Parker sighed, dropping his bag beside him on the grass.

Stressed from work and studying, and feeling rather lonely from being cooped up indoors most of the week, he figured a Saturday at the pitch watching one of the teams practice as he read would be good for him. Back at Hogwarts, he would go to watch Slytherin's practices whenever he got the chance and never missed going to a match with his old friends. He loved watching the game, was absolutely fascinated with it, in fact. People used to ask why he never bothered trying to join the team, which was mostly because he hated flying and had never been able to fully get the hang of it.

Parker sat down in the grass, legs outstretched before him as he pulled his book out.

His interest in the game, but not participating in it, coupled with his interests in healing got him thinking about specializing as an on-field medic for professional matches. He would get to travel, see all his favorite players, and practice healing. Until entering the academy, he had been dead-set on that path because he didn't really know what else was out there in terms of jobs. He never really wanted to get stuck in a hospital setting, though he knew he would have to for quite some time until he was skilled enough to specialize, if he so chose to.

He opened his book on his lap as the team's practice started. Not many other people sat around watching - mostly injured players, close friends, or significant others. It was cold out, but Parker's thick jumper and warming charm made that a non-issue.

He read while they warmed up, and then went between reading and watching as they actually started up their practice for the upcoming season. A strange sort of sadness began to settle in him, and he desperately hoped it was just the muggy weather...

The practice itself wasn't much of anything special in Parker's opinion, probably half because it was still early in the school year and the other half being the cold weather. Nonetheless, it was still really interesting to see how differently they went about practices as compared to the Hogwarts teams - with players quite a bit older and from several different schools around the world.

Not quite done reading through the passage by the time the team's practice was over, Parker decided to stick around until he was finished. The fresh air and bit of sun made him feel quite a deal better, though he did renew the warming charm he'd placed around him as he began feeling the chill start to set in more. Most of the team headed back towards to castle, but a small number of bystanders remained, so it wouldn't seem too odd that he remained there as well.

Intent on finishing the rest of his reading, he didn't pay the others there much mind until he heard a voice calling out in his direction.

"Hey!"

Parker glanced up from his book, noticing a smiley blonde approaching. He looked around and behind him to make sure the blonde had actually been talking to him and then looked back towards him.

"What are you doing out here reading when you could be in a warmer place?"

As the man approached, Parker was fairly certain he recognized him from school and felt his stomach drop. His tone seemed friendly enough though, so it probably wasn't likely that he remembered Parker at all - why would he, honestly? "Oh... uh, well I wanted to watch the practice," he responded softly, a somewhat thick Irish accent peeking through his words. Trying to be casual, he then shrugged and he added on, "Plus, I've got warming charms. Cold's not too much of an issue, really."

Parker didn't really think before acting half of the time, and after realizing how foolish he must have seemed looking around like that, he felt embarrassment start to seep in.

Parker didn't know many people that well, but those he did were either close friends or old bullies. Parker didn't really remember the blonde all the well - so even if he had bullied him, a lot of time must have passed since then, they were both likely very different people now.

"Practise's over. You had friends on the team?"

Already feeling embarrassed, Parker knew he must have looked it now. This guy would probably think he was weird for just sitting and watching strangers practice... "Er- well," Parker started with an unsure shrug. "Not really. I just like watching practices, and it's a nice place to study too, I guess." Extroverts usually wore Parker out quickly, but not remembering the last time he'd actually talked to someone outside of idle in-class chatter or the few times he'd passed Tess in the halls, he tried to put in the effort to keep up this conversation.

"I'm James, by the way. Auror-in-training. How bout you?"

Nice as James seemed to be, Parker realized he was still on-guard when he plopped down near him to keep talking. Parker tried to relax himself, but he had a feeling he wouldn't be able to until he figured out exactly how he knew the other man. "Parker, Healer-in-training." He responded with a nod. "I'm a first year too, I'm guessing you aren't?"

When James looked back over to the field and frowned, Parker frowned too. Was he keeping him from flying? Had he somehow bothered him and he was now trying to get Parker to leave the field politely?? "Oh -- you can go back to flying if you'd like. I mean, don't feel like you're stuck talking to me. I-I'll be out of here soon enough anyways." Parker said, stumbling over his words.