Of Quaffles and Bludgers

D

Daniel Cedric Young

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OOC First Name
Daniel
The Quidditch season had yet to arrive but Daniel was already nervously awaiting Hufflepuff's opening game. The excitement of making the team had already worn off and it had been replaced by the gut wrenching wait for his first game on his new team. Having played for Hufflepuff at Hogwarts Scotland, Daniel was no stranger to the pressure of the opening game. Daniel stood in the center of the Quidditch pitch twirling his beaters bat in his left hand with his Streak Sapphire at his feet. He could already see the pitch as it would be at the game. The stands bulging at the seams with fans. The roars of the Hufflepuff students. The wall of yellow and black. He smiled at the thought, he could not wait for his first game. He picked up his broom and he took to the sky, Daniel hovered above the ground for a few moments before he lifted himself further to the sky. Daniel spent a few moments weaving in and around the stands to practice flying. He loved being in the air and it was with a heavy heart that he returned to the ground and dismounted his broom.
 
Sara walked out toward the pitch, her broom in her hand-her parents had bought her a new one this summer-as she'd damaged the old one flying during the holidays-she wasn't used to it yet, and she still couldn't remember it's name-it was fast anyway-faster than her nimbus had been, when she was seeker-after playing both seeker and chaser-she'd decided she'd go for seeker again next year. She liked being a chaser, but she missed the speed of the chase.

From a rise in the land before the pitch, she could see that she wasn't alone in her practicing, there was a boy there also-around her age-maybe a bit older. He had dark hai8r and eyes. He soared above the stands, in and out of the hoops. She stood and watched him for a while before he descended. She walked down toward him, watching him. "You're pretty good." she called, as she drew within a few metres of him. "Sara Moon-Ravenclaw chaser-you?" she asked, holding out her hand to shake his, she guessed he was a quidditch player-he certainly wasn't from her house-she'd have seen him at practice. "I hope it starts soon-I've really missed quidditch." she smiled-she had played during her holidays, but she'd played alone-none of her siblings were very good, nor did they really like quidditch-they didn't see the appeal. Sara and her siblings didn't talk much anyway. Not since her and Kate's relationship had fallen apart.
 
As Daniel touched down he saw a girl walking towards him. He knew she wasn't in his house. As she was a Quidditch player that he had not seen at practice made it perfectly clear that she was not in his house. She held out her hand and introduced herself. He smiled as he held out his own hand to meet hers, "Daniel Cedric You, Hufflepuff Beater," He said holding up his club. He beamed at her as she complimented his flying, "Thanks, your pretty good too," The girl was a fantastic flyer and he dreaded facing her on the Quidditch pitch. "Chaser huh, well our Keeper doesn't stand a chance against you flying like that," Daniel added smiling at her.
 
Sara smiled up at him, he was taller than her, and he had a strong handshake-her grandfather had always said that was the mark of a person. "A beater huh? So if I get a beater to the head during a hufflepuff v Ravenclaw match, you're the one I look to, well with a quaffle to the head, I probably wouldn't remember-so you have nothing to worry about." she grinned, gripping her broom in one hand. "When have you seen me fly?" asked Sara-she hadn't been complimented by anyone outside the team or her house before. She could feel warmth spreading in her face, as she began to blush, but she kept a straight face.

"I'm better as a seeker." she blurted out before she could stop herself-she had never been able to deal with people complimenting her-she felt as though if she said thanks they'd think she was arrogant and if she didn't they'd think she was ungrateful, so she tended to change the subject, she did so now, very quickly. "So, what year are you in?" she asked, glancing at the ground, then back to his face.
 
Daniel smiled down at the girl, he couldn't help but grin as she talked about getting hit by a bludger to the head. He shook his head slightly, "Nah, I wouldn't hit a bludger to your head. I wouldn't want to risk ruining such a beautiful face," Daniel stopped horror stricken. He had no idea that he was going to say that until it had come out of his mouth. "Err," He said trying to think of something to make the moment less awkward for himself, then he got it. A topic changer. "Better as a seeker huh," He smiled as the topic came back to the girl's qudditch abilities. "Well if your better than Hufflepuff won't stand a chance, I might have to send a bludger your way. Avoiding the face of course." He beamed at her trying to hide how embarrassed he was. Daniel had a strong beater like build and seemed like the typical strong guy but moments like his was when he simply crumbled and the illusion broke. "I'm a fourth year," He said trying to swiftly move along the conversation. "What about you?" He asked.
 
Sara froze as he said she was beautiful. She was steadily reddening now, and wondered at his reasons for saying it-maybe he was just flirty, or maybe he was making fun of her. Trying to make light of his comment, she laughed, not sure whether that was appropriate. "Yeah, I prefer it-I like the speed, being so high up-and so much depends on chance." she answered quickly, finding her footing in a safe topic. "I'd like to see you try." she laughed, as he said he'd hit a bludger at her. "Were you practicing?" she asked, as she observed him. He was quite tall, strong looking and had dark eyes. Quite good-looking all in all.

"Third Year." she grinned, she liked her electives. "I came out to practice, I'm not used to being a chaser afterall." she laughed, nodding to the broom in her hand. "I haven't had much practice over the summer-we have muggle neighbours." she had to be careful that theirneighbours in the little cottage near their manor didn't see her flying.
 
Daniel was glad when she skipped over his comment that she was beautiful. He did mean it, but he didn't want her to dwell on as it would only make things awkward and as long as it wasn't brought up and he could keep his mouth shut he might be able to slip into his usual cool calm demeanor that his housemates were used to seeing. "I think being a Seeker would be interesting but its usually for people with a smaller build. I'm not agile enough for it, I'm too, well. Strapping and muscled," He suddenly stopped, to someone else it sounded like he was building himself up. "I don't mean to sound like I'm trying to big myself up, you know what I mean," He smiled. "I was practicing my flying mostly. I just need to keep up my speed so I can reach my players in time. The actual deflection of bludgers is the easier part," Daniel smiled. She was a member of the opposing team, but as she explained that she had little practice due to her muggle neighbors, he felt for her. "Well I can leave you to practice if you wish. I don't want you to think I'm spying on my opposition," He ginned devilishly at her hoping of course that she did not wish him to leave.
 
Sara grinned as they easily skimmed over an embarrassing topic. "Yes, that's what my first Captain thought-apparently, I'm quite short." she replied,loooking up at his tall frame. "Strapping and muscled?" she laughed, as he tried to cover up his mistake. "Now, now don't be modest." she teased, sitting down on the grass. "Yeah, I suppose, but wouldn't it be hard to hit a moving target?" she asked, as he said hitting bludgers was easy.

"Oh, no that's not what I meanty at all!" Sara exclaimed, embarrassed. "I mean, I wasn't suggesting that you." she stammered. "I know your not spying on me!" she blurted out, her cheeks a deep crimson. She looked at the ground. "I wasn't saying you should go, I mean practicing was my original intention, but sure enough I was side-tracked." she explained, looking back up. "It's kind of my thing-being sidetracked, I mean." She tapped the grass beside her, so he would sit. "So, have you always come to HNZ, I haven't seen you before?" she asked, changing the subject once more.
 
At this point Daniel was leaning against his broom by this point and could nothing but grin as she blurted out that she wasn't accusing him of spying. He in fact had only said it as a humerus comment and now she was trying to apologise for suggesting it. He found it, cute in fact. Daniel couldn't believe what he was thinking, he had only just met this girl and he was thinking her very attitude, cute. "I know that's not what you were suggesting," He said grinning at her holding back a laugh. He also couldn't help but notice she teased him by telling not to be modest about his strapping comment. He decided not to make a comment about it, as she had graciously skipped over his beautiful comment he did the same trying not to make the situation awkward. As she sat down on the ground, he felt himself wanting to sit beside her but he didn't just want to force himself beside her. His heart did a back flip as she patted the ground beside her. He sat down and smiled at her, being very careful not to look too much into a friendly gesture. "If you want to practice by all means do, I'll avert my eyes," He said grinning at her. "Or we can just chill out here," He added.
 
"Oh, Good." Sara grinned as he relieved her of her discomfort with a simple comment. "So, where are you from?" she asked, as he sat down next to her, she laughed at his comment about her practicing. "I think I'll stay here-it's too sunny for practice-a much better plan to soak up some vitamin D." she laughed, turning her face toward the sun, her eyes closed. "I could definitely get used to the weather here-it's always so cold in England, and colder and wetter in Ireland." she commented breezily, she was much more comfortable now, amazing what difference ot being able to see him when she talked could do. Somehow it was more confusing and complicated.

"I'm from Ireland, but we live in England now." she added, by means of explanation. "I'm a muggleborn, so I was taken completely by surprise by all...this." she disclosed, opening her eyes and gesturing towards the castlke and some first years who were levitating rocks out into the lake where they dropped them with a faint plop.
 
She had no turned towards the sun and began to soak up the rays. He smiled as he looked down at her, she seemed even more beautiful as she basked in the suns rays. "I'm from England too, London to be precise I originally went to Hogwarts in Scotland and transferred here at the beginning of last year which is why you may not have see me before. My family moved to New Zealand because my dad was offered a promotion. I wasn't very happy about it to be honest, I had a lot of friends back home, I was on the quidditch team. Had a girlfriend too. I loved it," he said. he suddenly realised he was talking a lot about himself, "What do your parents think about you being a witch?" He asked, he knew from his muggle born friends back home that muggle parents had very different reactions to learning their children were magical.
 
"What's it like there?" asked Sara, her eyes snapping open, as she did so, the sun burned into her eyes. Squinting, she raised a hand to shield her eyes. "I've always been interested in Hogwarts Scotland-I mean Harry Potter went there!" she smiled, she had read books upon books about him, it was almost like a fairy-story to her, and she had favourites and people she didn't like. Sirius Black in her eyes, was one the biggest heroes, and mayrtrs in history.

"You must miss the people, your friends." she sympathized, she knew what it was like to be forced to leave your home. She missed Ireland terribly, everything had been better back then.
She grinned at his question. "They were brilliant-Dad especially. He's always been a bit of a dreamer, he was almost like a child-he was so excited, I mean it's a big thing-finding out magic is real." she laughed, her Father had almost been sitting on the edge of his seat when he found out. Her and Thomas had always been very close.
 
"It's wonderful, its similar to the castle here. The grounds are spectacular, unlike here. At this time of year the grounds would usually be covered in blankets of snow. It's beautiful, it was my favorite time of the year, I love snow. Its one of the things I miss most about it, I'm honored that I got to attend the school even if it was only for two years," He smiled as he thought back to his brief time at the school that had become so famous over the years. He really missed living in the UK and schooling at Hogwarts Scotland. Nothing had really made him feel like home here in New Zealand. "How did you end up at HNZ then if you live in England?" He asked curiously.
 
"I miss snow, but we didn't get it much in Ireland, more slush than anything else, maybe once every two years, then we'd all go outside and drench each other to the skin." she replied, smiling. She had loved the way the countryside looked, perfect, flawless untainted by man.

"I'm not sure." Sara frowned. "We were living in Ireland at the time, and we got our letters from HNZ, I think there was an abundance of First Years there, and also, I think the man from the ministry said we had some distant relation who had gone to HNZ, and that it was for this reason that we were chosen as the few who would attend HNZ." she replied, she still didn't fully understand it, also she knew that her father had taken her love of the sun into account, when he and their mother agreed to send them to HNZ. "I love the sun here, it just makes me happier." she sighed, closing her eyes again.
 
Daniel smiled, "Well I'm glad you ended up either way," He said. Thinking how if she had gone to Hogwarts Scotland instead he'd be sat in the middle of Quidditch pitch alone. This was a much better outcome he thought to himself as he watched the sunlight bounce of her skin. Every time he tried to ignore how beautiful she was, he looked at her. "Snows rare in London too, we had it every year in Scotland. I wish we had a bit of snow here every now and again. I don't mind the warm weather but not constantly like we get it here, however. Constant heat does have, some benefits," He said thinking of course of the effect warm weather had on the female clothing choice.
 
"Thanks." Sara smiled, lazily opening one eye and grinning at Daniel. "I am too." She loved the castle, and the grounds-she had lots of friends here and HNZ felt like home to her now, moreso than the big, unfamiliar manor in the countryside surrounding London. "Yes, it does, I mean you can never have beach parties in England, and you always have to wear horrible jumpers and cardigans." She agreed-Sara had always prefered warm weather-it highlighted her natural tan, and it meant it always felt like summer, plus she could wear short-shorts more-her favourite item of clothing. "There's a quidditch match coming up soon." she stated as a slight breeze caught her hair and blew it across her face.
 
Daniel was looking forward to the first quidditch match of the season. "Yeah, Ravenclaw vs Slytherin," He said glad that for the first fame of the year he would in the stands cheering. "No doubt everyone will be hoping for a Ravenclaw win so no pressure," Daniel's grin widened. It was no secret that the whole school usually backed who ever was taking on Slytherin in quidditch. "Yeah I mean warm weather means we can sun bath a lot more and you know, any excuse to be lazy, can't go laying on the cold hard London ground looking up at the miserable grey skies, wheres the fun in that," Daniel thought back to the harsher weathers that England had to other. Snow was the only real hightlight other than that British weather was truly miserable.
 
"I know-Jeremy and Kamaria have us practicing non-stop." she smiled, she liked her quidditch Captains, and she knew they were trying their hardest. They were both very good, and they kept the team in check. "Yeah, but you'd be surprised a lot of us have friends in Slytherin-one of my best friends is-Stefan Archer." she replied, Stefan was a great guy-and she knew that eventually-no matter how much they messed up-he'd have to end up with her sister. As the converstsation turned toward Slytherin-she began to think of the green-eyed boy she'd met earlier that day. Jake Simpson...

"I know, though England gets better Summer's than Ireland-and mush less rain." she grinned, zoning back in. She lay back on the grass completely now. It was such a beautiful day. "I'm looking forward to the match though-it'll be my first time playing chaser." she added smiling.
 
"Dannii and Hamza are the same, there driving me a little crazy to be honest, my Captain back at Scotland wasn't quite the slave driver and we actually won the quidditch cup that year. Our Captain was great she was like a big sister to me, so I would have been blind to any mistreatment the team suffered," He smiled thinking back to his old team Captain. "She was my girlfriend's sister so she looked out for me," He added looking closely to see Sara's reaction at him mentioning the word girlfriend, not that he could tell anyone why he cared about the reaction of a girl he had only just met. The conversation quickly turned to Slytherin and it's occupatants, she briefly mentioned something about a best friend and then Daniel thought he saw her smile, as if she was thinking about someone and it wasn't a 'thinking about the best friend smile' it was the very same smile he would no doubt have been sporting after this meeting. She had met someone earlier this day and she clearly had a think for him, he felt his heart sink to the pit of his stomach as he knew the smile was not about or for him. "Yeah, I've never been to Island so I can't comment on the weather really," He said snapping out of his own head. He watched as she laid back on the grass and after looking at her for a brief moment, he looked away. He had only known this girl for a few minutes but just suspecting that she liked someone was enough to make looking at her a little painful. Daniel had always been known to get carried away with his feelings.
 
"Ah, so you were the Captains favourite." Sara teased, winking at him. She became suddenly tense when he mentioned a girlfriend, but hid it well. She'd always been a good actress, and anyway she liked Jake-very much-so she shouldn't care. "Are you still together?" she asked, casually, hiding the turmoil she was feeling. She liked Jake, that was clear, but Daniel was a mystery-he was older and handsome, but maybe that was it, maybe it was the mystery that she liked, whereas she knew that with Jake-it was the person she liked. anyway, she and Daniel could be friends couldn't they and she had plenty of time to sort out her feelings.

"Yeah, it's great for culture and that, but you wouldn't go there for a sun holiday." she replied, smiling. She saw him look away, wondering what he was loking at she sat up. Squinting she asked. "What is it?" looking back at him to see where he was looking.
 
Daniel smiled, "Could say that," He beamed at her. He knew she was teasing him and he liked it. Daniel watched her closely as he mentioned his girlfriend and he couldn't help but think there was a moment when she seemed uneasy but then hid it. This could have been wishful thinking, because he defiantly wished she felt that way. "No, we're not still together," He said quietly. "We broke up when I moved over here, we didn't want to have a long distance relationship especially since my move to New Zealand is well, permanent," He his voice trailing off. Daniel was torn in this moment between the sad feeling of remembering his break up and closely watching Sara to judge her reaction. Sara was a beautiful girl but he could tell that she liked someone else and he couldn't put himself in a cheery mood when he thought about it. As he looked away from Sara, she sat up to ask him what was wrong. "Nothing I'm not looking at anything," He said quietly. "I just can't look at you," He added quietly so that she couldn't here.
 
Sara laughed as Daniel smiled back. "I like our Captains, but I don't know them very well, though they were on the team last year as well." she added, slightly more serious Sara frowned, not happy to hear the sadness in his voice. "I'm sorry." she sympathized, putting her hand on his arm in a friendly gesture. It mustn't have been a happy break-up, obviously he still loved her.

She couldn't quell a small bubble of happiness at his words, she didn't know why it was there, she shouldn't feel happy about someone elses misfortune. She frowned at his answer, then he mumbled something to himself that she couldn't hear. She immediately assumed it was about his girlfriend. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have mentioned it." she said, sincerely sorry this time. That was her trouble, she tended to stumble upon just the thing that would upset someone, well not always, but certainly that was the case this time.
 
It became clear to Daniel that Sara had taken his comments the wrong way and he hoped she didn't think he still had feelings for his ex girlfriend. He forced a smile to try and fake a happier mood. "Don't be sorry, it was a long time ago," He began. It had been almost two years since the two of them broke up and it was an amicable break up. He did still harbor feelings for her when he had arrived at New Zealand but so much time had passed and they had kept in contact for a brief period but some where along the line he got over her and the last he had heard she had a new boyfriend. "Don't worry about it, it was a long time," He repeated. "I stopped having feelings for her a long time for her, its been almost two years, since then I've," He paused for a second. "Liked. Other. People." He said slowly. Daniel was glad that she didn't hear what he said quietly. It would have made the situation a little more awkward had she heard what he said.
 
"Oh, okay." answered Sara-slightly confused. Just a few moments ago, he had seemed upset, but now he was smiling? Daniel really was a mystery. It wasn't neccessarily a bad thing, but it made trying to get to know him, so they could be friends a bit harder. However-Stefan was even more secretive, so it didn't faze her. "Right-sorry for saying sorry." she grinned, if he liked someone, she hoped it worked out. He seemed lovely-any girl would be lucky to have him.

She smiled at him and looked across the pitch. This was one of her favourite places in Hogwarts, she felt like she belonged here, she'd never liked muggle sports, bar horse-riding, but here she felt like she belonged in the air. "Do you want to fly?" she asked Daniel, turning toward him.
 
Daniel had a feeling that her getting to know him was going down hill very fast. He felt that faking a smile just after seeming upset didn't make him seem very stable at all. Then suddenly she offered him a life line, she had suggested that they fly and he nodded. "Yeah that's a good idea," He said pulling himself to his feet and picking up his broom. "Hey, I'm sorry if I seem a bit weird. Talking about old times you know it brings a mesh of emotions. I'm not usually this inconsistent," He smiled as he mounted his broom. Daniel kicked off hard and took to the air. He fly up to the hoops and twirled around in the air before returning to Sara and hovering just above the ground while he waited for her to mount his broom.
 
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