Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"What do you want?" Draco muttered sleepily without looking up. Harry smirked and twirled his wand over his friend. Water cam crashing down on Draco's head. "WHAT THE HELL?" he yelled before facing his attacker.

"Hello Draco," Harry said smirking. It was obvious he was done brooding and ready to live again.

"Harry, took you a while" Draco said all anger forgotten. "Daphne and Theo were worried you wouldn't be up today" Draco glanced at his clock. "Care to tell me why I'm waking up at four in the morning?"

"Still want to stay on the quidditch team?" Harry asked getting his broom. Draco yelped.

"Tryouts are today? Damn, I'll be on the pitch in ten!" Draco called as he scrambled past Harry and ran towards the bathroom.

Harry smiled. If there was one thing that could lift his spirits, it was flying. Harry slung his broom over his shoulder and made his way to the pitch. Since he hadn't played all summer, he felt the need to warm up before the rest of the hopefuls.

He mounted his broom (a nimbus 2001 courtesy of Lucius Malfoy) and kicked off hard. When in the air, he could think with a clear mind. The rush of wind made him feel alive and powerful. The broom gave him a sense of control and he felt incredible.

The team was in a terrible predicament this year. The entire team save Draco, Harry and Malcolm Higgs had graduated last year. Higgs had decided to quit the team to study for OWLS.

Harry took one last lap before landing in the center of the pitch to greet the tired hopefuls.

"Why in Merlin's name did we have to get up so early?" A third year grumbled, but a look from Harry silenced him. As Harry began to speak, everyone else shut up.

"This is my final year at Hogwarts. Every year since I've been on the team, we have won! I expect no less this year. Tryouts will be grueling, but I can promise you that practice will be intense. If any of you can't handle it, I suggest you leave now. The rest of you, twenty laps round the pitch! BEGIN" and twenty five brooms shot into the air.

"You don't think you're being a bit hard on them?" Draco asked hesitantly.

"They're Slytherins. They have to learn that in order to be the best they have to work hard. This is my final year here Draco, and I want to leave with the trophy in our possession for the seventh time in a row. Only three captains have ever don't that before in the history of Hogwarts" Harry informed his blond friend and he nodded.

"I know what you mean, and I guess I'm behind you, but try not to kill the rest of the team before the season, will you?" Draco joked.

"Yeah, I guess, but I want the absolute best for our team this year" Harry confessed to Draco. "I really don't want to have to catch the snitch in order to secure our victory in points. You're a great chaser, but you need two good teammates. And Crabbe and Goyle are not great beaters. They have brute force, but they're dumber than Weasley" Harry said and Draco laughed. Before he could reply, the eleven hopefuls that were still in the air finished their final lap and landed in front of Harry.

"Alright, I want chasers to the right, keepers to the left and beaters in the bleachers" Harry called and organized his hopefuls. He had three beaters, five chasers and three keepers, which wasn't bad at all.

"Let's start the real tryout now!"

Later that day, Harry arrived in Arithmancy and took his usual seat, when Aliss decided to sit next to him.

"Hi" She greeted and took out her books.

"Hi, I didn't know you were in this class" Harry told her awkwardly.

"Yeah, I'm usually quiet during these classes" She answered curtly.

"Are you mad at me?" Harry asked her cautiously.

"You could say that" Aliss said not making eye contact.

"Well, whatever I've done, I'm sorry for alright?" Harry told her, his temper getting the better of him. Aliss sighed.

"It would help if you knew what exactly to be sorry for!" She whispered forcefully at him.

"Fine, I'm sorry for walking out on you yesterday!" he cried exasperatedly. Aliss smiled.

"Alright, I'll forgive you if you can answer a few of my questions" Harry smiled and nodded for her to continue. "First, you've been almost yelling, yet no one can here you, why?" She asked curiously.

"A spell I found" Harry answered quickly. Aliss didn't press him for more information.

"Okay, why exactly did that red haired kid yell at you for hanging out with me?"

"Right, well, if you must know, we Slytherin's are the scum of the earth. We lie, cheat, steal and pound babies into the ground. All of us are dark wizards who serve tea to Dark Lords and play golf with eyeballs" Harry answered playfully and Aliss laughed.

"Why the stereotype?" She asked raising an eyebrow.

"Well you need to read the story of the four founders for that" Harry answered her. "So, you play quidditch?" He asked attempting to steer the conversation away.

"No, I'm horrible on a broom. I like to fly, but can't do it for my life" She said wistfully. "Isn't your first game next Saturday?" She asked.

"No, it's on the thirty first" He answered.

"Next Saturday is the thirty first" She informed him and he paled. "Why, what's wrong?"

"I just finished tryouts today! Our team is never going to be ready by then! Damn it!" he cursed. She just laughed.

"Calm down Harry; what's the big deal anyway?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"This is a big deal for me! This is the first year I'm captain and I can't lose the cup! Snape will have my head if I do!" He groaned and put his head down on the table, hard.

Aliss laughed as he rubbed his head. "You're captain of the team?" She asked.

Harry, still rubbing his head muttered "That's what I said right?" snippily.

"No need to be snippy y'know" Aliss said putting her hands up in surrender. "Hey, I've noticed that you never take notes or anything in class. How do you ever pass?" She asked him in wonder.

"Who says I pass?" he asked her and then added "you watch me often do you?"

She rolled her eyes. "Shut up. And if you didn't pass, how did you get past the OWL?"

"Got me there have you?"

"Yeah, I do, so what's your secret?" She asked again.

"Arithmancy isn't hard once you know the basics. It's all logic and as a Slytherin, I'm the master of logic" He bragged. She groaned.

"You know, when you said that, I think your head actually bloated up a bit"

"Did it?" he asked indifferently.

"I think so. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to take a few notes" she told him and began to write.

"Well, I'm going to sleep a bit"

"Good night then" She said as she furiously began to scribble down notes.

"Harry, I forgot to tell you about dinner yesterday" Draco said as Harry worked on the potion for the day. Usually when a harder potion cam, Harry always took over the entire process and made Draco watch. This was one of those days.

"Anything interesting happen?" He asked not taking his eyes off the potion.

"Yeah, something interesting was announced" Draco informed his friend.

"Well, hurry up and spit it out already" Harry pressed still working on the potion.

"Well, Dumbledore announced that in honor of out new exchange student, we're going to have an inter house competition in which one member from each of the four houses competes for a cup. Seventh and sixth years are both allowed entrance" Draco said excitedly.

Harry looked up, interested. "So, how are the representatives for each house selected?" he asked.

"Well, you give your name to your head of house and then a small preliminary test is given to the applicants. All applicants are to be chosen by January and the competition will begin then" Draco recited perfectly.

"What, have you been reading the flyer or something?" Harry asked jokingly. Draco looked apprehensive.

"Yes" He answered hesitantly. Harry burst out laughing.

"So, who makes the preliminary test?" Harry asked once his laugher subsided.

"For us, Snape" Draco answered with an evil smirk.

"Oh crap" Harry cursed downcast. This competition was going to be hell.

"Evans, watch your language!" Snape called, pulling Harry out of his reverie. Harry just smiled back at the professor and nodded.

"Harry, where's Draco?" Daphne asked as she and Theo sat down on the couch in the Head dorm across from Harry. Harry, who was sitting with his eyes closed, opened an eye.

"I don't know. He said he was going to go do something" Harry answered.

"That's odd, didn't you ask him what?" Theo wondered.

"Nope, it's really his business what he does in his spare time" Harry answered.

"Well anyway, can we make sure this room is secure?" Theo asked carefully.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it is, why?" Harry asked, now fully awake and paying careful attention.

"We've been your friends for six years now right?" Daphne asked and Harry nodded wondering where this was going.

"Well you caught us together this year, and somehow word got out to father" Nott said, spitting out the last word. "He forbade me to see Daphne"

"I take it you don't like that. But when did you two get so serious?" Harry asked. "You've only been together for a few weeks right?" The pair looked at each other nervously and then looked down.

"Actually, we've been together for about a year and a half now. We've just been subtle about it since then" Daphne answered, twiddling her thumbs. Harry broke in to a smile.

"That's great for you two"

"So, Harry, there's more to what I told you" Theo continued.

"Go on" Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Well, you see father is a very prominent Death Eater and he wants me to join as well. I think he believes he will be rewarded for recruiting me" Theo finished looking down.

"So you want me to hide both of you?" Harry asked and both of them nodded. "Why does everyone come to me with this kind of thing?" He muttered to himself.

"Alright, Theo, I have a much better idea. I'll tell you two exactly what it is when I work out the kinks of the plan" Harry told them while his mind worked a mile a minute.

"That quickly? Wow Harry, you are a genius!" Daphne exclaimed hugging Harry tightly. "Thank you so much" She whispered into his ear and he smiled.

"No problem" Harry whispered back, and he meant it. Nothing would get to his friends if he had anything to do with it. He turned back to Theo.

"Are you the only Slytherin who doesn't wish to join him?" Harry asked and Theo shook his head.

"No, I believe that certain others also want to avoid it, but most are younger than us and have nothing to fear yet" Theo answered and then adopted a thoughtful expression. "I believe that Bullstrode, Zabini and the twin idiots are ready to join the Dark Lord as of now"

Harry raised an eyebrow. "You did your homework didn't you?" He asked Theo who nodded. "Very well, something will be done" Harry promised and Theo nodded.

A/N: Yeah, a long chapter because I felt compelled to give at least one chapter over 2000 words. Usually (in most other stories) I liked to type a mean of 6000, but this way, chapters get done faster and I feel less restricted. I'm really not sure why I told you that…

Onwards to Cian- my first reviewer of chapter 7. Congratulations! You win a new car!! Or not… no, you win something much better- a response to your review. I don't know if I'm going to put Aliss and Harry together yet. I might just seem like I will, but then decided not to. I'm very sadistic today (had fun beating the crap out my friend with a titanium ipod mini today, you should all try it out sometime!) Also, James and Lily will appear later on, but this fic is more Harry and his generation. Hope that helps.

From now on, I might just start adding random funny/stupid rants in my A/Ns. If anyone finds that a good idea, tell me! If you don't like it, well what can I say? SCREW YOU! I'm just kidding with you guys. Anyway, I was in math class today (with my like 99 year old math teacher) and I found a word to describe her- saggy. Everything around her sags for some reason. Her arms and face all like have excess skin hanging off them. Disgusting! And ontop of that, she has this feel young thing. She wears like bell bottom jeans and tank tops and sometimes even V-neck sweaters. I mean it's totally disgusting! And we have to pay attention to her or fail the damned class! I'm still thinking about the lesser of two evils…

I should buy a shotgun… (That wasn't supposed to appear here! Damn…)