And My Heavy Heart Sinks

[Odette Madison]

The match had ended and they had lost. Odette's second game as captain of the team had also been her second loss, it really was unbelievable. Or maybe it wasn't. Maybe she wasn't mean to be captain. Had Charlotte made a mistake? Clearly, she wasn't able to keep the team afloat. She had tried her very best, but it had been for nothing. All she had to show for her effort was a seeker in the hospital wing and a team that probably didn't trust her anymore to lead them. She had the feeling Rory and maybe Hayden already thought she wasn't experienced enough for the job, and now they had real reason to think this. But she did think neither boy would have done a better job. Neither of them had more to give the team than she did, but she still felt like she wasn't enough.

After the match she had quietly disappeared from the pitch. Perhaps she should have spoken to her team to cheer them up, but she had no cheerful words. She had wandered around outside, not wanting to go to the common room and face people in her house who might feel like she failed them too. In the end, she had ended up at the edge of the lake and sat down on the grass. Still in her Quidditch robes, she looked over at the water for a moment before picking up a small pebble. Grabbing her bat, she threw the pebble into the air before smacking it into the lake with her beater's bat. It flew quite far. Somehow, it was slightly satisfying to see the ripples in the water after the pebble broke the surface. She picked up a slightly bigger rock and repeated the process. It didn't really help her feel better, but at least it was something to do.

 

[Sapphire Michaels]

After visiting the hospital wing, Sapphire found her way out to the lake. She still hadn't found her way out of her Quidditch robes. She was still furious at herself. If she had tried harder she could have kept them out of that mess. She shouldn't have been wringing her hands about hitting people and being violent, she should have given it her all and Leda would have beat Tomas hands down. Older or not, Leda was not a force to be reckoned with.

She looked up as she heard a splash and nearly froze in her tracks. Odette. Sapphire nearly turned on her heel and walked away. But, she had never backed down before and she didn't mean to now. "Hey," She squared her shoulders and walked up to her captain. Her gaze didn't falter as she came to stop in front of the older girl. "I'm sorry. I let the team down today. I didn't protect our Seeker and I was the one that provided the Gryffindor beater with the bludger that took Leda down. It was stupid and it won't happen again. I understand if you want me off the team."

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette was looking around her feet for another rock when she heard someone approach. She looked up to see Sapphire standing in front of her, and she frowned up at the younger girl as she started to speak. This did nothing to ease her guilt. Sapphire was taking the loss a lot harder than Odette had expected, and she had to stop herself from cutting her off. Once she finished speaking, Odette put down her beater's bat in case it looked in any way intimidating. "Look, you're new on the team. I don't know if I'm that scary, but I'm not in the habit of kicking people off because of one bad match. Especially not the one person who I asked way too much of." She sighed. "Protecting the seeker is important, but they'll always be a target. I was more focused on offense than defense, so if anything it is my fault. Of course you're not off the team." Odette rolled her eyes a little, patting the grass next to her to indicate she could sit. "Don't be dramatic. You played well."

 

[Sapphire Michaels]

Sapphire's brow furrowed a touch as she listened to Odette. This wasn't quite what she had in mind. When Odette patted the grass next to her, Sapphire hesitated just a moment before taking a seat.

"No, it's not that you're intimidating or anything," she sighed, running a hand through her hair. "I'm just frustrated, I guess. I'm a bit... Overprotective, apparently." Sapphire offered the older girl a small smile.

"I tried to distract the beater girl, the way she struck up that tiff with you I thought she'd be easy to goad on. Didn't work, though." She pulled a few suckers from her pocket and offered one to Odette.

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette looked at the younger girl, surprised she was taking this to heart so much. It had only been her first match, how did she feel so responsible for the team already? "It's frustrating to lose, I get that, but this wasn't on you." She sighed, shaking her head slightly. "You were great, really. The other team was just stronger, and they had luck on their side. Syrus couldn't have been that much more experienced than you, he just spotted it earlier. But you did fine as a beater as well as a seeker, this wasn't on you." She hoped the girl wouldn't quit because of this loss. Maybe her earlier comment about Odette kicking her off was her way of trying to get out of playing more? But she did seem awfully invested. That made Odette happy, as she was also very invested in the team. It was why she was feeling so down now. She smiled a little as Sapphire told her about her strategy, but shook her head. "Lizzie's too good for that. She wouldn't go after you as long as she knew the seeker was out there. She's focused." Her smile disappeared. "I think the way she reacted to me was to get me angry, get me to lose my own focus. And I think it worked." Odette frowned. "It wasn't my best game. I'm annoyed I let her get to me." She took a sucker but didn't eat it, instead twisting it in her hands as she looked over at the lake. "Maybe next year will be our year." She knew they had no chance of winning the cup anymore. Even a third place seemed unlikely.

 

[Sapphire Michaels]

Sapph shrugged. "Well who are we up against next?" She asked, thinking. "I bet between the two of us we can really kick ass," she encouraged the girl. "You've got this down, with a few pointers from you we'd be unstoppable." She grinned a bit, thinking of strategies for the next game already.

She looked out over the water. "So, cap, if you don't mind me asking, what got you started in Quidditch anyway?"

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette sighed softly at Sapphire's question, especially the way she phrased it. The girl knew she was an alternate beater, didn't she? Odette had wanted to let her prove herself and experience a match, but that didn't mean she was taking Liam's spot. "We're playing whoever loses the next match, most likely. Either Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff." She said, a slight frown on her face. "But I'm going to let Liam play again unless he can't for some reason. He is the beater I picked. You did really well in the tryouts and in the match, but Liam earned his spot too." She didn't apologize, as she knew she was in the right. Sapphire's enthusiasm was appreciated, but she didn't want to give the girl false hope about a spot on the team when she had a more experienced player already, no matter how much she might dislike Liam. The girl's last question caught her off guard, and she paused before answering. "I figured out I liked flying during the flying lessons and joined the team in an act of rebellion. My mother didn't approve." She still didn't, but Odette wasn't going to give the girl more information than she already had. She wasn't one to talk about her life. "I figured out I liked it so I stuck around."

 

[Sapphire Michaels]

Sapphire stuck her sucker in her mouth, listening to Odette talk. She couldn't help but laugh as the girl restated that Liam was the primary beater. "Oh, oh no." She told the older girl. "I'm not looking to be the permanent beater yet. Let him play. That match was brutal." She snickered a bit, shaking her head. "I'm not trying to steal his spot. As long as he's around he's welcome to be your go-to. It's just best to be lrepared." She grinned, running a hand through her hair.

She listened as Odette told her why she joined and nodded. "I can get that. Not personally, I mean, but I understand the logic of it." She glanced at the older girl. Sapph still didn't have many friends and the older girl fascinated her.

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette was glad it seemed like she had misunderstood the girl's meaning. She turned the candy over in her hands again before placing it on the grass. She wasn't really feeling like it right now. She didn't really feel like anything right now. "Good to know." She said simply. Sapphire was young, but it was nice that the girl was so enthusiastic about playing. It was also nice she understood her spot on the team. "I hope Liam isn't bothering you." She added almost as an afterthought. She hadn't caught the boy with his annoying of flirting with all the girls yet, but that didn't mean it wasn't happening when her back was turned. Odette didn't care what he did in his free time, but she didn't want her team to be uncomfortable around each other.

The girl mentioned she didn't get it personally but understood, and Odette shrugged slightly. She hadn't expected Sapphire to have a similar relationship with her parents as Odette had with her mother. It hadn't taken her long to figure out that it wasn't exactly normal. She noticed the girl glance at her and wondered for a moment if Sapphire felt sorry for her. "I'm okay, you don't have to stick with me." The last thing she wanted was pity for losing. It had been on her, after all. She wished she'd had a few more alternate players to put into play, but a part of her wondered if some had decided not to come when they saw she was captain. It's what she suspected happened to their old seeker. The seventh year boy hadn't turned up at practice, which was why they now had Leda. Odette didn't dislike the girl at all, but she did wish Lestat had stayed around at the team. It would have been a big advantage over the other teams to have an experienced seeker.