Evie stepped through the portrait and into the Hufflepuff common room. Whiffs of roasted meats and pies from the nearby kitchen followed her in, adding to the homey feel of the warren. While the Hufflepuffs lived underground like their badger mascot, a great skylight illuminated one side of the room. Oddly, the skylight functioned despite the overcast, the sun's position in the sky, or time of year.
A bright fire stood on the other side, and plump sofas and foof chairs in yellow and black littered the floor, inviting denizens to gather in circles and chat the night away. Friendly faces peeked over seat backs and waved hello when she entered. Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, though Evie was far too young to remember that song.
One face in particular she was glad to see. Leah Eckleton closed her textbook, got out of her seat, and stepped closer. "You made it!"
It took a second for Evie to decode the message, but when she caught on, she squealed with delight. "Really?"
"What's going on?"
"Evie's a starting chaser for our team!"
The room came alive with congratulations, even from the hopefuls that Evie had beaten for the spot. While there were three openings for chasers on the team, more than any other position, almost every wizarding child had, at one point or another, dreamed of being a star chaser. The seeker needed good eyes, the beaters big muscles, and the keeper was usually the kid who could barely fly, relegated to the position where they touched the quaffle the least. But the chaser was all about speed and agility, which had a power over children rivaling that of sweets.
Evie made chaser for the house's first seven in her fourth year, which wasn't unheard of, but Hufflepuff captains usually picked a fifth, sixth, and seventh year. This way, veterans could pass down their experience to new hands. Of course, these often were not their best three chasers, which is the reason some gave that Hufflepuff did not win their share of quidditch cups. Over the centuries, some captains had picked teams that would peak for one or two years, and in those years Hufflepuff was a force to be reckoned with. But when most of the team graduated, usually the outgoing captain with them, it was left to the new captain to build anew. Every time, the team would eventually return to tradition. It wasn't flashy, but it was dependable. It was Hufflepuff.
Thus Evie making the first seven was something to talk about. She received compliments magnanimously, and there was an small impromptu celebration in the fourth year girls' dorm (to also celebrate Leah making reserve chaser) with stashed jelly slugs and cauldron cakes. When the other girls eventually left to return to their schoolwork, Leah decided she couldn't put off the bad news any longer. "Evie?"
"Yeah, Leah?" Evie swept the remains of the party decorations into the bin with a wave of her wand.
"The captain wanted to speak to you about something."
From her friend's serious tone, Evie guessed it wouldn't be something fun. "Do you have any idea what?"
"A bit, but I told him he should tell you himself."
The two girls found Adair, the quidditch captain, in the common room, who suggested they talk in an empty study room for some privacy. When they found one, he decided the begin with pleasantries. "Congratulations on making the team."
"Thank you for selecting me."
"You flew well during tryouts, especially dodging bludgers." That, however, seem to exhaust the small talk, so there was no more avoiding the awkward subject. "Evie, you're friends with Lucas Sanstead, the Gryffindor second seven beater, right?"
"Yes..." That question came out of nowhere and she didn't know where this was going.
"And you practice quidditch together sometimes? Sometimes with Leah as well?"
"Yes?"
Adair wondered how to broach this gently. This was his sixth year at Hogwarts and first as captain. Hufflepuff captains were selected not just on skill, but also their ability to lead and pull together a team on and off the field. This was the first delicate situation he had to handle as captain, which made him a bit nervous. "Does this... Will this create a conflict of interest?"
"What, you mean if Lucas and I face off against each other, it would affect our play?" Lucas was unlikely to play in house matches unless an injury took out one of the more experienced beaters. Which was possible, but somewhat remote.
"No, not that. Well, there is that. But I'm worried Gryffindor might find out something that would give them an unfair advantage."
"What... But..." she sputtered before sorting our the jostling thoughts. "Look, Lucas isn't a spy or anything for Gryffindor, and I would never betray our house like that." Evie wasn't sure which implication hurt the most.
"No, no! Of course not. We know you better than that. But what if it happened unintentionally?"
"Like how?"
"Well, when you practice with him, do you fly chaser patterns the team uses?"
"Yeah... But they aren't ministry secrets are anything. You could find them in any playbook."
"But those were the plays the team was rehearsing especially hard last year because we were going to use them more, right?"
"Yes, but it after the first game, the whole school knew our plays." Evie decided being on the defensive would not resolve this, so she tried try a different tack. "Let's go about it this way. Leah, when we practiced with Lucas, did you learn anything about the Gryffindor team?"
"Not really."
"Right. So Lucas and I don't trade team secrets, and neither Leah nor I could figure out anything about Gryffindor from practicing with him, so I doubt he's learning anything about our team either."
"Evie, did you know that Gryffindor reservists don't attend every practice?"
"No..." Once again, wherever Adair was going with this, she was lost.
"It's because sometimes they want the whole field for their first seven. But Hufflepuff practices are always both first and second seven. Evie, you flew with us last year, and now that you're a starting player, you will know our strengths and weaknesses as well as anyone, and I'd bet you know our team a lot better than Lucas knows the Gryffindor team."
It was all perfectly true. While she tried to formulate a response, the captain continued on.
"Also, this weekend I saw you practicing with a Ravenclaw keeper."
"You mean, Ava? She's not on their team, not even as a reserve."
"But she could still find out something and pass it on."
"Not really. She doesn't seem to get along with some of the chasers on their team. Look, I think you might as well try divination than figure out a team's secrets this way. But even saying you can, for the moment, what do you want me to do?"
"Could you not practice quidditch with people outside of the house?"
"What?"
Okay, she's taking this badly, thought the captain. "Is that unreasonable?"
Evie took several seconds to calm herself and collect her thoughts before replying. "Look, Lucas and I have been friends for a long time, from before we started at Hogwarts. We were neighbors until my family moved to London a couple years ago."
"It's true," interjected Leah. "She spends almost as much time with him as she does with me."
"I'm not asking you to stop being friends, but you could do other things besides quidditch."
"I don't know... I mean, when we were younger, my brother and I would go over and play quidditch with him and his sister all the time. Quidditch isn't all that we do together, but it's important. It's what we have in common, since we both made reserve teams last year, and our shared past. To stop playing quidditch with him just seems so... drastic."
"Would you do it for the house?"
Low blow. "So you're asking me to choose between my house and my-" Whatever Evie was going to say, she bit it back, which made Leah wonder what she was originally going to say. Eventually, Evie substituted, "One of my best friends? That would be unreasonable except I still don't think practicing with Lucas hurts the team any. Anyway, Ravenclaws already attend our practices."
"But they wouldn't tell Gryffindors anything they found out."
This was getting frustrating. "Adair, there's a lot I would sacrifice for our house and the team. But please don't ask me to disrupt my relationship with Lucas just because it might affect the team."
"I agree," concurred Leah.
The captain felt outnumbered. "The other thing I don't get," (Great, another thing, thought Evie) "is if you want to play more quidditch outside of team practice, why don't you play with your teammates?"
"I don't know... Lucas and I play quidditch together because it's what we do. Leah here joins us sometimes... If you want, I can ask if any other Hufflepuffs want to join us?"
Adair thought for a moment of having half his team play under the eye of a Gryffindor beater and a Ravenclaw keeper. "What I meant was making these outside practices just Hufflepuff. It would make the team stronger."
"But it would cut out Lucas."
"I'm afraid so, yes."
"Then I would rather not."
"I know you'd rather not, but would you?"
"I'm sorry, but no."
"Okay." Just that one word, softly spoken, intimated all of the captain's disappointment. "Well, I hope it's not an issue like you say it is." He signaled that was all he had to say by starting for the door.
"Adair... Will this affect my position on the team?"
"I don't know. I'm breaking with tradition by making you starting chaser. And I realize now how important Lucas' friendship is to you, and I would be conflicted too if I was in your position. However, as captain, while I look after all of you as individuals, I also have to think what's best for the whole team."
The door closed and the two girls were left alone in the silent study room. When Evie didn't move for a while, Leah walked over and held her in a hug.
"It's not fair." Just a few minutes ago, Evie was celebrating making starting chaser, and now that might be taken away unless she stopped practicing with Lucas. Which, admittedly, was not the end of the world, but seemed a bit extreme.
Leah just hugged her tighter. "Maybe Adair will decide it's not such a big problem after all."
"He seemed to think it was a big deal. He didn't buy anything we said."
"Well, no sense worrying until he's made up his mind."
"I guess you're right."
"Darn right I am." Leah finally let go. "Now tell me what's happened between you and Lucas."
Evie could feel her cheeks blush. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Oh, come off it, Evie. I know you better than anyone."
"It's nothing, really. You know how I told you I thought he was watching me rather than the ball during quidditch practice? We were supposed to study in the library today, but I caught him looking my way a couple times."
"Oh!"
"... And he caught me looking too."
"Ohh!" Leah was practically leering. "Did he say anything?"
"No... It's still a bit awkward."
"Some Gryffindor if he doesn't have the courage to ask a girl out."
"It's not like that. We've known each other forever. I remember when were six and he stole my chocolate cake and his sister tried to get it back and his mother scolded them for fighting and mashing cake into the carpet and my father said it was easy to clean carpets with magic and Lucas' mother gave me his dessert that night."
"Okay, so you have a history."
"It's just a little weird to think of him that way after all this time, and I'm sure he's the same."
"Uh huh. He knows other guys have asked you out, right?"
"I may have mentioned it..."
"Honestly, what is that boy thinking?"
AN: After two scenes that pass the Bechdel Test, this one failed. Can you tell I read a lot of TVTropes?
Reviews welcome. How do you think Evie is developing?
