Do you ever get that feeling where you have to read every Harry Potter fanfic or watch all the movies or read all the books in two hours? Well I'm in that kind of mood. I have settled down in my bed, a Hogwarts beanie on my head, Harry Potter glasses on my nose, a temporary tattoo of Harry's scar on my wrist, and the Prisoner of Azkaban playing on my DVD player. I'm pretty hyped. This weekend I'm gonna get stuff done!
Whoo!
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Year Three
Tryouts and Hogsmeade
Today was the day. Today I would be trying out for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. There was nothing but nerves coursing through my veins right now. I could only focus on the fact that people were going to be watching me flying around on my broom.
"Darcy," George said. "You better eat something. Don't want to go onto the pitch with an empty stomach."
"If you're nervous, try thinking about the fact that you'll be able to beat Malfoy to a pulp if you make it." Fred said. I smiled. That did make me feel better.
I gobbled down my breakfast. "Ready, Seamus?" I asked as he sat down beside me. He had bags under his eyes and his hair was wild. "It's the big day."
He sent me a glare, "I know bloody well what day it is. Didn't get a wink of sleep. I was too busy thinking about this try out and how to apologize to Fay and Mum and Da."
I shook my head, "If you really want to apologize to Fay just ask her to Hogsmeade. The trip is next week, you better get a move on."
Seamus growled at me, "You think I don't know that?"
"She's going to the tryouts today you know. If you make the team, maybe you could ask her afterwards. Quidditch players are very attractive to girls." I said.
George nodded, "It's true mate. I think it has to do with the uniform."
The Quidditch pitch was much bigger when you were standing in the middle of it. The stands seemed to tower over you and the goals were gigantic.
"Alright! Listen up!" Oliver Wood cried. "Here's how we're going to do this. We're going to have a mini game going on. Four potential chasers will be tried out at once. Angelina and Fred will be the Keepers while I watch. Here's groups:
Cormac McLaggan, Colin Hughes, Edward Wright, and Noah Thompson; group one. Seamus Finnigan, Scarlett Smith, Tobias Edwards, and Jude Clarke; group two. And Darcy Finnigan, Kane Young, Lloyd Baker, and Jonah King; you'll be group three. While each group is going, you'll all be going through conditioning led by George. Group one, mount your brooms!"
The four boys in group one took off and split into two separate teams. George led the rest of us to a clear spot off the side.
"First of all, find a partner and grab a Quaffle. You'll be passing back a forth for a few minutes."
The kid I remembered to be named Tobias scoffed, "Oh, wow. That's real hard."
"Watch it Tobias." George warned. "I don't need your sass. For that, you all get to run five laps around the pitch. Go!"
I laughed as we all started running. I had never pegged George to be the bossy type. He grinned as I passed and we high-fived. Seamus was muttering curse words under his breath. He always hated running.
When we finished, George made us find partners again and get into lines. Seamus was taken up by Scarlett Smith, who looked smitten, which left me alone.
"Wanna partner?" A tall boy asked. He smiled at me kindly, "Name's Jude. And you're Darcy?"
I nodded, "Yeah. Sure let's partner."
"So what year are you?" Jude asked as we passed the Quaffle back and forth.
"Third. What about you?"
"Sixth year. Figured now was a good time as any to try out for the team. Don't have a girlfriend...need one."
I laughed, "I think that's part of the reason my brother's trying out. He's Seamus. We're twins."
Jude looked at Seamus and grinned, "Looks like it. Oh, I forgot to mention, you know your uniform's on backwards."
I gasped and looked down. It was indeed backwards. I blushed an angry scarlet. "Thanks for pointing that out, now it's the only thing I'm going to be paying attention to."
Jude laughed, "I try my best."
By the end of our "few minutes" of throwing the Quaffle, my arms felt like noodles. I rubbed them sorely and grimaced.
"Great! Now...uh...we're going to...uh...let's see. Oi, Oliver, what's something else I could have them do?" George yelled across the field.
Oliver chuckled, "Have 'em do the one..."
"Oh, you mean the one.."
"Yeah, that one!"
George grinned, "Excellent. You'll still be needing your partners. Sit on the ground and spread out your legs. You'll place your feet on your partners feet, take hands and take turns pulling as far as you can without ripping your partner apart."
"Oh no..." I groaned. Jude was a beanstalk! He was going to stretch me like taffy. I mean, I'm not that short. I was as tall as most of the fourth year girls. We got in the positions and began the tug of war.
I was first and pulled Jude as far as I could. Of course, he was still hunched over. "Is that all you got, Finnigan?" He pulled back and a searing pain shot through my legs. I grimaced and he laughed.
George walked by and saw the situation. "Oh, Darcy. Next time you should pick someone who is slightly more your height."
"Oh shut up, will you? He was the only one left!" I cried, pulling Jude back.
"Group two! Join the field. George, get group one started on laps." Oliver said, landing on the field. Jude stood and dusted off his pants.
"As much fun as it has been stretching with you, I'm afraid I must bid you farewell." He bowed deeply and winked at me before walking away with him broom. Seamus took a deep breath and joined the field too.
That left me and the three other boys that I was in a group with alone. George was walking back to us from instructing group on to take five laps. "Alright. You guys can rest or do whatever, I'm sure Oliver won't mind a bit."
I sighed and fell back into the grass.
"Are you seriously already worn out, Darcy? That's pathetic." George said, kicking my ankle.
I glared at him, "Don't you tell me what's pathetic, George Weasley. I can rest if I want to."
Before too long, the call for group three rang through the arena. I felt my pulse quicken. I grabbed my broom and followed the other boys to the field.
"Is everyone here? Good. Well, you're each going to get five trys to get the Quaffle in. So far, only one person has made them all." Oliver said. "Darcy, you and Lloyd will be on a team. Jonah and Kane you'll be the other team. Mount your brooms and let's get started."
Lloyd and I flew to one end of the field. Fred was guarding the hoops there. "Good luck, Blackbird!" He called. I turned around and gave him a quick smile.
Oliver blew the whistle and the game was on. Lloyd flew off first and I followed after him. The Quaffle was in the hands of someone on the other team, Jonah I think. I followed him to the goal which he missed and caught the rebound.
"Whoo! Go Darcy!" Fay screamed from the stands.
I smirked and took off to the other goal. I realized then that people were probably looking at me. Oliver was most likely looking at me to make sure I didn't mess anything up. Oh God, what I messed something up?
I neared the goal and threw it as hard as I could toward the ring. Angelina easily deflected it and it went into the hands of Lloyd who shot and made it in. There was a round of cheers from the stands for him.
"You'll get it next time, Darcy!" I heard Seamus shout above the noise. I looked down at him and smiled. My eyes found the Quaffle again which was being thrown into one of Fred's hoops. I took off and grabbed it just as Kane was going to grab it.
"You got this Darcy!" Fay screamed.
"Come on, Darcy!" Seamus cried.
"Blackbuuuuuuuuuuuurd!" Fred cheered.
"Let's go, Darcy!" George shouted.
I smiled and whizzed to the goal. I faked Angelina out, making her think I was throwing in one goal. While she went to cover it up, I threw in the next one over.
"Yes!" They shouted simultaneously. I grinned, maybe this would be better than I thought.
The next few minutes were filled with cheers from my friends as I scored two more times. The other boys in my group were doing very good too, but Jonah and Lloyd had used up their five shots. Kane and I were the only ones left flying around now. I watched from afar as he had the Quaffle in his hands.
"Go get it Darcy!" Fred said. I went after Kane as fast as I could. I knew I probably wouldn't be able to steal it from him, he was a fifth year. He was heavily built and really muscular.
I flew up next to him and slammed my body against his broom. It shook a little and he was disoriented for a minute, but he quickly recovered. I tried again. This time his hands fumbled with the Quaffle. I slammed into him again and he dropped it. I let out a cry of triumph and went after it. I scooped it up and zoomed towards my goal.
This time I knew I'd be able to make it in, so I chucked it as hard as I could. At first, I was scared Angelina was going to catch it. It was right in her path. She stuck out her arms and it hit her. It hit her so hard in fact, that she was knocked through the goal as well.
"Yes!" I cried.
I landed and ran over to Seamus who was smiling. "Excellent job, Darcy!" He said in my ear.
"That was brilliant, Darcy!" Fred said. "I've never seen a third year do that before! You're bound to make the team! Oliver would be crazy if he didn't put you on."
I rolled my eyes, "I sure he'll pick the older students before he picks me. THey're all so much bigger than me."
"It's not size he wants." George said, coming over to us. "Oliver is only looking for people who are skilled. And that," he said, pointing to the sky, "that was bloody skillful."
I blushed and mumbled out a thanks. We had to wait a few minutes while Oliver consulted Angelina who would be working with the two new Chasers.
But then it was time.
"Alright. The results." Oliver said, standing in front of all of us. "I have made the cuts. And our two new Chasers are...Jude Clarke and Tobias Edwards. Alternates are Colin Hughes and Darcy Finnigan. That's all."
There were many groans coming from the group. An alternate?
"Congrats, Darcy! You made the team!" Fred shouted.
"No, I didn't. I'm an alternate. What does an alternate even do?" I asked, kicking at the grass.
"Eh, well...if one of the Chasers gets sick or seriously injured, you'll take their place." George said.
I shook my head, "Which means I'll probably not play at all."
"Yeah..."
"Well at least you made alternate!" Seamus cried. "I knew I was no good as a Chaser. I hope you make the team at some point."
"Oh yeah! Being an alternate also means you'll replace Tobias when he graduates at the end of the year." George said happily.
I sighed, "Colin will probably get it. He's older than me. I probably won't get on the team until Jude graduates."
"Well," George said, flinging his arm over my shoulder, "at least you'll be on the team. Plus, you still get to come to practices and games."
I shrugged. "I guess..."
"Darcy! That was brilliant!" Fay shouted, running over to me. "You were so great! I thought it was hilarious when you slammed into that fifth year...priceless..." Her words dropped off when she saw Seamus standing by me. "Oh...you're here."
"Are you going to compliment me?" Seamus asked.
Fay sighed, "I suppose you did satisfactory too."
Seamus grinned, "Oh, please. You know you were checking me out while I was on that broom."
"Seamus..." I warned.
"No, Darcy. it's fine. I'm willing to go through Seamus' teases." Fay said.
Seamus smiled brightly and ruffled her blonde hair, "Does that mean you forgive me?"
Fay rolled her eyes and looked everywhere except at him, "Yeah, I guess so."
"Excellent!" Seamus cried. We started walking back to the castle. When we were almost inside, Seamus turned around started walking backwards. "And, just to let you know... I think that Muggle boy was lucky...you're an excellent kisser." He winked at her and then ran off to find Dean.
I looked at her and laughed when I saw she was blushing.
Halloween day came a few days later. Seamus never got around to asking Fay Hogsmeade. It was nice to have the gang back together again.
McGonagall was standing outside of the castle. Filch as next to her, collecting the signed forms.
"Remember, going to Hogsmeade village is a privilege. I will not have this school being misrepresented by any tom-foolery. No signed permission slip, no Hogsmeade, Potter." McGonagall said as Harry ran up to her.
"Right, those you have permission follow me, those without, stay here." Filch said. The group followed him out of the courtyard to a path that led out of the castle grounds. "Follow this path. Stay on the path and you'll be there in ten minutes."
Fay squealed and grabbed my sleeve, "Isn't this exciting, Darcy? We're finally old enough to go to Hogsmeade!"
I smiled, "Yeah, it'll be great."
"We should go to Honeydukes first." George said. "They have the best sweets anyone could ask for."
"Yeah, and then Zonko's. George and I never leave Hogsmeade without stopping there first." Fred said.
"Can't forget about The Three Broomsticks." George said.
They proceeded to tell us about all the stores in Hogsmeade that they found were the best and worst. We found ourselves in Honeydukes a few short minutes later. It smelled delightful. Candy as everywhere. There were so many flavors of so many things to choose from.
Eventually, we all had a bag full of candy. The gang got into line, which was nearly out the door.
"Hey, I'm going to run to Zonko's before we lave." Fred said. "Care to join me anyone?"
"I'll go" Fay said. "I need something to use on my family this summer."
"I-I'll go too!" Seamus said. I rolled my eyes. I knew he was only going because he wanted to hang out with Fay.
Fred looked to me, "You coming Darcy?"
"Nah, I'll stay in line. Give me your money so I can pay for your things." I said. Fred, Fay, and Seamus handed over their galleons.
"Join us, George?" Fay asked as the others headed for the door.
George glanced at me. "No, I'll stay with Darcy." She looked at Dean who shook his head.
"See you later then..." Fay said. She gave me a wink and a nudge before following Fred and Seamus out the door.
We stood in line for twenty more minutes, talking about other candies and our classes. George found it hilarious that I was bullshitting my way through Divination. He especially cracked up when Dean pointed out that Professor Trelawny thought I had the Sight.
"It's not everyday she thinks someone is as mystical as her, you know." George said as we walked out of Honeydukes.
"Trelawny worships Darcy!" Dean cried. "Always compares her to everyone else in class. It gets a bit annoying actually."
I scoffed and shook my head, "You make one fake prophecy and suddenly you're the best thing in the world-"
"Hey, Darcy!" A loud voice called.
I turned and saw Justin waving me over. He was standing outside of The Three Broomsticks with a large bag of Zonko's products in his hands.
I turned to Dean and George, "Will you excuse me for a moment? I want to talk to Justin."
George's POV
Dean and I watched as Darcy went over to Justin. He had a stupid smirk on his face that I wanted to wipe off with a fist to the mouth.
"He's such a git..." I said under my breath.
Dean chuckled, "He's not that bad. At least he's not like Malfoy. God, could you imagine?"
I shook my head in disgust. No, I really couldn't imagine if Darcy fancied Malfoy. He's horrible and mean. Darcy's amazing and nice. They would clash like crazy.
"Anyway, I don't think Justin's good enough for her."
I scoffed, "No one's good enough for Darcy..."
Dean looked at me and smiled, "You're starting to sound like Seamus, you know. He's been telling me no one's good enough for his sister since first year."
I rolled my eyes and mumbled, "Everyone knows you like her you know. Darcy, I mean. I think she's known since first year." He was silent for a minute. We watched as Justin handed Darcy a box of chocolates. I growled quietly. Who does he think he is? They're not even dating...he thinks he can claim her as his...
"I know." Dean said.
I blinked, "What?"
"I know that everyone knows I like Darcy. Well I guess it's liked now. I think...I think I've managed to understand that Darcy's always going to think of me as a friend."
"So you've moved on. You don't like her like that anymore?" I asked. I was confused. How could anyone in their right mind stop liking Darcy? She was great...and pretty...and sweet...
"So," Dean said. Darcy was headed back over to us, a blush very obvious on her pale cheeks. "How long have you fancied Darcy?"
Oh Crud.
Meanwhile...
Darcy's POV
I walked over to where Justin was standing. He smirked at me and I smiled back.
"Hello." I greeted. "How are you enjoying your first trip to Hogsmeade?" I asked.
Justin shrugged, "It's been pretty fun. I've enjoyed myself. Have you been to Zonko's? It's fantastic, I wanted to buy the whole store."
I laughed, "I havent but Seamus is in there now. Maybe he'll buy me something."
"Oh! Speaking of buying you something..." He reached into his Zonko's bag and pulled out a box of chocolates. "Here. Figured you might like them, since they're sweet...like you." He winked and I giggled, embarrassed.
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it. Hey, I was wondering. Would you be willing to tutor me in Potions? I know you're really good at it and I'm falling behind. Snape's always barking at me for messing things up."
"S-sure." I said. "What do you need help with?"
"A few essays I haven't turned in yet." Justin said. "I'm telling you, they're killing me."
I laughed, "Alright. Well how about we meet up on Thursdays in the library."
Justin nodded and grinned, "Perfect. Anyway, you better get back to your friends. But thanks." He leaned in an kissed my cheek, but he was dangerously close to my lips.
He winked one last time and walked away. I bit my lip and walked back to George and Dean. George was blushing like crazy and Dean was laughing up a storm.
"Wh-what happened there?" George asked.
"I'm going to start tutoring him in Potions." I gushed. "Every Thursday..."
"Thursday?!" George exclaimed. "Who set that as the day."
I looked at him, bewildered. "I-I did... Why?"
George looked at me angrily. "Did you think about how that was the day we tutor?"
Oh. "Oh, George. I'm sorry!"
He shook his head, "You know, you really haven't been thinking lately. And it all started when that stupid boy came into the picture."
A flare of anger rose within me. "Don't call him stupid. He's...he's sweet. And he cares about me!"
"Yeah, well if he cared about you, why didn't he come to watch you try out? Everyone else was there!"
"Because! He's in Hufflepuff! He would be kicked out of the pitch anyway. Why is this bothering you so much?" I screamed as he started walking away.
He ignored my question and moved on to another matter, "That reminds me, he's a Hufflepuff! I mean, even for you that's pretty low."
I heard Dean suck in a sharp breath. "What's that supposed to mean?"
George licked his lips, "I mean that you don't really have high standards is all. I mean...you've never really cared about how crappy you look. And some of the people you hang out with are a bit..."
"So you think I look crappy? No, nevermind that. You're right that I don't care. BUt you're insulting my friends. Maybe you're right. Maybe I should choose better friends. Maybe it was a bad idea t be friends with you." I shouted in his face. "Let me tell you, George Weasley, I was warned by several people not to be friends with you. Seamus stopped talking to me because I was. But maybe I should have listened. Everytime I spend time with you I end up getting in trouble or getting hurt. So maybe it's best if we just leave each other alone."
George looked hurt, "What?"
I frowned. "You heard me."
"Well, maybe it's all your fault! You keep leading people on you know. Making them feel like they have a chance at dating you. Dean, Ron, and I think even Harry felt it at some point! Thing is, you like to tease them don't you?"
I shoved him back with all my might, "Are you calling me some kind of slut?!"
He glared from the ground below. "Well if the shoe fits."
My mouth fell open and I let out a groan of frustration. I turned on my heel and started walking away.
But then I heard him mutter, "Stupid Pot-Licker..."
I stopped in my tracks. The tears started falling. Sure, there had always been a little tension between the Irish and the British. I had been called those names before and they always sort of hurt. But I never thought that George would ever join in.
"What did you just call her?" I heard Seamus ask.
"Seamus, I-"
"Shove off, Weasley." Seamus said. He rushed over to me. "Come on, let's go." I nodded and followed him up the path, ignoring George's calls.
The Halloween Feast was tasteless and sickening to me. I felt terribly sick knowing that George felt that way. He had been my best friend for Christ's sake.
Because I wasn't angry at Fred or Fay or Dean, Seamus and I still sat with our group. We just didn't talk to George, who didn't talk to us either. I joked around with Fred and listened to Fay's squeals and commented on Dean's intellectual conversation starts, but not once did I even look at George.
Afterwards, we were all walking back to the Common Room. Fay was walking with Seamus ahead of us. Dean was talking to Fred about a prank idea he had for his little brother. This left George and me silent and alone. I crossed my arms angrily and stared at floor.
Unfortunately, this did not help me when I wanted to go up the stairs. My foot careened right into the step and I tripped. Before I could fall, strong arms wrapped around me and tugged me back up.
"You should be more careful." George said.
I frowned and glared at him, "I didn't ask for your opinion, Weasley."
"Oh, I'm sorry for catching time I'll let you fall on your face to look like an idiot."
"Why you-"
"Oh, please!" Fred cried. "Will you get a room already. Honestly, you're fighting like an old married couple."
"Shut up!" George and I both yelled at him. I rolled my eyes and pushed forward, up the stairs. There was a large group of people standing around the Common Room door. Whispered conversations traveled down to us.
I heard Ron behind us say, "Maybe Neville's forgot the password again."
"Hey!" Neville cried.
"Oh, would you look at that..." Ron mused.
I tried t get a good look at the door. "What's going on?" I asked no one in particular.
"If we knew, do you think we'd be standing out here?" George asked rudely. I sneered at him and turned to Fay.
Ginny was pushing her way through other students to get to us, "The Fat Lady...she's gone!"
"Let me through...let me through!" A loud voice shouted through the noise. It was Dumbledore. He ran up the steps to the portrait which I could now see perfectly. The picture had three huge gashes running through the image.
I gasped, "That's awful..." Fay looked like she was about to cry from all that was going on.
"Filch..." Dumbledore said. "Gather the ghosts. Tell them we need to look for The Fat Lady."
"There's no need for ghosts, Professor. The Fat Lady's there..." Filch said, pointing to a picture a little ways away. Instantly, there was a stampede to get to the picture to see what had happened to the poor Fat Lady.
"My dear Lady, what happened to you?" Dumbledore asked, looking concerned.
She was terrified. She shook as she described her attacker. From the way she was talking it sounded like...
"It was Sirius Black!"
Sorry about the George/Darcy fight. I felt like they were getting too close too fast. I needed to have them fight at some point. It might be a couple of chapters before they make up. Stupid George and his jealousy. :)
I just want to tell you now that Jude, a new OC that I came up with, is NEVER going to be a love interest for Darcy. He is strictly going to be that annoyingly charming player/sweet older brother figure for Darcy. I'm really excited to start writing him into the story. He's going to be great! I'm also going to make George hate him because Jude's going to snake his way into the best friend slot for Darcy, which will neer actually happen.
Also let me know if you want me to do more of George's POV. I liked writing from it.
Love you all!
Review and follow, please!
xxx
rosslynchandbeyond
