| Chizpurfle
Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: underwater
Posts: 10,319
 x9
|  Stuck inside with Sirius | *Splish-Splash* | bamBAM | ☁ Spooktacular ☁
2. Getting Back To It
“Dinnertime!” Alina called from the kitchen. Nia glanced down at the open window from which her mother had appeared, before looking back up to her dad. “One more go?” she asked him, her eyes almost pleading. Theo gave his daughter a knowing smile. She was certainly dedicated to her cause, and he was not going to stand in her way. Truth be told, he was quite enjoying this bonding time. It had been a while. “One. And only one,” he replied. “Whatever the outcome. We’re not going to let dinner spoil.” Nia nodded, and her eyes narrowed as she refocused. Taking the quaffle that had been resting in her lap, she tossed it lightly to Theo with her left hand, before feinting downwards and zig-zagging across to take a pass back into her right. She repeated the move back to her left side, before taking a quick but hard shot at the apple tree that was marked with a single chalked circle about the diameter of a golf ball. As the quaffle accurately hit the mark, a small cloud of chalk dust could be seen against the dark bark. For the first time all session, Nia smiled. Theo gave his daughter a nod and wink, before heading towards the ground.
Hovering in the air, Nia looked around the garden beneath her before watching her dad go into the house. She knew he would be supportive of her attempt to go Pro, and would help her in every way he could, even if he would probably prefer it if she went to the Bats. Theodore Newtington III was a bit of a legend at the Ballycastle Bats, as a former record-making Keeper for them. Nia, of course, was trying out for Chaser, even if she had been one of Ravenclaw’s best all rounders. She wasn’t half bad in front of the hoops herself, and in her younger years at Hogwarts had even been pretty terrifying with the beater’s bat. But Chaser was where her both her heart and biggest talent lied. A natural left-hander, which was always pretty handy offensively, she’d also been known at Hogwarts for her tactical awareness. Though both of those had apparently suffered in her time away from the pitch. Tonight, she’d been distinctly off form. And with only a month to go until she needed to blow away those selectors, she needed to be better. Much better.
Returning to the ground, Nia dismounted her broom, and pulled her wand from her robes. With a quick flick, the protective charms over the garden were removed. It was one of Alina’s only stipulations about the family playing Quidditch in the garden - that her homegrown salad and tomatoes wouldn’t get damaged. Luckily a few simple charms solved that problem, and Alina’s tomatoes were looking as red and juicy as ever, as were the strawberries. Pushing open the back door into the kitchen, Nia could smell dinner, and immediately knew what it was, even with the lingering smell of cookies. She grinned as she approached the table. Sat steaming on the kitchen table was a big dish of Alina’s homemade macaroni cheese, with a pile of crispy bacon stacked in the centre. Nia’s favourite since she was a kid, and one of the recipes she always missed whilst away. The House Elves were good cooks, but nothing could beat Alina’s macaroni cheese.
Stomach rumbling, Nia spooned a large portion on to her plate. Adding some bacon pieces, she then slipped into her usual seat at the table. The rest of the family had already started, and Nia dipped in too. “So, how’s it going?” Alina asked her daughter, with a quick glance towards her husband. Theo just gave a knowing look, and Nia just wrinkled her face into a not-quite frown. She shouldn’t have expected any different, really. Nia was always hard on herself and would probably be worse with the sort of pressure these tryouts would bring after a year forced out of the sport. And Alina didn’t know what else had been occupying Nia’s mind recently. “You’ll get back into it quickly enough,” she said with a supportive smile. Nia gave a small nod, before looking at her parents thoughtfully. An idea had popped into her head.
“Could I invite some friends over? To, you know, help out a bit?” she asked, her eyes hopeful. It was quite a few friends, after all. More like a whole team.
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