Running the mile!

[Loki Seivert]

It was incredibly important to Loki to be fit and prepared at all times when it came to Quidditch. He worked out everyday as well as practice every other day for Quidditch. Most said that Loki Seivert was a jock, but then in the same breath, they called him a nice jock. One that wouldn't stick your head into a toilet or give you wedgies.

Though it was summer in Scotland, it was still breezy and semi-cool. Loki was Canadian whose hometown was northern Canada. Scotland wasn't that much of a weather change. Running in shorts and just a tank top, Loki ran up a small hill and down again, turning the corner from the forbidden forest towards the Lake. He ran this way everyday, knowing that he was going to get the miles he needed to stay in shape so he could either hit a buldger or catch a quaffle.

Finally he stopped at his starting point, running all he planned to do today. He dropped down to stretch out his muscles in the sun. There were no shadows around but as he tried to take his head to his knee, he found that a shadow had mysteriously floated over him.

He looked up with a grin to see who it was.

[Matthew Corin]

Matthew had seen Loki head out, but didn't really expect to see him out on the grounds. In all honesty he expected that Loki would be off with some girl. He didn't make any mental judgement about his friend, it was just something that he was used to. It came as a bit of a shock for him to see Loki out on the grounds running. Not from a monster, or to help some first year. Just running for the exercise.

Matthew couldn't help but smile at the concept. Knowing that Loki usually had to work to hold up those around him, it was nice to see him doing something for himself.

When Loki layed out on the ground Matthew decided to go over and say hi. Matt was dressed a little light for the weather as well, but not to the degree that his friend was.

Matthew shifted downward into a crosslegged sitting position brushing some hair out of his face when he landed softly on the ground.

"Hi Loki."

[Franz Kaiser]

Another student that liked to keep fit appeared. Franz was a work out freak, to him, he would give up all parties he's ever invited to than to never work out again. But, he'd never give up beer.

He showed up wearing his work out shorts and a red t-shirt. Apparently, it was his house color. He wasn't very fond of the color, but he sure liked that a lion represented his house. Very manly.

He saw two students he wasn't sure if he'd met before. Well, the red head looked familiar, like he might've met him on his first day at Hogwarts, but he wasn't sure.

He nodded at them as he approached them.

[Matthew Corin]

Matthew looked up the new arrival. He immediately recognized him from the sorting ceremony.

Matthew was clearly younger than both Franz and Loki, and a stood a few inches shorter. His pale boyish face was framed by his long, thick light brown hair so that the only aspects of his face that stood out were his brown eyes and his lips. He was wearing a black t-shirt and jeans, which despite being a little baggy showed that he was in pretty good shape. Not as good of shape as Loki per se, but still fairly active.

He nodded back to the new arrival to let him know that he has seen him.

[Loki Seivert]

'Hey Matt!' Loki exclaimed as he watched as his roommate sat down beside him as he continued to stretch. He shouldn't have been so glad to see him since they were in the same house, but to be honest he hadn't seen as much of the bloke as he would like.

They had a few run-ins in the past few years or so, but Loki always liked Matt well enough. Loki turned to see who Matt looked over too and saw someone with a red shirt on. He furrowed his brow, not knowing who this cat was. Did he meet him? Loki couldn't remember due to the many people he encountered everyday.

'Hey.' He said as he switched legs and tried to take his head down to his knee. His 13 year old self would be embarrassed to see the flexibility Loki had now. Since he quit dancing a few years ago, right around when he started Hogwarts, he had no need to keep doing the stretches no boy in their right mind would do, except male dancers.

'So how have you been Matt? Haven't seen you around. Been up to much?'

[Matthew Corin]

Matthew shrugged,

"I haven't been up to much really. Just lots of studying."

It was true that Matt had been studying a lot this year. He had always put much more time into studying than was really needed. This year that had gone to a really ridiculous degree. Not so much for the enjoyment of studying, but moreso because of a growing feeling that he didn't really belong with the rest of the students outside of class.

He kept making himself try to go out and try to talk to people, but it mostly just made him feel more strongly that he shouldn't bother. Even his exercise regimine had moved from being something he did on the grounds to being something he just did in his dorm.

"How've you been?"

[Franz Kaiser]

Normally, Franz wouldn't feel the need to be social and meet new people. But considering he was still pretty new to these Hogwarts grounds, he decided to ask them about the place.

"Hey." He said trying to cover his German accent for some reason.

"You guys know where is a good place for a jog? I'm new to these parts." He explained.

[Loki Seivert]

'I can't complain.' Which was Loki's natural answer to anything that concerned him. Sure he gotten better about thinking about himself more rather than try his hardest to make everyone else happy, but he still had his many moments.

He looked up again to see Franz ask about where there was a good jog. Loki knew quite a few places, seeing that he's been to this school forever and he ran practically everyday.

'Well, anywhere really. Around the school is always a good warm up, and then running down the lake is really a good work out.' He gestured to the school, then down to the lake. 'I'm Loki, by the way.' He finally introduced himself to the guy.

[Franz Kaiser]

Franz looked in the direction that Loki gestured and then back at the redhead when he introduced himself.

"Oh, you're Loki." Franz held out a hand. "I'm Franz. You went to Yule Ball with my cousin, Val."

He recalled Val's letters about how excited she was about the Yule Ball, and that she was going with the most popular boy in school. He wondered if Val had a thing for Loki... or vice versa?

"Well, actually, our parents are cousins." He added in clarification.

[Loki Seivert]

Loki shook his hand and then nodded in the newly acquired information he was given. So Franz was Val's cousin? He remembered her telling him that she was German as well, so this made sense they were cousins.

'So, you two are second cousins. Thats cool. How does it feel being at school with a family member of yours? Are you and Val close?'

[Franz Kaiser]

"Well, I've always been in school with family. My brother is still at my old school. But this is the first time I'm in same the school as Val. Our parents used to visit each other a lot, so I guess we're pretty close." Franz explained.

Since he was going to start his work out, he decided to also start stretching to avoid leg cramps later.

As he stretched, he noticed the lake at a distance.

"Do you swim?" He asked. Finding a work out buddy would be good since he didn't know much about the place yet, and it wasn't like Val knew anything about working out, at least that's what his opinion was.

[Loki Seivert]

'Oh ok.' Loki shrugged his shoulders and stood up again to shake his legs out on last time before he went to get the Quidditch set and swing some bludgers around for a bit. He looked at Franz as he asked him if he swam.

'Yeah. I swim.' Loki answered, though not as much as he got the chance too. Now that he thought about it, it would be a good idea to start. He looked at Franz and wondered if he was asking around for someone to work out with. He actually never had a partner. Everyone just thought he was crazy. He sized Franz up mentally. He didn't know the guy well but Loki was a pretty friendly guy. It couldn't hurt. Either he liked him, or he didn't.

'You play Quidditch?' He asked simply. However, the weight of that question relied heavily on the answer, which everyone that knew Loki, recognized.

[Franz Kaiser]

Franz finished stretching and then got up. At the sound of Quidditch, his eyes lit up.

"Actually, I do. We had a team in my old school, and I was the keeper." He remembered he counted Hogwarts Quidditch as one of the pros to come to Hogwarts.

"I'm thinking about trying out. At my old school we only had one team, and we played other schools. Not like here." He added, unaware that Loki was a Quidditch fanatic.

[Corbin Xaimine]

Corbin Xaimine was sitting in his room, trying to do some studying. However, at the moment all he could do was stare out the window. Suddenly, he saw movement down on the grounds. It was hard to tell who it was from his room on top of Gryffindor tower, so he grabbed a pair of binoculars from under his bead. You'd be surprised how often this things come in handy.

He found the target, and saw that it was Loki Seivert. Running.

Corbin grinned, very happy for an excuse to stop this non-sense studying. He jumped up, and grabbed his broom which had been leaning on a wall. He checked out his clothes...shorts and a t-shirt. Good enough. Next he took out his old and worn out Quaffle from his trunk. He walked over to his window, shoved the desk out of the way, and took off.

The feeling of flying was still exhilarating, no matter how many times one did it.

Corbin held the quaffle in his left hand as he guided his broom with his right. He had only come out here to mess with Loki. Since Loki was oppositon when it came to Quidditch, Corbin wanted to send a message. Of course, in a friendly way.

So, he threw the quaffle up in the air, and let it start free-falling. Once it had gone a good distance, Corbin entered a dive, heading almost straight towards....Loki- except now he was standing near the lake with two other guys.

Oh well. Corbin thought. I guess it's more people to see the show.

Having been distracted, however, the quaffle had fallen farther than he had anticipated. He continued his dive, but then realized he wasn't going to make it. He jerked his broom up, only feet above the ground. He made such a sharp turn upward that he slid off the back of the broom. Corbin hit the ground hard, landing on his back.

His broom landed a few yards away, skidding in the grass. The quaffle, too old to have a charm to prevent it's falling, fell next to his head.

Wow. He thought as he lay there. I look like such an ass.
Corbin dusted himself off and turned around to the others.

"I'm a keeper! I'm not meant to do stuff like that." He rubbed his wrist, which was hurting rather badly.

"Leave it to the chasers and seekers, I say." Corbin grinned as he approached the group. He suddenly realized that he did not know two of them.

"Loki! What's going on? I saw you running, so I thought I'd let you get a taste of what Gryffindor's gonna have next season."

He then turned to the other two guys. He knew he had seen one of them before, but he was sorry to say he didn't know his name.

"Hey guys. I'm Corbin. What's up?"

[Loki Seivert]

Before Loki could comment on what Franz said, including the revolutionary idea of playing other schools, he heard a crash behind him. Loki slowly turned around to see Corbin face down with a quaffle next to him and his brown a few feet away. He watched as he popped right back up, protested about his wrist and walked over to the trio.

'Right! More like wishing Gryffindor is going to be in the same league as Hufflepuff!' He laughed and pat Corbin on the back. It wasn't hard, but it would give any normal person a jump forward. 'Ah, nothing. Just showing Franz a few places to run and he was actually a keeper at his old school. So you actually played other schools? Thats interesting...'

But that also gave Loki a sinking feeling. Maybe he wasn't as good as he thought he was. He played the same people over and over again at Hogwarts and this guy had played various teams from other schools. However, Loki didn't let anyone know what he was thinking and smiled.

[Franz Kaiser]

Speaking of being the keeper, it would seem that the keeper of his house had just dropped out of no where. Franz raised an eyebrow as he wondered if Corbin was okay... in the head.

"So, is that how we land our brooms around here?" He jokingly asked. This was Franz idea of a joke. His jokes were always dry and if people didn't know him well enough or get it, they may find them insulting.

"I'm Franz. We were just talking about Quidditch, actually."

He turned back to Loki as he finally got to comment on Quidditch again. Franz didn't sense that Loki felt threatened, but felt pretty happy that he found something in common with someone. He had yet to meet someone he actually thought was pretty cool to hang out with.

"Yeah, well, just local schools. Since my old school was much smaller than this school, it only made sense to compete against other schools. We don't have different houses like here."

[Corbin Xaimine]

Corbin laughed at Franz. He was pretty sure that the other guy was joking around. Corbin didn't know yet that this new student was in Gryffindor.

Overhearing what Loki said, Corbin couldn't help but be jealous that they hadn't played other schools. It would be fun to play with his friends from the other houses.

"Cool. You play Quidditch then?" Corbin addressed Franz.

"What postion?"

[Franz Kaiser]

"Yeah, I played Quidditch in my old school. I was also keeper, like you." Franz answered.

"I am actually interested in all the positions, actually. Well, except seeker. It's just not as thrilling to me." He added. Franz didn't know what house Corbin was in, so he had no idea that he would be taking Corbin's position if he became the Gryffindor keeper.

[Corbin Xaimine]

"Alright mate!" Corbin grinned to Franz.

"Keepers are hardcore." He said, as Franz spoke about being interested in other positions.

"Hey! What house are you in?" Corbin was guessing he was in Hufflepuff...maybe Loki was training him for the upcoming season.

[Matthew Corin]

Matthew sat quietly listening to Franz and Loki talk. It really wasn't all that odd for people to come out of nowhere and turn a small conversation into a larger chat. At least not in his experience.

Matthew nodded in agreement to Corbin's comment about Keepers, having been one himself for a short while he knew that it took a lot of energy and practice to tackle the role.

He didn't want to interrupt the topics at hand, so he continued to sit quietly and give physical affirmation that he was indeed listening and keeping up. Taking a part in the conversation without really saying anything.

[Loki Seivert]

Loki raised an eyebrow to them both as they talked about Keeper positions. 'Well, you both will be competing for the keeper this season then. Franz is in Gryffindor, Corbin. Lets hope he isn't better than you!' He laughed and pat Corbin on the back again.

'You trying out for Quidditch Matt? I know you did a few seasons, but you seemed to never be into it.' He didn't want to single Matt out of the conversation, but he was curious to know who was going to be on Hufflepuff.

[Matthew Corin]

Matt looked up a little surprised when Loki addressed him directly. He took a momentary pause before speaking.

"I don't know. I never really finished out a season before. The first time I joined because Roxy was away. When she returned I stepped down, and the other time was when I joined when you were away."

Despite not being particularly competitive he did like being part of something like Quidditch where he felt valuable.

"I don't really have a lot going on, so that might be fun. You know? Getting in shape and trying out for the team."

He smirked,

"Maybe this time I can actually finish out a season."

[Corbin Xaimine]

Loki patted Corbin on the back as he told him that Franz was also in Gryffindor. Corbin laughed, alittle nervously. He was now worried about keeeping his spot on the team. He had never actually had competition before. Maybe it would make him better, trying to win the spot.

Corbin listened to Matthew talk. He remembered how Roxy had returned in the middle of a match and replaced Matthew. At least, he was pretty sure that was what had happened.

"Yeah, Roxy is the one who got me into Quidditch too." Corbin nodded at Matt. "With us both being keepers, it was pretty intense during the Hufflepuff-Gryfindor matchups."

Corbin wondered if Matt was any good. He couldn't remember much of playing agansit him.

"Yea man. You should go for it!"

[Loki Seivert]

'You know, I have a feeling that you may get on the team this year. You were a pretty good keeper from what I saw before. Watch out you two.' He joked at Franz and Corbin, though in reality, if Matt got Keeper, he would only be head to head with once of these guys.

Corbin was a pretty tough keeper to beat in his opinion, he wondered how Franz was going to be. Loki then also wondered who was going to be team captains for this season coming up. Loki had never been captain and everyone knew that he would give his teeth to be it. He was thanking Merlin that he didn't have to go up against some mystery new comer like Franz. Who knew just how good he was?

'Wow. Roxy. Thats a name I haven't heard in a while.' He remembered back when him and Roxy were good buds and all the guys at Hogwarts basically threw themselves at her. She was pretty but he never thought that way about her.

[Corbin Xaimine]

Corbin nodded to Loki.

"Hey! I think we should play some Qudditch."

He looked around at the three other guys. All of them were Quidditch players after all. Why should they just be standing around here?

"What do you say?" Corbin picked up his quaffle and threw it to Matt.

[Franz Kaiser]

"I'm in Gryffindor." Franz answered almost at the exact time Loki answered Corbin. It was thent hat he realized that Corbin was also Gryffindor.

He gave a little laugh when Loki joked that Corbin should watch out due to the competition. Though he looked like he wasn't nervous at all, he was actually a little nervous. Hogwarts was a big school, these students probably had a lot more training than he ever received.

"Well, as I said, I'm interested in all the other positions too.... other than being Seeker. So, I guess we'll see. Sometimes when I practice with my younger brother, who is also Keeper, I play chaser. I just never got to be chaser because the only vacant spot was keeper." Franz shrugged.

He watched as the other guy joined in on the quidditch conversation. Then his eyes lit up as Corbin suggested that they have a go right now.

"I'm up for it.." He smiled.

[Matthew Corin]

Matt's eyes went a little wide when a quaffle was suddenly being thrown to him. He shot his hands out to try to catch it, but mostly to protect his face from it. The quaffle struck and bounced off his hands. Matthew moved quickly and grabbed it before it was a complete fumble.

Matthew's eye's trailed off to Loki before looking back to Corbin,

"Yeah, that could be fun."

[Loki Seivert]

'Alright. Hufflepuff against Gryffindor. We don't have enough players to do proper quidditch, but what about we play the game of, 'do whatever possible to get the quaffle into the goal?'

Loki joked and watched as Matthew barely caught the quaffle. Hopefully it was a fumble and he wasn't always that close to dropping stuff. He looked to Corbin and Franz.

'Sound good?'

[Franz Kaiser]

"Sounds gut to me." Franz said letting a little German slip. But he didn't really care. He turned around and looked over at the castle.

"Accio Broomstick!" With that, he waited for his broomstick to arrive. He hadn't planned on playing any surprise Quidditch, but it was always a pretty nice surprise.

When his broomstick finally arrived, he reached for it and turned to the rest of the group.

"This should be fun." He said with a grin.

[Corbin Xaimine]

(((Sorry, I keep forgetting about this rp!)))

Corbin nodded at Loki's suggestion of the teams and the game. He hadn't realized that they were split evenly by houses. Well, that worked out well.

After Franz's broom arrived, Corbin got on his broom and started to go up into the air. He wasn't sure if Matthew had his broom with him or not, so he hovered above the group, waiting for them to join him. Corbin could see the Quidditch pitch in the distance ahead of him. He could make out one set of goals through the stands. Just looking at the field made his heart rate rise!

"Y'all ready?" Corbin yelled down to the others.

[Matthew Corin]

Matthew balanced the Quaffle in one hand and summoned his broom. It was an old second hand broom, but he had cleaned it up quite a bit and refinished it so it didn't have the same dark, gunky build up that it did when he found it. With a fair amount of grace mounted his broom and hovered above ground.

Seeing Corbin's enthusiasm he smirked at him and spoke up,

"Race you there?"

He moved up to level with Corbin.

[Loki Seivert]

Loki was the last to summon his broom and mounted it a few seconds later than everyone else. He loved sport and he was glad he was able to play together with a few friends and a new one.

He flew into the air next to Matthew and raised his eyebrow to the comment about racing.

'Racing to the Pitch? How about it Franz?'

[Franz Kaiser]

Franz hopped on his broomstick and with one swift stump, flew up in to the air to join the group.

He looked toward the direction everyone was looking at and located the Quidditch Pitch.

"I see it, yes, I'm up for it." He said with a smile and waited for someone to indicated when to go.

[Corbin Xaimine]

Corbin grinned at what the four of them were about to do. He had no idea what to expect from Matt and Franz. At least with Loki, he knew what he was in for. It didn't make it any easier playing against him, however.

Looking around him, Corbin made sure they were all in line.

"Alright." He yelled out, once he was sure they were all ready.

"Ready? On your mark...get set....go!" As soon as he finished the word 'go', Corbin blasted off of the line. The sudden acceleration was exhilarating. He grinned as the wind flew over his face.

As the pitch grew closer, Corbin saw a blur pass him on the right, and another on the left. He began to worry about this, so pushed his broom harder, hoping he would win the race.

[Loki Seivert]

Loki bolted forward when Corbin set go with his eye intent on the keeper's goals in the horizon. He had a trusty Nimbus 2001 that never let him down though lately it had been slowing down a bit. He was looking to get a Firebolt but they were still way too expensive for him to buy.

He felt himself getting ahead of Corbin but he saw two blurs out of the corner of his eye. He tried not to look at either one of them and kept his eye on the goal. He was very competitive and wanted to win!

[Matthew Corin]

Matt clutched his broomstick tight as the call was given. He shot forward with speed that was a big frightening, but at the same time very pleasant. In his time as a Keeper he had never felt this kind of speed, it was more about calculated movement than reckless speed.

He didn't focus on the others, simply his goal in the quickly shrinking distance ahead of him. He leaned in close to the broom and felt the muscles in his midsection tighten as he did. All he could really pay attention to was the speed and the feeling of the wind whipping his hair wildly behind him.