Theo landed his broomstick just before arriving at the lake. It was a rather big thud which kinda hurt his feet, so he huffed at that on top of all his regular huffing. The quaffle was firmly tucked under his arm, because he felt like he hadn't had enough quaffle time during the practice. It was bad enough that he missed being a chaser after so many years of being good at it, but when he performed badly in practices and everyone ELSE had quaffle time......... well... his ego couldn't cope. So.

What was he gonna do?

CHUCK IT IN THE LAKE, THAT'S WHAT.

Theo raised it into the air, stood for a moment staring at the sky... then went limp again because he couldn't do it. Instead he just popped it back under his arm and flopped down onto the grass.

Where was he even going? West followed, and finally dismounted when he saw a Theo down at the lakes edge. He chucked his broom to one side and strode over, hovered for a moment, and then flopped down in the grass next to his bestie.

"You... got that Quaffle good." West said, sorta tentative about it. He peeked at said Quaffle. Theo DID know that West had to return that thing right?

Bahhh, hadn't he rode away fast enough?

It was kinda similar to the match day. Theo couldn't have gotten away quicker, but he guessed he had reasons for that. You know, LOSING, and stuff. He sighed and peered quickly to his side at West, then looked back at the water. "Well, yeah. It's what I'm good at." Not so much today, but usually, he supposed.

"You want it back, right? Is that why you followed me?"

Stroppy comments really couldn't be helped when Theo was feeling like this. He placed the quaffle on the grass and tapped the top of it in rhythm to whatever was in his head.

"Its one of the things you're good at. You're good at a bunch of things." West answered and looked up at the sky. Theo made him play better actually, West was sure of it. It hadn't been easy going at it alone for him either, they'd only done it once before back when they'd been stuck with only four of their team playing for a match, that had been tough. It was forever ago but he remembered it clearly.

"I have to get it back... but that's not why I followed you." No way, he followed for best mate reasons.

Theo snorted a little. "Right. Quidditch is all I have going for me." He muttered solemnly. For some reason, he had thought that being a prefect would give him a much needed kick up the bum with everything else. Truth was, Theo was slacking just as much as he usually did. Not that he expected West to understand. West was good at everything.

Of cooooourse West would have followed him. It took Theo a moment to remember that, but he knew his best friend well enough. He was a gooden. "Well, thanks..." He spread out his arms and rolled the quaffle back and forth to himself. "You got here just in time before I threw this thing in the lake."

And he'd be the one getting it out 'cause Theo couldn't swim.

"Psshhhh c'mon, you're prefect." Brows. "You've got power. They'll write about you in the next edition of Prefects Who Gained Power I bet, on account of its only gonna benefit you one day when we graduate." Paaaaause. Graduate. Like that was a real thing now. They were closer to graduating than being firsties. How weird was that? At least they still had a couple years to go, and to enjoy their badges right? "If you wanted to, you could do things with it right now."

West eyed the lake.

...... it looked COLD.

"Well, good excuse to practice that one charm. Chuck it, it might make you feel better." Carpe Retractum. Yes He'd have given it a go with that rather than going in the water.

West was really good at making Theo feel good about himself, you know. And even though he had never heard of a book called Prefects Who Gained Power, he kinda REALLY wanted to be in it. "I don't really know what to do with it, though. No one sat me down and taught me how to be a prefect. They just gave me a badge."

Believe it or not, Theodore Kinsley wasn't a natural do-gooder. HE NEEDED TEACHING.

But making use of his power... well... he could probably do that if he put his mind to it. :shifty:

Pssssssssht, okay. "You can practice it." Theo would watch... even though he really could do with the practice, too. He hardly listened to what was happening in Charms class. What was the incantation again? Theo picked up the quaffle and threw it in the air from where he was sat. He kicked it hard until it went sPLOOOSH into the lake.

Kicking from the ground like a boss.

*coughs* charms carpe retractum thingy post
 

"Yeah." West could see that. "At least Dylan taught me a whole lot of things over the past four years." Well he had, a whole lot. Aside from the whole icky situation being awkward and Derry getting hurt and him not being first choice, and now being kinda worried that now she was back that he'd have to give it back and all, West was entirely prepared to do this captain thing justice. It was something he'd literally wanted since the first time he stepped onto the pitch. Ambitious Slytherin that he was. "I guess it depends what you want out of it. They wouldn't have given it to you if they didn't think you would do good you know." Yea and West had been WAY proud when Theo had first told him about it too. Heaps proud. Still was even.

Shrug. Yeah okay. He could practice. Sure.

He watched Theo boot the Quaffle out onto the water and then eyed it bobbing on the freezing surface. Sure okay. Wand? Wand. He held it in his left hand, flicked his wrist like he was flicking a whip and.... "Carpe Retractum!" Whipishhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Purple rope light thing went out and.... didn't quite reach the Quaffle. Aim through it maybe? He tried again.

"Carpe Retractum!" This time the rope skimmed across the surface of the water, looped around the Quaffle, and West tugged it back in. Easy as pie.

"Want a go?"

"Yeah, you're lucky." Theo wondered how he would ever cope with being captain. It looked like one hell of a job, but he always wondered. As for prefect, who did he have to look up to? That Daichi kid? What did HE do that was so special? "I want a lot out of it." He wanted everything he could get out of it. He wanted in that book. Why oh whyyyyy would West mention that book? Finally, Theo cracked a small smile at his friend, because he had cheered him up just a little. But to be honest, he wasn't sure why he was in such a mood in the first place.

He watched West do his thing, but was soon distracted with pulling grass out of the ground. Did HE want a go? No.

No, he did not.

........ "Sure." Never know, this could come up on their OWLs. The OWLs which just so happened to be in a few months from now. Theo felt a headache coming on just at the thought of it, so he rubbed his forehead a little. He took hold of the quaffle and kicked it in the water like he had done before. Ooooookay, he pulled his wand from inside his robes and pointed it awkwardly.

Erm.. "Carpe Retractum." With the most pathetic wand movement ever, Theo watched tiny sparks flying from the tip of his wand, but nothing actually happened. Too limp, he figured. Theo dropped his arm to his side and sighed. At least he had the pronunciation down. AWYESS.

Lucky was a weird word. West wasn't sure he felt lucky, not when it was at the expense of a friend, and not when not getting it in the first place had stung so much. But Theo knew that better than anyone. Theo was they only person who really knew exactly how West felt about all of it.

"Do you want to be able to say that you were part of Slytherin getting the House Cup? Or do you want to be able to say that all those little kids look up to you and respect you and you taught them things like how it always was for us and Dylan? I guess what I mean is do you want to be the best and everything just on your own, or do you want to lead Slytherin to be where we should be as a house? Because... well, if anyone can do it, I reckon you can. You make me better, so it makes sense that you'd make everyone else better too, if you wanted to." But Theo had to want to. And well, if he did want to, then West would be right there. Have his back and all that. Terrortwins forever right?

He watched Theo pretty much put no effort in. "You think Bellaire would be proud of that?" He asked mildly. C'monnnnn. Theo could do better than that.

"Whip it. Whip it good." West did a little whipping motion and grinned. C'monnnnn. Peer pressureeee.

Theo looked at the lake the whole time West was talking, so that he could mull it all over. "I want... to lead. But I've always followed." If that made sense. "And besides, I don't have respect from many people. People don't like me." He wasn't dumb, and the more years that went by, the less he thought about it. He had his friends and as long as he didn't lose them, he would be happy. But would he? The feeling of people taking a general disliking to you wasn't a nice feeling, just one that he had gotten used to. "I guess it's my fault. I need to try harder." He nodded.

Yes, starting today, he would do just that. TRY.

"I was thinking the other day... about how when we were in first year." Or second year, he couldn't remember, "we said it'd be us with the badges. Now look at us." Theo grinned. And even though West hadn't gotten it first, he still deserved it. It all went to plan in the end.

Meerrr, don't say that. Though, technically Bellaire wasn't the Charms professor anymore so it didn't count. Nope. "Fine." Theo cleared his throat and practiced his whipping a few times. This felt weird. "Carpe Retractum!" He whipped it REAL good, maybe a little too much. The rope shot across the water, went a little past the quaffle, but grabbed it on it's way back. As the quaffle came flying towards him, Theo got a little nervous and broke the spell before it got near him.

And when I say broke the spell, I mean he dropped his wand and bounced backwards covering his head.

Thankfully, the ball made it out of the water at least. Boom.

"I like you. I respect you." West pointed out, quite serious about it. He knew the sort of influence he had, and well, if he respected Theo (and he did) then it stood to reason that others would too. "I think its like.... well we never respected anyone what never proved they deserved it did we?" Dylan deserved it. Sierra deserved it. That Kennedy guy did as well. But other than that... well.... "I know that you deserve respect on account of I know you, most people aren't so lucky as me though." Because only West was lucky enough to be able to call Theo his best mate, so he totally won there.

He looked at said best mate and a slow smile appeared on his face. "Yeah, we did say that. Now we just gotta get Cassia the badge after Kat graduates and we're sorted." How perfect would that be?

See? As much as West wasn't a Bellaire fan, at least she had one purpose in his eyes -inspiring Theo to push harder. West didn't even bat an eye at the duck and cover there, he just leaned forward and scooped the Quaffle up. "There, see? Better already."

Fist bump?

"I know." What would he even do without West as a friend? He was thankful that he ignored his mood swings most of the time, and seemed to just know how to work around them. Not many people knew how to. "I suppose so. I still got two terms to work on that... if they keep me on, that is." Because Lafay had made it pretty clear that Theo was still on her list. So, it kinda meant he had to EXTRA prove himself. "Thanks man." He smiled and nudged West a little. Bro!hug urges.

"Cassia's got it in the bag." He was sure of it. "Then we can really get to business." Whatever that business was. He knew what it was a few years ago, but now, not so much.

Where were his inner firstie ideas?!!!!!

It was pretty darn good. Theo beamed and fistbumped his pal. "So," He flopped back on the ground after tucking his wand away. "Derry's back for good now, huh? Is she playing in the next match?" He hoped so. His practice-mood wasn't anything personal to the others playing. He was just having a hard time being beaten at the moment.

"They kept that duck boy on." West pointed out. C'mon, Theo had WAY more in him than a borderline creepy love of ducks. WAY more. SO obviously there was no chance that they wouldn't keep him on. At all. West was confident of that much. Also, nudge back. And another. Because that deserved two nudges. Bro!love!nudges.

Nod. Yeah West hoped so. Cassia was awesome. He hoped Lafay had noticed that too. They really WOULD rule with a Cassia to balance them out, wouldn't they? Just like they'd planned when they were eleven year olds.

West tucked the Quaffle under his head, like a pillow and considered this. "Yeah. I mean... you know, if she earns a spot in the line-up like everyone else." They kinda needed her and all, but it wasn't like West could just discount everyone else's hard work just on account of Derry was back. That wasn't really the part that worried him though. West went a bit quiet and chewed his lip. "Now that she's back... do you think... what if... what if they..." He couldn't finish the sentence. It was too big of a fear that there'd be this whole 'she's back we don't need you anymore YOINK' thing going on.

Baaaaaahaha... Theo laughed. Duck boy. "EXACTLY what I was thinking." Who was he to judge really? Theo didn't know Daichi other than the duck thing. What a way to be remembered.

Bahaha.

Theo grinned at the nudges he got back, then leaned back too so that he was lying next to West. Ahhh, the sky.

"Well, she pretty much rocked it today." He said quietly. Well, actually, he was glad that he caught up with Derry at least a bit during the practice. He wasn't giving himself enough credit. West's quietness didn't go unnoticed, and Theo knew what he was going to say. He wasn't gonna lie, he had been thinking the exact same thing, too. "I dunno." He said simply, then clapped him on the back. "They won't take it away. They can't. You've been too awesome." And Theo wouldn't be impressed if they did either.

Theo offered him a reassuring smile, "Just keep doing your thing."

See? Theo was more than just poultry. So already he was on his way to being the greatest prefect in recent history yeah? Yeah. West thought so anyways, and would continue to think so even if nobody else was smart enough to work it out.

"You were better." Seriously. West meant it. He wasn't about to blow smoke here, it wasn't his style, if Theo had been crap then that is exactly what West would've said.

He mulled over his best mate's words and then quite suddenly leaned over for hugs. Big squeeze-y half-laying down hug. Sometimes those said more than what words did.

Oooooookay, maybe just a little. Not that it counted for anything because Derry did just recover from falling off a horse or something. She played pretty darn good considering. Now that he had cooled off, Theo definitely wanted some more practice times. "Sorry for running off with the quaffle." It was lame.

Oh, hugging. Theo manouvered himself into a comfy lying down position and squished West back. It was a nice hug. A kind of always-got-your-back hug.

Because they did. Both of them.

"S'okay. Thanks for being understanding about switching to goal. You're fantastic there you know? An' there wasn't really anyone else what I knew could really turn things around there, you're the one person what I could count on." Which was why he'd asked Theo to do it, and he had been right about it, Theo was awesome keeping.

Hugs were good. West got his fill before pulling back and looking up at the sky again. Stayed close though. And offered a fist for bumpage.

"Good job I trusted you." West knew best, and all. And he was glad, because becoming a keeper was a decision that Theo didn't really agree with at first. "I do miss chasing, though." Especially with WEST. But he didn't say that because things were already getting mushy down at the lake today.

Huggggggggggggggggging.

Okay, he was good. Fistbumps were more like it. Theo looked around the lake just making sure that no one saw their little intimate moment. Though just sayin', people should be used to TerrorTwin!BROHUGS by now.

"Yeah well." West grinned at him. He did appreciate the trust thing. "I know. I miss flying with you. Its sorta weird." Paaaaause. "And maybe... I mean... you should maybe think about trialing for the Under seventeens. There are open trials just before Summer starts." And then they could fly together again too see?

That'd be epic.

Dylan made his way down to the lake, carrying his guitar with him as he went. Smiling, he took a seat by the edge of the water and lightly began strumming to a song he had written that summer. It was actually quite good, and he was proud of himself for how good it sounded. Glancing behind himself as he played, he watched as Ginger who had followed him here, ran around in the grass trying to catch a little bug that was flying around. He chuckled and then turned to face the water, looking out upon it. The lake was really beautiful when you took the time to look out at it. The season setting with it made it look really cool. Dylan sighed, wishing he had brought his sketchpad along with him.

WEEEE want help from Lottie, kay?
 

Derry had wandered down to the lake with her charms book in her hands and was sat far enough away from the waters edge that she wasn't panicking, glaring at the book with all she could muster. OWLs were providing a little more challenge than she had anticipated...

She could do with a little more help on this stuff... because it was driving her mad. Stupid Carpe whatever. Derry had half given up on the homework, and was waving her wand around aimlessly, making little trails of colourful light. Pretty things... far more entertaining than actual homework.

And help she'll get!