September 05th, 1888 — Hogwarts Quidditch Pitch
Sloane Bixby

Cameron had made a promise, and it was one he'd been determined to keep.

It was the afternoon he'd spent at Hogwarts, and he'd finally found time to drag Sloane Bixby out to the pitch to practice for Gryffindor tryouts that were scheduled to take place in two days. She was going to be their seeker if he had anything to do about it (which he didn't, not really), so he was determined to make sure she was prepared.

"You're fast, aren't you?" he asked, his lips stretched into a wide grin. "I mean, you're from a 'quidditch family' and all - you must have natural ability." Or at least he thought it ought to work that way; as a muggleborn, his experience with any magical families (apart from the Bell family, which was really only comprised of father, daughter, and broomstick-named brother) was limited.

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Sloane had hit second year running and more specifically the quidditch pitch, flying. Despite the fog putting her a month behind on practicing, she was determined to make the team this year. Thankfully it looked like the seeker position was going to be open this year after all, which left her with two positions to try out for. She was a decent chaser, but she was built for the seeker spot. She was small and she was quick and that's what she always played when they played at family gatherings. The Bixby clan was large, loud and everyone loved quidditch. She was the baby of the entire family, of all her cousins, but she did not let that stop her.

Thankfully she had friends willing to help! "Haha, I'm little, not much to move around." Despite almost a two-inch growth spurt over the summer she was still shorter than most of her peers. "My Papa's whole family has played or been involved with the sport for my whole life, you could say it runs in the blood." Sloane smirked proudly. Her dad was a coach, her brother played professionally, another brother made broomsticks! Even her mum worked in the broom regulatory office! Sloane felt most at home flying on her broom.

"Do you think tryouts will be much different than last year?" She was hoping she already knew what to expect and with a year's worth of practice under her belt, hopefully it would make the difference!

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"Well that's good, then. That's what you need to be a seeker: small and agile," he teased, all the while working on getting the jammed door to the broom closet open. "And considering the current chasers on the team -" Him and Maddy Bell, both oh who were on the shorter side. "- I doubt they'd be taking someone very tall as seeker unless they're amazing." And between last year's tryouts, club quidditch, and flying club, he hadn't spotted any Gryffindors who fit that bill. Finally, he managed to opened the broom closet door and, flashing a grin towards Sloane, ducked in to retrieve supplies for practice.

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Sloane sat on her broom, hovering just a few feet from the ground while Cammie fished in the cupboard for equipment. She really was hoping for that seeker spot. Still, working with Maddy and Cammie in a chaser trio would be amazing too. The end of Sloane's braid was turning pink at the ends just thinking about it- pink was her excited color, apparently.

"Have you heard of anyone else trying out?" Sloane had been trying to suss out who else might be going for her spot, but hadn't had much luck. Most of her friends already played or had no interest altogether. Sisse was super supportive however! Her friend wasn't really the quidditch type, but still managed not to complain when Sloane went on and on about it.

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Bangs and clatters filled the air as Cammie tried to wedge a dusty quidditch box out from behind an poorly-sorted stack of brooms. Clutching the handle of the box, Cammie attempted to pull it out, a yelp leaving his mouth as a broomstick fell and hit the back of his head. He sheepishly extracted himself from the crowded closet, carelessly tossing the box on the ground before sighing, "No, but I haven't spoken to the first years, yet."

He didn't know their names, but could identify them based on their appearance. The shortest had brown hair and possessed a boisterous temperament; the second had dark-hair and a perpetually gloomy demeanor; and third was taller, poorer, and had lighter hair than the others. "There's a few boys who have the look of a seeker, but that doesn't mean they have the skill. I wouldn't worry, though," he said, patting the tip of her broom as she hovered above the ground. "First years don't usually make the team." Maddy had, but he hadn't.

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Sloane was a little too preoccupied in thought to offer to help Cammie until it was too late. His yelp caused her to nearly slide right of her broom in surprise, but managed to recover at the last possible minute. Still, she touched down and got her feet back under her, appreciative of Cammie's appraisal of this years first years.

"Ugh, don't remind me. My hair was blue for a week after that." She'd been so disheartened after missing out on last year's team that her inability to control her metamorphmagus abilities that it had resulted in being literally blue for a week. It had certainly been an adventure in learning to control her emotions that was for sure. "Alright, what do you think we should practice?" Sloane didn't really need any work on the snitch or dodging bludgers- that's what having four older brothers was for! "I should probably work on my passing..." If she were going to give the chaser slot a go as backup she needed to brush up.

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Cameron suppressed a chuckle. "You think you're the only one?" he joked, mounting his own broomstick. "I had to wait until second year, too—except I didn't quite understand quidditch then. Muggleborn struggles, I guess," he added, kicking off the ground. It had sucked, however, to see other first years make the team, especially when he was still grappling with his new identity as a wizard.

"Hmm, practice," he pondered, hovering beside Miss Bixby. "Passing is important, if I do say so myself," he decided, donning a mischievous smile. "If only Miss Bell was here! We could see how good you are at intercepting." And avoiding interception, which was just as important!

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"At least you had a legitimate excuse! I was born playing quidditch, I got my first broom at three! I'm pretty sure it's actually in my blood." That little toy broom hadn't gone very high or very fast, but whooo buddy did it do the trick, she'd been hooked the instant she'd hit the backyard.

Sloane had already started away when Cammie went on about how important passing was. Well duh! "Come on then, let's see if you can teach me a thing or two!" She egged him on with a smirk of her own as she sped off down the pitch. Passing and scoring weren't hard but she was much better at catching, obviously; if she could catch a snitch, she could catch a quaffle. She could probably work on her aim though. Being the third leg in the chasing trio wouldn't be too bad, not when Cammie and Maddy were the other parts, but it would take her a little bit to get used to the movements and anticipating her teammate's mannerisms and movements. She'd get it though- providing chaser was where she ended up!

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