Practice Makes Perfect (Micah, Ruecain)

[Heather Louise White]

Heather was practicing again. Having no Quidditch in her last year at Hogwarts was a real inconvenience. It was a lucky thing that the Harpies had already drafted her last year, or she probably never would have had a chance to get in at all.

Still, she needed to stay sharp, and the only way to do it was through constant practice. She practiced more often than she studied, which was probably not a good thing.

Luckily, Madam Hooch had set up a sort of simulated Quidditch game, so that she could practice alone. She hated to play alone, but it was sometimes hard to find people who would practice with her.

[Micah White]

Micah walked towards the pitch, his broom in hand. Ever since his sister was drafted to the Harpies, Micah wanted to start playing Quidditich. He liked going to the games, but he didn't think he was good enough to get on the team. He was happy when his sister told him about the practice she was doing.

"Hey, Heather! Could you use another?" He asked, waving as he walked up to her. He wasn't sure if she wanted anyone else to play with, especially since Micah wasn't on her level.

[Heather Louise White]

Heather was still getting set up, and she hadn't started playing yet. At the sound of her brother's voice, she turned and smiled. "Hi, Micah!" she greeted him happily.

Truthfully, she didn't mind practicing with other people, even if they weren't as good as she was. It was always better to practice with another person. And besides, she always liked to spend some time with her brother... especially since this was their last year at school together.

"Yeah... you can join. You can be keeper. I'll set the ball moving and try to catch the quaffles and try to score on you, OK?"

[Lachlan Moore]

Despite the fact that this particular day was cold rainy and just altogether of a miserable kind Lachlan was determined to practice, he had joined the Hufflepuff team in his second year and was determined to maintain his place in the team next year. The rain today was the fine sort, not heavy but once on a broom it would soak your robes in moments and sting your eyes. Loch wasn’t too fazed, he was used to worse working with his father on the trawler and besides it was all worth it for the exhilaration of flying.

Lachlan was a tall boy, no less than six feet in total. He had some decedent muscle to him but always looked a little thin due to his height. Lochs chocolate brown hair was thick and always slightly ruffled or windswept, his robes were all at least second hand and decidedly faded. Loch wasn’t unclean or particular messy but it was a rare occasion that he didn’t look at least a little scruffy. But for what Lachlan lacked in presentation he made up for in character, he was a charming looking fellow with kind eyes and a nose that looked a tad too long for his narrow face but his smile was always genuine and had a way of breaking the tension.

If there was one fault Loch knew he had it was clumsiness. Lachlan was forever tripping over his own feet and knocking over anything within arms reach, but once he was on a broom it all changed. Lachlan’s hand eye coordination was decent but it was his agility and speed on the broom that was his gift, few could outdo him in maneuverability.

And so it was to fly his broom that was Lachlan’s agenda today. With his broom slung over his shoulder and his Quidditch robes on Loch arrived at the pitch. The tall boy squinted up through the haze using his hand to shield his eyes from the rain; he could make out two figures not too high above him and as quickly and effortlessly as possible he mounted his broom and kicked off from the ground.

Loch rose through the air quickly and within moments the closest figure came into view. Lachlan recognized her immediately as Heather White, a fellow Hufflepuff and seventh year. Lachlan had always liked Heather; they shared a passion for Quidditch and if that wasn’t enough by itself he enjoyed her lively nature. It was then that Loch spotted Micah White, he knew him as a fellow 6th year and Heathers little brother and that he often had a sketchbook in hand, other than that Loch hadn’t had much to do with him.

Waving to both of them Lachlan pulled up a few meters away “You guys mind if I join in?” the prospect of practicing with a couple of fellow Hufflepuffs appealed to him today. Loch wasn’t an overly social person but he always enjoyed time spent with Heather and admired her flying skill, this was a good chance to get to know her brother better and see if flying was in their family genes.

[Heather Louise White]

Heather finished donning her goggles to shield her eyes from the rain and was in the process of pulling back what she could of her short brown hair. Although she would have liked to have long, flowing hair, like some of the other girls, it simply wasn’t practical to have her hair flying all around her face as she played. For Heather, quidditch was her number one priority, and if it meant she had to sacrifice looking like a girly-girl type, she would do it.

At the sound of another voice nearby, she looked up and saw the figure flying up to them. It was Lachlan Moore, a sixth year Hufflepuff that she knew very well from the quidditch team. He was a good player, and a good guy, and she considered him a friend.

Her hair now secured, Heather waved to the boy. “Hey, Loch!” she greeted him brightly. “Sure, you can join us. Micah’s going to play Keeper , so we can try to score on him. How does that sound?”

[Micah White]

Micah turned to see the newcomer, and smiled at him. He had seen him around before, but never really took the time to talk to him; Micah was usually too busy messing around with his friends or staring at girls.

"Sure, no problem. Good luck scoring on me, though. I'm pretty good," He said, exagerrating a lot. He didn't play much, but he wanted to join the team next year, so he thought he might try and get better before tryouts.
"Heather can back me up on that, huh?" He asked, winking at his sister.

[Lachlan Moore]

Lachlan’s best position was keeper, but he was more than happy to be flying in a different position today, he was a decent chaser and it would be a refreshing change to be on the offensive rather than defensive for once.

Flicking the rain from his brow with one hand and holding on to his broom with the other Loch nodded to Heather “sounds good to me.” he called back. Loch could help but grin as Micah wished him luck at scoring. Loch enjoyed a bit of confidence from other people and Micah had just issued an irrespirable challenge to score on him. “well since your Heathers brother I’d be a little disappointed if you weren’t.” Lachlan replied with a broad smile, he was keen to see what Micah could do.

Taking proper hold of the polished handle of his broom Loch lent off to the side and moved some distance away. Ensuring he was still within range of a throw and within earshot he pulled up and came to a stop. Facing Micah he watched for any opening the lad might leave while all the while keeping his peripheral vision on Heather lest the kafuffle come his way.

Loch was not the only one frustrated at there being no Quidditch this year because of the tournament, he knew of at least a dozen other students that were frustrated over this years lack of games as well. Unfortunately without Quidditch Hufflepuff had little chance of catching Slytherin for the lead in house points and he could only hope that next year would prove more fruitful.

Lachlan was forced to wonder what the Hufflepuff team would be like next year, Heathers graduation would leave a hole in Hufflepuffs game but he supposed what was their loss would be the Harpies gain. But with a whole year having passed without a game it stood to reason that just about anyone could be in the running for the team, he wondered if Micah might be up to the challenge of filling his sisters shoes. Next year was going to be an interesting one.

His mind back on the game at hand Lachlan wiped more water from his face, stupidly he hadn’t thought to bring goggles with him today but once they got moving he was certain he was going to forget a little water getting into his eyes. “You guys ready?”

[Heather Louise White]

The tournament was great and everything, but it had really broken Heather's heart not to have this last year of quidditch with her fellow teammates. She had played with them all for so long, and to her, they were almost as close to family as her own brother was. So practices like this, with Micah, or with Loch, they made her feel connected to her family in a way that she missed terribly with the lack of quidditch this year.

"I hope you've been practicing, Micah," she teased. "Because I'm not going to take it easy on you, just because you're my brother."

She sat poised on her broom, but she was still on the ground, kneeling down to the box with the balls in it. For this practice, they would not worry about the bludgers or the snitch and just focus on the quaffle. If thery had a few more players, they could work with the other balls. Maybe soon she could arrange an actual game with some of the other players. She had heard that Rystain Quandry was itching to play again, and he had always been one of her most formidable adversaries on the quidditch pitch.

"OK, everyone in position?" she called, the quaffle now in her hands.

[Lance Jordan]

Lance was rushing down the hill to the quidditch pitch. He was with his brother, Eve, and Geneveive, and had, of course, lost all track of time. Which was really inconvenient.

Since he was Captain of the Hufflepuff team, Madam Hooch told him that a couple of his players had arranged a mock game, and he planned on being there. Planned being the operative word of course.

He practically skidded into the locker room, seeing three people in the air already. He recognized one of them as Heather, which made him feel a little better. She should have been made Captain, really, but he supposed they made him captain since she was in her final year and there wasn't much Quidditch to be had anyway.

"Hey guys!" He called out, doing a running mount onto his broom and joining them in the air. "We need to make the teams even, right?" he added with a boyish smile, looking to Heather to see what had already been set up.

[Heather Louise White]

Heather heard the voice behind her and turned around, breaking into a smile. She knew Lance pretty well, and was glad he had decided to join them. With the absence of games and formal practices, however, Heather hadn't seen very much of Lance these days. If Heather were the type to listen to gossip, she would have heard the rumors that Lance was now dating the pretty blonde Genevieve, who had been one of his closest friends since their first year.

Lance and his twin brother Josh were both on the team, and Lance was chosen captain. Most people had thought Heather should have been the captain, and they still sort of looked to her for guidance, but the truth was, Heather really didn't want that kind of responsibility. Although she was good at Quidditch, she was far too humble to ever think that she should be looked at as a leader. She just wanted to be part of the team.

"Hey, Lance!" she called, waving to him. "Glad you could join us? Any chance that your brother will be joining us as well?"

[Micah White]

Micah was both surprised and happy that so many people were coming, and he was happy to see the impromptu Hufflepuff team come together. But, of course, seeing the captain come, Micah was afraid that he would embarrass himself in front of him. He looked up to Lance greatly for his skill at the game almost as much as he looked up to his sister. He would never admit this to his sister, however, because he knew she would be embarrassed by the praise.

"Hey, you can't join! It'll only make me look bad in front of Lachlan." Micah called from his spot by the goals. He was flying back and forth in front of them, waiting for everyone to arrive that was going to play. He winked at Lachlan and to show him he was joking, and flew closer to Heather so he wouldn't have to yell to talk to Lance.
"I'm only joking, don't worry." He said, but what he meant was 'don't make me out like a bad guy.' Micah knew many of his fears went unfounded, and he hoped this one was too. Micah still had another year to go with Lance, and he wanted to make it out of Hogwarts with as little enemies as possible.

[Heather Louise White]

Most other girls would have been intimidated or at least feel outnumbered when surrounded by boys like this. But not Heather. With the exception of Daphne, almost all of Heather's friends were boys. She felt more at home in a crowd of boys than with a group of girls. It was easier to just be "one of the guys." She even secretly wished that she had been drafted by another team other than the all-girl Harpies.

"Don't worry, Micah," she assured her brother. "I'm sure you'll do fine."

[Ruecain White]

Ruecain started running toward the quidditch grounds. He had forgotten his umbrella. he was hoping he wasn't missing much. He saw Heather and Micah on there brooms playing quidditch. 'Only god knows why they like to fly in such bad weather.' Ruecain thought as he made it toward Heather and Micah.
"Hey Heather! Hey Micah! How are you two doing?" I called to them waving at them. "did I miss anything?" I asked while trying to catch my breath.

[Heather Louise White]

Heather turned again at the sound of her cousin's voice. "Ruecain!" she called, waving. He wasn't a Hufflepuff, but then, it didn't really matter. It wasn't like they were actually playing a real game. Since it was just a practice game, it really didn't matter who played. The more, the merrier, especially whe one of the players was her cousin Ruecain.

"We're doing OK," she said. "Come on and play with us. Maybe we can set up teams. It's too bad we don't have one more person, or we could play three against three."

[Ruecain White]

Ruecain smiled he really felt lucky to have someone like Heather as a cousin. "Okay I'm all set up!" He hovered over the ground waiting for his cousin. "hey heather what are you going to do after Hogwarts?"

[Heather Louise White]

Heather was distracted at first, getting the Quaffle ready. For a practice game like this, there would be any point in taking out the bludgers or the snitch. They could just practice scoring and passing, with Micah acting as Keeper for both "teams."

At Ruecain's question, however, Heather looked up at him and broke into a smile. Flying over on her broom, she said, "I'm so sorry... I thought I told you, but I guess I forgot... I've been accepted by the Holyhead Harpies! I'll be playing Chaser for them... You and Micah will have to come to a game next year."

[Ruecain White]

Ruecain nearly dropped from his broom. "Wow the Holyhead Harpies? Can't wait to see you up there!" Ruecain regained his balance on the broom and gave her a smile.
"though it's going to be lonely with out Heather." He flew a littler higher so he can get a better view of the field and the view never failed him as he saw the different colors of green and the blue sky. He did a loop and thats when his most prized harmonica fell out of his pocket, but he didn't notice it falling.
"Pass the ball!" he shouted still unaware of his instrument falling.

[Heather Louise White]

"Well, Micah will still be here with you," Heather replied, glad to know that her brother wouldn't be alone. Yes, Micah was old enough to take care of himself, and would be fine here without her, but she still felt better to know that he would have someone else to hang out with.

As she tossed the Quaffle into the air, Heather looked up and saw Ruecain doing loops in mid-air. He night not have noticed the object falling from his pocket, but Heather did. With reflexes that made her wonder whether she should consider playing Seeker instead of Chaser, she took off on her broom and flew up to catch the falling harmonica in mid-air, then flew over to Ruecain and held it out to him.

"I think you dropped this."

[Ruecain White]

ruecain stopped his broom to see heather with his harmonica. "By goblins and elves! My harmonica!" He reached for the instrument and he felt his name which was written on the harmonica. "Thanks Heather! I can't believe I didn't feel it fall out." Ruecain said as he put it once more in his pocket. "Hey heather can I tell you a secret?" Ruecain asked nervously. He wanted to asked her about how she might feel about his career choice. He was determine at first, but he wanted someone in his family, other than his little sisters of course, to support his dream.

[Heather Louise White]

It seemed an odd time and place to be sharing secrets, hovering on broomsticks in mid-air, with other people around them. But then again, Heather was so often on a broomstick in mid-air that it might have been difficult to pin her down in any other location. Besides, when she was flying, Heather's mind was at its clearest.

"Sure, you can tell me anything," she assured him. "You know that."

Of course, Heather had her own secret, and she wasn't entirely sure she could share it with anyone, especially her own family. But she didn't want to think about that right now, preferring to focus on Ruecain's secret for now.