Despite a marathon of mentally engaging activities, whether they were personal projects on nightshades and Occlumency or engaging activities like Quidditch, Naomi still had found her mind being pestered by the embarrassing Ancient Runes class where she ended up in a situation where Blake, of all people, ended up catching her. If someone could have just given her a time-turner she would have happily undone that moment. Instead she had to settle for trying to pretend the moment never happened for about a week, until she actually had to face the Ravenclaw for a small Quidditch practice. Then she could think of ways to... thank Aileen for the featherweight charm.

So, after dinner, Naomi went back to her dorms and threw on a warm cloak over more comfortabtle clothes  and some Quidditch gear before she headed out onto the pitch. With the full moon hanging only a day away, superstition seemed to keep the outdoors socially bare as the sun burned against the edge of the sky.

Once Naomi got onto the empty pitch, she fetched a chest of Quidditch balls from the shed and then dropped it near the rim of the field as she swept her gaze over the area. There was no sign of  a familiar unruly mop of hair or a cheeky smile, just a chilly pitch. Hopefully Blake hadn't forgotten about practicing and was probably still eating in the Great Hall or getting ready.

But rather than sit around and freeze in the chilly night air, Naomi kicked open the chest and unlatched the bludgers. With a rush of wind, they rocketed into the sky and swerved around the pitch. The Slytherin spun her bat around her hand until  one of the ferocious projectiles finally charged for her. She let her bat roll into her firm grip, pulled it back, and then released a heavy swing, smashing the bludger towards the other end of the pitch.
 
Maybe, she thought, she could just take out her frustrations on bludgers all night.