Cerisier vs. Montagnard: round I

Although the sky was a bit overcast, Professor Bowen was in the brightest of moods. Quidditch had been a life-long passion of hers and with each new year she coached the Quidditch teams at Beauxbatons came new stories to tell with Quidditch games. Both the Cerisier and Montagnard teams were never quite the same each year, as old players moved out and graduated and new players came in, bringing with them their own unique style and personality, making the first game of every season one that she looked forward to. She trusted that all players, whether old or new, had spent an ample amount of time practicing for this game so they could start off the year on a good foot. Unbiased to who she wanted to win, Professor Bowen just wanted to see each team put their best foot forward.

As players filed out from the changing rooms, geared and ready to go, Bowen gave them a smile hello and then got down to business. "First game of the season!" She cheered, looking upon some nervous faces, some overly confident faces. "It is a little overcast but a little rain has never hurt anyone before and trust me when I say there will be worse conditions you will be playing in." She paused to give another look into the eyes of the team players. She could tell it was a decent lot this year. "I want all of you to give it your all. This will be the first of three games, so unless you and your team are planning on winning the next two games..." She paused and then chuckled a bit. "Give it your all."

Mounting her broom, she took off to the sky, expecting the teams to follow suit. When the two teams found themselves in the orderly patterned circle, she raised her whistle to her mouth and blew it, simultaneously releasing the quaffle into the air. 

This match ends on Mar. 12 at 11pm EST.
Announcers are Rene Pendlebrook and Caleb Miller

A new year meant new hope and Marie-Laure hoped that the newest members of the Montagnard team meant there was hope.  The two new chasers were only students she had seen from time to time in the Montagnard Common room and one of them who was related to the beater on the team.  Marie-Laure hadn't yet made up her mind if this was a good or a bad thing.  

"I want you all to do well," she said.  "Green and Miller make sure to keep the Quaffle in play.  There have been enough problems last year with the previous two chasers I was teamed with."  Marie-Laure didn't bother to distinguish between the sisters.  What was the point when it was obvious she was not referring to the one wielding a bat.  "Everyone else I hope all of you are ready to do better this year than last year and I do include myself in that statement."  She shot a look at the whole team in warning for them not to say anything of the shortcomings of her own performance last year.  She was quite well aware of how poorly she played.

Montagnard: 0
Cerisier: 0

A new year meant a new season of Quidditch, it was always nice to see the new players after old ones have left. Caleb took his seat and looked down at the new faces of the teams. "Hello everyone! Today is the first game of the quidditch season," he said after turning on his microphone. "Welcome to another year of quidditch, it's going to be an exciting year." It didn't matter much to Caleb who won, but he was always glad to see his house win. "Now's a good time to place bets with your friends. Who's gonna win this game? And who's gonna win the cup? You'll have to watch every game to find out!"

The whistle was blown and the players took to the sky. "There's some fresh faces in the game, one being my other cousin. Good luck everyone and play fair!"

Montagnard: 0
Cerisier: 0

Just when Mabel thought that she could get away from her sister, she becomes the new chaser for Montagnard. If anyone knew the Miller sisters, they'd know that they hardly ever got along and fought constantly. Why did Fiona have to be everywhere? Quidditch was supposed to be Mabel's thing, not her crumby sister's. The only way to make this situation a will bit better was to ignore the older girl as much as she could. She would not hesitate to hit a bludger towards her sister to shut her up, but that wouldn't go well with the rest of the team. If only she could get away from her sister, that would make her life just a little bit easier.

Mabel listened to the captain go on about their performance last year and how they should set up their game. Mabel thought she did excellent so there was no room for improvement, she was already doing great. Once the whistle was blown, Mabel was up in the air and heading for the first bludger she saw. She hit it towards a blue and green player but it missed by a long shot. "Okay, maybe I need a little improvement," she muttered.

Montagnard: 0
Cerisier: 0

It had worked! Somehow. Some way. By some miracle Fiona was now a chaser for Montagnard and Mabel did not look happy. Just to add to the annoyance Fiona grinned at her younger sister whilst drowning out the sound of the captain telling her and the other new chaser what to do. There wasn't much point in paying attention when she already knew she could never keep the quaffle in play.

The whistle blew and Fiona panicked. Help! She forgot she was actually supposed to fly. Maybe she should ask dad to send her a new broom so that next time she didn't have to fly on a school broom. Then she nixed that idea as she realised it didn't matter what broom she flew, she would still panic.

By the time she'd finally got her leg over the broom the other players were up in the air. "I'm coming," she called as she closed her eyes whilst pushing off the ground and reminding herself to think of it as a tree. A moving tree. Then she was hit in the head with the snitch. Fiona opened her eyes in surprise as she watched it fly off and disappear. Well that was different.

Montagnard: 0
Cerisier: 0

After last year's win for Cerisier, Quentin's head was growing large with pride. In his mind, he was just as great a captain as his cousin had been and felt that they would be able to take home another win at the end of the season with ease. He had welcomed the team back with a series of lofty practices, mostly focusing on training the new chaser. He wasn't worried about her, though. He was confident that his house would do well.

"Alrightie guys. Keep up the good work from last year! Us Cerisier's clearly know how to play Quidditch but don't forget to add to your skills to keep Montagnard struggling to beat us," Quentin starting, adjusting his lucky socks on his ankles before taking off.

His eyes remained fixed on the quaffle, and once it was released, he was quick to snatch it up. With a little help from his fellow chasers, Cerisier took the first point of the game. See? Nothing to worry about. He told himself. They had this game in the bag.

Montagnard: 0
Cerisier: 10

It was Payton's last year at Beauxbatons, it was so hard to believe. He would be graduating and moving onto the real world. It was scary and exciting at the same time. He wanted to go out with a bang this year and catch the snitch as much as he could. After his poor performance from the years before this one, he made sure that he practiced everyday over the summer. Nothing could stop him from practicing, he just had to. The weather wasn't the brightest but that didn't bother Payton one bit, he was perfectly fine playing in the rain.

He listened to the captain go on about performing and he blamed mostly himself for her little speech. He wanted to prove that he wasn't as terrible as everyone thought, that he could catch the snitch and that he was better than the newer seeker. She had size on her size, it wasn't Payton's fault he was a tall boy and she was a small girl.

He sighed, he was ready to focus and win. He kicked off the ground when the whistle was blown, he let out a groan when the first goal went to the opposite team. Montagnard had to win, they just had to.

Montagnard: 0
Cerisier: 10

Stephanie had been surprised when she first learnt Christine tried out for the team and actually made it as beater. She was a little bemused at her dainty younger sister not just playing Quidditch after what must have been only a few flying lessons but in a position which she thought required strength. So not only did she have to worry about catching the snitch but she also had the worry of what might happen to Christine up in the air.

She hovered up in the air concious of the fact that last year it was because of her that Cerisier had drawn with Montagnard in the last game. They may have won over all but it really set her back confidence wise in her seeking abilities. She bit her lip as she felt torn between keeping an eye on the appearance of the snitch and her sister. Why did Christine have to ruin things for her? Why?

Cerisier: 10
Montagnard: 0

The game had hardly begun and Cerisier had already scored the first goal of the game. Things would depend on how the seekers did and if their seeker could get his hands on the snitch. She was finally getting competitive about the game and now cared about winning. After the embarrassment of last year, she wanted to win. Badly. She was already good at the beater position and she hoped to knock the new beater out of the sky. Newbies didn't know anything and it there was one way to get the newbies experienced; knock them off of their broom. If only she was allowed to hit a bludger towards her sister, she couldn't stand the fact that Fiona had made the team.

She zoomed towards a bludger, beating out another beater, and struck it with her bat. She aimed at the new beater and hoped that she didn't miss, her aim was good but it was all up to if the new girl noticed the ball flying towards her.

Cerisier: 20
Montagnard: 10

Rene was so incredibly excited that Fiona was playing quidditch. Not that it had anything to do with how attractive she looked in a quidditch uniform. Nope. Had nothing to do with that. Nothing at all. It also had nothing to do with any internal feelings Rene had for his best friend, nope definitely not.

Then Caleb's voice snapped him from his reverie. Cousin-Fiona-pretty-flying-quidditch-announcing. "Oh yes, congrats to all new players on making their respective teams this season. It is bound to be yet another highly competitive season between to startlingly talented teams. It is important for Cerisier to stay level headed despite recent success and important for Montagnard to stay confident despite recent struggles."

Cerisier: 20
Montagnard: 10

Flying was such an utter pleasure for Quentin at the moment. He was stuck in his mind of lofty dreams of being an amazing quidditch player, one worthy of being professional, that he had little insight of what was actually going on in the game. However, he somehow managed to fly around within close range of his fellow chasers and accept the quaffle when tossed to him and pass it on. Cerisier was collecting goals, but so was Montagnard, but Quinn was still not worried at all.

He did all sorts of loops that he had practiced so much in earlier years to maneuver across the field, his head ringing with commentary on how great he was doing. With another goal sent through one of the golden rings, Cerisier was in the lead. Quentin punched the air and let out a "Good job guys! Keep it up!"

Cerisier: 40
Montagnard: 30

After her try-out Christine had thought she wouldn't make it. Thus it was a surprise to see her name up on the list. As a beater. That prompted the first year to go down to the pitch on her own and practice waving a bat around whilst flying. A tricky thing to do but she believed she was a natural at it. She must have been if she'd been selected for the team despite her poor performance at the tryout.

So far for this game Christine had not hit one single bludger. She just found it almost impossible to get to the bludgers before another beater did. Then one was aimed right at her. This was a pleasant surprise and Christine swung her bat at it managing to turn herself around at the same time. There had been no aiming at anyone but she was pleased just to be able to hit a bludger. "Oh. Watch out!" she suddenly shouted as she realised why aiming was so important and the bludger was headed right toward a teammate.

Cerisier: 50
Montagnard: 40

Marie-Laure did not like how the scores were going so far. She may have gotten some goals in but Cerisier was still ahead and if their seeker was successful that was it. Another loss. Marie-Laure shot a look over at her seeker and then refocused back on the game. She had no confidence in the new chasers and felt she had to do most of the work to get the goals up. Case in point: Miller getting hit in the head with the snitch. If it'd been the quaffle the girl would have gotten an earful.

She was going to show how it was done and thus flew off again after the quaffle. With it in hand she scored and Montagnard was even with Cerisier. "Miller, Green," she shouted, "don't forget what the point of chasing is?" She did not want to have to do all the scoring herself. There were three chasers on a team for a reason.

Montagnard: 50
Cerisier: 50

The game appeared to be going well.  Fiona had nothing to do with it since she spent most of her time telling herself she was in a tree.  It wasn't working.  How could it when one could not feel a trunk to lean one's back against?  One thing she was thankful for was that Mabel could not hit a bludger at her and get away with it.

A shout came from her Captain and Fiona looked up.  "I know this one," she called back.  "It's to score a goal."  She returned to her mutterings about trees.  Maybe if she closed her eyes.  That didn't work either as she suddenly felt something hit her chest and Fiona instinctively grabbed hold of it.  "EEEK," she yelped as she realised she was holding the quaffle.  "Someone get this off me."  She threw it hard and was startled by the ding.  "Like that Captain?"

Cerisier: 50
Montagnard: 60

The scores were close together but it always seemed like Cerisier was ahead of Montagnard by a goal. Caleb was content with the new players, even if they weren't the best they were still trying their best. He let out a small chuckle when his cousin was hit by the snitch. "Maybe Fiona should have been the seeker, she managed to find the snitch but lost it when it hit her." He hoped he didn't sound mean because he wasn't trying to be, he just thought it was funny. "Looks like the new Cerisier beater doesn't know who to hit the bludger towards. The green and blue players are your team, Henrau."

"Looks like Chaser Miller scored her first goal of the season, good job." Montagnard was now ahead in the game and Caleb hoped it would stay like that. A goal for each team was scored, Montagnard remained ahead.

Cerisier: 60
Montagnard: 70

Rene grinned broadly when Fiona scored. Okay, Rene, don't go overzealous here. Just make a comment that she scored. "Congratulations to Fiona Miller on her first goal as chaser as she puts Montagnard up by ten solid points. You have to assume Marie-Laure wants her team to go for the jugular this season to prove she is a more than adequate captain, which ultimately I believe she is a talented captain. Most of the pressure should be slid onto Johnson's shoulder. If Montagnard wants to take the season they are going to need him catch the snitch early in games because I personally don't believe they can win all three games this season with a high scoring chaser core, but with their lock down defensive beating core aging even more I honestly think they are more set up to win on a defensive low scoring model."

Cerisier: 60
Montagnard: 70

Trent was a bit exasperated with the first time players on his team. Seriously? Was he this bad in his first year? He certainly didn't hope so. He took a deep breath and focused on playing chaser. He had missed the feeling so much over the summer, but here he was again happily soaring through the air. It was his favorite place in the world. It felt like time stood still just so everyone could play quidditch. He could hear the drum of the fans of both teams swirling together and he dodged after the quaffle. The minute he felt it touch his fingers he smiled and surged at a barreling speed towards the posts. He threw it and smiled as it soared through. Goal one of the season? Check.

Cerisier: 70
Montagnard: 70

They were ahead but it was not enough. She scowled as Cerisier scored again making them even once more. She gritted her teeth and managed to get hold of the quaffle again and scored. Not long after it was back to equal scores once more. "JOHNSON," she shouted, "GET THAT SNITCH!" If he didn't she was going to make their next practice especially painful for him.

They needed this win to prove Montagnard were not a bunch of losers. It was bad enough she felt like she was carrying the bulk of the chasing with Miller's only score being accidental. How did the girl become chaser when she didn't even know what to do with a quaffle when she caught it? That was another player who was going to find next practice especially painful. If they lost Marie-Laure was not going to soften the blow with her words.

Montagnard: 80
Cerisier: 80

The scores were staying the same or one goal away from each other. The pressure was on Payton to catch the snitch, he accepted the pressure because it came with the job and the pressure would help him perform better. He remembered the new chaser getting hit with the snitch and then it flew off and disappeared from view. He just had to find it before the other seeker did. He flew around the pitch, careful to avoid players and balls. A sparkle of gold caught his eye and he zoomed at the chance to catch it. He was so close, he could taste victory.

He reached out, he almost fell off his broom as he caught the snitch. He put his free hand back on his broom and the other showed off the caught snitch. "We win!" A smile was worn proudly on Payton's face. Take that people who doubted him! He had caught the snitch! He just needed to catch it the next two games and he'd go out in a bang.

Montagnard: 230
Cerisier: 80

Trent hung his head when he heard the whistle blow and saw Payton catch the snitch. So, this gnawing feeling in his gut was what it felt like to lose? He sighed. It wasn't like they were going to go undefeated for the rest of the time he was at Beauxbatons, but losing a game was really disappointing. He was worried Guen was going to think he was a loser. Which now he technically was. The word sunk into his chest like a rock. He. Was. A. Loser. Trent balled his hands into fists and flew right off to the dressing room in his embarrassment.

Montagnard: 230
Cerisier: 80