Chapter Three: Quidditch Try-outs
It was a perfect day for Quidditch Tryouts. Warm but not hot. Sunny but not blindingly bright. Perfect.
Fred Weasley adjusted the bindings on his beat up old wrist braces. He was feeling very confident today. There wasn't much in the world he was all that good at, but Quidditch was definitely one of them. He stood up. He was a few inches taller this year and his voice had thankfully changed. Only a few agonizing weeks over the summer of embarrassing cracking and squeaking (which Charlie gave him and George plenty of grief over). Fred's height and voice made him feel older, but his face still had those annoying freckles and his hair was so bright red that he still LOOKED quite young.
"Ready to kick some arse, Twin?" said George, clapping Fred roughly on the back.
Fred grinned. He and George loved being able to swear and not have Mum scream at them.
"I was born ready, Georgie," said Fred, "you stupid wanker." And the two of them gave each other high fives and began to wrestle in their typical fashion, both of them laughing raucously.
"Ow!" George yelled, as Fred got him in a headlock and yanked on his hair. "You prat!" George retaliated by flipping Fred over so that Fred landed on the ground on his side, hard.
"OW!" said Fred. "George, you tosser!" George ignored Fred and leapt onto him and they continued to wrestle, laughing all the while.
"Oi, what is it with boys, anyway?" said a female voice.
Fred looked up to see Angelina Johnson, smartly dressed in her own Quidditch things, all of which looked very new. She was carrying a sleek, brand new Cleansweep Ten--the very latest model--and her curly hair had been cut short, which gave her a distinctly more tomboyish look than she'd had with her cornrows. Fred swallowed his embarrassment. She looked so...new...in everything. Meanwhile he was stuck wearing Charlie's beat up old gear and carrying around an ancient Cleansweep Seven. Fred hated being poor. But he put on a smile and leapt up from the ground, brushing himself off.
"Hey, Angie," said Fred, giving her a playful punch in the arm. "Come to watch brilliance in action?"
"That would be a neat trick, watching myself play Quidditch," said Angelina archly. Fred and George laughed.
"Good one, Angie," said George.
"Don't call me Angie," said Angelina. "I hate that."
"You let Fred call you Angie!" George protested.
"That's 'cause I'm the Special Twin," said Fred. "Wanker."
Fred loved that word.
"Yeah, yeah," said George. "Prat. Let's get out there, shall we?"
He lumbered off, carrying a beat up old Comet 240 in his right hand.
"Good luck, Fred," said Angelina. "I'm rooting for you."
"Yeah," said Fred, grinning. "I'm rooting for you, too."
They trooped outside into the sunlight and saw the Gryffindor captain, Oliver Wood, standing there. He was a burly, muscular fourth year boy and this was his first year as Captain.
"Right," he yelled. "Let's get this going. We have a lot of spots to fill up. Two Chasers and two Beaters, practically a whole bloody team as it is." He unrolled a long piece of parchment and began to read off some names.
"Sloper, Robert and Kirke, Paul, you'll play Beaters first round. Let's have...Johnson, Angelina, and Spinnet, Alicia for Chaser."
Fred grimaced. He'd rather been hoping to play with Angelina. She glanced over at him and gave him a grin; he gave her the thumbs up. George smiled at Alicia Spinnet, who blushed. Good lord, Fred thought. Those two.
Then again, he thought, this way I'll be able to see her fly. He was intrigued to see a girl fly; there were very few girls who played Quidditch professionally.
"Let's head to the middle of the pitch," Wood barked. He dragged the trunk containing all the Quidditch balls behind him and lead the Gryffindor hopefuls out on the pitch. Fred noticed that Angelina looked very nervous, but that her jaw was set with determination. The Gryffindor Seeker, Gerald Prewitt, and the third Chaser, Michael Marchbanks, brought up the rear.
Go get 'em, Angie, he thought. He couldn't hear what Wood was saying now, but he saw the five hopefuls mount their brooms. Prewitt followed suit. Wood released the two Bludgers, the Quaffle and the Snitch, and the try- outs began.
Fred kept his eyes focused on Angelina. She was good. Really good. She scored more than a few goals, had a very good eye for passing and catching, and handled her broom easily. Her very fast, sleek broom. She and the other female Chaser, Alicia Spinnet, in particular seemed to blend together well.
Fred turned his attention to the two Beaters, Kirke and Sloper. They were dreadful. Twice Kirke nearly hit Sloper with a Bludger, and Fred couldn't be sure but it looked like Sloper actually hit HIMSELF with his own bat. Pathetic!
After twenty minutes the try-out ended, and everyone landed and headed back to the side of the pitch.
"Wow," said Fred, giving Angelina another playful punch in the arm. "Bloody good flyer you are, Angie."
"Yeah? Really?" she said, grinning. "I was so nervous up there!"
"Quiet, you two," Wood barked. "Okay, Johnson, you, and Spinnet hang out here. Thank you, Sloper and Kirke, you're free to go."
The two boys nodded, looking rather downcast; they also missed seeing Wood roll his eyes at them.
"Let's have Patil, Parminder and Hooper, Geoffrey for Chaser, and Weasley, Fred and Weasley, George for Beaters."
This was it. Fred glanced at George, who gave him a wink, and the two of them followed Wood and the others out to the pitch.
"Kick butt, Fred," whispered Angelina, and she grinned at him. Fred felt very good all of a sudden.
The try-out commenced again, and Fred rose up into the air on his broom. The old thing was slower than he'd like, but it couldn't be helped, and in any case speed wasn't the most important thing for a Beater, but accuracy and strength. Fred felt strength surging through his arms as he pelted Bludger after Bludger away from the Chasers; he could tell even without looking that George was doing just as well as he was.
Twenty minutes went by in a rush. Fred lost track of everything but what he was doing. He got that way when he played Quidditch, as if the world around him dissolved. Before he knew it, the tryout was over. He returned to the ground, leapt off his broom, and he and George gave each other high fives again.
"Excellent flying, Twin!" George said happily, and they hurried off the pitch.
They met Angelina and Alicia, and waited anxiously as the tryouts went on. Wood was methodical about the whole process and very quick to eliminate those who were obviously bad. Wood also had Angelina, Alicia, Fred and George fly together, which Fred greatly enjoyed. He rather liked the idea of defending Angelina and Alicia (who Fred had noticed was quite pretty herself and who seemed to be getting quite a bit of attention from George).
In the end Fred knew he and George had done well, as had Angelina and Alicia, but he couldn't say whether he had made the team or not. He only knew that if he did, he hoped the other three had as well. It had been a lot of fun flying with them.
"Lists go up tomorrow," said Wood briskly, effectively ending the try-outs. Fred, George, Alicia and Angelina sat on a bench near the stands and began to take off their Quidditch padding.
"Well, I felt pretty good about that," said Alicia nervously. "I guess we just have to wait and see."
"Yeah," said Angelina nervously. "At least there were some real screw-ups who came today, that did a lot for my confidence." She giggled.
"No joke," said Fred. "Did you see that bloke Sloper? I swear he hit himself with his bat."
"That Chaser Parminder Patil was pretty good," said Angelina warily. "Really good, actually."
"Yeah, but Hooper was a whiner, wasn't he?" said Alicia.
The four of them chatted amiably all the way back to the castle and into the Great Hall. Fred only vaguely registered that George had gone ahead with Alicia and he was lagging behind with Angelina.
"You were excellent today," said Angelina. "Really. I hope you make the team." She swatted him on the arm in that playful way of hers. They always dealt with each other like this--a bit roughly. Angie was a bit like a boy in that regard. Rough and tumble, not all obsessed with lip gloss and boys. Fred liked that about her. She was a real mate. Although he had to admit he missed her cornrows. He liked how they'd had beads on the end of them and how they clicked and swung round her head when she turned.
"Thanks," said Fred. "I hope you get on the team, too. We all worked really good together today, didn't we?"
"Yeah," said Angelina. "We did."
She grinned at Fred with those sparkling white teeth of hers, and didn't mind at all when she put her arm round him. He was in a very good mood that lasted until the moment he fell asleep that night. He dreamed of coffee with cream in it, and dark, velvety brown eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Stop pushing, George," Fred grunted, as the Gryffindors fought their way up to the Quidditch team try-outs list.
"I'm in!" shrieked Angelina, and she began to giggle wildly. "Freddie, I made it!" She grabbed him and hugged him and began to twirl wildly round the room.
Now THAT was a girly thing to do, Fred thought. But it wasn't so bad.
"Freddie?" George muttered.
"Shut up," said Fred.
"I got it!" Alicia Spinnet was the next person to give a shriek, and she raced over to George and threw her arms round his neck. "Georgie! I made it!" She ran over to Angelina and the two girls hugged and danced in circles and hugged some more.
"Georgie," said Fred, in a sing-song voice.
"Shut it," said George.
"Dammit," said a voice next to them, and Robert Sloper stumped away, looking morose.
Fred's eyes finally found the piece of parchment posted on the bulletin board. His eyes scanned it and came to rest on two names beneath the "Beater" heading.
He felt his stomach drop and a grin spread across his face.
"We're IN!" he said triumphantly.
"Yes!" said George.
"Yeah!" yelled Fred, and he and George hugged, then quickly broke apart and began to wrestle (because two boys hugging was not cool). Alicia and Angelina joined in, and the four of them wrestled playfully and laughed with glee as the rest of the students watched them. Fred was elated. He'd made the team. His brother had made the team. And his best mate Angelina had made the team. Life was good.
It was a perfect day for Quidditch Tryouts. Warm but not hot. Sunny but not blindingly bright. Perfect.
Fred Weasley adjusted the bindings on his beat up old wrist braces. He was feeling very confident today. There wasn't much in the world he was all that good at, but Quidditch was definitely one of them. He stood up. He was a few inches taller this year and his voice had thankfully changed. Only a few agonizing weeks over the summer of embarrassing cracking and squeaking (which Charlie gave him and George plenty of grief over). Fred's height and voice made him feel older, but his face still had those annoying freckles and his hair was so bright red that he still LOOKED quite young.
"Ready to kick some arse, Twin?" said George, clapping Fred roughly on the back.
Fred grinned. He and George loved being able to swear and not have Mum scream at them.
"I was born ready, Georgie," said Fred, "you stupid wanker." And the two of them gave each other high fives and began to wrestle in their typical fashion, both of them laughing raucously.
"Ow!" George yelled, as Fred got him in a headlock and yanked on his hair. "You prat!" George retaliated by flipping Fred over so that Fred landed on the ground on his side, hard.
"OW!" said Fred. "George, you tosser!" George ignored Fred and leapt onto him and they continued to wrestle, laughing all the while.
"Oi, what is it with boys, anyway?" said a female voice.
Fred looked up to see Angelina Johnson, smartly dressed in her own Quidditch things, all of which looked very new. She was carrying a sleek, brand new Cleansweep Ten--the very latest model--and her curly hair had been cut short, which gave her a distinctly more tomboyish look than she'd had with her cornrows. Fred swallowed his embarrassment. She looked so...new...in everything. Meanwhile he was stuck wearing Charlie's beat up old gear and carrying around an ancient Cleansweep Seven. Fred hated being poor. But he put on a smile and leapt up from the ground, brushing himself off.
"Hey, Angie," said Fred, giving her a playful punch in the arm. "Come to watch brilliance in action?"
"That would be a neat trick, watching myself play Quidditch," said Angelina archly. Fred and George laughed.
"Good one, Angie," said George.
"Don't call me Angie," said Angelina. "I hate that."
"You let Fred call you Angie!" George protested.
"That's 'cause I'm the Special Twin," said Fred. "Wanker."
Fred loved that word.
"Yeah, yeah," said George. "Prat. Let's get out there, shall we?"
He lumbered off, carrying a beat up old Comet 240 in his right hand.
"Good luck, Fred," said Angelina. "I'm rooting for you."
"Yeah," said Fred, grinning. "I'm rooting for you, too."
They trooped outside into the sunlight and saw the Gryffindor captain, Oliver Wood, standing there. He was a burly, muscular fourth year boy and this was his first year as Captain.
"Right," he yelled. "Let's get this going. We have a lot of spots to fill up. Two Chasers and two Beaters, practically a whole bloody team as it is." He unrolled a long piece of parchment and began to read off some names.
"Sloper, Robert and Kirke, Paul, you'll play Beaters first round. Let's have...Johnson, Angelina, and Spinnet, Alicia for Chaser."
Fred grimaced. He'd rather been hoping to play with Angelina. She glanced over at him and gave him a grin; he gave her the thumbs up. George smiled at Alicia Spinnet, who blushed. Good lord, Fred thought. Those two.
Then again, he thought, this way I'll be able to see her fly. He was intrigued to see a girl fly; there were very few girls who played Quidditch professionally.
"Let's head to the middle of the pitch," Wood barked. He dragged the trunk containing all the Quidditch balls behind him and lead the Gryffindor hopefuls out on the pitch. Fred noticed that Angelina looked very nervous, but that her jaw was set with determination. The Gryffindor Seeker, Gerald Prewitt, and the third Chaser, Michael Marchbanks, brought up the rear.
Go get 'em, Angie, he thought. He couldn't hear what Wood was saying now, but he saw the five hopefuls mount their brooms. Prewitt followed suit. Wood released the two Bludgers, the Quaffle and the Snitch, and the try- outs began.
Fred kept his eyes focused on Angelina. She was good. Really good. She scored more than a few goals, had a very good eye for passing and catching, and handled her broom easily. Her very fast, sleek broom. She and the other female Chaser, Alicia Spinnet, in particular seemed to blend together well.
Fred turned his attention to the two Beaters, Kirke and Sloper. They were dreadful. Twice Kirke nearly hit Sloper with a Bludger, and Fred couldn't be sure but it looked like Sloper actually hit HIMSELF with his own bat. Pathetic!
After twenty minutes the try-out ended, and everyone landed and headed back to the side of the pitch.
"Wow," said Fred, giving Angelina another playful punch in the arm. "Bloody good flyer you are, Angie."
"Yeah? Really?" she said, grinning. "I was so nervous up there!"
"Quiet, you two," Wood barked. "Okay, Johnson, you, and Spinnet hang out here. Thank you, Sloper and Kirke, you're free to go."
The two boys nodded, looking rather downcast; they also missed seeing Wood roll his eyes at them.
"Let's have Patil, Parminder and Hooper, Geoffrey for Chaser, and Weasley, Fred and Weasley, George for Beaters."
This was it. Fred glanced at George, who gave him a wink, and the two of them followed Wood and the others out to the pitch.
"Kick butt, Fred," whispered Angelina, and she grinned at him. Fred felt very good all of a sudden.
The try-out commenced again, and Fred rose up into the air on his broom. The old thing was slower than he'd like, but it couldn't be helped, and in any case speed wasn't the most important thing for a Beater, but accuracy and strength. Fred felt strength surging through his arms as he pelted Bludger after Bludger away from the Chasers; he could tell even without looking that George was doing just as well as he was.
Twenty minutes went by in a rush. Fred lost track of everything but what he was doing. He got that way when he played Quidditch, as if the world around him dissolved. Before he knew it, the tryout was over. He returned to the ground, leapt off his broom, and he and George gave each other high fives again.
"Excellent flying, Twin!" George said happily, and they hurried off the pitch.
They met Angelina and Alicia, and waited anxiously as the tryouts went on. Wood was methodical about the whole process and very quick to eliminate those who were obviously bad. Wood also had Angelina, Alicia, Fred and George fly together, which Fred greatly enjoyed. He rather liked the idea of defending Angelina and Alicia (who Fred had noticed was quite pretty herself and who seemed to be getting quite a bit of attention from George).
In the end Fred knew he and George had done well, as had Angelina and Alicia, but he couldn't say whether he had made the team or not. He only knew that if he did, he hoped the other three had as well. It had been a lot of fun flying with them.
"Lists go up tomorrow," said Wood briskly, effectively ending the try-outs. Fred, George, Alicia and Angelina sat on a bench near the stands and began to take off their Quidditch padding.
"Well, I felt pretty good about that," said Alicia nervously. "I guess we just have to wait and see."
"Yeah," said Angelina nervously. "At least there were some real screw-ups who came today, that did a lot for my confidence." She giggled.
"No joke," said Fred. "Did you see that bloke Sloper? I swear he hit himself with his bat."
"That Chaser Parminder Patil was pretty good," said Angelina warily. "Really good, actually."
"Yeah, but Hooper was a whiner, wasn't he?" said Alicia.
The four of them chatted amiably all the way back to the castle and into the Great Hall. Fred only vaguely registered that George had gone ahead with Alicia and he was lagging behind with Angelina.
"You were excellent today," said Angelina. "Really. I hope you make the team." She swatted him on the arm in that playful way of hers. They always dealt with each other like this--a bit roughly. Angie was a bit like a boy in that regard. Rough and tumble, not all obsessed with lip gloss and boys. Fred liked that about her. She was a real mate. Although he had to admit he missed her cornrows. He liked how they'd had beads on the end of them and how they clicked and swung round her head when she turned.
"Thanks," said Fred. "I hope you get on the team, too. We all worked really good together today, didn't we?"
"Yeah," said Angelina. "We did."
She grinned at Fred with those sparkling white teeth of hers, and didn't mind at all when she put her arm round him. He was in a very good mood that lasted until the moment he fell asleep that night. He dreamed of coffee with cream in it, and dark, velvety brown eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Stop pushing, George," Fred grunted, as the Gryffindors fought their way up to the Quidditch team try-outs list.
"I'm in!" shrieked Angelina, and she began to giggle wildly. "Freddie, I made it!" She grabbed him and hugged him and began to twirl wildly round the room.
Now THAT was a girly thing to do, Fred thought. But it wasn't so bad.
"Freddie?" George muttered.
"Shut up," said Fred.
"I got it!" Alicia Spinnet was the next person to give a shriek, and she raced over to George and threw her arms round his neck. "Georgie! I made it!" She ran over to Angelina and the two girls hugged and danced in circles and hugged some more.
"Georgie," said Fred, in a sing-song voice.
"Shut it," said George.
"Dammit," said a voice next to them, and Robert Sloper stumped away, looking morose.
Fred's eyes finally found the piece of parchment posted on the bulletin board. His eyes scanned it and came to rest on two names beneath the "Beater" heading.
He felt his stomach drop and a grin spread across his face.
"We're IN!" he said triumphantly.
"Yes!" said George.
"Yeah!" yelled Fred, and he and George hugged, then quickly broke apart and began to wrestle (because two boys hugging was not cool). Alicia and Angelina joined in, and the four of them wrestled playfully and laughed with glee as the rest of the students watched them. Fred was elated. He'd made the team. His brother had made the team. And his best mate Angelina had made the team. Life was good.