Disclaimer: I still don't own jack.
Kayla awoke the next morning to a very sore neck. As it would turn out, she had fallen asleep at her desk, the notebook serving as a pillow. The result was a series of marks along the side of her face, courtesy of the notebook's spiral binding. A streak of blue ink slashed across Kayla's cheek, completing the look.
Begrudgingly, Kayla headed down the stairs of the girl's dormitory to the Gryffindor common room, where she was met by a cheery red-headed sixth year with an abundance of freckles.
"So, you ready for today?" He asked, giving Kayla a wide grin.
Kayla stared at him blankly and raised one eyebrow, waiting for clarification as to what exactly it was that she should be ready for.
"Quidditch tryouts. Three o'clock at the pitch. You can't seriously tell me that you've forgotten?"
The light-bulb went on in Kayla's mind. She slapped herself in the forehead with the palm of her hand and responded:
"Right! Of course, how could I forget? It's only what I've been talking about constantly for the past three weeks."
Charlie grinned again.
"That's what I thought. Can't wait to deal with the little, untrained maggots, can you?"
"Nope. You know me, with the loving of the maggots and such. It must have just slipped my mind."
Charlie gave her a concerned look and observed her face closely.
"You haven't been sleeping, have you?"
Kayla avoided his gaze and looked away, watching two fourth year students fighting over who would get the last piece of gum.
"No, I'm fine." She met his skeptical look and protested, "Really. I am."
Charlie didn't push the topic further, but instead suggested that they head down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Kayla agreed and followed him out of the portrait hole.
On the way down to the Great Hall, they animatedly discussed the upcoming Quidditch season and their expectations for the new team.
"I don't know what we're going to do about a Keeper," Kayla commented as they walked through the large wooden doors and headed for the Gryffindor table, "Ever since Kevin left last year I've been freaking out. There's probably not anyone around who can pick up that kind of slack."
"Yeah, but look at it this way - you still have me. And that means the entire team's going to be okay, especially when I catch the Snitch before the other team even has the chance to score. Heck, we don't need a new Keeper. Just leave everything to me."
"Yeah, and let the entire team go down in flames? I think not. Let's just hope that one of the new kids can do something related to playing Quidditch."
Charlie sulked as they sat down, while Kayla piled her plate with both pancakes and waffles.
"Look on the bright side, though," she said while drizzling syrup on the entire thing, "We still have all our Chasers, which means you don't have to sit through endless speeches about how I now have to rebuild the entire line and teach some noob all the plays."
Charlie looked up, pouring himself a goblet of pumpkin juice simultaneously.
"Yeah, I suppose that's true. Now I'm only going to have to sit through endless speeches about how stupid it is that people graduate and how you now have to rebuild the majority of the team and teach the noobs all the plays."
Kayla stuck her tongue out in a mature fashion before laughing, punching Charlie in the shoulder slightly harder than he would have liked. She pulled a crumpled piece of paper out of the pocket of her robes and unfolded it, revealing its contents. On the sheet was a complete list of the people that would be attending tryouts that afternoon, with information from their name to what type of broom they rode. Kayla studied it for a moment, calculating how long the event would take. While she was in the middle of a particularly complex piece of multiplication, a third year student interrupted her.
"Excuse me," he said politely, "Is it too late to sign up for the Quidditch tryouts?"
Kayla ignored him for a moment, finally coming to a conclusion. After she had jubilantly scribbled the time on the sheet, she looked up, seeing a brown haired boy of medium build standing on the opposite side of the table from her.
"What?"
"Is it to late to sign up for the Quidditch tryouts?"
"Um..." Kayla exchanged a look with Charlie, who promptly jumped in.
"That depends. What position do you play?"
"Keeper."
Kayla and Charlie exchanged excited glances before Kayla responded,
"Nope. You're...Oliver, right?"
The boy nodded, looking considerably relieved.
"Okay then, Oliver, what's your last name?"
"Wood."
"And you're a Keeper, correct?"
"Yes."
"Third year?"
"Yup."
"And your favorite teacher is...?"
Charlie stared at her.
"What does that have to do with anything?"
Kayla shrugged.
"Nothing. I just like asking questions that make me feel superior. So," she turned back to Oliver, who was still standing there with a relieved look on his face, "I'll see you at three then, at the pitch."
Oliver nodded frantically and scurried off to meet his friends, smiling hugely. Kayla opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by the sound of the bell tolling, signaling students and teachers alike to the first class of the day. She and Charlie stood up, tiredly observing the uneaten food disappear and the dishes magically wash themselves.
"Well," Kayla stated as they made their way out the doors, "At least maybe we won't suck too badly."
A/N: Before you all try and eat my soul and whatnot, I would just like to point out that I KNOW that Charlie was stated in the books as being Quidditch Captain and I KNOW that it might have been stated exactly how many years before Ron and them came that Bill and Charlie left Hogwarts, and frankly, I don't care. This is my story, and if you have a problem with the way I'm working things, then don't read it. I won't miss you.
To the rest of you - thanks for reading and the next chapter will be up eventually.
7/6