Merlin, Fauna felt like the biggest jackass. She hovered on her broom in the locker rooms, seriously considering hiding for the rest of the match. The crack of her bat hadn't alarmed her as much as it should have earlier, and she'd just been relieved to avoid a full-on collision. It was when she'd looked back to see the bloodied Slytherin Beater barreling towards the ground that she'd realized something was wrong! Adrenaline still coursed through her as she strained to hear what was happening in the game. Dax's commentary floated in and out of the room, as well as the muffled reactions of the crowd.

Once her two minutes were up, Fauna slowly edged out onto the pitch with the air of a scolded puppy. She avoided eye contact with everyone, and focused on the chaotic scene: Callum was flying around just fine, they were missing one Hufflepuff chaser, and Xavier was missing a broom. Normally Fauna would have been concerned about Razzy and smug about Tawse's misfortune, but instead, she felt anxious and unsettled. This led her to do something that would probably make her team wish she'd stayed off the pitch for good!

She took a wimpy swing at one of the stray bludgers by the Hufflepuff hoops, watching it put-put through the air in response, and then zoom towards the other side of the pitch, as if offended by the lightness of her hit. Then Fauna flew downwards, picked up Xavier's broom, and flew up alongside Demetria and Xavier, holding the broom parallel to the Slytherin pair. Her hand gripped the edge of the other broom's handle, while her other hand held onto her beater bat loosely.  Somehow she managed to stay balanced. That couldn't last long.

"I'll hold it steady!" She offered, barely believing she was doing this.

Mysti was shouting at him to focus, and so was a little kid from the stands.  "Oh right!" 

He looked around, no real system, looking for a glint of the snitch.  Bloody all, if the rest of the match wasn't distracting! There were bludgers flying all over, the quaffle nearly making it into the Slytherin's hoops.  "Ye...no...!"

The unflappable Figaro was beginning to get overwhelmed with the task before him.  In his first ever Hogwarts quidditch match he realized why Ketteridge, the Fayettes - why everyone took it so seriously.  It was bloody difficult!

"Uh... what?"  One of his teammates had sped up to him with a beater bat, offering to trade. 

"Who the hell are you?!"  he stared at the small girl in the big goggles.  He had no idea who she was.  She hadn't been in their practice yesterday, and she certainly wasn't any Hufflepuff he could recognize.

Again, Figaro was stalled in the air not seeking.

The other Hufflepuff chaser (ok...the real Hufflepuff chaser) had finally emerged from her time out.  But, within thirty seconds of the older girl being back on her broom, she was ... she was helping out the combination Slytherin beater/chaser?  What in the hell was she doing? 

"Go hifreann leat!" Mairead grunted in exacerbation, turning back towards the baffled Hufflepuff seeker in dismay.  "She's got a bloody two for one deal over there!" she yelled at him.  "One bludger could take out both a Slytherin beater and chaser and she's helping them?  What's wrong with her?"  No wonder everyone said Hufflepuffs always lost!

Next time Mairead wanted to sneak into a game, she ought to pick a better team. 

"Uh... what?"

"Ní mórán thú!" Mairead called at the seeker, again.  "The snitch?" Mairead repeated.  "Care to try to find it while their seeker's still occupied?"  She gestured towards the Slytherin's seeker in the stands with her beater's bat.  "Or, do ye want to trade?  Ahh...one sec," she concluded, dismissively.  The two-for-one Slytherin combo was just too good to pass up.  And with their beater so distracted with not falling off the broom, it was almost too cheap of a shot to take. 

But, Mairead wasn't a Hufflepuff.  She'd still take it.  "Think about it.  I'll be right back," Mairead told the Sellaphix before moving off.

Mairead sped off to intercept one of the racing bludgers' path and whacked it in Tawse's and Strelnikov's direction.  Hopefully, the Hufflepuff's real beater knew at least enough to get out of the bludger's way.

'Course, when Knight got smashed up they had to stop the game. When Razzy got hurled into the stands, no one so much as paused. Erin was torn between fury and the overpowering urge to get back in the game, and now. Some kid was yelling at him - well, strike that, a bunch of kids were yelling at him, completely incoherent over the roar of blood and adrenaline in Erin's ears - apparently Razzy had landed in first-year central. Erin spared the lot of them one bewildered, narrow-eyed look, feeling rather like a bull or some other ungainly animal in his bulky Quidditch leathers and Slytherin green surrounded by children like a half-dozen shouting bees. Fayette in the professor's booth was making some smart-arse comments as well, but Erin'd gotten worse ribbing from his classmates the first couple weeks and this was easy to ignore. He gave the mental equivalent of a shrug and turned back to Razzy. Awkwardly, he patted his boyfriend on his fluffy, uninjured head.

"Hang in there, Razzy," he said. "Nagde'll get you fixed right up, no worries. I'll see you after the game."

His duty done, he gave Razzy's hair one last ginger, guilty pat, then leapt on his broom and shot out of the stands so fast his hair flattered against his face. He had lost time to make up for. He spotted Tawse hanging from his broom at one end of the pitch, and watched the suspiciously tiny Beaater whack a Bludger in his direction. He spared a moment's thought for trying to intercept it, but with what, his head? Instead he wheeled sharply in mid-air, cupping a hand around his mouth and shouting, "Oi, Tawse, look sharp!"

No time to see if he'd made it. Sellaphix was still lingering uselessly in about the same area he'd been where Erin'd left him; thank Merlin he hadn't been able to spot the Snitch in the meantime. Erin quickly took off towards the South end of the pitch, eyes sharp and scanning.

The snitch suddenly appears in the air, hovering right by the oblivious Figaro Sellaphix's ear, and then zooms toward the southwest side of the pitch, weaving around the spectator towers!

(Have at it, guys!)

Another shot on Hufflepuff goals.  Mysti breathed a sigh of relief.  Dion seemed frustrated, but of course with good reason.  She got the quaffle back from him and would have attempted a pass to another chaser... but she seemed the only one left.  She wasn’t sure where Ayla was, lost among the others and possibly still recovering from her hit.  And Razzy was of course down for the count.  At least Fauna was now back out on the pitch.

Of course, she was now taking the time to help Xavier to get back on his broom.  Mysti knew it was in Fauna’s nature to be nice, but she could have waited.  This definitely wasn’t her friends game, so she tried to shake it off. But when playing Quidditch, the girl just got a little more competitive than others.  That came from playing often with her brothers. She always had to stay focused, which was becoming a very difficult task with this particular match.

Once again, Mysti tried working her way over towards the southern Slytherin side of the pitch.  She kept an eye out for finding Ayla, but instead noticed Figaro and the Snitch by his head. He once again wasn’t paying much attention, though. Of course, as soon as she saw it, it started zooming away from him.  She continued her path, but had to make sure Figaro could get the snitch before Erin.

“FIGARO. IT’S RIGHT THERE. GET THE BLOODY SNITCH.” She yelled, hoping he’d pay attention. 

Once again, taking advantage of Xavier off his broom and Demetria helping him, she did her best to toss the Quaffle into the right hoop.  She flew to the side of the hoop after tossing it, and turned to see if she could find the Snitch again.  And she also looked towards Figaro to see if he was making progress in catching it.

It sounded like a giant locust, the Snitch.  This was the first time Figaro had ever noted that.  The ball, much larger than most flying insects, had hovered in what was probably the safest place on the pitch today - right by the Hufflepuff Seeker's head.  And then had sped off.

Still trying to figure out what little goblin was currently filling one of their Beater spots, Figaro was jarred into action by the buzzing in his ear and the frantic orders coming from his team Captain, Mysti Ketteridge.

Figaro looked up just in time to eat the Snitch's dust.  He kicked his broom forward and raced after it. 

"Whoooooooo!" he shouted as he sped as fast as he could after the little ball, straight down the pitch.  "Sellaphix sees the snitch! Lookit him go!" he narrated himself.

"Erin...err HARPER GET OVER HERE!" Erin shouted, feeling weird calling her own name out.  She wondered if Harper knew that Erin was a girl's name or not.  Aaron was a suitable name for a guy.  Erin, not so much.  Maybe his parents should have gone with Cory if they were not sure?  Her musing on naming conventions aside, she noticed Mystique took a shot.  Erin dove towards her right hoop, but Kitteridge had shot the quaffle to her left hoop.  The ball sailed through without being deflected.  Once again, Erin was left wondering who was back here with her.  She was getting sick of these one-on-ones with the Hufflepuff chasers.  Fortunately the team was not good otherwise she would have had a far harder game. 

Grabbing the red object she hurled it at Figaro, trying to beam him.  Or at least distract him.  Or make him fly out of the way.  Granted, the quaffle wasn't the bludger, but Erin had to make do with what she had.

If Erin - er, Dark's - shout hadn't attracted his attention, the sight of the formally placidly bobbing Figaro zooming down the pitch in hot pursuit certainly did the job. Erin's head snapped around, quickly followed by the rest of his body - at the South end of the pitch already, both the Snitch and Figaro were headed straight for him.

He could not let Sellaphix catch it. Merlin, he'd never live it down! Erin shot towards the other boy, focused solely on the flick and the flit of the Golden Snitch. As he went he flattened himself against his Nimbus, his eyes narrowing against the rush of wind. He did spare a quick glance or two for any fouling attempts - last-minute bludgers, some desperate play by the other team to knock him off his broom or simply off his course. Hufflepuffs generally didn't play as dirty (although he might've had something to worry about if Dax was actually on the team); within seconds because of their speed he was close enough that if someone rammed him while he had his hands off the broom he wouldn't stand a chance. Hooch would've gone ballistic on anyone who tried though, so it was with that comforting thought that Erin devoted himself entirely to what he was here to do.

Namely, get the damn ball before Sellaphix did.

Also, avoid crashing into him headfirst. The closer they got, the more likely it seemed; they were headed right towards each other, the Snitch flicking about trapped on both sides, and it wasn't like Erin was going to pull up when there was a chance that doing so would cost him the game.

Although Xavier hadn't expected to ride the rest the game out on the back of his best friend's broom he figured he could find a way back to his own sooner or later. Having Fauna Blake of all people literally hand it back to him was the last thing he would have ever expected to happen. He didn't waste any time taking advantage of it. He leaped onto his own broom and nodded to the other beater just in time to pull out his own bat and whack the bludger away from him, sending it zooming down the pitch towards the Slytherin goals and the Hufflepuff chasers down that end.

With one last glance towards Fauna, still questioning her good deed, he gave Strellie a pat on the back, a little thanks for letting him hitch a ride and set off himself heading down towards the Hufflepuff hoops hoping to be able to add some support. No doubt the Hufflepuff beaters would be sending those bludgers down this way hoping to keep the Slytherin chasers away from their goals - especially with Figaro and Erin in actual pursuit of the snitch.

Ayla swept into line with Mysti riding just in the older girl's blind spot. The recovery from her hit had temporarily disoriented her but she was back in line with her captain about the time that Mysti had thrown the quaffle towards Erin's hoops and scored. The smaller Dark tossed it back into the fray. With none of the Slytherin chasers in range the Keeper threw the quaffle in the direction of the clustered Seekers. Thankfully the quaffle being the non enchanted ball of the game didn't have enough power to knock out Figaro before Ayla could get to it.

Ayla snatched the quaffle well enough before it got the chance to distract either of the Seekers. Hopefully one of the two of them would grab that thing and end this game before anymore people got hurt. She knew that quidditch could be a dangerous sport but this game seemed to be excessive. She huddled the quaffle to her chest and swung back towards the Slytherin hoops and tossed it at Erin's right hoop, if she was lucky they'd be able to score twice in a row.

Her eyes on the red ball headed for the hoops Ayla missed the telltale whistling of the bludger Xavier had sent her way. The noise that escaped her lips was more of a surprised rush of air than a scream as the bludger hit her full tilt onto her right shoulder blade. She heard the crack of her shoulder blade and felt her arm go numb. Almost instantly Ayla was doubled over her broom feeling dizzy from the pain. She had no idea how bad it was, shattered shoulder blade most likely but she was still on her broom - at least there was that.

---

Bludgers were flying, Slytherins were doubled up on a single broom, and why was Figaro sitting around chatting again?  By the boar, Captain Ketteridge had her hands full with this team...!  Wait...who was that beater...?

Madam Hooch found herself staring uncharacteristically at the small, be-goggled Hufflepuff beater.  She couldn't remember a player that small on the match.  It had to be a first year...!  She made a sweeping change of direction, hoping to get closer to check out the tiniest Hufflepuff player.

As the game kept on, things seemed to be sorting things out.  The Slytherins were all on their own brooms, the Seekers were finally seeking, Ketteridge finally gets one in the hoops, and ooooh!  Collins took a nasty hit.

After all that madness, it was Collins who intercepted her quaffle and attempted a shot just where Kitteridge had taken one.  Diving the correct way this time, Erin managed to grab the quaffle with a clean save.  Noticing that there were two Hufflepuff chasers near her (and one borderline in play), she heaved the red ball downfield towards Li and Demetria.  She just hoped that one of her teammates would wake up and get that lead back.  She was getting tired of this one-on-one nonsense.

Thanks to the Hufflepuff's real Beater, the Slytherin Beater managed to get back on his own broom just in time to deflect Mairead's bludger.  Apparently, winning wasn't really high on the Puffie's list of priorities.  But, there wasn't anytime to lazily ponder her good fortune for getting sorted into Gryffindor rather than Hufflepuff.  The Puffie's captain was making an attempt at the goal and needed cover. 

The newly-reunited-with-his-broom Slytherin Beater was already setting his sights on the captain.  Mairead took off towards the captain's end of the field, lying low against her broom. 

She was halfway up the field when she spotted Madam Hooch flying in a pattern that would intersect her.  Looking very intently in her direction.  Mairead slowed briefly as she considered what her course of action should be.  Should she try to evade the woman?  Move off in another direction as if she hadn't seen her?  Bugger - like that wouldn't be obvious. 

After a very quick debate in her head, Mairead decided to carry on with what she was doing until instructed to do otherwise.  But, that hesitation had been enough for a bludger to strike one of the Puffie's chasers - Erik's sister, by the look of it and she looked like she was in an immense amount of pain.  Mairead hurried over to the girl, beater's bat at the ready, prepared to deflect the bludger if it swung back around to take another shot.  "Ye alright?" Mairead called to her, continuing to keep an eye out for either of the bludgers.  "Ye need help down?"

Ten million things happened at once.

But that was quidditch, Demitria reminded herself as Xavier got on his own broom. She had had a few moments of vertigo, but the tiny chaser sped back down the pitch to her own goal where the quaffle was currently resting in Erin's hands.

"Dark!" The blonde chaser shouted. "Over here!" She was completley open and now that Ketteridge scored again, the competition was back on. She dearly hoped that Erin Harper would get to that Snitch. It was critical. Despite all their setbacks, the Hufflepuff team was neck and neck with the Slytherins.

The quaffle securly in her arms, Demitria sped back down the field. Most of the attention was on the Slytherin side of the pitch. Taking that breif distraction, she made a diagonal swoop across the field and visibly shot at Dion's left hoop. But The quaffle made a high velocity ark and was headed perfectly into the center hoop. Strellie closed her eyes tightly for a few seconds. By Merlin that quaffle better go in.


((Post made on smartphone. Please excuse any errors))