On The Bench

[Madam Xiomara Hooch]

((Quidditch players who, at any time, are not participating in the game may post here their actions and thoughts on the bench.))

[Rosaliz Hernandez G6]

The day had finally come. Rosaliz was about to a reserve in the first Quidditch match – ever. Even if she didn't get to play she took pride that in a team everybody depended on each other. There might be a chance they would call her? Standing in her dormitory, Rosaliz pushed back the shortened length of her jet-black hair, her metallic hazel eyes focused on a point before her. She had not slept more than an hour the night before but the fifth year was wide awake and preparing for the match that would commence in a couple of hours. Opening her black trunk, Rosaliz took out her folded Quidditch robes, the Red-and-gold material draping over her bony white fingers. After pulling on a red long-sleeved shirt, Rosaliz tugged on the robes as they easily fell to her thin and scrawny frame. Her legs were housed in riding breeches and after bending down, Rosaliz tied up the specialized ebony riding boots she had purchased only this past summer tightly and fiercely, hearing the laces slice the air as she knotted, double knotted, triple knotted. After she was done securing her shoes, Rosaliz stood up tall and stood for a moment, thinking. This was it. This was the match in which her team, the team she herself actually had a role. The team that would go and play against those selfish manipulative Slytherins. Were they ready? More so than Rosaliz could ever hope. They had to be; the Slytherins absolutely could not gain a win against her team. After slamming down her trunk, Rosaliz left her dormitory and crossed the common room, seeing several glances turn her way. Indeed, she and her teammates would be getting a lot more attention than they were used to, as the students surprisingly got incredibly prideful when it came to their teams' victory. Sure enough, as soon as Jade entered the corridor, random Gryffindors she had never seen made whooping noises as she passed but Rosaliz showed no sign of acknowledging them. She continued up to the Entrance Hall - which was packed to the guilds. Students dressed out-of-uniform clothes were milling about, obviously anxiously waiting to head to the spectator stands to watch the match.

Rosaliz threaded her way through the crowd, hearing several loud boos to her left and right, and walked into the Great Hall. She sat down for only a few moments, chewing on two meager slices of bacon before standing up and striding right back out of the Great Hall. Too much raucous noise had erupted in the room and it caused Rosaliz's head to buzz, which normally indicated an oncoming headache. She did not need that, not when the team was about to go head-on with the nasty opponents of the Slytherin team. The Entrance Hall was thinning by the second, as the giant oak doors had been opened, letting out the students so they could go to the spectator boxes. Rosaliz cut past all of them, unheeding to the constant shouts of how badly Gryffindor was going to lose that day, and made her way towards the locker rooms, taking a different course than the Muggle-clad students. She walked into the bottom half of the pitch and banged open the door of the Gryffindor locker room. Opening her locked locker with a muttered spell, Rosaliz found the rest of the needed equipment for the game - specialized Quidditch gloves, which Rosaliz slipped on readily, and her broomstick. Rosaliz felt no need to drag her broomstick back up after the last practice so she left the broom, a dark-brown number with the word "Nightsoar" embossed on the end, and held it firmly in her right hand. Rosaliz waited for the rest of her teammates, who came into the room one by one. They all situated their robes on and got their equipment assembled. Rosaliz could hear the mounting volume of the spectators just outside of the pitch and it started to make her feel anxious. Not nervous, per say, but imagining the normally-empty spectator boxes empty now packed with people was mind-boggling. Once everybody seemed dressed Rosaliz went to go look for her Quidditch captain, Cassandra. Rosaliz admired her skill at playing Quidditch and leading her team to victory. Right then after her captain began speaking "Team, I'm not going to tell you what to do. I know you know the plays and your positions. I need you to watch for me during the game for instructions. You know the drill. Most of you have done this before. All of you know that this has the potential to become a very dirty game. We all know that the Slytherins have a capable team, but I don't think they will be above bad tactics. I'm not advocating stooping to their level, but protect yourselves!. I have yet to lose a match to Slytherin as captain of this team, and I am not planning on changing it this year. I know you will do me proud. Let's hit the pitch!”

Rosaliz's stomach lurched at those last words Cassandra had said. Rosaliz eyes flicked up to the crowd as they entered the pitch and she smiled slightly at all of the Gryffindor flags and banners she saw in their stands. Almost without her trying her eyes flicked to the Gryffindor stand slowly and she searched the rows of faces for the one she was looking for. She sighed slightly and shook her head, she was too far away to make out individuals and would just have to hope that she was there.....She moved slowly towards the side of the pitch, to find her seat. She was relieved that she was able to to sit down. Once on the bench she took a few easy breaths, trying to trick herself into imagining that this nervous anxieties she was experiencing was somebody else's. Not her own. The Empath trick of building up that wall against emotional discreptencies actually worked quite well and Rosaliz found herself relaxing by the minute. The clock went away, her heartbeat relaxed, her throat was more open and receptive. Sitting there she watched her fellow teammates take their position on the field. Madam Hooch, blew her whistle and the game was on. Oh dear she thought. Rosaliz knew that playing against the Slytherins was going to be a brutal game.