Quick note: There will be practice tomorrow morning at eight o'clock AM. Yes, this means that you better double time for breakfast and get your Hufflepuff self down to the pitch! Let's get our game on guys! ~Angie

A gust of wind whistled through the air, the threatening clouds hung low in the sky after a night of rain. The wet grass squelched beneath Angie’s shoes as she walked out onto the pitch, her long blonde hair tied back into a braid. Her yellow and black robes flapped in the wind, her goggles and gloves tucked tightly into one of the pockets.

With her broom in one hand and a trunk in the other, she smiled at the prospect of running her very first Quidditch practice. She still couldn’t believe that she, a fourth year, was the new Hufflepuff Quidditch Captain. It sounded too good to be true.

She shivered in the cold morning air, but disregarded it. This was practice; nothing was going to stop it from happening. Come hell or high water, Quidditch would always press on.

With a small grunt, she dropped the trunk that she had been dragging, her arm already aching and the muscles crying for surrender. About halfway to where she wanted to be, she realized she could have used magic, but her wand was tucked into her bag in the locker rooms.

It was about seven fifty-five in the morning by now, and Angie had sent letters to all the members (potential and current) that practice would start at eight AM sharp. With their slowly failing season thus far, she wanted to be sure that they could get a hold of themselves and build a strong aerobic base for the rest of the season.

A flash of yellow towards the edge of the pitch made her turn her head, looking at whoever had decided to join her. “Morning!” She called out; her cheeks rosy and her breath fogging in the cold air just the slightest. “Ready for practice?”

"No!"

Figaro called back to Angie.  He was bundled up tightly, hunched over in the chilly, wet morning air. 

"It's too bloody cold.  It's too bloody early!"  he complained as he walked over to the younger Hufflepuff.

But he was here.  He'd tried out for Chancelier's team at the beginning of the year as he did every year.  And just like every other year, he hadn't made the team.  It was his sixth year now and it was beginning to get embarassing.  But what with the Broom Sickness and all, they now had a tiny mini-captain and Figaro apparently had another shot at Quidditch glory.  He loved the game, he just never showed up for practices, disregarded the rules, and was too easily distracted to follow through.  Also, too much gloating when he actually did something right.  But Angie - she was another story.  She was a strong player and had been on the team a year already. 

Now that he was closer, he moved the scarf away from his mouth and said skeptically,  "Heya.  You do know I'm not actually on the team right?"

"Aww Fig, suck it up! Just a few hours from now you can retreat back to the castle and snuggle up by the fire." Angie joked, laughing at his complaints. At least one person had showed up so far, albeit it be someone who had never actually made it onto the team. But that didn't matter, they would pull this team together no matter who showed up.

"You think I haven't realized that by now?" She asked, "but it's all good, I'm sure we can whip you into shape and maybe actually make you a decent enough player."

She nodded, "You just actually have to show up to practice every now and then, that's all. Hey, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger." Angie said with a smile and a mental note to watch Fig, make sure he was playing right and giving his all during practice.

"But why did they tell you this early?"

"It was on the on the note," said Heliotrope.

"But before breakfast--I mean, immediately after breakfast, you haven't time for--don't the athletes need some kind of 'healthy start' before training--?" Obderedria was under a slightly skewed green froggy umbrella, with two little eyes that would pop up on top when opened although one of them wasn't fully perked. This and an overcoat was in contrast to Heliotrope with no overprotection to the chilling damp, just quidditch clothes and her broom watertight with lake kelp wrappings. "You do know that they don't want you catching them with a tool anymore, right? Though the pink is a nice touch."

"Magenta Kelp. Not a weed for whipping, it seals." The bright color zigzagged along the grip of her broom.

"I don't know if I could ever handle being up this early in the cold," Obderedria said, oblivious to the irony that she had done just that to make sure Heliotrope made it to the practice on time. "I--when did I get faster than you?"

"You are not faster, you are only ahead," Heliotrope replied. Although her roommate had reason to be confused. The two had started walking at equal speed with Helio slightly ahead. Now as they reached the field Obderedria had pulled ahead without changing her gate at all.

There was a subtle sedation to Heliotrope's movements. Most telling was that her broom was being dragged with bristles through the mud when before, upon leaving the castle, she had her elbow bent to hold the broom upright above the ground.

Oh great.  Figaro turned to see two very unwelcome parties, and he rolled his eyes.  Now, Drea - that was his fault.  He'd totally destroyed her blender and hadn't yet acquired a new one.[1]  He'd kind of forgotten.   But Heliotrope?  In addition to being kind of creepy, she'd ruined Hufflepuff's already doomed Quidditch match by using seaweed to catch the snitch.  And then Figaro realized - was he going to be the oldest person trying out for a spot?  He suddenly felt a little too cool for this little get together.

"Yea. Right," he half-heartedly agreed with what Angie said.  It was her funeral.  He knew he should try to be cheerful, but someones the younger years really got on his nerves.

1.	October 1, Blend It Whipped

"I'm sure we can whip you into shape and maybe actually make you a decent enough player."

"You've got your work cut out for you," Katy said dryly as she walked onto the pitch with a school broom in her hand.  She was dressed for the weather, with warm underclothes under her Quidditch robes.  Her nose and cheeks were pink from the cold wind but her hair was fastened in a braid to keep it from whipping about into her face as  she flew.  "None of us are particularly good at this game."  She was, of course, referring to the fact that she knocked herself off her own broom five seconds into the game and had hit her head so hard she'd been able to contribute anything of value afterwards.

The fact that much of their team comprised of fourth years, including their captain, didn't bode well for them.  Neither did the fact that their only upperclassman at the moment was Figaro Sellaphix.  They could probably do worse than the team they had, but not by much. 

"It doesn't really matter how well we practice, we're never going to win."  Blunt as ever, Katy couldn't help but point it out.  She didn't want to be coddled and told that with enough work they could do anything.  She'd been flying on the weekends by herself for years and nothing had come of it except a slightly lower tendency to go sprawling on her bum.

Alice bounced down to the pitch, energy coercing through her veins. She had been up for hours, and was cruising for something to do. Finally, this was something!

She wasn't going to play, no no, only observe. She'd be there for mental support. "Hi guys!" She said overly cheery. Alice was in a plenty good mood. "It's a bit nippy out here, but I like it!" She said brightly.

Angie smiled at the small crowd gathering in front of her, front upper years to a first year, Hufflepuff seemed like they were at least trying to pull their team back together. "Don't I know it," she said in response to Katy, who seemed to be a bit unhappy this morning. "We can try, I'm not guaranteeing anything, but we'll work on it."

"Morning Heliotrope, Obderedria," she said, nodding to the second years who were walking up. Helio seemed to have something in her hands, another piece of kelp. As long as she didn't lash out at anyone with it, Angie wouldn't investigate it further.

"Alice! Where are you glasses? If you're going to be out here watching us, don't you need your glasses to see?" She questioned the littlest one with a mothering tone. The younger year was slowly growing on here in the short amount of time they'd seen each other. She was so fragile, small and meek; it reminded Angie of a younger version of herself.

"Alright then, we're just going to give the others a few minutes and then we'll get started with this morning's practice." She said, scanning the open field behind the group to see if any stragglers were showing up.

Alice smiled brightly at Angie. "My glasses were broken. I've been wandering around blind for a few days now, some nice kids have helped me get to where I wanted to go." Alice shrugged her shoulders. "It works." Alice looked over to the other person who was talking to Angie. She couldn't tell who he was, just that he was a boy, and that he was taller than Angie.

It was probably Fig. But, she had already made the mistake several times of calling people the wrong names. "Hi, and you are?" She asked, looking at him. "If you could gently point me in the direction of the stands, I'd be really grateful." She said, her smile as bright as ever.

The practice had yet to start so Heliotrope looked to her broom. There was one loose section of lake green wrappings. She took the time to pull the knot then bind it tighter, methodically keeping the length taught while wrapping it up inch by inch.

Obderedria looked over at what Heliotrope was doing, her eyes darting from the other people at the practice to what her roommate was doing. "Why do you wrap up your broom like that?"

"It keeps it water tight. And the broom can operate underwater." There was an odd diction Heliotrope used that turned the verb into 'oper-ate.'

"Wait, you mean fly underwater with it? How? Wouldn't you need something else, maybe a mop--?"

"A broom can work underwater," Heliotrope continued in her monotone. "My mother Danielle uses one to visit the colony in the depths."

"Wow." Obderedria was distracted with getting her umbrella closed, it didn't want to snap all the way shut. Then the thought rang in her mind again. "But why do you wrap your broom up in kelp? They don't play quidditch underwater. Though maybe they could, if everyone had a wrapped broom and that gillyweed stuff you like--"

"It feels nicer than a naked broom," Heliotrope said, tying the last knot on the refurbished shaft.

"As in, grip? The other team seekers where those gloves that--ooooh, right. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say glove."

Heliotrope just stood there with her green broom in hand, it was too cold for her to think why Obderedria would think she had said something offensive. There was a slight visual clue. The one piece of quidditch gear Heliotrope wasn't wearing were the gloves that protected a seeker's wrists. For a simple reason because they wouldn't fit around her fingers, given her extra skin.

There was a bit of commotion at the entrance to the Pitch as a smaller second year was physically pushing an only slightly bigger fourth year out, "Don't make me hover you out here Ayla I swear to-"

"I'm not playing anymore, I quit. I already told you, I quit!" On the last syllable the smaller of the two gave a great heave and the fourth year went tumbling towards the group. Despite what had been said in the arguement between sisters she was wearing yellow and black quidditch robes with chaser gloves and was soon followed by a well kept broom that had been tossed by the younger of the two.

Ayla straightened herself up with a scowl. Her raven hair was pulled tightly into a bun, a yellow Alice band keeping the stray strands at bay, though the dark was flecked with white powder and there was a smudge of raspberry jelly on her cheek. To those that knew her it was obvious Ayla had been down in the kitchens again baking alongside the House Elves, her most frequent hobby. She picked up her broom and looked to Angie with a stoney expression.

Angie was her room mate and long time friend and would know that the sour look at nothing to do with her. She was one of the few under classmen that had trained with Ayla while Mystique had been Captain and had been on the team when they were actually worth playing against. Of all the people there she would know the scowl was more about their devastating loss, the one that Professor Sandusky had so graciously put her in charge of. Angie had been there that night when Ayla had cried herself to sleep and would understand her trepidation in returning to the pitch.

She gave one last glare to her little sister who had now joined her fellow second years before turning back to Angie, "So this is it then?" She glanced around at the team, much the opposite of the pink faced girl who had given them a speech about determination and togetherness in the common room not that long ago, "We're doomed."

With a few huffs to catch her breath Dahlia came to stand next to Drea and Heliotrope, her closest friends at Hogwarts. She knew Helio was already on the team and had a feeling Drea was only there for moral support, or to make sure their fishy friend made it to the pitch instead of the lake. After sending her sister an equal glare and ignoring the doom and gloom tone she was using with the rest of the team ( she was always such a drama queen) she turned her attention to Helio. She cocked her head to the side noticing that she was moving at a slightly slower pace than she normally would.

Dahlia gave Drea a look that asked, 'is she okay?' before turning back to the team. Dahlia was currently the only Collins that wasn't playing Quidditch. Ayla had been on the team for over a year and by some stroke of luck Erik had managed to get on the Gryffindor team. Most of their wizarding cousins enjoyed the sport and there had often been games played out when the families got together. Dahlia had always assumed it was just natural to do so, especially considering that most of their Dad's side of the family were so close in age with Dahlia and Erik being the youngest at twelve turning thirteen and Ginny being the oldest at Seventeen.

"Don't mind her Angie, her Raspberry torte blew up right before I grabbed her out of the kitchens."

Angie watched the struggle between her long-time friend and her younger sister go down, finally noticing the grim look on Ayla's face as she reluctantly marched over to Angie's side. "That pretty much sums it up." Her ever so hopeful outlook for the day was slowly declining with the prospect of practice actually starting.

"Well, I hope some of the dessert was saved because you know how much I love your older sister's baking," Angie said cheerfully to Dahlia.

"Alice, darling." She said, placing her hand lightly on the younger Puffle's shoulder. She turned her gently to face the stands, "They're over there. Just keep walking straight and you'll be there in no time."

After Alice set off, Angie turned back to face her team. "Most captains would probably seize the opportunity for an inspirational speech right about now, but we all know that's a lost cause. So let's just start off with ten laps around the pitch, on your brooms, tossing the Quaffle back and forth from player to player. You may begin, except for Helio." She tossed the Quaffle into the air towards one of the players, marking the start of the warm-up.

She held out her hand, which held the snitch. "Once I let this go, you have to wait ten seconds, and then you need to chase it, alright?" Angie let go of the snitch, letting the little golden ball fly into the air.[1]

1.	Just highlighting Angie's actions to make sure no one goes astray. As of right now, practice has officially begun. Start flying team!

Heliotrope nodded at the description of her duties. And waited. Standing there with with her broom in hand, nothing moving except her eyes following the practice snitch as it zig and zagged away.

She just waited, not counting or referring to a clock. She just knew how long ten seconds was as a length of time.

Then she got onto her broom and shot into the air, like a reverse dive into the lake.