Dan stood in the middle of the quidditch pitch alone with his broom on his shoulder and a quaffle in the other. He was wearing his woolongong warriors quidditch robes he had bought last time he was in Australia as usual with the sleeves rolled up to his biceps. He didn't like wearing armour so it was just a pair of gloves for protective equipment.

Climbing onto his broom Dan kicked off, flying a quick lap of the pitch with the quaffle wrapped tight under one arm. He missed the feeling of wind rushing past his face although he was glad he had tighed his hair back extra tight today.

It was close to the lunch hour and, being Wednesday, not a busy schedule for Raine at any rate. She preferred to practice her flying with the entire team but everybody's schedules were less likely to abide by impulsive Quidditch sessions and more by the necessary act of revising for their NEWTs or OWLs.

Sinful to waste the good weather, though.

The redhead emerged from the Gryffindor lockers below, stepping on to the pitch in her flying boots. She wore a house sweater over her jeans; her goggles were pushed up into her pinned curls as she squinted up at the figure cutting through the air. Only Duffy.

Promising flyer, strong interest in the games. He'd not ever tried out for the team - disappointingly.

She set her broom afloat and swung a leg over it before smoothly striking off the ground. "Duffy!" Raine yelled, circling up and around the younger Gryffindor. "Toss that quaffle over here!"

This should be interesting Dan thought to himself as Raine joined him in the air. He tossed her the quaffle with a fair bit of force, too much maybe he thought a little too late.

This could be his chance to show off his skills and maybe make the team. Raine was intimidating but surprisingly Dan wasn't nervous. He loved quidditch and was in his element. Time to see if he was better than a 7th year captain.

"Anything in particular you want to practice Raine?" Dan asked. He would normally not brag about his quidditch skills but he felt pretty confident today, "I reckon I could test you with a few shots"

She grinned widely as her arms left the broomstick to reach out for the catch. WHAM! the quaffle left a sting against bare palms - Raine had neglected to wear her Keeper gloves. It only smarted a little however, and she approved of the confidence with which it had been thrown.

Duffy was quipping at her about practice - what a big head he had! Perhaps they ought to use him for target practice next time.

"I'm not the one who needs testing!" she called back, slowing her incline in the air and gradually drifting towards the hoops at the far end of the pitch. "How do you feel about a game of catch?"

Raine narrowed her gaze at the younger student, setting her sights on terms that might appeal to him. "If you catch all my throws, I'll let you try out for the team."

And then without waiting for a reply, she tugged the end of her broom and spiralled upwards before throwing the quaffle up. At its zenith, Raine drew her wand. It was all and well to play fair when they had a match on but...

"Imito multis!" she brandished her wand at the quaffle as it fell back down towards the pitch.

All of a sudden there were several quaffles, nearly twenty of them, raining down on Duffy. "Bring me the real one!" the Quidditch captain yelled, laughing.

Duffy swore loudly in Gaelic  as Raine cast her spell and 20 quaffles started falling towards him. He flew straight up towards them trying to spot the real quaffle amongst the fakes. He made several grabs at different quaffles before spotting the real one. Of course it was the lowest one to the ground he thought as he dove after it, managing to snag it before it hit the ground, if only just.

Bloody oath, this was going to be harder than he thought. He flew back up to her and handed her the quaffle, he didn't want to risk another rough pass. Who knew what she'd think of next.

"There you go," He said with about half as much confidence " One pass caught"

He managed it! Barely, though it was still a better catch than she had expected. Raine smiled at her housemate as he approached to pass her the quaffle - perhaps he'd realised she told him to bring it rather than throw it at her. She took it into the crook of her arm like she was cradling a baby, and looked at Duffy.

"Thanks." Raine paused, wondering what position he'd be best at occupying. "Why do you want play for us?"

In her mind she'd already figured out the next task for him but right now she was curious about the fifth year's intentions, whether it was game and glory that drew him or something more serious.

"I play a lot of Quidditch in my local leagues back home and have been approached by a few... people..." Dan decided against using the word scout "who advised me to make the Gryffindor team if I wanted to get considered by some teams."

Mentioning he was being talked to by several pro teams didn't seem like a good idea right now, a more humble approach would probably avoid her throwing 20 bludgers his way.

"Plus I love quidditch and I think I can add a bit of firepower to your chaser group," he said with a little more confidence. Dan had been considered a good beater back home thanks to his size but his speed and agility as well as a really strong shot, with both feet and hands made the transition to chaser an obvious one that he had made years ago.

It seemed to Raine that the young wizard Duffy had high aims and, if his earlier behaviour was any indication, a sense of himself that was at least a little inflated. Not uncommon in good and bad sportsmen alike. His love for Quidditch was a better measure of how much she'd like his company on their team.

"So you want to be a chaser?" she threw the quaffle into the air and caught it a couple of times, eyeing him as they both drifted high above the green earth. "Alright then."

The Gryffindor held out the quaffle, tapping it twice with her wand. It began to shake and shiver - practically vibrated in her hands with the force of a restless animated object. And then quick as a shot, the quaffle jumped out of Raine's grip an sped down the pitch with alarming alacrity.

"Better chase after it..." she gripped the hilt of her broom, ready to follow Duffy's hunt. The quaffle had been charmed to keep as far away from them as possible, within the limits of the Quidditch area. A charm she'd used for practice before.

"Bloody oath!" Dan yelled as he turned to chase the quaffle, the wind pulling a strand out of his ponytail making it whip into his face. He angrily brushed it away as he clung tight to his broom, trying to squeeze every bit of speed he could out of it. It took a lot of effort to stay on the tail of the errant quaffle, everytime he got close it would move violently in a random direction. He had to make a lot of sudden quick turns that put a lot of strain on his body, sometimes he wished he was skinnier and shorter, it would make this kind of flying a lot easier. Finally he managed to get a lucky break when the quaffle decided to reverse direction straight at him and he caught it with a reflex one handed catch. He couldn't help but smile as he wrestled the quaffle into his stomach and turned to Raine,
"Got it, what's next?" He tried not to look tired, but he was a little out of breath. 

Raine flew off in a different direction as her younger housemate made a dash for the quaffle - she wanted to stay out of the way as much as possible, to give herself a good view of Duffy's flying. He wasn't of a compact build but that was only something she wanted in a Seeker. Chasers had to be robust enough to take a Bludger.

Especially after Theo knocked one into her face[1] last year.

          "Got it, what's next?"

She laughed, flicking her wand in his direction as she approached. The quaffle went still again. "Third time's the charm I suppose." Raine raised a fiery eyebrow. "So what do you think is your greatest weakness as a Chaser, Duffy?"

1.	14th May 2010 - Quidditch Cup

"I can be pretty aggressive, I can get penalised for making a few too many rough tackles." He added quickly after "But I'm trying to work on it."

He was really hoping he had impressed the captain, she was intimidating that was for sure.

Raine nodded once, thoughtfully, at his admission. Aggressiveness wasn't a problem - not when they were facing off against Slytherin. And she could temper an overeager Chaser, it was easier than rousing a meek one. She glanced at the quaffle in his hands and then at the hoops at the end of the pitch, not far from them.

"Alright then. One last thing."

Her broom began to drift backwards, higher towards the hoops into her usual position as Keeper. Raine tilted her chin up cockily. "Think you can get a shot past me?"

Dan smirked cockily, finally something he was really really good at. He tossed the quaffle lazily from hand to hand as he drifted to the height of the goal hoops before setting up to make his run. He flew fast straight at the hoops flicking the quaffle from hand to hand. He drove straight at the left hand hoop winding up to make a huge shot before faking it and instead dropping it onto his foot and kicking it at full pace at the right hand hoop instead, aiming for the edge of the hoop so it would ricochet back in. He needed to put it as far out of Raine's reach as possible.

Raine eyed the younger student carefully as she drifted before the hoops, not quite staying still and allowing the motion to slowly help build up momentum as she circled. She hadn't been expecting the kick - but she had suspected a feign in one direction, and made a mad dash for the quaffle when it was thrown.

The ball ricocheted off the hoop, nearly making it through before Raine caught it. It felt odd to catch it with her bare hands; without her flying gloves.

"Two more tries," she called out and tossed it back at Duffy with a no-nonsense manner. "Try not to be too predictable this time," the captain quipped. Even if she was a touch breathless.