Tryouts
Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine. However, the plot is original.
Ginny woke to find her dormitory empty. It was Saturday morning, and she had let herself sleep late to enjoy the dreams she had been having. She couldn't remember exactly what they were about, but she did recall a faceless boy in all of them. This same guy had appeared many times in her dreams. Although he was unrecognizable, she felt like she knew him. Ginny sighed as the figure in her mind drifted away. Telling herself that it was daft to love a dream man, Ginny rolled out of bed, pulled on some Muggle clothing, and went down to breakfast. She quickly found Bianca sitting at the end of the Gryffindor table, talking to Harry and Hermione.
"Quidditch tryouts today," Harry said enthusiastically, as Bianca and Hermione rolled their eyes.
Ginny nodded, pulling a tray of muffins towards herself. "I know, I'm trying out for Chaser, remember?"
"Oh yeah. We'll see how your brother, the Captain, takes to you being on the pitch," Harry said around his own mouthful of muffin. "Angelina and Alicia are coming back today to handle the Chaser tryouts," Harry added. "Fred and George are back to do Beaters, and Ron is just going to supervise it all. I'll be doing reserve Seeker."
"Where is Ron?" Bianca asked, noticing the redhead's absence.
"Already on the pitch," Hermione answered. "He says he's getting ready, so who knows what he's up to. I can't keep control of him," Hermione joked.
Harry snorted. "Are you kidding me? Now that you two are finally going out, you've got him whipped into shape."
Hermione blushed. "You think?" Harry grinned and nodded. "Shouldn't you two be going on to the pitch?"
Ginny stood. "She's right, Harry. Let's go. Bye, Hermione. Bye, Bianca."
The two girls waved, and Harry and Ginny leisurely made their way down to the field, chatting about who was trying out for the team. As they neared the field they saw a small group of students holding brooms and talking nervously. Standing off to the side was a small boy in patched robes. He didn't have a broom, but he was tossing and catching a Muggle tennis ball.
"Hey, Harry, who's that?" Ginny asked quietly, gesturing towards the dark haired boy.
"I don't know," Harry answered carelessly. "I think he's that transfer student from Durmstrang. Don't know how he managed to get into Gryffindor."
Ginny nodded, but didn't have time to say anything else as Ron was striding over, followed by Fred and George.
"Ginny?" the new Captain said. "What're you doing here?"
"I'm trying out for Chaser," Ginny said brightly. Ron seemed about to protest, but she just pushed past him to hug the twins. "Hey, Fred, George. How's the shop?"
"Just fine and dandy," Fred grinned.
"Absolutely blooming," George added.
"Come on," Ron said, starting to walk over towards the group of students. "All right! Everybody, get in a line facing me and we'll begin!"
The students quickly formed a line, and Ron handed the first person a piece of parchment and quill. "Everyone write your name and the position you want on this sheet. Hopefully you already know that we have five places open. Four Chasers: two regular and two reserve. Both Beaters, and one reserve Beater. We also want a reserve Seeker since Harry gets hurt so often." Ron grinned at his best friend.
Ginny, who had been at the end of the line, wrote her name down on the sheet before quickly scanning it for the boy's name. 'Alistair Tobias' was the only name she didn't recognize, so she figured that was him.
"Here, Ron," she murmured, handing her brother the parchment.
"Okay," he said loudly, "Chasers go over to Katie, Alicia, and Angelina. Beaters over here with Fred and George, and reserve Seekers over by Harry."
Ginny walked over to the three star Chasers of last year's team. They all smiled and waved, recognizing her as the replacement Seeker last year after Harry had been banned.
"Hi, Ginny," Angelina said. "Ready to fly?"
"Aren't I always?"
"All right, does everybody have a broom?" Alicia asked.
"No," the boy named Alistair said quietly, stepping forward.
Alicia nodded. "All right. You can use a school broom. Accio Cleansweep!" she called. A broom came flying over and she deftly caught it and handed it to Alistair.
"Thanks," he muttered.
Katie mounted her broom and called for everyone else to do the same. Soon, everyone was high above the field, warming up by throwing the Quaffle. Ginny easily caught the Quaffle and threw it towards a girl who was examining her fingernails. When the girl missed, the boy named Alistair zoomed after the Quaffle and managed to catch it before it hit the ground.
"Good catch," Angelina called as Alistair threw the red ball on to another boy. Ginny noticed that he blushed at the praise. Ginny examined Alistair with a critical eye, watching the Quaffle at the same time. Angelina was right. The boy was a natural, and looked to be in perfect form. Ginny just knew he'd make the team. Now if only she could be as lucky.
…………………………..
"You, you, you, and you," Katie said, pointing to Ginny, Alistair, a fourth-year girl named Renée, and a boy Ginny's age named John.
Ginny and the others took back to the air, leaving those who didn't make the team looking disappointed. Two of those flying now would become the new Chasers, and two would become reserve Chasers, a new idea Ron had had.
Alicia beckoned to the students on brooms. "Now we're going to try scoring some goals against Ron. We'll try it two at a time with one of us to make a set of three."
During the first mini game, Ginny and Renée played with Katie Bell. Ginny caught the Quaffle every time Katie passed it to her, and she managed to make six goals out of ten past Ron. Renée didn't do as well, and made only three goals. When the three girls landed, Ginny and Renée went to the stands to watch the two guys' final tryout.
John, Ginny's friend from Charms, made only five goals. Ginny was feeling confident about getting one of the spots, but her moment of triumph was interrupted by Alistair's tryout. He was an amazing flyer; he caught every one of Angelina's passes, and made all but one of his possible ten goals. He had an incredible way of making the Quaffle dart around Ron, who was quite a skilled Keeper. As Alistair made goal after goal, Ron's face lit up in reverence and excitement for his team.
When all the flyers returned to the ground, Ron motioned everyone to follow him to the locker rooms. There, he told the anxious players that he would consult his helpers and post the results in the common room within the next day.
………………………………
The next morning, Ginny woke up early to check the message board. She saw no one in the common room, and was amused that she was the first person up. To her disappointment, the only Quidditch notice on the board was the old one saying,
We're out of players! If you have flying skills, and would like to be a part of Hogwarts' greatest team, please sign up for tryouts.
Ginny laughed out loud at Ron's house pride. "Now that's a bit of a biased opinion," she chuckled to herself.
"I agree," came a voice from the tallest armchair.
Ginny quickly turned and saw the Durmstrang boy, Alistair, sitting with his arms folded across his chest.
"I thought I was the only one up," Ginny said, a little disheveled by this unexpected company. "And how did you even know what I was talking about?"
"Because, I did the same thing moments ago. I think I'll wait here until they post the results," Alistair said.
"Oh, come on, you know that you made the team," Ginny said, surprised by his modesty.
"Why do you say that?"
"You were better than anyone out there, including Angelina, Alicia, and Katie."
"You think?" Alistair asked, looking shocked by her compliments.
Ginny nodded her head vigorously. "Well, if you're staying here, I hope you don't mind my company. I actually need to stay and see the results."
Alistair shrugged silently. Ginny sat down in a chair across from his. After a few moments of silence, Alistair spoke. "I really want to be a part of the team. I don't know what I'll do if I don't have Quidditch."
"You're still not convinced?" Ginny was getting annoyed with how modest this guy was. "Of course you'll make the team! Did you see my brother's face after your tryout?"
Alistair shook his head. "Ron is your brother?"
Ginny gave him a funny look, and pointed to her fiery red hair.
"Yes, well, of course you'll make the team," Alistair said.
"What's that supposed to mean? Ron may be biased to Gryffindor, but he is fair. Besides, he doesn't even want me on his team." Ginny frowned. She hadn't thought of this before; Ron decided who made the team, and he didn't like sharing his pitch with her. She hoped her brother would be fair.
Once again, Alistair looked at her and shrugged. After a few more minutes of silence, Ginny tried to be friendly. After all, Alistair would be one of her flying partners if she made the team. "So, Alistair, uh, what are you interested in studying?"
Alistair gave her a funny look. Ginny noted that he did that a lot. "I'm studying mainly Herbology and Divination. I'm going to be a botanist."
"Why Divination?" Ginny asked. She had never heard of anyone wanting to seriously study this branch of magic.
"Divination is fascinating," Alistair said, again shrugging.
"Have you been to a Divination class here yet?"
"My first one is in three days."
"Well, wait and see what you think of the Divination professor."
"All right!" Alistair said, jumping out of his seat.
Ginny frowned, then realized the source of Alistair's enthusiasm as Ron walked into the room and over to the message board. He was grinning, apparently pleased with the choices, as he tacked up a bright red piece of paper.
Ginny felt a pang of nervousness as she followed Alistair to the board. Their eyes both flew over the paper, which read,
Attention everyone! After much thought, the positions for the Quidditch team have been successfully filled...
Reserve Seeker: Bridget Gagnon
Beaters: Sean Stone and Darryl Bridwell
Reserve Beater: Ralph Roberts
Chasers: Alistair Tobias and Ginny Weasley
Ginny squealed and jumped up and down when she saw her name. Alistair just grinned. After their moment of triumph, they went back to read the rest of the notice.
Reserve Chasers: Renée Lepic and John Boyd
ALL PLAYERS (INCLUDING RESERVES), MEET ON THE FIELD AT 4:30 THIS FRIDAY FOR OUR FIRST PRACTICE.
"Well, I'm going down to breakfast," Alistair said. "See you at practice, I suppose."
"Alright. Bye, Alistair."
"Bye, Ginny."
