practice! |Gryffindor Team|

[igloogirl]

Gabriella smiled as she set down the case of Quidditch balls, glad to be back on the field again. She mounted her broom and headed for the sky, loving the feeling of flying again. The team hadn't held a practice all winter, mostly due to the terrible weather that was typical of their location, but Gabriella knew that many of the members on their team had missed it terribly. So she had decided to hold one more practice before the term ended, so that she could be a captain again.

After doing a few laps around the stadium, she did a loop-the-loops in midair to get the full feeling of flying and then flew back to the ground so that her team wouldn't have to yell for her. She figured that they could just practice with the Quaffle and one bludger this time, seeing as they were short both Wolfgang and another chaser. Gabriella was glad that she didn't have to deal with the father of Angel's twins, though she would have liked to have a full team. She spotted a teammate from far away, and breathed in slightly to see who it was. She smiled at...

[bugock]

Safira had arrived early, due mostly to the excitement pulsing through her veins. In about ten minutes she had changed into her bright red Quidditch robes and put her golden tresses into a long French braid to keep it out of her face during practice. "Hello Gabby," Safira said cheerfully, her brand new Lightning Bolt clasped firmly in her hand.

[igloogirl]

"Hello Safira!" Gabriella replied cheerfully, glad that it was her friend who had shown up first to the practice. Gabriella knew that Safira had been itching to play for a while now, so it wasn't surprising that she had come first. "Ready to fly again?" she asked, noting Safira's brand new broom, which was supposed to be the best one out yet. Gabriella was slightly envious, but she was pretty content with her Golden Arrow. It was still a great broom.

[bugock]

"You bet," said Safira with a toothy grin. She had only flown her Lightning Bolt once that term, and it had been amazing. It responded so cunningly, so quickly... And it was fast. It was the ideal broom for a seeker, but it worked pretty damn well for beating too, to get to the bludgers much more quickly. Safira was growing impatient, but she would wait for the rest of the team to show up.

[untouchable]

Tristan approached from the entrance, hovering on his broom a few feet off of the ground. He saw Gabriella and Safira standing there, grinning and talking. He grinned and joined them. "Hey." He replied enthusiastically. He adored the girl's company. Both were sweet-hearts, and Gabby was the best captain he had ever seen.

[bugock]

"Hey Tristan," said Safira with a smile. He really was a nice boy. It was certainly going to be a challenge for Cici to chose a new captain for the Gryffindor team next term, their team was the best it had been since Harry Potter. And especially with Zelphar and her nearly flawless records. Tristan wasn't a player to sneeze at either.

[igloogirl]

"Hello Tristan," Gabriella said, smiling at her fellow Chaser. Now she wished that the Quadwizard Tournament had never taken place, because Gryffindor would have been the best team it had been in a long time. Gabriella was proud of her team, they sure had a lot of talent. But the team would still be amazing next year, despite three graduates leaving. Whoever was made captain would have a lot of work to do filling positions, though.

[bugock]

Safira looked around, feeling an awkward silence descending upon them. She adjusted the grip on her short bat, she had not forgotten her black dragonhide fingerless gloves today, they always helped her to maintain a better grip. Safira mentally ran through who had yet to arrive; Zelphar, the other chaser, and the other beater. Their seeker Wolfgang was still in France. Safira hadn't spoken much to him, but she didn't like him, as he had left Angie in a great time of need.

[igloogirl]

"Let's just fly around a bit, the other's can join us when they get here," Gabriella said, mounting her broom once more, but picking up the Quaffle as well. She figured they could pass it around a bit if they wanted. She briefly wondered where Zelphar was. It wasn't like him to be late. That was more of Alec's thing, he rarely arrived on time to practice. Unfortunately, there hadn't been any better beaters to fill his position.

[squiggle]

Zelphar came down, a bit angry with himself for being late, but there really wasn't much he could do about it. He had spent a couple hours in the infirmary, due to a mishap in Herbology involving bobotuber pus. Zelphar's left hand was bandaged, as there wasn't anything magic could do to fix it, the skin would have to heal on its own. Zelphar mounted his Nimbus 2005, an older model, but it still flew, and then joined the rest of their team already in the air.

[igloogirl]

"Hello Zelphar!" Gabriella called out to the team's Keeper. He looked rather upset, but Gabriella decided not to ask about it. This was practice, after all. She threw the Quaffle over toward him, wondering if Zelphar was still quick to react as he had been last year.

[squiggle]

"Hey," said Zephar in response. Just as flawlessly as ever, Zelphar caught the Quaffle in his hands firmly, skin on his left hand stinging as the bandages rubbed against the sensitive areas. Zelphar didn't even wince, he was used to injury, it was nearly unavoidable as keeper, bruised ribs, broken fingers, he had blocked the Quaffle with his face on more than one occasion.

[igloogirl]

Gabriella grinned as Zelphar caught the Quaffle with all of his usual ease. The team would be fine next year without her, even if the new captain had a couple positions to fill. The Gryffindor team would survive, that was for sure. She motioned for Zelphar to pass the Quaffle back to her so she could practice a few drills with him and Tristan.

[squiggle]

Zelphar threw the Quaffle with just enough force to get it back to Gabriella, and then assumed his position at the three hoops. He vaguely wondered where the rest of the team was. He knew their seeker was still in France for the Quadwizard Tournament, but that still left another chaser, and their other beater, Alec. If Zelphar remembered correctly, he was always late, or never bothered turning up.

[igloogirl]

Gabriella gathered both Safira and Tristan near the middle of the field and ran a quick play by Tristan, then gave him the Quaffle. "And Safira, you're welcome to go get a bludger from the box and hit it around a bit," she added with a smile toward her friend. "I don't think you need another beater to help you with that."