Chapter Eight

"Come on, Chris," Treasure whispered so she wouldn't wake up any of her other room mates, "We need to get ready."

"What time is it," she mumbled in reply.

"Four in the morning."

"Give me five more minutes."

Treasure shook Chris Harder, "No, you need to wake up now! Do you want Phoenix to think you are dedicated or not?"

"Phoenix is calling?"

"No, but we need to get to the pitch early to make a good impression."

Chris sat up and looked at Treasure, "You are already ready."

"I know. Now it is your turn to get ready."

"Okay, okay," Chris grumbled as she threw the covers off of herself.

Treasure left the room with her broom and entered the common room. A solitary figure was already in there, sitting in a large armchair, motionless, by the fire. His black hair was spiked and the flames rising up and cackling in the hearth were being reflected in his gray eyes. At the sound of Treasure entering, he turned in the chair towards her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to disturb you," she apologized.

Phoenix shook his head, "You aren't disturbing me. I am merely sitting here – nothing more."

"How long have you been in here?"

"Since three."

Treasure raised her eyebrows as she moved closer to the armchair beside him, "Do you mind if I sit?"

"Not at all."

She sat, and there was silence; the awkward silences that everyone, Muggle and Wizard alike, dreads. Phoenix cleared his throat and, startled, Treasure asked quickly:

"Have you had breakfast yet?"

Phoenix looked surprised, "No. I wasn't planning on getting any."

"Oh."

"Unless you would like me to accompany you to the Great Hall," he said quickly, recovering himself.

Treasure blushed. She was about to say "yes" but there was that little voice in the back of her head called her conscience that was telling her differently.

No, you cant. Chris likes him, you know that! Friends don't have private breakfasts with their friend's crush!

'Its not exactly a private breakfast,' she told herself, 'and its not like I like him anyways.'

No. Stay.

Phoenix stood and held out his hand to her. Surprisingly, she found herself taking it. Once she was standing, however, she took her hand from his grip. Phoenix didn't seem to mind and the two of them walked down to breakfast together, carrying their brooms. Phoenix held one of the two large, oak doors open for her and with a soft, "thank you" she walked in. Seated at the Head Table, she saw her mother and father already having breakfast. They looked at her in just as surprised a manner as she looked at them. Treasure smiled as Phoenix put his hand on her back and gently guided her to the Slytherin table. It was obvious that Phoenix was showing that he was not scared of Snape in the slightest and Treasure dared not look up at her father. The look on his face was one that could kill. Hermione saw it, however, and put her hand on his.

"Calm down, Severus," she whispered.

"How dare he lay a hand on my daughter," he growled.

"You sound as if he just hit her."

"He should have asked me first."

Hermione raised her eyebrows, "Since when does someone have to ask you for permission if they want to have breakfast with Treasure?"

"Ever since the look in their eyes began to tell me that all they are doing is aiming to bed her."

"Severus!"

"What," he asked angrily.

"You are being absolutely childish. Treasure knows much better than that."

Severus grumbled something under his breath and began to stand. Hermione put her hand on his shoulder and pushed him back into his seat.

"I swear, Severus, that if you walk over there and ruin your daughter's breakfast, we won't be making any love for a month."

The color (or, lack there of) drained from Severus' face and he held himself down to the seat.

"You wouldn't be able to resist me for that long," he replied through clenched teeth.

"Would you like to try me," she asked with a laugh, "I have a willpower far greater than you know," Hermione looked into his eyes and added, "and if you even think of threatening to hire a wench to hold you over, I will castrate you the first chance I get."

The thought caused Severus to cross his legs indistinctively. He scowled at his wife and nodded once.

Why do women have all of the power, he thought, gods almighty…

Treasure looked up at Phoenix once their food had appeared.

"So," she began, trying to start a conversation.

 He grinned, "I love when people do that."

"Do what?"

"Say 'so' and expect the other person to start the conversation."

Treasure cut into her Belgian Waffle with her fork, "Sorry…I guess I could start, but if I said something too stupid, I don't know how I could ever recover."

He nodded, "I know how you feel, but one, I overlook the stupid things people say because I know that I say double the stupid things that anybody else could even attempt to say and two, you could never say anything stupid."

Treasure smiled sheepishly and looked down at her breakfast.

Dammit, stop flirting with him!

Treasure put on her serious face and ran her finger along the rim of her orange juice goblet, "What do you think of Chris,' she asked quietly.

"She has a lot of energy," he said after a moment, "I was surprised that she lasted through the entire work out. Not that I don't think she could have done it, but I didn't know that she wanted a position on the team that much."

Oh, if you only knew, Treasure thought and stabbed one of the blueberries on her plate.

"What else?"

Phoenix smiled, "What is this? Twenty questions?"

No, it's me trying to do a favor for my best friend…

"I just want to know more about you, that's all."

"By asking me what I think about Chris?"

"I like to know if all of my friends get along so I wont be stuck in the middle of two enemies."

Phoenix chuckled, "I see you in the middle of the twins' fights all the time."

"They are sisters…there is a difference."

"Still…but since when do you consider me a friend?"

Treasure shrugged and checked her watch, "Its nearly four thirty-five. Should we head down to the pitch?"

Phoenix nodded and both of them stood.

"Treasure," she heard Severus call.

She grinned at Phoenix, "I will be right back."

Treasure walked calmly up to where her mum and dad were sitting.

"Good luck," Severus told her.

A relieved smile spread across her face, "Thank you, daddy."

She hugged both of her parents and walked back to Phoenix. With their broomsticks slung over their shoulders, they walked to the game pitch. Dawn was just barely breaking as they entered the field. Three of the other players had already arrived, one of them being Chris. She shot Treasure a questionable look, but continued stretching.

"Good morning, Chris," Phoenix said to her as he walked by.

"Good morning, Phoenix."

Treasure smiled at Chris.

Wow, I hope it worked…I mean, I hope Phoenix likes her…

She continued her thinking as she took a spot beside Chris and began stretching. Over the next fifteen minutes, the people who were still in the running for positions showed up. Phoenix was pleased to see that no one was late.

"Dedication," he said to everyone as they continued to stretch, "that is what I like to see and I see it in the eyes of everyone here."

At five after five, Phoenix ordered that everyone stand up.

"Seekers, take to the air; I will release the Snitch in a minute. Angela, get the Quaffle and you and the other Chasers start throwing it around. Beaters take a bat and Treasure get the Bludger. Go to a deserted part of the field and hit it around. Keepers, stay here and I will give you your directions."

Everyone ordered to, took to the air. The last leg of tryouts began. Phoenix worked with the Chasers and Keepers first, splitting them into groups, telling them about tactics and telling them about plays that they were going to work on. Then he worked with the Beaters and told them about important maneuvers that they were going to perform with him in a few minutes. After that, he headed over to the Seeker finalists. He pulled the Snitch out of his pocket and showed it to the two of them.

"You will each get two tries to catch this Snitch. Once I release it, you will wait five seconds before you go after it. I will be timing you. Out of the two tries, I will keep your best time. Not only will your time factor in my decision to put you on the team or not, but also your strategy."

Chris was nervous but determined and her two runs were better than she could have hoped for. The other Seeker's runs were better than she wished. Still, Phoenix gave neither of them a clue which one he liked better."

"Thank you, Ross and Chris. The results will be posted on the common room bulletin board by nine tonight."

He moved to the Chasers and Keepers. Phoenix split them into two groups, each containing one Keeper and three Chasers. After explaining to them different plays, the Chasers were going to perform, he told the Keepers that they were to block the Quaffle by any means necessary.

"The more danger you put yourself into here, the more convinced I will be that you would do it in a game," he told them.

The two groups went to each end of the pitch and the Chasers worked on the maneuvers. Phoenix, while observing things, talked to the Beaters.

"Alright, Jerome and Treasure," he began, "The competition here is a bit different then the other positions. To get the spot, you have to be able to work with me as your partner. We are going to fly and hit the Bludger to each other. What I am looking for is your ability to read my actions and my ability to read yours. I have to be able to tell where you are hitting the Bludger without it being obvious to anyone else. That's not too much to ask, right?"

"You are absolutely right," Treasure responded.

"I agree," Jerome said.

Phoenix smiled, "Jerome, since you responded last, you may go first."

Jerome flew about five feet away from Phoenix and Treasure handed one of the Bludgers to Phoenix.

"Thanks," he told her with a grin.

The two of them hit it around a bit as Treasure watched. As the sun rose above the goal posts, she worked on reading Phoenix's actions – or tried to. After fifteen minutes, Phoenix called for Jerome to stop.

"Good run, Jerome," he said and they shook each other's hand, "Check the board in the common room around nine for the results."

"Thanks" Jerome replied and left.

"Treasure, I need to check on the Chaser/Keeper groups. Give me ten minutes, okay?"

She nodded in reply as Phoenix handed the Bludger to her. He flew to the groups, watched them, talked to them and then they left. Only Treasure and Phoenix were left on the field.

"I apologize that you are the last one. I didn't know if any of them have had breakfast yet. I just wanted them to have time to get some."

"No need to explain, Phoenix. It is no trouble."

"All right," Phoenix exclaimed, "I will fly over there, you hit it to me, and we can see what happens."

Treasure threw the Bludger in the air and hit it with all she had in Phoenix's general direction. Back and forth, they hit it while flying all over the pitch. They tested each other's skills to the limit and even showed off a little bit. After twenty minutes, Phoenix decided that he had seen enough.

"Good job, Treasure. You really worked well out there," he said.

"Thank you."

"You are dismissed."

Treasure was sitting in the last class of the day, Potions class, listening to a lecture from her father on the potions that they were going to be brewing. She and Chris were sitting near the middle with Ani in between them. They were taking notes on the beozar.

"In a few weeks, you will each have a turn to cut into a goat's stomach and try to identify a beozar. This upcoming task will count as an exam grade. Make sure you know what one looks like, where in the stomach it can be found and how many are usually found. These details will help you tremendously. Now I will ask that you chose a partner to work on your next assignment with."

"Treasure," Ani and Chris said in unison.

While Treasure sat there dumbfounded, wondering whom she should work with, a deep voice broke her thoughts.

"Chris, would you like to be my partner?"

Chris looked up and nearly fainted. Phoenix was leaning over the table and he had just asked her to be his partner.

"Yes," she managed to say.

Treasure grinned as the two of them left, "I guess that leaves only you and me, huh Ani?"

"She is so lucky."

Ani gaped at Phoenix for the rest of class and how unfair it was that he was in Slytherin and not Gryffindor while Treasure tried to explain that the ginger had to be cut in perfect one-centimeter by one-centimeter cubes. In the end, Treasure decided that she would do it later that night and continued to count out her mouse whiskers.

Class ended quickly enough. All of Anistasia's gaping and drooling caused Treasure to fall behind. After class, while Treasure was fixing the cubes, Snape called Treasure to his desk.

"Treasure could you take this letter to the Owlery and have one of the owls take it to the Ministry, please?"

She nodded and made her way up to the Owlery. Once she petted Black Magic, Treasure smiled. Black Magic was Chris' owl. It was pitch black and had two huge, yellow eyes. Chris told her that if she needed him, to use him. Treasure tied the scroll onto one of his talons, fed him a treat and watched him fly away.

"Treasure," she heard a voice call.

"Yes? I am back here!"

Footsteps came closer and before her, appeared Phoenix.

"Fancy running onto you," he said.

Treasure grinned, "Either that, or you followed me up here."

"Why do you say that?"

"You are in the Owlery with no letter to send."

"What if I just wanted to visit my owl," Phoenix asked in a matter of fact tone, "I care for him, you know."

"He is on a trip to see your mother. I saw you writing a letter to her last night and I saw your owl fly off this morning."

"I wanted to see if he was back, that's all."

Phoenix moved closer to Treasure with a sly expression on his face. The deep look in his eyes paralyzed her to the spot.

"I can read your actions, Treasure, daughter of Severus. I am able to read them well and I believe that I have found a way to control them."

Treasure swallowed hard, "What makes you think that, Phoenix, son of Marcus?"

Phoenix leapt at her as though he were a snake striking his prey. He placed one of his hands at her waist and, with the other, he brushed her curly, black hair out of her face.

"I have you right where I want you," he whispered seductively. ~+~