Closed A Little Bit of Competition PV | K. Rivers

Why was she distracted every time she was trying to do her homework in the common room?
Koko had always been a good student, at Hogwarts too. She had gotten a lot of O's and followed her classes well. But since she had joined the Gryffindor quidditch team, everything had changed.
Her homework wasn't as good as it used to be, and she'd gotten four straight E's.
It was not something she could afford, her parents were very insistent on her studies and the last thing Koko wanted was to disappoint them.
So every time she started studying, she felt like going to the quidditch pitch to train, and she did.
She knew she shouldn't, but it was as if a magnetic force drew her there.
Besides, she had to practice to catch up with the rest of the team, right?
When she arrived at the camp, she saw that there was already a girl practising, she looked older than her and much more confident on top of the school.
She didn't know what house she might be from, but she might not even play quidditch.
Koko hoped not, because the girl looked really good and Koko wasn't looking forward to having to face her in a match.
She twisted nervously in the air, he felt clumsy on the broom, he didn't want to make a fool of himself in front of that girl, maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to go there.
Trying not to turn red, she walked up to the girl and stopped suspended in the air in front of her and said to her.
"Hi, I'm Koko Rivers, second string keeper for Gryffindor, and you are..."

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Even endless, tireless Quidditch practice could get boring after some time. The sentiment remained that Koko needed to improve until she was perfect, but it was as if Xeno's paradox was becoming real right before her eyes. Success had infinite midpoints, and it seemed that today, she would get closer and closer to perfection without being able to reach it. Her form was fine. Fine. She was fine.

It would seem that a new arrival at the training pitch would break her out of her disgruntled reverie. The other person was younger than Koko and red-haired, and she seemed to be trying to come towards Koko. The Slytherin angled her broom downwards and opted to meet the other girl at a nearly halfway point.

She did not wear her usually-permanent smile on her lips; instead, she would appear about as annoyed as she felt, despite her annoyance not resting with this other girl. She was more annoyed at herself, but she would never admit such an awful feeling aloud. She drummed her fingers along the shaft of her broom as she sat on it with both of her legs hanging from the same side. When the girl began to speak, Koko tilted her head to show that she was listening.

The girl introduced herself as Koko Rivers, which made the Slytherin Koko's lips curve upwards in an awry imitation of a smirk. It likely did not suit her, but now her annoyance mingled with amusement, and her fingers tapped the wooden shaft of her broom more quickly as she fought to keep from laughing. A Gryffindor. A second-string Keeper.

The same name.

Koko took off one of her gloves and extended her hand to the other girl. 'Koko Riddle,' she said curtly, placing a careful emphasis on her surname. 'Sixth year, Slytherin. First-string Keeper for our team, and also co-captain.' The title did not roll off her tongue rather easily; instead, it felt like sticky jam struggling to pass her teeth. It would seem that her lapse in confidence had seeped into her words. If she couldn't even perform a simple Starfish-and-Stick, how could she be first-string Keeper, let alone co-captain?

Alas, that would be a question to ask herself some other time. Koko smiled at the other girl, a slow, careful smile not quite reflected in her eyes. Although Koko's light brown eyes remained kind, there was still something distant in them, as if her thoughts were somewhere else. 'It's nice to meet you,' she offered, a kindness that was indeed genuine. 'Did you come here to train?'

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@Koko Rivers

Koko was stunned Koko? Koko Riddle? Really? First-string Keeper and co-captain?"
She couldn't believe that they were both named Koko and that they were both keepers.
The girl hadn't been rude, but she had noticed something...
Something in her voice that Koko did not like.
"Yes, I've come to train, as you understand I need to practice, I just joined the team".
And with that she smiled back at her. "I would like to become like you someday, first keeper and co-captain, or captain" and she meant it sincerely, from the moment she had set foot on the field she had felt a friendly respect for that girl.
"By the way, if you need or want me to kick you, don't hesitate to ask me, you could teach me some tricks" she said jokingly.
That said, she went to the hoops on the opposite side where the girl was, as much as it might have pleased her, she had no illusions about being annoyed or reprimanded by a Slytherin with so many sixth year titles.
After warming up a bit she got bored, it was so monotonous training alone, she glanced towards the other end of the pitch to see what "the other Koko" was doing.

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The Slytherin noticed that the younger Koko seemed almost surprised when she introduced herself. She supposed it made sense ─ she was rather introverted and wasn't one to make much of an appearance outside of the great outdoors. 'In the flesh,' she responded with a small chuckle, her mood already lifting.

When the other girl said she needed to train, Koko offered her a small, hopefully supportive smile, something far more genuine than her prior expression. 'Yes, training is always good.' She would always point others towards improving themselves, and training was certainly a method of self-improvement... even if it could be unhealthy when done too much. 'You'll probably be able to get there someday. It takes time and effort, but it's doable.' Even if she had made Quidditch her entire life to get to this point ─ it was doable.

The other Koko mentioned being willing to practise with her, which was a nice thought, but then she left, leaving Koko Riddle with her broom and the goalposts she had picked. She sighed to herself and re-mounted her broom. She glanced almost apprehensively at the goalposts. They seemed a lot larger than they were, dwarfing her, and their gold sheen seemed almost oppressive.

Maybe she should train on the ground.

Shaking off that thought, she continued her monotonous montage of a Starfish-and-Stick. Drop. Hang. Adjust. Return. Her core ached. Her arms burned. Nonetheless, she persisted. She inhaled deeply with every repetition, pulling herself back onto her broom only to hang off once again. There were no quaffles coming towards her, only the all-too-forgiving September air. It whooshed past her outstretched fingers, and she huffed when pulling herself back up. She sat on her broom and hunched over slightly, a lapse in her carefully-maintained stature, and she tried to catch her breath. She wiped sweat off her forehead and frowned slightly.

Koko glanced around, still breathing rather deeply, to see that the other Koko had also paused her training. She set her hands on her broom and almost guided it forward before hesitating. She didn't even know the other girl very well ─ what if she didn't necessarily want company? And, even more, training was just that: training. It wasn't social hour.

Except perhaps it could be. Koko grit her teeth and forced herself to fly towards the other Koko. She hoped her apprehension wouldn't show in her gaze when she approached. 'If you want, I can try to score a few goals against you. That might be more...' She paused, searching for the right word, but there were only a few that fit. '...entertaining.'

There. The offer was out in the air. It was up to Koko Rivers whether she wanted to accept it or decline it.

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@Koko Rivers

Really? The other Koko was asking her if she wanted to train together? Seriously? She couldn't believe it.
"Yes, of course, I will love that"
She wasn't sure if she was happy or not, on the one hand she liked that Koko had said that, but on the other hand she was nervous, what if she failed, what if she did something ridiculous? That would be the end.
Shivering inwardly, he gave a hesitant smile and steered the broom towards the hoops.
"Okay, I'm ready for my first personal lesson" she said jokingly. "What do I have to do?"
She was REALLY nervous, she didn't know if Riddle was helping her with good intentions or bad intentions, you can never trust anyone.
Especially someone who is in Slytherin thinked. Koko had flown during her childhood before going to Hogwarts but being there on a broom in the countryside was something else.
"How long have you been playing Quidditch, have you also participated in any other activities?"
Koko wondered how long she had been doing Quidditch and also if she had combined it with something else since she also wanted to participate in some other activity but she didn't know which one yet.

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Even after offering the younger girl companionship, Koko was still... wary. Some pit had sunk itself into her stomach, and she chewed the inside of her cheek as the other girl accepted her offer. She wasn't quite sure what to think of this.

When the other Koko asked what she needed to do, the Slytherin tilted her head to the side and gave a small, thoughtful hum. 'I was thinking I could try to score, since you're a Keeper, and you can try to block?' Koko was a Keeper, too, but recently she had found that practising scoring gave her a different perspective on blocking. 'That is, if that's fine with you.

She would shift on her broom. If Rivers wanted to practise, Koko would have to fly towards the ground and take out a Quaffle. It wouldn't be a problem, not at all ─ Koko would do anything for Quidditch, after all ─ but Koko wasn't sure if it would be rude to grab the ball now or if it would be better to wait.

Rivers spoke up, which made up Koko's mind for her. How long? Koko's lips drew down in a slight frown as she attempted to add numbers in her head. 'Er, I've been on the Slytherin team since 2019,' she said, still struggling with maths. 'So that's, er, something like four years now?' Her arithmetic was by no means sound, but she was pretty sure that 2023-2019 equalled four. Merlin, it would be embarrassing to have a younger student correct her maths.

Koko glanced at the sky, noting that the sun had changed in its relative position in the sky, and then she looked at her watch. Drat. 'So, I noticed it's gotten later, and I have to feed my cat and study before dinner. But if you want, I can meet you tomorrow so we can practise.' There was that offer again ─ the offer of Quidditch-based companionship, the offer of training. Koko would be a lot nicer to Rivers than she was to herself, if the other girl accepted.

No matter how Rivers reacted to the possibility of meeting again tomorrow, Koko Riddle would smile at her, a smile that was all teeth and glinting, narrowed eyes. 'Thank you for the chat,' she said softly. Perhaps tomorrow she would thank the other girl for practice.

Then, Koko would begin to fly towards the ground, really needing to get back to the castle; however, if Rivers tried to stop her, she would wait.

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@Koko Rivers
Leaving thread unless stopped