with it.

"What about you? What are your plans for the future?" He turned to look at Alek again. "It's not that far off now."

Tag: Alek
Notes: SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG! <3
Clothes: www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=42810554
Lyrics: Florence and the Machine
Credit: Nic