Fixing to Fly
Chapter Seven
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"You must be crazy, DC. Bringing him of all people into our little circle, and putting him in Kotter's place no less! I thought Kotter was going to eat his face!" exclaimed Keely as she and Darcy hurried their way through the dungeons after lunch. They had only a few minutes before the bell rang, and neither dared be late for Snape's class.
Glancing at her watch, Darcy sped up her run to a sprint. "I was unaware I had to ask permission now to invite people to sit by me at lunch," she shot back, as they skidded to a stop in front of the Potions classroom. "Besides, you can't tell me that you don't like Oliver Wood, after he spent the whole lunch hour cracking us all up. He's got to be the nicest guy on the face of the planet! Kotter just doesn't like him because… well, Kotter doesn't really like anyone."
"Except the Slytherins, apparently," Keely whispered, elbowing her friend in the ribs as they entered the class. At the back of the room was a group of seventh-year Slytherins with Kotter in their midst. He didn't even look at her as she entered.
The blonde shrugged unconcernedly. "Good, that means he won't be trying to sneak me Love Potions all class." They headed for the only two seats left in the room, those directly in front and adjacent to Snape's desk. Darcy almost groaned at this, but thought better of it as she noticed the potions master giving them a particularly foul look. They managed to slip into their chairs just as the bell rang.
In a flourish of black cloak, Snape rose, and was suddenly bearing down upon the two Gryffindor girls. "Well, well, well. Miss Merath and Miss Reed. I had hoped I would have a year without you two cluttering up my classroom, but obviously fate has seen fit to punish me yet again. Do I need to get you bucket, Miss Merath, just in case you're feeling queasy?"
"No, sir," Keely ground out, clenching her fists beneath the table. Darcy bit down on her tongue to keep from laughing.
Snape eyed them both dangerously as he growled, "Do not think that because this is your last year you will be allowed to get away with any little games in my class. I will be keeping a very close watch on you—especially you, Miss Reed, and will not hesitate to write out punishment at the tiniest hint of misbehavior." A last penetrating glare, and then he turned to the rest of the class, which had been watching the unfolding drama up front with great interest. "Today we will be producing Aging Potions. Half the class with make Youth Serums, the other half will make Maturation Elixirs. At the end of the class, we will have a volunteer to test these." He sent a dagger-filled glance at Darcy, and she could guess who that volunteer would be. "If both potions are mixed correctly, they should perfectly counteract each other, leaving the drinker as he or she is currently. If either potion is incorrect…" he managed a sickly smile, "then we shall see some… interesting results." With that, he swept off to the chalkboard to write up the lists of ingredients.
"You'll be lucky if the Slytherins don't purposefully screw up their potions so you have to drink them," muttered Keely as she rooted around her bag for her vial of porcupine quills.
"I wouldn't put it past them," agreed Darcy, though she thought if anyone sabotaged their potion, it would be Kotter. He was looking particularly sinister in the back of room as he mixed dried garden slugs into his simmering, orange-hued potion. She chose to ignore the hurt, angry look he shot at her and instead focused on properly concocting her Maturation Elixir.
The hour and a half of Potions class went by far too quickly, and suddenly Snape was standing before her desk, his lips twitching into a nasty smirk. "If you are all finished with your potions, I believe it is time to see how well you've done," he announced and turned to Darcy. She swore she almost saw pleasure on his features as he said, "As we have our most dignified Head Girl with us today, perhaps she would be so kind as to volunteer to test them?" In a low tone only she and Keely could hear, he added, "That was not a request, Miss Reed."
Resigned to her fate, Darcy stood, and was waiting patiently as Snape selected the most badly-mixed Youth Serum in the class—when the dungeon door banged heavily open, revealing the smirking freckled faces of the Weasley twins.
"Professor McGonagall wants to talk to Captain Reed," said one of the twins—it was George, Darcy could tell from the tiny dimple in his left cheek.
"Emergency meeting to discuss this year's Quidditch team," added Fred.
Snape rounded on the twins, and for a moment, Darcy swore he was going to pull out his wand and hex them both into toads. Instead he bellowed, "Miss Reed is in the middle of class. She will not be leaving until we are finished with the lesson!"
Fred grinned impishly at the potions master. "But we've got a note!" he protested, shoving a piece of parchment in Snape's anger-flushed face. "The professor told us not to come back without Captain Reed, and we don't intend to disobey her." The twins looked positively delighted at being allowed to cause trouble without fear of punishment, especially since the victim of their mischief was Snape.
Looking positively livid, Snape glared from the blonde to the redheads and back again, before a smirk revived on his features. "All right then. If Miss Reed must leave, then Miss Merath, you can test our—"
"She's got to come too, Professor Snape!" Darcy blurted out, the fearful, pleading look on Keely's face giving her the courage to challenge Snape's wrath. Careful not to turn her back on the potions master, who was now so furious he was practically foaming at the mouth, the blonde queried to the Weasleys, "That note's about an emergency meeting of the Quidditch team, right?"
They gave her identical nods.
"Well, Keely's a Beater, she's got to be there too, then," she said quickly, giving said Scot a nudge to get the other girl moving. Keely gave a starting little jerk, then began to rapidly pack up her belongings before Snape got the chance to protest. But the professor was no longer looking at the girls, as apparently another wickedly sinister plan had formed in his head.
"Fine," he said, waving at them dismissively. "Go then. We will just have to find someone else to be our test subject…" Darcy let out a long sigh of relief and was gathering her own things when she heard him add, "Perhaps Mr. Baines would make an adequate volunteer…"
Despite herself, the blonde spun, and saw Kotter staring back at her, wide-eyed and desperate. He seemed to have forgotten that he was mad at his girlfriend and mouthed an imploring Help me! accompanied by a quick I'm sorry! when Snape had turned his back on the male Gryffindor to glower at Darcy and Keely again.
"Unless you need something else, Miss Reed, I suggest you go," he snapped, though the dangerous smirk was back on his sallow, greasy features.
"Yeah, there's something else," she said, against her better judgement. "My Chaser." She nodded at Kotter, who looked intensely relieved. He quickly had his possessions stored away and slipped over to join them, giving Darcy a meaningful look of thanks. "I think I've got everything now. C'mon guys." She nodded at the door, wary of lingering too long now that she'd deflated all the professor's fun. Luckily, Snape just glared at them, apparently too disgusted to argue.
"Just get out," he muttered at them, "and I want a four-foot essay from all three of you by Friday describing the uses and properties of Aging Potions."
"Yes, Professor," they all mumbled submissively before hurrying out of the room.
When they'd made it safely out of earshot of Snape and the class, the three seventh-years heaved sighs of relief and Kotter instantly planted a long kiss on Darcy's lips. He said, "I am so, so sorry I was a jerk today at lunch, DC, I really am. Oliver can sit with us anytime. I mean, all you talked about was Quidditch, and he is a pretty funny guy…" This was the closest to understanding he'd ever been, and Darcy found that she was more than a little shocked, if not a bit wary.
Before she could reply, Keely slung a sisterly arm around her shoulders and said, "Well, I'm not going to kiss you or anything, but I will tell you you're the best friend a girl could have. And I give you permission to bring up this little event next time I call you a Quidditch Nazi."
The blonde laughed. "I'll have to remember that. But I cannot accept all the thanks for our escape. Let's hear some props for the fabulous Weasley twins and their perfect timing, thank you very much Fred and George!" Keely and Darcy clapped and even Kotter gave a grudging nod of approval to the grinning redheads.
"Nah, all the pleasure was ours," countered Fred, leading the way toward the Transfigurations classroom where McGonagall was waiting. "To see the look on Snape's face!"
"I would've given my life savings to have that on camera," George agreed.
The seventh-years had to laugh as well, now that they weren't in hexing distance of Snape's wand. As they walked down the corridor past the Charms classroom, Darcy commented, "Well, since we've already got half the team here, we might as well collect the rest." She poked her head into the class and got Toby, Brian, and Loren dismissed with the parchment pass that had, in truth, been written only for her. Professor Flitwick, head of Ravenclaw House, gave a frown at the mention of a clandestine Gryffindor Quidditch team meeting, but didn't raise the fuss Snape had as three of his students left class early.
When they walked into the Transfigurations classroom, Professor Minerva McGonagall only eyed the group and said with a hint of amusement, "I see a few extra names seem to have made their way onto my note." Then she allowed a touch of smile to inhabit her normally stern features. "No matter. I suppose its better that you're all here anyway. Ah, you can go now, Weasleys, thank you for your assistance."
"They might as well stay, Professor," said Darcy, as she seated herself upon one of the desktops. "I can tell you right now they'll both make the reserve team."
At this George and Fred beamed proudly, McGonagall giving them only a thoughtful glance before she replied, "If you wish, Reed. Now I hope your professors don't mind that I dismissed you from class a bit early…"
The three students from Potions and the Weasley twins exchanged amused glances.
"…but I thought I might have a quick word with you about the Quidditch season. Generally I leave matters of Quidditch to the team itself, however… well, I suppose I best be frank with you. The truth is, I've grown rather fond of the lot of you, over the seven years now I've spent mentoring you, and your successes and achievements are very important to me. I know this is the last year for you six to see Gryffindor win the Quidditch Cup—or the House Cup, for that matter—and I can only imagine how important that must be to you. So I will ask you now if there is anything I can do to help you accomplish this." McGonagall gave the assembled seventh-years a passing glance before her gaze stopped on Darcy, as though waiting for her response.
The Quidditch Captain and Seeker sucked in a long breath, then said, "I'm really not certain, Professor, if there's anything you can do…"
"Perhaps if you tell me your plans for the season, then?" suggest the professor.
All gazes seemed to have converged on Darcy, waiting patiently for her input. So she gave it to them. "Over the summer, I was able to come up with several new plays which I'll teach to the team once training begins. A few of them are a bit complicated and advanced, but I think this team can handle it. I also put a lot of work into mastering the Wronski Feint, and I'm pretty eager to try that out."
As McGonagall pressed, "What about the reserve team?" Darcy got the distinct impression the Transfigurations teacher was digging for something.
"Well, unless I see anything profound at tryouts, I can pretty much tell you who'll be on this year," the blonde replied, shooting a glance over at the Weasleys. McGonagall continued to stare at Darcy, an expectant look on her features, and the Seeker hazarded a guess at what the professor wanted. "And I think I know who I'll bring in as Keeper, too."
This seemed to be what McGonagall had wanted; eagerly she opened her mouth to speak when Keely's voice suddenly piped up, "I've got a thought." Seated next to Darcy, the Scot was nibbling pensively on her bottom lip as she glanced over at the blonde.
"What's that?" Darcy prompted.
"Well, if you already know who's on reserve, and who the Keeper is, why even have tryouts then? I think we're all eager to start practicing, and we'll be able to start a lot sooner if we don't have to go through the process of observing every Gryffindor who thinks they're talent on a broomstick. If we just went ahead and announced the new players on, say, Friday morning, we could start practice Saturday and have a whole week's advance on the other Houses."
Darcy stared thoughtfully at her female counterpart who, despite a cool façade, looked as though she was a bit nervous of the Quidditch captain's reaction to her proposal. Gifting the brunette with a gracious smile, Darcy mused, "Keely, your shining moments of brilliance, few and far between as they be, never cease to amaze me."
"Shut up," was the Scot's reply, but a pleased smile had befallen her features.
"I think it's a perfectly logical idea," the Seeker continued, glancing around at the remainder of her teammates. "Any thoughts from anyone else?"
Not even a second had passed before Toby protested, "It's not fair! You can't just cancel tryouts, Darcy, it's not fair to the people who won't get a chance to prove themselves! Just because someone played one way last year doesn't mean they can't have improved over the summer. We'd feel pretty foolish if it turns out there's the next Arvo Moldoya in the crowd but he didn't get a chance to play because we canceled tryouts."
There were snorts of skepticism at the mention of the most famous Quidditch player of all time. "Right, like the next Moldoya would be at Hogwarts," Kotter mumbled under his breath.
Toby glared at his teammate fiercely. "Laugh all you want, but until he got to play on his school team, nobody knew Moldoya was anything more than your average, everyday wizard. Imagine if he'd have gone off to work at someplace like Gringotts without ever discovering his true potential."
"We're not here to wax philosophic, Tobias," Darcy interrupted before he could go on a Moldoya tangent. She knew that her Chaser practically worshipped the Quidditch great like a deity, the autographed picture on his bedside table that he spoke to every night proof of this. She glanced at her other two Chasers and Beater who had yet to speak. "Bri? Kotter? Loren? Any thoughts from you?"
Shrugging, Brian offered a half-smile. "I can see Toby's point, but I have to go with Keely on this one. I trust your judgement, DC, you know who's going to be right for the team. And to be honest, I'd love to get a jump this year on the Slytherin bast—" he paused in lieu of McGonagall's glare. "I mean, those aggressive but respectable Slytherins."
"I agree wiz Brian," said Loren. "I am also eager to beat ze Slytherins." He grinned at Darcy playfully. "And I also wish to zee you pull off ze Wronski Feint, DC."
The Quidditch captain looked to the only team member still silent. Kotter said simply, "I don't really have an opinion either way, so we might as well just do what Keely said. If nothing else, we gain practice time."
A brief nod from Darcy, then she stated decisively, "All right then. Most of us seem to be in agreement on this matter—"
"Hold on, don't we get an opinion on this?" came the protesting voice of George Weasley. She turned and shot him a rather venomous look, one that clearly announced that silence was his best option at the moment.
"Do you need an opinion?" she queried. Neither Weasley spoke. "Good. As I was saying. The majority of the team seems to concur, so I see no reason—sorry, Toby—why we can't just go ahead and skip this year's tryouts." She turned to McGonagall. "Do you have any suggestions on the issue, Professor?"
Another rare smile touched the teacher's wrinkled features. "I will tell Madame Hooch of your decision this evening," was all she said.
Darcy nodded, allowing a grin of her own. "It's settled. Friday morning, before breakfast, I'll announce in the common room the reserve teams and new Keeper. I'm counting on you all to get the word around so all the Gryffindors know, okay?" She met gazes with her five teammates before fixing her stare firmly on the Weasley twins. "And Fred, George, I know you guys are giddy, but I don't want you to say anything to anybody about you being on the reserve team just yet, all right? Wait till Friday to gloat."
"We promise," said George, with a smile that was, thankfully, honest and not mischievous.
Fred agreed, "Not a word till after you announce us."
"Thanks guys," she said, informally ending the meeting as she slid off her desktop seat and slung her bag over one shoulder. As the others began to disperse and head for the door, she quickly added, "And Gryffindor team: rest up and eat well the next few days. We start practice first thing after breakfast Saturday morning."