Yesterday's D.A.D.A. class had gone extremely well, and Ron was still talking about his owl to anyone who'd listen. But today was particularly exciting, seeing as how it was the day the new Quidditch captain was to be elected.
"Ron, you haven't touched your dinner. Something wrong?" Hermione asked, a look of concern painted on her face.
"Erm..."
Hermione sighed exasperatedly. "This wouldn't have anything to do with Quidditch would it?"
"Erm..."
"Honestly, I don't know why you guys get yourselves so worked up about this. I mean, really, it's only a game."
Ron, Harry, and Ginny dropped their forks simultaneously.
"You don't mean that," Harry said, his voice shaking slightly.
Ginny grabbed his hand for support. "Of course not. I mean she wouldn't say something so, so false." But her voice was shaking too.
Hermione seemed to have a difficult time concealing her disgust as she stood up from the table. "You people," she said, "are sick." And with that she left the Great Hall, leaving Ginny, Ron, and Harry to deal with themselves.
"Ron you've got to break it off," Ginny said shortly.
"Break what off? We only went on one date!"
"Good. Don't go on another."
"Ginny I'm not going to stop seeing Hermione just because she doesn't value Quidditch as much as we do! That's sick! Besides, she's one of your best friends. You should be able to find it in your heart to forgive her."
Ginny sighed and turned back to her food.
After dinner they arrived at the Quidditch field in time to see that all the new players were already there.
Candi jumped up and put herself right in front of Ron. She slipped her fingers into his hand.
"Look," she said excitedly. "I've got team spirit!" Ron examined her nails more closely to see that on top of the red base she had painted little gold streamers. "It's the Gryffindor colors, see?"
Ron gave a false smile. "That's very...nice. But-"
Natalie cut him off. "But unfortunately we're not cheerleaders. We're Quidditch players."
Candi threw her a revolted look. "So why don't you get some new robes. After all, like you said, we're Quidditch players. Not paupers."
"All right enough off that. Everyone mount their brooms I want to see how the new team flies together," Harry said, breaking up the fight before it really started.
Everyone did as they were told. This was the part where Harry realized that the Weasley siblings were the only ones on the team with ordinary brooms, because Dean was right. Natalie did have a Firebolt. Barbie- I mean Malfoy didn't like this at all. Her eyes bugged out and her painted lips quivered.
"What are you riding there, honey?" she asked in false sweet voice.
"Oh this? This is only a Firebolt," she smirked. "But I bet you have something much better right?"
Malfoy's face tightened. "I don't know how you got you hands on one of those," she said looking disgusted.
Natalie got off her broom and sauntered over to where she was standing. "I saved my pennies since I was 12! I worked hard to get this broom. But you wouldn't know anything about that would you? I don't know why you're so mad about this, if you snap your fingers Daddy will come running with you brand new pink Firebolt won't he?"
Malfoy looked very taken aback. No one had ever spoken to her like this before. She walked over to Ron and held onto his hands.
"Oh Ronald, I don't think I can play if she's on the team," she said as she conjured up some fake tears.
"Why are you coming to me? Harry's the one who'll help you."
"Oh but Ron! He doesn't understand me like you do!"
"What? I don't understand you!"
Her eyes narrowed. This wasn't going to work, she thought. New plan.
"Look all I'm saying is that you guys need me. I'm the best beater this team's ever had and it's either me or her because I refuse to play with that wench. Besides you don't even know if she can fly!"
Ron glanced over at Harry, horrified by what he was hearing. "Are you mental? Maybe just bi-polar? One minute you're crying and whining and the next you telling us off like you're the hottest thing goin!"
"I'm not?" she asked looking hurt and offended.
Ron wrinkled up his nose, absolutely revolted by this girl's constant mood swings. "This woman," he muttered to Ginny, "is insane. Can we just play Quidditch?"
Harry shrugged. "Back on your brooms I guess."
The team mounted their brooms once more.
"Wait!" Malfoy wailed. "How can I play knowing I'm not playing the best I could be?"
"By knowing that the best you could be isn't very much?" Natalie suggested.
Malfoy ignored the comment. "The answer is, I can't play. Not with an outdated broom. I need-"
Harry cut her off. "Its getting dark, Malfoy, and it really doesn't matter," he groaned, regretting putting her on the team.
"Oh no don't worry Harry, her daddy will get right on that broom. It'll be here in the next 4-5 days. In the mean time we can drop the skank," Natalie said seriously, ignoring the dirty look she gave.
"We are not dropping anyone! Malfoy you get your sorry ass on that goddamn broom or we'll cut you from the team. Now let's play some goddamn Quidditch!" Tamara yelled, surprising everyone.
Barbie then did the unexpected. She hopped on her "outdated broom" and flew into the clouds before anyone else could lift a finger.
She smiled down at them laughing hysterically. "Yeah listen to the girl in the really ugly robes from last year's spring line! Lets play some Quidditch!"
Ron jaw dropped. "That girl is very bi-polar. I mean-" he cut himself off and shook his head.
"Maybe she was dropped on her head as a baby. A lot," Ginny said shrugging and pushing off into the air.
Fox released the Bludgers and Snitch, then threw the Quaffle to Ron.
Practice went on as Harry watched how smoothly each individual flyer flew. Particularly Natalie. She really had a knack. Her wind blown hair made her look really, really good. Like Fabio good. Why was he comparing her to the 1990's female obsession male model? Did that last thought even make any sense? No. Neither did his crush on her, and yet...
He snapped out of it, just in time too. He looked down to see that his players had stopped playing in order to watch Natalie and Candi duke it out with Bludgers going so fast they were blurred.
Apparently Candi maliciously aimed a Bludger at Natalie in an attempt to knock her off her broom, but she had knocked it back at four times the speed, and now they were hurling Bludgers at each other as if it were a life and death situation-- which it almost was.
Harry's eyes bugged out. He flew over to Ginny so quickly that when he stopped he almost flipped off the front.
"What in bloody hell is going on here?"
"They're fighting," she said, not looking away from the scene.
"Thank you, Ginny, for stating the blindingly obvious," he said giving her a condescending look.
"They're good beaters," she said sounding impressed.
Harry almost died from the complete lack of care for human life in her voice. "Good beaters? Good beaters?! This isn't about their level of ruddy talent! They're going to kill each other if you don't do something!"
"Me? Why me?"
"Because, Ginny, you've got the Quaffle. Throw it in between them and throw the Bludgers off track."
"Are you mad?! It'll bounce off them and come hurtling back at me! You do it." She threw him the ball, and even before she saw him catch it was heading towards Natalie and Malfoy.
His plan worked and the Bludgers went spiraling off somewhere into the starry sky.
The girls were both holding their bats with white knuckles and panting like dogs. Natalie had removed her glasses and Malfoy had pinned her hair up in a messy bun.
The rest of the team flocked over to them like they were celebrities. Not to talk to them, but to hold them apart of course. They had both grabbed their wands and were ready to duel. It took the whole team to finally lower them to the ground and when they did it took the whole team to calm them down.
The girls were sitting on the two chairs Harry had conjured and looking menacingly at each other.
"Ok," Harry said trying to stay calm. "I do not know what you guys have against each other, and I do not care. It has to stop. You must at least meet each other half way. We cannot have another practice like that it was... well, it was horrendous. You are both fine players now act like it." He never once looked Natalie in the eye during this lecture. It felt too weird; it was like lecturing a teacher or something.
He and the angry, bedraggled girl then entered the locker room so they could start the vote for team captain.
Harry flopped down into a chair. He rubbed his brow as he prepared himself for the storm that was coming. Ron was not going to take the results lightly, he could feel it.
The scratching of the quills was driving him mad. He wanted to take each one and just tear them in half. Stop the vote. Not have a captain. But that was preposterous. You had to have a captain. Right?
It seemed to take forever to get all the votes in. When they finally were, he counted them slowly, as if he didn't already know what they would be. But of course, he was right. Ron had lost. It was three to one, Ginny's favor. He wondered who voted for him, but then realized what color the ink was. Pink. He could've sworn he'd seen the psycho Barbie doll wink at him when he looked up.
He cleared his throat nervously, not wanting to announce the winner. "Um..." He looked down at his watch. If he started running now, he could make it to Diagon Alley by next week. But painfully he continued. "The new er- Quidditch Captain is...uh, well actually what is a captain if not but a symbol of the team?" he asked, trying to bide his time.
"Oh get on with it," yelled Tamara.
"Right. Um, congratulations Ginny, you did it." He ruffled his hair uncomfortably before walking out. He couldn't even look at Ron.
A/N- You may have noticed there isn't much Draco in this fic. That's because he's my favorite character and I don't want to risk having him do something not in his personality. Did that make any sense to someone who isn't me?