Beater Practice

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Elizabeth Malfoy

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Liz had just run up to her room, grabbed her firebolt, and jumped out the window on top of it. She was excited to fly!

As she approached the stands, she went into the quidditch shed, and removed two bludgers. She hoisted them up onto her broom, secured with straps, and flew into the pitch.

"He's not here yet then" she said. "Ah well, I went pretty fast!"

She brought her broom down to land towards the side of the pitch, and removed the bludgers from her broom, still strapped into their cases.
 
George grinned with excitement as he approached the opposite side of the quidditch pitch, feeling questionably young again.

He broke into a run, tossed his broom out in front of him and leapt on, spurring the broom into motion. He sped accross the pitch, getting a feel for his broom again, and finding it returning with unexpected ease. Forcing his chest lower, so he was almost parallel with his broom, he sped up as he approached Elizabeth.

Pulling the tip of his broom sharply to the left, he skidded to halt a couple of feet in front of Liz, and pushed his hair out of his face. He eyed her broom.

"Nice broom" He grinned.
 
Liz looked up, and saw him speeding towards her. He's going to stop, he's going to stop... she chanted in her head, biting her lip to avoid jumping to the side. When he did, she stopped biting and laughed.

"Yours too!" she grinned, pulling out a couple beater's bats, holding one out to him. "If I get on the team, I'll run out and get my own bat!" she grinned. "Maybe add some flashing lights to it, or something."
 
George nodded and took one of the bats from her, testing the weight of it in his hand, tossing it between his left and right a couple of times.

"Cheers", he said, and then swang at an imaginary bludger in front of him. "Christ I've missed this" He muttered, more to himself than anyone else.

"Yeah, always better to have your own bat, get the weighting and the size right...So, shall we see what you can do?"
 
Liz smiled at him, then stretched her arms a bit. "Alrighty! So are we hitting it back and forth? Or trying to make huge holes in the stands?"

Her broom soared into her hand, and she hopped on, holding one of the bats.
 
"I think we'll hit back and forth a few times...so I can se how talented you are already" He winked at her. "See how much Weasley Wisdom I need to impart".

He flipped open the top of the bludger box with the toe of his shoe, and grinned down at the struggling bludgers, vying to break free from their straps.

He looked over at Liz, and raised an eyebrow. "Ready?"

He grinned and clicked off the straps of one of the bludgers without waiting for an answer, and climbed onto his broom as it soared into the air.
 
Liz smirked. "I'm always ready!" she flew up in the air, about 40 feet, waiting for either the bludger to come to her, or a good shot to dive at the bludger.

She saw it shooting towards her from the lower left, and she turned her broom to get on the other side of it. With her bat held out, she flew directly past it. The second Liz passed it, the bat came out from behind her and smacked the bludger towards George. It was a tiny bit too far to the right, but not nearly far enough that he'd miss it.

Liz turned her body toward him, waiting for the bludger to come shooting back.
 
George watched Liz manouver herself into position and smack the bludger towards him. He was impressed. She had a good arm for such a slip of a girl, and her aim was pretty good as well.

As the bludger came screaming towards him, he positioned himself slightly to the left, and hefted the bat in his hand. His eyes flicked to the ground directly below Liz for a second, and he smirked mischeviously. He swung the bat in an overhead arch and caught the bludger as it was about to pass.

It pelted quickly to the ground below inbetween himself and Liz, richotted off the soft earth and screamed towards Liz from below.
 
Liz squealed as the bludger came at her. She hadn't realized what was going on until it was close. I've never seen anyone do that before! her eyes popped open. She didn't have time to hit it away. She thought of the practice she and Courtney had earlier...

Liz quickly swung her leg up, and pulled herself to stand on the broom. She flew a few inches up, and managed to get the bludger shooting through her legs, rather than hitting her in the face. As soon as it passed, she jumped down, back onto the broom. The bludger turned course for her, and she was ready this time... she hit it back to George.

As the bludger soared towards him, Liz looked around for something she could do that was as interesting as bouncing a bludger off the ground.
 
George laughed as Elizabeth stood up on broom to allow the bludger to pass through her legs. Genius! He was laughing so hard he hardly noticed as the bludger came at top speed towards him. He raised his arm to hit the bludger back, but as he was unprepared his grip on the bat was slack.

The bludger simply knocked his bat out of his hand on the way past. He gulped, and watched as his bat zoomed towards the ground. He looked up at Liz, his eyes comically wide.

He turned his head and saw the bludger zooming towards him from behind again. He gripped the front of his broom and pushed it towards the ground, and shot perfectly vertical towards the ground, and his falling bat.

He reached out his hand and gripped the handle of his bat just before it made contact with the earth, turning sharply as he did to face the bludger again, and swang his bat around with as much force as he could muster seconds before the bludger would have made rather painful contact with his head.

He hovered a few feet above the ground. "And that is what you get for not paying attention!" He grinned, shaking his head at himself.
 
Liz flew at the bludger, and hit it to the opposite end of the pitch, and flew over to George. "You ok?" she asked, biting her lip. She kept an eye on the bludger- she'd hit it away again once it got close.
 
George nodded, wiping dirt off his shoulder where it had just skimmed the ground. "I'm okay, was just too busy admiring my last shot!" He joked. "That was one of Fred and I's signatures."

He slid off his broom to the ground, and turned it upside down, straighteneing a couple of the twigs that had got bent. "You're good you know...creative" He grinned.
 
Liz grinned, and then saw the bludger coming their way. She hit it once more before replying.

"I'm creative? That's an amazing signature move the two of you have!" she laughed, "Definitely the last thing I was expecting! Amazing, really."

Liz turned to check for the bludger again. "I only thought to stand up because of a practice session that Courtney and I had earlier. We were playing tag... she stood on her broom, and I was so distracted by how fun that looked, that she got me as soon as I was standing!" Liz took a small strip of fabric from her pocket, and tied her hair back with it. "So, any pointers? Or are you ready for some more?"
 
"Yeah...sneaky little gits the two of you are, aren't ya?"

As the bludger swung back towards them again, George dropped his bat and took the brunt force of the bludger in his stomach, holding it with his arms. With great difficulty, he forced it back into its bindings, and turned back around to Liz.

"Well, as I so expertly demonstrated just then, try not to take your eye off the bludger for a start...when you do, thats when accidents happen. 'Course you are sort of relying on the other team not paying attention..." He raised a lone eyebrow.

"How long have you been playing for anyway?"
 
Liz winced when he put the bludger away. That was always the part of practice that got to her.

Once it was safely in it's straps, Liz grinned. "Half the time we're not even sneaky, and people fall for our tricks."

She looked sideways at the bludger case. "And no worries! There's no way I'd take my eye off that thing. I've been knocked off a broom too many times by those!"

Liz smiled, "Hopefully, if I end up as team captain, I'll be teaching the team to fear the bludgers more than any sort of food I offer them!" she laughed.

"Anyhow! I've been flying since I could walk, a bit before in fact. Father insisted on it, and I'm glad he did! I learned how to play quidditch when I was about six." she developed a slight look of disgust. "He wanted me to be a seeker though. I could do it, and I guess I'm more built for that, but beater's more fun!" she laughed. "Seekers don't get to knock people off their brooms!"

Liz pulled her ponytail a bit tighter. "How long has it been since you played anyway? You don't seem very rusty!"
 
"It's been a fair few months! Not since I last went home." He grinned, fondly remembering Christmas quidditch matches at the Burrow.

"Ah yes, but if you're doing your job properly, they shouldn't have to fear it! More important to remember that the bludger is actually there to help you out, though it doesn't seem that way when it's trying to bash your skull in. You gotta control them, make them work for you. If you keep the bludgers under the control of you and the other beater, you're sorted!"

"Example time! A dirty bugger from the other team whacks an angry one at your star Chaser unexpectedly, you're there in time to defend, but where are you aiming it?"
 
Liz smiled. At least some one had fun on trips home. She'd already made plans to go somewhere else for summer. After the scene her grandfather created? She loved her father, but no way would she go back there.

Liz nodded fervently through his short lecture. It all made sense. She still wanted her team mates to be a little scared of it- that might help them keep an eye out incase they were against a team with -merlin forbid- better beaters.

"Oh no! Quiz time!" Liz laughed, then thought for a few moments. "Well, not back at the beater, since they have a bat and could use it again against my team. I'd say, either at one of their active players, or at the other beater on my team, depending on their position." She looked back at him, curiously, wondering if that was the right answer.
 
"The answer's B Bob, and the lady gets a prize!" He took chocolate frog out of his pocket and tossed it at Elizabeth, smiling.

"Back to your other beater works best, see, they've had time to come up with a plan then. And your team is still in control. You can't just go hittin it willy-nilly at an active player, the other teams beater will see that one coming"

((Oh for craps sake. Im gonna have to go...we just got a new puppy and it's just vomitted everywhere...nice. Sorry hun! Might be back on later))
 
Liz caught the chocolate frog, grinning. "That makes sense then!" she laughed. "I guess I'd expect someone to hit it back at me or at an important player." she smiled. "Maybe once one is established as an experienced player- some one who wouldn't just hit it back to the beater, then you actually could hit it back at them, or at another team member of theirs. I mean, whatever they're not expecting!"

((hah, okay :p baby animals are cute. It's the only reason people keep them around when they do things like that! Talk to you later then :) Reply whenever's good!))
 
"Well aren't we a little smarty pants today?" He teased, flipping his bat in his hand.

"Ok, so you can handle your bludgers pretty bloody well from what I can see...think you can do it blindfolded?" He challenged, grinning.
 
Liz bit her lip. "Well, I've flown around the pitch blindfolded with Courtney... so at least running into the stands won't be an issue!" she grinned. "And the hospital wing is close enough. Sophia's getting to know me pretty well. Another injury couldn't hurt!"

Liz picked up her bat. "Not to mention, I'm working on sensing locations of objects with my eyes closed anyhow. This will just be a bit of a riskier practice!"
 
Gorge smirked. "Don't worry, if I think you're gonna get hit I'll shout". He pulled a silk scarf out of his pocket and threw it at her. "Fly about 25 feet up and put this on" He instructed.

He picked up his broom again and crouched down by the box containing all the balls. "Ready?"

(((HAHA when I first wrote that it came out as 'ball box'.)))
 
Liz flew up, and tied the scarf around her eyes. "As ready as I can be!" she said, holding her bat at the ready, listening for the faint whistle of a bludger flying at her.

((lol :p))
 
George kicked the box and the trappings on one of the bludgers flew open, and it soared straight up into the air, he leapt onto his broom and soared up after it, pausing when he was about parallel with Elizabeth.

The bludger pelted down towards him from above, and he held out his batting arm ready.

"Here it comes!" He shouted, hoping to give her some warning to start with about which direction it was coming from.

He swung his bat around and it made contact with the bludger, and sent it hurtling towards Liz.
 
Liz readied herself to swing her bat. When she felt the bludger actually create a small breeze, she swung. The first part of the swing missed entirely, but it hit the back of the bat.

"Got it!" She hoped it at least went somewhere in George's general direction.
 
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