Beater Practice

[Kaela McIlvoy]

Kaela walked out onto the pitch with her broom and bat. She was quite looking forward to getting more used to her bat. Although she had done fairly decent at the game she was not at all satisfied with her performance. She wanted to be even better, the best she could be. So, she set her broom down and picked up her bat, just swinging it around. She took it into two hands and began swinging it like she was playing softball. She even stepped forward with her left leg, as if she was taking a swing. Kaela had played softball back before she came to Hogwarts, and she did miss is. But Quidditch was fun too.

She had sent Ford a note telling him that she would be down here, but she hadn't exactly asked him to come. In the back of her mind she wondered if he would come, hoping he would, but trying not to think about it. Focus on the ball, she thought to herself and swung at the imaginary bludger she could see heading toward her.

 

[Ginny Porter]

Ginny walked onto the pitch hoping to get some flying done when she saw Kaela swinging the bat into the air.
'Hi kaela. What are you doing?' said Ginny as she walked up to her.

 

[Kaela McIlvoy]

Kaela was not prepared to hear Ginny's voice mid-swing as she did, and ended up releasing her bat. It flew quite a few feet away and Kaela was blushing quite badly as she turned around. "Hey Ginny, I was just practicing with my bat." Kaela was not smiling, but instead wore a rather plain look. As much as she had to admit that the pitch was for everyone, this was the second time she had been hoping to practice with just Ford and had had others come down. "What are you doing down here?" she asked politely, just curious as to why Ginny had come down.

 

[Ginny Porter]

Giny went and got Kaela's bat for her and saw her plain look on her face. Oh dear, she thought knowing that she would have to reschedule flying practise yet again. 'Well, i was coming down to try and practise my flying and beater skills yet again but i can see i'm not wanted here so i'll just go and practise somewhere else' said Ginny quite plainly but not meaning to ofend anyone. She handed the bat over and got her broom and mounted it.

 

[Kaela McIlvoy]

((OK, seriously, no. Your character would totally not be able to tell that Kaela doesn't want her there. She wasn't smiling, no, but she also wasn't frowning or anything. Your character is not all-knowing and cannot tell what I am thinking.))

Kaela frowned as she took her bat from Ginny and watched the girl fly off. Was I really that obvious? she thought, not thinking she had been obvious at all. She gave a small sigh and turned and began swinging her bat once more, this time with only one hand instead of two.

 

[Ford Harkonnen]

Ford sauntered down to the quidditch pitch, broom in hand, lazily. He saw Kaela by herself, swinging away with her bat. Ford mounted his broom and flew over to Kaela. She was really going to town with it, I'll have to give her a go at an actual bludger. "Hey you," he said as he got closer, "Looking good," he smiled.

 

[Kaela McIlvoy]

Kaela looked up at the sound of Ford's voice and once again let go of the bat as she was swinging it. The bat flew out towards Ford and her eyes widened in shock and fear. "WATCH OUT!" she yelled as the bat headed toward Ford at a very decent speed.

 

[Ford Harkonnen]

Ford saw the bat flying at him and heard Kaela's exclamation. He barely missed the bat as he rolled upside down. "Woah," he smirked, "That was close," he righted himself. "You were doing very good, there." He was smiling broadly, "Shall I retrieve that for you?"

 

[Kaela McIlvoy]

"Nah, I got it," Kaela said, her cheeks bright red. She took her wand from her pocket and pointed it in the direction of the bat, "Accio bat!" she said, the bat picking up and slowly making its way toward her. Kaela took it in her hand and pocketed her wand once again. "The spell works, but for some reason the object always acts passive aggressive toward me. I don't get it."

 

[Ford Harkonnen]

Ford laughed, "Maybe it needs therapy. Or at least the satisfaction of hitting some bludgers," he smiled, "Do you want to try it or fly around for a bit?"

 

[Kaela McIlvoy]

"I wanna try with my bat," Kaela said excitedly. She was smiling brightly, as she always did when she looked at Ford. Something about him just made her so happy.

 

[Ford Harkonnen]

"Alright then," Ford nodded, "But first: Do you want to go to the Yule Ball with me?" Ford asked, smiling.

 

[Kaela McIlvoy]

Kaela's mouth dropped open and her eyes widened in happy surprise. The bat dropped from her hand and she moved her hand u to her mouth to cover it. It took her a bit to regain herself, shaking her head slightly and returning her hand to her side. "Yes, of course!" she finally said and ran over to Ford. She stopped beside his broom and waited for him to get down so she could hug him.

 

[Ford Harkonnen]

Ford hopped off his broom and hugged Kaela, "Well that's good," he said jovially. It was a good feeling, hugging her. It was something that he hadn't really felt before, but it was an amazing feeling nonetheless.

 

[Kaela McIlvoy]

Kaela hugged Ford back happily with a huge smile on her face. As she released the hug she gave him a quick peck. "So, do you have bludger?"

 

[Ford Harkonnen]

"Yep, let me get one," Ford said and ran off to the shed. He returned moments later with a box, "I surmise that we'll let this bad boy go," he kicked the box with the quidditch balls inside, "Then you can hit it around or save me from getting hit?"

 

[Kaela McIlvoy]

Kaela watched Ford as he walked off, keeping her eyes on him. She smiled when he came back. "Well, I think just hitting for now."

 

[Ford Harkonnen]

"Alright," Ford nodded. He kneeled in front of the trunk and opened the lid. Inside were all the balls necessary for a game of quidditch. The bludger, having been awoken by the sunlight, immediately began trying to break it's prison open. Ford put his hand on the latch and look over his shoulder to Kaela, "Ready?"

 

[Kaela McIlvoy]

Walking over to where her bat was Kaela picked it up and got in a ready position to swing. "Ready," she said with confidence, waiting for the bludger.

 

[Ford Harkonnen]

Ford nodded and unclicked the latch that held the bludger in. With a whoosh of glee, the ball roared out of the trunk and performed a wide loop in the air and began heading as fast as possible towards Kaela.

 

[Kaela McIlvoy]

Kaela pulled the bat back and swung forward with as much force as she could muster. The bat hit the bludger, sending it spiraling toward Ford. She watched the bludger head toward Ford with wide eyes, hoping he wouldn't get hit.

 

[Ford Harkonnen]

Ford had watched the bludger fly at him very quickly, luckily he had be watching it's attack on Kaela so he was not surprised. However, he barely made it out of the way with a dive to the side as the bludger screamed through the air that he had seconds ago occupied. It slammed into the lid of the ball trunk which flipped over on itself and the bludger slammed into the ground with a satisfying thunk, partially burying itself. Ford looked back at Kaela, "It seems it has other plans," he joked, but his face was stern; this thing meant business. He jumped onto his broom and lit off into a tight circle around Kaela, it seems as though it wants to play rough. The bludger was digging itself out of its hole, but rather quickly. "You ready?"

 

[Kaela McIlvoy]

Kaela watched Ford as he dove out of the way and zoomed over toward her. She hopped on her broom as he was doing circles. "Yeah, I'm ready," she said as she came to hover, facing the direction the bludger was in. Kaela sat on her broom with her bat in her hand, ready to hit it.

 

[Ford Harkonnen]

The bludger, with a hollow thunk, popped out of the ground. He seemed to shake itself off quickly, then stopped to get its bearings. For a brief second it hovered in the air, deciding who to go after.

Before it could make a decision, Ford rocketed up into the air on his broom. The cold wind screamed past his ears as he circled around the hoops he had just reached. He looked to see what the angry little ball was doing, hoping that it had taken his bait. It had; but a bit quicker than Ford had expected, it was too close for comfort. He shot straight up into the air before making a vertical hairpin turn that had him flying straight down towards the ground. He quickly leveled off and began flying towards Kaela, "Ready?" He shouted, hoping she would hear him and take a hit at the bludger which was steadily accelerating towards him.

 

[Kaela McIlvoy]

Kaela watched Ford's fancy flying with wide eyes. How does he do that? she thought to herself, making a mental note to ask him later. "Ready!" she said back to him, quickly taking off toward Ford. She pulled her right arm back and swung with all her might at the bludger, smacking it away from Ford with a grunt. It zig-zagged off toward the goal posts and Kaela smiled brightly at Ford, happy with her result.