3rd May, 1893 — Chudley Cannons Stadium

The practice had just ended; Theo had already known what he was going to do, but watching the training had confirmed it again for the umpteenth time. He took his time meandering down from the stands, had made it down to the lower corridors as the team emerged again, trickling out from the changing room in twos and threes. Theo leaned against a wall and waited.

“Oi, Humphrey-Mavis,” he said lightly, as his old yearmate appeared. He pushed off the wall, and gestured in the general direction of his office, hoping Jack would walk with him. “D’you have a minute to chat?”

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Jack Humphrey-Mavis/Tycho Dodonus

  

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The season was starting and they had yet to select a permanent captain. He had to wonder who it would end up being. Obviously someone from the team but who? They had all been given a try at being acting captain so it was up in the air as far as Jack knew. For now, another practice was over and he had cleaned himself off before getting redressed.

He followed his teammates out and stopped short when he saw their sponsor standing there. "Of course," he said, nodding a goodbye at the person he had been walking out with. "What did you want to talk to me about?" Jack asked as he fell in step beside the other man.

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Theo evaded the question for another minute, heading down the hallway so as to be out of earshot of any of the team lingering back before he broached the topic. Not that they couldn’t guess what he might have to talk about, or that they wouldn’t find out sooner rather than later, but – well, he had to give Humphrey-Mavis the opportunity to turn him down privately first.

“That second-to-last save you did back there was really something,” Theo said instead, mostly to fill the conversation, as he swung open his office door and waved Jack in first. (He hated that he still sometimes opened the door to the empty office and expected, irrationally, to see someone perching there, his hand on a snitch or a pocketwatch –)

“But that’s not, uh, all,” he admitted, with an awkward smile to say you can probably guess what this is about. (He had always felt like an imposter here, but never more so than when he was facing someone with whom he had been familiar since they were spotty, overexcited first years.)

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   Seneca Lestrange

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"Thanks," Jack said, a touch bashful. He worked hard to be good at what he did. He moved into the office as the sponsor waved him in. He had an inkling that he knew what this might be about but he didn't want to get his hopes up.

Or he was getting canned.

"I'm not getting fired, am I?" He could not help but say in jest. Merlin, he hoped he wasn't getting canned. Then again, complimenting someones play right before cutting them loose would be a rather odd way to go about things.

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Jack’s joke chased off some of the awkwardness, thankfully. Theo grinned.

“No,” he said, suddenly more relaxed. “The captaincy. It’s yours permanently,” Theo told him brightly. “If you want it.”

He suspected Humphrey-Mavis would be happy to; he was young (which really meant nothing; nothing from Theo, at any rate) but he was more than capable of handling it. It would give the team a good new balance, he thought, as long as... “You’re not planning on retiring anytime soon, are you?” Theo added hastily. He should’ve asked that first – but it wasn’t a mistake he wanted to make twice, pinning all his hopes and plans on someone just in time for them to leave.

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And there it was.

He was Captain.

For a hot minute, Jack thought he might take a page out of a debutantes page and swoon into a faint. He didn't but the brief thought and blankness of mind was there. His smile could not be contained.

"No plans of retiring," he assured quickly. "I would love to be captain." The first thought unbidden that came into his mind once he came to his senses was I can't wait to tell Miss Farley about this despite things there having been a little awkward since last year, when she had asked him about love.

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That blank look on his face almost had Theo worried... but maybe it was just a happy daze. There wasn’t much doubt in the smile.

He laughed briefly. “Good,” he said, “I’m glad. We’re lucky to have you –” Theo told him, because they were, and hopefully this would make sure Humphrey-Mavis stayed with the Cannons for the rest of his career. Cash might have been more of a wildcard, but Theo wasn’t worried about Jack – the rest of the team liked him (who wouldn’t?); he was positive, encouraging; and a dependable keeper, good at seeing the state of play; he’d played for Britain; and, best of all, he had no plans to leave.

Cee would be pleased, too.

“We’ll announce it next week,” Theo suggested; sometime after they’d drawn up the changes to his contract. He grinned again. “If you can keep it quiet until then.”

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He was captain. The words kept bouncing all around in his head. He nodded his head in agreement when Gallivan stated that it would be announced the next week. It was going to be hard to keep this quiet but he would need to do his best to do so. "Of course. Anything else you needed from me?"

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“Not right yet,” Theo said, with a smile. He wasn’t about to spring more work or questioning on him, so new to the position. He’d give him a few days to get used to things... but there would be more responsibility with it. “But I’ll want to hear your thoughts on the team sometime.” There would be strategy meetings, with the coach, and with him; there would be interviews to be scheduled, pre- and post-match, with the press. Humphrey-Mavis would be busier than ever, looking ahead. Theo only hoped he knew what he’d signed up for.

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"Of course," Jack agreed readily before taking his leave. He could hardly wait to tell his friends but he would wait a week as he had promised. At the very least, he planned to tell his family as he knew they would be able to keep quiet. Perhaps they would have a celebratory dinner for him. Head in the clouds, Jack headed to the showers.

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