Spectator: Hufflepuff vs. Gryffindor Finished

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Being frog choir president did have its perks, but even so Ruthie tried to stay within the parameters of her role. So when she swiped on the frog choir pillows on her way down to the Quidditch pitch, she did so with the best of intentions. Those benches were hard and cold, but she wouldn't dare miss a Quidditch match. In a way, that pillow was allowing her to cheer on Julie, which would give her energy to catch the snitch. Swiping that pillow would allow Hufflepuff to win.

And so with the pillow in hand, she made her way down to the pitch with her winter cloak clasped firmly at her neck. Over that, she the Hufflepuff scarf Julie had lend her, just like the banner before that. If you ignored the blue lining that shown under her robes and her blue mittens, she could just about pass for a Hufflepuff.

Once she arrived, she noticed there were still spaces in the stands, which was lucky. Still, she was saddened not to see anyone she knew. It was close to exam time for the term she knew, but she imagined some of theme where crazy enough about Quidditch that they'd come out anyway. Wasn't that what she talked about 80% of the time?

Scanning the crowd, her eyes fell on a girl not far off with a pair of binoculars in hand. Walking over to the row, she made a mental note to add binoculars to her Christmas list. She was excited for this match, hopefully Julie wouldn't get hit out this time. And then there was Gris, who'd saved her life at the Ball. The double-bun-ed girl Prefect was a force to be reckoned with and a clear asset for the Gryffindor team. No matter what happened, Ru hoped her new companion would be friendly, but she wasn't, she would just scream like she always did. After all, you can't just stop being a random screaming girl.

The match started quickly and it seemed Gris missed the quaffle. "Nice try, Gris!" she yelled, wanting the giant-fighting hero to do well even though she was here for Hufflepuff. Despite this another Gryffindor had grabbed hold of the quaffle and it was an easy goal. Merlin, Ru thought as she snapped her fingers in dismay. But her eyes were sharp and focused and so were Julie's it seemed. From the confident way she was flying Ruthie suspected her friend had seen the snitch. But it wasn't long before she was hit by a bludger and then promptly saved by a chaser, thank goodness. "Come on, Hufflepuff!" she yelled from her place on the bench, curious for what had yet to unfold.

Interactions: @Ruthie Greer
~Mentions: @Griseldis Edelhardt | @Saskia Nicholson~

Thora found herself questioning her motives yet another time as she entered the Quidditch Pitch and climbed up, high into the stands. The Hufflepuff vs. Gryffindor game was due to start soon, but the dearth of fellow students caused a wave of doubt to hit her brain as hard as the strong cold wind nearly knocking the young girl on her feet. There was a game today, right? 

Surveying the field longingly, Thora paused in her steps. If only she could play right now and let all of her worries be blown away. Really, the Slytherin should've been cooped up in the library or even her dark, depressing Common Room, studying. But some gut feeling had told her to leave her work, to get away from it all. So she had went. Thora had simply gotten up and let her legs take her wherever they wished--without reason, of course. The Masquerade Ball had shown that her gut feeling was more often right than not, so Thora made a point to try and listen to what her conscience prodded her to do. Of course, she had ended up at the Quidditch Pitch, where she could truly let go of everything. That much was convenient, as there was a match which Thora had been wondering whether or not to attend. If she was here, she had might as well watch it. 

Climbing up the first of the steps to the stands, Thora paused, surveying the soon-to-be active field. After a few months of playing for Slytherin's team--well, practicing with the team as she was merely a second-string--it was strange to be sitting deep in the stands, rather than the edge of the field. Why was she watching this game? It was Hufflepuff against Gryffindor, the two teams she disliked most. Out of only four houses, that wasn't saying much, but she did have reasons behind this. 

Slytherin's first game had been against the Badgers. Despite her team's skillful score, the Hufflepuffs had caught the Snitch, resulting in their win. The Badgers had a pretty solid team and Thora could see how they had beat her own beloved team, but loss came with a cost. And for the Slytherins, the house of pride, they had taken a beating. No, she didn't have anything personal against the Hufflepuffs yet, but they weren't her favorites. Gryffindor, on the other hand, was an unknown to Thora. She didn't know how well they played, but personal experiences with individual Lions had taught the girl to stay far, far away from them. So, she wasn't partial to either team.

Not only that, but after all, she only knew about ten people at Hogwarts despite being a second year. Thora knew nobody on either team--save Griseldis, one of Gryffindor's amazing Chasers whom she had met up with on a couple occasions, and Saskia, Hufflepuff's talented Captain. Tearing her gaze away from the Pitch and into the stands, Thora stiffened as she saw the clumps of students at ease, talking to each other. Most people had seemingly forgotten the trauma and horrors Hogwarts had been pushing through in the past few months. Thora hadn't, however, and even something so small as a huge mass of red-cheeked, scarf-wrapped students watching a Quidditch Game made her feel even more self-conscious and more alone. So when she spotted a familiar hair of blonde curls, also alone among the spectators, Thora's tense face broke out into a grin.

"Hey, Ruthie!" the Slytherin called, hurrying towards the younger girl. It was hard to find Ruthie among all the chaos that came with daily life at Hogwarts, and with all that they had both been through together at the ball, Thora had missed her. Plopping into the empty seat to the Ravenclaw's left, she turned to face the other girl. "Nobody's sitting here, right?" Thora wasn't exactly cheery at the moment, but simply seeing a familiar face whom she felt relatively comfortable with had certainly somewhat improved her day. 

"What have you got there?" Thora asked, gesturing to the pillow-type object the other girl clutched. Turning her attention back to the game which had just begun, Thora watched as the lions snatched the Quaffle and put it through the hoop easily. "Go, Gris!" she yelled, echoing Ruthie's cries. "So, who are you cheering for?" Thora asked Ruthie. She figured Gryffindor might be the better choice for herself simply because she knew Griseldis, but in her opinion, seeing who Ruthie supported made things a little more comfortable, if not a little more interesting.

Nothing about Gryffindor appealed to Alexx. Gryffindor had people like Marla Quinlan in it. People who she despised. Despite Hufflepuff having beat Slytherin last game, Alexx could not bring herself to cheer for Gryffindor. One day she would play against them all the same, so there was no need to like them now. No, the red house was not one that she felt like supporting today. Now that Max Avery wasn't on their team, anyway, she had no one there to cheer on.

But Hufflepuff... Well, that was a different story. Alexx had friends and colleagues on the Hufflepuff team. Most importantly, she had Reid Kovacs. Though their year together had started rocky, and he quit the Headliner (though she didn't know that there was any correlation between the two), she was still going to show up to support the closest friend that she had. To show her love for the badger boy, she made a sign. In neatly done big letters, which albeit was hard to do with a quill, the sign read "#1 FAN OF REID KOVACS!" It was true, after all. He'd never have a bigger hypeman than Alexx.

Though he was benched, which honestly didn't seem fair because he was x10 the beater than any other student here at Hogwarts, he still deserved the support. Besides, Alexx hadn't been particularly nice to him this year. She'd been outright ignoring him, actually. Alexx couldn't help but frown as she thought about this. He must have despised her by now... It was time to make it up to him!

Alexx let out a long, disappointed "Boo!" as Gryffindor scored. Blast! Hufflepuff needed to step up their game for sure! Those pesky lions didn't need to win! They had too much pride stuck up their butt to begin with; they didn't need more.

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It was getting cold out by the pitch as both Gryffindor and Hufflepuff aimed for a win. Ruthie wished she had someone to speak to besides her frog choir pillow. Perhaps she should have brought Sir Hoppington the Fourth himself, but then he would have felt so out of place without the water. Similarly, her owl Darby, would be uncomfortable she suspected.

Fortunately, she was extremely lucky as soon she found someone calling out her name. Lo and behold, it was Thora, her favorite Slytherin! She'd only really seen her in passing since the ball, save Shuntbumps, and that didn't count. A wide smile came across her face as she answered, "No, it's all for you!" Finally, she had someone to watch the match with.

"It's a frog choir pillow," she explained, her cheeks blushing slightly, "I sort of borrowed it. Here, we can share." She put the pillow in between them. It was one of the bigger one so it was large enough that they could each comfortably have a side to sit on. Hearing Thora cheer on the Gryffindor who'd bested the giant, she couldn't help but join in, "Yeah, come on Gris! Use your giant-slaying strength!" It was a long yell. She was glad she'd brought some sherbet lemons. Reaching into her pocket, she took one for herself and reached over to offer one to Thora. Just then the breeze kicked up, and Ruthie pulled the Hufflepuff scarf tighter around her neck. Speaking of which Thora was inquiring who she was cheering for. "Hufflepuff," she said, "Their seeker, Julie, saved my burned hand at the start of term. And Gris too, obviously. Seems I'm always needing people to get me out of trouble..." The last part was more an observation than anything else. Unlike other students who actively sought out adventures, pranking and detention-worthy activities, Ruthie was mostly law-abiding. She'd just had bad luck. Really bad luck. Like half-giant kidnapping her date who then got stabbed bad luck. Thankfully, Thora was here and they could help each other through it all.

Interactions: @Thora Larkston
Mentions: @Griseldis Edelhardt & @Julie Shaw

~Interactions: @Ruthie Greer~

Still favoring neither team, Thora kept the game in view just out of the corner of her left eye, as she took the seat next to Ruthie. As the blonde confirmed that she was holding a pillow and explained that it was for frog choir, Thora could've sworn she blushed. Of course, it might just have been the bitingly cold wind blowing Thora's hair into tangles, but it was more likely not. "Oh yeah, the frog choir," Thora said without thinking. She had slowly taken to speaking her thoughts before thinking, probably a result of her overworked brain. A constant motivation to maintain an O average was fueled by the previous year's E average, the result of a flying assignment she had done poorly on. Additionally, a serious lack of sleep left Thora in a perpetual state of exhaustion. It was no wonder her mouth wanted to spit things out randomly without her brain processing them first.

"You put together the Frog Choir, right?" Thora asked, "I think it's a pretty great idea." She had been incredibly, incredibly hesitant to join. Singing was by no means one of her talents and the snek knew it. She couldn't sing, especially not in public. She had just turned away from the flyer she had seen when she saw a name. Ruthie. It was only because the young Ravenclaw was leading the effort that Thora glanced at the poster once more, giving it another chance. And then, to even the girl's own surprise, she found her hands fumbling at her tote bag and finding a Muggle pen. Her own swirly signature was scrawled on the parchment before she could even marvel at her newfound brazenness. Walking away, Thora found her brain tumbling round and round. She couldn't sing. Why had she signed up? She knew it was mostly for Ruthie, but the motion had surprised even herself. Perhaps she could find something else to do that didn't involve her less-than-great voice.

Shaking away the simple memory that she couldn't help but make her smile sheepishly, Thora focused back on her current situation. She accepted a sherbet lemon from Ruthie, popping the sweet into her mouth as the other girl explained that she was going for the Badgers. Thankfully, though, she didn't return the question because Thora had no idea how to respond.

"So, we're playing you guys tomorrow." A flush finally rose to Thora's pale cheeks. Having grown up carefree on a farm in Ireland, she was used to the cold--especially wet, soggy cold. Although it was definitely not wet at the moment, thank goodness, the brunette was slightly more used to the cold than some. She would run to do her chores in nothing but a t-shirt and shorts sometimes--something that irked her parents to no end--so Thora felt quite comfortable sitting up in the stands with a heavy winter cloak.

"I heard you guys are pretty good, based on last game," Thora continued, "So I look forward to playing you, even though I won't be on the field myself." The Slytherin had heard that Ravenclaw had a very good beater--although Thora, personally, was doubtful whether she was better than Erin. Also, unlike their first game against the Hufflepuffs, Thora knew people on the opposing team. Like Ruthie. However, the blonde was a first string Chaser, while Thora herself was merely a backup, so perhaps the other girl would have had a little more to say.

As Gryffindor effortlessly tossed the Quaffle through the set of hoops once more, Thora wrinkled her brow. It looked like the Lions were performing considerably better than the Badgers, although the Snitch was still flying around, uncaught. The girl again remained quiet. Perhaps Ruthie could offer some insights on tomorrow's game, as Thora certainly couldn't, despite having practiced with her own team and knowing their every strategy.