Go Go Hufflepuff
Author: Bronwyn Dewhurst
Date: 07-22-04 08:17

Ariella darted for the Slytherin hoops with Anthony and Siegfried at her side. She wore a determined look on her face, and pressed the quaffle ever-tighter to her body lest someone or something try to take it from her. Suddenly, a bludger via one of the Slytherin beaters came her way. She narrowly dodged it, releasing the quaffle from her grasp for Siegfried to take, who tucked it securely against his body and pulled to the front of the line.

Siegfried ducked as a Slytherin chaser came swooping over him, and rolled to the right as another came up along his left and tried to pry the quaffle from his arm. The Slytherin chaser only caught air in his hands, because Siegfried had disappeared and thrown the quaffle to Anthony under the Slytherin's broom. Anthony made a beeline for the Slytherin hoops, where Pyrrhus was waiting for him.

He feigned left, but the Slytherin keeper anticipated such a movement and moved right for the block. Anthony, realizing his mistake, hastily tapped the ball back in the other direction right as it left his fingers. It flew straight through the left hoop, without touching the rim.

"Beck scores for Hufflepuff!" Bronwyn exclaimed, updating the scoreboard to read Slytherin 20, Hufflepuff 10. "That's Anthony Beck for those of you who didn't catch that amazing goal! Slytherin leads by ten!"

HELP me please!
Author: Natalie Rose
Date: 07-22-04 08:46

Bobby, I don't know what to do. I'm at the Quidditch match between Slytherin and Hufflepuff and my mind is buzzing and I can't get rid of this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. Ever since our Hogsmeade date Terry and I have been hanging out, A LOT. I have so much fun with him I forget to be self-conscious. He always makes me laugh and I get this feeling whenever I see him, it's almost like this complete happiness and comfort kind of feeling. When we first became friends and I mentioned Rolan's name he used to tease me, now he gets this look on his face that makes me sorry I said anything. I feel like I'm annoying him, and to be honest the only reason I mention Rolan now is so I can get him to tease me. I don't even like Rolan anymore. Well, I like him but as a friend NOTHING more, in fact in ways he reminds me of you, so now I can't help but see him as a brotherly figure. I also think Terry might have said something to Rolan because every time we're all together Rolan suddenly makes a lame excuse that he has to do something and leaves. I'm so confused I don't know anything anymore. If you have any advice for me please help me out I'm going crazy here. O and by the way it snowed AGAIN last night, I have never seen this much snow in my life. Love always, Natalie

As Natalie finished the note on the enchanted paper and closed the locket she looked up just in time to see Anthony Beck make an awesome play. Now Slytherin was only up by ten points! She looked over to the Ravenclaw's section to share a smile with Terry but he had already been looking her way. She smiled and waved but then realized he wasn’t looking at her at all he was looking at Su Li.

Her stomach turned and she didn't understand why she was feeling so disappointed.

Help on the Way
Author: Professor Belladonna Sinistra
Date: 07-22-04 15:30

Bella checked her reflection in the hand mirror. The scarf wrapped around her head made her look a bit like a free spirit and the daffodil topped the impression. Yellow was certainly one of her colors. She walked down the stands in her high heeled boots, feeling worldlier than usual. With her 26th birthday coming up, she was starting to remember to be young before she got old. Tonight, she was going to a club and dance on top of the bar.

She looked over the stands as her house elf followed behind with a hamper of goodies. Really, she should have ended her fireplace talk with Izzy sooner, but sisters always came first. Besides, shopping for a spring wardrobe needed to be coordinated. Some things just had to be done.

Her eye alighted on a girl sitting alone. Clearly man troubles. Now why couldn't there be classes on how to deal with the male gender? Okay, so she’d be sure to fail them, but at least something would have made it into her brain. Then again, maybe it was junked up with fashion and etiquette. She made up her mind and started walking.

"Mind if I sit here? Good. Don't worry about the chap. You'll find that most of them are wankers and you can't get the other kind no matter how hard you try. No point in getting sulky or crying over someone who could care less. Biscuit and expresso?"

"It's tough, I know. The truth of the matter is you can't make someone love you unless they want to. Sad thing is if they love you, chances are that you love them like a brother. As a friend of mine from New York says, love sucks completely. Would you like to talk to me? I have expensive chocolate and experience with heartbreak. Plus, I promise not to say a word to anyone."

Re: Help on the Way
Author: Natalie Rose
Date: 07-22-04 16:20

"Well since you tempted me with my one addiction, chocolate I would LOVE it if you sat with me." Natalie replies to the pretty teacher that just joined her.

"I completely agree with you about most guys being jerks but he's different," just then Natalie chokes on the piece of chocolate she’s eating realizing she has more then just friendly feelings towards Terry.

Prof. Sinistra's house elf runs over and starts patting her on the back and shoves a cup of expresso in her face. Natalie catches her breath then takes a sip savoring the strong flavor.

"Thank you very much,"she says to the elf who she notices is dressed very nicely and seems to be happy which she greatly approves of. She then turns to her professor and introduces herself, "I know you have me in class but I'm fairly new so I'm not sure if you remember my name." Prof. Sinistra smiles and replies, "I know who you are I've seen you hanging out with quite a few seventh year students, how come you aren't sitting with them today?"

Natalie explains how she was a little late for the game and saw that there were no seats left where they were sitting so she just told them she would meet them afterwards.

"So who is this boy that's breaking your heart?" Prof. Sinistra asks.

Natalie turns to her and explains the entire story.

"Phew wow that's a tough one," she replies, "But I think you can do some things to show Terry how you feel, try..." Prof. Sinistra continues on, dispensing advice to Natalie.

Down with Hufflepuff!
Author: Mary
Date: 07-22-04 16:20

"That's Anthony Beck for those of you who didn't catch that amazing goal! Slytherin leads by ten!"

"Rats" Mary said angrily. Oh well, there was always a chance to widen the gap in the score. One such opportunity presented itself when Pyrrhus tossed the quaffle to Mary after the goal by Hufflepuff. She darted away with the red ball under one arm, keeping an eye out for her fellow chasers.

It really was unfortunate what happened to Nora. It was her own fault, though. If the girl just ate once in awhile, she'd be able to play properly and wouldn't have been kicked off the team.

Well, Declan wasn't all that bad, Mary supposed. She tossed him the ball just before a Hufflepuff-- she didn't know which one, they all looked the same to her-- made to steal the ball.

"Too slow!" She shouted after them gleefully. But unfortuately the pass to Collins was intercepted by another yellow chaser.

This time Mary's expletive wasn't as nice.

While Kevin Screams...
Author: Rolan Boyd
Date: 07-22-04 18:46

"What?" asked Rolan Boyd as his eyes followed the match overhead. He turned and looked at his best friend Terry Boot, who had been staring at him with a great goofy grin across his face. Terry, however, made no response and proceeded with the idiotic behavior. "You're creeping me out. Stop or I'll have to go sit next to Kevin." With this Rolan glanced past Terry toward his other best friend...

Kevin Entwhistle appeared as a lone dot in the Ravenclaw stand with a radius of available seats surrounding him. At present his arms were flailing above his head, his body was bouncing animatedly, and his throat sounded as though if were near exhaustion from his shouting. Rolan had to admitt it: no one enjoyed their Quidditch like Kevin enjoyed his. The Ravenclaw matches were unbearable.

"I wanted to talk with you about something," replied Terry, causing Rolan's attention to return to him. If their was one thing Rolan thought was constant about Terry it was his ability to appear nonchalant, sometimes even stolid, at all times. Yet he was visably feeling awkward and uncomfortable.

"What's up?" Rolan questioned, suppressing any hint of concern in his voice or expression.

"Well...it's that Natalie and I are getting along extremely well. But sometimes it feels like there's, I don't know, a barrier..."

"Let me ask you a quesiton," interrupted Rolan, internally relieved that, one, the problem wasn't serious, and, two, he now understood why Terry was behaving odd. "How many girlfriends have I had?"

"None."

"So my knowledge about relationships would be?"

"Come on, don't give me that! You're smarter than I am and you're better at seeing solutions," replied Terry, sounding slightly perturbed. "I thought I might count on my friend to help..."

"I am not going to listen to that," interrupted Rolan hotly, turning his attention away from the match and staring straight at Terry. "First, I think Natalie should be the person you're talking with as common sense would say you'll need to talk with her about this at some point, regardless of what it may be. I know Natalie enough to confidently say she's a steady girl and not likely to become irrate the moment you say, 'Hey, I want to talking with you about something.'

"Second, Lisa is the ideal person for talking about these sort of issues where you need to vent or throw some words out at someone and let them toss back what they're hearing. But, you're afraid that Lisa will be angry with you for Su's sake, so you won't approach her. Terry, do you think she hasn't notice your barely giving her the time of day anymore? She's above than that, but you went and hurt her feelings anyway."

Rolan finished, but he continued to stare at Terry. His friend went from shellshocked to angry, organizing his rebuttal while the transformation occurred. When it did come, however, it was barely inspirational.

"You're a real ass Rolan. I never would have thought you'd side with Su," said Terry confidently. For the first time in their strong friendship Rolan had the urge to pummel his friend's face. He found Terry's insinuation rather demeaning, but he ignored the comment as Rolan really didn't know what more he had expected for a response.

"I don't take sides, I didn't every other time you two broke it off or tried to drag all of us inside your disagreements. You know what? I'm done with this."

Rolan returned his eyes to the match while Terry obviously strained to keep his tongue before ultimately also choosing the match overhead. They continued to sit silently in this manner while those around them were jumping and shouting to the action above (and none more so than Kevin). After what may have appeared to be hours, but was in fact only a few minutes, Terry broke through their silence.

"She wanted you. Natalie, she had you picked from the start. She even sent you that Valentine's gift," said Terry.

"Well..." began Rolan, "Who could blame her honestly?". He looked at Terry, his face wearing a smirk. His comment did the trick; Terry's mood lifted and he immediately began to laugh.

"I'll talk to Lisa," said Terry some time later.

Bludgeoned
Author: Isolde
Date: 07-22-04 21:48

Dewhurst's little snot-nosed brother had the quaffle in his arms and ducked and dodged as he made his determined way to the Slytherin hoops. Isolde forced herself to catch up to him, but missed her chance at stealing the ball from him when a bludger hit her squarely in the chest, knocking the wind out of her.

She fell backwards, still on her broom, and let her body hang that way for a few long moments as she tried to regain her breath. Her chest seared with pain each time she breathed, and the forceful arch her back had made and still remained in was starting to take its toll on her body. Grimacing, she slowly erected herself into a normal sitting position again and took a few deep breaths.

Her vision was slightly blurred, but she strained her eyes to see clearly and saw that the other players were well on the other side of the Pitch. She'd been left behind, hovering only a few yards in front of the Hufflepuff keeper. Wincing, Isolde urged her broomstick forwards with the hopes of resuming play without further trouble.

Checkmate?
Author: Bellatrix Lestrange
Date: 07-23-04 04:25

Bellatrix watched Rodolphus and Lucius set up the game of wizarding chess. Bellatrix snorted once her husband agreed to a bet. She knew Rodolphus was good, but he lacked Lucius' cunning and it wouldn't be long before he was in deep trouble.

Raising an eyebrow at her sister, Bellatrix led Narcissa to a couch beside the roaring fireplace. She placed her glass of wine on a side table and turned to her sister. "How is Draco doing at school this year?" she asked.

"Absolutely wonderful," Narcissa replied. "He's dating as well."

"Dating? Good lord, I do hope for his sake you both approve!" Bellatrix laughed. Unable to contain herself any longer, Bellatrix turned around so she faced her sister. "Tell me something," she began. "I'm most perplexed and perhaps you can answer a question for me?"

Narcissa made her usual face – the one that involved looking down her nose. "I'll try," she replied, "depending on what it is, of course."

Bellatrix grinned. "When we saw you both at the Knight's ball – and I must say that was a wonderful dress you were wearing by the way – you mentioned you'd been there for hours. Yet I was to understand from Lucius that you'd been at the Hogwarts carnival till at least eight or nine. Exactly how did you manage it?" When she got going Bellatrix was like the 6.45 train from Paddington – nothing could derail her or her line of thought.

Narcissa looked a little surprised, but was saved momentarily by a loud crash behind them followed by a "Bugger!" from Rodolphus.

The women spun round, to be confronted by a sulky Rodolphus whose King lay in bits on the table, and a superior looking Lucius who looked like the cat at the cream. It must have been the shortest chess game in history.

"Lunch is served, Masters!" called Mortifer. Seeing the state of affairs so far, the house elf just stood in the doorway with a towel draped over one arm, wondering what he could have possibly done wrong this time.

All Things Equal
Author: Draco Malfoy
Date: 07-23-04 13:07

Siegfried Dewhurst tore across the field, flanked by the other two Hufflepuff chasers and closely followed by two of the three Slytherin chasers; injured Isolde trailed behind them. A rapid exchange started between the three yellow-clad chasers, who used impressive skill despite their experience. Maybe it helped that two of the three had an older brother who played professional Quidditch!

The quaffle fell into Dewhurst's arms again and remained cradled there until he was ready to score. He let the ball fly with amazing power straight over Pyrrhus' head through the center hoop.

"Dewhurst scores for Hufflepuff! Slytherin and Hufflepuff are tied with twenty points each!" Bronwyn Dewhurst shouted.

Draco looked murderous. Tied?! How can the game be tied?! He clenched his teeth together and tried to put all his efforts into finding the golden snitch. Thankfully the effects of the wild spin he'd taken earlier in the game had long since worn off, so nothing should distract him now.

He moved forward and scanned the length of the pitch, occasionally looking at Abbott who was doing the same on the opposite end of the stadium. Suddenly, she picked up speed. The snitch had been spotted!

Keep Your Eye on the Ball
Author: Alexis Black
Date: 07-23-04 17:17

Oops. Alexis had just managed to miss the bludger that nailed Isolde. Well, she'd just have to do better next time.

And she did.

A bludger hit by one Lawrence Masterson sailed straight for Pyrrhus, who was busy keeping an eye on the quaffle as it flew between the Hufflepuffs. Putting on an extra burst of speed, Alexis intercepted it and sent it reeling into the cloud of busy yellow chasers, managing to scatter them and startle one into dropping the quaffle.

Mary scooped it up and, cackling, raced toward the enemy keeper with it.

Tag Team
Author: Vera Delgety
Date: 07-23-04 17:59

"Hufflepuff and Slytherin are tied 20, 20!" Sounded on the field. "Dang it..!" Vera said to herself. "Oy Lawrence!" She trailed after him at top speed. "We need to get the game going in our direction! Whadya say we show those Slytherins a thing or two?"

With a grin Lawrence replied. "Righto Vera! Let's go!" The two Hufflepuff Beaters raced for the bludgers. Vera smacked one into the crowd of Slytherin Chasers hitting Declan Collins on the shoulder.

Lawrence in turn hit the other bludger toward Pyrrhus Fine, the Slytherin Keeper. To his dismay Alexis Black intercepted and sent the bludger toward the Hufflepuff Chasers.

"'S all right Lawrence..!" Vera swung up next to him. "I"m sure you gave him a fright.." She winked and the two went back to the game...