Chapter 3 – Quidditch Tryouts
Draco woke up in a very confused state of mind. He had only dreamt fragments of scenes and images of Harry, Crabbe and Goyle, Snape taking points from Gryffindor, Dumbledore asking him if he had anything to say to him, his father shouting, Ginny looking puzzled. He had a horrible headache and he felt all dizzy. His first reaction was to get up and reach for the glass of water on his night table. After drinking up even the last drop of water, he eventually got out of bed. He was completely numb after a week of actual torture and misery spent halfway between homework and inner-analysis.
"Damn me and all my stupid emotions! I'm supposed to act like a Slytherin, not like a Hufflepuff!" he spoke to himself in fake disgust. "At least it's Saturday…"
He gazed out on the window, spotting a bunch of red and gold silhouettes flying around on their broomsticks on the somewhat cold morning.
"The Gryffindor tryouts…"
After all the Quidditch events of the last year, Potter was the team Seeker again and, to nobody's surprise, its new captain. The Weasley-boy had remained the Keeper and was obviously improving, though Draco and his housemates hated to admit it. There were four empty positions in the Gryffindor Quidditch team at the moment: the two Beaters and two Chasers. It looked like Ginny Weasley would occupy one of the Chaser positions. Pushed by the curiosity of who would actually be the new players of the team, Draco quickly put on one of his emerald-green robes and literally ran out of the castle, up to the Quidditch pitch. He spotted a place beside an old oak tree, out of the players' view. Thus, he leant against the hard wood and continued to follow the movements of those who aspired to one of the positions. Draco watched as many boys and girls flew over and over on their broomsticks, trying to accomplish their assignments, but everything they did was futile. Out of all, Ginny was clearly the best, and the prettiest girl around, Draco couldn't stop noticing. Her fiery-red hair was fluttering in the wind as she successfully caught the Quaffle Katie Bell had tossed her way. Ten minutes later, the whistle blew, announcing a break and the re-receiving of Ginevra Weasley on the team, as a Chaser.
"Just as I thought…" Draco muttered.
To almost everyone's surprise, though, a voice other than the ones that had been shouting on the pitch until the present moment cried out loud:
"Am I late for the Chaser tryouts?"
Everybody, except a grinning redheaded girl, gasped, unable to believe their own eyes. There she was, standing in the middle of the Quidditch pitch with her hands slightly shaking of nervousness, Hermione Granger.
"B-but, 'Mione… You've always said that Quidditch was… a loss of time and energy…" Ron mumbled, startled.
"Well, I've decided that some fresh air and exercise will do me well this year." she replied, gazing somewhat defiantly at everybody. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail, she was wearing brand new Quidditch robes and she seemed decided to have a try… and win. Didn't she always win?
During the next half an hour, Draco was surprised enough to see that the once bushy-haired bookworm did a fairly good job as a Chaser. She had good reflexes, she was determined and promising. By the end of the tryouts, Hermione got the Chaser position and Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas had made it for Beaters. Eventually, the now sweaty Gryffindors went to have a shower after the surprising morning events, so Draco told himself it would be better if he went to do just the same.
Water was sliding down the young man's face. He wished that all those water drops were his tears, he wished he could let them go away, along with sweat, but he knew he couldn't. He felt numb right then, standing still under the jet of hot water. Draco was sick of all the thinking, of all the questions. He needed something that would lighten him up a bit… or someone… a girlfriend. Why not? After all, he was the most good-looking guy in his year and most of the girls were after him. He didn't feel much like having a crush on someone right now, though. Yet, out of lack of better things to do when taking a shower (provided that he thought singing was ridiculous), he started analyzing the faults and qualities of the girls he knew more or less. "Number one on the list: Pansy Parkinson. Number one on the list? Where did that come from?" Draco thought, cutting Pansy out of his imaginary list. "Number two…" he thought deeply, as he could find no Slytherin girl to fit his… tastes. "Cho Chang?" Draco started to consider the girls from the other houses. "Nah… She used to be with Potter. Don't want no leftovers from that Potty… Let's see now…". As he thought harder and harder, he tried to ignore Ginny's face, which kept popping into his mind. He had gone over the "she's-a-Weasley" thing; it helped nothing. No matter how hard he tried, though, Ginny's image would linger in his head. "O.K., O.K…." he ceased to his own insistences. "Gin is pretty, smart, outgoing, a great Chaser, and she went over Potter long time ago, which makes her even better. But… I can't… she can't…" Draco argued with himself, not sure whether to admit he really liked the redheaded girl or not.
"You did just great, Hermione!" Ginny congratulated her friend. "You're on the team now! A Chaser with full rights!"
Hermione blushed, her cheeks eventually becoming more red than Ginny's hair, if possible.
"Do you think Ron was… you know… impressed?" she whispered, even though there was no one to hear her.
"Impressed? Impressed! He was stupefied! You were GREAT! See? I told you our Quidditch practices would come in handy one day…" Gin grinned in a complice sort of way.
Hermione blushed again.
"So… did he ask you out yet?"
"Ask me out? No, he mentioned something about 'Hogsmeade' and 'pumpkin juice' in the Hogwarts Express, but nothing serious…"
"My brother can be so thick sometimes!"
"I wouldn't say 'thick'… More like… 'too shy'."
"Hermione, it's been four years and he still doesn't have enough courage to ask you on a date! He seems to fear you more than Voldemort!" Ginny seemed exasperated.
"Now, don't exaggerate!"
"And why don't YOU tell him you're crazy about him?"
"Are you INSANE?"
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Fine… just… fine." she said, aware that no means of persuasion could make Hermione decide to take any further step.
Harry's eyes were sparkling with amusement as he watched Ron walking from one side of the boys' dormitory to the other, gesturing and telling his friend the whole story about Hermione coming to the tryouts all over again, as if he hadn't been present to the whole event.
"… and she just walked out and…"
"Yes, Ron… I know…" Harry did his best not burst into laughter.
"Yes, but… a Chaser? Since when does she feel interested in Quidditch? I mean, she always used to say…"
"I know… Calm down…"
Ron gave his best friend a half-annoyed glare.
"HERMIONE GRANGER IS THE NEW GRYFFINDOR CHASER!" he yelled.
"I KNOW, I ACCEPTED HER ON THE TEAM!" Harry yelled in return. "Ron, I was VERY surprised, too, but you're overreacting… I don't get it! What's so bad in having Hermione on the team? She has just proven herself to be good at Quidditch, and you two will get to spend more time together."
"Ha, ha…" Ron said ironically.
It was no secret, neither to Harry, nor to anybody else in Gryffindor, that his two best friends were in love head over heels with each other. The only ones who seemed to ignore this were Ron and Hermione themselves. They were both too shy to confess their feelings to each other, although they perfectly knew what the other's feelings were. A total mystery to Harry.
While five Hogwarts students were analyzing their emotions, outside the castle and very far away, in a place which seemed more proper for dead and damned souls than for living people, the Dark Lord had reunited his minions to explain matters of war. The trio would have, without doubt, smiled wryly at seeing all the Death Eaters in line, like first-graders at a school event. Voldemort called out their names as a teacher would've called out the names of his students to make sure they were all present. By reaching the name of 'Malfoy' he stopped.
"Lucius Malfoy…" the Dark Lord hissed in a cold voice. "I have asked you, as well as my other faithful servants, to raise your child in fear and respect for me…"
"So I have done, my Lord…" a hooded figure in the front line bowed.
"It seems you weren't very good at doing this, though, since I sense a feeling of slight rebellion whenever I test your son…"
It was very well known by the Death Eaters that Voldemort would test their old enough children through dreams made to fit a certain situation.
"I expect you to make sure that your son will be ready to serve me whenever I ask him to do so, Lucius…"
"Yes, my Lord."
A/N: What do you think? Not my greatest yet, but… REVIEW!
