*Flash Back*
Mina tried her best not to trip over anything or anyone as she ran as fast as she could to the Qudditch Pitch. She was running late and she had promised Sirius she would come to his try outs. She was still struggling trying to get her robe over her arm when she burst through the entrance to the Qudditch Pitch.
The official Gryffindor players were flying around in their qudditch uniforms while the students who were trying out were flying around in their regular clothes. Mina watched a few students take on some bludgers, while others were practicing chasing a snitch and the rest were waiting in line for a chance to try and get the quaffle through the goal posts that were guarded by Sirius.
Sirius wasn't doing a very good job of blocking the goal post, it seemed as if he were a bit distracted as the current student was easily able to throw the Quaffle past him. The other students who were sitting in the stands burst into praise while Sirius managed to look even more disappointed than he had before.
"Come on Sirius, you're killing me!" James muttered as he ran his hands over his face.
Mina climbed the stairs and sat over in the section of the stands closest to the goal posts that Sirius was currently blocking. Several other Gryffindor students were sitting in the stands, cheering on their friends as they watched them attempt to get the quaffle past Sirius. The next student in line was tossed the quaffle. Mina sat on the edge of her seat as the student tried to trick Sirius in thinking he was going towards the left goal post, but Sirius seeing through that headed to the right and caught the quaffle in midair.
"WOOO!" Mina cheered as she started clapping loudly for Sirius.
Sirius looked over to Mina and started smiling like an idiot. Mina also noticed the slight blush rising on his cheeks as the other players stopped to look at her.
"What is she doing here?" James called out as he gave Mina a nasty look.
"It's okay James, I asked her to come." Sirius smiled brilliantly, "Give me a minute."
Mina got up slowly as Sirius flew over towards her in the stands.
"I thought you'd changed your mind." He said as he managed to get his broom to float on her level.
"No! I'm so sorry, I accidentally fell asleep working on my homework." She confessed as she blushed wildly.
"Oh don't apologize. Homework makes me tired too." He smiled again before he softly added, "I'm glad you came."
"Me too." Mina replied as she locked eyes with him.
"Come on Sirius!" James shouted suddenly.
"Well I better get back up there before James loses it." Sirius chuckled.
Mina nodded as she watched him fly back over to the goal posts, admiring how good he looked in his Qudditch uniform.
Eventually the Gryffindors decided to play a mock game to see how well these students would fit in with their team.
"Are we ready?" James called out as he glanced around.
Several of the players nodded.
"Game on!" he shouted as he threw the quaffle up into the air and Mina watched as all the chasers shot forward to grab it.
One of the new potential players grabbed the quaffle and sped off towards the goal posts. Sirius smirked as they zoomed towards him. The player at the last second passed the quaffle to another Gryffindor as they tried miserably to sneak the quaffle past Sirius. But Sirius caught it easily and tossed it back to his team's chasers. Sirius's team went on to win with flying colors.
"That's it for tonight. Keep your eyes posted for the official team list which will be posted in two days!" Another player called out while the rest of the players started to clean up.
Mina slowly climbed to her feet as Sirius floated over to the stands and jumped off his broom, landing on on the bench in front of her.
"So what did you think?" he asked.
"Eh, you're alright." Mina teased as a small grin appeared on her lips.
"Just alright?" he questioned as he jumped down from the bench and stood in front of her.
"You're good, but not as good as me." Mina teased as she closed the space between them.
"Is that a fact Knox?" he flirted back as he brought his face dangerously close to hers.
They stood starring into each others eyes. Mina could feel her heart beating so fast she was worried it may burst.
"I really am glad that you came tonight." Sirius whispered.
Mina bit her bottom lip in anticipation as Sirius brought his hand to the side of her face and started to lean in slowly.
"Sirius! Can we have a little chat please." James asked firmly as he was suddenly floating in front of them.
Mina and Sirius jumped apart being thoroughly startled by James.
"You have the absolute worst timing of all time!" Sirius growled in annoyance as he turned to face his friend, "Can it wait?"
"No, it can't." James retorted as he shot Sirius a dark look.
"Go on then, I'll catch up with you later." Mina breathed as she gave Sirius a nervous smile and walked away.
*Present Day*
Mina stood amongst a large group of chatty Slytherins who were huddled together on the field of the Qudditch Pitch waiting for further instructions for Qudditch try outs.
"Welcome Slytherin wannabes!" Theodore shouted as he flew over the noisy group Slytherins.
"Yes, let's get these try outs going. I'm assuming most of you know what position you want to try out for. If we already have those positions full, we are always in need of bench warmers." Blaise informed them as he and several of the Slytherin Qudditch team players flew in over their heads.
"So let's go ahead and split you up into groups so you can play with some of our current players." Theodore instructed as they went through the group of students one by one and sent them off to where they needed to go.
"Mina!" Blaise exclaimed as she finally came to the front of the line.
"Hey Blaise!" she smiled.
"What position?" Goyle asked as he looked over his board.
"Keeper of course." Mina replied as she glanced up only to notice Draco floating over a small group of students who wanted to try out to be a seeker.
"Did I hear someone say Keeper?" asked a tall dusky haired boy who Mina had seen around the common room but had not officially met yet.
"Yes Miles… this is Mina, the sixth year student transfer. She was a keeper over at Illvermony. Mina this is Miles, he's a seventh year all star Qudditch player and a pain in my..." Blaise said with a sort of annoyed tone as Miles glanced Mina up and down before smiling at her approvingly.
"Alright, guess that means you're with me." Miles interrupted him as he sent a triumphant look over to the other guys on his team.
Draco grimaced at the sound of Mile's voice as he pretended not to be listening in on their conversation.
"So it would seem." Mina replied as she flashed him a fake smile.
"Right this way then." He nodded as he gestured towards the goal posts as Mina did her best to keep in step with him.
"Am I the only one?" Mina asked as she glanced around noticing there was no one else over at the goal posts.
"Afraid so, no one's tried out for Keeper since I landed the gig a few years back." He confessed as he waved his wand causing two brooms to appear.
"Not even for bench?" Mina asked as she raised an eyebrow at him.
"No." He sighed as he handed her a broomstick.
"So what happens if you get hurt?" Mina asked as she took the broomstick from him.
"Most times, we lose." He admitted as he mounted the broom and kicked off from the ground.
"Fantastic." Mina shook her head as she mounted her broom and followed him.
"Let's see what you've got." Miles smirked as he waved his wand and made a quaffle fly to him.
Mina didn't respond as she took her place in front of the goal posts and rolled her sleeves up.
Miles came at Mina lightning fast as he flew up on her right side. Without hesitation Mina darted for the furthest ring on the left catching the quaffle before tossing it back to Miles.
"Not bad." He nodded as he caught the quaffle and flew back to his starting position.
Miles again zoomed up on Mina this time flying straight at her, only to try and spin around her and throw the quaffle through the post on the right but once again Mina stopped him.
"Yes!" she heard a voice shout out from below her.
"Alright good block! Let's go again!" Miles nodded in approval.
This went on several more times and each time Mina stopped the ball. After some time they allowed the students who were trying out to be chasers to take on Miles and Mina. They really struggled playing against the two of them and in the end only one of them was able to get a goal past Mina but that was only because she had allowed herself to be distracted for a moment when she noticed a pair of familiar icy blue eyes starring over at her.
"Wow, Bletchley, we may have to let her replace you on the team." Blaise teased as he floated over with a clipboard in hand as he jotted down some quick notes.
"Ha, yeah okay." Miles replied sounding a bit worried.
"Should we have some real fun now and actually play a game?" asked Crabbe as he looked out over the few remaining Slytherin students that they had not immediately cut from the try outs.
"Tough lot to impress huh?" Mina whispered to Miles as she glanced over the remaining few.
"You have no idea." He murmured back to her.
"I don't see why not." Blaise said in response to Crabbe as he finished scratching some more notes on his clipboard.
"Let's split up into teams!" Blaise added as he started calling out names from his clipboard and assigning them to different positions.
Seeing as how Miles and Mina were the only two keepers they were put on opposite teams. One team was led by the actual Slytherin team captain, Graham Montague and the other team was to be led by Theodore.
"Mina you'll be on Graham's team. Finally for seekers. Draco, I want you on Theodore's team and Edward you can join Graham's team." Blaise finally said as everyone took their assigned spots.
Once everyone had their places, Blaise took his own spot on Graham's team.
"Hope you can block Smith!" Crabbe teased Mina as the quaffle was released up into the air.
The game started and Mina's team snagged the quaffle first. Mina watched as Graham and the other chasers on her team swept past Theodore's team and made their way towards Miles. Graham passed the quaffle to one of of the newbies and they attempted to score but Miles was faster. He grabbed a hold of the quaffle and tossed it back to his team.
Mina got ready as the chasers and beaters from the other team came swarming towards her posts. Crabbe hit the bludger sending it flying for Mina's head as she easily dodged it with enough time to still catch the quaffle as Adrian Pucey, one of the other chasers, tried to score on Mina.
"Great Save!" Graham shouted to her as she tossed the Quaffle back to him and the game went on.
"Enjoying the show?" Mina said sarcastically as she noticed Draco hovering idly over her.
"You're good." Draco replied as he kept his eyes in the sky.
"Thanks." Mina replied as she watched her team score a goal.
"YES!" Edward shouted out from his broom as he floated over towards Draco and Mina.
"We got some good ones this year! Gryffindor doesn't stand a chance!" he nodded to Draco who ignored him and kept his eyes on the clouds.
"I'm Edward Harper by the way." He said as he smiled over at Mina.
"Mina! Nice to meet you." Mina smiled back.
"It's nice to see someone who can compete with Bletchley." He professed as he nodded towards Mina.
Just then the chasers and beaters on Theodore's team came charging towards Mina's goal posts. Without hesitation she got in position and watched them closely to see what their plan of attack was. Theodore tossed the quaffle to one of the newbies who appeared above Mina from out of no where. The student attempted to force the quaffle in the goal but Mina soared up and spun quickly slapping the quaffle out of the goal post with the tail of her broom.
"YEAH!" shouted Graham excitedly as he and the other chasers flew around Mina in celebration.
Mina fetched the Quaffle and tossed it over to one of the kids on her team that was trying out. Instantly something flew past Mina's right side as she watched Draco take off in a nose dive towards the ground. Edward followed quickly behind him. She watched with curious eyes as they both pulled up suddenly and continued to chase the streaky golden snitch into the stands. They were both quick but Draco was faster.
"Points to Graham's team!" cried out a voice as Mina turned her attention back to the other players as they once again made their way towards her goal posts.
"I've got it!" shouted Theodore as he speared up from underneath Mina and made a quick toss for the center goal post. Mina rocketed over and spiked the quaffle down as hard as she could.
"AH!" Theodore cried out as the Quaffle bounced off his face.
Graham raced over and snatched up the ball and headed back towards the other goals as Theodore tried his very best to keep his smashed nose from bleeding all over his uniform.
Mina was about to yell an apology after him when out of nowhere Harper came spinning into her direction.
"Argh!" he shouted out as he pummeled into her knocking them both off their brooms.
Mina tried to grab a hold of her broom but it slipped out of her fingers as she plunged towards the ground. Mina flailed in the air trying desperately to grab a hold of anything. She closed her eyes and braced herself for a crash landing that never came. Without warning someone had raced up and wrapped their arm around her grabbing her up just moments before she would have hit the ground. Mina grabbed a hold of her rescuer digging her fingernails into their robe firmly as she tried to steady herself.
"Are you okay?" Draco breathed into her ear.
"My life just flashed before my eyes but I'll survive. Where's Edward?" Mina asked as she glanced around expecting to see a body laying crumpled up on the ground.
Draco nodded his head towards the goal posts where Mina saw Edward dangling, holding on to the rim of one of the shorter goal posts for dear life.
"I got you Harper!" Graham shouted as he rushed over and helped Edward onto his broom.
"Good save Malfoy!" Theodore said as he and several other Slytherins started to fly over to check on Mina.
"Thank god for you!" said another.
"Did you get it?" Crabbe exhaled out as he appeared at their side.
Without a word Draco lifted up his other hand that wasn't wrapped around Mina's waist and slowly opened his fingers revealing the snitch.
"HELL YES!" Theodore screamed with joy as the others on that team joined in.
"It's nice to see you're good at something." Mina teased as she pretended to not be impressed by him.
He chuckled softly as he gave Mina a genuine smile. They floated back to the ground and he offered Mina his hand.
"Thank you." Mina murmured as she found herself starring helplessly into his eyes as if she were just really noticing him for the first time.
She accepted his hand and climbed down off his broom. Draco was so handsome but was even more so when he actually smiled.
"Anytime." He whispered as he reluctantly let go of her hand.
Mina watched him float back up into the air flexing his hand softly as he went.
Mina walked back to the castle with several of the other Slytherins. While the others went back into the Slytherin Common room Mina slipped away towards Severus's office instead. She knocked on his door with her signature knock before letting herself in.
"Hey there Sev!" she announced herself only to find he was not alone in the classroom.
"Evening Mina. How did Qudditch try outs go?" he answered over his shoulder as he and Professor Slughorn continued to study what they were currently working on together.
"Ah! Miss Smith!" Professor Slughorn called out excitedly.
"Professor!" she smiled at him as she walked over to join them at the front desk, "It was eventful."
Severus glanced up slightly raising one eyebrow at Mina before returning back to his work.
"Miss Smith, I've been meaning to extend an invitation to Slug Club to you, again. That is if you'd still like to be a part of it." Professor Slughorn drawled on as he fiddled with a pair of tweezers.
"I'd love to! I'd hate to miss the famous Slug Club Christmas Shindig!" Mina exclaimed as she leaned over to look at what they were doing.
"Excellent!" he cheered.
"What is that?" she asked.
"A bit of dark magic imposed on a very peculiar object." Professor Slughorn remarked as took out a dropper and dropped a liquid substance over the item causing the item to sizzle.
At closer inspection Mina noticed that the item in question was a golden ring with a oddly cut black stone.
Mina slowly extended her finger as if to touch it.
"May I?" she asked.
They both nodded as she hovered her hand delicately over the ring being very cautious not to accidentally touch it. As her hand passed over the object a sudden feeling of impending doom came about.
"I can sense the dark magic." Mina confided in them as she quickly moved her hand away.
"I think that's enough for tonight. We can meet up again tomorrow and try again." Severus conveyed to Professor Slughorn.
"Yes, right. It is getting a bit late. Would you mind if I hold it for the night?" Professor Slughorn asked.
"Be my guest." Severus answered as they watched Slughorn pick up the ring with the tweezers and carefully drop it back into a small wooden box.
"Goodnight." He said to them as he made he way out of Severus's office.
"Now what was so eventful about Qudditch try outs?" he asked as he began to clear the front desk off.
"Well, Edward Harper accidentally threw me off my broom." She confessed to him as she plopped down into an empty chair and grabbed up a small jar full of Severus's favorite candies.
"That's one of the many reasons he's on the bench still." Severus drawled on as she stood straight and crossed his arms over his chest, "Were you hurt?"
"No…" Mina answered slowly as she opened the jar and shoved a bunch of the candies in her mouth.
"Mina." Severus sternly said.
"Okay fine, somehow Draco managed to catch me before I hit the ground." Mina mumbled rather quickly hoping that Severus wouldn't understand.
"So he saved you?" Severus smirked as he slowly rolled his eyes, "How typical."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Mina shot back.
"Nothing, Only that the last boy you fell in love with also just happened to catch you." Severus answered as he sat down in the empty seat next to her.
"That was different." Mina insisted as she put the candy jar back.
"Are you sure? You do talk about Draco an awful lot." Severus teased with an amused look on his face.
"I don't like Draco like that. We're just friends and maybe not even that." Mina stated as she turned to face Severus.
"I seem to recall you saying that exact same thing about Sirius Black." Severus laughed as he turned his eyes to the ground.
"Did not!" Mina growled as she slumped down in the chair.
"Time will tell, however it is late you better get back to your room before someone catches you out of bed after hours." Severus replied coolly as he slowly stood.
Mina exhaled loudly as she placed a hand on either side of the chair and pulled herself to her feet.
"Goodnight then." Mina responded as she allowed Severus to hug her goodnight.
"Wow you even smell like him." Severus continued to tease her.
Mina removed herself from his grasp, gave him a dark look and left his office without another word. She made her way back into her room. She quickly peeled her sweater off and then discreetly sniffed it. The sweater dropped from her hands as the smell of apples filled her nose.