Badger Pride!!! ((Laura And Any Other Hufflepuff))

[Hannah Abbott MacMillan]

Hannah lay on her bed tossing her stuffed animal Piglet up and down. “Hufflepuff, clap, clap, clap; Do Your Stuff, clap, clap, clap” She sang excitedly; throwing up Piglet every time she said clap. She looked around at the yellow all around the room and beamed with joy. Hufflepuff just had to win the quidditch game tomorrow; they just had to. She was going to be the reserve beater and would very likely get to be in the game again. She was in the game last time too but that one they had lost. They had to beat those dirty great snakes though; it was a point of honor. They hadn’t won a single game all year; but they had what was nearly a new team who were older and had been practicing really hard.

The excitement of it all was getting to her and Hannah had no choice but to get outside. She looked out the window and saw it was beautiful; the sun was shinning bright and warm. She threw on her school robe, with the Hufflepuff badge, and picked up her storybook before walking up the stairs to the entrance hall.

She pushed open the doors and stood there for a moment, basking in the sunlight, before skipping down to the courtyard. Once there she noticed all the benches were taken. Hannah looked down disappointed before deciding she would sit with someone; it couldn’t be too bad right? Looking around she saw the closest thing to a friend she saw was Laura, a Hufflepuff quidditch player she knew from practice. Hannah walked up to the girl but looked at the ground shyly; “Do you mind if I join you?” she asked, cheeks crimson, while dragging her foot across the ground.

[laurap]

Laura hated admitting it, but she was nervous about the upcoming game. Certainly they were a great team and Nokomis was just as good captain, but Laura was nervous none the less. Maybe that was why she was out in the courtyard right now playing with a volley-ball. It was mainly just her throwing it at the wall all the time and catching it again, but it seemed to relieve her anxiousness a little.

Noticing that the tie of her sneakers had gotten loose Laura theftly caught the ball and holding it securely under her arm trotted towards a near-by bench. Placing the ball next to her on the bench, Laura bent over started redoing the lace.
Laura almost jumped a little when she heard someone approaching and speaking to her – she had been so inside her old little world and thinking about the game, that it surprised her.
Looking around quickly Laura let out a breath seeing that it was Hannah – she was also on the quidditch team.
“Of course you can join me, Hannah,” Laura said with a small smile, “I would love some good company. To take my mind off tomorrows game at least.” Laura tugged at her braid – Slytherins didn’t always play overly fairly and they were rather big at some cases. Like one of those cronies Malfoy always had hanging around – Crabbe, wasn’t it?

“But I might not be much of a conversationalist right now. I’m a little nervous about the game,” Laura admitted with one more tug at her braid – she always tugged at her braid when she was nervous or angry or confused. It was almost a habbit already.

[Hannah Abbott MacMillan]

Hannah gave a small smile as Laura said she could join her and plopped down onto the bench as fast as possible, as if standing were a huge exertion. She listened as Laura talked about her concerns over the next day’s game. She gave her teammate a sympathetic smile, it was her first game and against Slytherin too, Hannah didn’t envy her. “Well it most certainly won't be an easy game but we can beat them. Think about it, if they have to resort to cheating they can't be that good. And if they do try anything Hooch will see and let us take a penalty shot; eyes like a hawk that woman.” She said trying to be reassuring. She was so anxious to get this game started; she adored quidditch. Growing up in the muggle world she had been shocked to say the least when she saw her first game; sure she had started getting used to the magical world by then but Quidditch was just so fast paced and dangerous. She had gotten used to the sport now and had come to love it, she could play any position happily and that’s why she so loved being a reserve, she wasn’t tied down to any one position.

[laurap]

Laura smiled at Hannah and after one more sharp tug on her braid, Laura released it. It would do no good to pull her hair out because of SLytherins. And she did feel a bit better about the game now, even though Laura was still a bit worried whether she would be good enough player or not.
“That’s true. Besides Nokomis seems like a great captain,” Laura agreed shyly picking up the volley-ball and twirling it in her hands – it wasn’t completely the same as the quaffle, but the practice of catching it would help Laura relax, if not anything else.

“So what are you doing out here today? Admiring the weather?” Laura asked – she wasn’t too great with getting a conversation started, so she just took a step further and started throwing the ball against the wall and either kicking it back or catching it again.

[Hannah Abbott MacMillan]

Hannah beamed at Laura. "Yes Nokomis is a wonderful captain. It's no wonder she was chosen." she said; she really did like the young girl though she didn't know her well. And Hannah especially respected her for her obvious bravery in taking on the captaincy not only in her first year on the team but as a mere second year over all. Hannah remembered her second year and how awkward she had felt; not that she didn't still feel like that from time to time. But at least now it wasn't quite as often and she knew how to deal with it a bit better.

"You caught me; it was too beautiful out to say cooped up inside. And how about yourself?" She asked giving the younger girl an encouraging smile. Hannah really loved talking to her house mates, especially the younger ones. She supposed maybe it was because she felt she could relate to them - having been that age not long before.

[laurap]

Laura smiled as Hannah agreed that it was too nice to stay cooped up in the castle.
“I came out here. I can’t play quidditch right now, but I figured that any ball-game might help me spend some energy,” Laura said with a small smile raising the volley-ball in her hands that she had been throwing, “I’m in a good mood and just need to DO something, if you know what I mean.”

Laura threw the ball in her hands and caught again a moment later smiling as she suddenly remembered her dog. Usually she would be outside, playing with him right now. Or maybe at some house with her mom. Or out riding. Laura smiled, tugging at her long braid for a moment and coming back to the present moment smiled at Hannah once again. The older Hufflepuff seemed nice.

"Do you paly something? I mean some ball-game besides quidditch?" Laura asked as she twirled the ball between her hands.

[Hannah Abbott MacMillan]

Hannah looked down pink cheeked when Laura asked if she played anything besides Quidditch. “No; I have never been much of a sporty type girl. But with Quidditch I mean how could I not play? It’s not exceedingly difficult, or straining, and it’s a great chance to show some Badger Pride. I really do think we Huffles are looked over way too much; anything we can do to show we are as much a part of this school as any other house is great.” She babbled.