Kryptonite (Sydney)

[Torina Symphony]

Oh, she was excited. Torina had waited all her life for this moment and now it was here. She inhaled deeply as she set foot on Australian ground, having just arrived here. Owning an Apparition License was quite a cool thing, but Torina had arrived by portkey. The other people who'd come with her quickly disappeared out of the narrow alleyway that they were in and left her standing there alone. The girl was absolutely excited, more than anything else. This was her dream, after all!

Inhaling once more, Torina started on her way towards her hotel. Her brother, Steve, would arrive a few days later. His team, the Kestrels, were still in Ireland to prepare the Draft, or whatever. Torina wasn't really sure, but it didn't matter much, anyway. What mattered was that she didn't really have a clue where to go right now..

[Louis Brennan]

Louis could hardly believe that in the past weeks, his excitement about the Draft had died down considerably. Perhaps it was because everyone had been talking about it for so long that it was no longer that interesting, but as he had made his way to the Portkey that night, he hadn't felt that anticipation that one might have expected.

The second he landed in Sydney though, it was completely different. Once he'd gotten over the weird shock of it suddenly being early morning, a grin spread across his face. He was definitely looking forward to it now. After the World Cup, this was the most important and exciting Quidditch event there had been within the last year. Suddenly he couldn't wait to see everyone together; his fellow team mates, rivals and friends, and the various witches and wizards who were hoping to land a spot on a team this year.

Looking around, Louis started to follow everyone out of the alleyway. He had the address of the hotel he would be staying at written on a scrap of parchment, but he had no idea how he was going to get there. There was bound to be someone nearby who knew their way around there, he'd just have to find them.

Louis realised he had been standing in the same spot for some seconds now, and most of the people from the Portkey had quickly dispersed. Still around were a couple of older-looking guys arguing over directions, and a young girl who looked like she might be a bit lost too. Louis walked over to the girl, greeting her with his usual winning smile.
"Hi," he said brightly. "I don't suppose you know the area well, do you?"

[Torina Symphony]

Torina looked up when she heard a voice, as she supposed it was her being greeted. She was right; the young man was looking directly at her. She showed a smile and then - "Hey! You're Louis Brennan," she told him, as if he wouldn't know himself. Oh, Torina was far from a groupie, more of a jealous admirer of his skills if anything, but of course she knew the players and why not share his identity with him? "Oh, and no, absolutely lost," she replied with a chuckle.

[Louis Brennan]

"Yep, that's me," Louis replied with an amused smile. He was not at all surprised at being recognised. It happened on a regular basis in normal circumstances, but obviously at an event like this pretty much everyone would know who he was. Luckily it was not something that bothered him; if anything, he liked it. "Who are you?" he asked the girl. He knew he had never met her before and was therefore almost one hundred percent sure that her name would be completely unfamiliar to him, but it seemed reasonable to ask. "Oh, well, I think I'm lost as well," he said with a slight laugh. "I'm meant to be going to this hotel, but I don't know where it is..."

[Torina Symphony]

"Told you," Torina said jokingly, grinning and brushing a rebellious strand of hair behind her ear. She already had most of her locks in a ponytail, but some strands were still fighting back. "Torina Symphony," she replied to his question about who she was, wondering if he would recognize her name. Her family was far from unknown in the Quidditch scene, after all.
She laughed when he talked about the hotel he was meant to find. "Same here," she said with another chuckle and looked him in the face. "No bodyguards or something to guide your way?" she asked, with another laugh, obviously not meaning these words.

[Louis Brennan]

"Symphony?" Louis repeated, recognising the name immediately. It wasn't exactly a common name and with Torina here for the draft, it would be too much of a coincidence for her to not be related to Steve Symphony, who Louis was vaguely acquainted with. "Are you some relation of Steve's, then?" he asked. "Sister, cousin?"
He laughed slightly at her question, assuming she'd meant it as a joke. "No, I think I can just about look after myself," he said with a grin.

[Torina Symphony]

Torina grinned, so he had recognized the name. "His little sister, yes," she told Louis, smiling ever so widely. This one was a proud, loving little sister and she wasn't afraid to show it. Life would become funny if she managed to be accepted into a professional Quidditch team, as she would then be playing against her brother. But to be quite honest, Torina couldn't wait.

"Fair enough," was her comment when he pushed her joke further. "What makes you so sure I'm not here to kill you?"

[Louis Brennan]

"Quidditch runs in the family then?" Louis answered, smiling. He had come across several people whose siblings, cousins, partners and even parents were in the Quidditch business somehow, so it was hardly unusual. It seemed unthinkable to him though, having a sister who had absolutely no interest of Quidditch in any way. Louis hardly minded that fact though; it meant he was the Quidditch star of the family.

"Er, well if you are you're not really doing a very good job, are you? I mean, now you've given me a warning and everything..." he said, raising his eyebrows questioningly and snickering slightly.

[Torina Symphony]

"You could say so, yeah," Torina said and laughed, once again amused about her own crazy family. Her little sister Josephine, who wasn't at all into Quidditch, often accused them of loving the sport more than her. Which was probably at least partially true.

The blonde girl snorted a little with laughter. "Oh, it's psychological greatness. Tactics, you see. Telling you about ym family, joking around, warning you," she said, the creepiest tone she could manage in her voice. But the laughter that followed destroyed the whole act in a second.

[Louis Brennan]

"Oh I see, very smart of you then," Louis replied, nodding as if he fully believed what she was saying although it was obvious from his expression that he knew they were still joking around.
"Where are you heading now, anyway?" he asked. "Did you come here on your own?"

[Torina Symphony]

"Of course," Torina replied, arrogantly as she could manage. She was far from an arrogant girl, so pretending to be like that really amused her. When he asked where she was heading, the blond girl tilted her head a little and bit her lip, looking down the alley, showing quite obviously how lost she really was. "Well, I am meant to find this hotel and meet my brother there in a day or so, then we'll go to the draft together."

[Louis Brennan]

"Do you know the name of it? The hotel, I mean," Louis said. "I'm supposed to be staying at one too, it might be the same one..." He probably wouldn't have said it out loud, but he would feel a lot more comfortable being accompanied by someone, even if it was a teenage girl.

[Torina Symphony]

"Er," Torina said, scratching her head a little as she thought about the name of the hotel. What was it again? "Jollydays, I think," she finally said, smirking a little because she thought the title to be rather weird. "Is that the one you're heading to?"

[Louis Brennan]

"That's the one," Louis said, nodding. "You'd think there was only one hotel in this town," he added with a slight laugh. "Do you want to go, then? I mean, I was planning on heading straight there..."

[Torina Symphony]

Torina smiled at his comment about them sharing a hotel and nodded her head when he asked if she wanted to go. "If you don't mind my company," she said and gave him a smile, figuring that he would not mind. If he did, well, that would make her feel silly.

[Louis Brennan]

"I think I can tolerate you," Louis replied, his tone making it clear that he was only kidding. "Do you know the way?" he asked, hoping she would say yes. He had been given directions of course, but he'd basically forgotten everything after the first couple of minutes. Perhaps he should have paid more attention.

[Torina Symphony]

"I'm lucky then," Torina replied in a joking manner, then fished a scrambled piece of parchment out of her pocket. "Well, I've been told it," she responded to his question about the way, as she held the parchment up in the air with a grin on her lips, all victoriously. "From this alley, we have to go in er, that direction," she said, pointing towards one end of the alley and starting to walk. "Then right."

[Louis Brennan]

"In that case, lead the way," Louis said, smiling widely. As they started to walk, he turned to Torina. "So you go to Hogwarts, right?" he asked, and then continued without waiting for an answer. "What house are you in?"

[Torina Symphony]

Torina walked, looking ahead and back to the piece of parchment repeatedly. When Louis next to her asked her a question, the girl looked at him for a moment, then ahead again. "Yeah, I go to Hogwarts. I'm a Hufflepuff," she told him, looking at him again. Other people's reactions to being told someone else's house were always interesting. "I suppose you were there, too? What house were you?"

[Louis Brennan]

"Oh, cool," Louis said, nodding. He didn't really have much reaction to Torina being in Hufflepuff- the only thing that might have sparked anything other than neutral feeling would have been if she'd said she was a Slytherin, because Louis had had nothing but bad experiences with the entire house back when he was at school, yet this girl seemed alright. "I was in Gryffindor," he added.

[Torina Symphony]

"Cool," Torina repeated his words, commenting his response. Alright, maybe she shouldn't have expected any reaction regarding her house whatsoever, after all, she didn't show much of a reaction herself.

[Louis Brennan]

"Do you have any idea how much longer we've got to walk?" Louis asked after a few minutes of silence. "It feels like we've been walking forever."

[Torina Symphony]

"No," Torina said, her voice somewhat of a mix between annoyed and tired, as they'd indeed walked for quite a bit. "Actually, yes! Check that," she then added, pointing ahead with her arm. A large building, entitled Jollydays by a blinking neon sign, was at the end of the road. The English girl tilted her head a little, taking in the image and trying to decide whether she was happy with the hotel or not.

[Louis Brennan]

Louis looked to where Torina was pointed, and sure enough, there was the hotel they'd been looking for. It wasn't exactly luxury, but he'd definitely stayed in worse places. "Wow," he said. "Good timing. I said I'd wait for a teammate out here, he should be arriving in a few minutes."

[Torina Symphony]

Torina grinned at his comment about the timing, definitely agreeing with him. She was also more than glad to finally have arrived at the hotel. "Okay then," she said to him with a nod and a bit of a half-shrug. "We'll probably see each other at the draft, or even in this lovely hotel, so.. See you!" She spoke with a light voice and finally flashed him a smile. Lifting her hand for a wave, Torina started towards the entrance of the building.