The Broomshed
 

Will entered the broomshed and selected a broom to practice flying. Quidditch tryouts were just around the corner and he wanted to be ready.

Humming to himself, he looked over the brooms that were stored in the room. Oh, the opportunity! Some of these bad babies could probably really zoooom... Not like a Firebolt, of course, but still a darn sight better than his own broom back home.

He picked a late model Nimbus and took it to the work tables, checking it over to make sure it was in good condition. His humming gave way to singing, and as he worked Will was soon belting his song out, not caring that his voice was cracking like the San Andreas fault and that he was a tad tone deaf. As he polished the broom he began dancing in time to a heavy rock beat only he could hear in his head:

"...Yes I know the Muffin man,
The muffin man!!!
THE MUFFIN MAN!
Yes, I know the Muffin maaaan--
Who lives on Drury laaaaaaaaaa-aaaane..."


Thank goodness no one was in the room to witness this horrific spectacle.

Desdemonda, who had just been heading to the broomshed in hopes on tuning up her broom, which she usually left in the musty corner of the seemingly near-collapsing shed with a charm placed on it to prevent bundimuns and doxies from destroying it. She stopped in her tracks and cringed as some horrid shrieking was coming from inside... with the general tune of... some Muggle children's song?

Sighing inwardly, she made her way towards the door and, as silently as she could, slipped into the shed. "You know, I always thought that using torturing curses at Hogwarts was strictly against the rules... even on kneazles," she remarked dryly, standing behind Billium. She had a parchment notice rolled up in her right hand, a thin, emerald green seal on the outside to hold it in place. "What in Merlin's name was that supposed to be?" It was probably something that didn't quite make sense, as Muggle songs often were. Maybe the... the... Muffin Bland. Something like that. She couldn't make out the lyrics in Billium's horrific singing.

After signing up for Quidditch tryouts, Rapunzel was delighted to be thisclose to a Quidditch pitch again. Nothin quite like fresh air in yer blonde hair to lighten up the day! she thought merrily, starting to whistle as she strolled to the broomshead. Her poor Nimbus could probably use a good tail-clipping....

As she approached the shed, however, she picked up on a tune different from her whistling. "Oh my, it's the Muffin Man!" Punz murmured aloud, her green eyes sparkling with joy. "I can whistle that too!"

And she picked it up, right where whoever was singing (and doing a fantastic job) was at the moment.

"Tweet tweet twee, twee twee twoo twee, twoo twee twee twoo twee....." :music:

Will made a face at Desdemonda -- the first girl he's seen outside of Hogsmeade and it had to be her. Greaaaat. "Hey Dessie, how's life in giiiiirls finishing school? Learning how to keep your pinkies up and not to slurp your tea?" He smirked, sure that they were learning more actual magic than the girls. Lord Borr's class notwithstanding, of course...

At that moment a lovely, perfectly-tuned whistling came... as though a songbird were picking up his tune and echoing it back to him. Oh,delight! He disregarded Desdemonda for a moment to sing back, "Mmm-mmm-mmm... THE MUFFIN MAN.... MUFFIN MAN... Muffin man..." Wherever was it coming from? He listened, waiting for a reply.

Rapunzel had nearly reached the broomshed now, but she paused with her hand halfway towards the door. The Muffin Man Musician had returned her whistling! What delight!

:music: "Twee twee twooo twa twee twa twa, twee twoo twa twee twoo twooooooooo!" she strung the last bit out, holding the note as long as her lips could pucker, and then she gasped for breath.

"That was fun," Punz mumbled, pushing the door open. The tune was now seared into her brain and she just had to know who the singer was....

delete please, sorry

Desdemonda narrowed her eyes. Who knew an entire concert was in store? How lucky for her. Not.


"Oh, just splendid. Actually learning useful things... and not just table manners. Unlike young boys like yourselves, most girls come with manners intact. And what are you learning? Are they trying to teach you how to be all gentlemanly? A pity. You'll most likely earn a T in that academic field..." she smirked, tapping the parchment impatiently against thin air.


She slowly turned, her smirk vanishing, to the newcomer. Of course -- it just had to be the one female student she most despised... For Merlin's sake! "Good day, Rapunzel," she said icily, in a stern, clipped tone, to both of them.. "If you'd excuse Billium and I for a moment, I was attempting to pass a message to him regarding Quidditch."

Rapunzel had barely set a foot in the door when oh, behold, that high and mighty German girl greeted her snidely.

Wrinkling her nose slightly, but doing her best to remember the lesson on manners, Rapunzel chose her words carefully.

"Excuse me, Ms....." oh snap, what was her name?! "Ms. Captain." That would do. "I just came to retrieve my broomstick. Do carry on." She smiled in what most would consider a smirk and headed towards the other side of the shed, passing by a Slytherin boy as she did so.

Wait....he was the only other person in the shed! That meant he was her Muffin Man!

Rapunzel deliberately strolled close by where he was standing and leaned towards him a little, whispering, "Are you the Magic Muffin Man Musician?" She couldn't resist, curse that curiousity. But perhaps Desdemonda hadn't heard....

Will's eyes darted from Desdemonda to the shape in the doorway-- as the sun streamed into the dim broomshed, he couldn't make out more than a halo of blonde hair and a backlit figure, but even that was enough to peak his interest. He stared for a moment but Venus Revealed was interrupted by Desdemonda. Again. "A message? For me?" he squeaked, raising an eyebrow and glancing at her before his eyes returned to the girl in the doorway. Who IS she? Rapunzel who? he wondered. Whoever she was-- she knew the muffin man, alright. Oh yes indeedy.

She approached him and he nodded mutely. Oh, she was pretty. He blushed-- she had heard him. Oy.

She raised an eyebrow. Ms. Captain? She nodded curtly to her. "I wasn't intending to do anything but carry on. Good day." She looked towards Billium expectantly.

"A message. For you." She said flatly, tapping her foot impatiently. "Come now. I haven't got all day."

"Yeah, then... Er... please, fair lady, deliver what you have for me?" He smiled a big fake smile at Desdemonda, trying hard to appear dashing and well mannered in front of the blonde beauty with a broom. That image confused Will. Beauty and the Broom? Girly girls like that don't ride-- much less play a brutal sport like quidditch! Completely wrong-footed, he smiled again at Dessie and waited for the message.

Rapunzel positively beamed, delighted to hear that he was her Muffin Man. Hers alright - after all, they were partners in whistling. Er, humming. Er, one whistler and one singer. But it could work.

Winking at the boy, Punzel continued on towards her broomstick, choosing to ignore Rude Captain. This way, she could at least work and eavesdrop at the same time. A dream come true.

Humming the Muffin Man Song very softly, Rapunzel found her Nimbus in a dark corner. She blew off a few cobwebs and then walked it over to a workstation. Lucky she had her servicing kit with her....this broom was in no shape for tryouts next week! She shook her head and continued to hum to herself, working slowly but surely with cleaning cloth in hand.

She almost started giggling though, when the boy spoke. Fair lady? He can't possibly think she's pretty, she thought, polishing the handle a bit harder. And no, I'm not jealous either, Punzel told herself, picking up speed with the polishing cloth. Any faster and the friction would cause a spark to light that little shed on fire....

Desdemonda didn't even try faking a smile. She glared, handing over the parchment to him. "Here... post this on your Slytherin common room's boards. It's regarding Quidditch tryouts and I'm obviously not allowed to set foot in your school," she said bitterly, wishing she knew the time. If he didn't hurry up, she'd be late to her next class...

"Erm... thanks. I'll do so, Mon Capitan. Well-- hopefully mon capitan, anyway." he clicked his heels together and gave her a smart salute, British navy style all the way. He eyed the girl, Rapunzel, to see how she was reacting. Was she impressed with him? Did she just think he was an idiot? Inquiring minds want to know!

"Depends on how you play, Prefect. We'll see." She smirked slightly and turned on her heel, nodding to Rapunzel swiftly as she strutted out of the shed and towards the castle, hoping she wouldn't be late for class.

Of course she was watching. What else did she have to do?

Oh yeah. Polish the broomstick, right. But her corner of the shed was pretty dark anyways...surely the two Slytherins wouldn't notice a pair of green eyeballs staring them down?

And her eavesdropping was worth it, too. The boy - what did Captain Snot said his name was? - was very entertaining. Heck, he did a perfect impression of the royal navy! Punz was so very tempted to applaud that she had to grip the Nimbus' handlestick so tight that her knuckles turned white.

Alas, she would just have to settle for grinning at him. Who knew Slythies could be so funny? And at last the other girl left. Now Rapunzel felt free to speak.

"Jolly good singing voice you've got there," she said lightly. "I could hear ya all the way from the locker rooms."

He blushed deeply, his ears turning crimson even in the dim lighting of the broomshed. "Er... thanks." She heard me! Oh Lawdie, help me Merlin! "Youreagoodwhistlertoo." And really right purty, ma'am. Ain't you the new schoolma'arm? he had a ridiculous notion to add. He felt incredibly awkward all of a sudden, and picked up his broom with a jerk as though he expected it to weigh two tons. It didn't, of course, and it flew from his hand and crashed into the corner-- narrowly missing the window. Cripes, that was close! "Er... I gotta-- I better--" He took one more long look at her and, dropping the broom and all thoughts of flying, took off running out of the broomshed. At least this time he hadn't tripped over anything -- unless you counted his own words. Cripes, what an idiot she must think I am!

Girls were just scary. He was at the moment very glad that they were being kept far far away.

Rapunzel never took her eyes off the boy, for he was much more interesting than her messy old Nimbus. And indeed, he proved worth watching as his pale skin slowly ripened from lightly freckled to redder than a radish.

"You're welcome," she replied slowly, her mouth twitching into a grin. She was about to simply ask his name when Merlin have mercy, he nearly chucked a broomstick through her head!

"Mother!" Punz murmured, brushing a few woodchips out of her hair. She shook her head and looked up, surprised to see the boy dashing out of the shed like an Azkaban escapee!

"Er....bye?" She called after him, entirely confused on how to respond. Surely she wasn't that hideous? Or was it the smell of polish that scared him away? Months go by without Rapunzel speaking to a boy, and the first one she addresses flees from her without a word. Maybe I really am crazy, she thought sadly, going back to work on her broom. And maybe he's heard rumors about me....like what that Willow girl calls me: a Psycho Puff......

She sighed deeply, her lower lip on the verge of trembling. She held it back though, and continued working. Nothing like a little hard work to keep ya focused on the important things in life: Quidditch and House Points.

Wow, this place looks like it's ready to fall down, Cale thought to himself as he approached the broomshed. His old Nimbus in hand, he opened the door carefully, mainly out of fear that it would cause the whole shed to collapse, and peeked inside. There were one or two random people in there, including Will, the Slytherin Prefect. "Hey there Will," he said, giving him a little wave but not wanting to interrupt the conversation he was having with another girl. Cale looked around for a bottle of polish...after leaving his broom in the care of his mum for the remainder of his holidays last summer, the handle was a little scuffed.

Anna was out roaming the grounds with a Quidditch book in her hands when she came upon the old broom shed. She'd heard others say that the shed was a nice, quiet place to study when you wanted to get away from all other conversations. Sure, she wanted to brush up on her Quidditch knowledge, but there was a certain someone she wouldn't mind having a conversation with as she did so.

She carefully opened the doors to the old shed, moving them slowly for fear that one wrong move could send the entire shed collapsing to the ground. Wouldn't that be just lovely - the female Gryffinfor prefect singlehandedly tearing down the entire broom shed. She giggled a little at the thought.

When it was safe to walk in without destructing something, Anna headed in and took a seat against the left wall. She opened her book and began to read - blatching - flying to intentionally collide with another player.

Cale had finally located the bottle of polish and looked up as someone else walked into the shed. And not just someone else, but her. "Anna!" he said with a smile, greeting the girl who had obviously not noticed he was there. "What are you doing here?" he asked. That was when he noticed the book in her hands. "Oh, I see...being a bookworm, is that what you're doing?" he asked with a playful grin.

Anna had just started reading about another Quidditch foul, when she heard someone call out her name from nearby. She jumped a little, obviously not realizing someone else was in here or that they even knew her name. She knew that voice, though! It was Cale!

"Cale!" she called out, closing her book and tucking it far away into her pockets. "Bookworm, huh? I'm brushing up on my Quidditch skills for the try-outs. I see that you tried out. My name's right underneath yours on the sign-up sheet," she explained, thinking maybe he didn't know if she'd signed up or not since she signed after him. "Beater, huh? Are you sure we can trust you with a bat?" she joked.

He grinned, sitting down next to her and pulling out the rag he had brought to polish his broom. "I'm surprisingly more coordinated on a broom than on my feet," he told her. "I figured you would try out. Jason is trying out, and so is Shel. We should have a good team this year."

Anna smiled at him as he sat down next to her. It was really nice to get to see Cale during the week. It seemed that things in this school were turning out to be a lot better than they had been. At least they were getting to go out to Hogsmeade on the weekends, play Quidditch, and see their friends from the other school. "I was just joking with you anyway," she said, laughing it off. "I trust you. I know you'll just fine. Maybe they'll let us practice in pairs! Would you like to be my practice partner if they do?"

She watched him clean his broom. Maybe she should start working on that soon. At least she'd been trying to study up on all the different fouls thats he could possibly make. "I think we'll have a good team. How's Shel and Jason doing?" she asked.