First Squad First Match, 2007-2008 School Year
When: 19 November 2007
Who: Deborah, William, Cora, Flora, Eru, Jeoffrey
Synopsis: Debates over the effectiveness of First Year's Squad turns dour when
the topic goes back to the Werewolf attacks several years ago.
Logger: Cora (I'm cleaning out my logs) Petit
-=-=-=-=-=-
It is Monday, 19th November 2007. Hogwarts is currently in session.


Hogwarts Castle - Gryffindor Common Room
A bright fire crackles merrily in a large stone fireplace to the right of
the entrance into the Gryffindor common room, while a bulletin board is to the
left. Cozy and warm, this round room is full of squashy, scarlet-upholstered
armchairs and circular tables stained with dark brown varnish. Muralistic scenes
are depicted on red-hued fabric upon the walls. Along the back wall there is a
rounded opening leading to a stone spiral staircase, arched windows illuminating
it during the day and sconced torches doing so at night. The stair leads up to a
landing where entrances for the girls' and boys' dormitories branch off, leading
their opposite directions through heavy arched doors in white plaster walls.
Tapestries hang between high lancet windows in the wall of the landing, allowing
natural light to filter in during the day.
Obvious Exits:
Stairs Corridor

If anyone comes into the Common Room they'll find a pair of Mary Jane's and some
knee-high uniform socks draped over the edge of a chair. If said person should
look in the seat of the chair, laying on her back against one arm of the chair,
feet dangling over the other, is a light featured blonde girl, about sixteen in
age. She's not wearing her robe, and she's got a book propped open in her hands,
wand across her lap. Magical Healing.

William comes wandering down the boys stairs and into the common room and spots
a pair of feet and looks over a bit curious, "Um, comfortable over there?"

Cora comes rushing down the stairs, her broom in her hand, her other filled with
various other clothing items. She pauses, leaning it against a table and
dropping the other gear on the tabletop. Then she hastily moves to pull back her
long uneven raven locks, tying them with a long maroon ribbon. She's dressed in
her unofficial Quidditch gear, complete with her Gryffindor Captain shirt, the
one that flashes that information over and over in bright gold. There are a pair
of dark drawstring sweatpants are on her legs, and trainers on her feet. She
then reaches for her cloak, pulling it around her shoulders, then tugs a whistle
over her neck and lets it dangle on the black cord.

Deborah lowers her book, looking at William. "Huh?" She asks, oh so articulate
is she. "Oh...yeah I guess. Hey..." She sees Cora come down adn she blinks
again. "Do we have practice or something?" She asks of the darker-featured
woman. After all, Deborah has been a backup Beater on the Gryffindor Quidditch
team ever since her 2nd year at Hogwarts. She's now in her sixth.

William looks over at Cora and frowns slightly, "Well, I can go get my stuff if
we do though I must've missed the notice or something. I'm anxious to get our
first match over and done wtih, winning of course"

Cora glances over as she pulls on a pair of slim black leather gloves, that for
some reason are missing their fingertips. She shakes her head, "Nope," she
answers, "First Years Squad has their first match today. You are both welcomed
to come though ... the cold might keep some of them away. We could always toss
about the pitch if they don't show."

Deborah closes the book with a thunk, swinging her Mary-Janes to the floor and
sitting up in the chair. "Sure, I'd love to watch." She confesses. Beats the
hell out of the medicinal properties of the Prickly Pear Cactus." She says,
raising the book to show what she's talking about, then dropping it
uncerimoniously on a table with a soft thunk.

William hmmms, "Ok, I'd like to come see how they're doing. Size them up for
next year and all. Shall we get going then? I'll need to run and get my broom
from my dorm"

Cora gives a shrug, "If you think you'll need it," she says as she collects the
rest of her gear, "I'll meet you at the pitch!" she calls back over her shoulder
to the two of you as she rushes out of the common room, and through the
painting.

Hogwarts Grounds - Quidditch Pitch(#278RJMa)

Like the arena of an ancient colliseum, this expanse of grass is a huge,
open air field that stretches across the meadow, with stands built up and
running along the oval shaped perimeter. At the very top of the stands a flag
pole stretches up to the sky at the opposite end of each section, draped with
the banner colors of the current competing teams. The quartered sections are
divided by House, with a fifth, central section for the teachers and the
score-keeper. Built into the walls at central opposite ends of the field are the
respective team boxes, where players wait anxiously to take to the field at the
beginning of each game. At each long end of the oval is a trio of rings set upon
tall poles of varying heights, the very tallest of them standing higher even
than the top of the arena seating.

Obvious Exits:
Meadow Locker Room One Locker Room Two

Deborah has pulled on her robe as she comes out to the pitch. She doesn't have
her broom with her, and she's still pretty comfortable in her Mary-Janes as she
makes her way across into the pitch. "Hmm.." She says, crossing her arms over
her chest and looking around. "Quiet...." She muses, one hand comming up to
sweep some curl out of her face. "One of these days I'm just going to cut it all
off...."

William comes into the pitch looking around though he does have his broom just
in case of course, "Always kept your hair long?"

Cora is just barely ahead of the other two older Gryffindors. She's got her
somewhat familiar sweats on, and a cloak tossed over all that to keep the chill
away. She quickly mounts her broom, and moves to hover around a bit, waiting as
the First Years trickle out. She watches them closely, waiting for them to get
it together so they can start their first match.

Deborah comes up behind COra, looking behind her for First Years. She whistles a
soft, quick little diddly. THe whistle, it seems, is heard by some atmospheric
bird. There's a squaw from above, and in a few seconds, a brown-and-white barn
owl swoops down and lands on Deborah's head. She blinks. "Getoff me, Fredrick. I
don't have anything for you." She shakes her head and the bird, rather than
stick it's claws into it's mistress, lets himself fall off and takes flight,
swooping to a nearby perch and sitting himself there, streaching his wings and
squaking again.

Flora skips out of the castle and joins the trickle of first years headed to the
pitch. She's wearing her sailor dress and has her hair looped into braids on
each side of her head, and for the occasion has carefully tied a purple ribbon
around the earpieces of her glasses to keep them on her nose. "Hello!" she
chirps as she joins the rest.

William snickers at the owl, "So your head is a perch, got it." Will looks over
at Flora and gives a wave, "Hello there."

Cora has been busy while the students come out, using her wand to bring the
appropriate Quidditch gear out. School brooms, and several crates come dancing
across the pitch of seemingly their own accord, then settle on the ground near
the hovering Cora. With another wand wave, she opens one of the crates, then
another, revealing two colored materials inside, "Split yourselves up," she
says, glancing over the first years as they arrive, "Pick a jersey, that's your
team for today. We won't be doing House against House until after Christmas
break," she explains.

Deborah waves at the bird again, who makes another sound. "Yeah, he's a glutton
for attention, Fredrick is. And treats. I usually carry some...hey wait..." She
looks down, and reaches into her pocket. Owl treats! "Here, bird.' She says,
tossing one up in the air. The owl swoops down and grabs the treat, then rises
up and dissapears around the castle.

Flora smiles cheerfully at William. "Hi! Isn't this exciting?" She doesn't wait
for an answer before hurrying over to select both a jersey and her favorite of
the school brooms.

William chuckles at Flora and the owl, "He's good at catching, then again he
should be and all that." Will looks over at cora, "Do you need us to do
anything?"

Eventually, the students are mostly split up. The jerseys are two colors today,
black, and white.

Cora then addresses the group collectively, "I'm not telling you who's going out
first, or second or anything. Today, I'm your ref," she says, with a slightly
amused grin on her face, and a bit of swinging on the whistle that she has
dangling around her neck. "You have ten minutes for warm ups." Then, to
emphasize this, she blows on her whistle.

Deborah nods, looking to Cora. "Yeah...well now that most of the work's done..."
She says that part almost apologetically. "Do you need anything? Another pair of
eyes in the sky or anything to help out?" She flips her hair out of her face
again with an annoyed sigh.

William does a little streching himself though not too serious about it before
he goes after an itch on his shoulder that's a bit hard to reach

The game goes off without much of a hitch, and there's only one real bad
arguement about one of the calls, but mostly, it's a learning experience for the
First Years. Eventually, after about two hours, the game is cut short with a
sudden snatching of the Snitch by a particularly diligent Ravenclaw student. The
Firsties then stumble off, in search of showers and bragging rights. Cora's left
on the pitch, picking up brooms, bludgers, and the like. The daylight's rapidly
disappearing.

Deborah stayed to watch the game, comming out when the First Years have left.
She walks out onto the field, and helps Cora to collect all the items that have
been left around teh area. "That didn't go too badly at all."She says, giving
Cora and her work that little compliment.

William comes back onto the pitch himself and nod, "Some of them look like
they'll have a shot at house teams next year. Should be interesting."

Cora grins at Deborah, "No not really," she agrees, pausing to massage a
shoulder that got blasted by a bludger on accident earlier. She carefully folds
up the discarded colored jerseys, putting them back in the box of their
respective colors, "I just want them to learn the game. I don't care if they
completely suck. I just don't want them facing the same struggles I did my
second year, when I got on the team."

Eru showed up in time to catch a bit of the end of the game, mostly just to
watch the Hufflepuff firsties that've involved themselves play. After the game's
done he heads down onto the field, also to help Cora get stuff straightened up.
"Hey," he offers to the Gryffindor captain. He also adds, "Not bad, Petit."

Deborah nods, taking some time to fold the Jerseys across her chest and dropping
them into a neat, color coordinated pile. "That's a good point. Even if they do
suck at least they'll probobly know enouh to know they suck, and they can work
on it." She flips her blonde curls back again, taking off her robe and setting
it down as she walks towards the people again, picking up another Quaffle that's
been left sitting out.

Cora glances over, eyebrows bobbing up some as she sees Eru was hanging around
the fringes apparently, "Cut it out Croft," she chides him in a teasing tone,
"You're making me blush." Then, for revenge, she shoves the entire, somewhat
heavy crate of bludgers, quaffles, and the snitch, at him, and lets go without
much warning, "Hooch will be looking for this." Then she notices the ball
Deborah's got. "Oh crud. That one still needs to go in your crate," she
comments.

William shrugs a bit, "Well, the ones who played junior quidditch would likely
be alright, but muggle born or raised this should really help them." Will snorts
a little at Cora, "Croft making you blush? Wrong house I think for that."

Eru grunts as he shoulders the bludgers but he manages to hold them up without
crumbling. Lugging heavy things he can manage. He smirks at Cora. "I won't
believe it, Petit. I don't think you're capable of blushing. Hullo." This is
said, at large, to William and Deborah. He asks Cora, "These your lion cubs for
the team this year?"

Cora rolls her eyes at Eru some, and perhaps there is a hint of color to her
cocoa cheeks, "Maybe they are and maybe they aren't," she says vaguely to Eru,
"If you believe some of the rumors, I'm playing all seven positions," she says,
then snorts a bit, at the preposterous notion.

Deborah frowns. "You can just ask us, you know." She informs the boy. And maybe
she's a bitch. But she drops...with a little force...that last Quaffle onto his
load. "We're standing right here." Yeah! Ask her if she's a cub!

William frowns a bit at Eru and just goes around picking up any additional stray
items, but looks like everything is pretty much taken care of and he gives a nod
at Deborah's words"I wouldn't recommend that,"

Eru replies dryly to Cora, about playing all seven positions. He turns to
William and Deborah with a faint grin, surprised but not upended by the quaffle.
Between the bludgers and other stuff in the box, it's the least of his worries.
"Alright. You lot playing for Gryffindor, then?"

Cora finishes packing away some of the left over school brooms in their storage
shed, then secures it with a wave of her wand. "Done!" she pronounces in pleased
tones. The tasks are finished none too soon, as the last of the sun begins to
slip from the sky, thrusting the grounds into almost-twilight.

"Us lot." She echos, shaking her head. She's clearly not impressed with the
fellow. Turning away, seemingly ready to ignore the Hufflepuff in the area, she
motions to Cora. "I'm going to head back up. Congrats on today, though. Turned
out well." She turns, scooping up her robe as she moves past William. "See ya
later."

Cora watches Deborah depart, and sighs quietly, "Sorry about that," she
apologizes to Eru, "She's just miffed about not being a first string yet," and
then she runs a weary hand over her face, rubbing her forehead some, "I just
can't decide between her or Andrew Cleghern." Which means she just gave Eru a
little bit of gossip.

William nods at Eru, "Aye, I'm first string." though he has a slight scowl. "So
Cora, need anything else? I was going to head back soon to do some homework and
all."

Eru blinks as he watches Deborah go, snorting. "Charmer, she is," he observes
wryly. He shrugs at Cora in a 'What did I do?' sort of way. Which isn't an
uncommon expression for him. He chuckles at the gossip, nodding. "Cleghern's
been pretty solid, though I dunno what he's like to have on your team. I think
I've got a pretty good group, personality-wise, I mean. Everybody gets on well
enough. Makes things loads easier." To William, he nods. "Cool. What position?"

Cora turns then to William, and shakes her head, "No, thanks for your help," she
says to him, and it sounds genuine, "See you at dinner." She recognizes Eru's
look, and can't help but chuckle, "Isn't that the face you usually make about
me?" then she grins a bit wider, "Wait, you usually say something like this,"
and she pauses, and clears her throat, then does her best Eru imitation, saying,
"Mental. Bloody mental she is."

William snorts a bit, "That doesn't surprise me at all you know. I can just
imagine what this place will be like when you're a seventh year."

Eru blinks at Cora, trying to smooth his expression. "Dunno what you're talking
about." He does his best to sound dignified and martyred. As is he wont to do.
Though he can't help but smirk at the imitation. "Though I /do/ think your
friend is, well...a bit mental."

Darkness is rapidly falling on the Pitch as Cora and Eru finish collecting the
gear from the earlier match. William was just about to head back to the castle,
and Cora had stopped a moment, to say something to Eru. She now laughs a bit at
his reaction, "As long as I am still the bigger headcase?" she jests. She's got
her cloak pulled over maroon colored sweats and a hoodie, and a whistle dangles
from her neck. Slim fitting black gloves, sans fingertips, are worn over her
hands.

William shakes his head a bit, "So you going to challenge everybody in the
school to a headcase contest or something?"

"Always," Eru promises Cora with mock-sincerity. He adjusts the box of supplies
in his arms, with a grunt, heading off to get them stowed away.

Jeoffrey walks onto the pitch, obviously having been elsewhere, and quite busy.
He calls out, as he approaches, "How'd it go?"

"Good," Cora says in response to Eru's comment, and there's a hint of pride in
her single word answer. William's jab, for the moment, is mostly ignored. She
glances around the darkening pitch, then she smiles as she sees Jeoffrey's
approaching form, "I'm tired and sore," she complains, but she doesn't sound
like she minds, "And I wasn't even hitting. But one of your Ravenclaws caught
the snitch, so you should be happy. I was happy or we'd be playing until
midnight."

William snorts at the hitting, "Yeah, you save that for me in our practices.
Anyway, I gotta get back and wrap up some homework. I'll see you back in the
common room, Cora." though he does give a quick wave to Jeoffrey and Eru as he
heads out

Jeoffrey nods and moves closer towards Cora, saying, "Good. Means after I
graduate, the House has a seeker." He raises an eyebrow, "Sore?"

Eru finishes getting the supplies stowed away shortly and strides back to join
Cora. And Jeoffrey now. "Hey, Winthrop," he greets the Ravenclaw. He does return
William's parting wave as he sees the first year going.

Cora nods, and moves a hand to work at her left shoulder, "Yeah, some over
enthusiastic Gryffindor socked me with a bludger," she grins, "It didn't break
anything, so I'll be alright. I've been hit with worse." She then turns to Eru
as he closes in and says, "Thanks again for your help. Did you like what you
saw? Do you think this grand experiment .. is working?"

Jeoffrey nods back to Eru, "Croft." He walks up behind Cora, and reaches to feel
along that shoulder, being careful, "Well, that's good. I think your House would
be annoyed at that."

"Yeah, it's not working out too bad," Eru has to admit. "Some of them aren't
even too sucky at it. I almost wish Prowse'd been able to go out for the team
this year. She'd have given the second year we picked up a run for her sickles."

Cora nods and smiles a bit at Eru's comment, "She'll be alright," she comments,
then inquires, "Why couldn't she go this year? I thought she had played JQ?" She
doesn't seem to mind Jeoffrey's hand on her somewhat sore shoulder.

Jeoffrey begins to slowly rub the shoulder, just feeling for the sore parts, and
making sure that the muscle isn't knotted. "I've always said that first years
should be given the opportunity to play, or at least try out."

Eru shakes his head. "Nah, not Prowse. She seems really into brooming and stuff
but her parents didn't let her play Juniors for some reason." He shrugs. "She'll
do well enough next year. We've got a couple people who'll be graduating, so at
least she'll get some experience this way, see if she wants to try for first
string."

Cora gives a bit of a grunt at the hand working on her sore shoulder now, "Ow,"
she says glancing back a little at Jeoffrey. Then she grimaces, before taking a
quick breath and answering Eru, "Well that is the whole point. To help them the
way no one helped me."

Jeoffrey says mildly, "Relax a bit, Cor'. It's stiffening." He continues to
slowly massage the area, one hand moving to lift her arm up a bit.

Eru nods to that. "They seem to be enjoying themselves, at least. That's all
that counts. Anyhow, was interesting to watch. I'd best be heading back in."
With that, he tosses a half-salute to Jeoffrey and leaves the two of them to
their own devices.

Cora can't help but yelp when her arm is moved some, and her shoulder stiffens
more, "Damn it Jeoffrey! It was fine until you messed with it," she snaps, but
she's not really angry. The words are more frustrated than anything else, and
she bites down on her lower lip, trying to will the muscle into relaxation, by
glaring into the darkening woods that lie beyond the pitch.

Jeoffrey winces and says quietly, "Sorry. Here, let's find somewhere to sit and
I'll work at it?" He nods towards Eru in response.

Cora tries really hard to not sound like she's snapping, "Fine," she says, but
the word is still somewhat abrupt, "I can still walk. Where are we going?"

Jeoffrey stops working at your shoulder, and looks around, before he leans down
to kiss the side of your neck, to possibly calm you down. "I'm...not sure."

Cora rolls her eyes skyward at the kiss, and she squeaks out, "Not ... fair,"
but she now sounds at least a little amused, the smouldering frustration at
least ... somewhat placated.

Jeoffrey smiles against your skin and kisses again, whispering, "Have to
apologize, don't I?" He slips an arm around your waist and tugs you gently back
against him.

There is something deliciously familiar about the embrace, despite the extra
layers that include her cloak. She sighs a little, a somewhat happy sound, or at
least resigned. "We're going to be in so much trouble. It's nearly dark," she
tells him, like he didn't know it already. But at least she's not pulling away,
and at least she's stopped complaining about her shoulder, for now.

Jeoffrey nods quietly and says, "We could head back towards the Castle, if you
wanted?" He kisses along the slim column of your neck, nuzzling a bit, his hand
resting atop your stomach.

The twilight passes, and now the pitch is completely dark. Her hand moves,
capturing yours that is on her stomach. She slips her fingers between yours,
"How close to expulsion do you think I am?" she asks, sounding like she's
considering not heading back to the castle, for the moment.

Jeoffrey blinks, and moves his lips to your ear, whispering softly as his
fingers twine with yours. "I don't think you are, why? I mean, outside of
Halloween, I haven't heard anything about us being in trouble."

Cora turns her head slightly, so she can gaze up at you some, "You know," she
says quietly, "My entire house is not speaking to me, except for Quidditch. Do
you think it was worth it?"

Jeoffrey blinks. "For /that/? It wasn't even our fault! It wasn't like we were
told /not/ to come in costume. Heck, we've /had/ costume contests on Halloween.
I've dressed up twice so far. The Headmaster was just being....himself."

Cora sighs a bit now, and leans back into you some, "I think he just wants us to
quit," she gueses after a moment or two of silence, "He wants to be rid of us."
She pauses, "A lot of people want to be rid of us."

Jeoffrey shrugs, "So? What happened to us happened to us /there/. While under
/his protection/. I don't care what they want." He hugs you close, and leans
down to kiss your lips softly.

Cora enjoys the kiss, letting it linger for a moment or two as she kisses back.
Then she breaks it, and it seems, Cora is in the mood for talking tonight, "What
do you remember? I mean ... honestly? Why can't the Ministry solve this? What ..
I don't get it. They are supposed to be this big all powerful group, and they've
left us floundering in the unknown. Doesn't it scare you to think whoever did
this is still out there, and could do it to someone else?"

Jeoffrey sighs quietly and says, "It's a dangerous world, Cora. It was that way
even before we came here. I mean, for Muggles, that is. I think it was more bad
luck than anything else. Bad luck that we got caught by...whoever, and put into
that situation. I'm amazed that Feldspar has kept under the radar, so to speak,
for so lnog. Maybe we should talk to Professor Lupin?"

Cora turns to face you, "I don't think it was an accident, Jeoffrey. The
inaction has left me to think it was a Ministry experiment. I mean, why else
would they want you to take those potions that have never been tested before?
They needed to widen their test base." She sighs, "I'm afraid of Lupin," she
admits, "I don't think he's all innocent in this."

Jeoffrey sighs, "I don't agree with that, Cora. You know that. If it was an
experiment, why just three of us? Why not more? And why have the Headmaster be
the one giving us the potions, as opposed to someone else? Occam's razor, you
know." He shakes his head, "I think Professor Lupin's wrong about alot of our
stuff, but I don't think he's got a part in this, like you think."

Cora tilts her head some, "Jeoffrey, they only got three because not everyone
took that portkey," she says, "You can't force people to grab hold of things.
And if you recall, the Ministry was there when Snape tried to sign us up.
Remember? Potter sat there, too." She sighs, "Who said they're done recruiting?
And I do think it's one of the reasons they want me gone so bad. I won't take
those potions. So I'm ... wasting space, really."

Jeoffrey says quietly, "You're not wasting space. You're smart, and you're going
to make it." He holds your eyes with his and says, "Besides, I'll be out there
when you graduate."

That, brings a small smile to Cora's lips. Then her hands reach for your shirt,
as she tries to tug you down into a kiss. Apparently, that was the right answer.

Jeoffrey is tugged easily enough, leaning down to kiss you gently, his arms
sliding around your waist, to hold you close.



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