Open Swinging For The Fences

[Audrey Beauchamp]

Audrey sometimes had to get creative with revision. Looking over notes endlessly was incredibly boring, and it wasn't going to make anything sink in further. It wasn't like these exams were especially hard, either, but Audrey wanted to ensure she kept getting excellent grades. Sure, her parents would barely notice, but they would notice if her grades dipped. But it was more that it made her feel good to know her intelligence and dedication to learning was actually being recognised. She desperately didn't want to feel like nobody cared, or they were too busy babying others to notice how good she was. (Audrey thought of Amodeus the Canary Boy hiding behind Teddy and having him get all defensive with a scowl).

But she needed to practice her charms to not just be able to perform them, but perform them well. Trying to fly, hit things and summon them back at the same time was perhaps a bit too much to ask, especially if she missed her hits, but she could do two of those three things at once. She had a ball that was probably used for some sort of muggle sport, her bat, and her wand. Toss the ball up, hit it hard when it came back down, and then summon it back. If she could manage some one-handed hits, then she'd hit the ball right back as she summoned it, though she was trying to focus on controlling the speed and trajectory to make sure she had a decent hit on the ball as well. It was a lot to try and balance, and sometimes it meant the summon spell didn't work perfectly if she was trying to line up her hit, but it was a challenge she was enjoying. She could possibly even hold the bat in both hands, if she did the spell well enough - fling the ball towards her with the initial spell and have enough time to get into a batting stance, like some sort of muggle sport she'd seen pictures of, without having to hold the spell the whole way. Audrey was totally in the zone, barely paying attention to anyone around her as she focused on her practice.

 

[Vanity Mettlestone]

Vanity was bored. She knew she should be studying for her exams, or at least practicing spells or something, but she really didn't want to. It was about the only thing more boring than what she was currently doing, which was nothing. The most annoying part was that everyone else was studying, so Vanity didn't have anyone to hang out with. She even tried to bother her brother, but he chased her off by promising to practice spells on her. The audacity. She would definitely have to get him back for that later. Deciding she needed to get out of the castle, Vanity had gone out to wander the grounds. She hoped it wasn't muddy outside, as she hated mud. So far, it seemed to be okay.

As Vanity wandered around, she noticed someone doing something weird. She stopped to watch for a while, recognizing the girl as Audrey, whom she still mentally referred to as 'that weird girl from the train' even though she was perfectly aware of her name. She was doing something with her beater's bat, her wand, and a ball, and after watching it for a while, Vanity approached. "Is this some weird game?" She asked, wrinkling her nose.

 

[Audrey Beauchamp]

Audrey was almost surprised she hadn't hit someone, not that she'd even prepared any sort of response of an apology if she had. She turned, whiffing the next hit and having the ball hit her in the chest, and huffed in mild annoyance. It was Vanity, one of the girls she'd met on the train and had subsequently had no strong desire to hang out with again. They weren't dormmates, and as far as Audrey was concerned that was probably a good thing, because she actually liked her dormmates and wasn't sure she'd have the same positive feeling towards Vanity based on their interactions. She rolled her shoulders, tilting her head with a dull expression. "Studying is boring, and quidditch practice is boring, but if I shove the two together it's kind of interesting." She tossed the ball up in the air, swung her bat back and whacked the ball as far as she could with a fairly half hearted swing. "What, do you want a go?"

 

[Vanity Mettlestone]

Vanity ran her fingers through her hair as she watched Audrey. The ball hitting her chest looked painful, and she still didn't quite understand what the girl was even doing. It was a slight surprise to hear she was apparently studying and practicing Quidditch in some weird way. "Interesting is one word for it." Vanity said, letting her eyes move from the ball to her bat and back. "It's kind of weird." She then added bluntly. "I don't even know what you're doing." She answered when Audrey asked if she wanted a go. "If Quidditch practice is boring, then why are you on the team?" She added. She was a little disappointed, as she had considered joining the Quidditch team herself next year. Those kids seemed to be way more popular, and she knew it'd piss off her brother.

 

[Audrey Beauchamp]

Audrey gave a slightly irritated look, as though what she was doing was the most obvious thing in the world and she didn't understand what wasn't to get about it. "It's simple. I'm summoning the ball, and then when it's close enough, I hit it." Audrey shrugged. "I could just send it back with a banishing charm, but I'll work something else out for practicing that." There was a hint of smugness in her voice, like a certainty that she'd come up with a brilliant plan to make spell practice more interesting, because why wouldn't she? Maybe she could get some water balloons and use the spell to propel them to a wall. That was an idea. "Quidditch practice is fun with the team when you're actually flying and playing the game and stuff. Skill drills suck. But dad's all like 'you have to do them and if you don't I'll know,' so," she probably didn't need to mention that part, but she didn't really care too much. It was what it was, as far as she was concerned. Her parents were very intense about Quidditch.

 

[Vanity Mettlestone]

Vanity caught the look Audrey was giving her and put her nose in the air a little more. It wasn't her fault she didn't get Vanity's stupid thing. She crossed her arms, giving her a look like she would rather run around in the mud than do this stupid exercise. "That's stupid." She said, trying quickly to think of a reason why it was stupid. "I mean, surely you have this spell down by now." She said though it wasn't the best reason for it being stupid. She frowned. "And it looks silly." She added, though it also felt rather weak. She nodded when Audrey talked about Quidditch practice. "I see. I'll be on the team next year." She said as if it was already agreed upon.