Broomsticks and Balls

Summary: Pottertalia Y2. Quidditch tryouts begin for the four Houses and Elizaveta is on a quest of great importance.

Fourth-year Elizaveta Héderváry wasn't sure whether to be amused or alarmed about her captain's sudden manic behavior. Okay, so two of their teammates had graduated at the end of the previous year. It wasn't a surprise that they had to find replacements for them, so why Sadik had chosen to act like a madman during the week of tryouts was beyond her understanding.

Next to her, fellow fourth-year Timo Väinämöinen and fifth-year Mathias Densen both looked bemused by Sadik's pacing and quiet ranting. Further down the bench, third-year Lovino Vargas was doing his usual dramatic sulking and eye-rolling at their captain's behavior, though Elizaveta could tell it was less forced and more genuine than normal.

"Practice doesn't start for another two weeks, so why are we here again?" Mathias asked when it became apparent that Sadik wasn't going to talk.

Sadik stopped pacing to stare at Mathias like he'd grown a second head. "Why are we here?" He repeated faintly.

"Oh, now you've done it," Lovino groaned.

"Quidditch season starts in two weeks," Sadik said, sound more serious than they'd ever heard. "Next week we have to find two people to replace Beth and Salem. That's a chaser and a beater, who we then have to train to work with the team! Do you remember how long it took Salem and Timo to work out the bludger reversal maneuver? We're already behind!"

"Ravenclaw's even worse off. Yao has to find four replacements now, since Hughes also left," Mathias pointed out.

"I don't care about Rav- wait, four?" Sadik cut himself off in confusion. "What happened to Hughes? She didn't graduate last year."

"Lukas told me she's dropping Quidditch to concentrate on her studies. NEWTs, y'know?" Mathias said with a shrug.

Sadik looked as though he couldn't comprehend such a thing.

"It's not like any of the other teams have a great advantage over us," Timo said. "Not even Hufflepuff. They don't have anyone they need to replace this year, but their first practice is a a full week after ours."

"Slytherin has a full team too, even with Christensen gone. Matthew will probably be taking her place," Elizaveta pointed out.

Sadik raised an eyebrow. "Matthew? You mean that Williams kid?"

"He's a good kid, Sadik," Mathias said in a tone warning their captain to back off. "Can we just post a message on the Common Room board and be done with it? We'll have a huge crowd at tryouts, same as always. There's bound to be someone who can match up to Timo's strength."

Sadik seemed to relax at the reminder, but that didn't stop him from using the rest of their time to stress just how important it was that they put together a great team for the year. He refused to go through another year of being completely decimated by the Hufflepuff team.

Elizaveta left the meeting with a plan blooming in her mind. She knew of someone whose strength would make him an amazing beater and thus give Timo the partner he deserved. The question was, did the second year even want to play?

"I don't really care for Quidditch. Quodpot's a whole lot better, if you ask me," Alfred Jones said with a shrug when he was cornered by the girl after dinner. (Maybe it was less cornered and more that Elizaveta caught him just as he was leaving and dragged him away to an empty corridor just outside the Great Hall, but that was a detail she wasn't concerned with.)

Elizaveta wasn't willing to accept that as an absolute refusal. "You aren't even considering trying out? We have two open positions and I think you'd be good at either of them!"

"Why? Just 'cause Matt's good at 'em?" Alfred asked.

"Partly," Elizaveta admitted, recalling the one and only match she'd seen Matthew play in the beginning of the previous year. The tiny first year had been so impressive that even Ivan Braginsky, captain of the Hufflepuff team, had paid him a compliment.

Alfred frowned and crossed his arms over his chest.

Elizaveta quickly continued, realizing she was losing his interest. "Matthew mentioned once that you're good at baseball, which means you must be good at hitting a ball with a bat. And if you're good at Quodpot, well, that can't be much different from being a Chaser?"

Okay, perhaps she should have looked into Quodpot a little more. All she really knew about it was that it was much more popular over in North America and involved throwing around a quaffle-like ball.

Alfred didn't look at all convinced. "I'll think about it."

"Think about what?"

Elizaveta jumped in surprise at the sound of Matthew's voice. She'd been so caught up in trying to think of a way to convince Alfred he needed to join the team that she hadn't heard him approach.

"Liz is trying to talk me into playing Quidditch is all," Alfred explained. "It'd be cool to play a game or two for fun, but I'm not really all that into it. I'll just wait until Quodpot season starts and..." He trailed off, a look of dawning horror on his face as he took in the fact that Matthew and Elizaveta were shaking their heads.

"Al, there is no Quodpot here," Matthew said as gently as he could.

Alfred gaped at his brother. "No Quod... but how? Why? It's the greatest!" He crossed his arms over his chest. "Well in that case, I'll put together my own team! Matt, you'll join me, right?"

Matthew shook his head. "Sorry, I'm off reserve for Slytherin this year. Lucien's already got our training schedule mapped out."

"Liz?" Alfred turned to her with pleading blue eyes, but she shook her head and apologized. His shoulders slumped in disappointment and he scuffed one shoe against the hard floor. "No way... Now what am I gonna do?"

"Play Quidditch," Matthew suggested. "Gryffindor needs good players if they're going to stand a chance against Slytherin this year. Maybe you're just the hero they need."

Elizaveta raised an eyebrow at the unusually cocky behavior the second-year was displaying. He caught her expression and winked, making her realize it was all part of an act. It was funny, he almost reminded her of Gilbert for a moment...

"A hero, huh?" Alfred repeated, looking contemplative. "I guess it would be so bad. I did bring my Sienna Storm this year..." He looked to Elizaveta, decision made. "So when are try-outs?"

Elizaveta resisted the urge to pump a fist in the air in celebration, but just barely.

- BONUS -

"Williams!"

Matthew paused at the entrance to the Common Room and braced himself for the lecture he'd been waiting for since his conversation with Alfred and Elizaveta the day before. As lax as Lucien Dalca was about most things, he was surprisingly strict when it came to his duties as captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team.

"What's this I hear about you helping out the Gryffindor team with recruitment?" Lucien demanded, being sure to lower his voice to lessen the chances of anyone overhearing.

"Elizaveta was trying to get Al to join, so I helped her," Matthew said honestly.

"But... why? This is our shot! Sure, Hufflepuff has Braginsky to counter you, but Ravenclaw and Gryffindor would have been a walk in the park!" Lucien's confusion was clear in his voice.

"Maybe," Matthew agreed. "But, you know, even though Al's stronger than I am, that's not going to help them. See, he doesn't really know how to control his strength. Adnan and the others will have their hands full trying to teach him."

Lucien's anger diminished and was replaced by a contemplative amazement. "That's actually genius. Deliberate sabotage of the Gryffindor team while making them think you're helping? Brilliant! Héderváry won't know what hit her!" He laughed as he patted Matthew a little too hard on the back, making the younger boy momentarily lose his footing.

As Lucien walked away, Matthew breathed a small sigh of relief at avoiding creating conflict with his team. He only hoped his prediction was right.