Year/Job
Sixth Year
You shine a light on my dark side, But you don't care what you see. |
Beater (23)
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Post by Nathaniel James on Feb 17, 2024 10:41:07 GMT -8
The past few weeks had been... weird, in a word. Nathaniel felt like his whole world had been turned upside down, but he wasn't exactly complaining about it. Things were better, in a way, since he started hanging out with Laurie. He felt freer, happier. Being around her meant he didn't have to keep up some front; he could just be himself and she accepted that. And he was starting to feel that, maybe, he could be himself around his other friends, too. There were other things that happened, too, things that were more public and often talked about. Namely, the fight with Poppy Carmichael down by the lake. Nate's pride had been wounded more than his physical body, but that just made him more determined to prove to the rest of the school he wasn't some weakling who'd go down without a fight. Fortunately, no one had tried their hand at him, but he was conditioning himself every chance he got. Teaching Laurie how to fight was part of that, but he needed to get stronger and Quidditch was the perfect tool to do that. Most of the time, it was him coming down after dinner to run drills and practice beating the bludgers to a pulp. He hadn't thought to ask Laurie or Finch to come down with him because, well, Laurie needed time to rest and Finch was likely too glued to Rose to do much practicing with him.
The weather had gotten colder again and there was a soft dusting of snow covering the grounds. The boy was bundled up with extra layers under his practice clothes to keep himself from freezing as he flew in the bitter winds. His broom, a customized Supernova thanks to Stella, was strapped across his back and he twirled his beater bat while he walked. The snow crunched under his shoes with each step, filling the silence the empty grounds provided. His nose and fingers were already starting to numb and he was sure there was color on his face, but it hardly mattered. Once he started moving in the skies, he was sure to warm up some. The trek down to the pitch was a long one, but not unwelcomed. It gave him time to really think about everything that's been going on. Namely, his feelings for Laurie. He still hadn't done anything about them, still unsure how she felt, and perhaps part of him felt he was a coward for it. It's just... every time he thought of making a move, he imagined their relationship completely imploding and that wasn't something he was ready to risk. Nathaniel thought of what they'd done to Liam and Bella and he started to feel ashamed about it. What if one of his friends butted into his business as he had? What if things had gone wrong? He was starting to see Liam's side in all of it.
When he arrived at the pitch, he was surprised to see he wasn't alone. "Wash!" he called out to the blonde lion, raising his hand to wave at him. He started to walk toward him, moving to unstrap his broom. Sometimes it felt like only yesterday when Nathaniel brought the younger wizard under his wing, but in truth that was about five years ago. Even as a young second year, Nate despised and would not tolerate bullying in his presence. And when he saw some upperclassmen picking on the new muggleborn kid, he saw red. He earned some detention for the blows he dealt, but it was worth it in the end. "Getting some extra practice in?" he asked when he got closer, hooking his beater bat to his belt as he mounted his broom. He nodded down to the trunk where the balls were held. "Set those bludgers loose and we'll run some drills. Should be fun not doing it alone," he mused.
Dorian 'Wash' Washington (not my best! but it's up!)
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Year/Job
Fifth Year Lion
Beater (44)
Alanna
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Post by Dorian 'Wash' Washington on Feb 18, 2024 23:09:29 GMT -8
The worst weather to play quidditch in was wet or windy according to Dorian. Wet weather was awful cause it weighed you down, all the water soaked into layers, might not sound like much but it added up. Winding weather awful as the wind would blow everything off course if it was strong enough. You had to take that into account on those days, you couldn't just aim for where a person was, you had to aim where a person was, plus against how far the wind was blowing.
Now cold weather? Dorian cold. An extra pair of thick socks, a toque to keep his ears from getting windbite, a good neck gaiter, one both warm and breathable, pair of gloves he found enchanted to keep your hands warm, maybe a second jumper if it was really cold, but usually all that plus keeping active would be enough. It used to be Dorian was always just a little bit scared flying, some small part of him was alway worried that the next bludger to his his broom would be the one to break it. That was probably because his parents had bought him a used one when he first expressed interested in playing Quidditch. But he was fearless now. For christmas he'd gotten a new broom, a Mach White broom, the sturdiest one made by a small broom company. Sure it wasn't a well known brand but Dorian loved it. He loved his broom, loved flying, loved smacking bludgers around. Even alone, he loved practicing.
Usually if Dorian went to the pitch alone then he'd practice alone. No problem there, he was used to it, and even before he'd practiced Quidditch alone Dorian had practiced dance alone.
Apparently it wasn't a usual day, hearing his named called Dorian turned, he'd been flying a couple of laps, warming but he cut that short right then and there and let himself nearly drop right out of the air in his haste to fly down and meet Nathaniel. Dismounting, still in motion, with his broom in one hand, Dorian stumbled to a stop in from of the older beater, he pulled down the neck gaiter he wore to protect his face from the wind. "Well, I won't catch up ta ya sittin' around in a tower all day," Dorian laughed, grinning wide. If Nathaniel was there, that meant he was looking to practice, which meant Dorian wouldn't be practicing alone like he'd expected.
While Dorian might have friends nowadays, way back in his first year he'd been totally alone and totally lost. Sometime some people liked to exploit that he was an easy target. Right up until Nathaniel stepped in and saved him from being bullied. Well, tried to, it had turn into four on two beatdown and everyone got detention but those upperclassmen thought twice about cornering Dorian after that. For the next couple of year Dorian followed Nathaniel around like a puppy but he liked to think that he'd grown out of the worst of his hero worship and become actual friends with his fellow beater -even if they were on other teams-.
"Should be," the young lion agreed running to the chest of balls.
He checked that Nathaniel was ready before opening the chest and setting the bludgers loose. Letting dangerous things like bludgers loose before everyone in the area was ready was just plain rude. It was also begging for someone to get hurt.
Notes: Thanks for starting this and sorry for the wait
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