Cerisier vs. Montagnard; round III

It was the final game of the quidditch season and it would be the last game for Montagnard's seeker. The weather was warm and the sun was shining, it was the perfect way to end a good quidditch season. Since Montagnard had won the first two games, they won the cup for the year but there still needed a third game. Maybe Montagnard would win all of this season's games. Maybe Cerisier would win the final game, we would all have to see.

The professor wore a smile on her face as she walked onto the pitch. As students filed in, the quidditch teams walked onto the pitch. "I want a clean game, okay? Shake hands." Once the captains shook hands, Professor Bowen released the balls and blew her whistle. The final game had begun.

Rene Pendlebrook and Fane Blevins are announcers
Match ends the same day as registration

Montagnard had won the cup and they had to play a third match? Christine was not at all certain she could survive a third humiliating round of Quidditch. Not even the extra training she had made herself do appeared to have engendered much improvement. Come summer she would demand her cousin give her his baseball bat so that she could practice. That may not be much help with hitting an iron ball but swinging practice was what she needed. That and maybe hitting a bowling ball with the bat.

She gripped her bat and broom and shot a nervous look at the Montagnard team beaters. The dark haired one in particular. Christine made a mental note to keep an eye on her and not try to hit any bludgers which were hit at her. Far safer to dodge and aim for the other one. Much safer and hopefully she would keep a grip on her bat.

Cerisier: 0
Montagnard: 0

Quentin tried to keep in good spirits and tried to keep his team the same as well. However, it was hard knowing that whatever the outcome of the game, Cerisier was still not going home with the cup. What made it worse was the fact that Montagnard's captain had been his rival even before they were both granted captain status and so far this year, Marie-Laure was creaming him, not that he'd like to admit it.

He walked out onto the grass of the pitch, holding his head high and putting on a show for his team. He was going to lead by example and display a positive attitude, as he shook hands with Marie-Laure and then turned to his team with a smile. "Don't let Cerisier fans down, guys. Just do your best and even though we lost the cup, that doesn't mean we can't beat Montagnard this time! Let's break this losing streak!" Quentin pepped the team and then took his position before the quaffle was released and the game started.

Cerisier: 0
Montagnard: 0

Fane was a bit disgruntled that his favorite team had already lost but he had a job to do and that didn't include spending all game whining about Cerisier's loss. However, he was Linette's successor and therefore he felt it was only right to add in his bias here and there every now and then.

"The sun is shinning and the skies are blue! This day is just shy of being perfect, the only thing ruining it is Montagnard's automatic win for the Quidditch cup. Boo!" Fane started. "Oh wow, did you guys hear that? Bowen says no foul play and I think you know what that means! I knew there was no way Montagnard was getting all those wins without a little dishonesty here and there," Fane added, trying his best to make things juicy. He had to admit the quidditch teams were making it hard to poke fun at them. However, then his eyes landed on the younger of the Henrau sisters and he recalled what had happened last game.

"Aww would you look at that? Henrau the younger clutches her bat like an infant would their safety blanket. Afraid of letting it go again? Too bad you didn't knock anyone in the head with it. You would've made everyone believe it was an accident." He sat back in his chair and watched for a bit, not that anything exciting had really happened yet.

Cerisier: 0
Montagnard: 0

Two games in a row they'd lost and it was all because Stephanie had failed to catch the snitch in both games. It was not doing much at all for the young seeker's confidence in her own abilities. How had she gone from great success in her first year as seeker to so many failures now? She shot an accusing look at her younger sister and illogically decided that she must be the reason. Stephanie had been doing well before Christine joined her at Hogwarts and managed to get on the team.

A small smile was on Stephanie's face at the suggestion made by the possibly biased announcer. She didn't really believe that Montagnard actually cheated but it sounded better than saying it was because Henrau failed to catch the snitch. It fell again at his words targeting Christine. That was a little unfair considering her sister was only a first year and hardly fit for the position of beater. However she was not going to fight Christine's battles for her. She wanted on the team and stupidly tried out for beater she could fight her own battles with announcers and Mabel Miller. There was one thing she could do. "Christine relax," she said before pushing off to take her place above the game.

Cerisier: 0
Montagnard: 0

Montagnard won the cup for the year but Mabel wouldn't be pleased until they won all three games. It wouldn't be luck that won them the games, it would be skill. Since the seeker had finally been doing his job, she hated him just a bit less. She hadn't spend long in the infirmary and was now feeling better than ever. She was ready to kick some Cerisier butt. She was usually after the new beater, but what was the point if Montagnard was already winning? She caught the beater looking at her, scratch giving her a break, she was going after her again.

Once the whistle was blown, Mabel kicked off the ground and was in search for the first bludger she could find.

Montagnard: 10
Cerisier: 0

It was Payton's final game and he was determined as ever to catch that snitch. It was almost the end of the year, the year seemed to go by quickly. He would soon be an adult and he had his eyes set on the seeker position on a famous quidditch team. He wasn't entirely sure which team yet, he was still looking and deciding. With his broom in his hand, he followed his fellow teammates onto the field. It was a little intimidating to set a goal to catch the snitch, and win, all three games. But he was ready and he wasn't going to back down from the challenge. Giving up was not an option, he would catch that snitch.

When the whistle was blown, he kicked off the ground and flew above the two teams to get a better view.

Montagnard: 10
Cerisier: 10

Fiona was not going to wimp out this time. She would fly without closing her eyes. Eyes open and miss the bludger. That was the mantra going over and over in her head as she made her way down to the pitch with the school broom in hand. Handling the quaffle stage could be next term. That was if she managed to not get herself kicked off the team in the meant time.

She was down there at the pitch with the rest of the team and almost broke the mantra by closing her eyes. Silly. It was silly to be afraid of flying. Not once had she fallen off her broom. A broom was no more dangerous than climbing a tree and Fiona had climbed plenty of those in her lifetime.

The whistle blew and Fiona was up with the rest of the team. First goal of the match had nothing to do with her but she wasn't trying do to anything more than stay on her broom and not get hit by anything. No snitch, no quaffle, and certainly no bludger.

Montagnard: 20
Cerisier: 10

Montagnard had won the cup but Marie-Laure wanted more than that. "Three game win," she told her team. "That is the goal for the end of this year. I'm relying on your Johnson." She certainly didn't have lay much hope in the elder Miller sister or Green. Miller less so than Green since she appeared incapable of catching a quaffle. He at least could manage some decent passes.

Having made her goal clear to the rest of the team she led them down to the pitch, heard the usual pep talk given by Professor Bowen, shook hands with Quinn and rolled her eyes at the false accusation levelled at her team from the commentary box. It wasn't worth biting back over since she was fully aware that some announcers were intentionally biased and would say anything in support of their team no matter how big a lie they told.

The whistle was blown and Marie-Laure soon managed to score the first goal of the match. They would win both on goals and the snitch. Quinn would not have anything to lord over her in regard to scoring. Nothing at all.

Montagnard: 30
Cerisier: 10

Christine frowned up at the announcer's box. Why did he have to speak like that? That was no gentleman and it really irked her what he said about the way she held her bat. Her attention was diverted by her sister's words. They were kinder but not of much help when to relax gave her extreme difficulties.

There was not any more time to dwell on these matters as the whistle had blown and her presence was required up in the air. Christine altered her grip and pushed off. All she had to do was keep a hold of the bat and avoid any bludger which was hit at herself. Otherwise bludgers were to be hit toward the players in purple and red. A well thought out plan. One which she was to believe would garner great success.

Her first opportunity was come and Christine managed to balance upon the broom with the bat held in both hands and swing at the bludger. Unfortunately she missed the bludger and the bat was flung through the air and headed for a teammate. "Sorry," she called out as she flew after the bat.

Cerisier: 20
Montagnard: 30

Montagnard was pulling ahead, but only by one point though. If the seeker could catch that snitch, they'd win all three games. While she attended Beauxbatons, Mabel hadn't seen anything like it but she knew they weren't the first to win all three games in a row. They would have a new seeker next year and maybe they'd be just as good or even better than the one they had now.

When a bludger was heading towards another player, Mabel flew as fast as she could to hit the ball before it collided with the poor player. Once the ball was sent the other way towards a Cerisier player, she nodded her head to the almost hit player and then zoomed away.

Cerisier: 20
Montagnard: 30

Since Montagnard had won the first two games, Payton suspected that Cerisier would perform their best and another fifty percent. It didn't change that Montagnard won the cup, but that didn't mean they'd let up and give up. If anything Cerisier would be more fierce and would want to win even more. Whoever took his place next year, Payton hoped they would be a great seeker and be ready for anything.

He had been concentrating on looking for the snitch that he hadn't noticed the bludger going start towards him. He let out a breath when the dark haired beater, Mabel, hit the ball in a different direction. "Thanks," he muttered before she took off. Now it was time to focus on everything around him and catch the snitch.

Cerisier: 30
Montagnard: 30

Stark was overjoyed that his team had won the quidditch cup his first year on the team, especially since he was pretty sure they hadn't won it in quite some time. He wasn't sure how much help he had been, he was sure his captain hated having him there, but he had at least helped keep the quaffle out of the hands of a Cerisier when he possessed it before passing it. He was determined to do better this game and make his captain proud, and at least if he messed up they already had the cup for sure, even though Slyvian would definitely hate him if they lose it wasn't as bad as it could be. Once the whistle was blown Stark kicked off from the ground, he had been so intent on his thoughts of doing so well this game he hadn't kicked off as quick as everyone else and was sadly the last person off the ground. He groaned at his sluggish start but quickly caught up with the others and helped as much as he could.

The game stayed very tough, obviously Cerisier wasn't prepared to give up this last game even if they couldn't win the cup. They were tied at 30 when Stark got a hold of the quaffle again, he took it about halfway down the field before he passed it to a peer. A few moments later they were passing it back to him, only this time he was next to the goals, without a second for thought he hurled the ball at the left hoop and watched as it smoothly slid through the gold ring. He smiled uncontrollably before taking off after the chaser who had recovered the quaffle.

Montagnard: 40
Cerisier: 30

They had won the quidditch house cup! It seemed like such a long time since Paige had been on the winning team, not that she took losing badly, it was just nice to see everyone on her team and in her house so happy and proud. She wasn't sure how much help she had been to her team, though as a beater she was never sure if her position helped out all too much, unless of course she simply knocked someone completely out of the game. She had sent that bludger right into the thick of the chasers a few moments into the game scattering them so her team could make the first goal, but she wasn't sure how much that mattered in the long run. Nonetheless Montagnard had won two games so they were going home with the cup that year and nothing could ruin the team's spirits.

The last game wasn't a throw away game but it definitely wasn't as stressful on Montagnard as it usually was. She wanted to show Marie-Laure that her team really was as good as the quidditch cup showed they were, her dormmate seemed to take their loses the worse and she didn't want to see her down again. With that determination the blonde kicked off the ground bat tightly in hand and flew after a bludger, one that was quickly knocked away by someone else. She didn't let that deter her and continued chasing bludgers.

Montagnard: 40
Cerisier: 30

Quinn's mind was in a flurry since the game had started. His mind jumped from the quaffle, to the beaters and the bludgers, to the seekers and then back again to his own job, trying to avoid the occasional drift to the fact that Cerisier lost the cup, no matter what. Fortunately, his slight absent-minded state wasn't taking too hard of a toll on the team, for they were keeping up with Montagnard at least.

He was worried about Cerisier's new beater. Last game she had dropped her club, Quinn was reminded courtesy of his least favorite person, and he watched as she did it again. First years had made the team before, Quentin had seen, but never had he seen a first year struggle so and Quentin had to admit he questioned Bowen's decision on her. Maybe Bowen was more biased than she let off and was sabotaging them. Either way, Christine was on the team and as captain, he had to do his best to make sure she was doing her best.

The bat was heading straight towards him anyway, so the blue haired boy simply caught it and flew towards the beater to return it. "Christine, don't listen to that jerk on the microphone and focus on what you need to do. Hold onto the bat like you would your broomstick. If you don't grip your broomstick enough you'll fall off, so use that same principle with the bat. Everything depends on you holding this bat and when you are about to strike a bludger, think of something that makes you mad or whatever helps you to make sure you hit it with enough strength. Alright?" Quentin figured that was as much time as he could spend coaching a teammate and nodded his head before flying off into the game again.

Montagnard: 40
Cerisier: 40

The scores were too even for Marie-Laure's liking but what could you do when one of your chasers didn't even appear to be capable of flying a broom? How had Fiona Miller managed to make it on the team? Was Professor Bowen subtly biased against Montagnard? If so she'd failed since they had won twice despite the handicap. Granted it did help that Payton was finally back on target with his snitch catching.

"Good work Stark," she called out to the chaser she was finally beginning to have some faith in. "Fiona Miller open your eyes and do you job." She had not missed that little trick last game and assumed the girl was doing the same this time since it felt like Stark and herself were doing all the work. If she did not improve by next year she was going to have some extremely painful one on one training.

Marie-Laure shot Fiona one more warning look before concentrating fully on the game again. The girl was on her own until next term, the beginning of Marie-Laure's final year. One in which she wanted the same success as this one. With that thought in mind the Captain caught the quaffle and scored again for Montagnard.

Montagnard: 50
Cerisier: 40

Fiona's eyes flew open. How did Captain Sylvian know her eyes were shut? Fiona groaned as another realisation struck her. She'd forgotten her mantra. The Montagnard Chaser looked around and gulped as she watched the activity of the other players. How did they do it without the fear of falling off their brooms? Not one of them appeared to look like they'd prefer to have their feet on the ground.

"Okay, Marie-Laure," Fiona called out with a hint of panic in her voice. She could do this. She could. All she needed was, "ouch!" A quaffle. Fiona watched at the red ball which had rebounded off her head resulted in a score for Cerisier. So much for that. Fiona didn't even get to see which chaser grabbed it so that she could try ramming their broom. Well once they were on the ground again she would. That was if she knew which one had taken her quaffle.

Montagnard: 50
Cerisier: 50

After watching yet another game where Cerisier struggled to score goals and their one beater struggled to do the one thing their position required, Fane was starting to lose faith in his favorite team. He wondered whether it would be possible to switch houses, though he highly doubted it.

"Cerisier really needs to get their shit together," Fane muttered, though right over the microphone. He noticed Bowen motioning towards him, telling him to cut it out, and with a sigh, Fane added, "Sorry Professor. Won't happen again."

Suddenly it appeared the seekers were on the trail after the snitch and Fane sat up in his seat to watch the excitement. "The seekers have seen the snitch! C'mon Cerisier! Three loses in a year would be so embarrassing!" He was nearly shouting now. But alas it was Montagnard who had caught the snitch. Fane dropped back into his seat and said with a huff, "Montagnard catches the snitch, claiming all three games and the quidditch cup this year."

Montagnard: 200
Cerisier: 50

Trent felt like he sucked. He was so pissed off. How was he not doing well this year? He wanted to blow up and scream and yell and thrash about the pitch. However, he kept cool and collected. He closed his eyes and frowned. He would figure it out, and next season he would do very well. He planned on training all summer and getting as good as possible. He needed to put on muscle and all of that. A skinny chaser just wasn't going to cut it against a strong Montagnard defensive core that will be extra motivated with one of their beaters being an impending graduate. Trent bit his lip gently.

Montagnard: 200
Cerisier: 50

Stephanie was torn between watching her sister and the snitch. Christine had not taken her advice. It was obvious. The younger girl was tense and then showed it when yet again she let go of her bat. The same question which had been circulating in her brain ever since the lists were up at the beginning of the school year returned. Why had Christine tried out as beater? More importantly, Why was she considered better than anyone else who'd tried out?

She shook her head at the craziness of the choices of new team members. Really she should...Then she stopped mid thought before plastering herself against her broom and flying off after the flicker of gold. This time she would get it. This time Cerisier would win, not the cup, but at least the match. She reached out for the snitch and pulled up in disappointment as the opposing seeker managed to catch it first. They'd lost three games in a row and Stephanie vowed to find a way to practice over the summer.

Cerisier: 50
Montagnard: 200

Rene felt horrid for Fiona. It wasn't fair for her teammates to be all pissy (mainly Marie-Laure) over her lack of scoring this year. It was her first year playing! He would've made a remark over Marie-Laure, but it would come across as biased because of Fiona being his girlfriend. Was she his girlfriend? Yes, she had to be they were dating of course. He sighed when the ball hit her head and went into the Montagnard goal post. It wasn't fair to her. She was scared of flying and he knew she hadn't expected to make the team, let alone start for the team. He hoped she'd better next season.

Cerisier: 50
Montagnard: 200

It seemed like Stark was finally getting the hang of being more than just an in between chaser and actually benefit his team. He was proud of himself, he was sure that he was doing way better than he did in the first match of the year. He still wasn't a superstar player yet but he was much better than he was before. He smiled to himself when Captain Sylvian yelled at him and it wasn't a bed yell she was complimenting him. He felt bad though when she started yelling at his fellow chaser but he had a job to do and couldn't worry about her. Stark almost couldn't blame his captain when the poor girl scored for the other team. Thankfully her blunder went mostly unnoticed when the snitch was caught and by Montagnard. Stark was overjoyed as he landed on the ground and the announcers told everyone that his team had won all three games of the year, What an amazing first year on the team.

Cerisier: 50
Montagnard: 200

Even with Paige hitting bludgers every chance she got within range of one Montagnard couldn't seem to get a large enough lead in points. The blonde could tell it would come down to the seekers to decide who was going to be the winner of this match, and hopefully Payton would continue his good luck streak of catching the snitch every game so far. Of course that didn't mean she was about to stop doing her job for the game could go on for hours still or maybe even just a few seconds. The game didn't end until the snitch was caught so she had to be ready to continue smacking bludgers away from her team and towards the other team for as long as it may take. Thankfully she found that it wasn't going to be many more hours and in fact just a few minutes. This was confirmed by the sound of the whistle calling the end of the game and the red and purple side of the stands erupting into noise. She couldn't be happier to see their graduating seeker with the snitch for his last game here and Beauxbatons.

Cerisier: 50
Montagnard: 200

Rene stood and clapped when Montagnard caught the snitch. They'd gone three and o this year. It was positively amazing that they'd come back from losing the cup so fast. He honestly thought they had the ability to win the cup again next year especially with all the rookies being another year older and another year more talented. "Congratulations Montagnard! I am very proud to be a fan of such a skilled team." Rene grinned broadly. "This is the Beauxbaton's announcer's box signing off." Rene wanted to go run and congratulate his girlfriend but he needed to have a little restraint when it came to his Montagnard favoritism.

Cerisier: 50
Montagnard: 200