Closed A Sportive Celebration

[Dominik Milne]

Rather than celebrating their five year anniversary at home or at some fancy restaurant, Dominik thought that it would be fun for them to hit up the pitch for a change. It had been a while ago since the man had been on a broomstick, the last time being two years ago when he was part of an envoy that was moving a dragon from one part of the world to another. It had also been a while since the two of them had done something sportive like this. Both their jobs were quite demanding at times so it wasn't often that they got to do things like this anymore - not that they got to do this very often before, living in Romania had made it quite difficult for them to do things together. Dominik grinned widely as they walked onto the pitch. It was a training pitch used by one of the local teams, but since it was empty, they could use it now. ''It's been some time but I think I'm still good enough to keep you from scoring,'' he said, turning around to face Grace. ''You can still back out if you don't want your ass handed to you.''

 

[Professor Grace Holland]

Grace had almost forgotten their anniversary was coming up until Dominik had brought it up. Five years really had flown by, and Grace found it hard to believe they had been dating for that long. She looked forward to spending this day together, and had been surprised by what Dominik had planned. The idea was pretty wonderful, and it suited them both very well. Grace grinned at her boyfriend, crossing her arms. "You think you can stop me from scoring? You haven't had proper practice in ages." She told him confidently. To be fair, neither had she, but she felt like her year of playing professionally definitely gave her an edge. She didn't think her current job gave her that much practice, as she mostly flew around and assisted nervous eleven year olds, but at least she was in the air. "You're the one who will get your ass handed to you." She said, picking up her broom. "Let's do this."

 

[Dominik Milne]

It was a good thing that Dominik was so confident in himself since it had indeed been ages since he had last praticed properly. He was pretty sure that the last time was during the match against Hogwarts, however, he wasn't going to tell her that. ''Have it your way, captain.'' Dominik mounted his broomstick and flew towards the centre hoop on the south side of the pitch, and hovered there while he waited for Grace to do her thing. He admitted to himself that it would be difficult to stop her from scoring. She was fast and there was no doubt that she had learnt a couple of neat tricks during her year as a professional Quidditch player. He could only hope that he hadn't forgotten his own abilities as keeper in the time that he hadn't practiced. ''Whatever your ready, Grace,'' he said once she was in the air as well. He kept his eyes locked on the Quaffle from that moment on, following its movement closely. She'd have a better chance of scoring if he would watch her instead of the brown ball in her hands, and Dominik wasn't going to let that happen anytime soon.

 

[Professor Grace Holland]

Grace laughed as he called her captain, grabbing the quaffle as she flew into the air herself. It felt great to be back in the air, without fifty first years also being around. She tucked the quaffle under her arm and flew over to where Dominik was hovering. She winked at him, then pretended to go for the right hoop while really aiming for the left. She threw the quaffle, watching it go. She hoped it would go through.

You can decide if he saves it

 

[Dominik Milne]

Dominik grinned when she winked at him, feeling confident enough that he still had it in him to stop people from scoring in the hoops behind him. Though it had been an awfully long time ago and Grace was a really good player. He hovered in front of the centre hoop, not taking his eye off the Quaffle and waited. When she took the shoot, he immediately went for the hoop she had pretended to go for. Dang it. He flew down to pick up the Quaffle and then back up again to throw it back to her. ''Got to admit, you got me there. Didn't think you'd do that.'' Reading himself for another shot, Dominik concentrated on the ball again. He was even more determined now to save the next one.

 

[Professor Grace Holland]

Grace beamed when she managed to score, doing a little twirl in the air on her broomstick before blowing her boyfriend a kiss. "Have to try harder than that." She teased, unable to help herself. This really felt like the old days, and she was extremely happy to just hang out in the air and have a bit of fun. Quidditch had been hard work when she had been a chaser for the Quiberon Quafflepunchers, and she hadn't realized how much she had missed just doing this for fun, without any high stakes. She caught the quaffle as Dominik threw it back to her, flying back a little to create more distance. Then she shot forward, throwing the quaffle at the center hoop quickly. But this time, she saw Dominik had managed to block it. She groaned. "I thought I would have that one." She admitted.

 

[Dominik Milne]

Dominik rolled his eyes at Grace's reaction and shook his head while doing so. ''Yeah, yeah. Just get on with it,'' he replied. He watched as she caught it and from that point tried to focus himself again. Keeping his eyes on the Quaffle, Dominik tried to move in synchronization with her movement, hoping for the best possible outcome. He wanted to go for the hoop on his left but as soon as she shot forward, his instincts told him to stay put. He caught it easily. Too easily. ''I know I let one through but this was way too easy Grace,'' he said with a slight grin, throwing the ball back to his girlfriend again. ''Who goes for the centre hoop anyway?'' Dominik added, egging her on a little. ''I've seen dragons do better than that.'' He was being too cocky, he knew, but it wasn't often that he got to tease her about Quidditch and stuff so figured that he should enjoy it while he could.

 

[Professor Grace Holland]

Grace scowled as Dominik said her attempt had been too easy. She knew he was riling her up on purpose, but it was working. It had been a while since her competitive spirit had been challenged like this, and she was enjoying it immensely. "Be quiet, Dominik, before you embarrass yourself." She half joked, taking the quaffle back. She stuck out his tongue at him, then flew back to score again. This time she pretended to go for the right hoop, but then went for the middle hoop again. This time, it soared through, and Grace placed one hand on her hip in a cocky gesture of her own. "What was that about the center hoop?" She called to him.

 

[Dominik Milne]

He grinned widely at her reaction and called back, ''When do I ever embarrass myself?'' There had been plenty of times that he had embarrassed himself, even in front of her, but not when it came to Quidditch, at least not that he could remember. Even the match against Hogwarts all those years back had gone better than expected. Not keeping his eyes off the Quaffle, Dominik was slowly moving from left to right, hoping that he could catch it easier when doing so. As predicted, however, Dominik had been too cocky when he had been egging her on. He watched the Quaffle soar past him into the middle hoop and closed his eyes in defeat, knowing the reaction that would come from Grace. ''Nevermind, I take those words back,'' he said before flying down to pick up the ball from the ground. Dominik knew that he would have to do a little better than this if he was going to talk smack back, at least he was enjoying himself though. ''You want to switch roles for a moment? Can't have you only take shots, can we?'' he said, thinking that he might stand a better chance against her when taking her out of her element.

 

[Professor Grace Holland]

Grace laughed at Dominik's words, and just raised her eyebrows. They both knew there were plenty of examples she could name. Maybe not on the Quidditch pitch, but that hadn't been what he'd asked. She was happy to have beaten him this time, and had expected him to want to try again immediately. What she hadn't expected was for him to suggest to switch roles. Grace raised her eyebrows. "Why? Do you think you're a better chaser than I am keeper?" She challenged, though she didn't really mind if that was the case. She had never played keeper much, and was definitely not all that practiced in it. But neither was Dominik when it came to playing chaser. "Fine." She said after a moment, then flew up to the hoops to take his place. "Show me what you've got as a chaser."

 

[Dominik Milne]

''I know that I am a better chaser than you are keeper,'' he told her confidently. Of course, Dominik had never played the position before so he really didn't know if he would do better than her now that their roles were reversed. He could only hope or never hear the end of it, ever. He tried to trick her by continuing to look at the left hoop as he readied himself to throw the Quaffle. Unfortunately for him, however, it seemed that Grace was hard to feel, as she caught it rather easily. Alright, fine, he wasn't the best shot, but surely he could score at least once? ''Don't even say anything,'' Dominik told her, knowing that she most likely comment on this, too. ''That was a just a practice shot, that one doesn't count,'' he added with the slightest smirk.

 

[Professor Grace Holland]

Grace snorted at Dominik's confidence. "You assume I never practiced as keeper on the Quafflepunchers." She said, mostly to rattle him. She had played keeper a few times in when practicing with only her fellow chasers, but that had only been a couple of times. And she hadn't been very good. Still, she didn't need to say that to him. She may not be a great keeper, but she did know her boyfriend very well. The obvious way he was looking at the left hoop made it obvious what he was going to do, but Grace was still surprised she managed to catch it so easily. She smiled at him innocently. "I won't say a thing." She said teasingly. "Fine, show me the real shot, then." She said with a laugh when he complained it was a practice shot that didn't count. She threw the quaffle back at him, raising her eyebrow in a challenge.

 

[Dominik Milne]

''Good,'' he replied, shaking his head with a grin. He caught the Quaffle easily and held it under his arm as he went to position himself correctly again. Now that he knew that Grace couldn't be fooled as easily as he might have thought before, it took him a little longer to decide which hoop he would aim for. Of course, the downside to him taking so long was that she would an easier time figuring out what he might do, but he hoped that it might somehow give him the upper hand. Not aiming for the middle hoop until he let go of the ball, he watched it soaring towards his girlfriend and then how she had caught this one too. Really? If it wasn't for the fact that Dominik was actually enjoying his time with Grace on the pitch, he was sure that he would quit a long time ago. ''Yeah... That was probably as real as it is going to get,'' Dominik commented, chuckling at his own failure. At least he was good on a broomstick.

 

[Professor Grace Holland]

Grace watched Dominik closely as he flew closer to try again. It was clear he was taking more time to decide where to score, but Grace could anticipate his action again. He threw the quaffle, and while it was a bit more difficult to block it this time, she still managed to catch it. Grace smiled and threw the quaffle back. "I didn't think you gave up that quickly." She challenged. "Try again." She grinned. "I might give you a kiss if you manage." She added jokingly.

 

[Dominik Milne]

''Good, because I could do with a kiss right about now,'' Dominik commented with a grin, readying himself once more to take the shot. Now that he knew that both tricking Grace and taking his time did not work in his favour, there was really only one thing left to do, and that was to take the shot fast without thinking which hoop to aim for. He had also figured out that the reason she was catching his attempts so easily was probably because she knew, for some extent, what he would do since it used to be her scoring the goals. As soon as he was ready, Dominik accelerated and flew towards the three hoops with he Quaffle under his arm. He didn't let go of it until he was nearly out of time, watching as it went soared past Grace into the right hoop. ''Woo, yeah! Now that's more like it!'' he cheered.

 

[Professor Grace Holland]

While Grace wanted Dominik to feel better, she definitely wasn't going to go easy on him and let him win. She knew he wouldn't like it if she did that, and she wouldn't either. She watched him fly up tot he hoops again, and noticed he was moving a bit faster this time. Grace didn't notice him trying to aim for one specific hoop obviously, and before Grace knew what had happened, her boyfriend had managed to score. She laughed at his reaction, shaking her head a bit in amusement. "Imagine if I was that excited at every goal." She teased him slightly, but then she flew over to him and gave him a kiss.

 

[Dominik Milne]

Dominik smiled happily as she kissed him, kissing her back quickly before she could fly away from him again. ''Yeah, well, shush, you used to play professionally. If it hadn't been for the fact that we used to transport dragons on broomsticks, I'm pretty sure that I would have forgotten how to fly, too.'' Not that he had forgotten how to play his old position, it had just been a really, really long time ago since he had last practised it. ''So do you want to continue for a bit or are you ready for part two of this date?'' he asked, looking at his girlfriend with a smirk on his face. Whilst the second part might be a bit more in his favour, he had tended and lived amongst them after all, he wasn't so sure if Grace would like it. He wanted her to know that he was still trying to make this special in their relationship and how better to do that than showing her a baby dragon? If it had hatched already, that is.

 

[Professor Grace Holland]

Grace grinned at Dominik, unable to resist teasing him a bit. "Yes, well, you were the one who chose to challenge me." She said with a slight tilt of her head. "You can't complain now that it's unfair." But she was quickly done, as he surprised her with his next words. Grace blinked in surprise. "Part two?" She asked, glancing around to see if there was any hint of what he meant anywhere around. "What did you plan?" She asked him, a hint of uncertainty creeping into her voice. He'd really gone all out, and now Grace felt a little bad for not really planning anything for their anniversary herself.

 

[Dominik Milne]

''Perhaps next time I should challenge you to something that favours me more, then? Writing reports, for example?'' he joked. Whilst Dominik's new job definitely wasn't as exciting as his previous one as a Dragonolgist, it was a lot more safe and secure to keep an eye on the different sanctuary's and their dragons from a distance than being there and having to inspect everything thoroughly. It also paid well, thankfully. ''Okay, so, you might not actually like part two. It involves dragons, well, one dragon, really. A hatchling. One of my friends from the sanctuary in Romania has informed me that they've got one which can hatch at any moment. Now, I know that you don't particularly like dragons, but it is really cute and cannot harm you in any way possible.'' If Grace didn't want to do it, however, he would be fine with it, too. He'd already picked out a movie on one of those Muggle streaming-things just in case she wouldn't be interested in seeing one up close for once.

 

[Professor Grace Holland]

Grace snorted as Dominik suggested they should write reports instead, something he was good at. "Maybe one day, for another date." She said with a slight smile, though she hoped he would get that she was joking. She was a bit wary when he said she might not like part two, but she relaxed a little as he explained it. "I don't particularly dislike dragons." She clarified. "I just don't like them when they're in close proximity to you and at risk of eating you." She told him. "But... I think seeing a hatchling would be fun, if you're sure it won't set my hair on fire." She said, taking his hand in hers.

 

[Dominik Milne]

Dominik chuckled at Grace's comment. It didn't sound like anything the two of them would do together anytime soon and he was perfectly fine with it. He loved her to pieces but he didn't think that he could write reports just for the fun of it. Perhaps when they were old and wrinkly, writing reports would be something they'd be into. He shifted on his broomstick as he listened to her. It was sweet that she still seemed to worry for him even now. He confident enough, however, to call himself an expert on handling dragons at this point, his four years of working closely with the creatures. ''I promise you that it won't set your hair on fire,'' Dominik answered with a smile when she took his hand in hers. ''If it does, well, you got a free haircut,'' he joked, knowing full well that a hatchling's fire was as harmless as it could be. And with that Dominik and Grace left the pitch to return to their apartment, there a portkey would be waiting for them that would take them all the way to Romania. They had to wait a couple of hours for the hatchling to pop out of the egg, filling their time by introducing Grace to everyone, showing her the around, and swapping stories with the others. He couldn't stop himself from smiling as the tiny Ukrainian Ironbelly was looking around and greeting everyone by softly snapping at their fingers. At the end of the day, the two of them returned to their apartment once more. While Dominik knew that he had had a wonderful time, he could only hope that his girlfriend could say the same.