A/N: Hey all! Here's chapter 10. And no, misscheduled is not a word (as my favorite Words with Friends rival will point out) but it should be, so I'm being defiant.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: You know what goes here.

Chapter 10: The Repositioning

The most remote hallways of the castle were silent, so different from those closer to the Great Hall that the students passed through so many times each day. They were also dark, even when there was still daylight outside. There were not enough windows here.

The portraits were also quieter. They were not accustomed to the passerby, nor the gossip, nor the amusements beheld by those known to the students. And they reacted accordingly, being less chatty even amongst themselves, and prone to spells of brooding through the long, tedious hours of daylight.

Occasionally, a lost or curious student would find these hallways, and would pass through them blindly. The portraits would cast passing glances to meet the student's own, and the curiosities would intersect briefly in a mutual bond, and then move on. A few moments later, all would be forgotten, and any distinction between the seconds will have vanished.

So it was when a young student passed through these hallways on the last day of the first week of classes. She was intent on a particular destination, though she didn't seem certain of how to find it. The hallways bore only the faintest hints of familiarity as she tried to retrace steps that she had been too excited to remember taking the first time.

She was lucky, however, as she stumbled without warning across the exact staircase that she had been seeking. The staircase wound out of sight in the dark tower above, and yet she ran upwards fearlessly, already knowing what was up there.

When she arrived at the top, she found once more the room with the miscellaneous, mostly-broken furniture. The room was vacant, and she took only a moment to look around before heading for the black door that led to the large balcony encircling the tower.

The vast expanse of balcony appeared empty, but she knew it probably wasn't. She looked around herself, trying to guess at where the invisible creatures might be.

As she carefully stepped out, hands in front of herself to contact the creatures, and began to circle the round wall of the tower, she realized she was not alone. It was not the ghost whom she spotted, but Andrew, standing over by the railing and petting one of the invisible creatures. He could obviously see them, somehow.

He spotted her. "Allison!"

"Hi, Andrew. What are you doing here?"

"Keeping my friends company. Good to know I won't be the only one."

"Ahem."

"The only living one, I mean."

Allison looked around for the source of the other noise. "Where's the ghost?"

"The ghost? Ha, where's the ghost asks she?" From out of the glare of the setting sun, Lochius swooped over and hovered just over the floor beside her. "Well see this ghost, this me, that has a name."

"Hi, Lochius."

"Hi, Lioness. Your fast return surprises well."

"My name is Allison."

"Lioness?" said Andrew. "I like it."

Allison raised her eyebrows, but supposed she could get used to it if Lochius insisted on calling her that. "What does he call you?"

Andrew shrugged. "A friend to the feared. These creatures are quite fearsome, I suppose. But they won't harm a friendly face."

Lochius floated back over towards him, still looking at Allison. "A friend of feared, what great title that be." He gestured towards the edge of the balcony. "Our friends did lately live in yonder forest, but camest here when silver haze did spread across their homes, their food, their darkened trees. Who once did walk and sleep on soft, lush ground now sits in patient cold on hardened stone."

Allison looked towards the forest, knowing who caused the silver haze. "The silver haze from the Sylvar?"

Andrew looked at her, frowning. "The what?"

"The Sylvar, the big elves."

Andrew looked at Lochius, who shrugged. "Of Sylvar nor of big elves have I heard."

"They live in the forest."

The ghost floated a little higher, crossing his translucent arms. "And it's their habit drive the creatures out who fall not under their auspicious name?"

Allison frowned, thinking. "No, I don't think so."

"Yet came our friends to here, and fleest birds."

"I'm sure that was an accident. They just got scared."

Lochius turned towards the forest, clasping his hands behind his back. "The Sylvar, well. I've known yon silver haze did creep the farthest reaches of the wood. Yet only lately has it spread towards here. Explainest thou that?"

Allison hesitated "No."

Andrew was looking at her curiously. His hand now held still in the air, and she looked at it, trying to imagine the invisible creature that it rested on.

"How come you can see them but I can't?"

He winced slightly. "Because you're more fortunate than I am."

"What?"

Andrew looked down, hesitating. Lochius floated forward a step. "Our friends are omens ill of history black. It takes a loss to gain the sight of them."

Allison frowned at the cryptic explanation.

Finally, Andrew spoke. "These are thestrals. You can only see them if you've seen someone die."

Allison stared at him. "Oh." She looked around herself, suddenly glad she couldn't see the creatures. Then she looked back at Andrew, and wondered what he had witnessed.

Andrew saw her look. "Don't worry about it," he said, grimacing. "It was a long time ago. Want to go for a flight?"

Allison was caught off guard by the sudden change of topic. She looked around. "It's still light out. Won't people see?"

"Not much happens on this side of the castle. I'd be surprised if there were anyone around to see at this hour."

Allison hesitated a moment longer. Now that she knew what the creatures were, she was a little more wary of them again.

"Come here," said Andrew, gesturing towards the thestral he had been petting. Allison walked over, and he once again levitated her up and onto it. Then he turned and stepped over one that was apparently sitting down, and it lifted him up until he was level with her.

Then she heard the beating of wings, and both she and Andrew were rising away from the balcony. As she had the first time, she clutched tightly to the creature's sides.

The grounds spread out below them, and she surveyed them, not seeing anyone on this side of the castle. The creatures began a wide circuit, and soon she could see the lake. A few students were sitting there on the shore, but were too far off to spot them in the sky. She hoped the thestrals didn't fly close enough for them to be spotted.

She looked towards Gryffindor tower, where Albus and Rose were. Maybe they were wondering where she was right now, but she wasn't keen to explain to them just yet. She wanted this to be her secret, at least for the time being.

Glancing over at Andrew, she saw that he wasn't looking down but rather up. He was staring at the sky, his eyes moving slightly as though they were scanning a piece of parchment. She followed his gaze, but there were no clouds to watch, at least not in the direction he was looking.

The thestrals banked out over the forest and made a U-turn. She looked down at the trees, finding this view far more pleasant than the forest looked from within. She briefly remembered the centaurs surrounding her, and shuddered.

The thestral that was carrying her made a noise at her sudden movement, and she gripped more tightly as it lowered a touch. Patting its side to let it know she was okay, she felt it even out again.

The flight continued across the back of the castle and around the corner, and soon Allison could see the quidditch pitch. Tomorrow were the tryouts, and Albus had made it clear to them that he wanted to go see his brother reaffirm his position on the team. He also wanted to know who the new chaser would be, even though Rose had pointed out that he didn't know most of the older Gryffindors.

"I've decided I'm going to try out tomorrow." Allison looked over at Andrew. He was now staring at the pitch. "Well, actually, I just decided it now, but I'm going to."

"Okay," Allison replied. She didn't know much at all about the Ravenclaw team.

"There are two spots open at chaser this year. Everyone already knows who is going to fill one of them. Well, every Ravenclaw, that is." He paused for a contemplative moment, and when he spoke again, his voice was significantly lower. "And I'm going to fill the other. I've just decided it."

"Good luck."

"It won't be a matter of luck. I'm not lucky. But you want to know a secret?" He looked at her. "Not being lucky can be a great advantage."

"Oh, don't tell me," said Franky. He was looking around, and Albus noticed that Jonathan was not among the second-years gathering in the common room.

Robert looked around now as well. "Is he… oh no."

Franky put his hand over his eyes.

Sure enough, as they descended to the pitch and climbed into the stands, Jonathan was out there on a broom, opposite James. James, however, was far more distracted by another presence out there: Michaela. Albus's eyes widened as he watched her fly among the other candidates.

The tryout was no more organized than the one Nathan had run the previous year. However, fortunately for Franky and the other second-years, Jonathan put on a more respectable showing, though he was still no match for James.

Albus, and Rose beside him, were more focused on Michaela's impressive performance. Her being on the team would not be good for James. Nathan might have known that, considering how public their conflict had been at times over the course of the previous year, but if Dominique and Molly were any indication, the squabbles of third-years were not usually noticed by the older students.

The two beaters, whom Albus knew only as Alan and Cliff, floated aloof from the pack. They did not face any competition for their spots, and did not seem keen to participate in the tryout among the various chaser candidates. Every now and then, Nathan would glance up at them uncertainly, and then scan the seated Gryffindors in the stands.

As Nathan shifted his attention to Shane Thomas and his two competitors at keeper, Mackenzie took over running the drills for the chaser candidates, and it quickly became evident that she was mainly focused on Michaela. Nathan rejoined Mackenzie after a while, and they watched her together, scrutinizing her moves.

Rose began looking around, and Albus wondered if she was getting restless. After a moment, however, she tugged on his arm, and began moving across the stands. He followed her over to where Laura was sitting with Pearl, Selina, Daryl and Dom.

"Laura."

She looked up at them in surprise. "Hi, Rose. Albus."

"Does Nathan know about James and Michaela?"

Pearl frowned. "What about them?"

"That they hate each other, most of the time."

"Most of the time?" Laura looked amused. "Probably not."

"Then he's going to choose her. That won't be good for James."

"You think he's going to choose her?"

"She's playing the best out there."

"You're right," said Daryl. "And that won't be good for James. She distracts him."

Pearl let out a loud huff. "James is a big boy. Let him deal with it."

"The seeker is the most important player," said Daryl. "If James doesn't play well, Gryffindor loses."

"And Michaela doesn't deserve it, anyway," added Selina.

Laura looked around at all of them. "Why do I get the feeling you all expect me to be the one to talk to Nathan about this?" They all simply looked at her. "Okay, fine."

Suddenly, the tryout was interrupted, as the Ravenclaws began to emerge early from the locker rooms.

"What's going on?" asked Daryl. They watched as Nathan flew down and dismounted in front of Sam Anderson, and they talked. Anderson withdrew a piece of parchment from the pocket of his robe, and they both looked at it. Then they talked more, and Nathan began to gesture erratically.

Finally, Sam turned and pointed over to the edge of the pitch, and the Ravenclaws moved aside, watching as the Gryffindor tryout continued. Several of the Gryffindor candidates looked over as the Ravenclaws watched them, and the pace of the tryout slowed.

"Well, this is awkward," said Laura. Albus noticed that her cousin, Larry Turpin, was among the Ravenclaws. He was trying out again, just as he had said he would.

The rest of Ravenclaw began to fill their section of the stands, and they were surprised to see that the Gryffindor tryout was still going on. Albus wondered which house had messed up the schedule.

As the misscheduled Gryffindor tryout finally concluded, Sarah quickly flew over to Michaela. "You looked really good out there."

"Thanks. What are you all doing here?"

"We're supposed to be trying out now. Your new captain messed up the schedule."

"How do you know it's not your brother who messed up?"

Sarah glanced over at her brother, who had immediately flown over to the middle of the pitch to stake his territory. "I suppose I don't."

Her other brother flew over to them. "Good job, Michaela."

"Thanks, Sean. Good luck."

"Thank you." Sarah knew Sean was grateful that, for once, Michaela wasn't using his broom. She was impressed that Michaela had fared so well on the old school broom.

Sam was now looking in their direction. "Ready to get started?"

The younger siblings glanced towards their brother, then back at Michaela. "Catch you later," said Sarah.

As Michaela turned and flew after the other Gryffindors, Sam yelled after her, "Nice job, Michaela." If Michaela heard, she didn't acknowledge it.

Sarah kept an eye on Sean as the tryout began. Unlike last year, when he had known he would not make the team, this year he was intent on making it. There were two spots open at chaser, though Chandler Mosley, the alternate chaser last year, was expected to fill one of those. He was a sixth-year, like Sam and Chase Billet, the other chaser, and had patiently awaited his time.

Besides him, there were several candidates, and the other spot was a toss-up. Sarah was torn between wanting Sean to make the team and not wanting Sam to play favorites.

Feeling eyes on her, she turned to see Larry watching her. Her fellow fourth-year had a determined expression, which he had been wearing around for days. He had barely spoken to her since the start of the term, and the other fourth-years had noticed.

Unlike the Gryffindors in their year, the Ravenclaw fourth-years were generally a fairly cohesive and reasonable bunch. They all knew each other pretty well, with the possible exception of Andrew Walker, who was generally quiet and somewhat aloof. They had largely accepted Michaela and Carla in their midst, as refugees of the more disorderly houses. So it disturbed the atmosphere noticeably when Larry started the year with a tense and passive-aggressive attitude.

If she beat him for the spot, would that continue? Would a quidditch position really determine the cohesiveness of the house in the year to come? From the way he was looking at her, that might be the case.

She looked towards Sam, whose attention was currently on the beaters. No changes were expected there. The chasers were running through drills. Sean was moving very deliberately, and he was being outpaced by a few of the other candidates.

Sarah was surprised to see that Andrew Walker was among them. She hadn't noticed him there before. Nor had he seemed to show much interest in quidditch previously. Yet he was moving quite well on the school broom he was using.

Finally, Sam glanced up at the seekers. "Sarah! Larry! Ready?" He released the snitch, and Larry set off immediately, flying straight towards it. Sarah flew sideways towards its path, and wound up well ahead of him.

As she pursued the tiny golden ball, she flashed back to the last match of the previous term, and her neck-and-neck race with James Potter. She imagined that he was beside her now, edging slightly ahead of her, and she redoubled her effort, trying to anticipate the snitch's movements.

Larry was well behind her, but she ignored him and continued to relive the race with James. The snitch soared out over the stands, and she stayed hot on its trail. As she slowly caught up to it, she saw James's hand reach towards it, and she quickly lunged forwards. She lost control of her broom, briefly, but caught the snitch.

As she steadied herself and returned to the pitch, she saw Larry slow down, his face a mask of disappointment. She felt bad for him, but at the same time, she knew she was saving him—and Ravenclaw—from another embarrassment against Hufflepuff. He stood no more of a chance of beating Sandra Alain than he had last year.

She looked over to her house-mates in the stands. Half of the fourth-years were looking warily between her and Larry, while the other half were watching Andrew, who, to everyone's surprise, was now pacing the group of chaser candidates.

Sarah knew that this pretty much spelled doom for Sean's chances, provided Sam didn't favor him.

As the tryout concluded, Sean clearly looked frustrated. Sarah immediately flew over to him. "I think you did quite well."

"Not well enough," he huffed.

"Well, another year to learn, then."

"Two more. No one is graduating this year."

"That's t—" They were suddenly ambushed from behind by their older brother, who wrapped an arm around each of them.

"I love my family." He looked at each of them. "You both did very well. That was magnificent."

Sean looked up at him. "Don't put me on the team just because I'm your brother."

Sam frowned. "I'm not. You still have things to learn, and you let your nerves get to you. But you did well, regardless."

Sean nodded.

"As for you." Sam turned towards Sarah, and his voice dropped significantly. "I'm hoping you finally put to rest Turpin's pretentions. It's been pathetic watching him glare at you all week."

Sarah chanced a glance towards Larry, who was standing away from the rest of the group. "Let's find out." She parted from her brothers and moved towards him. "Good tryout, Larry."

He looked at her and hesitated for a moment. "Thanks, same to you. You are very good."

"Thank you."

He hesitated again, looking around. "And hey, I'm sorry about this past week. It's just, we never really went head-to-head, you know? It never felt right for me."

She nodded. "I understand. And I'm glad you're there in case I can't play a match."

He gave a quick nod. His attention was suddenly focused over her shoulder, and she turned to see Andrew approaching them. "Andrew, where did that come from, mate?"

Andrew looked at him quizzically. "What?"

"Since when do you play quidditch, much less play that well?"

Andrew shrugged. "I've played for a while. Just decided last night to try for the team."

Larry cracked a smile at this. "Really? Just last night?"

"Yes."

Larry and Sarah shared a glance. "Okay, mate. Well, you're pretty good."

"Thanks."

As Laura attempted to intercept Nathan on his way to the Great Hall for dinner, she bumped into the one person in the school that she was less interested in seeing than Michaela: Marcus.

He was clearly in a good mood. "What's up, Laura?" he asked, waving at her.

"Hi." She was all set to rush past him and catch up to Nathan, but he started talking.

"Did you see Michaela at the tryout? She was fantastic!"

"I saw." Laura grimaced as Marcus's exclamation caught Nathan's attention, and he turned towards them.

"You're her brother, aren't you? Looking forward to watching her on the team?"

"Definitely," said Marcus, his voice attaining a greater level of pride than Laura had yet heard from him.

"Excellent! Do you play as well, per chance? I didn't see you at the tryout."

"I know how to play. I'm not quite as fast as she is, though. Nor quite as competitive."

"Not that that's saying much at all," Laura whispered under her breath. If Marcus heard her, he paid her no heed.

"Well," said Nathan, "if you know how to handle a bat, we could certainly use an alternate or two at beater."

"We never have alternates at beater," said Laura.

"Well, this year we might need them. Did you see those two out there? They could use the competition."

Marcus nodded. "I can learn that."

"Alright." Nathan turned his attention to Laura. "What about you? Any quidditch?"

Laura shook her head quickly. "No. I don't do sports."

"Except swimming," said Marcus, causing her to frown. What business did he have saying something like that?

Nathan raised his eyebrows. "Okay. Well…" He glanced back over his shoulder.

"Wait," said Laura. She hadn't wanted to say this in front of Marcus, but now she felt he deserved it. "I don't think Michaela should be on the team. It will be bad for James."

Nathan frowned at her, and Marcus gaped.

"She distracts him. You can't have a distracted seeker. If James loses, so does Gryffindor."

"You can't be serious," said Marcus.

She returned his look. "It's going to be a problem."

"Bogus. James can deal with it."

"You really think—"

"Be quiet," Nathan interjected sharply. He was still looking at her, and his frown had deepened. "We are all Gryffindors, which means we are all a team. And no matter who is on our team, we learn to work with them. We learn to get along with them. And, when it matters, we rely on them."

Laura glanced at Marcus uneasily.

"I am going to put the best players available on my team, and they will work together. They will win because of their companions, never in spite of them."

Laura saw Marcus crack a small smile.

"Whatever issues James and Michaela have off the pitch, none of that will matter on it. It will all be left behind."

"Is that realistic?" asked Laura, her voice quieter than she wanted it to be. She hadn't been trying to catch Nathan in order to be chastised.

"Yes. I've seen it done."

Marcus nodded, as if this was all the assurance needed.

Laura was not assured, but Nathan clearly had no interest in changing his mind. "Okay." She watched as he turned and continued to the Great Hall.

Marcus looked at her. "So what do you say, teammate?"

"Shut up. And don't talk about watching me swim."

His face transformed so fast it almost made her laugh. "What? I wasn't…" He trailed off, as he was now talking to her back as she went to the Great Hall.

Michaela was in high spirits as she joined Sarah at the Ravenclaw table. Sarah glanced up at her. "Not going to sit with your new teammates?"

Michaela paused midway through sitting down, and looked towards the Gryffindor table. "I hadn't thought of that." After another moment, she shrugged and finished her motion. "Another time."

Across the table, Larry turned to Andrew. "Shh, quiet, mate. No sharing team secrets with the enemy." Andrew looked up at him quizzically, then shifted his gaze to Michaela.

"Where's Carla?" Sarah asked.

"Sitting with the Slytherins. She doesn't want to remind Flint to question her loyalty before their tryout tomorrow."

"It's not like anyone in that house can match her at seeker."

"That doesn't matter if Flint decides it doesn't." Michaela rolled her eyes as she said this.

Sarah mimicked the gesture. "So tell me, how does it fit with your whole pan-house vision thing if we're all competing against each other in quidditch?"

Michaela frowned at her. "What?"

"I'm on the Ravenclaw team, Carla and Gary are on their teams, and you'll be on Gryffindor."

"So?"

"So, we're trying to beat each other."

"At quidditch. What does that matter?"

Larry reached out a hand, a pleading gesture to Sarah. "Don't get her started on her vision."

Andrew looked up again. "What vision?"

Larry grimaced. "Don't." He glanced warily at Michaela as she looked at Andrew.

"I don't think we've met. I'm Michaela."

"It would be hard for me not to know who you are. I'm Andrew." They shook hands over the table. "So what vision?"

Michaela glanced at Larry and the other Ravenclaw fourth-years around them, who were matching his expression. "Catch me after the meal, and I'll tell you," she said mercifully.

Sarah looked around at her house-mates as they playfully exaggerated their relief. She couldn't be happier to see everyone getting along again.