Anger Management (Victoria)

When most people had problems, they usually sorted them out by being productive or by talking them out with people. When Hunter had problems, he beat them into remission by hitting thinks and having violent outbursts. And being that he'd never faced anything quite this insurmountable before, his violent tendencies were always right on the surface, ready to ignite at the smallest irritation. Luckily, he had a few extra ways to take out his frustration now that he was back at school. He'd taken to learning a few destructive spells, bombarda being his favorite by far. Though, even blowing things up in an epic explosion wasn't enough to keep his attention from his miserable thoughts for long.

He'd also been able to fly again, which was possibly the best thing about being back at school. No matter what he did or where he went, there were always people. And Hunter didn't want to be around people. They crowded him and tried to console him and acted like there was a chance that things would ever be better - but they never would. Even around his friends, Hunter didn't feel at ease. He knew that they were only trying to help, but he didn't know how to act around them anymore. It felt awkward to sit in silence and it felt awkward to talk about random shit which was only taking the place of what they really wanted to talk about, and Hunter couldn't even consider the possibility of actually talking about his brother with anyone. But when he mounted his broom and took off, there was nobody. Just him and the sky, and he could almost - almost - feel a bit at peace.

Of course, there were also days like today when just flying wasn't enough. Sometimes, needed more of a distraction. So, even though Hunter was a chaser, he'd left the quaffle behind in the shed and had grabbed a beater's bat instead. He released the bludgers and took off after them, his fingers tightening around the handle of the bad while he waited for them to loop back around. It didn't take long, and Hunter pulled his arm back, whacking the ball with all the strength he could muster. The impact sent a slightly painful vibration up the bat and through his arm, but as the ball ricocheted away through the air, it took just the smallest bit of Hunter's tension with it. Then, the next bludger came, and Hunter swung at it with just as much anger. Again and again, he attacked them, almost taking solace in the knowledge that they would come back every single time.

Victoria had quickly fallen back into the familiar routine of her Hogwarts days - classes in the morning, library in the afternoon and perhaps some free time in the evening. It was by sticking to her strict schedule that she had managed to finish all her homework on time and stay ahead on the material covered in class. But this year everything was different. After almost dozing off in most of her morning classes, she would make herself sit in the library for hours while she reread the same page multiple times. Her gaze wondered off as she day dreamed about silly things such as the taste of Brazilian coffee or the comfort and softness of her bed. Not even the impending horror that was the O.W.L.s could make her focus on her studies for more than a few minutes. After unsuccessfully attempting to finish her homework for the day, Victoria gave up and left it half finished. She told herself there was plenty of time to hand in the assignment and turned her attention to the only thing that could calm her uneasy mind - Quidditch. 

Grabbing the broom she got last year for Christmas, the Ravenclaw headed to the equipment closet hoping to spend her afternoon training for a change. The team try outs were not far ahead and she wanted to be prepared this time. And hopefully not chicken out like she did last year. She was still trying to decide between auditioning for a beater and a chaser. Her swing was pretty good, or at least her brother said so, but she was more used to playing with the Quaffle. Shuffling through the Quidditch equipment in that ridiculously small closet, Victoria couldn't find the bat or the bludger! Settling on just the Quaffle instead, she wrapped it safely with her arms as she found her way to the Quidditch pitch. 

Before she had even reached her destination, a bludger flew past her with tremendous speed and it thankfully turned back around without hitting into Victoria. "Oy! Estupido!", she shouted noticing the distant figure in the air. She had the unfortunate tendency of swearing in Portuguese when she was mad, not that she tried to control it or anything. Furious with the recklessness of this unknown person, Victoria mounted her broom with the Quaffle in her hands. She had full intentions of telling this person off or even throwing the Quaffle at them! And see how they like having heavy things thrown into their direction. With a frown on her face, she flew towards the figure and quickly realized that it wasn't a stranger at all. It was Hunter. Confusion overwhelmed her as she became lost with words. Yes, the same Hunter who suffered a tragedy this summer! The same guy she was avoiding to try and give him some space. And she just screamed at him. Lovely, just lovely. 

"Hi", she said after a few seconds of silence. She examined his face, searching for a reaction. "I hope you weren't aiming that at me", Victoria chuckled, trying to bring some humor into the whole situation. She promised herself that she would try and treat Hunter as normally as possible - no one wanted to feel like a freak or to be babied. Which also meant no staring. 'So stop staring!', she reminded herself. "That was pretty good. I'm impressed. Although you probably don't swing your shoulder far back enough. The curve of your Bludger was too acute which makes it's range a bit shorter", she explained. Victoria always approached everything from a logical standpoint, even Quidditch.

Just as Hunter had pulled his arm back to hit another bludger, someone shouted up at him from the ground. Screamed up at him, more like, and the sound caused him to lose focus. His swing faltered and connected at a weird angle, causing the bludger to ricochet off awkwardly to the side and his grip on the bat to slip. "Shit," he muttered, having to scramble to get ahold of it again in time to fend off the second bludger, which was close behind the first,. Somehow, he managed it - almost falling off his broom int he process - and whacked the second bludger away. As it flew away through the air, Hunter felt his anger redirect to whoever had bothered him to begin with.

Before he'd even turned and looked to see who it was, Hunter extended his arm and held up his middle finger at the person who had decided it was a great idea to scream at him. Because he could. Because he didn't care what they thought. Because fuck them. But then, he circled around on his broom to face them, and instantly pulled his hand back, his fingers closing into an awkward fist. Victoria was approaching him. Oops. "Hey," he replied, a bit awkwardly. "Er, I wasn't aiming at all," he told her, his tone a bit less irritable than usual considering he'd just flipped her off. "I didn't know it was you," he added, hoping that would serve well enough for an apology.

Hunter tried to ignore the way that she was looking at him - which wasn't really any different from the way everyone was looking at him lately. He twirled the bat around in his hand absentmindedly while he listened to her start to speak. He was fully prepared to retreat if she tried to say she was sorry for him or wanted to ask him questions, but he was able to let out a small sigh of relief when her words involved nothing but Quidditch. That, he could handle. "Baseball," he explained. It was probably why he felt comfortable with a beater's bat, despite being a chaser. He unconsciously pulled his arm back again as she pointed out that he could get a better swing, focusing on rotating his shoulder a bit extra. "Like that?" he asked, looking over at her. But the extra extension quickly felt awkward, and he let his arm drop to his side, rolling his shoulder a bit.

"Guess that's why I'm a chaser," he said. Then, he trailed off a bit awkwardly, not sure what else to say. Most people would fill in the space with a how have you been, but Hunter preferred to avoid questions like that now. Because then, he would be asked the same thing back and it was the last thing he wanted to answer. Instead, he glanced at the quaffle she was holding and brought up quidditch again. "I didn't know you played," he said, nodding at the quaffle. "You aren't on the team."

Victoria had every intention to ignore the middle finger that Hunter had waved at her merely seconds ago. And his acknowledgment that he did not see it was her, and not some random Portuguese yelling lunatic, was enough to be considered an apology. Besides, her manners didn't seem to be any better. "It's fine. I shouldn't have lost my temper. I don't usually yell profanities in a foreign languages at strangers, or at least I strive not to", she chuckled trying to explain herself. Thankfully, by his own admission, he wasn't aiming at her. 

While in midst of her shameless staring, she had caught Hunter's gaze. Shit. Her eyes quickly shifted to another direction and she pretended to examine the Quaffle that was in her hands. Like a child that was caught stealing candy, she preferred to just act like nothing had happened at all. 'I will not stare' she repeated to herself, more as a command. But seeing his face again after such a long time and imagining how much pain he was hiding was excruciating. Wasn't she allowed to help, at all? Wasn't that the point of having friends in the first place, especially in such horrid circumstances? After a moment of reflection, she tossed the notion aside and continued the one subject that was safe to mention - Quidditch. 

"Yes, exactly like that", said Victoria nodding as he followed her instructions on the swing. "My dad taught me that. He always wanted me to be a beater. Even though I am small and not intimidating at all. I thought that beaters are meant to strike fear onto the opposing team - seeing how large and frighting most were. But he claims that there is noting more clever than a small girl taking the position. You get the element of surprise you see, because no one is really expecting much from you. And where I lack in strength I certainly make it up in precision", she said, fondly remembering her father's Quidditch lessons. He was always very keen on making her as proficient at flying as possible. 

"I do play. At home mostly. I was supposed to try out for the Ravenclaw team last year. I practiced all summer for it. But... I chickened out last minute", she confessed shrugging her shoulders. Last year, the team was filled with 6th years and up, leaving very little space for a newcomer. And seeing how Victoria was much younger and less experiences than the bunch, she saw no point in trying out. This year however, she had hoped things would be different. "I might try out this year... Don't know yet", Victoria said, not really wanting to set anything in stone just yet. "But hey, if I chicken out again, there is always next year", she said with a laugh.

"Actually, I think your profanities are a little more common than you want to let on," Hunter replied, his voice adapting a slight hint of amusement - but only slight. "Remember that time I tripped over you on the bridge?" He was pretty sure that Victoria had come close to cussing him out then as well - so it only made sense to think that she wasn't as in control of her temper as she wanted others to believe. Not that Hunter could really say anything, considering that controlling his own temper was pretty much an impossibility at this point. Or at least, not worth the trouble of keeping it in check.

Hunter ignored Victoria when she caught his gaze - obviously by accident - and looked away as quickly as she could. Typical, but Hunter wasn't going to judge her for it now. Mostly because she'd managed to hold a somewhat decent conversation so far and hadn't bothered him about anything that he wanted to avoid. He listened to her talk about her dad, nodding. "Believe me, I know. Aoife's a beater for us, remember? Unfortunately, she thinks it's funny to hit bludgers at me instead of the other team. Or at least, I think she's doing it on purpose," he joked. "But yeah, size is definitely no indication of power."

His eyes traveled down to the quaffle in her hands, and then to the beaters bat in his own. "Looks like we're a little backwards, huh?" he commented, twirling the bat in his hand. "Wanna trade? I should probably get some relevant practice in, anyway. You're welcome to attack me with bludgers in the meantime." It would be good for him to practice with a beater, anyway. Without waiting for her answer, he tossed the bat in her direction - hopefully she caught it - and waited for the quaffle in return, which he knew would feel much more familiar in his hands.

"You should definitely try out," Hunter told her, when she mentioned wanting to last year. "Ravenclaw could use some decent players, we crushed them last term," he reminded her. That could be attributed to the fact that Gryffindor had the most awesome team, and that they were pretty much unstoppable.

"Oh. Right. Damn it", Victoria said as she recalled yet another instance in which she cursed at Hunter, in Portuguese as well. Not that she a good reason for it in either of these situations. "Yeah, sorry about that. I remember. And I might as well apologize in advance for possibly cursing at you yet again some time in the future", she said with a chuckle. The Ravenclaw didn't believe she had a problem with controlling her temper, but sometimes it was just easier to say the first thing that comes to mind - even if that is a Portuguese swear word.

Having already seen Aoife play for the Gryffindor team, she knew exactly what Hunter was talking about. The girl was a mean beater, and Victoria was dreading the day she would play in opposite teams. "We are all very lucky that Aoife doesn't decide to use her bat every time her temper slips. I saw her crush a Hufflepuff's arm on the field once with a bludger. Apparently it took a week to reset his bones properly, with the head healer and all. Which makes me a lot more hesitant to try out for a chaser. Being the one who gives bone crushing injuries sounds a lot more fun than being the one who receives them"

"Really?? You would let me hit you?", Victoria asked with a surprised grin on her face. She rarely had willing participants to practice with for the simple reason that no sane person wanted to be chased and eventually hit by a bludger. So the Ravenclaw usually practiced on invisible targets or enchanted objects. But to practice with an actual chaser was a lot more useful. "Yes! Of course I want to", she responded as she threw the quaffle at him and griped the bat firmly in her hand.

"This will be fun", she shouted playfully at him as she flew up higher into the air. She liked seeing her target from a distance at first, which made it easier for her to aim and direct the bludger. Speaking of that damn ball, it was still violently flying towards the hoops. Victoria gripped her broom and sped up in hopes of catching the thing quickly.