Risky Business {Bagman, Ludovic}

[errinailishe]

The large, heavy door opened slowly out onto the slightly downward slope of a few steps leading out to the grounds. It was brisk and cloudy, but the breeze was tame and while earlobes might glow red from the bite of Autumn, it wasn’t as dreadfully chilly as it could have been. It was the steel overhang that held a gentle persuasion over the temperature, calming it considerably as the sun, hidden from view, began to lose its blazing heat. The cool, crystal surface of the lake reflected the morose state of the Earth’s ceiling, but it was what lay ahead that interested the human body in the process of penetrating nature’s stronghold.

The ever-transforming Errin Ailishe took a great, deep breath, closing her eyes and trying not to wince as the cold air entered her lungs. She held it for a moment, immersing herself in the chill, and then exhaled in a white cloud of frosted air. She watched it drift off serenely before refocusing her murky green gaze toward the Quidditch pitch. It would take a little longer to make her way forward, she knew, mostly because she hadn’t flown in a while. Two months being long enough in the life of any good witch (or wizard) who is even slightly adept at flying a broom. Now it wasn’t that she hadn’t been a good flyer. Like most things the fifteen year old had tried, up until now, she had been always slightly better than average. Good enough to warrant kind words from instructors, friends and family, but not incredibly enough to be enveloped by circles of awe or to be confronted by motions of praise. Had that been her overall intention, then perhaps she might have stuck with one activity instead of dozens. It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy flying, either. She did, actually, quite a bit. It offered a lot more freedom, more daring, than a lot of other things and it was fairly straight forward. Once you got the hang of it, anyway.

With the gold and crimson scarf attributed to the grand house of Gryffindor around her neck, the fifth year gripped her broom tightly and started down the castle steps toward the pitch. She had tied her hair up in a high pony-tail, the red bow from the ribbon sitting just off-center from the top of her head. She felt sporty and alive, and while she had no idea what this Ludo Bagman might be like in person, she was pleased to be outside of the castle walls and enjoying the weather. She walked briskly, her broom hanging by her side without being dragged along the ground. It was a Comet 180, not the newest model, and somewhat beaten-looking, but it had been her father’s trusty piece and he had passed it on to her as a going away present her first year at Hogwarts. It needed a good scolding every once and a while to gain altitude, but it still worked like a charm and was manageable once off the ground. It didn’t go exceptionally fast, or at least, not as fast as Miss Ailishe might have liked to try flying, but it was stable as anything, which would be important for what she wanted to try to do today.

It was hard to tell if Ludo had been joking when he had written back about her broom-balancing statement, but that was precisely what Errin was game to try. If she could stand on the broom as well as fly it effectively in the same position, well… Wouldn’t that be great fun? She began to grin as she neared the pitch, already anticipating the sensation of soaring through the air.

It sure would be nice to be up there again, she thought as she neared the edge of the pitch, eyes rising skyward to see if her fellow note-writer had already arrived.

[ludo]

Ludovic, had not yet arrived. As always he was running late, but he hated flying while in his school robes so he had made a quick change. Of course the quick change took five minutes longer than he had hoped. Luckily he had counted on indecision and of course had a back up plan. Now clad in Gray sweatshirt that bore the ravenclaw crew over the heart with Navy blue lettering that said "BAGMAN" across the back, though the hood covered most of it. Beneath the name was a navy "18." The sweatshirt was over a year old now, but still comfortable, and it would serve him well on the chilly autumn day.

To make up for the time lost Ludo tossed open the window in Ravenclaw tower taking off out the open window on his Nimbus 1000. It was now over a year since he had the nimbus as well. He'd had a cleensweep before the nimbus, but last year his father had given into to his sons request of buying the faster, newer, nimbus. Of course he got the 1000 right after the 1500 came out so the price was pretty good. Which was good considering his family was not all that wealthy. Not that they were poor by any standards, they just weren't rich either. But now Ludo was glad for a little extra speed as he sped towards the pitch, wind ripping through his short blond hair pulling back at the skin on his face.

Finally closing in on his target Ludo let up on the speed and lowered his altitude. He wasn't going to fast at all now, and was maybe 10 feet off the ground, but he now saw the figure he assumed was the girl he was meeting, Errin. As he began to get closer maybe 200 yards away now only a few feet from the ground, he cautiously and carefully stood up onto the broom, feet straght as if he were walking a tight rope he held his arms out to help balance and the speed began to let up making it both easier and more difficult to balence as a lower speed helped, but not so much when it was decreasing. Still Ludo had fallen far too many times in practice to fail now when someone was watching.

Coming up along side Errin, or at least who he assumed to be Errin he hopped off the still slightly moving broom letting it come to a stop and fall to the ground next to him. "Still need to work on the landing...I wanna be able to catch the broom when I jump off, but you get the gist," Ludo smiled. He figured even if the gryffindor girl he now stood before wasn't the one he had been waiting for he had still demonstrated a rather nice trick.

[errinailishe]

There had only been a sudden gust and a loud whooshing noise to betray the Ravenclaw’s presence, but his broom balancing stunt had not gone unnoticed and was just as impressive as he might have hoped it to be. As well, she was, indeed, the right Gryffindor. Actually, the only Gryffindor around for the moment. Who knew of the many reasons why, but the pitch seemed to be rather unpopular that afternoon, leaving it completely void of life save for the fifth year and her new acquaintance. And what an acquaintance he had turned out to be.

”That was marvelous! I’d like to see it again, please, if you don’t mind?” She said, applauding with a certain restrained enthusiasm. The sound of her clap was muffled by the mittens she wore. She looked up at Ludo with a veiled curiosity, noting briefly that he didn’t look in the least bit familiar. This did surprise her a little, if only because she did make it a point to attend a school Quidditch match every once in a while when she was in a less flighty mood. Of course, she couldn’t remember if she had ever actually witnessed the Ravenclaw team play, but at the moment it was all immaterial. Being fifteen and female, she did not neglect to take note of Ludo’s seemingly “steel” physique and the fact that he had hardly any physical flaws on him. Then again, this might not have been completely true considering he was wearing a largish sweatshirt. Errin might have blushed if the weather hadn’t been bitingly cold, or if that was the sort of thing she was prone to doing. It did occur to the Gryffindor, however, that perhaps she had been a little too hasty in making it to the Quidditch pitch on time. She had gone back to Gryffindor tower, but only to grab her broom and a pair of mittens. She, unlike Ludo, was still sporting her uniform and long, black robes.

Well, she thought with an inward shrug, I best start flying soon so that I can warm up.

”Is that a Nimbus? I’ve heard my Dad go on and on about those, never actually seen one though. Not up close, anyway,” she remarked, nodding to his broom as she reached under her chin and scarf to unfasten her robes. She slid one arm out followed by the other, making sure her mittens were still secure on her hands, and threw her robe over a nearby railing. It wasn’t skirt weather, certainly, but she had opted for tights that morning and felt that the greater good of her amateur balancing act was a noble price for being cold. At least for the moment. The moment she had let go of her robes she had begun to rethink her decision, only a fraction of a thought away from putting them back on.

[ludo]

"Clearly my ego comes of as smaller than it is on paper," Ludo smiled. "I'd love to do it as many times as you;d like, as long as you continue to be marveled by it. But first I should properly Introduce myself. I am Ludovic Bagman, and I'm assuming you are Errin spelt with two but pronounced with one r," Ludo smiled remembering she had written this on a note. He remembered her last name began with A, but was afraid of mispronouncing it so kept it to the first name instead.

Of course there was the possibility that this was in fact not Errin, but seeing as it was past the time he should be meeting her and no one else was in sight Ludo figured it was unlikely. Even if it was though, it would make a rather funny little anecdote to tell how he had been stood up and now he would ask the new girl to come flying with him instead. Ludo always had a back-up plan...well this would basically be more winging it than a plan, but he wouldn't let the possible set back become a set back.

Ludo looked up and down his broom. It was rather impressive he supposed, but he'd never thought it quite as special as Errin's words made it out to be. "Yea, it's one of the older models it came out two years ago and I my dad bought it for me last year," Ludo said modestly as if to stifle the girls original wonderment. He liked his broom being admired he just assumed Errin had confused his 1000 for the newest 1700, which he had to admit really only had a few subtle differences and advantages.

[errinailishe]

Fingers twitching to pick up her robe once more, Errin gave a quick nod as Ludo reintroduced himself, quoting her own note in the process. It was always a nice feeling to realize when people were paying attention to you, listening, and absorbing the details of a conversation. ”A pleasure to officially meet you, Ludo,” she said with a grin, almost absently reaching for her robe and throwing it back over her shoulders. She had taken into consideration the possibility of allowing herself to warm up before removing the restricting garment. Of course, wasn’t that the reason she had decided to remove it in the first place?

In terms of his broom, Errin hadn’t actually noticed what version it was, she obviously hadn’t paid that much attention to her father as he went into one of his many Quidditch rants. She only knew that Nimbus was perhaps the newest Quidditch sporting goods company to arrive in the thick of the market. True, it was already rounding on its tenth year in business, but according to Mr. Ailishe they were a force to be reckoned with. Something about maximum speed and fixed-point 360 degree spins. It all sounded unnecessarily complicated, although definitely appealing. She eyed Ludo’s broom briefly, wondering if he had used it for such things. To refrain further from feeding the older boy’s ego, she decided not to ask. At least, not yet. Let them get up in the air first, for after seeing Ludo do precisely what she was aching to try, made her all the more eager to begin.

”I don’t know much about brooms, quite honestly, only that the Nimbus… Whatever number they’re at now… Seems to be the broom of choice for current and, “ here she paused, but only briefly, offering Ludo a somewhat knowing smile, “up and coming Quidditch professionals.” Even though she had never seen the Ravenclaw play, she had begun to enjoy the idea that he might be famous one day and she, Errin Ailishe, would have had the opportunity to have flown with him. If only she knew more people she might be able to brag to, doing so to her father would tend to get fairly tiresome.

”Well, I don’t expect to learn any fancy tricks by standing on solid ground, do I? Do you mind if we begin?” The Gryffindor inquired politely, clearly eager and excited to get started.

[ludo]

"The pleasure is mine I assure you," Ludo smiled. The line was a little tired, but classic lines of flattery when mixed with the young Ravenclaw's charmingly boyish smile; usually ended with the desired result. Plus it was a courtesy move that even if it didn't make the girl swoon, usually didn't upset her in anyway either. So really the line held no downside for Ludo. He noticed she had taken off her robe and thought about making a joke about how it usually took much longer for him to get girls to start taking their clothes off. He held his tongue however, feeling it might be a little early for such jokes.

Ludo returned Errins smile. "Well the pros like to have the best and those who will soon join there ranks do too." Of course Ludo didn't have the top line, but Errin didn't seem to mind much. After all each model varied only slightly. "You know they say a good broom doesn't make you a good player, and that's true, but a bad broom can make even a good player look bad," he said. Of course different positions could get away with more, like if you were a seeker with a Cleansweep going up against the new Nimbus, you better hope the snitch flies right into your hand. But the same two broom on opposing beaters or even chasers to an extent you stood a much better chance of competing. Keepers were kind of a toss up, but the fixed point 360 of the nimbus would certainly be an advantage.

"Not at all," Ludo smiled. "But I must warn you it's kinda difficult so don't be discouraged if you don't get it right away," He said slightly cocky in the fact that he could do it, but actually more subdued from his normal arrogance to show he wasn't just bragging. "First things first, let's take off," he smiled mounting his broom and kicking off. "What'dya say to a quick lap around the pitch? I may even let you win," Ludo smirked. It would be good to get a nice warm up first, especially since Errin said it was months since she last rode, and being comfortable on your broom was the first step to any trick.