Chapter 6
She was going to die. That was the only possible outcome. She didn't want to die. She'd never even hexed somebody or mastered the Unforgivable Curses! Damn, she should've followed through with the jinx she wanted to use on Helga.
It didn't seem to be true that when were about to die your life flashed in front of your eyes. At least that isn't what happened to Acantha. She just thought about all the opportunities she missed, all the people that she never told how she felt. Did her Daddy know how she felt about him, how much she respected him? What about her Uncle? She was pretty sure Akelin knew how she felt, she was always pretty clear about it. She never knew her mother, never wanted to, but maybe she should have. She might not ever have liked her, but it might have been nice to know her. She probably should have buried the hatchet as it were with her aunt as well. None of this was really her fault anyway. And Severus, he definitely didn't know how she felt. Didn't know that she adored and admired him above all others. She knew about him turning sides in the War after his friend's death, he'd told her about it, and she recognized the amount of courage that must've taken. And once you got past the snarky exterior, he was really a nice guy.
Time seemed to slow down as the grassy ground of the pitch got closer and closer. She wondered briefly why she wasn't really afraid of whatever afterlife there may be, just of dying and leaving everyone behind.
About twenty feet from the ground, she heard a whooshing noise by her ear. She didn't really pay it much mind, it probably wouldn't matter very much in her last few minutes. She did, however notice when a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist. The owner of the arms angled the broom upward and was flying toward the stands near the goal posts. She wondered if maybe she was already dead, but that didn't make very much sense at all.
"Next time you decide to pull a stunt like that, make sure your broom stays with you," a deep voice she instantly recognized as belonging to Baranowski said into her ear, "Next time I might not be here to catch you." Acantha relaxed, knowing that she wasn't dead or dying and that she was perfectly safe with the handsome Seeker.
When they reached the stands, Acantha was struck by the amount of panic her fall had caused. Her father looked beside himself with worry and the team mediwitches were in an absolute tizzy. No one could really tell how she'd be once they stopped her from hitting the ground and it was clear that they all assumed the worst. The rest of the team was hovering between the stands and the goal posts and weren't very worried, but they weren't about to say so, not about their Coach's daughter.
Baranowski landed surprisingly well considering that they were landing in a confined spectator box. As soon as his feet hit the boards of the stands, Karkaroff was rushing over and lifting Acantha off the broom and the mediwitches, who were somewhat slower, were left to scamper along in his wake.
Karkaroff checked Acantha over meticulously for any sign of injury and was so protective of her that the mediwitches barely had an opportunity to do their job. When he was satisfied that she was in perfect order, he sat back and looked at her for a long minute before speaking.
"Acantha, that was by far the dumbest thing I have ever seen anyone do, and I know a hell of a lot of Death Eaters!" Acantha looked quite ashamed of her actions, "But it was also some of the best Quidditch playing I've ever seen, but lets try to keep it on the broom next time. That's what they're for you know." Acantha raised her eyes and grinned. She was so glad that her father wasn't mad at her. She jumped up and threw her arms around her father's neck.
The rest of practice was canceled for the evening, everyone was a little shaken up over Acantha's near death experience. Igor called the team to the center line before they all left for the evening.
"Alright, today's practice was eventful," several players snorted, "I want you all back here tomorrow at the same time though, no excuses."
"Are we gonna get a restraint for Fairy Princess over here so we'll be able to play straight though a game?" Vulchanov joked, Volkov smirking right along with him.
"No, starting tomorrow I think we'll have two new Beaters on the team," Karkaroff snarled.
The Beaters turned bright red, darkening into purple, and just glared. They weren't comfortable being upstaged by a child, they didn't think she should even be on the team as there were much better players out there. Players that had already completed school or at least started.
Karkaroff sent a final warning glare at his Beaters before turning his attention back to the team at large. "You all did pretty well tonight for it being the first practice of the season. Keep up the good work and I'll see you tomorrow. Go get some rest."
After this the team dispersed. Some of them went to the locker room to clean themselves up and change, but others were too tired and apparated right out of the pitch. Acantha did neither and walked up to her father instead.
"Daddy, what's the matter with the Beaters?"
"They think they're better than you, both because you're a girl and you're so young."
"You should've known this would cause problems. I don't think you were thinking quite straight."
"My thought was about the skill of the team and my desire to win the World Cup, not about petty prejudices from people who should have outgrown them."
Acantha nodded that she understood and filed the information away to analyze later. Karkaroff offered her his arm so they could apparate and with a 'pop' they were gone.
Akelin may have said that he wasn't too concerned with getting the play by play of Acantha's first professional Quidditch experience, but it was a lie. He spent the entire time she was gone pacing around his office and when they finally returned to Durmstrang(he felt the anti-apparation wards lower), he made his way to the Headmaster's office. He couldn't go to Acantha's rooms because then he'd have to explain why he was there if he'd said earlier he was impassive on the whole issue.
He arrived to the office just as Karkaroff was hanging up his cloak and outer robes so that he could go to sleep. Karkaroff turned around when her heard the door open and stared at the other man for a moment, gesturing for him to speak.
Akelin took a deep breath before his whole speech came out in a rush. "HowwasAcantha'spractice?Didshedogoodorwasitbadandtheothersmadefunofherandissheok?"
"I'd love to answer you, but to do so I'd have to be able to understand you. Professor Bazhenov, might I suggest that you take a breath every now and again and do try to speak slower."
"Sorry, I'm just kinda stressed and worried. How was practice? Did she do ok, is she ok? The others weren't too mean to her I hope."
"Practice was fine, she's fine and I've dealt with the other players. Anything else you'll have to ask her for yourself. Now if you're quite done, I suggest we both get some sleep; the students arrive tomorrow evening and it wouldn't do for us to be looking like Death warmed over."
"Yes Headmaster," Akelin said and with that walked back to his chambers to ready himself for bed.
(A/N) The students will arrive either next chapter or the chapter after, depending on how much I include about the day after Acantha's big Quidditch debut. Reviews are amazing and thanks to Masha FF and Danielle for reviewing the last chapter.
