Honing

[October Alcott]

October may not be a primary member of the Quidditch team, but if anything that meant she should be practicing more, she felt. Isabelle only had one year of school left, and if October continued on with the team she would likely be taking the older girl's place. It was an enormous amount of pressure, to play such an important position, and October was scared of letting the team down because of her inexperience. She wouldn't let that happen. She wasn't going to humiliate herself in front of the whole school. If October was going to do something, she was going to make sure she was the best at it. No excuses for second place. Kicking off from the ground October began to fly laps around the pitch to warm up, a practice snitch tucked in her pocket for when she was ready to really start.

 

[Sara Benivieni]

Sara was more than relieved to have made the team again, even though she was once more an alternate. But last year she played in a match and therefore her relief hadn't deflated. She thought that if she practiced there was even more of a chance for her to get on the team next year as her skills would have improved. More than that though, Sara wanted Slytherin to do well this year and she was willing to put in the extra practice. She arrived to the Quidditch pitch with her broom in her hand and she mounted it, only noticing the other girl once she was up in the air. Sara squinted, trying to see who it was - but the girl was only vaguely familiar. She had no idea what her name was or what year she was in. Sara flew until she was next to her, and she tried speaking to her as she sent her a smile. "Hey. You're on the Ravenclaw team, right?" Sara had begun in the past year to familiarise herself with a few faces on one or two of the teams and she hoped she was right in guessing the girl's house at least.

 

[October Alcott]

No matter how many hairties and pins October put in her hair, it never seemed to be enough to stop it from whipping all about while she flew, and as she was coming up on her fifth lap of the pitch her hair had almost entirely escaped the ties, and was flying free behind her. The sound of the wind rushing past her ears was surprisingly relaxing, and it was only by chance that she looked down and realised she wasn't alone, slowing to see what the other girl wanted as she watched her shoot into the air. October was surprised to be approached, and nodded slowly. "I'm an alternate." She wracked her brains for a long moment, trying to remember which team she recognised the other girl from. "You're on the Slytherin one, yes?"

 

[Sara Benivieni]

Sara smiled even more as she felt more at ease when the other girl replied to her and asked her if she was on the Slytherin team. Sara hadn't thought before if other quidditch players would recognise her but it appeared so. She nodded her head in response to the Ravenclaw's question. "Yes, I am. I'm also an alternate," she sighed a little, but she still had high hopes to play a game again this year. Next year, she would try even harder to be on the team, with an official position. "I play keeper. My name's Sara," she introduced herself, unsure as to whether she should shake the older girl's hand or not, considering it wasn't a formal event but at the same time Sara didn't want to be rude or awkward. So, in the end, she extended her hand for the girl to shake if she wanted.

 

[October Alcott]

October nodded, relieved that she had gotten the other girl's team correct. It was hard to remember who was on which team when you only usually saw them from the benches. She smiled in response to the girl's introduction. "I'm October, I play Seeker. It's nice to meet you." She said happily. She laughed softly in surprise when Sara extended a hand, shifting her own grip on her broom a little to shake it. "Did you come out here to practice?"

 

[Sara Benivieni]

"It's nice to meet you, too!" Sara didn't know whether October wanted to have a conversation with the third year or not, but she did seem friendly enough and didn't tell Sara to leave. It was an indication to carry on speaking to her however and in that moment the brunette realised she missed talking to new people. Once they shook hands, October asked if she came out here to practice and Sara smiled, nodding. "I did, yeah - um, I was going to ask if you want to practice together."

 

[October Alcott]

October smiled, a little surprised when Sara asked to practice together. Most of October's non-team time on the pitch had been entirely solitary, and it would be a little strange to fly with someone else. Not unwelcome though, and she nodded, giving the girl a friendly smile. "Sure. That sounds nice." She said happily, then paused. "I'm not sure how much I can help you though, I've only ever played Seeker. I don't really know what Keepers and Chasers do."

 

[Sara Benivieni]

"Oh, that's easy," Sara said as October told her she didn't really know what the other positions on a team did. "Keepers, like me, stay behind the hoops and guard them, to block any incoming quaffles. Chasers are the people who score goals," she explained, in as simple of a manner as she could. It wasn't that difficult to understand, so she was sure October would get it now. "So during practices we play like in a normal game, except also with alternates. You can try to throw some quaffles through the hoops, or something? I'm not sure how I can help you catch the snitch though," she said later, once she tried to think of a way on how to help a seeker practice. Maybe there wasn't one.

 

[October Alcott]

October listened to Sara's description, blushing a little. "Oh, I mean, I know the basics." She said quickly, not wanting to seem a complete fool. "I more meant I don't really know any tactics, or strategies. I can throw the Quaffle at you for a while if you like though." She said awkwardly, not wanting to shut that idea down. It would be interesting to see what other roles int he game were like. "I don't know about snitch-hunting practice, but we can at least practice your role first, if you'd like?"

 

[Sara Benivieni]

"Ohhhh, that makes sense," Sara said with realisation and she mentally facepalmed. Of course October would know the basics. Once she was over her dumb moment, Sara nodded at October's words. "That could work. If you want, you can try to fly from one hoop to the other since there are three while I guard them so it makes it a little harder for me?" If the Ravenclaw was up to it, that was cool, as Sara needed all the practice she could get if she wanted to improve. Considering this year she wanted her team to do extremely well, she needed to be ready at all times.