Falling

Chapter 4: Quidditch Tryouts

James' POV

James leaned forward on his broom and sped forward, feeling the wind whip through his mess of black hair and causing his eyes to stream. But he didn't mind. This was the most natural thing in the world to him. This was one of the only places where he felt truly at ease, like the rest of the world could keep revolving and he could just sit back and watch.

As James shot around the pitch yet again, he noticed something other than the blur of the green grass and dirty brown stands, and pulled the nose of his broom up ever so slightly. Slowing to a halt, James looked out towards the movement he'd caught a glimpse of.

His eyes rested on the tiny figures of Arriety and Harper walking down onto the pitch. Smiling to himself, James leaned forward and sped towards them. He made sure to pull up at the very last second, barely a hair away from bowling Arriety over.

"Jesus James!" Arriety yelled and jumped back, startled by his sudden appearance. "It's not like I'm already nervous enough, so why don't you go ahead and give me heart convulsions!"

James snickered at her remark, and dismounted his broom with a cocky grin. "Don't play innocent with me Ari. My appearance always your heart race." James winked and threw his arm over her shoulder. "And besides, only Quidditch players with extremely skilled could have pulled off a move like that. If that doesn't make your heart race then I don't know what does!"

"Normally I would inform you that the mere thought of you making my heart race is enough to make me vomit," Arriety retorted, "but since that is a possibility right now I won't joke about it."

Now that I look at her, James thought, she does look a bit pale. He laughed internally. Well, paler than usual, that is.

"Are you really that nervous?" James asked, retracting his arm and looking at her.

"Umm let me think about that for a second." Arriety said, her voiced thick with sarcasm as she placed her fingers on her chin and gazed away in mock thoughtfulness. "Ahhh, yeah!"

James smiled and put both hands on her shoulders. "Ari, I've seen you play Chaser hundreds of times, and you're fantastic. You would be on the team already if you didn't have to go through the formality of actually trying out!" James smiled reassuringly and looked her in the eyes. "Trust me, you'll be fine."

Arriety scoffed. "Trust you? That would be a first!" But she did seem a tad more relaxed.

James' signature cocky smiled graced his face once more. "Life would be more fun if you trusted me a little more." James said with a wink. "See you on the pitch, May." He grinned at her again before taking off for a couple more practice laps, a smile etched into his face for at least five minutes.

What was it about that chick that made him feel so good?

Arriety's Pov

Arriety watched James' figure shrink into the distance and sighed. When is that kid not trouble?

Suddenly she as snapped back to reality as Harper unceremoniously tapped her on the side of the head.

"Hey! Earth to Arriety!" He waved his hand up and down in front of her face and laughed at her momentarily look of confusion. "I'm going to get changed. See you on the pitch ok?"

Arriety got changed quickly, trying to avoid giving herself time to chicken out, and walked back on to the pitch five minutes to find at least twenty other students talking and laughing, of all of whom she knew would be trying out as well. Shit.

Just when Arriety was thinking maybe she would just sit Quidditch out, a strong confident voice boomed out behind her. She spun around to see James, flanked by Fred, the only other remaining team member, instructing the group on how the tryouts were going to take place.

"Seeing as we have no chasers and no keeper," James said calmly, obviously completely at ease, "chaser tryouts will be first, followed by the tryouts for our new keeper. We will then hold trials for the position as second beater, as we already have a bloody good beater right here." James slapped Fred on the back, who grinned and winked at some fifth grade girls in the front. Needless to say they were instantly a giggling mess. Oh geez.

"There will be no seeker tryouts, as that position is currently held by yours truly." James smiled apologetically. "So If you're here as a seeker, time to clear off." He looked purposefully at a group of slender seventh grade boys in the back, who glared at him before trudging off the pitch in a collective huff. James smiled and addressed the group at large once more.

"Alright, chasers; front and centre. The rest of you pair off and practice some quaffle drills to warm up while you wait your turn."

Shit. The realisation that Arriety's time had come hit her in the face like a pile of bricks. She stood stock still, unable to move, until someone tapped her on the shoulder lightly.

"Good luck, Ari." Harper's voice was warm and reassuring. "Don't worry, you got this."

Arriety nodded stiffly, and swallowed her nerves. If I'm going to do this I'm going to give it every damn thing I've got! Arriety raised her head and walked briskly over to where James was standing, filled with a newfound resolve and her ever-present need to win.

There were four others trying out for chaser along with her; brother and sister twins from fifth grade, James' younger sister from fourth grade, Lily, and a seventh grade girl who had to be a foot taller that Arriety and built like a mountain. And Arriety was anything but short.

James began explaining the drills for the chaser trails, and Arriety snapped herself back to reality and listened intently.

"Alright, so here's the deal." James said sternly, although she could have sworn his eyes lingered on her for a millisecond longer than the others. "You will each get five shots at the goals, with Fred acting as keeper. Those of you who get the most goals past Fred will be selected for the team. Simple enough?" James waited for their nods of understanding before clasping his hands together and smiling. "Excellent! We will have Donna Matthews first, followed by Timothy Matthews. Third will be Evelyn Craig," his glanced at the colossal girl to his left before continuing on quickly. "Fourth is Lily Potter, which makes Arriety May fifth." His eyes rested on Arriety and he gave her a small smile before signalling for Donna to mount her broom and begin when she was ready.

So I'm last huh? Fan-fucking-tastic.

Arriety watched as all of her opponents took their turns. Donna had done terribly, only managing to get one goal, which was more due to a fumble made by Fred than to her chaser skills. Timothy did quite well, managing four goals on Fred, as did Lily, who was amazing to watch. She was so small and agile she was almost invisible in the air. After watching Lily, Arriety knew she had her work cut out for her.

The humongous girl, Evelyn, did alright, scoring three times. But her main tactic was using her size to scare the crap out of Fred before scoring.

"Ok, thank you Evelyn." James dismissed the seventh grader before calling out the two words Arriety feared the most. "Arriety May?"

Arriety took a deep breath and hardened her resolve. This is it. All or nothing. She silently mounted her broom and flew up to meet James, who was levitating near the middle of the field.

"So you're all clear on the rules then?" He asked seriously.

"Yeah I'm good." She said firmly, her eyes fixed on the three golden hoops at the end of the pitch.

She saw James snicker softly as he handed her the quaffle. "Alright. You need four goals or more. Good luck." And with that, he flew to the end of the pitch to observe.

Arriety heard the whistle blow and instantly flattened herself against the broom, acceleration with such force she was at the goal posts within seconds. Using her speed as an element of surprise, she chose the hoop to the left and pegged the quaffle with all her might.

Her first goal, and within under ten seconds. The crowd that had been slowly gathering cheered as she went to retrieve the quaffle, and she felt the tightness in her chest loosen slightly. She flew back to her mark and awaited the signal. But this time when she heard the whistle sound, she had a different tectic.

She knew that although her speed had caught Fred off guard for the first goal, it wouldn't work a second time. Instead, she zigzagged towards the goals, trying to keep Fred guessing as to which one she would aim for. She finally sped for the goal on Fred's left, but at the last possible second Arriety changed course. Fred lunged left and Arriety took this opportunity to score through the middle hoop.

Two down, three to go, she thought as the crowds below her roared their approval.

The next three goals were much of the same, and before Arriety knew what was happening, she was touching down as the only chaser to have scored five from five.

I did it! I actually made the team! Arriety smiled ecstatically as James landed beside her and the rest of the chasers to give his verdict.

"Well, although you all flew superbly, unfortunately we only have three spots available. I am sorry to say that Donna and Evelyn will not be making the team this year." James looked them both in the eyes as he spoke as a sign of respect.

Donna didn't seem too phased by the rejection, and walked off the pitch examining her manicure. Evelyn however, looked as if she might break her broom over James' head at any second. She glared at the rest of us and looked as if she was struggling to construct a sentence that wasn't profanity-laden, before storming away.

The rest of tryouts proceeded without a hitch, and before long James was addressing the Arriety and the rest of his new team in the centre of the pitch. The keeper was of course Harper, who had performed spectacularly and blocked every goal that came his way, and the new beater was a scrawny but exceptional fifth grader named Robbie Peakes.

"Well done, team, I am very impressed! Practice will be every Tuesday and Friday morning before class, as well as Saturdays at 11:00am. Now go celebrate!" James smiled at his team and came over to me.

"Well, well, well Ari. I suppose I might have been a bit lenient by letting you on the team." He said with mock sincerity. "But it's ok. You can thank me later tonight." James winked at her and Arriety pulled a face.

"Yeah in your dreams, Potter. And in my nightmares!" James laughed and she turned to walk back to the castle. She had organised to meet up with Flora and Lexie for lunch.

As she was walking along the beaten track to the school, someone fell into step beside her.

"Hey, Harper." She smiled at him enthusiastically. "You did amazingly! You definitely deserve to be on the team."

"Hey, I was nothing compared to you." Harper said kindly, looping his arm through hers. "But I'm sure you're secretly pissed off about losing our little wager."

Arriety stopped dead in her tracks and stared at him, realisation hitting her smack in the gut.

Harper laughed loudly before pulling her back into a slow pace next to him. "I didn't realise that a date with me was such a horrible idea!"

"N-no it's not– I just– we've always–," Arriety stammered, not exactly knowing the endings to any of the sentences she was starting.

"Hey, it's not like I'm proposing or anything." Harper said calmly, stopping and rest his hands on her shoulders. "It's just one date. What's the worst that could happen?"

Arriety looked at him evenly. They had been the closest of friends ever since she moved to Hogwarts. I don't want to throw away such an amazing friend...

But as she looked at his kind eyes and reassuring smile, she felt herself give in. Harper was one of the nicest guys she'd ever met. Plus, she knew that he genuinely cared for her, and she knew she cared for him as well.

Arriety smiled at him and pulled him down so she could whisper in his ear.

"Ok. One date."

So? Arriety and Harper, huh? Interesting developments...
So I would reallllllly like some reviews or messages, so PLEASE guys! I will buy you unicorns with sprinkles! ;)
Well, until next time kiddies!