February 27th, 1888 — Quidditch Pitch

Gonna fly around the world
Let everybody know my time is now
And my friends at home are pointing from the ground
But I'm not coming down
From my lucky day

The young girl stood over the ground, broom resting beside her, not yet allowed to hover. She stood clad in a yellow riding dress and she only wore her arm and wrist guards rather than the full suit - not really having felt the need to wear it all. She had, however, reluctantly donned her helmet at the last minute though it lay to the side rather than her head. She had improved a lot in her six months on the team, and for that she was grateful but it just wasn't enough. She was up against people who had played for years. What were six months on that? Nothing. She wasn't a natural born talent. She had worked hard this year, practicing whenever she had a moment of free time. Figuring out another way to coax just a little more speed out of the school broom. And even when she couldn't be on the pitch, she had a pall she would carry around just to toss around.

She was stretching now. She had learned the hard way that pulled muscles were no fun. When she forgot to stretch it felt like some clobbered her with a beater's bat when she woke up the next morning. It wasn't fun. Not with all the stairs to climb in the castle. She had to be annoyingly careful stretching, else her dress would shift wrong[ but for the most part, she had figured out what she could and couldn't do and stayed in those bounds. It didn't hurt she had quite a few other females on their team something she was pleased by. She wasn't too sure she would still be willing if she was the only girl.

She rose up from her stretches in a slight panic as she heard approaching footsteps. She was pretty certain she had remembered to check if another team was practicing. She thought the lot was clear now. Still, it didn't take her long to relax when she noted it was only one figure and it was a recognizable one. Handsome Whitledge. The head boy. He seemed nice enough, though she did think his name sounded a little odd - not that her family was the ones to judge. "Good afternoon, Mr. Whitledge. What are you doing down here? The Gryffindor team isn't due to practice are they?"

Handsome Whitledge

  

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look at the pretties mj made me!!!

Practicing wasn't the world Handsome used for the time when he took to the skies without his teammates. He wasn't as serious about quidditch as some of the team members, such as Miss Browne who wanted to go pro, and MacFusty who... well, who was still figuring out his life plans. Taking to the skies was instead a form of much-needed stress relief for Handsome, who was less than three months away from his NEWT examinations. While fairly confident he wouldn't go directly into the workforce, he still wanted the option to!

It seemed he wan't alone on the pitch that morning, though, and was instead joined by one of the youngest members of the Hufflepuff team. "Good morning, Miss Potts!" he quipped, laying his broomstick down. "Nah, no practice this morning. Classes are still going on for the day. I'm just here flying around," he explained nonchalantly.

  

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— set by MJ —

Calla didn't think she wanted to do quidditch professionally. Sure, she was only a first year and her opinion could change in the next six years. She would think that her parents would allow it. But, even though she put so much time and effort into it and the fact it was her thing amongst her six sisters that only she did, she didn't have plans of becoming professional. She knew she would keep playing, but there were other things she liked more that she wouldn't have time to dedicate herself to if she went pro.

She was a bit surprised that the head boy knew her name, even more so because he was in a different house. Did he know her from quidditch or did he just know everyone's name? She was glad, though, that he said there wasn't any practice scheduled. She had forgotten to check before coming out to practice and she wouldn't want to invade on their reserved time or space.

"Would you like to practice together, Mr. Whitledge, then? It would be quite perfect a keeper and a chaser. Or did you come just to fly?"

  

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look at the pretties mj made me!!!

Handsome usually made no attempt to offer assistance to opposing teams (nor did he ever accept offers from members of opposing teams), but then end of his seventh year was approaching and her career on the Hufflepuff quidditch team had just begun. Why not help her? With a smile, Handsome nodded and leaned over to pick up his broom.

"I can help you," he said, walking closer. When he stood right in front of her, he was really staring down to look at her. "But only if you don't tell any of my teammates," he finished with a twinkle of mischievousness in his eyes.

  

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— set by MJ —

"Oh sweet! Thank you Mr Whitledge. Have someone to practice with it always far better. I'm not that good but I'm sure I'd be better than expecting the air to toss a ball towards the goals," she offered with a grin, tightening her grip on her broom, itching to get started.

"Tell your teammates? Oh of course not! Only if you won't tell mine though. I can't imagine they would be that pleased with me if they knew I offered to help you. It doesn't really bother me though. I play because its fun, not because I want to make a career out of it or something like that." Now was probably not the time to mention that she and Mr Gillenwater had practiced together before as well. Man, she sure had a track record of trying to practice with Gryffindors. Maybe she should branch out some. Or maybe she should start practicing more with her own teammates.

"How would you recommend practicing?" she asked, flashing a toothy grin.

  

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look at the pretties mj made me!!!

Miss Potts was sure wordy for a little first year girl, but he supposed that wasn't a bad thing. She'd likely need to learn to hold her ground if she expected to stay on the team for her duration of her Hogwarts years, even if she was Hufflepuff.

"We can do some basic rounds. Nothing too complicated. I have no desire to face Professor Darrow or the nurse because I'm endangered a first year with some wild trick shots," he chuckled.

  

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— set by MJ —

Frankly, the worry of staying on the quidditch team all seven years had not yet crossed her mind. All she had been focused on was staying on the team this year. Even now, over half of the way into the year, Calla still wasn't sure of what reason she was chosen other than possibly lack of options and the need to fill a spot with a body - though why they hadn't picked an older body she was befuddled by. She was pretty sure that obsession was the only reason she was still on the team - it had prompted her to spend all her free time practicing. And the same obsession and insecurity prompted her to puff [quite imagine a cat when frightened where its hair raises on the back of its neck to make itself appear bigger].

"I can do! I'm not fragile. I am perfectly able of handling myself in more than just tossing a ball back and forth. There is no need to think I can't handle something harder! I know I'm not perfect but how am I too get better if I sit back and stay in the basics?! I thank you for your willingness to practice with me Mr. Whitledge but if my age means you are to treat me like a doll I will find someone else to practice with."

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Handsome Whitledge

  

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look at the pretties mj made me!!!

Handsome bit his lip to prevent himself from bursting out in laughter, but a smile found its way to his face nevertheless. "You've got a lot of nerve in that tiny frame of yours. Are you positive you weren't meant for Gryffindor?" he teased, ignoring her complaints. He didn't put much weight into the complaints of first years. They always considered themselves to be high and mighty—which, in a way, was a good thing. It meant she wouldn't be taking shit from boys like Lestrange later in her quidditch career. "You're not even out of Flying class yet; I think we should stick to simple rounds," he reaffirmed with a raise of his brows, as if to challenge her once more.

  

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— set by MJ —

She froze for a second, deflating slightly, startled by his question. Her, a Gryffindor? It would certainly be interesting. She wouldn't have minded it. Her two best friends were in Gryffindor, she could have been roommates with them both then. She wouldn't missing anything if she did. She related to them far more than many of her dormmates. "I actually thought that it was a possibility. Before I first came. Really up until I was sorted. That and Slytherin. The only house I didn't consider was Ravenclaw. But now, here, I have no doubts. I have things I value more than bravery. I'd rather be kind than brave," Calla would state with a shrug, thinking he wanted a serious answer. "And I'm not that small. I'm actually pretty average for my age and gender. You are just older and male."

She frowned then, slightly annoyed now by his repeated suggestion. "If I wanted to be on flying class level, I would just go to flying class and not practice any more than that. But, here I am. Practicing. Run the drills we do in flying class will get me absolutly no where and if that is all you want to do, well, I'll ether find someone else to practice with or not waste my energy. Flying class level won't win a quidditch game, Mr. Whitledge. And if I am to be young on a team, I can not prove everyone right and drag my team down, sir. I need to be as good as the rest of them and flying class level will not get me there. I cannot disappoint my team. They are the ones who gave be my spot. I will not repay that kindness and chance by slacking off because I am young and in flying class."

Saying the same thing over again to her was insulting and she would challenge back.

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Handsome Whitledge

  

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look at the pretties mj made me!!!

It was hard to take all of what she was saying in, but he was 100% sure he'd been staring at her with wide eyes through the entirety of it. He must have offended her to cause such a monologue to leave her mouth, though he wasn't just just what he'd said.

"I'm not making any insinuation that your womanliness nor your age makes you incapable," he reassured. "It's rather that I have no desire to bear the brunt of punishment in the event that you find yourself with a broken arm. The comment on Flying class was merely to suggest that some maneuvers I consider second nature have not even been taught to you."

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— set by MJ —

Honestly, Calla didn't have to be offended for her to talk that much. She talked that much no matter how she felt. But a seventh year Gryffindor probably didn't know that about her. And in this particular case, she wasn't so much offended - at least not in the sense that she was hurt; rather, she just wanted to be taken seriously.  

"Teach me. Take it slow. We can do hovering rather than on pole level if it would make you feel better," she offered to the gryffindor. She really didn't want to toss a ball back and forth so maybe her persistence would wear off. It did at home with her sisters so why not this random person at school? "I mean really if I break my arm, I take some icky potion. It wouldn't be lasting damage. Pretty please!" The arm comment was intended to be a joke, hopefully he got that.

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Handsome Whitledge

  

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look at the pretties mj made me!!!

She still persisted.  A smile slipped onto Handsome's face, but he quickly turned his head away in fear that she might take it as an insult. As much as he hated to admit it, she was kind of adorable with her fiery temper and tiny stature—he wondered if Maddie had dealt with her on one occasion or another.

"Definitely a Gryffindor—stubborn as a bull," he commented as a way of avoidance. He really shouldn't be taking her out to the pitch and risking an injury. "How are your grades anyways? I'll make you a deal."

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— set by MJ —

She wasn't tiny. Not compared to other girls her age. In that case she was actually quite tall. However, she supposed in comparison to a male seventh year, she supposed she was 'tiny'. She'd fight anyone who told her that though. After all her family was known for being tall. However, the firey temper, well, she couldn't argue much on that one, even more so if someone had challenged her.

"Like I said, I thought I could've been one. Almost all of my friends are Gryffindors after all, but apparently the sorting hat thought not," she paused, her expression twisted into a confused look. "Wait, my grades? What does that have to do with anything. They are fine. I'm best in herbology but the rest of them are not bad either. But it is only first year. I like potions. Wait what deal. I want to hear." She could do deals. She didn't go her life with six sisters and not have deals.

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Handsome Whitledge

  

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look at the pretties mj made me!!!

"It would be unwise to say your first year grades are unimportant," he pointed out. "Poor performance leads to less opportunities down the road—even if they won't be handed over to future employers." Which, if he was correct, would be her family or no one. "For every half an hour of quidditch practice, you do an hour of studying. I've seen players—male and female alike—fail classes because they're studying their strategies more than their homework. I'd hate to see you become one of them."

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— set by MJ —

"You make it sound like I'm failing," she huffed with a frown, arms crossed awkwardly over her chest - err at least as well as she could in full gear and holding a broom. "I'm not the top of the class in most classes, no, but I've certainly given no one any reason for concern. I could be top in herbology but that is just life experience. If I failed something mum would take me out of quidditch. She can do that. I am a girl. I had to have my father's permission in the first place. And when I said I was a just a first year I was implying the work wasn't hard not that it didn't matter."

She grumbled a few other things under her breath before looking up at the far taller male again. "Fine. Half and an hour. I'm not sure how you intend to hold me to that but I'll agree."

Besides, in the long run, she was likely to work in the flower shop until she married just like the rest of her siblings - err most of them. What did her grades outside of herbology and maybe charms, transfiguration, and maybe potions matter?

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Handsome Whitledge

  

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look at the pretties mj made me!!!

Handsome rolled his eyes. He had no reason to be bickering with a first year girl at all, and he had a nagging feeling that she'd keep going if he didn't stop her. "Okay, squirt," he teased, taking a single step back. "Finish your homework for the week and we'll practice this weekend. Until then, I have to make sure I'm technically not breaking any school rules."

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— set by MJ —