Closed One Last Time

[Rhys Garner]

Rhys was already planning his first article and wanted to get some discussions in for ideas, maybe throw out some questions he could use. Luckily for him, Louis has agreed to be the subject, which was perfectly fine with Rhys. While he knew there had been an interview with all the quidditch captains in the last issue, this was a sit down with one of them. And while talking, he might come up with article ideas, or he might just decide to turn the whole article into an interview with one of the new Gryffindor captain. It depended on how things ended up going.

He'd taken up a seat in the student lounge, deciding that he wanted to be somewhere comfortable for this, making sure to bring along all of his writing equipment ready to take down notes. The only thing he needed to do now was to sit there and wait for Louis to show up. Hopefully he wouldn't have to wait long, he had sent an owl with the time and location, so he didn't think it would be too hard to follow such simple instructions.

 

[Louis Alcott]

Louis had always known his moment of fame would come. He had been very pleased when Rhys had asked him for an article in Hogwarts Monthly. He hadn't really prepared for it, he was sure the right words would come to him in the moment. He had been sure the Slytherin would just pull him aside after class sometime, but instead the other boy had sent him an owl. It felt oddly official. Louis arrived only a few minutes late, and that was because he'd really needed to get his hair looking alright. He didn't think Rhys would take photos for the article, but you never knew.

The Slytherin boy was easy to spot in the student lounge, and Louis shot him a grin from across the room before making his way over to him. For someone Louis had shared a classroom with for seven years, he really hadn't talked to Rhys much. He remembered when Celia had asked him if he would find even someone like Rhys cute, and Louis had said he was kind of cute. He still agreed with that statement. He was cute, in a nerdy sort of way. Though Louis had no idea what sort of person the Slytherin liked. If anyone. Louis dropped into the empty seat. "Hey, hope I'm not too late." He said. "Thanks for doing this."

 

[Rhys Garner]

Rhys had started absently tapping his pen against his leg while he was waiting for Louis to arrive. Thankfully, he wasn't left waiting for too long, an easy smile on his face as he finally spotted the other boy, waving him over with a small gesture. "Not too much," he was just a couple of minutes after the scheduled meet, but Rhys wasn't that pressed about it. If he had been left sitting there forever, that would be a whole other matter. But he could live with losing a couple of minutes waiting on him to arrive.

"Y'know, I'm the one who should be doing the thanking for taking the time to sit down with me in the first place," he also pointed out, flipping to a clean page of his notepad past all the scribbles and sketches that filled it. No point in hanging around, so might as well get right to the point of this meeting in the first place. "So, how bout we start with something simple. How'd it feel when you were asked to co-captain? Were you expecting it or was it a bit of a surprise?"

 

[Louis Alcott]

Louis was glad to hear he wasn't very late. Rhys seemed like a nice guy but he was still a Slytherin. Louis had learned to be wary of them. He suddenly realized Rhys was Caleb's roommate. He wondered if he could subtly ask some questions about him, but dismissed the thought. Imagine if Rhys wrote about it in the paper.

The Gryffindor couldn't help grinning a bit as Ryhs said he should be thanking him instead. It was nice to be so clearly wanted for an interview. Secretly, it was even nicer that it was just him and not Zephryn. Louis wasn't going to tell her about this and he wondered what her reaction would be when the paper came out. Louis leaned back in his seat comfortably, pondering the Slytherin's question for a moment. "Well, I wasn't expecting it, but I was hoping for it." He admitted. "It was a surprise to be named together with my fellow chaser, but she's a good player and we definitely make a strong team on the pitch." He added though he knew it was a bit of an exaggeration considering they mostly fought on the pitch. But the readers didn't need to know that.

 

[Rhys Garner]

His father had always told him to flatter the people he was interviewing, then they might be more inclined to answer the harder questions. If you were rude, then they were just going to end bottling up and not giving you an inch. It had been lesson one, and it was a lesson that Rhys had learned quite well. Butter them up, and they were sure to relax and give you the good stuff.

Humming, he flipped his pen in his hand one last time before writing down everything the other boy was saying. "So, you're saying that you were more hoping to be named a Captain by yourself?" He couldn't help but smirk a little, quick to pick up on that little slip-up. Already his flattery seemed to be working quite well. But he didn't want Louis to be thinking about that for too long, clearing his throat so he could move on. "But do the two of you have any big plans for the Quidditch team this year? Hoping to get your first championship in what feels like a century?"

 

[Louis Alcott]

Louis had been feeling quite relaxed and optimistic about this interview, but the Slytherin's next question felt a bit like a trap. Louis blinked at the question, then shook his head. "Not necessarily. I meant that I expected there to be one captain, since Isaiah did it by himself too, and then I also said I did hope it would be me." He said, though he wasn't sure if it was really all that different from what Rhys had said. The next question was a bit easier, and Louis felt his posture relax again. He stretched out a bit in his chair. "I mean, we do plan to win the cup. We were nearly there last year, just got unlucky at the end." Louis said with a shrug. In his mind, Hufflepuff's last minute victory by an alternate third year seeker was nothing more than dumb luck. He kind of felt like they had really deserved to win. "I think our odds are good. Especially since our first match is against Ravenclaw."

 

[Rhys Garner]

"It wouldn't be the first time there have been two people captaining the team," he did have to point out, tapping his notepad with the top of his pad. Not that he could name any of the previous captains who had shared the position of the top of his head, but he knew this was not the first time by a long shot. "Especially because it's Ravenclaw, huh? Trying to say something about the Ravenclaw team?" He posed the question with a grin, ready to pounce on the answer, but he doubted Louis was about to start trash talking any of the other teams. He wasn't Celia by a long shot. "But I think winning the cup is just automatically at the top of everyone's list. Not got any personal goals you want to achieve?"

 

[Louis Alcott]

OOC: that aged well, Louis.

Louis shrugged as Rhys pointed out it wouldn't be the first time there were two captains. Did he really expect Louis to think that far ahead? He usually didn't. As Rhys asked him about his comment on Ravenclaw, Louis realized how dismissive he had sounded. He didn't do it on purpose, but at the same time he kind of assumed everyone had written off Ravenclaw. "I just mean that they were in last place last year." He said with a small shrug. "While we were in second, you know?" Louis trusted Rhys wasn't going to make him sound bad in the interview, surely he understood what he meant. Louis pondered his next question for a moment. "I mean, I'm hoping to go professional next year." He said with a small, modest, smile.

 

[Rhys Garner]

"So, just because they happened to place last the previous year, that automatically means you're going to write them off this year?" People could perform badly one year, but only losers realized how much that actually spurned on a team and made them want to try harder and perform better than before. It happened all the time in sports, his own father had seen first hand how a team at the very bottom of the pack could fight their way up into the winners circle the next year around. The true underdog story. But it wasn't a surprise to hear Louis wanted to go Professional. A lot of people probably did. "Any teams in particular you're hoping to want your signature, then? Got any back-up plans if you fail?"

 

[Louis Alcott]

Louis frowned a bit at Rhys’ wording. He shook his head. “Not automatically, no. But it’s not like we should just ignore that either. The team isn’t that different from last year.” He said with a shrug. “It’s just strategy, you know?” He was starting to feel vaguely uncomfortable, wondering just what angle Rhys would take in the article. He was glad the next question was a bit easier to answer. “I’d love to play for the Quibberon Quafflepunchers, but I’d take any team that would take me.” He said with a small laugh. “I guess my backup plan would be to stick around Quality Quidditch supplies a bit longer. Or work with my dad, he makes brooms.” He said with a shrug.

 

[Rhys Garner]

Absently, he tapped the side of his notepad with a pen. "Well, a lot can change in a year from my experience," he couldn't help but point out. "Teams can go from being at the very bottom of the pack to suddenly winning the whole thing. You'd be foolish to discount them based just on last year's performance." And he was hoping that might get proved in the upcoming game. It would certainly be interesting to see how the team handled things up in the air. "The Qufflepunchers, huh? Any reason why you want to play for them specifically? Your favorite player on that team or something?" He supposed that would make the most sense. "Have you thought about maybe trying out for teams in another country if you don't make any the ones here? Making and selling brooms is a lot different than actually playing the sport, I imagine."

 

[Louis Alcott]

ten millions apologies I basically had an absence but here's a reply in case you need it for HM, I'm fine going on for a bit more if you need!
Louis shrugged a bit. "I know, that's true... but it'd be silly not to take it into account." He grimaced a bit. "I wasn't intending to be insulting to Ravenclaw, though. Do you think you could maybe soften that a bit in the article?" He asked, as the feeling that he wasn't exactly showing his best side increased. He shrugged again when Rhys asked his next question, he couldn't help it. "I mean, I'd love to play for France." He told him. "But like I said, any team would be fine." He said. "Of course I've thought about that, the broom making is more of a back-up option. I'm aware its very different, but not everyone gets to be a professional player." He said with a slight frown. "I mean, I'll try, and I think I'm good enough, but it's smart to have backup options, right?"