Chapter 12: The Try-Outs
Harry ran over to Naomi's still form and gently picked her up. She didn't move. He laid her head in his lap and watched her face anxiously. She still did not get up. Harry didn't know what to do. He finally fetched his wand from the top of the staircase and came back down. He pointed it at her and muttered, "Mobilicorpus."
She floated in front of him all the way up to the portrait. Harry quickly gave the password to the Fat Lady, ignoring her cry of, "what happened?" and carefully took the spell off Naomi. She gently dropped to the floor and lay there. Harry climbed into the portrait hole, stuck his head into the common room, and whispered, "Hermione, you there?"
Hermione jumped up from the chair she had been sitting in and rushed over to him. "Harry! What happened? Where is she? Are you hurt?"
"I'll tell you when I get inside. Now help me out, here."
Hermione climbed out of the common room and helped Harry get an unconscious Naomi through the portrait hole. Harry laid her on the couch and sat on the floor next to her, along with Hermione.
"What happened?" she said anxiously. Harry described everything that had happened in the entrance hall, and Hermione looked absolutely outraged by the time he was through. "Why, that slimy, good-for-nothing, self-centered, sneaky, cowardly scumbag!" she said furiously. "Harry, report it to Dumbledore! And why didn't you take her to the hospital wing?"
"I will report it to Dumbledore, you mark my words." said Harry darkly. "And I didn't take her to the hospital wing because it's the middle of the night, and I wouldn't be able to give a believable reason why Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Naomi were there, and why I showed up when I did."
"Why did you show up when you did?"
Harry explained nervously about the dreams he had been having. Hermione seemed particularly interested in the fact that it had really been Harry who attacked Naomi in his dream. "But you didn't hurt her at all!" she whispered.
"Well, it didn't happen exactly the same as the dream, anyway. Maybe it was just-"
"Maybe," Hermione cut him off, "Maybe the dream was combining a whole lot of different things. Not just tonight...if you have it again, tell me, won't you?"
"Yeah, of course I will."
Naomi stirred and opened her eyes a little bit. Harry immediately pushed the hair out of her face and said quietly, "You okay?"
She moaned. "No." Harry noticed her nose was still bleeding. Hermione bit her lip, thinking hard.
"Harry," she said suddenly, "did you buy any Nosebleed Nougat from Fred and George's shop? The antidote end of it should help."
Harry nodded and, feeling very grateful that he had bought the Nosebleed Nougat from the shop, sprinted up to the dorm. He quietly found some of it and slipped back downstairs. He didn't want to wake everyone else up.
He found Hermione asking Naomi what had happened, exactly, so he didn't say anything as he handed Hermione the Nougat.
"You know that note I got at dinner?" Naomi was saying dully. "Well, it said 'meet me in the entrance hall at 10:00' and it didn't have a signature. I went, but I took my wand and I was going to attack if it was a setup. 'Course, I wasn't expecting Malfoy along with Crabbe and Goyle, so they got my wand. Malfoy asked me-you won't believe this-he asked me first to go to the Christmas ball with him. Then he asked if I would help him and his father get close enough to hurt Harry. I couldn't believe he'd even ask, so I just turned him down, even though Crabbe and Goyle were there as his 'threat'. I didn't expect him to use them to attack at all, I thought they were just there to make sure..." she trailed off and closed her eyes again.
Hermione gave her the reviving end of the Nosebleed Nougat, and the blood stopped coming from her nose. She seemed completely drained of energy, and just laid on the couch. Hermione went upstairs to sleep, as Naomi had told her and Harry to get some rest. Harry refused, however. He didn't think Naomi should be left alone in her condition.
Harry had fallen asleep on the hearthrug after a few hours. He woke up as a beam of moonlight fell across his face. He looked over to Naomi and saw that she was awake-and looked like she had more energy than before.
"Hey," he whispered, moving over to her.
"Hey," she whispered back.
"You feeling better?"
"Yeah, lots better. I'm going to see if I can walk around."
"Are you sure? Here, I'll help you."
She slid off the couch and stood unsteadily, hanging on to Harry. She slowly took a step, and Harry let go of her. He was still ready to catch her if she fell. She did fall, and he quickly grabbed her. She gasped. "No, I can't do it..."
Harry helped her sit down on the floor with him, and for a while they just sat there. Harry was sitting cross-legged, with Naomi resting her head on his chest, her eyes closed. He held her close, thinking that no matter how he denied it, she was beautiful. As he looked down at her still, sleeping face, he felt a surge of rage toward Malfoy. How could he do something this extreme? He had always been unpleasant, but Harry hadn't ever thought of him being capable of much more than that. It was a rather frightening thought.
×××××××
It was the crack of dawn when Naomi woke up. Harry was leaning against the hearth now, Naomi still sleeping on his chest. She sat up at looked over at him, sitting on her knees.
"Thank you so much for saving me," she whispered, after a short silence.
"Are you kidding? We're friends now. Friends look out for each other."
Naomi smiled, tears in her eyes. She bit her lip hard, then said, "I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For being stupid. I should have told you about that note."
"We all make mistakes."
She smiled and bit her lip again, tears now streaming down her face. "Oh, Harry," she whispered. "You don't know how much it means to me that you make me feel like I belong here."
"Of course you belong here! You and Hermione are at the top of every class! Hey, you even beat me in a duel!"
She laughed for the first time since Fleur's lesson the previous day. Harry loved her laugh. It made him think of bells chiming. "Hey," he said slowly. "Did you ever ask McGonagall about the Hogsmeade trip?"
"No, I forgot...I'll do it this weekend. Let's see if I can walk now..."
Harry helped her up and, after a few tries, she was walking slowly around the common room. She grinned at him and said, "Looks like I'll be able to try out for Quidditch after all!"
They both laughed. Harry started when a voice behind him said, "What's so funny?"
Ron had come downstairs. Harry remembered that he had no idea about what had happened last night.
He was saved answering by Hermione's arrival. "Naomi!" she cried. "You're better! That's great!"
"Whadda mean, better? What happened?" said Ron. Harry almost laughed out loud at how Ron had no idea what was going on, or what happened.
"You tell him, Hermione," said Harry.
By the time they had reached the Great Hall, Ron had been filled in on everything. Hermione had had to explain it in whispered segments, for she didn't want anyone else to hear. He kept throwing dirty looks at the Slytherin table, where Malfoy was laughing heartily with the rest.
An owl arrived for Naomi again, but this time it was with the morning post. It was a large, gray-and-white owl. He had never seen one like it before. After she took off the letter, the owl flew off again. Naomi was looking very excited about something. "It's from home. I've only ever seen those owls back at home."
She opened the letter and read it. She looked highly excited by the time she finished, but she didn't tell the rest of them what it was about. She laid down the letter, and Harry grabbed it to read. The only problem was, he couldn't possibly read it. It was in some language that he had never seen before.
"What's this all about?" Harry asked, indicating the letter.
"Nothing."
"It's something, I know it is."
"I don't have to tell you if I don't want to," Naomi said in an amused tone.
"Fine then, be that way." Harry gave her back the letter and finished eating.
They all headed to the dungeons, and as they descended deeper and deeper they all felt more and more gloomy. They reached Snape's classroom and joined the rest of the Slytherins and Gryffindors outside. Ron muttered in a very bad mood, "Are there any classes we don't have with them?"
Snape beckoned them inside the room, and they filed in. He immediately lectured them about how bad grades would earn the person a permanent expulsion from his class, and how important this level of Potions was. Then he set them off making a very complicated potion. Harry thought he did reasonably well, as Snape spent most of the time in his office rather than breathing down Harry's neck.
They, unfortunately, had to go back after lunch to finish their potions (which had been left to simmer while they ate).
When they finally got out of class, everyone was rejoicing the arrival of the weekend. Of course, they had a very large amount of homework, but Harry didn't care. It had been a hectic week, and he needed some time off. If anything could have made him even happier than he was at the idea of spending the next day doing nothing but Quidditch try-outs, it was what came next.
Just as they came out of the dungeon, Professor McGonagall approached them. "Potter!" she called. "I just need a word-you're not in trouble, for heaven's sake don't look at me like that!" She hurried up to him and said with a huge grin on her face, "Potter, you are the new Quidditch captain for the Gryffindor team!"
Harry stared dumbly at her for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Good one, Professor!"
"No, Potter, you are the new captain! So I suggest you start arranging try-outs for tomorrow!"
Harry gaped at her. "S-seriously?"
McGonagall sighed. "Yes, Potter, seriously."
Hermione and Naomi both squealed and began jumping up and down, crying "Yay! Harry's captain!" and so on. Ron looked very pleased, which Harry hadn't expected.
"Good job, mate," said Ron, clapping him on the back. "Glad it was you and not me. Can you imagine the chaos if I was in charge?" Harry laughed and headed to the Great Hall for dinner with Ron and a still squealing Naomi and Hermione.
By the time they sat down, Naomi and Hermione had stopped squealing and were now just jabbering on and on.
"Will you two shut up?" said Harry, unable to suppress a grin.
"No! If you're captain that means I'm on the team for sure!" said Naomi, nudging his side and winking at him.
"Whoa, now, not so fast...I've go to see if you're any good first...see if you make the cut..."
"Oh, I'm sure she will," said Hermione, trying hard not to laugh. Naomi collapsed into a fit of giggles with her face on the table and that set the two of them off again.
Harry looked helplessly at Ron, who rolled his eyes and began to eat.
×××××××
The next day was sunny and bright with a little bit of clouds in the sky. The conditions couldn't be more perfect for playing Quidditch. He made his way to the pitch, feeling happy and excited. He found Naomi, Ron, and Ginny already down there.
"Hey," he said. "What positions do you want to go for, Ginny? Naomi?"
"I'm going for Chaser," said Ginny
"Yeah, me, too. Seeking and Chasing are what I do best." Naomi said brightly.
Just then someone else came out of the dressing rooms. Harry's jaw dropped. Hermione.
"H-Hermione?" he stammered. "Are you trying out?"
Hermione blushed. "Well, Ron wanted me to, but really, I'm not that good..."
"We'll see," said Harry, looking around to see if anyone else was coming. Professor McGonagall was making her way down to the pitch along with a few other people he couldn't make out.
When they reached the field, Harry saw that it was Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, and-
His heart sank. It was Colin Creevey.
"Hiya, Harry! I'm going to try out for the team!" said Colin excitedly.
Harry rolled his eyes and turned to Professor McGonagall. "Is this everyone, Professor?"
"Yes, Potter."
"Okay! Everyone, listen up!" shouted Harry. They all went silent and turned to him. "I want current team members to help me out here, so Ron and Ginny-"
Ron and Ginny came forward and stood with him. "All right, the spots we have open are two beaters and two chasers. Does anyone know which spot they'd like to try for?"
"I'm going for Chaser," said Naomi.
"Dean and I are going for Beater," said Seamus.
"I think I'll go for Chaser, Harry!" said Colin excitedly.
"Chaser, I guess," said Hermione, blushing furiously.
"Okay, well, we're going to play a mini-game here, but since there's eight people, we'll have to have two teams of four...First, let's have Naomi and Hermione as Chasers for the red team, and Ginny and Colin, you be Chasers for the gold team. Ron and I will be the Keepers, Ron for gold, me for red. Dean, you'll be the Beater on the red team with me, and Seamus, you be Beater on gold team with Ron."
Everyone divided into their teams, and Harry fetched the Quaffle from the crate. He paused for a minute, then decided to use only one Bludger. He handed the Beaters their bats, then gave the Quaffle to Naomi to hold.
"Professor McGonagall, if you'd let the Bludger go when we get up there-"
"Of course, Potter," she said briskly.
"Okay, mount your brooms and get in position!"
He and Ron sped to opposite sides of the pitch, and Naomi, Hermione, Ginny, and Colin positioned themselves in the middle of it. The Beaters floated slightly above their teams. Professor McGonagall released the Bludger and threw the Quaffle into the air, and the game began. Harry watched closely from his end. Naomi passed the Quaffle to Hermione, who passed it back. They were doing pretty well. Naomi threw it towards the goal, but Ron blocked it and threw it out to Ginny. Ginny flew about halfway down the field, then passed it backwards to Colin, who almost dropped it. Colin flew down the field, but Naomi snatched it from his hands. She hurtled toward the goal and put one past Ron. He flew down and caught it, then chucked it back into the field. Ginny caught it and sped toward Harry. He easily blocked it and threw it back to Naomi.
The game went on for quite a while, until Harry finally called for them to stop. The score was Red-30 to Gold-10.
"Okay, that was great," Harry called. "Come on, back to the ground now!"
He waited for everyone to gather around him back on the ground, then said, "Okay, that's all I need for now. I'll probably post the team members on the board by tomorrow. See you around, then!"
He put away the equipment as the rest of them walked up to the castle. When he came out of the storage room he found Naomi waiting for him, though.
"Hey." she said.
"Hi. Why didn't you go up with the rest of them?"
"'Cause I'm waiting for you, you weirdo!"
Harry grinned and they started up to the castle together. When they were about halfway there, Harry decided to ask her.
"What was that letter about yesterday morning?"
"Oh...er-my brother and sister."
"Okay...um...why wasn't it in English?"
"Because we don't speak English where I come from."
"Really? Well, you're really good at it if you don't speak it at home."
She smiled at him. "You're such a suck-up, Harry Potter!" She hit his arm gently and started running up to the castle.
"Hey! Wait up!" He sprinted after her, and was surprised at how fast she ran. By the time he reached the front doors, she was leaning in the doorway looking very composed, while Harry was gasping for breath.
"Where've you been?" she said playfully.
Harry smiled and said, "Eating your dust. You're too fast!"
"Well, you might want to eat something better than dust. I'm hungry, let's eat lunch."
They sat with Ron and Hermione, talking enthusiastically about the try-outs.
"Hermione, you were really good! Don't tell him, but I'm going to have to cut Colin...he's just no good!"
"So, Potter, you're thinking that your team will earn you more glory this year? Well think again. My team is going to win that cup."
Harry turned and saw Draco Malfoy smirking at him.
"Y-your team?"
Harry ran over to Naomi's still form and gently picked her up. She didn't move. He laid her head in his lap and watched her face anxiously. She still did not get up. Harry didn't know what to do. He finally fetched his wand from the top of the staircase and came back down. He pointed it at her and muttered, "Mobilicorpus."
She floated in front of him all the way up to the portrait. Harry quickly gave the password to the Fat Lady, ignoring her cry of, "what happened?" and carefully took the spell off Naomi. She gently dropped to the floor and lay there. Harry climbed into the portrait hole, stuck his head into the common room, and whispered, "Hermione, you there?"
Hermione jumped up from the chair she had been sitting in and rushed over to him. "Harry! What happened? Where is she? Are you hurt?"
"I'll tell you when I get inside. Now help me out, here."
Hermione climbed out of the common room and helped Harry get an unconscious Naomi through the portrait hole. Harry laid her on the couch and sat on the floor next to her, along with Hermione.
"What happened?" she said anxiously. Harry described everything that had happened in the entrance hall, and Hermione looked absolutely outraged by the time he was through. "Why, that slimy, good-for-nothing, self-centered, sneaky, cowardly scumbag!" she said furiously. "Harry, report it to Dumbledore! And why didn't you take her to the hospital wing?"
"I will report it to Dumbledore, you mark my words." said Harry darkly. "And I didn't take her to the hospital wing because it's the middle of the night, and I wouldn't be able to give a believable reason why Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Naomi were there, and why I showed up when I did."
"Why did you show up when you did?"
Harry explained nervously about the dreams he had been having. Hermione seemed particularly interested in the fact that it had really been Harry who attacked Naomi in his dream. "But you didn't hurt her at all!" she whispered.
"Well, it didn't happen exactly the same as the dream, anyway. Maybe it was just-"
"Maybe," Hermione cut him off, "Maybe the dream was combining a whole lot of different things. Not just tonight...if you have it again, tell me, won't you?"
"Yeah, of course I will."
Naomi stirred and opened her eyes a little bit. Harry immediately pushed the hair out of her face and said quietly, "You okay?"
She moaned. "No." Harry noticed her nose was still bleeding. Hermione bit her lip, thinking hard.
"Harry," she said suddenly, "did you buy any Nosebleed Nougat from Fred and George's shop? The antidote end of it should help."
Harry nodded and, feeling very grateful that he had bought the Nosebleed Nougat from the shop, sprinted up to the dorm. He quietly found some of it and slipped back downstairs. He didn't want to wake everyone else up.
He found Hermione asking Naomi what had happened, exactly, so he didn't say anything as he handed Hermione the Nougat.
"You know that note I got at dinner?" Naomi was saying dully. "Well, it said 'meet me in the entrance hall at 10:00' and it didn't have a signature. I went, but I took my wand and I was going to attack if it was a setup. 'Course, I wasn't expecting Malfoy along with Crabbe and Goyle, so they got my wand. Malfoy asked me-you won't believe this-he asked me first to go to the Christmas ball with him. Then he asked if I would help him and his father get close enough to hurt Harry. I couldn't believe he'd even ask, so I just turned him down, even though Crabbe and Goyle were there as his 'threat'. I didn't expect him to use them to attack at all, I thought they were just there to make sure..." she trailed off and closed her eyes again.
Hermione gave her the reviving end of the Nosebleed Nougat, and the blood stopped coming from her nose. She seemed completely drained of energy, and just laid on the couch. Hermione went upstairs to sleep, as Naomi had told her and Harry to get some rest. Harry refused, however. He didn't think Naomi should be left alone in her condition.
Harry had fallen asleep on the hearthrug after a few hours. He woke up as a beam of moonlight fell across his face. He looked over to Naomi and saw that she was awake-and looked like she had more energy than before.
"Hey," he whispered, moving over to her.
"Hey," she whispered back.
"You feeling better?"
"Yeah, lots better. I'm going to see if I can walk around."
"Are you sure? Here, I'll help you."
She slid off the couch and stood unsteadily, hanging on to Harry. She slowly took a step, and Harry let go of her. He was still ready to catch her if she fell. She did fall, and he quickly grabbed her. She gasped. "No, I can't do it..."
Harry helped her sit down on the floor with him, and for a while they just sat there. Harry was sitting cross-legged, with Naomi resting her head on his chest, her eyes closed. He held her close, thinking that no matter how he denied it, she was beautiful. As he looked down at her still, sleeping face, he felt a surge of rage toward Malfoy. How could he do something this extreme? He had always been unpleasant, but Harry hadn't ever thought of him being capable of much more than that. It was a rather frightening thought.
×××××××
It was the crack of dawn when Naomi woke up. Harry was leaning against the hearth now, Naomi still sleeping on his chest. She sat up at looked over at him, sitting on her knees.
"Thank you so much for saving me," she whispered, after a short silence.
"Are you kidding? We're friends now. Friends look out for each other."
Naomi smiled, tears in her eyes. She bit her lip hard, then said, "I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For being stupid. I should have told you about that note."
"We all make mistakes."
She smiled and bit her lip again, tears now streaming down her face. "Oh, Harry," she whispered. "You don't know how much it means to me that you make me feel like I belong here."
"Of course you belong here! You and Hermione are at the top of every class! Hey, you even beat me in a duel!"
She laughed for the first time since Fleur's lesson the previous day. Harry loved her laugh. It made him think of bells chiming. "Hey," he said slowly. "Did you ever ask McGonagall about the Hogsmeade trip?"
"No, I forgot...I'll do it this weekend. Let's see if I can walk now..."
Harry helped her up and, after a few tries, she was walking slowly around the common room. She grinned at him and said, "Looks like I'll be able to try out for Quidditch after all!"
They both laughed. Harry started when a voice behind him said, "What's so funny?"
Ron had come downstairs. Harry remembered that he had no idea about what had happened last night.
He was saved answering by Hermione's arrival. "Naomi!" she cried. "You're better! That's great!"
"Whadda mean, better? What happened?" said Ron. Harry almost laughed out loud at how Ron had no idea what was going on, or what happened.
"You tell him, Hermione," said Harry.
By the time they had reached the Great Hall, Ron had been filled in on everything. Hermione had had to explain it in whispered segments, for she didn't want anyone else to hear. He kept throwing dirty looks at the Slytherin table, where Malfoy was laughing heartily with the rest.
An owl arrived for Naomi again, but this time it was with the morning post. It was a large, gray-and-white owl. He had never seen one like it before. After she took off the letter, the owl flew off again. Naomi was looking very excited about something. "It's from home. I've only ever seen those owls back at home."
She opened the letter and read it. She looked highly excited by the time she finished, but she didn't tell the rest of them what it was about. She laid down the letter, and Harry grabbed it to read. The only problem was, he couldn't possibly read it. It was in some language that he had never seen before.
"What's this all about?" Harry asked, indicating the letter.
"Nothing."
"It's something, I know it is."
"I don't have to tell you if I don't want to," Naomi said in an amused tone.
"Fine then, be that way." Harry gave her back the letter and finished eating.
They all headed to the dungeons, and as they descended deeper and deeper they all felt more and more gloomy. They reached Snape's classroom and joined the rest of the Slytherins and Gryffindors outside. Ron muttered in a very bad mood, "Are there any classes we don't have with them?"
Snape beckoned them inside the room, and they filed in. He immediately lectured them about how bad grades would earn the person a permanent expulsion from his class, and how important this level of Potions was. Then he set them off making a very complicated potion. Harry thought he did reasonably well, as Snape spent most of the time in his office rather than breathing down Harry's neck.
They, unfortunately, had to go back after lunch to finish their potions (which had been left to simmer while they ate).
When they finally got out of class, everyone was rejoicing the arrival of the weekend. Of course, they had a very large amount of homework, but Harry didn't care. It had been a hectic week, and he needed some time off. If anything could have made him even happier than he was at the idea of spending the next day doing nothing but Quidditch try-outs, it was what came next.
Just as they came out of the dungeon, Professor McGonagall approached them. "Potter!" she called. "I just need a word-you're not in trouble, for heaven's sake don't look at me like that!" She hurried up to him and said with a huge grin on her face, "Potter, you are the new Quidditch captain for the Gryffindor team!"
Harry stared dumbly at her for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Good one, Professor!"
"No, Potter, you are the new captain! So I suggest you start arranging try-outs for tomorrow!"
Harry gaped at her. "S-seriously?"
McGonagall sighed. "Yes, Potter, seriously."
Hermione and Naomi both squealed and began jumping up and down, crying "Yay! Harry's captain!" and so on. Ron looked very pleased, which Harry hadn't expected.
"Good job, mate," said Ron, clapping him on the back. "Glad it was you and not me. Can you imagine the chaos if I was in charge?" Harry laughed and headed to the Great Hall for dinner with Ron and a still squealing Naomi and Hermione.
By the time they sat down, Naomi and Hermione had stopped squealing and were now just jabbering on and on.
"Will you two shut up?" said Harry, unable to suppress a grin.
"No! If you're captain that means I'm on the team for sure!" said Naomi, nudging his side and winking at him.
"Whoa, now, not so fast...I've go to see if you're any good first...see if you make the cut..."
"Oh, I'm sure she will," said Hermione, trying hard not to laugh. Naomi collapsed into a fit of giggles with her face on the table and that set the two of them off again.
Harry looked helplessly at Ron, who rolled his eyes and began to eat.
×××××××
The next day was sunny and bright with a little bit of clouds in the sky. The conditions couldn't be more perfect for playing Quidditch. He made his way to the pitch, feeling happy and excited. He found Naomi, Ron, and Ginny already down there.
"Hey," he said. "What positions do you want to go for, Ginny? Naomi?"
"I'm going for Chaser," said Ginny
"Yeah, me, too. Seeking and Chasing are what I do best." Naomi said brightly.
Just then someone else came out of the dressing rooms. Harry's jaw dropped. Hermione.
"H-Hermione?" he stammered. "Are you trying out?"
Hermione blushed. "Well, Ron wanted me to, but really, I'm not that good..."
"We'll see," said Harry, looking around to see if anyone else was coming. Professor McGonagall was making her way down to the pitch along with a few other people he couldn't make out.
When they reached the field, Harry saw that it was Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, and-
His heart sank. It was Colin Creevey.
"Hiya, Harry! I'm going to try out for the team!" said Colin excitedly.
Harry rolled his eyes and turned to Professor McGonagall. "Is this everyone, Professor?"
"Yes, Potter."
"Okay! Everyone, listen up!" shouted Harry. They all went silent and turned to him. "I want current team members to help me out here, so Ron and Ginny-"
Ron and Ginny came forward and stood with him. "All right, the spots we have open are two beaters and two chasers. Does anyone know which spot they'd like to try for?"
"I'm going for Chaser," said Naomi.
"Dean and I are going for Beater," said Seamus.
"I think I'll go for Chaser, Harry!" said Colin excitedly.
"Chaser, I guess," said Hermione, blushing furiously.
"Okay, well, we're going to play a mini-game here, but since there's eight people, we'll have to have two teams of four...First, let's have Naomi and Hermione as Chasers for the red team, and Ginny and Colin, you be Chasers for the gold team. Ron and I will be the Keepers, Ron for gold, me for red. Dean, you'll be the Beater on the red team with me, and Seamus, you be Beater on gold team with Ron."
Everyone divided into their teams, and Harry fetched the Quaffle from the crate. He paused for a minute, then decided to use only one Bludger. He handed the Beaters their bats, then gave the Quaffle to Naomi to hold.
"Professor McGonagall, if you'd let the Bludger go when we get up there-"
"Of course, Potter," she said briskly.
"Okay, mount your brooms and get in position!"
He and Ron sped to opposite sides of the pitch, and Naomi, Hermione, Ginny, and Colin positioned themselves in the middle of it. The Beaters floated slightly above their teams. Professor McGonagall released the Bludger and threw the Quaffle into the air, and the game began. Harry watched closely from his end. Naomi passed the Quaffle to Hermione, who passed it back. They were doing pretty well. Naomi threw it towards the goal, but Ron blocked it and threw it out to Ginny. Ginny flew about halfway down the field, then passed it backwards to Colin, who almost dropped it. Colin flew down the field, but Naomi snatched it from his hands. She hurtled toward the goal and put one past Ron. He flew down and caught it, then chucked it back into the field. Ginny caught it and sped toward Harry. He easily blocked it and threw it back to Naomi.
The game went on for quite a while, until Harry finally called for them to stop. The score was Red-30 to Gold-10.
"Okay, that was great," Harry called. "Come on, back to the ground now!"
He waited for everyone to gather around him back on the ground, then said, "Okay, that's all I need for now. I'll probably post the team members on the board by tomorrow. See you around, then!"
He put away the equipment as the rest of them walked up to the castle. When he came out of the storage room he found Naomi waiting for him, though.
"Hey." she said.
"Hi. Why didn't you go up with the rest of them?"
"'Cause I'm waiting for you, you weirdo!"
Harry grinned and they started up to the castle together. When they were about halfway there, Harry decided to ask her.
"What was that letter about yesterday morning?"
"Oh...er-my brother and sister."
"Okay...um...why wasn't it in English?"
"Because we don't speak English where I come from."
"Really? Well, you're really good at it if you don't speak it at home."
She smiled at him. "You're such a suck-up, Harry Potter!" She hit his arm gently and started running up to the castle.
"Hey! Wait up!" He sprinted after her, and was surprised at how fast she ran. By the time he reached the front doors, she was leaning in the doorway looking very composed, while Harry was gasping for breath.
"Where've you been?" she said playfully.
Harry smiled and said, "Eating your dust. You're too fast!"
"Well, you might want to eat something better than dust. I'm hungry, let's eat lunch."
They sat with Ron and Hermione, talking enthusiastically about the try-outs.
"Hermione, you were really good! Don't tell him, but I'm going to have to cut Colin...he's just no good!"
"So, Potter, you're thinking that your team will earn you more glory this year? Well think again. My team is going to win that cup."
Harry turned and saw Draco Malfoy smirking at him.
"Y-your team?"
