Hufflepuff Practice

Lauren continued to fly but didn't spot a bludger yet. She had hit it once, but she needed to hit more.
 
The snitch had vanished and Elliot felt miserable. He resumed scanning the pitch, though his heart wasn't really in it, flying slowly north to south.
 
Ilija watched to see where the Chasers were, never risking a glance to other players in case he missed something important.
 
Analei couldn't believe how badly practice was going. "Come on guys! Don't give up!" She called out to the team, whacking a random bludger stray as a show of encouragement.
 
Elliot tried to take some encouragement from Analei's words. It was a tiny be reassuring the rest of the team seemed to be having a hard time today too, the general mood on the pitch was pretty dismal. But it didn't really bode well for their season this year. Refocusing, Elliot started another lap around the pitch, searching for the snitch.
 
It had been a while since Ilija had to block anything but he wasn’t complaining. Just being up in a broom with a team was something the fifth year was getting used to.
 
Abian flew up to the hoops where Ilija was guarding. He grinned at his roommate, then tried to score. Unfortunately, he missed. Abian sighed and flew off again, frustrated.
 
Analei was impressed by Ilija's ability to prevent the Chasers from scoring, but knew the frustration from the chasers. She was feeling the frustration in not being able to hit anyone with a bludger, and though she still ached, she was impressed with Lauren hitting her.
 
Elliot felt his heart speed up and then sink at every sign of movement he spotted about the pitch. He caught himself about to dive after a stray leaf and had to shake himself before continuing his search. He decided to circling near the hoops, enjoying the proximity of the rest of the team for a bit even if they seemed about as discouraged as he was.
 
Ilija grinned at Abian when he flew closer to the hoop, and despite his heart pounding in his chest he darted after the Quaffle. He threw it back out into play, and braced himself for more attempts.
 
Analei whacked a bludger towards Ilija, wondering if he was hit, it would give the chasers a chance to score something. It went wide though, and Analei frowned, zooming around the pitch quickly to let off some steam.
 
Ilijas eyes widened when Analei suddenly hit a bludger towards him. He didn’t even know that was something that anyone would even want. Was he really defending too much? He gulped as he watched it whizz past him, another thing now to have to consider as he played.
 
Loitering near the hoops was a nice break from scanning the pitch, but as soon as bludgers started flying around, Elliot decided to move. He thought he might have seen something glittering near the the center of the pitch by the grass and made his way over there to investigate.
 
Ilija wondered whether the seekers could see the snitch any easier with their slightly more trained eyes. Not wanting to get too distracted though he kept his eye on the Quaffle.
 
Analei looked over at Arvel, wondering if they should just call the practice over, so they could regroup and try again on another day. They certainly weren't getting anywhere today.
 
As he got close, whatever sign of movement Elliot had spotted seemed long gone and he sighed, feeling his shoulders slump again. He'd never wanted to catch the snitch more badly and it had never seemed more difficult.
 
Lauren went to continue and spotted a nearby bludger, she was frustrated and felt angry and took a hard swing to the bludger and aimed for the nearest player at that moment which was Elliot but instead the bludger went off course and she hit Ilija. The hitting bludgers thing felt nice, Lauren could really blow off some steam.
Your action (hit) was successful!
...but the bludger went off course, and you hit another player, instead!
Click to expand...
 
Elliot's shoulders were starting to ache from the tension he'd been holding in them all practice. He had just started drifting over towards the southern hoops when he saw a glitter of movement again. Determined to not let the practice be a total wash, Elliot shot after it before he could think too hard about it, tailing the snitch past Lauren and diving when it swerved sharply down. He felt like he was holding his breath the whole time and finally took a huge gulp of air when he felt his fingers wrap around it, pulling up sharply and nearly rocking himself of his own broom in relief. "Got it!" He called out, checking hurriedly over his shoulders for the rest of the team and waving the snitch. "Finally got it."
 
Analei went to hit a bludger, but was distracted by Elliot's yell of success. Finally! With a grin, Analei gave him a thumbs up, before yelling out. "Alright guys! That's it!" Calling everyone to the ground. "It was a rough practice, but don't give up because we've got a game coming up soon. We'll regroup after we've all showered...but well done Lauren, Elliot and Ilija, you guys did really well today."
 
Ilija would have been more happy about Elliot catching the snitch if he hadn’t been winded by Lauren just seconds before. “Good job!” Come out nothing more than a strained whisper and he got off his broom, and tried to pull himself back together.
 
Lauren was glad to be hitting people twice in her first practice. A small grin appeared on her face as she got a compliment. It was not what she was used to. She could not remember the last time she got one. So that made her really happy. Choosing Quidditch was the best thing for Lauren. It was a long time ago she had smiled and the blow off steam thing was helping a bit at her emotions. She smiled shy to the boy she had hit and went to the ground as the practice was over.
 
It didn't slip Arvel's attention that Analei excluded him from praise. He shook his head, throwing his broom down and stalking off to get changed.
 
Elliot was relieved that he'd finally caught the snitch, one bright spot in a frankly miserably practice. Touching down, he ducked his head when Analei praised him, glad that at least not everyone on the team seemed to think he sucked. Arvel still looked furious about something though and it made Elliot stomach twist uncomfortably. Heading to the changing rooms, Elliot was eager to be done and get back to the safety of the common room.
 
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