Closed Nothing Can Come Of Nothing

[Veronique Chatelain]

Veronique had felt quite fortunate about getting Celia as her big. While the Slytherin still intimidated her, and she didn't want to get on the Head Girl's bad side, she had been trying to get to know her throughout the semester, either from Celia herself or from others. Her big seemed to be more closed off to her, and Veronique wanted to find out more so she could convince Celia to like her. After all, if she could learn from some of the best in the school, she would definitely show people that she was someone they needed to befriend.

Veronique had noticed times Celia would eat and had gotten a feel for when she would easily be able to find her. Getting up early that morning, she took some time to read through her notes before a quiz she was having later and then headed down to the Great Hall, timing it so she saw Celia in her seat. "Good morning!" she said cheerily as she took a seat across from the Slytherin without asking. She found that if she just did things without asking, people were less likely to tell her no. And in this case, she hoped that it would show Celia that she was confident, like her. "Do you think I could ask you something?" she asked, lowering her voice a little but trying not to make it sound like anything too serious.

 

[Celia Vuong]

Despite all the early Quidditch practices she held, Celia was not a morning person. She much preferred the possibility of nighttime, the way it seemed to stretch as far as the stars. She especially loved the night at a place like Hogwarts. For one, it was too dark to see the ugly castle, giving her the ability to imagine that she was anywhere but here. But also, as a prefect unconstrained by curfew, night was the only time Celia could find peace. All the people who annoyed her (which was nearly everyone at Hogwarts) were confined to their dorms, and she could finally have the grounds to herself

Unfortunately, she paid for her night owl tendencies every morning. Celia was in no mood to talk to anyone this early in the day. That normally wouldn't be a problem since most of the other Slytherins knew by now to avoid her. However, it seemed her little hadn't gotten the memo. Celia raised her eyebrows as Veronique greeted her far too cheerily for the time of day. Instead of responding in kind, she just hummed in acknowledgement before taking a long sip of her coffee. It took a lot of effort not to reply sarcastically to the question. For the most part, Celia had tried to be nice — or at least, not downright awful — to Veronique in an attempt to get information about the Hufflepuff team. But now that the match was over, she didn't really have to keep up that charade anymore. Still, Veronique's tone intrigued her, so she finally nodded. "Sure, go ahead."

 

[Veronique Chatelain]

i'm so sorry

Veronique was feeling a little nervous about talking to Celia, but she knew that it made the most sense to ask the head girl, as she had a lot of experience that was just going to go away as soon as graduation hit. "Well, I wanted to get an opinion from someone else because I feel like I'm not being the best chaser that I could be. And well," she said hesistantly, not wanting to throw Rene under the bus, but at the same time, she just wanted someone who was a little more aggressive with feedback so she could get better quicker, "I was wondering if you might be able to share some advice, even if I'm not on your team. But since you're my big, I thought it was okay, because, you know, sisterhood or whatever. And also I wanted to show everyone that I can be a leader, too," she finished, sort of drifting off in volume with the last sentence, as it felt weird to ask someone how to be a leader. Most of the students around here seemed to just know what to do, but Veronique wanted to really work at it.

 

[Celia Vuong]

you're all good!!

It didn't take very long for Veronique to capture Celia's attention, and she found herself leaning forward slightly as it became apparent what the Hufflepuff wanted. "And well...?" she prompted, hoping to get Veronique to finish that thought. She found it incredibly amusing that Veronique was coming to her and not René or even Renata, both of whom were Hufflepuffs and actually had experience playing chaser. It spoke volumes about their leadership, and Celia wondered if she could somehow bring this up to René later to make him feel even worse about himself. It was a wonder he hadn't quit yet, considering his dismal performance last year and the forfeit this year.

Celia pretended the mull the request over even though she already knew what her answer would be. She would never betray her teammates by helping someone on another team. "I suppose I could do that," Celia said after a very long pause. "Probably best not to mention it to René though," she said with a small conspiratorial smile. Never mind bringing this up to René to make him insecure. If Celia did this right, she could sabotage the entire Hufflepuff team, which would be so much funnier. "Let me get this straight. You want to be a better chaser, and you want to be named captain. Is that right?" She had to imagine that's what Veronique meant by wanting to show everyone that she could be a leader.

 

[Veronique Chatelain]

Veronique was glad to see Celia being receptive to her questions. She did feel a little weird being told not to mention it to René, seeing as she would take any advice she could get. And maybe it ws a little weird going to another team, but wasn't there supposed to be, like, a general Hogwarts comradery? "Right," she said a little hesistantly, but then nodded to show Celia she definitely agreed. "Of course, we wouldn't want anyone to get the wrong idea. You're just giving me sisterly advice," she continued.

"I mean, I definitely want to be a better chaser. And it would be nice to be captain one day, have that, you know, ticked off the accomplishment list," she added. But Veronique knew that if someone was better suited for the position, she would, of course, want it to go to them. However, she didn't feel like she could express that to Celia. "I just want to be better, I guess," the Hufflepuff admitted.

 

[Celia Vuong]

Celia laughed a little. "Oh, that's not the reason why," she said, even though it definitely was. "René's actually pretty insecure," she explained. "He would probably be really hurt if he discovered that you were coming to me for advice and not him." Veronique seemed like your stereotypical kind-hearted Hufflepuff. Hopefully that would be enough to dissuade her from mentioning anything to René.

She listened sympathetically as Veronique explained what she wanted. She would also want to just be better if she played as badly as the Hufflepuff did. "First off, captain's definitely within reach if you get good enough," Celia said, even if she didn't believe it. Maybe it would happen once Renata, Felix, Leonardo, and Zagreus had all graduated and Chase had dropped out. "But you need to be more assertive. Cut down on passes and focus on shooting. Your only goal should be to take as many shots as possible." Out of all Hufflepuff's chasers, Veronique's aim was probably the worst, and it would definitely be ideal (for Hufflepuff's opponents) if Veronique hogged the quaffle.

 

[Veronique Chatelain]

Veronique nodded as Celia informed her more about her captain. She didn't want to upset anybody or hurt their feelings. After all, the team members were still her friends. She wanted to get advice to help them in the long run. "But wouldn't not passing make it more likely that the other team would steal the quaffle?" she asked. "What if someone else has a better opening? I just, I'm not a really assertive person, you know?" she laughed nervously, crossing her arm across her body to subconciously rub her shoulder, mostly as a comfort mechanism. She knew that things weren't always easy, but she hoped that good chasers were good team players. Solo playing seemed like a better fit for seekers, but maybe she was misinterpreting what Celia was saying.

 

[Celia Vuong]

Celia almost felt sorry for Veronique as the girl fidgeted nervously. She could practically see the desperation rolling off the Hufflepuff. "Then be more assertive," she said bluntly. "Fake it till you make it and all that," she said, waving her hand dismissively at the cliché. "They're not going to steal the quaffle if you don't let them. Passing actually opens you up to interceptions." It occurred to Celia that in a way, she was giving Veronique genuine advice. The only problem was that the chaser was too lousy of a shot to really take advantage of it. This would be much better advice for someone like Renata. "You want to be captain, right? Well, that's never going to happen if you don't show René and everyone else that you can act decisively. You have to lead by example." Celia paused to take a sip of her coffee. "Hell, steal the quaffle from your teammates if you need to," she added with another dismissive wave of her hand. If Veronique questioned it, Celia would claim she was just joking. But she was curious to see just how gullible the girl was.

 

[Veronique Chatelain]

Veronique listened and tried really hard to absorb what Celia was telling her. She didn't feel like she could be assertive, even as she was trying to be more so in her romantic ventures. Assertiveness felt very much against her nature, but it made sense that someone like Celia would tell her to embody that trait. "Well, I know my teammates won't try to steal the quaffle. But it just..." but she paused as Celia kept going. And the girl literally contradicted the statement she had started just a few moments before. It felt very conflicting.

At the same time, she had no reason to believe Celia would lead her astray. Even with things you heard around the school, Celia was her big, and she thought that sisterhood made people better. There was a special kind of bond. "You really think so?" she finally responded, looking down at the table for a moment before looking back up to the Slytherin. "I think... I think I can do that. I mean, I'll work on it because obviously I'm not going to be good at any of that overnight. But, I think I can work on that, being more assertive and putting myself out there confidently." She figured that was how Elara had gained an edge on things, and she craved to be as successful as her cousin. "So... what should I do first? Do you think I should like... try to do something specific next practice? Like have a plan? We already steal from each other in practices just to get in the practice so that won't necessarily show anything, you know? Or maybe it will and I'm just not understanding your vision," she added quickly, not wanting Celia to think that she was trying to discard her help.

 

[Celia Vuong]

Celia had no idea how Veronique would take the advice. On one hand, the Hufflepuff had been pretty amenable for as long as Celia had known her. On the other hand, anyone with half a brain would know that asking a beater on another team for chaser advice was a bad idea — especially if said beater was also a captain and had the reputation Celia did.

It seemed Veronique was far too trusting for her own good. Celia nodded. "Definitely." She smiled encouragingly as the Hufflepuff committed to being more assertive. "It gets easier with practice," she promised, which was actually true. It wasn't quite the same thing, but there had been a time when Celia had found the idea of breaking a rule or talking back to an authority figure unthinkable. Now she had no such qualms (though she at least had the sense to know when it was or wasn't worth it). Veronique's comment about stealing during practice suggested the Hufflepuff had misunderstood her. Or maybe she was misunderstanding Veronique. Either way, Celia decided to clarify. "Oh, I didn't mean during practice — although you should definitely keep stealing from your teammates then. I was talking about games." She knew that selling Veronique on this would be a long-shot, but she wanted to see how far she could get. "Look, what matters most during a game? Winning, right? So if one of your teammates is taking too long with the quaffle or they're being tailed by one of the opposing chasers, you need to go in and just take it from them. Your opponents won't be expecting it, and Quidditch is so fast-paced that you need to be maximizing the number of shots you take."

"As for the next practice, just focus on maintaining possession of the quaffle. Don't worry about the other players. Don't even worry about the bludgers. The only thing that matters on that pitch are you, the quaffle, and the hoops. If you don't have the quaffle, steal it. And once you have it, head straight for the hoops and shoot. If you're the one with the most steals and goals, you'll stand out." Celia paused to see whether any of this advice was resonating with Veronique. She had no doubt she could turn the chaser into the most obnoxious player on the Hufflepuff team.