Luke gripped his Nimbus 2001 as he walked towards the Quidditch pitch alongside with Zacharias with his own broom. "Mummy got you a good broom, Black?"

He ignored him as he kept walking to the pitch.

"Good brooms won't make you part of the team, you know that?" Zacharias taunted him.

He scoffed. "I know but you should know that being descendant of Helga Hufflepuff doesn't make you a part of the team too."

There were six Hufflepuffs who were trying out for the team. Two were Chasers including Zacharias, two Keepers, one Beater which was Luke and one Seeker.

He was very nervous knowing that the team had two beaters already named Maxine O'Flaherty and Anthony Rickett. Maxine was in her sixth year while Anthony was in his fifth which made Luke, a second year, look smaller and weaker than them.

"Alright," The captain of the team Cedric Diggory who was in fourth year began to speak. "First of all, the Chasers and the Keepers will be trying the first. We will see how many scores can a Chaser make in five tries and how many shots can a Keeper stop from scoring."

There was one spot free for Chasers and somehow that made Zacharias smile as he had more chance than Luke getting in the team. The boy took a seat on the benches and waited for the players.

First of was a boy who was already on the team named Malcolm Preece who Luke knew to be the best Chasers in the team. He threw the Quaffle five times and he only missed one. Then came another team member named Tamsin Applebee who only missed two. Zacharias was next and he scored only one time.

It was very clear that he wouldn't make the team. Filled with anger, he walked out of the pitch even though his name was called by the captain. "Don't try, he's stubborn." Luke informed him.

Cedric gave him a nod and called the other person trying out who was a girl named Heidi Macavoy who didn't miss any throw she made. She scored each one. It was obvious that she had made the team but Cedric didn't say anything. He was waiting for all of them to finish.

The process was repeated with the other Keepers and Luke then understood why Zacharias should have stayed because he had more opportunity to prove himself. Heidi still continued to do good and it was obvious she was going to make the team.

"Now, the Beaters." Cedric called and Luke got up from his seat. "There is one who signed up and that is Luke Black."

"Present." Like raised his hand with a smile making Cedric chuckle.

"Alright, the machine over there is going to throw you bludgers. I want you to aim on the three hoops. Can you do that?" Luke nodded his head and mounted his broom.

He rose up in the air and gripped his bat with a tight force. "You ready?" Cedric called from down on the ground.

"Ready!" Luke shouted and not a minute later, he heard a bludger come his way. He adjusted the bat and moved his fingers. He looked at the hoops and when the bludger came next to him, he hit it and threw it towards the hoop. It went right in and Luke smiled.

He didn't get to celebrate for long as another bludger came his way. Again, he hit but he had been lucky as he almost missed it. He pursued his lips and tightened the grip on the bat. He didn't miss the four other bludgers sent his way.

"How about you fly with your broom around the hoops and try to hit the bludgers as Herbert throws them?" Luke nodded.

He flew around the hoops and waited for the team Keeper to throw him the bludgers. He hit each one that was sent his way but on his fifth one, he almost fell over the broom. He composed his stature rather quickly and dropped down on the ground.

"Sit on the benches, wait for the pickup." Cedric told him and that was what Luke did.

"You had a good hook." Heidi, the new Chaser complimented him. The girl was in her fourth year but she was just as tall as Luke was. She had brown hair that were cut short in a pixie cut and hazel eyes. "Also, nice broom." She eyed Luke's Nimbus 2001.

He smiled at her. "Thanks. You were pretty good out there."

"I've been practicing all summer, I didn't make the team two years in the row." Luke raised his eyebrows in surprise. "The boy who was here made my tryout easier."

He chuckled. "Zacharias has the need to be good at everything and he thinks he should be treated like royalty."

Heidi frowned. "Why?"

"He's a descendant of Helga Hufflepuff." He responded to the girl. "According to him, being a descendants of one of the founders is a big thing. A thing that should be celebrated."

"Not if you're Salazar Slytherin's descendant." Luke shuddered at her words but she didn't notice. "People would deem you evil just because you talked to snakes."

He nodded. "Yeah, they totally would."

"Alright, gather around." Cedric announced and everyone moves to him. "I had to make some changes for the best of the team and I hope you all understand."

Luke scratched the back of his head as he waited for the captain to speak.

"The Chasers are Malcolm Preece, Heidi Macavoy and Tamsin Applebee." Cedrick spoke as he looked at the letter he was holding. Luke felt his heart quicken and his body shake in anticipation. "The Beaters are Maxine O'Flaherty and Luke Black." He smiled but in the inside, he was jumping, screaming and shouting in glee. He had spent the whole summer training to get in the team, he had even talked to his uncles Carter and Don from tips as both of them had been on the Quidditch team of their house as Beaters. "The Keeper is Herbert Fleet and The Seeker is me, Cedric Diggory."

"Congrats, Black." Malcolm told him as he patted his back. "Welcome to the team."

The whole team congratulated him on being part of the team. Him and Heidi.

Cedric walked over to them and smiled. "Told you it was your year." He was talking to Heidi which made Luke then realized that they were in the same year and most likely friends.

"Yeah well, people would start to believe I only got in because we're friends." Heidi said with a shrug.

Luke shook his head. "It's not your fault that your competition walked away when he missed his first tries with the first Keeper."

"He's right." Cedric told the girl. "You were also brilliant. I felt bad for cutting Anthony but he understood and he wanted the team to win or not come last."

Luke chuckled at that. "Well, I hope we win or don't end up last. Thanks for giving me the opportunity." He shook hands with his new captain. "Good day."

The sandy blond boy walked out of the pitch and headed to tha castle. As he made his way to the castle, he saw Hagrid.

"Hey, Hagrid." He greeted the tall man who looked down at Luke with a smile.

"Luke." The man called his name. "How are yeh doin'?"

"Just fine. I just got accepted in the Quidditch team." He told the the keeper of keys of Hogwarts.

Hagrid chuckled. "Tha' is great. We ought ter celebrate it. How abou' yer come over on the weekend?"

"Sure thing." He responded with a smile.

The man nodded. "Bring your sister and cousin with yeh. I haven' seen 'em in a while."

Luke nodded. "I will. See you on the weekend." He was about to walk away when Hagrid stopped him.

"Wha' position are yeh playin'?" Hagrid asked him.

"Beater." Luke responded to him.

"Jus like your father."

The boy was taken back by Hagrid's words and he looked at the half giant with frown. "I'm sorry. Did I hear that right?"

Hagrid realized what he said and shook his head. "Gotta go Luke but I'll see yeh in the weekend."

The man rushed away from Luke leaving the boy standing there looking at the man's retreating figure. He couldn't believe what he had just heard, he couldn't believe that his father had been a Beater as well.

He shook his head and walked back to the castle just to see Nora and the Weasley twins heading to the Great Hall for dinner. "Hey, Luke."

He turned to look at his aunt at his name being called.

"Did you get accepted?" The dirty blonde asked him.

He nodded. "You're looking at Hufflepuff's new Beater."

"I thought they had two Beaters already." One of the twins spoke but Luke didn't know which one was it.

"I was picked out and one of the Beaters was let go." He informed the redhead.

"Probably Rickett. O'Flaherty is a better player." The other boy said.

Nora shook her head and interrupted the twins. "We've got a problem then. We have to tell Wood that the Hufflepuff team just got better."

"No offense, little boy." The twin to Nora's left spoke. "But how can a second year be compared to two fourth years?"

"Fred, you idiot." His aunt muttered. "He might be in second year but Rickett was in his fifth year. Luke had a lot of practice, I know that because I saw him practice."

George who was in Nora's right tutted. "Wood is going to be mad at you for not doing something about that practice."

She frowned at them. "What was I supposed to do? Break his legs?"

"Not break his legs, an arm would have sufficed."

Luke rolled his eyes at Fred and then shook his head. "Well, I'm leaving before I end up hurting my arm or something because of you three. Bye."

He walked away from them and heard the three of them argue about breaking his arm. He didn't care about that, he was more concentrated on the fact that his father was a Beater just like he was.

Aaa

"Professor Lochart, hi." Leia greeted the man who flashed her a smile as soon as she saw her. She had just finished dinner and was heading to the Slytherin Dungeon when she saw him.

"Miss Black, I have to say that your test was done impeccably. You even know my greatest ambition." Lockhart said to her as they stopped in the Entrance Hall. "You deserved those 20 points I rewarded the house with."

Leia shrugged. It wasn't like she had read the books, she had just stolen a test from Gilderoy Lockhart's desk when she had learned what had happened in the class he had with Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors. She was smart to pick up Hermione Granger's test without being noticed by Flitwick or Lockhart.

"I was raised with your literary, sir. Mum used to read us your books before we went to sleep." The man's smile grew even bigger after her words.

"Your brother disappointed me, he didn't know three questions." The golden haired man pointed out.

"My brother is very forgetful when he's exciting." The lie came so easily out of her mouth that made her shudder. "He was very disappointed that he wasn't the best in the test."

When she had seen Luke after what had happened with the pixies, he didn't look disappointed. He was angry and tired, he had picked up the pixies and then had taken a hurt Neville Longbottom to the Hospital Wing. He had been tired from all that and angry because Lockhart had let them deal with all of it.

"Tell your brother not to worry, he still has the spot for mg biggest fan. He shouldn't let anyone take that spot because Miss Granger and you are coming close to." Leia faked a laugh at the man's words. "See you in class, Miss Black."

She smiled at him. "You too, professor."

After that, she walked down the stairs that led to the dungeons. She said the password and entered the common room. In the far corner she noticed Daphne comforting Tracey.

"What happened?" She asked the girls.

The beige blonde let out a sigh. "She didn't get accepted in the team."

"I didn't even have time to try out." Tracey informed her as she pushed her hair back. "Draco's father has bought the whole team Nimbus 2001. They only let Draco try out but not me. I told Flint that it wasn't fair because I have practiced a long time for it. He told me that my Thunderbolt IV wasn't compared to Nimbus 2001 and that I didn't belong in the team because I was a girl."

Leia raised her eyebrows. "What?! That's just nonsense. The broom doesn't qualify the player and neither does the gender."

"I talked to Snape and he told me that it was the Slytherin way, girls don't belong in the team."

The dark haired girl shook her head. "I would show that slimy git the Slytherin way."

Daphne rose up and grabbed Leia by her wrist. "Don't do anything stupid."

"I wasn't planning to do something stupid, I was planning to show our head of the house, all the female Quidditch players."

Tracey furrowed her eyebrows. "They were?"

"My grandmother was an amazing Keeper during her time here, she was even captain and won Slytherins some cups. She was offered a position in Holyhead Harpies but she didn't accept it."

"Why?" Daphne asked her as she released Leia's wrist.

"Because her father didn't let her. The story is long and I hope someone will write a book about the Sinclair family and their downfall." The two other girls shared a look at her words. "Believe me, it's a long story. Also in the 70s, they were two Quidditch female captains. I think they are married to each other now or something."

"That's romantic." Daphne commented to her and she shrugged.

"There's nothing to do." Tracey said in defeat. "The team has to return the brooms if they don't have Draco in the team."

Leia squeezed the strawberry blonde girl's shoulder. "I'm sorry."

The girl shrugged. "It's not like I wanted to make a career out of it, I just wanted to play for awhile." She ran a hand through her hair. "I'm going to take a shower and fall asleep. Goodnight."

The other two girls muttered a goodnight as well. "It's so unfair that Draco gets to be in the team without trying the team."

"I have seen Draco play and I have seen Tracey as well. He is better as a Seeker, trust me." Daphne told her and then she sighed. "Where is Theo?"

"He was held up talking to Blaise." Daphne frowned. "I don't know he spoke to Theo but it did."

The blonde girl shrugged. "He has a way with words and their parents knew each other."

"Their dads know each other?" Leia asked in surprise.

"No one knows who is Blaise's father. He was born before Rosa Zabini started to marry men-"

The grey eyes girl stopped her. "And then kill them." Daphne tilted her head in response. "But really no one knows who his dad is."

"My aunt Mira told me that Rosa doesn't know herself. She used to sleep around the time she had Blaise but whoever is the father, we can both say that he was handsome."

Leia nodded her head in agreement. It would be foolish not to find Blaise Zabini handsome because he was. "Either way, I think I'm going to finish my Transfiguration."

"Why do you only do your homework or essaye on Transfiguration?" Her best friend asked her.

The grey eyed girl shrugged in response. "Maybe because it's because McGonagall makes it interesting. I also do my homework in Charms because just like McGonagall, Flitwick makes the class interesting."

With that, Leia rushed upstairs to her dorm to finish her essay.

AAAA

"Is she the girl who passed out in the greenhouse?"

"Yes, that's her." Another voice added. "I heard she didn't put the earmuffs right."

The boy laughed. "How dimwitted can you be not to put some earmuffs on your ears?"

Alex flipped the page of her book as she was in the library. She was reading about the demigods of Greek Mythology. She was reading about Tityos, a giant who was the son of Zeus and Elara.

She could hear people talk to her which made her attention on the books be pulled a few times. Days had passed since the greenhouse incident and people were still talking about it. Some were calling her stupid, dimwitted and a fool, most of them didn't know the whole story and gave it their own spin but every story ended with Alex feeling humiliated about what happened.

She had lied to Professor Flitwick when he had asked her about what happened. He had believed her and told her that he had written a letter to her parents. Five letters had come the next day, two from her parents, one from her grandparents, one from Rose and one from uncle Carter. She had responded to each one by telling them that she was okay and she had told them the same lie that she told Flitwick.

She had told the same lie to her family here in Hogwarts. Aidan had wished her a fast recovery and he had a made joke about Mandrakes, Nora had laughed at what happened before apologizing to her for laughing, Luke had told her that she shouldn't feel embarrassed and Leia had given her a look that made Alex shudder. It was safe to say that the younger Black twin didn't believe her.

Alex didn't plan on telling her, Leia would never understand. She was strong and fearless unlike Alex who was weak and easily scared. No one would understand the terror that Ophelia had made her feel. Not even her parents. No one was bullied in her family because no one dared to bully them but she had always been different. She always had been fragile as if she was made of glass. Her best friends were made of pure steel, they were unbreakable.

"Alex, right?" A voice called and she turned to look at a Hufflepuff girl in her year. The girl had brown hair that were tied up in a high ponytail and brown eyes that could easily be called black of how dark they were. She then remembered that her name was Megan Jones.

Alex gave the girl a nod in return.

"Luke is waiting for you outside the library." Megan informed her.

Alex smiled. "Thanks."

The light brunette started to gather her things as Megan walked away from her. She walked outside to see Luke with his hands on his pockets. "Who goes in the library first thing in the morning?"

"Didn't your friend just go there?" She questioned him.

"Megan was returning a book she got for her Astronomy essay, she wasn't studying." He responded to her. "Neither were you. You were reading the books mum gave to you."

She nodded. "Demigods. Zeus basically had an affair with every human out there."

"You want to become his next affair?" A voice said from behind her and she turned to see Leia walking towards them.

Alex ignored her and turned to look at older twin. "So, why did you call us to come here?"

"I got in the team." Luke informed them and Alex squealed in excitement. She hugged the boy and squeezed him tight.

After she pulled away from the hug, she started to congratulate. "I'm so happy for you. You have been working so hard all summer." Her ears picked up a familiar laugh and she knew who it belonged to. Ophelia. The person who was haunting her thoughts most day. The brown eyed girl decided to ignore the girl before the twins noticed her. "You should write to my dad and uncle Carter."

"I already did." Luke answered her before looking at his sister. "Aren't you going to congratulate me?"

Leia scoffed. "I already knew you were going to make the team as your team's Beaters sucked."

"Thanks for having misguiding faith in me…" Luke continued to talk but Alex stopped listening to him. She was more focused on Ophelia and Martha a few feet away from them. They were making fun of her that much was obvious. Martha was throwing not so subtle looks towards her while Ophelia was telling her something.

The brunette looked down hoping that the girls would stop but they continued to laugh and she even heard the nickname 'little mouse'. To her luck, the twins were too busy talking to each other about something that she couldn't focus to hear.

"Earth to Alex." Luke called waving his hand in front of her face. "What were you thinking so hard about?"

"Just Potions" She lied to him.

"So, are you coming?" He then asked her.

She frowned. "Where?"

"To Hagrid's Hut. He called us all over." Leia added to the brunette. "Were you even listening?"

"I was too busy thinking about the wrath of Snape." She responded to the girl. "I'm coming, I missed Hagrid."

Luke smiled at her. "Good then. We will go there first thing in the morning on Sunday before breakfast."

"I just hope he won't give us his rock cakes." Alex muttered.

The dark haired laughed. "Why? Because you can't say no to him."

The brunette glared at Leia at her words. Why was everyone so mean to her lately?

"You know you don't have to be goody two shoes all the damn time." Leia continued to say. "It's okay to say no sometimes or be rude."

"I don't like being rude." She responded to Leia and her eyes moved to glance at Martha and Ophelia. "I like being nice."

Her cousin scoffed. "You don't say."

"Hey!" Luke called. "You can be rude to people and Alex can be nice."

Leia shrugged. "What I have seen happy and nice people are the ones who get screwed in the end."

"What are you trying to say?" Leia's twin asked.

"Kill or be killed is the world's way. I would rather chose to be the first one than the latter one." She responded to the sandy blonde's words.

He shook his head. "That's stupid. It sounds you have been hanging out with Malfoy and his gang."

Leia scowled but didn't say anything in return. She crossed her arms and huffed.

From the corner of her eyes, she noticed Ophelia and Martha leave. She let out a sigh of relief. "Either way, I have to go to eat breakfast. First class with Snape this year." She told the twins.

"I already have sweaty palms. He probably will take points from the house and give me detentions." Luke muttered.

The dark haired girl smiled in triumph. "I'm so glad that I'm a Slytherin, Snape never takes points from us."

"What did he think of you getting 20 points from Lockhart's class?" Alex asked and Luke furrowed his eyebrows at his sister.

"How did you get 20 points?"

"I answered each of his questions corectly." Leia answered to him. "He was shocked that you missed a few."

Luke shook his head as to clear his head of what his sister said. "How did you do that? Answer all the questions?"

"I read his books." Leia replied as if it was something she would do. Neither her or Luke were convinced. "I might have stolen one of the tests when I entered the class."

Alex's lips parted. "How did you get in the class?"

"Lockhart was busy telling Flitwick some story who was trying to get his job done as soon as possible. I lied that I was looking for something that Luke forgot. They let me check and I slipped Hermione Granger's test."

Her mouth fell open at what her cousin had told her. She always knew that Leia had a few tricks up her sleeve but she never knew she could be so sneaky. "That's bloody amazing."

"And wrong." Luke added. "You used someone's hard work for your own gain."

Alex turned to him. "She was acting smart and the test didn't matter that much."

"I can't believe you agree with her actions." He scoffed at her.

"I see why she did it. She had to prove that she knew Lockhart as she pretended to." Leia nodded with every word she was saying. 'It was a little wrong but she didn't commit a crime."

He shrugged. "Fine but enough with these lies."

"Sure thing." Leia smiled at him. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go."

The dark haired girl disappeared soon and Luke turned to Alex. "She's not going to stop, is she?"

"I would think I would have more chances having wings than her stopping." Alex said with a smile on her face.

Luke looked down in defeat. "Yeah."

Aaaaa

"I can't believe Oliver is making us practice on the beginning of the morning." Angelina complained as the two of them were putting on their Quidditch robes.

It wa Saturday morning and an owl had come to wake them up. Nora immediately had known that it was Oliver's and when she opened the letter, she wasn't surprised to see that Oliver told them to meet him on the pitch for practice.

Nora sighed. "I mentioned that Luke is the new Beater."

The dark skinned girl groaned. "Why did you do that?"

"Come on, we need the practice. We were so close to winning the cup last year." Nora pulled her hair in a ponytail and heard Angelina groan. "Come on Ang, we need to win."

The girl shook her head. "You need to win, I need to sleep."

In the end, Angelina followed her but all she did was yawn and close her eyes as they were making their way to the Quidditch pitch. They entered the dressing room to find Fred and George sitting down, half asleep and their hair all messy. Katie was sitting opposite them yawning while Oliver looked like he was one with the morning.

Angelina took a seat next to Katie while Nora took the one next to Fred.

"Where is Harry? Why is he so late?" Oliver wondered after a couple of minutes passed.

"Maybe because he wanted to enjoy his sleep." Fred muttered making the others chuckle at his words except from Oliver who glared at him.

Soon, Harry joined them and he looked as sleepy as they did. "There you are, Harry, what kept you?" The captain asked the boy but he didn't let Harry respond. "Now, I wanted a quick talk with you all before we actually get onto the field, because I spent the summer devising a whole new training program, which I really think will make all the difference…"

Oliver explained his training program with a diagram on which he had drawn many lines, arrows and crosses. Nora listened to every word he said but she knew that the others didn't. She knew it had been a bad call from Oliver to ask them to practice so early. Suddenly, Fred laid his head on her shoulder and began to snore.

He stayed like that for the entirety of time as Oliver explained each tactic with each new diagram. When Oliver finished, he turned to look at them. "So, is that clear? Any questions?"

George who had been sleeping like his brother spoke. "I've got a question, Oliver. Why couldn't you have told us all this yesterday when we were awake?"

He ignored George's question and decided to speak again. "Now, listen here, you lot. We should have won the Quidditch cup last year. We're easily the best team. But unfortunately owing to circumstances beyond our control."

Nora glanced at Harry who was looking down in guilt. She didn't blame him at all, he had saved them with what he did. She admired him to be exact, it took a lot of courage to do what he did.

"So this year, we train harder than ever before… Okay, let's go and put our new theories into practice!"

Nora's leg had turned sniff but she didn't feel sleepy at all anymore unlike the rest of the team. They got out and she noticed Ron and Hermione but also a boy in the stands. "What is that boy doing here?"

Katie shrugged. "Don't know but it seems like he's no harm. He's a Gryffindor."

Nora decided not to think much of the boy's presence and mounted her broom. She raced with Katie and Angelina as Oliver had told them too.

"Can you hear a noise?" The dark skinned girl asked. "Like clicking?"

Nora focused on