The following Saturday was the Slytherin Quidditch try-outs. Leo was in the stands right from the beginning. The official reason was to support Draco, but he actually wanted a certain someone else to become Slytherin seeker. Because she was better than he was so Slytherin would be more likely to win. That was definitely the only reason.

There were two vacancies on the team this year: Seeker and Chaser. They held the Chaser try-outs first. Leo watched them idly: all the students trying out were above his year and he didn't know any of them so he didn't really care who got in.

Then, finally, it was the turn of the Seekers. Draco and Marisa were the only two there (Leo had a sneaking suspicion that Lucius had bribed other prospective Seekers to stay away).

The captain, Marcus Flint, announced that he would release a Snitch and Draco and Marisa had to catch it.

They both mounted their Nimbus brooms: Draco his brand-new Two Thousand and One and Marisa the Two Thousand Leo had bought her last year.

Flint released the Snitch, counted to ten, and then blew a whistle.

Draco and Marisa both kicked off from the ground and flew up as high as they could to start searching for the Snitch. It was a full minute until anything happened.

Marisa was the one who spotted the Snitch first, but Leo could see her hesitation: Draco was closer and if she dived, he would beat her to it. So she flew slowly towards him and the Snitch, letting her gaze drift around and deliberately not fixing on anything.

Draco, meanwhile, had begun to circle around the pitch, clearly having no idea where the Snitch was. Leo smiled slightly as Marisa drifted down towards the Snitch.

Just as she was finally in range to make a dive for the Snitch, Draco spotted it and immediately dived. Marisa dived too, but she had lost that critical extra distance and Draco's broom was faster than hers.

Marisa stretched out her hand, straining every muscle to try and reach the Snitch before Draco did. Beside her, overtaking quickly, Draco did the same.

Their hands collided in mid-air, only millimetres away from the Snitch, and it was Marisa who recovered first. She grabbed the Snitch despite her fumbling fingers and flashed a triumphant smile into the stands before descending.

"Thank you," said Flint. "The final team will be posted on the notice board tomorrow."