Gryffindor Pride First Practice

B

Bruin Dumbledez

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,695
Wand
Ebony Wand 15" - Dragon's Heartstring Core
Bruin arrived early for the first practice with the new team. He had selected 10 team members and was determined to get all of them game action this year so that Gryffindor would be in good shape for next year when he and Cyndi were gone. There was a light drizzle falling, although the air temperature was quite comfortable. Bruin didn't know how popular his decisions regarding playing positions would be, but he was pretty sure that everyone would put the team first and that as long as they won, everyone would be happy. The thought of this team losing didn't even cross the Gryffindor Captain's mind.
 
Andy walked down towards the pitch her broom across her shoulders, while her hands were clasped together on her head. She was doing a simple stretch the whole way down wondering who was going to be playing where. Delighted she had actually made the team, Andy walked out onto the quidditch grounds only to see Bruin there alone. Now this was going to be awkward. She bit her lip and twisted around to see if any of the others were coming but nope, it was just the two of them for now. Hopefully Kat, Cyndi and Kiera would hurry up or any of the others for that matter.

Her heart did a slight flip the closer she got but she really didn't know what to say to him so opted for silence for now. She sat down on the grass moving her broom so that it now lay beside her. Say something, anything she told herself.
"Hi" oh great, way to go on the intelligent conversation starter Fiorelli. She tucked a stray hair back behind her ear and leaning back on her hands looked up at the sky. Small talk, I can do small talk.
"Umm nice weather" the fact that she had just sat down on slightly damp grass and it was spitting rain made her wish the ground would just swallow her whole. Right just shut up, you're making a big fool out of yourself. Should have said something about the team. She bit her lip again and looked back over to the entrance. Would someone ever hurry up?
 
Bruin looked up from the equipment he was getting organized when he heard someone approaching. Of course, Andy!!! Can't even concentrate on the task at hand now! Bruin tossed a couple of old quaffles out on the grass seeing as there was no sense in wrecking any of the good equipment for a first practice.

"Oh hey!", he managed fairly confidently, still not sure if he could look her in the eye without his mouth or his expression betraying him.

"Yeah, I suppose it is..." Bruin replied in a confused tone when she brought up the weather. If you're a duck!?!?

Bruin shook his head and realized that this small talk about the weather was perhaps even worse than some of their other strained conversations lately and he decided to go into his comfort zone. "So, have you ever considered trying Chaser?" he asked, hoping that she didn't take it that he thought she sucked at Beater or Keeper. "I mean, you're a great flyer and real quick. I think you Kat and Kiera could be pretty fearsome together..."
 
Kat realized that today was the first quidditch practice of the season and if she didn't hurry up she was going to be late. She hopped up off her bed where she had been reading and immediately went lightheaded and her legs gave out from under her. Closing her eyes tightly Kat prayed that the feeling would subside. This was the second time this week it had happened, but both times had been when she'd stood up too fast so she chalked it up to a weird case of vertigo or something. Kat pulled herself up, holding onto the post of her bed for support. She waited for about five minutes and then she felt 'fine' again so she pulled on her tennis shoes, grabbed her Scarlet Streak and headed down to the pitch.

When she arrived she noticed that Bruin and Andy were alone together. Wuh oh she thought as she rushed the last few feet to them, hearing Bruin saying something about herself, Andy, and Kiera being fearsome together. Kat piped up and said in a quirky tone, "I'm fearsome all on my own. If you don't believe me I know a few boys from Durmstrang who could back that up!" She walked over to her best friend and plopped down in the damp grass next to her. She blinked a few times, to shake off the last of the nauseous feeling that she still had from her little 'spill' in the dorm then looked at Bruin, "So are we gonna spank some fannies on the pitch this year captain?"
 
Kiera skipped her way down to the pitch. She had seen the notice on the board in the common room about who made the team and when practices would be. She noticed it hadnt listed the positions everyone would be playing, so naturally Kiera was curious as to what Bruin meant for them to do. She held her broom at her side as she entered the pitch. Kiera saw Kat, Andy, and Bruin already there. Kiera grinned at them all as she went to sit with her roommates. "Hi. Whats up?" she asked cheerfully. Kiera was anxious to get begin practice.
 
Bruin thankfully seemed distracted by the equipment, his own small talk as bad as her own until he asked her if she had ever considered being a chaser. She sat there with her mouth hanging open when he complemented her flying, if she could do a happy dance she probably would have but thankfully Kat showed up to distract her from their captain.

Andy smiled at her, though the smile was soon replaced by a slight frown. Was it her imagination or was Kat looking decidedly peeky, almost drawn and exhausted and... if possible thinner again. Andy wanted to say something but knew this was not the place. Andy stood up realising how uncomfortable sitting on wet grass could be. She moved her hands to her rear and cringed at the damp patch that was there. She didn't think for one moment that using the bluebell flames here would be effective but she as yet didn't know any drying charm.

"Chaser huh?" was he really offering her the place because she was good or because he didn't think she was any good in the positions she had put herself down for? She had always trusted his judgement before so didn't know why she was reluctant to now, the last few months still weighed heavy on her.

"If you want me to give it a go..." Kiera skipped down on to the pitch and Andy stopped for a moment to say hi to her before continuing, "I'd be honored to fly along side these two". She smiled at both girls, keeping her hands firmly behind her attempting to cover up the damp patch.

"Kat I think bad idea right there" she indicated her still sitting on the grass.
 
Taylor grinned as she bounded down to the pitch, her Nimbus 2001 in her hand. She had made the team! She was so happy with herself. Noticing a group of the older students she felt a slight nervousness rise up in her, but she pushed it aside as she approached them. "Hey everyone." She said, trying to be socialable, but not knowing what the conversation was before she had arrived. Now that she was on this team, she would have to start chatting with the older students and maybe even be friends with a few. It would never work well if she was an outcast on her own team. She was determined to not let that be the case.
 
Mike was glad to see he had made the team. He grabbed his Scarlet Streak and swiftly made his way down to the Quidditch Pitch. He saw some of his other fellow Gryffindor peers that had been successful in making the team. "Hey guys. Am I late?" Mike asked seeing that others were there before him but it seemed they were lacking in numbers so obviously some people had not arrived yet. "Good day so far" Mike asked no one in particular.
 
Kida made her way down to the quidditch pitch, her Moontrimmer was in her hand, she wore 3/4 pants with her hair out as usual. Kida walked down, this was her first training session, she was shocked that she actually made it on the team.
Kida walked down, the rain was coming down lightly she loved the Rain, Kida saw Taylor on the pitch and smiled 'another second year' Kida said to herself thankfully. "Hey Taylor" she said as she walked over to her and leaned on her broom.
"Thank god there is another second year, i thought i was going to be a loner" she laughed as she ran her hands through her hair.
 
Kiera had caught the last end of Andy's talk with Bruin. She was saying something about flying along side Kiera and Kat. Kiera grinned. With the three of them all as chasers, they would be nearly unbeatable. She liked that idea. Kiera smiled as Mike joined them. "Nope your right on time." she said cheerfully. Then two second year girls entered their group. Kiera thought she had met the blonde girl named Taylor before but she hadnt seen the other one. "Hi. Im Kiera." she said introducing herself in a friendly voice. "Congrats on making the team." she said with a smile.
 
Relief washed over her as more of the team showed up. It was good to see Mike on it again but she never had doubted it for a second. It was easier to distract herself from Bruin with so many people about.
"Hey Mike" she smiled at the other two girls, realising the last time she was amongst her team mates she was nothing short of moody and desolate. She'd make an extra effort with them all today.

"Hey you two, welcome to the team. I'm Andy" she had caught the name Taylor but didn't know the other girls name yet. Using her foot she flipped her broom up from the ground and caught it effortlessly in her right hand. Ignoring the damp patch she just hoped no one less had noticed it.
 
Taylor looked around to see Kida. She had only met her once, but knew her as Aeon's cousin. "Hey Kida." She laughed. "Yeah its good to know another second year is on the team. Congrats on making it." She added with a smile.

Taylor looked up to see two older students coming over to talk to them. She smiled at them, "Hey Keira." She said, before looking over at another girl, "Hey Andy, Im Taylor." She nodded and grinned. "Thanks." She said, not sure it was appropriate to say congratulations back to the girl, because she had most likely been on the team before.
 
"Hey Kiera!" Kat said as her other roommate joined them on the ground. Just then two younger girls, second years, came up and greeted them. "Hullo! Congrats on making the team. You'll love it! I'm Kat by the way!" she said with a smile to make them feel welcome. Not too long afterwards Mike joined them asking if he was late and so Kat cracked, "Yes you are very late. Practice is over and you missed it!" She stuck her tongue out at him and chuckled a little bit.

"Ah crud," she said as she slowly stood up from the ground and looked at her bum. She too had a damp spot from where she had been sitting on the grass. Kat looked at Andy and said, "I guess we match now!" Turning around she showed her best friend the spot and laughed.
 
Cyndi woke up as Kiera left their room, and realized that her other roommates had already left and she was the last one up. She had been thrilled to see her name on the list of people on the team, and hoped that she would continue on as Beater. Cyndi threw on a pair of sweatpants and a Gryffindor t-shirt, grabbed her Sienna Storm and jogged down to the pitch, wishing that she was allowed to apparate on school grounds.

When she finally reached the pitch, Cyndi saw that most of the team was already there. Cyndi waved at her roomies, and noticed that Andy and Kat were both sporting wet spots on their bums. She decided not to mention anything about it though, and turned to Bruin and Mike. "Hey guys." She then turned to two girls, one she knew-Taylor and one she didn't. "Hi girls. Congrats on making the team!" she said happily. She couldn't wait for practice to begin.
 
Bruin was just finishing getting the equipment organized, having basically removed himself from the conversation as players arrived and began to chit-chat amongst themselves. He did a quick head count and realized that only Hilary and Ellie had yet to arrive. However, something didn't feel right about starting the practice or speaking about his ideas about positions and training until the whole team was there. "If any of you want to do a little warm up flying for a few minutes, that's cool with me. I'd like to wait until Hilary and Ellie arrive before we start any drills or anything." Bruin stated, hoping he didn't sound bossy. "Of course, sitting and talking is alright too."

Bruin turned his back on the group and headed over to the Quidditch shed, not for any specific purpose, but just because he didn't feel like fielding any questions at the moment and still needed to wrap his head around exactly how this practice was going to work.
 
Kida smiled "congrats to you aswell" she said as she ran her fingers through her hair. Kida smiled "Hey, i'm Kida" she said smiling. the captain seemed to be busy with his own work, when he said that they should fly she was up for the chance, "hey tay, wanna go for a fly and chat" she said smiling as she mounted her broom and kicked off slightly, she hovered for a moment before letting go of her broom with both of her hands and hovered there. "waddu say"
 
Hilary had read about the Quidditch practice on the bulletin board and ran down to the pitch. She felt late again, but it didn't look like they had started drills yet. She walked over to the group and stopped right beside Bruin. Pulling off her backpack of space she began to unzip it and pull out what she would need. "Hey Capt'n, have a plan for today? Oh and by the way, the tryouts were really cool" She flashed him a smile being sincere.
 
Andy couldn't help but laugh as Kat stood up and told her they matched now.
"Well maybe when we're up in the air the wind will dry it up for us" of course the fact that it was still drisseling rain didn't help but she had flown in worse conditions. She smiled at Taylor and as the other girl introduced herself smiled at her as well.
"Welcome to the most awesome team in the school Kida".
Soon enough Cyndi arrived, Andy winked at her jokingly gesturing to her watch when Bruin told them all they could go warm up or sit and talk. Andy looked dubiously at the grass not really wanting to sit any longer but wanting to be up in the air now. The enthusiasm of the second years was infectious, though she had to admit quidditch always made her feel excited anyhow. Hilary eventually came too and it was then that Andy remembered about Ellie.
"Oh Ellie won't be able to make this one, she really wasn't feeling too good yesterday. I think she was going up to the hospital wing today" she bit her lip knowing how great a player Ellie was and knowing how disappointed she had been about missing this practise but it couldn't be helped. Andy had addressed the entire team, not looking for one second in Bruins direction.

[ok I godmodded her a little bit there but Nicky (Ellie) has gone on holidays for then next month, so I've pm'd her that I've done this anyhow.]
 
When Hilary arrived and Andy mentioned that Ellie would not be joining them, Bruin realized that they now had their full complement of players and that they could begin the practice in earnest. Seeing as no one had actually gotten airborne yet, he decided that he'd simply cut to the chase. "Scratch what I just said about warming up. It looks like everyone's here now and I have a couple things I wanted to say." Bruin stated as he waited for everyone's attention.

"First of all, you were all awesome at try-outs and I think we will be in great shape for this season and moving forward. I've been thinking about positions and if we were going to start the season right now, well, I think the roster would be Mike at Keeper; Hilary at Seeker; Kat, Kiera and Andy as our Chasers; and Cyndi and I as the Beaters. Having said that, we need to be prepared for injuries and such and so I would like Taylor to start by partnering up with Hilary, kind of learn some of the tricks of being a Seeker. Kida will partner up with Cyndi and go over some of the finer points of being a good Beater in the north end of the pitch. The Chasers need to work on developing some chemistry and can work on some passing plays and warm Mike up at the south end. I'm going to release a Snitch and a Bludger and then circulate around. After a while, we'll come back together and maybe try a little scrimmage or something. Any questions?"
 
Andy smiled at Kat and Kiera, it was going to be great flying alongside these two. Never before when she had begun back in first year did she ever dream she would eventually be a chaser along side the two coolest chasers the school had ever seen. When Bruin had finished talking she slowly raised her hand.
"Erhm, you said you were going to release the snitch and bludger but won't we chasers need the quaffle to do our passes and warm Mike up?" she asked shrugging her shoulders then grinning at Mike added " unless you had another way you wanted us to warm him up?"

She was only kidding of course and playfully nudged Kat beside her. The new comers were possibly nervous enough no matter how excited they were and breaking the ice with some light hearted banter surely wouldn't do any harm.
 
Mike listened as Bruin dictated to them what they would be doing. After listening, Mike nodded his head to show he had understood what had been said and he mounted his broom. He waited a moment before setting off. He heard Andy ask Bruin a question and tried to stiffle a grin. Banter was also another thing, Mike liked about Quidditch. He kicked off from the ground, and did a couple of warm up laps to brace himself for the next part where the chasers would be practicing on him. Mike blew on his hands, rubbing them together to warm them up, before he smiled at the rest of the pride bracing himself for the upcoming session. Mike positioned himself infront of the South End hoops, circling them but still facing the rest of the pack waiting for them to ready themselves. Mike hovered in the centre of the three golden hoops and waited patiently.
 
Cyndi listened to Bruin as he told everyone what position he thought they should play, and she was happy to hear that she would still be one of the Beaters. She continued to listen as Bruin began to partner up some of the newer people with veterans so that they could learn the tricks of their position. Cyndi smiled toward Kida, and hoped that her arms would be ready for it. She held her own arms in front of her and began stretching them, eager to have the bat in her hand.

Once Bruin was done talking, Cyndi walked over to the bench and picked up her beater's bat. With that and her broom in hand, Cyndi walked toward Kida and asked, "Are you ready? Let's head over to the north side." She sure was and hoped that the young Gryffindor was just as excited to begin practicing.
 
Kida nodded as she jumped off her hovering broom and picked up a beaters bat. she smiled to Cyndi "lets do this" she said eager to get up in the air, Kida had a good solid swing but she knew she had to work on being a beater while during flight.
Kida swung her leg over her broom once again and kicked off hovering slightly then letting go of her broom to just sit there.
"Well, i'm guessing it would be stupid to introduce myself now as Kida, seeming you already guessed" she said smiling "After you" she said
 
"I figured it had to be you because I know Taylor. I'm glad I guessed right! I'm Cyndi if you haven't guessed" Cyndi said with a small laugh as she placed one leg over her broom and took off, beater's bat in hand. She soared toward the north end of the pitch on her Sienna, thrilled to be back in the air.

She looked back over her shoulder once to see if Kida was already in the air and then kept flying until she reached the hoop. Making a quick loop around it, Cyndi began to take some practice swings with the bat.
 
Kat snorted and said, "Oh we'll warm him up. No worries there." With that she mounted her broom and kicked off into the air. Unfortunately the changing in the altitudes hit on her hard and she had to close her eyes until the dizzy feeling subsided, which now that she'd figured out how to make it go away it disappeared fairly quickly. "You gonna get up here or just stand there holding the ground down?" she joked with Andy, sticking her tongue out and laughing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)
Back
Top