i trace the faith to a broken down television [zita]

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There were a lot of reasons why Jamie decided to do her homework in the Hufflepuff common room that day, even though normally the place was too loud for her to focus loudly. Most of those reasons revolved around the fact that she wasn't really doing homework, but rather working on various plays for the Quidditch team. Even though games weren't a priority due to the Triwizard Tournament, she wanted to make sure the team stayed sharp, and new and interesting plays was one way to do that. Jamie had asked Hufflepuff's Keeper, Zita, to sit down with her at some point so that they could talk both about what Jamie was writing and the future of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. Jamie hadn't been told anything about who her successor to the Captain position would be, but since Zita was a sixth year (and not a prefect, like Ripley Krum), Jamie figured that it wouldn't be a stretch of the imagination to think that the other girl could be the Captain next year. Teaching her some of the ropes before she was thrown in the deep end wasn't a bad thing, and two heads were always better than one when it came to Quidditch strategy. As the hour of the meeting drew closer, Jamie began to organize her notes a little more so that they could get through everything as efficiently as possible.

@zita

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Zita had been in the library studying for the next Transfiguaration exam. She'd actually been really excited about it because she hadn't been able to concentrate the last few times she'd attempted to sit down to study because the Harpies had had games the days before and she'd been too busy trying to catch up on stats and scores reading the Daily Prophet. Silly, she knew, considering that school should become before the Harpies but that just went against everything Zita stood for! The Harpies were just as important to her as school. Plus, they really looked good this year. Anyway, she'd promised herself that she'd sit down and study and she'd gotten it done. She'd wanted to take a break and, during that break, just take a peak at the Daily Prophet to see who else had been playing that week. Just the thought of quidditch made her suddenly frantic. She'd actually forgotten and she'd told herself not to forget! She was supposed to be meeting with Jamie today to go over some quidditch plays for the Hufflepuff team. They looked really good this year too. She'd grabbed her stuff then and ran her way back to the common room.

The stairs had taken forever but she was only a little late now. Maybe 15 minutes. Ugh she was going to have to get better at this remembering thing. On a positive note, she had gone with wearing sneakers today instead of the cute black heels she'd been eyeing before she left. That made running so much easier. She spoke the password and the common room door swung open. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd held in as she entered to common room and looked around for the captain. She wasn't hard to spot of course though the common room was a little busy today. "Hey Jamie! Sorry I'm late! You know me though... How are the plays coming?" She spoke a little fast as she took her bag off and sat next to her, trying to see what she was working on now.

Tag; @jamie

SOTD; HERE

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The time that Zita was supposed to come had come and gone, and Jamie was still working on her plays, unsure whether the younger girl had forgotten about their meeting or didn’t care, or if something else entirely was happening. It wasn’t any matter, though, because Jamie could grind away at plays pretty much forever, as far as she was concerned. There were an infinite amount of combinations of moves that could be had in Quidditch, and being forced to think of more without help was actually helping Jamie’s creative juices; she was getting ideas that she never would have considered at the beginning of the brainstorming session because she was so stuck in one mindset.

When Zita entered the common room, Jamie didn’t even notice. The older Hufflepuff jumped a little when the younger one greeted her, slightly startled. Her bottle of ink wobbled slightly, but Jamie was able to keep it from tipping and ruining the work that she had been slaving over for quite some time now. “Hey, Zita.” She replied once her heart stopped racing. “It’s fine.” Jamie assured the younger girl. Since this wasn’t an official meeting or anything, it wasn’t like Jamie could berate the other girl. If Zita came late to practice, then Jamie would have a thing or two to say, but as it was, everything was fun. When Zita asked how the plays were coming, Jamie beamed. “I think they’re coming really well! You being late was actually a little helpful in getting me to think outside the box.” Jamie admitted. She plucked one of her sheets of parchment off the stack, turning it to show the other girl. The play diagram was rather complex, so Jamie had written a brief description beneath the diagram to hopefully clarify it. “What do you think of this one? I think it’s rather genius, but I’m also rather biased.” Every artist loved their creations, and Jamie was no different with her Quidditch plays.

@zita

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Zita noticed that Jamie seemed a little bit frazzled when she plopped down next to her. She winced just a little before the captain said that her tardiness was actually a little helpful. This caused her to laugh just a little bit, a grin wide on her face. "So glad it's finally helped someone out. It's mostly a pain for me..." she groaned. She hated that she tended to be so forgetful. She'd even taken to trying to take steps to remember everything but those, so far, were clearly unsuccessful. Obviously. She'd forgotten the meeting today and even before that she'd forgotten her ink when she'd been trying to head to the library and study. How sad. With a nod at her words regarding the plays, she found herself staring into a very complex diagram of a new quidditch play and formation. There were descriptions under each section of the diagram but Zita hadn't even needed them. The longer she stared at the diagram the more she could actually imagine the picture moving the way it would work on the pitch. The longer she stared, the brighter her smile grew. She looked at Jamie and found herself nodding quickly "Awesome! This play might actually make us unstoppable in games," she grinned as she imagined herself in her own spot in the air; it was all playing out in her head. She couldn't wait until their next practice to test it out. They had a great team so she was sure everyone could pick it up no problem.

Tag; @jamie

SOTD; HERE

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Jamie made a sympathetic tutting noise when Zita said that her lateness was more of a pain for her than anything else. Jamie had gotten used to her being tardy; more often than not, she told Zita that something began fifteen minutes before it was actually supposed to start, because then she’d actually be on time to the real thing. She could understand how it could be frustrating, though, especially if Zita, for whatever reason, felt that she couldn’t fix what was happening. The Hufflepuff’s attention quickly turned from worrying about the other girl to watching her, trying to gauge the sixth year’s reaction to the play. Her smile was a promising sign, but Jamie was unwilling to get too hopeful until Zita actually expressed her thoughts in words. When the younger girl did corroborate her facial expressions with words, Jamie’s face burst into an identical grin. “The only thing I’m worried about is this bit.” Jamie said, smile fading as she pointed to one section of the diagram. “It requires a tricky pass, and with Ripley being injured recently, I don’t know if she’ll have some kind of subconscious block up.” Of course, there were three Chasers, so it was possible to completely cut Ripley out of the picture (at least for that specific section of the play), but Jamie wasn’t sure how well that would go over. “And, of course, it’s complicated. If one person slips up even a little, it’ll turn into a disaster.” Of course, it wasn’t guaranteed that people would mess up, but Jamie had to prepare for every eventuality, and this play would cause one of the worst crash and burns in Quidditch history if things went south.

@zita

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She was convinced that Jamie was a quidditch genius at this point. The play was flawless as long as everyone followed their roles and a lesser team wouldn't be able to. The captain's return grin made her more excited about the play to the point of wanting to get the team together right away to go try it out. That is, until Jamie pointed out a concern she had. She watched her point out the part of the play that required the chasers to make a complicated pass. She was concerned the Ripley Krum might not be able to. She was thoughtful for a minute before she spoke. "That just means we are going to have to practice soon to see how it goes. I think she won't have a problem doing it as long as we run it enough to where she is comfortable throwing," she looked at the diagram once again before nodding. "Everyone is going to have to learn their part anyway so running it multiple times will benefit everyone. And I think it would be better to see what the issue would be. If it's the distance of the pass, we could always try modifying it and making it a pass between all three chasers. Shorter distance but still able to cover the amount of ground to get to the goal," she mumbled a little as she spoke, already trying to figure out what the placement of the chasers would need to be to make her words reality. "But I don't think we'll have a problem getting it down."

Tag; @jamie

SOTD; HERE

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Zita pointed out that the first time they tried this play wasn’t going to be in the middle of a game, and that Jamie could tweak it as needed if something went awry when they were practicing. The younger girl also seemed confident that there wouldn’t be any blocks, subconscious or otherwise, as long as there was enough time to practice. And since the play was so complicated, a lot of practice was going to have to happen anyways, as Zita pointed out. Jamie shrugged when the younger Hufflepuff suggested making the pass one between all three Chasers, instead of just two of them. “I don’t like to have the ball out of our hands if it’s not necessary.” The more throws and catches were introduced, the higher the chance that someone would fumble or be off mark or the ball would be taken from their possession. “I appreciate your confidence.” Jamie said with a smile. Sometimes the position of Captain felt like a lot to take on, even though they weren’t actually doing that much playing. Having another player look over her work, and tell her that it was good, or even great, meant a lot to Jamie. “Now that you’re here, though, I think we can start working on some plays together, yeah?” She asked, hoping that the other girl would take the bait and start spouting off ideas so they could have some place to begin for something new to add to their playbook.

@zita

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Zita gave a slow, understanding nod as Jamie shared her thoughts on the suggestion she'd made. Her answer was reasonable; if the quaffle was out of their hands more, that gave the opposing team more chances to gain possession. She still felt like that if they tweaked it a little it would reduce both the chance of the team getting the quaffle as well as the chance that they could make a mistake and drop the ball anyway. It was then she stated that they could both get to work on writing some plays out. "I'm ready. I'm mostly in front of the goal but it has it's advantages. I'm able to better see all of the players so I can definitely see when something is a bit more iffy than everyone. Like," she proceeded to pull out some parchment she had in her bag and draw up a diagram of one of their most used defensive plays, "When we're in game and we run this play, the chaser in the second position goes wide. I know it can be difficult to tighten up when the bludgers are flying but if whoever is playing that position can signal to one of the beaters to watch them closer, they can tighten up their turn and instead of cutting off the other team's chaser nearer to the goal, they can catch them sooner and try and take the quaffle... she then proceeded to list off a few other things she'd caught as the keeper watching the field and waited for her feedback and input.

Tag; @jamie

SOTD; HERE

(OOC: Totes just making stuff up just based off of my sports knowledge which is by no means vast)

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Jamie was eager for Zita’s input on the situation. Everyone knew that the Keepers were supposed to stay relatively stationary in order to better protect the goals, but Jamie didn’t want to insult Zita by assuming that the younger girl saw everything when she was in the Keeper position – there were still plenty of things that Zita needed to be doing other than sitting dumbly in front of the goal, and assuming that she was just sitting and watching seemed rather insulting. But even if she was doing other things, Zita definitely had a better perspective when it came to the way the entire team worked. Since Jamie was often embroiled in the heart of the action, it was harder for her to notice when things were going wrong, at least from the big-picture perspective. She could tell if someone fumbled the ball, but if they did a play a little bit incorrectly, it was sometimes difficult for Jamie to tell, especially if they score. Jamie listened to what the younger girl had to say, jotting down notes as they went through the various aspects of plays that could be tweaked to make the team even more successful. “You pay attention really well.” Jamie complimented the other girl. “Have you considered the possibility of putting yourself in for consideration for team captain?” Jamie asked, deciding to cut right to the chase. She knew that Zita was a co-captain of a club, but Jamie hadn’t had as much trouble as she had anticipated captaining both a team and a club, though hers were at least on the same subject. She didn’t know whether or not it was a challenge Zita wanted to take on.

@zita

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She smiled at Jamie's compliment. As Keeper, being out by the goals was, in her unbiased opinion, the best position to be. She had a great view of everything that happened on the field because he position required her to watch everything. She needed to know where the ball was at all times and since she'd begun playing quidditch she'd become more observant and was not only able to watch where the ball was with ease, she could see what the other players on the field were doing and could guess where they were going next. Her guessing wasn't always correct, of course, that would require her to know what the other team's playbooks looked like. She did know her own team's playbook and could always tell when something didn't go according to plan. When Jamie asked her about her putting in a bid for the Captain's spot, she paused for a moment. "I mean I can't say I haven't thought about it. Of course I've thought about it." Her brow furrowed a little. "Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Quidditch. But it's not what I want to do with my life. I always figured the captain's spot should be held out for someone that wanted to play Quidditch professionally, like you. It looks better that way to any scouters. I know it would be fun to be captain but if there is someone who wants to do it who is planning on pursuing it professionally, I think it'd be a really good idea for them to have that experience," she answered honestly. She was sure she'd make a great captain or the team; she loved Quidditch enough to know where they could improve and she had leadership capabilities. But she'd be happy to give it to someone who needed that experience.

Tag; @jamie

SOTD; HERE

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Jamie was glad that she was getting to have this conversation with Zita about her aspirations to be Captain – or lack thereof. It was good to be on the same wavelength, especially about something so important. Zita seemed to have a misconception about the Captaincy position that Jamie was eager to dispel. “Of all of the four captains, I think I’m the only one for sure going into Quidditch next year.” Jamie said. Gryffindor’s captain was a sixth year, so of course Jamie didn’t know his career plans, but Jamie was fairly certain that neither Dom nor Dusti Flint were going professional. If Zita was worried about taking the position from someone who wanted to go pro, it would be from one of the Krum sisters. Since Ripley was a prefect, she wasn’t eligible to be Captain, and Tania was a fifth year who would get another opportunity to be Captain before she graduated. “I don’t want you to force you into doing anything that you don’t want to do, of course, but it is a great experience to have no matter what career you’re planning to go into. It’s a lot of work, but it’s also a lot of fun.” It was nice for Jamie because it let her interact not only with her own team, but with Quidditch players from the other teams when she talked to the other captains about scheduling the pitch and everything. “Anyways. You’re also the GSA co-captain, yeah?” Jamie asked, hoping that Zita would offer some information about whether or not she’d be continuing on to captain that club, because the Hufflepuff was unapologetically curious. She also wondered what Zita’s relationship to Cecelia Rousseau was, but Jamie thought that might best be left for later.

@zita

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"I know, I know. I won't not put in a bid for it. If I get it, I get it. But, again, if one of the other players wants it, I wouldn't be opposed to letting them have it." She sighed. That probably wasn't what Jamie wanted to hear. Of course, as captain, she wanted to make sure that when she left, the team was left in a sound place to continue on next year and win. She could do that best by figuring out who the best fit for captain would be and, maybe, pushing them to the forefront for consideration. She may have been the best fit or the job, it was entirely possible. But she wouldn't rule anyone out. There were a few people on the team now who she wouldn't mind following as captain. Plus, she was always open to giving feedback or advice to whoever the new captain would be. She may not be leader, but she was a player on the team. With a nod, she continued to listen to Jamie saying that she didn't want to force her into the Captain's spot. "Oh no no, you wouldn't be forcing me. It's just-- yeah! GSA. I want to try and be the Captain for GSA next year and I don't know just yet if I can do both. GSA requires a lot and Quidditch is going to require a lot from me. I have a little bit of time to figure it out but. Yeah. ," she'd begun speaking just before Jamie had chimed in asking about GSA. She really wanted to be GSA's captain. After being able to watch Cecelia run the club, she'd come up with a lot of ideas that she wanted to implement next year that they hadn't thought about this year. Hopefully it would get more people to join next year. . "I wouldn't want to let the team down nor would I want to let GSA down."

Tag; @jamie

SOTD; HERE

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Jamie was satisfied with the answer that Zita gave her about the Captaincy. As long as the younger girl wasn’t going to reject it outright, Jamie was fine. It wasn’t even her choice, in the end. She could push people towards or away from placing a bid, but she wasn’t the final voice in who got the position. “Just promise me you won’t give it up to a fifth year?” Jamie asked. She didn’t want someone to get to be Captain twice in a row when the wealth could be shared. But again, Jamie reminded herself, not her choice. She wouldn’t even know who got the Captain position unless someone sent her an owl. Jamie was hoping that, after this conversation, Zita would think to send her a note no matter what happened, but since the other girl could be a little scatter-brained, Jamie wasn’t going to hold her breath. “How are your time management skills?” Jamie asked Zita, even though she already had a vague idea of the answer – poor. That was really what managing both a club and a team came down to – one’s ability to be disciplined and do all of the work of planning in addition to school work. Jamie didn’t know what Zita’s course load for the next year would be like, and she would loathe to say that the other girl ought to focus more on extracurriculars than school. “I think it would be difficult for you to let anyone down, Zita.” Jamie said gently. Clubs and teams changed leadership nearly every year, so people were used to things changing. Just because she was different didn’t mean she would be bad, and even if she did make some mistakes, people would just attribute them to the normal change of leadership hullaballoo.

@zita

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Jamie's words had a grin appearing on her face. Would it really be so bad to have a fifth year as a captain? "Even if that fifth year would make a great captain?" she asked through her laughter. She understood why Jamie said it though she hadn't stated it explicitly. It was only because it gave more people a chance to be captain. Though she didn't think she had to worry too much about that. Most people knew that it was only fair to give others a turn at being captain. She couldn't remember the last time Hufflepuff had had the same captain more than a year even when the captain had not been graduating the same year. And she'd been following the teams since first year. She even knew quite a few stats and players of the other house quidditch teams. At Jamie's question about her time management skills she stopped and smirked at her captain, amusement still clear on her face. "You're really asking me that? You know me. Though I can't say it's my time management skills that are bad. I just get forgetful and end up late to some things. I swear I'm trying to get better though." Even that still wasn't working out too well. She'd been late to this meeting after all. She'd written on the top of her notes parchment about the meeting and she'd still forgotten and lost track of time. She was going to have to try some new strategy. "Such reassuring words. It is definitely still a possibility though I try really hard not to let others down. If I promise something I'd rather deliver than not because of my forgetfulness. I have to make sure I'm not taking on too much so I don't let anyone down. Nor do I want to embarrass myself and have to give up one or another of my positions because I wasn't able to handle the work load so I have to seriously consider if I can handle both."

Tag; @jamie

SOTD; HERE

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Zita was being very persistent about trying to dodge the responsibility of being Captain, and Jamie wondered if this had been a mistake. Well, it was too late now, and she still had to answer Zita’s question. “I think that anyone could be a great Captain given enough time and training, so really what you’re asking me is if there’s a fifth year available.” She said drily. It was a cheap way of dodging the question, but Jamie was worried that Zita was going to think that she was being too intense if Jamie insisted that the younger girl be the Captain instead of whomever else. Besides, Jamie wasn’t sure if any of the current fifth years would want to be a Captain the next term – they were having to adjust to N.E.W.T. level classes and that could be a lot more difficult than originally anticipated. At least going into seventh year, students had an idea of the level of difficult to expect from their classes and could plan accordingly. “I am asking you. Evaluating your own strengths and weaknesses is important.” Jamie pointed out. It was important to being a Captain, yes, but it was also important in getting a job, and in life in general. “I know you’re trying, Zita.” Jamie soothed. She didn’t want the other girl thinking that the elder was attacking her, when this was honestly just meant as a meeting to plan and touch base. The younger girl went on to say that she wasn’t going to rule out the possibility of doing both, though she was going to have to seriously consider whether or not she could handle doing both Quidditch and club captaining. “If you do have to step down, no one’s going to be disappointed.” Jamie said gently. If it was going to be better for the team or the club – though Jamie expected it would be the team that Zita stepped down from leadership – no one would be upset or disappointed for Zita, at least if they actually cared about the activity in question.

@zita