A/N: I feel absolutely horrible for not updating when I said I would. It's just that as a result from the dance, I got a horrible cold, and had to get some much needed rest. In addition to that, I had two auditions this past week. I went to try out for the advanced hip-hop dance troupe at my dance school. It's something that I've been aiming for since last year, and I finally found my chance to audition. Secondly, I went out for the role of a cheerleader for the all-boys school production of Joe Mantegna's "Bleacher Bums." (They, obviously, needed females for the play.) Needless to say, I didn't get the role of the cheerleader, but the role of an extra. I could've been an understudy, but I messed up along the line, and didn't sign my self up on the list. Oh well. I love acting, and as long as I'm in the play, it doesn't really matter that I didn't get the role of a principal cast member. Besides, my crush (whom of which is a senior at the school) will be a part of the production crew, so I'll be seeing a lot of him (jumps up and down with glee.) I saw him at the dance, by the way. I was talking to his friend, and he smiled at me when I looked at him. ::screams like a giddy teenybopper:: I think I died when he did that!

I'll finish talking at the end of the chapter. I've said enough as is. Oh yeah, this chapter revolves around the Keeper tryouts. I enjoyed writing this chapter, so I hope all of you enjoy reading it!

Oh, one more thing! A shout out to Sneezy Mouse: thanks for your review, and I can't wait to check out the next chapter of "Spirit's Awakening"! To all of my lovely readers that don't get what I'm saying, "Spirit's Awakening" is my new favorite story, about a girl named Spirit who is engaged to Draco Malfoy's cousin. She meets Oliver Wood, and let's just leave it at that. Go check it out, if you're up for a good read!

I wish I own Harry Potter.



Chapter 11: It's Down to Two

"Yeah, uh, thanks for coming down Colin. We'll let you know if you got the spot on the team." Alicia Spinnet said, rolling her eyes as Colin Creevey trotted back to the castle, dragging a Comet Two Sixty behind him. Colin had tried out for the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

Obviously, try-outs had begun. Actually, they had just ended. Colin was the last one on the list. But he was no contest compared to the others that had tried out. More over, he wasn't as good as a certain two fifth year Gryffindors.

Alina and Ron were obviously the two best that tried out for the team. Alina had come to the try-outs, providing herself with her own broom. It was quite a broom, too: the Meteorite 4000. She claimed it was all the rage in America. And yes, it was something to talk about. It wasn't as good as the Firebolt, but it could give those Nimbuses a run for their money. It was something to look at, too. Finely shaped cedar wood, glossed just right, and bits of glitter (ah, the ultimate girly broomstick) that got the appraisal from Alicia, Angelina, and Katie. ("We should ask Professor Dumbledore if the girls that play Quidditch could get Meteorites." Katie Bell had leaned over to Angelina and said as Alina walked back to the castle, Meteorite 4000 swung over her shoulder. "Yeah, it would be way better than having these Comets." Angelina said, "These things are ancient.")

Ron had to use a broom that belonged to the school. It was either a Cleansweep Five or a Comet Two Sixty. It wasn't much of a choice because both brooms were out of style, and not to mention slow compared to the Nimbuses, Firebolts, and in Alina's case, the Meteorite. He had chosen a Cleansweep because of Fred and George's advisory (the twins have been using Cleansweeps for as long as they can remember.)

The other Gryffindors that had tried out lacked technique. Yes, the tricks were for the more advanced players, but some students would forget that they were guarding *three* goalposts. Some would be too preoccupied with trying to clutch onto their broomstick. They forgot coordination was one of the things needed for playing Quidditch.

Ron and Alina had no competition, except for each other. The both of them had tried to get Harry to put a good word in for them to the other players, but that was not needed; the other players on the team were telling Harry whom to pick, too.

Oh, and to make matters worse, Harry had been voted team captain.

"Harry, we all know who it's down to. Fortunate for us, you have to choose." Katie said.

"If I were you, I'd pick Alina." George said, wiggling his eyebrows at Harry. Alicia Spinnet looked enraged.

"Over your own brother!" Alicia huffed, "And what's with all the talk of Alina anyway?"

"I'd have to agree with George, Alina would be a great addition to our team." Angelina piped up.

"WHAT!? Ron is my brother, and it would make Mum proud to see her children working together for a change." Fred exclaimed.

"Who do you choose, Harry? This is your choice." Alicia said; turning her back to George whom was trying to explain the extra talk Alina has been getting from him.

Harry honestly didn't know whom to choose: his best friend or his.crush.

"Call Ron and Alina back to the pitch." Harry ordered. No one moved.

"You're going to tell them face-to-face?" Katie asked, wide-eyed.

"No, no. I'm called them down for a playoff." Harry said, looking from each member of the team to the next.

"What'll be happening during this," Angelina scrunched her nose, "playoff?"

"They'll play, and the best player will win the spot. Okay, this is how it will go exactly. Alina will be at the goalposts on the right. Ron will be at the goalposts on the left. Let's see now... George and Angelina: you'll be working with Ron. George: you'll be hurling the Bludger at Ron as Angelina throws the Quaffle at one of the posts. It'll give them a feel of what actually goes on in the game. Ron will be trying to get out of the path of the Bludger, and guard the posts at the same time. Alicia and Fred: you'll be working with Alina. You'll be doing the same as George and Angelina. Katie: you'll be working with George and Angelina. You'll advise them on what to do. Maybe suggest to George that he should try a Bludger Backbeat. Tell Angelina to go for a fastball. I'll be working with Fred and Alicia. Is everything understood?" Harry asked. The team nodded in unison. "Good, now will someone please go and fetch Alina and Ron?"

******

"So I'm guessing it's down to the two of us." Ron said, his head held up high. He and Alina were heading back to the Quidditch pitch.

Ron had very high hopes of him making it to the team. He was positive it would happen. He had Harry on his side, and he knew Harry wouldn't let him down. But on the other hand, though, he was scared that Alina could beat him for the spot. He saw her during her try-out session, and there was no denying the fact that she was a great player. Ron had used all the tricks he knew, but Alina had done some maneuvers that he had only read about in Quidditch Through the Ages.

"You keep guessing. I know. I've seen all those others try-out. Ron, we had no contest. I'm not trying to sound conceit, but we're the two best players that went out for the spot." Alina said.

"Do you suppose that they're gonna let us know now?" Ron asked. Alina shrugged.

"I don't know." She said, switching her broom over her other shoulder. She sighed. "You may never know if they have something else in mind." Ron snapped his head and stared at her. Did she know something he didn't?

******

"...Is everything understood?" Harry asked Alina and Ron after explaining the whole process of the playoff. The two nodded. Ron couldn't help, though, but send glares at Alina and at Harry. There was something deep inside him that was saying they were keeping something from him.

"The two of you please shake hands, and go to your side of the pitch." Katie said, breaking the cold silence that had washed over the trio. Alina turned and smiled at Ron warmly. He tried to crack a smile, but he couldn't bring himself to it. She held her hand out to him, but he gave her hand a weird slap instead of a shake before he mounted himself on his Cleansweep Five and flew off.

Alina sighed heavily. She didn't want attitude from anyone at this point in her life. She already had Malfoy to worry about, and the rest of her girl friends were holding a bit of a grudge against her, too, ever since the whole incident in the Great Hall. Now, in a high point of her life, she didn't need another person she considered a friend to turn his back on her over a game.

Alina mounted herself on the Meteorite 4000 and was about to kickoff when she heard footsteps against the moist grass. She got off her broom and turned to see Harry panting.

"Good luck out there." He said, offering a room-lighting smile. Alina couldn't help but smile back.

"Thanks." She said, mounting herself on her broom once again. But she didn't kickoff. She got off again and turned to see Harry mounting on his Firebolt. Meteorite in hand, she ran over to Harry before he could leave the ground. "Harry." Alina said. Harry had kicked off, but hovered so he could still listen to Alina. "Listen, this doesn't mean as much to me as it did before. I know that before it sounded like I wanted this more than anything. It's true. I did want this more than anything. But I've gotten this far, and I've thought about it. I don't entirely deserve this, and I know Ron would be a million times better than me." Alina said. The two of them looked up out onto the pitch to see Ron flying around on his broom.

"I'm not playing favorites. The best player wins. And with you telling me Ron deserves this... I know he does. But it's not up to deserving it. It's more up to earning it." Harry said before flying straight up into the air. Alina mounted on her Meteorite and kicked off, in the direction of her side of the pitch.

Harry pulled his wand out of his robes and pointed it at his throat.

"Sonorus." Harry muttered under his breath. "Does anybody need any last minute explaining?" he asked, his voice magically magnified.

"We've all got it, Harry." Fred said, rolling his eyes at Harry.

"Okay then, let the games-"

"Oh no." Alina groaned. Harry heard, and brought his wand back to his throat.

"Quietus." Harry said, "What's up, Alina?" Harry called out, and only Alina's end of the pitch heard.

"Look who made the sunshine go away." Alina said, nodding her head down at the ground. Harry, Fred, and Alicia looked down to see Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Megan, and the rest of her crew down below them. Alina looked up quickly, past Harry, to see Ron stiffen quickly. He sensed her gaze and looked at her. Their eyes locked, and Alina smiled at him sympathetically. Ron shrugged it off, and looked back down at the ground.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Harry asked after making his voice loud again.

"What? I'm not welcome on the Quidditch pitch anymore?" Malfoy asked, his voice as loud as Harry's.

"It's a pity they welcome scumbags like you onto the Quidditch pitch. It should be against the law." Alina answered, instead of Harry.

"Ha, ha. That broom of yours, Halliwell, should be against the law. What'd you do to it?" Malfoy asked, disgust in his voice, as he referred to the shimmering glitter on her broom.

"Whatever I did sure is better than what you did to your face... Oops, my mistake. You were born looking that way." Alina said as Fred ooh- ed in the background.

"You want to say that t-"

"This is going to stop now!" Harry exclaimed, "Look Malfoy, we're trying to get our final try-outs of the day over with. You're not making things any easier. Would you please leave? Or I will have to inform Professor McGonagall of your behavior."

"You should be informing old McGonagall of that freak on the broom." Malfoy said, nodding towards Alina.

"Freak!?" Alina screamed.

"My mistake. The bitch on the broom." Ron was now speeding down to the ground as fast as his Cleansweep could take him. He flew right into Malfoy, whom fell to the ground. Ron threw himself off his broom and went over to Malfoy, but Crabbe and Goyle blocked his way. Behind them, Megan was helping Malfoy to his feet.

"You just don't know when to stop, do you!?" Ron yelled as he struggled to push past Crabbe and Goyle.

"Hey! Stop it, NOW!" Angelina barked as she flew down. Ron almost forgot that Angelina is Head Girl. "Five points from Gryffindor and Slytherin. Malfoy, and you others, best be off now or else I will deduct more house points." Angelina said as she swung her broom over her shoulder. Malfoy and the rest of the posse were off as Ron gripped his Cleansweep tightly in his hand.

"This is far from over, Malfoy. You send one more insult at Alina, and I will permanently detach your head from the rest of your body with my bare hands." Ron called out through gritted teeth.

"Leave him alone, Ron." Angelina said, putting a reassuring hand on Ron's shoulder.

"Let's just get this over with." Ron said, mounting on his broom and kicking off.

"Are we all ready now?" Harry asked as Ron started circling around the goalposts again. Everyone nodded. "Then let's get this playoff started." Harry watched as Katie whispered something to Angelina before she threw a straight shot to the middle goalpost. Ron darted forward to block it but, at the same time, George hit a Bludger that zoomed right for Ron's head. Ron flipped over quickly, avoiding the Bludger. He had one hand and one foot curled around the broom, with his other hand and foot outstretched in a Starfish and Stick. He was directly in front of the Quaffle, and whacked it off course with the backside of his broom.

"Give her a curve ball." Harry whispered to Alicia.

"Where am I aiming?" Alicia asked.

"Aim for the goalpost on the far right. It should go to the post on the far left, correct?" Harry asked.

"No. If I threw a curve ball to the post on the far right, it should curve and head for the center post." Alicia said. Harry nodded.

"Okay then, give her a curve ball to the far right." Harry instructed. Alicia sped for the scoring area as Alina performed a Double Eight Loop by flying around all three posts. Alicia threw the Quaffle when she was in shooting range, and the Quaffle flew out at the far right before curving and heading for the center. Alina was fooled, but quickly recovered. Alina stretched her arm out and smacked the Quaffle out of its course to the center post. She smiled, proud she was able to block posts. And she was lucky that she missed the Bludger that Fred had aimed for her.

Ron was ready to keep the Quaffle away from the post, but George had hit another Bludger towards him. The Quaffle and the Bludger were headed in the same direction: Ron's head. He could stay there and wait for the Quaffle, and get hit by the Bludger, or edge a little out of the way, and risk letting the Quaffle go past him and into the hoop.

Ron edged a little off course, and the Bludger missed his nose by a centimeter. He held his hand out, and his fingers scraped against the Quaffle. But, that wasn't enough to get it out of the path of the hoop. It went through, and Ron scolded himself for not moving faster.

Another Bludger was hurtling towards Alina. She flipped over on her broom, and she was hanging upside down, with her feet and hands tightly clutching the broom as she displayed a beautiful Sloth Grip Roll. The Bludger grazed her fingers, daring to tickle her and make her lose her grip. Alina looked out, and saw the Quaffle headed for her. It would go right underneath her head, and to get it she'd have to let go, and use her bottom half to hang on. Her hands let go, and she was dangling by her feet. The Quaffle came, and she caught it with such ease. She threw the Quaffle back to Alicia, and before she could blink (or even breathe) a Bludger hit her in the stomach.

"OWWW!!!" Alina cried out in pain, and she clutched her stomach, while still hanging upside down. Her eyes were closed tight, and the pain was unbearable. It felt as if the Bludger were a bullet, and had gone right through her body. And, from being upside down for so long, the blood was rushing to her head. Alina moaned, and she couldn't hoist herself right side up.

"Give her a knuckle ball." Harry ordered Alicia.

"But Harry, I don't think she can move." Alicia said.

"She's turning purple." Fred said.

"Give her a knuckle ball." Harry said again.

"Do you even notice that she is in pain?" Alicia asked.

"I knew I shouldn't have sent that Bludger to the stomach like you told me to. That's just wrong." Fred said, shaking his head, "I'm gonna go out and help her straighten up."

"No!" Harry exclaimed.

"Why? Do you want her to fall off her broom?" Fred asked.

"We can't treat her like a baby. We have to keep this like it's a real game. In a real game, when someone gets a Bludger to the stomach, we don't all go out and help that person. The game has to go on, even if one player is down. We can't help her. She has to help herself. Now Alicia: give her a knuckle ball." Harry said forcefully.

Alicia nodded. She had to agree with everything he said. It was true. She'd fallen off her broom countless times before, and they've never stopped the game just to see if she was okay. Oliver Wood has fallen off of his broom, and that would give the other team free shots. Players have gotten bloody noses, or broken bones in their body, but they never stopped the game for a player that was down. Quidditch showed no mercy. Alicia gripped the Quaffle and threw it as hard as she could.

******

Alina opened her eyes. She almost forgot where she was, but then she saw that everything was upside down, and realized that she was still in the air on the Quidditch pitch. She watched as Harry raised his voice at Alicia and Fred. She didn't know what he was talking about, but heard bits and pieces of it. It was something about falling off brooms, and having the game go on. Whatever it was, Alina knew the game did have to go on. She had to kick aside the nausea for a couple more minutes so she could complete the playoff.

She saw Alicia turn towards her, Quaffle in hand. She didn't look all there. She looked like she was lost in the clouds, or in deep thought, or something like that. But the way she gripped that Quaffle looked almost deadly. It looked as if she would pop the Quaffle with her bare hands. And before Alina knew it, the Quaffle was spiraling towards her, fast. She had no time to calculate distance and everything, but she knew she had to get right side up before the Quaffle would get to the post. But her head was pounding... Alina forced her body over, and she was staring at the Quaffle with the blood in her body slowly going back to its normal places. She saw a Bludger headed for her at the corner of her eye, and she leaned forward to avoid it. Then, she held her hand out and...

A/N: A CLIFFIE!!! Don't worry, you'll find out who makes the spot of Keeper soon. It's not in the next chapter, though, but the one after that. Now, I am beyond pissed that Avril Lavigne's bassist, Mark Spicoluk, is no longer with the band. ARRGHH!!! I can't believe he's gone! Now they have some guy, Charlie. I hope he's hot. ::sheepish grin:: Rosh, shame on you! You need to wash your dirty mouth out with soap! Don't worry, you didn't scare me off with your hyperactive-ness that time we were chatting. I was just feeling really fatigue due to my cold, and took a nap. Okay, here's the deal: Meg doesn't hate Harry. It's just that she's Draco's friend, and right now, she's siding with Draco because she knows his feelings towards Harry and believes that it wasn't right of Alina to go and hang out with Harry because she knew how Draco felt, too. Draco's just being an ass. Don't mind him. Oh yeah, your latest chapter of "Obstacles of Love" was absolutely lovely. I was mentioned, OH YEAH!!! Anyways, I'll continue blabbering on my next A/N. -Gryffindor Heiress