Disclaimer: Surprisingly I STILL don't own it. There really is no justice in the world.

Threats and Chasers

Fred gloried in the feel of the wind in his hair as he flew around the pitch on his Cleensweep Five. He loved his new broom. Well, new for him. It had been bought second-hand but was still in reasonably good condition and he much preferred having his own broom to having to use the school ones and he knew that George agreed with him.

The afternoon air was cool but he didn't care. There was such a feeling of freedom and peace in flying. He and his twin had decided to come down to the pitch straight after dinner so that they could just fly around a bit, have some fun. Unfortunately Oliver was there early too and gave them a long lecture about how he wanted them to pay attention to each person who tried out so that they could give their opinions later. Fred suspected that this would be a very boring evening. They were also already tired from their Arithmancy class earlier. It was so very hard! And George was finding it particularly hard going. And now they would have to watch many people (most of whom were bound to be useless) attempt to score goals and catch Snitches.

"Oi! Fred!"

Fred turned just as a cricket ball whizzed past his ear. George had another one already in his hand and was hefting his beater's bat.

"Wanna play?" he said, raising an eyebrow challengingly.

"Ok then," his twin replied, grinning.

George threw the ball into the air and hit it Fred's way. Fred swooped low to get it and hit it back. They always started off small in this game, hitting it back and forth comparatively gently. Then it would escalate. Soon both of the twins were swooping and soaring every which way to get to the ball before it fell.

WHACK!

The ball shot past Fred like a bullet, just out of reach of his bat.

"OW!"

Fred looked around at the sound. The prospective Quidditch players had apparently arrived. Less than they had hoped. What mainly concerned Fred right now, though, was that one of them was rubbing his arm where the stray ball had struck and glaring furiously at the twins. Unfortunately the injured party was also the largest and most intimidating of those there.

Dave Burns was a very large Fourth Year and, though the twins were strong enough, they weren't as tall as the older boy. He strode angrily up to them as they landed.

"I believe this is yours?!" he said coldly, eyeing them with a level of contempt that was, Fred felt, disproportionate to the harm done. The fourth year was holding out their cricket ball with his uninjured arm.

"Technically it belongs to the school," said Fred before he could stop himself. George shot him a sharp look. 'Don't antagonise the scary and already severely annoyed person further,' he seemed to be saying with an urgent glance at the boy.

Burns' eyes narrowed murderously. He shoved the hard leather ball roughly into Fred's chest.

"If this, in any way, affects my flying," he growled, indicating his arm, "then you will pay." Threat issued, he stalked off, leaving a pair of dazed and slightly apprehensive Weasleys.

"D'you think he's, you know, over-reacting just a tad?" Fred asked his brother, absent-mindedly rubbing his sore chest where the ball had been shoved.

"Yup," said George, frowning. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah," he answered. "Although I think I'm gonna have a bruise."

"Oh deary me! A bruise!" said George, smirking a little. "I'm more worried about what he'll do next if he does badly in the tryouts."

"What if he's just bad anyway?" said Fred gloomily.

"I think he'd be unlikely to admit it. I think we're probably in a little bit of trouble here."

"Maybe we can take him?"

"No way! He's built like a tank!"

"Yeah…" Fred sighed resignedly. He had a feeling that this was going to complicate things for some time. Why did that ball have to hit the most temperamental and violent of the Gryffindors present?

He glanced around at the rest of the bunch. They were mainly second years, glad for a chance to be on the team at long last after a whole year of not even being allowed brooms. There was only one third year, Kenneth Towler. There were maybe three fourth years and a rather scrawny fifth year.

They had the tryouts for the Seeker first. It did not go well.

Most of the second years couldn't fly well at all and kept almost crashing into the stands, the ground and even each other. Wood sent them off immediately. A few of the candidates decided not to try out as Seeker, as they had their hearts set on the position of Chaser.

The twins observed the attempts with growing disappointment.

"D'you ever think," said Fred speculatively, "that we may be better off with just five players?"

"Rather than this lot?" answered George. "Definitely. On the other hand, I think it's against the rules."

"Ah, well."

Eventually, after the injuries had reached an almost fatal level (a second year managed to fall thirty feet after thinking he had seen the snitch and getting too excited) Oliver gave up and sent all the seekers off.

The captain swore ferociously under his breath as they trooped away, a few being helped by friends to the Hospital Wing. George patted him on the back sympathetically.

"Maybe the Chasers will be better," he suggested while exchanging doubtful looks with his twin.

The Chasers weren't better. No, that's a lie. They weren't much better. They were an improvement though, however small. And not all of them were terrible. Two players stood out from the rest. One was Burns. This, Fred thought, could be a problem. If he got the position of Chaser then the twins were screwed, as he would probably make their daily lives miserable and eventually he would get mad at them for something else. On the other hand, if he didn't get on the team then the twins were screwed, as he would blame them.

The other one was a very pretty second year. Fred didn't know her name, but she looked vaguely familiar from the common room. He had never really noticed her before. She was good-looking but nothing special. Or so he had thought. On a broomstick, she soared. She resembled a bird, swooping and diving with the joy of flight shining out of her. Her face was alight with it.

"Fred!!"

"Huh?" he said distractedly, turning to George.

George sighed in exasperation. "I was wondering what you think we should do?"

Fred frowned. "About what?"

"Oliver is going to come in a sec and ask us what we think! Do we recommend the guy to avoid a beating, or do we recommend someone else and avoid future pain?"

Forgetting that he himself had been wondering this a minute ago he offered his newly formed opinion. "I think we suggest someone else. Definitely."

"Really?" asked George. "You sure?"

"Yep."

"Ok. Why?"

"Um…" Fred's eyes briefly and involuntarily flickered towards the girl whose name he didn't know before he answered. "We need to stand up for ourselves. We can't let anyone own us! We're more than a match for him."

"We really aren't," answered his twin, looking at him suspiciously. "He's bigger than us and a year ahead of us in magic."

"Yeah," Fred conceded, "but I bet we can outrun him. And outsmart him. And make his life hell."

George began to grin. "Ok, this is starting to sound like fun. But, you do realise, that if he catches one of us we won't be able to run away or pull anything on the spur of the moment."

Fred let his expression darken. "If he catches one of us, then he'll later wish he hadn't. It's a matter of pride."

"Alright then. I agree."

"Tell you what though," Fred added. "We'll try to pacify him first. We don't want to start a vendetta needlessly."

"Fair enough," agreed his brother easily.

The twins watched the tryouts for another twenty minutes before Oliver came over. Fred welcomed the end as his eyes kept straying to a certain prospective Chaser with embarrassing regularity. Why was he so distracted today?

"So what do you guys think?" Oliver asked them, watching the players above.

The twins exchanged a glance before George answered. "We think the girl. That one there." He indicated the girl who had been distracting his brother so.

Oliver nodded in satisfaction. "That's what I thought too. And Angelina agrees. I haven't asked Alicia yet but that's a clear majority. I'll ask her now." He strode off to Alicia.

Fred took a deep breath. That was settled, then. No going back now.

Wood ended the tryouts, thanked everyone for coming and then called the girl over to the rest of the team. As she came over, the other Chasers left gloomily, but not before Fred got a very threatening look from one of them. This would cost them.

"Congratulations!" Wood told the girl. "You're Gryffindor's new Chaser." He sounded very tired and not as happy as he should, but then Fred realised that they still had no Seeker. They couldn't play without one.

The girl looked delighted and thanked him happily. The team all gave her a little wave in greeting to their ranks before turning their attention back to Oliver.

Angelina spoke first. "Not to be negative, but, although I am delighted to have a great new Chaser," she threw a warm smile at the girl at this, "what are we going to do about a Seeker? It's kind of important."

"I know," said the captain wearily. "But I really just couldn't have picked any of them today. They were all so terrible!"

"Yeah, they were," agreed Alicia, "but what are we going to do then?"

Wood sighed. "Maybe we'll hold another tryout. Try and make sure that more people come this time. People with more talent. If not, then I'll just have to pick one of today's idiots. But I'd really rather not do that."

They left for their common room then, Fred beside Angelina.

"Hey, Ange," he asked casually. "What was the new girl's name again? I didn't catch it."

"Katie Bell," she answered. "She's a second year. Nice girl. Kind of quiet I think. Good flyer, it seems."

"That she was," Fred agreed.

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Authors Notes: I'm really sorry about the delay! If anyone is left to read it after my absence! REALLY busy month. Really bad month too, generally. Between school work, projects, procrastination, funerals and hospital i have been just swamped. Hope you like the chapter anyway, as it gave me a lot of trouble. my muse hid for a while.

Um, I've added a new character as you will see. Enemies are handy for plot points. Hope i kept this believable. And does anyone know if there is ever a description of Katie Bell in the books? or will i just have to make one up?

DangerousDiamondDarling: Thanks as always for the support and encouragement. Hope you didn't mind the wait. The doctor thing is nothing life threatening, just irritating. Thanks for the concern though ^_^