Extra Practice

[Odette Madison]

When the Head Girl had approached Odette for extra Quidditch training, she hadn't hesitated to say yes. Now that Asaiah Murphy had been kicked off the team for some stupid thing he did, she was going to finally play for real. She didn't want to be happy about it because Asaiah seemed to be sort of a good guy, and definitely a good Beater, but she still felt sort of happy about it. Being able to play as chaser in the last game had been amazing, but Beater is what she really wanted to do.

Odette arrived at the pitch on time with her broom in her hand, her heart beating fast in her chest. She wanted to impress Alana so badly, the older girl was sort of an example for her. When she first had come to school, she knew her mother must have been wrong about Quidditch not being for girls the moment she saw her house team play with some really talented girls on it, girls that were also poised and beautiful. Odette knew it was possible to be both a lady and a Quidditch player now, and hoped she could be a part of the team permanently.

 

[Alana Finch]

Alana was still in disbelief that Asaiah Murphy had gotten himself kicked off the team. She'd woken up the morning after that announcement still reeling. It really had been a rough night, and even though she still intended on petitioning Professor Cliffeton on Asaiah's behalf, she knew that she needed to make sure Odette was up to the task if she did indeed have to start their next match. She'd told the girl what had happened and had suggested some extra practices, which the young girl had eagerly accepted.

Tightening her ponytail, Alana turned just in time to watch Odette enter the pitch, ready to go. Alana was happy to see that the younger girl was taking this as seriously as she wanted her to. "Hi Odette" Alana said with a small smile as she finished putting on her gear. She straightened, not too much taller than the girl before her though she was years older. "I figured we could let one Bludger loose and I'll fly around and you can try to keep me and yourself from getting hit." Alana wasn't exactly thrilled at the prospect of being hit by a bludger but the only way to train Odette was to let her work with the bludgers, and bludgers seemed to like living targets best.

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette tried not to smile too much, it wouldn't be good to show just how excited she was bout this, but she really was. She nodded in agreement at Alana's plan, though she would have agreed with almost anything at this point. She grabbed the beater's bat and nodded. "I'll do my best, Alana." She assured the older girl. She was determined not to let any bludger hit her. Maybe if she didn't do well enough, the captain would decide not to let her play in the game after all. She mounted her broom and kicked off so she was hovering, waiting for Alana to release the bludger. She gripped her bat tightly, suddenly realizing she was pretty nervous about this. It was one thing to practice with the whole team here, but now every mistake she made would be incredibly obvious to Alana. She nodded to show she was ready.

 

[Alana Finch]

Alana nodded her head. She expected nothing less from the young Slytherin. As the girl rose into the sky, Alana kicked open the practice chest and watched the bludgers struggle against the restraints. With a sigh, she released one and was glad when it didn't immediately try to strike her in the head. Jogging for her broom, Alana quickly got on and kicked off, heading high into the sky and beginning to fly around in the direction the bludger had gone. She knew it was probably a silly move since bludgers didn't need to be antagonized.

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette watched Alana go after the bludger and followed her at once, the bat clutched in her hand. She needed to do well now, and she was nervous. She sped in the direction of the bludger, as the ball decided to go after the Captain. She sped up and swung the bat as hard as she could. There was power in her swing, but the aim was off. It only grazed the ball and managed to get it off course, but not for very long. It came back and this time she did miss, the ball flew right past her bat at Alana. Odette grimaced. "Sorry!"

 

[Alana Finch]

Quickly enough the one bludger she'd set loose realized that it had two people to target and it darted their way. Odette managed to block it the first time, sending it away though it wasn't a great hit. Still, she had done what she needed to do. Alana continued to fly, a sharp pain in her shoulder letting her know that Odette had not been quite so successful the second time. As the bludger flew off, Alana glanced over her shoulder, a grimace on her face. "Don't apologize! Just block the damn ball" she said, her voice full of attitude. The Slytherin was not going to take it easy on Odette. If she couldn't do this when she only had one person to protect, how could they trust her when there was a whole team to protect and a whole other team to attack?

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette watched the bludger hit Alana with a wince, and it took a lot of her willpower not to snap back at her when she told her off, but she grit her teeth and swallowed her words. Instead she nodded and gripped the bat tighter. The bludger seemed to be hungry for blood, it turned and came back to them. It made sense, since they were the only two people out here today. Odette watched the ball carefully, gripping her broom with her legs as she used both hands to swing the bat, aiming for it. It connected with a satisfying sound and was hit away from them, spinning slightly. She grinned, she knew she could do this.

 

[Alana Finch]

The pain in her shoulder was sharp, and Alana found herself breathing in nice and slow to try and move past it. She kept flying, hearing the thwack of the bat as Odette succeeded in hitting the bludger far away. "Again!" she yelled, doing a quick u-turn and flying away from Odette. A beater needed to be able to keep up with their team. Odette showed promise, but that wasn't going to win them any games.

 

[Odette Madison]

Skip​

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Odette was exhausted, breathing hard. She was also frustrated, though she didn't slow down or falter as she once again flew after the captain in an attempt to protect her. The older girl had been hit by a bludger once again and she had yelled at Odette more about it. Odette had also been hit once and had also managed to hit one bludger away. The younger girl was nearing the point of needing to stop but she didn't want to give up in front of the captain, not in the least because she didn't want to get yelled at again. She saw a bludger heading their way and grimaced, gathering all her energy to try one more time. She raised her bat and smacked the bludger away from both her and the captain with a good hit. She smiled, glad she had at least not messed this one up.


Godmod approved

 

[Alana Finch]

Alana was sweating and in pain. Her shoulder throbbed from her first hit, and her ribs throbbed from the second. She'd tried turning away when she noticed Odette wasn't going to get to it, but the blusher had still more than grazed her. She'd yelled at Odette, relentless in her need for the girl to be ready. Even though she wasn't sure she could take another hit, she kept on until Odette made one more save. Breathing a heavy sigh of relief, Alana reached for her wand and cast a spell on the bludger, not wanting to deal with it any longer. Alana ignored the younger girl until she'd finished putting the bludger into the game chest. Then, she turned, her hand on her ribs. "That was..." she paused as she searched for the right words. "a good effort." Odette certainly had the potential to be great. She nodded, a wince as she leaned down to pick up her broom and began to walk. "We'll meet again before next practice."

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette wasn't entirely happy with the result, especially when the captain just said it was a good effort. She knew she wasn't nearly as good as Ezra or Asaiah yet, but it was her first year flying! Not that that was an excuse, she needed to do well if the team wanted to win. She nodded. "I will keep training." She told the older girl. "I'll work hard, I promise." She felt bad when she saw the captain wince, and would try even harder next time to protect her from bludgers. She realized that she hadn't thanked Alana yet and quickly did so. "Thank you for helping me." She said, meaning it.