Alice paced nervously, back and forth in front of a tree. Surely her friends had gotten her message. Surely, if they talked about it with her, she wouldn't be as anxious. It was going to be fine. It was. She was just going to fly, not get hurt, and well, fly. Still her stomach felt like it was cut open, the acid taken out, flipped inside out, acid put back in, and it shaken up. And it wasn't a welcome feeling.

"Come on guys," she said nervously to herself, checking her watch. "I need you guys." 

Annette was braiding her hair when the owl arrived. Shikoba had flown off an hour ago and now he was back, cooing and cawing in her ear. "What you silly thing?!?" Annette put out her forearm. 'Koba landed just below her elbow, waving his leg in her face. Alice's signature yellow owl ribbon waved wildly.

Annette dropped her hair and untied the note. Alice requested her presence. Immediately. Nette undid her braid and threw her unmanageable hair into a fun bun and raced out the door. A pocketful of tissues and a first aid kit hung out of her pockets. Wouldn't it be some much easier to apparate?

Hopping over a few gaps in the stairs and sprinted through the corridors and out into the courtyard. She looked around, knowing Alice, she would be at the nearest tree. Hustling through the grass to the big weeping willow by the lake. Alice paced back and forth.

"Alice!" Anni hailed her friend, still running.

Lexi was practicing her wall hand stands when there was a clattering at her window. She fell down the wall, hitting her head on the floor oh so gracefully before struggling back up. There at her window was Jethro, her crazy little owl. He repeatedly smashed his tiny little head against the wall, over and over and over and over, until Lexi opened up the little window to let the owl in.

He hopped in, falling off the window ledge and onto the floor, not caring if he completely wiped out on the floor. So much for a coordinated owl... He carried a bright pink checkered ribbon in his beak and he dropped it in Lexi's outstretched hand. She looked at it, confused. "What are you trying to...  this is Alice's. She knows I hate pink and the last time she tried to... oh, right." Jethro flapped up to perch on Lexi's shoulder, hiding under the fiery red hair that was currently down. He held on for dear life as Lexi took the stairs three at a time to get outside to the tree.

She saw Annette already there, and Alice pacing with a worried look on her face. "Hufflepuffs!" She yelled loudly, "What's up with my puffles today!!!" Lexi said, bouncing to a stop in front of them with a big grin on her face.

It didn't take Annette long to come running down the hill towards her shouting her name. Alice didn't have time to say hello before Lexi came running down as well, shouting about her hufflepuffs. Alice smiled nervously, as she said hi. Alice started to pace again, before saying, "I can't play in the game! I can't!  I volunteered, but I can't even play! I'll lose the game for the team!" She stopped, shaking her head.

"I just feel bad signing up for something  i don't even really want. Or maybe I do," She threw her hands up. "OH I DON'T KNOW!" She ran a hand through her hair, before saying, "I need you guys. I don't want to play."

Alice started rambling on about the quidditch match. "Alice you made a commitment, now you've got to commit to it, right? You wouldn't want to let Hufflepuff down! Alice we need you!"

She knew that Alice was on the fence about the whole keeper thing. That was one of the hardest positions to play. Annette feared for Alice's life. But she put on a fake smile and tried to get Alice to learn participation.

"Commitment? What commitment? Alice, did you sign up to be in a gang?" Lexi said sarcastically with her hands on her hips. "I'm just kidding, so what are you all worked up over?"

Lexi had no idea what Alice was going off about, something small and pathetic maybe? Like she was supposed to do an extra credit assignment but she forgot? Who know what it was...

Alice clenched her hands into fists and closed her eyes tightly. "I signed up to be the hufflepuff Quidditch keeper for a game, but I'm really starting to freak out about it!" She said quickly. "I don't know! I don't want to lose the game for everyone, especially after we lost our entire team in the first place, but these kids are... Well, old! I don't know."

She stopped pacing. "I'm really just scared about getting hurt. I mean I'm playing keeper, but, I DON'T WANT TO FALL!" She shouted. "That's my fear. I don't want to fall and die. I don't."

Alice was having a 'little' bit of inner conflict, Annette could tell. . "I'm really just scared about getting hurt. I mean I'm playing keeper, but, I DON'T WANT TO FALL!" ... "That's my fear. I don't want to fall and die. I don't."

"Alice," Annette climbed up the branches of the tree until she was halfway up the tree. Something she  had learned at home when she just wanted to get away and read, or knit, or whatever. "One, you'll be wearing padding, and two, Madam Hooch can help you with flying maneuvers and catch you if you fall during the game."

Another thought occurred to Anni, as she stared down the willow, with it's flowers falling in the late fall. "You know you're allowed to carry your wand during the game, don't you?" Nerte knew that Alice was attached to her wand in and almost creepy way, kind of like a child's security blanket of sorts. She thought this comment would relieve at least some anxiety that Al was having.

"That's so unfair! You get to play Quidditch before me!" Lexi was outraged, she never expected something like this to happen. Damn, she wished she was a Hufflepuff. Actually no, that'd be terrible.

"But anyways, you'll do great! You just get on the broom and sit up there in the air until the game's over, okay? I'll be cheering for you the whole time," she paused, thinking about what she was going to say next. "I'll even wear one of your Hufflepuff scarves and put yellow and black stripes on my face."

Alice smiled. "The thing is, I just can't sit there! I mean, big kids, mean kids, will be throwing balls at me, and pitching bludgers toward my face! That's a lot of pressure!" She ran her hand through her hair. "I just don't know. I mean, I can't step out, but I don't want to die!"

She sat down in defeat. "I just don't know what I'll do." She said sadly.

Annette sat in the tree, thinking for a few moments. The game was only a few days away, they didn't have much time at all. Annette ambled down the limbs of the willow and her feet hit the ground once more. A thought came to her. She pulled out her wand and walked behind the tree while Lexi and Alice continued talking.

"Shepherelicous" Annette waved her wand and a big fat dried blood colored quaffle dropped down into her hands. This would help a little. "Alice, your smart, right? WELL, then I suppose you won't have a problem learning a few new things?"

Annette tossed the quaffle up and down in her hand. "You're just going to train a little bit, starting now!" Anni tossed the ball upwards, creating an arch, the ball would fall precisely into Alice's arms if she spread them maybe a foot apart.

The ball was coming down, Annette crossed her fingers and hoped to god that this was going to work.