"Think they've picked the new Seeker?" asked Ginny, pulling her gray and white practice robes over her head and stuffing them into her locker.
Her burly teammate, Blake Mahoney, threw down his beater bat. "They better had. There's no way Crowley can play without fingers. Of all the things for a Seeker to Splinch," he said, shaking his head with a grimace.
Ginny cringed at the thought. "Poor bloke."
The rough-and-tumble Falmouth Falcons were cleaned up and in fresh, camera-ready robes by the time their coach, an ex-Beater with a face like a banged-up cobblestone, came tromping through the locker room.
"Press conference is in ten minutes, so I'll be brief," grunted Coach Bagley. "We're announcing that Draco Malfoy is joining the team as Seeker. Hardly needs an introduction, being a Malfoy, but he'll be addressing the press. Be there in five, happy faces on."
Mahoney groaned as the coach left. "And I really thought we had a shot at the League Cup."
Ginny jabbed him with the business end of her broom. "Who's to say we won't? My Woollongong Shimmy is near perfect. Cannons' won't know what hit them when we open next month."
"Maybe," chimed in Lance Green, a fellow Chaser, "But d'you think he bought his way in, or do the Galleons he spent on a custom broomstick make up for his lack of talent?"
"Seeker can make or break a solid team," said Mahoney, sorrowfully shaking his head.
Ginny thumped her wrist guard against his skull. "For all that he's a right git, I feel sorry for him. It's rotten enough to be the new guy without torment from the likes of you."
Green chuckled. "Little Lioness is protective of the cubby."
"Perhaps she's not insensitive to the male charm after all," jeered Mahoney. "I hear he's quite the pretty little cat."
Ginny folded her arms and quoted, "Let us win, but if we cannot win, let us break a few heads." She leveled a glare at them and added, "I'd rather beat in some Cannon heads, but you lot will do in a pinch."
She hefted her broom. "Oh, and if I remember Malfoy at all, call him anything resembling a lion and you'll wish your head beat itself in."
Ignoring her heckling team, she hefted her broom, strapped on her wrist guards, and went to meet her new teammate. Happy face on.
A/N: How novel. I'm adding my notes at the end.
I'm participating in The DG Forum's 100 Drabbles in 100 Days challenge, which means I'll be writing five score of these four-hundred-words-or-less little darlings and posting them here in a sort of drabble du jour for your reading delight. And perhaps to make you think, though I promise nothing.
They shall mostly revolve around Draco and Ginny, because I simply can't help myself, but I'm fairly certain that other characters and pairings shall make an appearance. I shan't be able to resist a bit of Blaise, and Lucius will undoubtedly make an appearance...or several.
As for content, I promise nothing. I tend to range between very light and fluffy to rather dark and evil, and I plan to exercise my penchant for everything in between. I do hope you'll join me for the journey; it promises to be an interesting one.
And please review! There's nothing quite so encouraging as feedback, and if you have an idea for a future drabble, do share. My muse will be infinitely grateful for your love and support. ;)