(1938-12-09) Girls and Quidditch
Details for Girls and Quidditch
Summary: Genevieve drags Marcus out to the Pitch, while prodding him about a certain girl. There they meet Myrus and Alphard.
Date: 1938-12-09
Location: Slytherin Common Room - Hogwarts Castle, Quidditch Pitch - Hogwarts Castle
Related:
Characters
GenevieveMarcus_GoyleMyrusAlphard

The evening couldn't come fast enough, and the Hogsmeade Weekend felt so short. And now, that the end of the day is here, Marcus finds himself lounging. He is currently resting on one of the couches, legs lazily hanging over the edge of the couch. He is staring at the ceiling, he seems to do that a lot when he's alone, and his hands are held behind his head, providing him with a suitable pillow. A faint smirk touches his lips, and he looks a little more thoughtful than usual.

The click of bootheels down to the slight stairway of the girl's domitory belong to none other than Genevieve Solomon and while to be fair, the girl doesn't typically preen nor strut, but this evening seems to be full of both. It might have something to do with the pair of trousers she's got on beneath her flying robes. They're new, clearly and look to be tailor made; the softest of dragonhide with padding in all the places proper for Quidditch. The pair of gloves she's got in her hand match, too. Someone had spent an a few galle
"Goyle," the greeting rolls with the slight curl of her lips just at the corners betraying a grin that she doesn't attempt to hide. "You look like you're just lying there waiting on an excuse to be useful. I could give you one, if you like."

"I'd say eh, I pass. But, I suspect I have no real choice in the matter, do I?" Marcus replies, smirking as he glances over at Genevieve. "Solomon," he greets. He straightens up, dropping his legs down and stretching. "I mean, I guess we always have a choice, but I admit, I'll mildly curious as to how you would put me to use." The smirk becomes more of a grin and he arches his brow. It's then that he notices her wardrobe and that visibly piques his curiosity even more.
He squints dubiously, yet still asks. "So, what's on your mind?"

"Crabbe hasn't used you enough to tire you out yet?" The minx teases with a crooked grin, before the sight of a particularly large eye at the window catches her attention, much in the same way the suckers on the tentacles of the giant squid itself do. She watches it for a moment, but only just and then uses the reflection of the glass to pull her hair back into a ponytail at the base of her neck; bound with a single black ribbon.
"Or are you just wishing I'd kissed you when I threatened to?" Again, it's no more than an airy tease, before the girl leans in against the side of his chair, so that she can look down at him while she waits on the firstie to finish polishing her broom.
"Honestly, I'm of a mind to haul you out to the pitch and see about getting a little practice in. I'd use someone else for it and spare you the effort, but at the moment, most of them seem to be busy."

"I think Crabbe made it plenty clear that she has no desire to use me," Marcus shrugs at this, seemingly not bothered by it. "Which is fine by me." There are hints of annoyance in his voice, but they're quickly dismissed. He actually keeps his mouth shut as Genevieve works on her ponytail.
Her next round of teasing garners a chuckle out of him. "Perhaps," he dares tease back. "But you didn't. Such a wasted opportunity," he shakes his head. A little thoughtfulness shows on his features and he shrugs. "You just want to see me fumbling around," he decides. "But sure. I'll be your little Quidditch toad, I've got nothing else to do now anyway."

"I think her baffled look from your kiss went leagues to suggest otherwise. Honestly it was a cute little show to watch," Jenny offers with a wink in Marcus' direction. "Refreshing, even." What did that mean? Though the glimmers of annoyance in his voice weren't lost on Jenny; it's the little details that give one ammunition to use later, after all.
"Wasted? I hardly waste anything. Such as this opportunity now, to show off the obviously delightful near gear of which I am going to pretend you complimented me on, of course. Not doing so, that was a wasted opportunity," she quips.
"What shant be wasted, is your bumbling. You do like Quidditch, don't you?" Squint.

"Baffled look?" Someone apparently wasn't paying attention at the end there. Marcus looks just a bit surprised, pleasantly so. He quickly hides it with a smirk and a shrug. The good old, looking like you don't care move. "What -have- you encoutered lately, though, that you found us refreshing?" He can't help but ask. He takes a moment to study Jenny as she mentions the gear and he nods, conceding the point to her. "Let's go ahead and pretend I did that," he agrees, nodding seriously at this.
Her question has him grinning widely. "Who doesn't? I just tend to prefer to be the one watching, rather than the one watched. But, this is practice, so…" Words trail off and he stands up. "Shall we?"

"You'll come across it in due time, I'm sure," as to just what she's encountered, "And when you do, try and keep that…zest that you have, rather than lose it to the fine art of staring down your nose at people and becoming terribly boring. One can look down one's nose and still have fun you know." As if this were some lesson that he needed to take to heart. It was!
The lesson was interrupted however, with the clickity-clack of the firstie bounding down the stairs towards Jenny's side, the Cleansweep Three held in reverent hands. 'Finished!' the little girl chimes, passing it over and earning an affection, rather than condescending it should be noted, hair ruffle from Jenny before she examines the shaft before tucking the broom up and over her shoulder.
"Well, perhaps the practice will help you get more used to being watched. You should try out for the team, if you like it so much and we'll just pretend the practice is for both of us," she grins and then offers the boy her arm.
"Let us away!"

"Describing it as zest, makes me a little hungry for some reason," Marcus muses, patting his stomach. Still, he shares a grin with Jenny and can't help but tease her. "Careful there, you almost sound like you're being a good older student and giving me all sorts of useful advice and stuff." Just a tad more serious he adds, "I'll remember that."
Marcus watches the exchange with the little girl in silence, in particular the hair ruffle. He looks a little amused, but says nothing on it. The suggestion of him trying out for the team causes him to laugh. "I'm more than happy to practice with you, Solomon, but now you're pushing it. I've no desire to give the others reason to mock me." He smirks and nods, ready to move out. He'll get changed into more suitable robes and clothes on the way there or something.

"Here." Is it surprising that when her hand appears back out from the pocket of her robes there's an apple, a chocolate frog and a couple of tongue tangling taffies on display? "Pick one." For all that she stays more than just a little fit, Jenny's almost always snacking on something. But when he suggests she sounds like a good older student..
"There. You've nailed it. It's precisely the problem. Don't tell anyone, they'd never believe you if you did and instead regale you with tales of my…well," a pause; another little grin. "When you're older." Smirk.
Yet the girl talks as she walks, too, those long strides easily eating up the distance between herself and the long serpentine maze that leads down to their common room; though at the entrance to it, she pauses. "One. Bettering yourself at something is a noble cause, unworthy of mocking and Two. You should put on something else to practice in. How bout I meet you up at the pitch?"

Marcus can't help but blink a few times as the girl produces the selection of snacks. "Uhm," he doesn't hesitate, though and chooses the chocolate frog. He smirks at her words. "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me," he says as they walk. As for the rest. "Meh, sure. And, I guess I don't actually care if they want to laugh at me. Their loss for not trying." He grins, shrugs and waves. "I'll meet you at the pitch."

Jenny's out there before Marcus arrives; though because she's not entirely sure where his talents lay, she's not released the bludgers or the snitch; the latter unnecessary for anything she has in mind anyway. The girl herself, has apparently decided on the apple too, since he's put her in the mind for food. So she's crunching away on it, while her arm is draped in casually against her broom in a pose that seems more natural rather than practiced.

It doesn't take long for Marcus to arrive. Apparently, he's already fed himself, because there is no sign of that chocolate frog anywhere. Or the thing might have gone hopping somewhere, who knows. Still, the Goyle boy is here, with his broom and whether he knows how to play or not, he at least looks the part and at least walks with the confidence of someone that looks like he won't embarrass himself.
Whether he does or not, is another matter altogether. "Here I am. So… where do you want to start?" He asks.

"I suppose that depends on what you're good at. Honestly, I could use you flying keeper, if you felt you were up to it? And hey, it'd give you a fair bit of practice too, right? I still can't believe you don't want to play for the team." But then, people often surprised Jenny in that respect. "Think you can manage that, while telling me what's up with you and Crabbe? Or…is talking about the one going to meddle with your ability to do the other?"

Myrus has arrived.

"Keeper? Sure, I can give it a shot. Have to start somewhere," Marcus says to Jenny, the two of them exchanging words as they get ready to practice and nodding mostly to himself, really. Her words cause him to smirk and he shrugs. "I'll tell you what. If I'm any good. Any good at all, I'll try for the team. But if I end up, face first, on the ground?" He shakes his head. "Because believe it or not, I enjoy doing things I'm good at, and I'm willing to give the rest a shot or two for the sake of saying I did."
He squints a little at her question. "There's nothing up with Crabbe and I," he's so lying. He shrugs. "I wanted to kiss her, so I did. She didn't want me to, so, too bad for her." Frowning, in that 'lets get down to business' kind of way. "I can fly and talk just fine," he insists.

The Broom club just let out from wherever they were practicing today on the other side of the stands. Because a few of the members were walking through the pitch on either end, watching who was there. Great, a crowd of first and second years to watch! Some murmer: Oh, look at that, Fifth year Myrus Lowe is walking out onto the pitch, too! This should be good! Yeah, he's pretty good with a broom!
Granted, if you don't speak a foreign language, and someone else speaks on a childs level, you'd think they were absolutely fluent, wouldn't you? Yeah, first and second years think anyone with any kind of broom ability is a master of it, don't they?
Myrus walks up to Genevieve and Marcus. "Hey, how's it going? You two looking at broomin around a little?" He throws a thumb over his shoulder at the storage bins where training gear is usually kept for those that want to train who don't have any or don't want to bring their own. "Mind if I suit up and join? I've a little experience as a keeper." Not having heard the conversation up till now, he didn't know if someone was already slated for such in this little mock-up training.

"We were thinking about it," Jen ventures in Myrus' direction, when he inquires as to what's what, but the slowly collecting crowd was making the generally playful and considerate lines of her face smooth away into something that was a little less inviting. Their presence had her looking back at Goyle, incase he was thinking about changing his mind.
"Goyle here was going to take the part for a bit of fun, honestly. And it is just for fun and a smidge of practice that we were going to play since the field was free. But if we're going to be over-run by children…," the blond trailed off, leaning in against the stop of her broom as she hurled her apple core off to the side.

"Hey, Lowe," Marcus returns the greeting, somewhat wary, but grinning at the other man. He looks at Jenny, in a 'this is going to be a horrible idea/the things I do for you' kind of way. Nope, good old Goyle is not changing his mind. He's going to run… or fly, into this one, headfirst.
"Was? There's no was. Am." And there it is, as he insists. "Let them watch," he shrugs at Jenny, changing his tune from before. "I probably won't be doing as much talking," he admits, though. "But don't worry, I'll still be yapping quite a bit," he exchanges a look with Jenny. "So, where do you want me?" He arches a brow at the fellow Slytherin and smirks in Myrus direction. "Go ahead and join us."

Myrus nods, and looks at the first and second years that were there. The leaders of todays meeting had already left, "They're just going to watch, if that's a concern." He then looks at Marcus, "Goyle." A greeting of last name between them. "Ok, so let's get started."
He walks over to the trunks under the skirt of one of the stands, grabbing out the proper gear for a keeper. It looked a little humorous, the way it fit him, but whatever. He returns shortly. Apparently he knows how to put it on properly. It's a wonder he never joined his house's team. "Shall we?" He looks at Genevieve, giving her a once over. "Nice pants. They look expensive." Idly commented before he'd mount his broom, and wait for them to get the ball rolling… er.. flying, that is.

"They were a gift," Jenny replies, looking just a little bit smug and flashing Marcus a look that seems to say, 'see, that's how its done'. "Though, I can understand the lack of chatty. But…hrm. There's three of us. I suppose we could shift it out and take turns on who does what? You two sort your positions, yeah," the girl suggests, dropping her broom down into position and easing astride.
"And when you sort them," she let the quaffle rest on the top of her thigh as she kicked off the ground and began to climb, "Take them and we'll go. But if you let a bludger out, Lowe, better grab a beater's stick to deal with it."

Marcus makes a bit of a face at something Jenny says and shrugs. "I'm sure you'll get a chance to drill me about it again later," he tells her. And as far as he's concerned? Positions have been sorted already, at least for this first round.
"I call Keeper first," he decides, reaching for his broom. "And sure, taking turns sounds great!" He flashes a grin at Myrus, and off he goes with his broom to take his position.

Myrus shrugs, at least the padding for the keeper would protect him from any hits he'd take. He eyes the ball box that holds the two wiggling bludgers and the snitch. Nope. Not going to do it. He kicks off and flies up, "Chaser it is!" He rises into the air, looking between them, sitting up on his broom with a hand on his hip. "NOw, the question. Two versus the keeper to give him a workout, or.." he looks at Genevieve, then Marcus. Well, she's got the pants. So she /has/ to be good at it, right? Yeah, it's all in the pants in Quidditch. Great logic.
Myrus flies over to between Marcus and Jen, turning to face Genevieve. "Ok, give us your best… but don't kill us, Solomon!" He looks over his shoulder at Marcus, "You good with this, Goyle?" Whether or not, he looks at Genevieve, both hands on the shaft of his broom, ready to try and intercept her or something..

"I feel like..I'm being ganged up against and more, outnumbered. Something's wrong with this picture. If you're taking chaser, Lowe, then that makes me the beater." She should not look so very pleased with this notion. "And if I'm the beater..," the quaffle was tossed towards Myrus, as the girl's broom seemed to abruptly plummet towards the ground near where they'd left the box.
She picked up the beaters stick first, a nasty and gnarled piece of work that looked like it'd taken as many blunt hits as she did, but had less help when it came to being spelled back straight. "Play until one scores a point and then switch? Unless someone ends up on the ground and then, no blaming anyone else for any possible injury!"
That said, Jenny flipped open the clasp on a single bludger; letting it shoot straight up into the air!

"Yeah, I have to agree with Lowe here. I'd prefer not die," Marcus nods, all serious and then grinning at Myrus and giving him a nod to indicate he's good with the other's plan. Eyes then fall on Jenny, following, or trying to follow, her every move.
Seeing Jenny pick up the beater, Marcus takes a deep breath. "Just try not to hit the face," he calls out. "Not the face," he mutters quietly as he follows the action.

Myrus goes to catch the quaffle, and hrrrms, he turns quickly, and to at least make it fair, he flies in a big arcing circle around where the bludger shot up, hoping it doesn't come for him, and then would come back around towards Marcus, going for a simple throw (He's terrible at it anyhow, we'll see how this goes!) and he aims for the lowest of the three rings with an underhand throw!

"What?" Jenny's laughter floats up, even as the girl herself does; drifting on the breeze with a natural control and a heavy familiarity with a broom. She ought too. She'll probably fall on her face in a few minutes too, truth be told. Things happen. Mostly though, she's just concerned with ah, well, "It's not personal Lowe!" Trying to ensure that he doesn't manage to score!

Myrus might have to just made a friend today, if only by the fact that his throw was simple enough for Marcus to catch and stop. Thank you Myrus, for making him look good, and of course there's Jenny with… wait, weren't they playing against her? Who knows!
This being a practice shot, he holds onto the quaffle. "So, who gets to try a shot next?"

Myrus had just started his throw and what made it easier, was the fact a bludger smacks him across the outer shoulder making him really throw it not as hard as he would have liked to. (Yeah, we'll go with that.) He spins out and downward to evade it coming back at him, and does the simple maneuver of keeping moving so the bludger doesn't target him again. Hopefully.
Marcus' question, "I think it's my turn until I score, but we may be here a while doing this if that's true!"

"Then, we just take turns? Goyle can have a go now! What are we doing, exactly? Since everyone was playing a different position I assumed that we'd let as things go as they ought, beater working with the keeper so it alternates. But…if you just want to play against me, I can put the bludger up and simply…go from there?" Of course, by that point it hard targeted her, she lead it on a merry chase towards the ground, while waiting on someone to answer.

"But I like being the keeper," Marcus protests. "You're right," he adds to Jenny. "Sorry Lowe, guess you can keep trying to score," he tosses the quaffle back at the other boy. "I'm not looking forward to getting that bludger on me!" He grins as he floats around, to see if the others go with his idea to continue as they were. For now, he prepares for another shot.

There's a bit of impromtu quidditch play going on, with Goyle playing keeper and Lowe playing chaser and Jenny weilding a beater's stick, and sporting a rather..expensively fashionable pair of dragonhide trousers and matching gloves. Which is..strange, but seems to fit the latest rumors floating about.

Myrus catches the quaffle from the toss from Marcus, and looks down at Jenny. Time to take credit when none is due! "Oh, ok, well guess I have a clear shot now." A smile, yeah he didn't plan that, but an advantage is an advantage!
He flies in an arc to try and throw the quaffle up and over Marcus towards the top ring. He doesn't know many tactics for scoring really, so just do whatever really comes to mind other than going straight for it. Which is actually what he's probably doing in the eyes of more experienced players. Noone to pass to though, for assists or anything like that.

It was a simple game amongst friends or the closest thing. Jenny was frinds with both of them, so for her it was a simple game amongst friends. And let's face it, a smidge of a chance to show off. Wasn't often she bothered to do so, at least on purpose.
At the last second, the girl pulled up; twisting about to line up a shot with the bludger and to see what was going on. If it followed true to form, "Goyle, now you catch the thing and circle in for your own shot, Lowe'll take your place as keeper. Try not to let the quaffle hit the ground!" Or…fall off. The most helpful advice she could offer, before she swung the bat with a resounding CRACK.

"Hey!" Alphard called out as he appeared on the pitch. "What's this, Jenny, are you playing Quidditch without me? I'm hurt. Deeply. A wound that will never heal. Stabbed in the heart, and look at how I writhe in agony!" Not that he was doing any of the kind as he strode onto the pitch with his usual cocky confidence.

And thus the shortest friendship in history comes to an end, as Myrus stops making Marcus look good, by actually managing to score. The Slytherin not-so-keeper flies up to try and stop the quaffle, but he's just too late. "Hey!" He protests, smirking. There's a half sigh somewhere in there, as he eyes Jenny. "My turn to be chaser I take it," and he goes for the quaffle, flying to take position as Jenny confirms his suspicions.
He has the quaffle. He can do this. He can…. He just stares. "What are you doing, Lowe!" He calls out as Myrus goes straight into intercepting that bludger. He looks at Jenny, confused, then at Myrus, who hey, in record time, just became his good friend again due to stopping that thing. "Well, better him than me." At Alphard's arrival, Marcus waves over at the other young man.

"HahahHAHAHAhahahaHAhaahh!" Alphard's cruel but merry laughter boomed across the pitch as he watched Myrus take one for the team. With a smirk he leaped onto his own broom, taking to the air with cocky arrogance. "I'll join while he recovers. Or goes crying home to mommy. Hey Goyle." He smirked at Myrus once, but then was too preoccupied with joining the game to be more of a dick. "Hey Jenny, throw me the club?" Because obviously he was going to be playing the beater role. There could be no other way. Especially since he really sucked at being a Chaster. He could do a fairly decent keeper, though. Seeker he just didn't have the knack for.
"So what are the rules?"

Fingers clad in new dragonhide gloves to match those trousers lift to offer a little wave in Alphard's direction, his greeting having distracted her from the game at least… It was something in Goyle's tone that had her head whipping back around to look at,
"Bloody hell, Lowe! You're supposed to guard the goal from the quaffle, not the damn bludger!" But the boy was already sailing towards the ground, cradling his shoulder. That..was going to leave a bruise. It was certainly going to make hanging on to the broom to navigate a little tedious. "Are you okay?!"
With the wave, somewhere between his reassurances, Jenny gave a nod, before angling back towards Black. "I looked in the common room for you." She was absolutely not ignoring the bludger, incase it pelted down in her direction, "But when I couldn't find you, I put Goyle to work. He's not terrible." None of the first years from the broom club had laughed at him yet, but a few of the girls were giggling and pressing close to talk in heated whispers while pointing in Alphard's direction.
At Black's request, the club came sailing down. "Like my new gear?" Let her preen, dammit. He was always telling her she needed to be more stylish. Meliflua had certainly ensured that she was.
"We were just taking turns, before but none of them could handle a club. Since you're here, between the pair of you, I might get some actual practice in." Smirk.

"Hey, Black," Marcus returns Alphard's greeting, before he looks over at Jenny. "Do you want to be the chaser then so you can get some actual practice? Because I'm quite alright being the Keeper," which was the position Marcus called when this whole thing started, and probably the one that, as Jenny mentioned, he's at least not horrible at. Alphard calling beater, doesn't seem to surprise him and his lips form a smirk in response. And rather than wait for a response, he passes the quaffle back to Jenny, as he flies to over to take the position of keeper again.
"I think I like being keeper, so I might as well practice for the position you're going to end up making me try for."

Alphard snatched the beater's club out of the air, then gave it a couple of twirls while he looked around for the bludger. Just in time, too, because there it was coming straight at him. He waited until the last moment before he gave it a proper CRACK in the other direction. To give everybody a moment or two to breathe in before they started playing again.
His eyes walked over Genevieve's outfit with wry amusement. "Looking pretty fancy there, Jenny. Meliflua went all out and spoiled you, did he?" Because there'd been a rumor he'd heard somewhere about the Slytherin buying women's wear. He scratched at his cheek. "Keep it up and we might actually think you care about presentation!"
"Works for me, Goyle."

"Yes," Jenny answered Goyle first, flashing him a grin. "I'd like that. Rather a lot, actually. I missed the last game." Splicing did that. But now that she was hale and healthy and whole, there was much to make up for. "Since you know, no one's actually bothered to call a real practice for us and it would be nice not to feel rusty. I understand that for most of them it's a school hobby to talk about later in life, but I have intentions of going pro and that won't happen, if we suck." Hmph.
Dainty nose up in the air; the girl's head whipped about to mark the direction that Alphard sent the bludger towards and more, just how far it was going. So she had a little time to preen. "He has. Thoroughly. We're going to France for the holidays, but don't worry, we'll still be at your party." And, so said, Jenny made a straight run on the goal that Marcus was circling; calling out even as she sent the quaffle sailing through the air.
"Hah. See, now you want to join. It's all about building confidence and having fun and doing something you're good at. I knew you had it in you." Particularly..with moves like that.

"Then, don't suck," Marcus offers as simple solution to Jenny's predicament, his voice with tinges of a teasing tone in it. Eyes follow the direction of the bludger, but only just so, for the rest of his attention is on the shot that Jenny is trying to sneak in. Surprisingly swiftly, Marcus flies over in an intercept course, preventing the score. "If I don't try to join, you'll just find a way to make me, or trick me into it. Or you'll tell Crabbe and she won't stop mocking me for not joining," he mutters that bit and shrugs. "Or maybe you'll get Black here to use me as his personal beater practice dummy," he smirks at that one, as he tosses the quaffle back out to her.

"Hahah. Come on, Jenny. You're gonna have to break him after that comment!" Alphard abruptly flung himself sideways, pealing off after the bludger while Genevieve and Marcus fought over the goal. That way it was all but certain that the spinning ball of iron would be targeting him rather than one of the others. That gave him a bit more control over the situation. He smiled. It was an enthusiastic one, boyish, absolutely carefree. For the moment his immensely high opinion of himself allowed to receed into the background so he could just have fun, rather than be a smug dick.
"Gresham isn't a bad keeper. Goyle'd have to polish his broomwork quite a bit." And then the bludger was coming, and Alphard positioned himself to CRACK it straight at Jenny.

"No one else complains when I do…," Jenny taunted Marcus, but it was absolutely no empty. Instead, as he bounced the quaffle away from the goal, the girl…her head snapped back towards the sound of Alphard's club striking true, in time to catch sight of the damn thing barrelling at her head. She fit in low to the broom, sleek and let it drop into a dive that would allow her to snag the quaffle back in the same turn; coming out of the spiral and around on the backside of the goal.
"You're doing great, Goyle! And there's nothing wrong with needing to polish broomwork a little. Heaven's know I'm always working on mine. I think your pride at excelling at something would prompt you to try out more than anything else but, I am not, it should be said, below telling Peyton. And who knows, she might just be impressed if you were to make it. Could you imagine, her coming out to watch all of your games, worrying over you when you were hurt, nursing you back to health..," was she trying to distract him? Yes, but there was some seriousness in it too. Both for what she said and her attempt to score.

Marcus watches the action from his position guarding the goals and winces a little. "What team are you playing for, Black?" He calls out, protesting, as the other suggests that Jenny breaks him. Still, he tries to keep his eyes on the ball, so to speak, ignoring the commentary on polishing broomwork. For something else catches his attention, and perhaps even distracts him a little. The mention of Peyton and the rest, catches him, if for a split second. Realizing what's going on, he dives and then pulls up with his broom trying to reach the goal in time. He does, barely, but it's still not enough. He reaches to block the scoring throw, but his fingers just barely miss the quaffle and it goes through. Annoyed, he frowns.
"She would never do something like that," he finally addresses the words, shrugging. "But, nice try… and nice shot. But sure, I'll try for the team. Worst that can happen is I don't cut it."

"Goyle fancies my cousin Peyton?" Alphard asked as he zoomed in on Genevieve and Marcus, this time to intercept the bludger as it came back from its failed mission to crush Genevieve's skull. He batted it away from Marcus. In a game he spent as much time trying to protect his own players as he did actually hurting and distrupting the opposition. Even if making kids bleed was the more satisfying part.
"I don't know. Meanie doesn't care one whit for Quidditch. It's one of the flaws of her personality I've been kind enough to overlook. But she does come to watch my games and practices. There's something immensely satisfying about having a cheer squad. Just saying!" Again he whizzed around, while the bludger once more targeted Marcus. For this interception he wasnt just going to protect Marcus, though, but send the bludger once more straight at Jenny.

"Hah. It's growing on you. See," Jenny flashes Marcus a beaming smile, "It's growing on you. I'm growing on you. Admit it. I'm…," WHAM. Girl and broom both went sideways beneath the force of the bludger's impact. Enough so that the muttered curse was lost somewhere in the way the girl ended up doing two full rolls before she managed to stop the broom and herself before bolting straight up, so that she wasn't right there to have the blasted thing settle on her again.
"For fucks sake, Alphard, don't beat the messenger! That's going to leave a mark that'll show beneath those stupid skirts!" But at least a portion of the impact had been soaked up by Sy's considerate gift, or it could have been far worse.

"She is my cousin too," Marcus protests, only to realize he's protesting the wrong thing. "And I never said I fancy her," he continues, mumbling and watching as Alphard saves his head from getting crushed by the bludger.
"But you're right, she doesn't care about Quidditch," he shrugs. "She was worried about you, though, asked me to check on you," he smirks. "As if you needed me to do that. So consider this me, checking on you," he calls out to Alphard. He frowns darkly at the darned bludger as it targets him again.
Jenny's voice causes him to frown, that is until he's grinning widely which happens to coincide with that bludger hitting her straight up. "You're right!" He calls out to her, "It's growing on me!" And he laughs as he does a fly around the goals.

"So you're saying you don't fancy her? Aw. But she's a sweet little princess. What did she ever do to deserve you not fancying her?" Alphard smirked as he circled around on his broom, keeping one eye on that spinning ball of iron determined to knock foolish young wizards off their brooms. At least he hadn't gloated over tagging Genevieve. Just radiated a general glow of cruel satisfaction.
"Look after me? Bah. I hardly need a protection detail. It's the school which needs a protection detail against me!" Hah! He dove down to intercept the blduger from cracking Jenny again. Best to let her have a little time to recouperate.

That was one thing that Genevieve was good for. There were no tears with the pain, even when something snapped and Alphard had snapped things before. Not once had she held it against him, but so help her, someone from another team? Then it was on. "She didn't want him to kiss her," Jenny answered for Marcus, as to just what Crabbe might have done and then, blew a kiss to Alphard for his protection, a gesture of thanks, before she dove down to catch the quaffle; favoring her broom with her left hand at the moment, more than clinging with her thighs. It'd been a smashing hit! Even if they had left her at a disandvantage.
It didn't stop her from trying to slip by the circling Marcus again.

"I'm saying that whether I fancy her or not, that's not the reason I'm want to do this," Marcus replies to Alphard, but looks over at Jenny then. "I'm doing this, because I want to do this." He flies around the goal posts again and watches Jenny blow that kiss to Alphard, and he just realizes what the girl shared. This causes him to hesitate, and be a little late as he flies up to try and block, and fails miserably. "And I think that will be it for me," he mumbles, shaking his head. "Well, I told you when we started, that if I didn't make a complete fool of myself, I'd try out for the team. So let me know when," he aims that at Jenny, as he flies up then to study Alphard, grinning at the other man. "I tried to tell her, but, that's what she does. Deep inside, she worries a tad too much about everyone else. If you need anything, though, you know where to find me." And with that, he offers a lazy salute to the duo. "Laters," he says, as he flies down, to dismount his broom.

"I guess he'll have to work on his charm." Alphard chuckled as he watched Jenny drive towards the goal, scoring yet again. "I'm not sure if that was a good goal, or just a terrible save. A bit of both?"
When the bludger came homing in this time, Alphard didn't smash it towards either of the two other Slytherins. Instead he aimed it straight for the ground, then dove after it. A moment later he was struggling to keep the thing contained in his hands, while his broom and bat lay nearby. He grunted, the sinews and veins of his neck standing out for the effort as he made his way over to the quidditch box to secure the ball in place.
"Later, Goyle!"

"Maybe you could teach him?" Jenny suggested, flashing a grin Black's direction, because his charm had clearly worked in securing the apple of his own eye by his side. But her attention slipped back towards Marcus with ease. "I'm proud you came, of course, coming once means I'm just going to wrangle you again. And I'll work on Crabbe for you. Oh but that reminds me, if you see her before I do, will you please let her know that I need her help with something and that it is of the utmost importance?" Jenny implored, casting an all too hopeful set of puppydog eyes complete with pout in Goyle's direction.
"Take care!"
All that was left then, was watching Black wrangle the bludger back into the box, while she went to collect the quaffle and join him on the green.
"He's not all bad you know, all things considered. He needs a bit of work, sure but, there's time enough for it." And honestly, if Jenny could bring someone to enjoy Quidditch even half of as much as she did, she considered it a job well done.

With an OMPH of effort, he heaved the ball into the box and then secured it properly. "I don't know. He doesn't look like he's completely comfortable up there. But I guess he's not completely rubbish either.. And let's face it, when we have the likes of Walthorn on our team.. getting a reserve spot at least isn't going to take a ton of effort." It was a sad state of affairs, really. On the other hand.. "At least we're not dependant on 7th years carrying us." Because the whole Slytherin team was sixth year and younger, while; "almost all the other teams' star players are in their last year."

"He'll get comfortable. I'll work with him. And I know, I know. We've got to really get things together. Man, I wish we were playing Ravenclaw right now though, it would serve, wouldn't it? But instead no, all of your hard work, for nothing. Just…gone. Well…," and there her grin turned cheeky and sly, "Except for every time I look at the points counter. Then, then, I'm reminded."
Of course, while Jenny usually took the role as 'one of the guys', her next question ventures beyond that territory and into another entirely. "So…whatcha getting Andromena for Christmas?"

"Look at the bright side, next year they'll lose their best players while our best players will just have gotten better. We still beat Gryffindor without you and with Llewellyn downed." Which still made him eyeroll. Perhaps it had been a perfect strike by Niko Denholm.. PERHAPS, but since Alphard hated that half-blood little shit, he was more inclined to believe that the Slytherin CAptain just hadn't been paying attention. No matter, they had won, and Alphard had gotten to play the heroic savior of his team! "I know. I hope both of them are permanently off the team. I mean, losing their Captain for the rest of the year? That would be great." And who cared if it was not sportsmanlike? They were Slytherin. It was about winning, dammit!
"Hrm?" He put his broom over his shoulder, using the other hand to help carry the quidditch box. "Oh, she likes old stuff.. so I'm getting her an antique necklace. And since she also likes books? I'm putting the necklace inside of an old book." Which he felt was a pretty suave move!

"I know!" The thought made Jenny all but bounce with excitement, too. "But don't discount yourself. You lead us to a smashing victory the last time, even if I wasn't there to fly in it." Wink. "But it would be wonderful if they were. I'd like to win. Yet, at the same time, it would nice to know that it was done because we were better of course, in a general sense, we're, but yes I know it's you, the reason that they're gone so…I suppose it is just better. In general and over all, rather than just quidditch. You know, I haven't seen Edwards around since then either."
Though, upon hearing his plans for Christmas Jenny smile. A femine smile. Very girl. "That's so sweet, Alphard. And incredibly thoughtful and full of insight. I haven't the faintest idea what to get Sy and this," she gestured with a nod of her head towards her attire, since her hands were full; one with the broom, the other helping with her half the box, "Wasn't even for Christmas. I've promised him Christmas, for Christmas, since he's never had a proper one but, the more I think about it, the more I worry it just sounds well, stupid."

"We'll be beating the best team they can field, and that's what really matters," Alphard declared. If he made moves to ensure their best field was weaker, well, he didn't see anything at all wrong with that. It wasn't as if it was fair that.. say the Hufflepuffs had Kaiden Syke on their team, was it? No. Quidditch team selection was inevitably unfair, one way or another. Alphard had always been brilliant at doing the mental gymnastics necessary to justify his own actions, and still feel like the hero of his own story.
"Why hasn't Meliflua ever had a proper Christmas? That's weird. Anyway. So.. it's like a theme present. That's sort of alright. You'll need a nice tree, and a sled, and reindeer!"
"And the food. Really, Christmas is all about the food."

"Yes." Jenny agreed, before taking a step back, so he could lead the way into the building so that they could return the box from wence it came. "And with luck, the rest of the players they do manage to field will be so lost without their guidance that they're terrible." Cheeky smile.
Of course, she looked like she wanted to faceplant too, when he mentioned a sled and reindeer. "I had the food covered, the tree. Stockings. It's what to put under it that I'm struggling with. But I hadn't even thought about a sled, thanks Alphard. That helps, actually." Gods only knew where Jenny would end up stealing a reindeer from now, but, it would work. "I should go look into that. Well and get a bath. And probably some salve," a crooked grin at that, because it was his mark she'd be doctoring again.
"Play again tomorrow evening, same time?"

"I guess it depends on your budget," he admitted as for what to put under the tree. "You could get him a gentleman's cane, to sheathe his wand in. I've seen those. Though then you'd have to borrow his wand for a while for measurements, and they might cost a bit. So perhaps not." Frowning, he scratched at his cheek. "Just a bunch of candy? A nice scarf? A hat? Something stylish." Because he'd noticed that Silas too enjoyed looking good. Alphard could respect that! "Accessories are easier to buy than a whole outfit, anyway."
"Uhm.. Sure. Yes. I'm in."

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