Chapter 4

Andrea spent most of the day outside enjoying the last of the warm weather. She and a few other members of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team had flown around the pitch in the afternoon, talking about the upcoming season and showing off to one another. They had also planned a tryout schedule to replace the beater and chaser that had graduated. All in all, it had been a pretty good day. Now of course, she was in the library, squeezing in a bit of Arithmancy homework before she had to head to dinner and meet Kevin and Jackie. The library was pretty much empty except for a few younger Gryffindors crouched over pieces of parchment. Third year Transfiguration essay from the looks of it.

She was just beginning to pack up when Kevin walked in and came over to where she was sitting.

"Ready for dinner," he asked, bending down to pick Lia's back off the floor for her.

"You bet. After flying around the pitch all afternoon, I'm starving. What about you? That hit from the Quaffle looked like it stung a bit."

"Yeah, Erik always manages to hit me in the same spot on my knee. There's just a small bruise, nothing that'll get in the way of conditioning for the upcoming season though."

"Oh I'm so sorry that you actually have to work like the rest of us. You know, we could always skip the conditioning and just let the other team come flying in and score on your sorry little bum," Lia laughed. "You know this is only the first week of classes and already this bag is full of crap," she said, trying futilely to put her homework and book into her book bag.

"Let me help," Kevin said, holding it up while Lia dropped her book in. Before she did, a folded piece pf parchment caught her eye. It was slightly yellow but crisp and unwrinkled, larger than the scraps around it. Before putting her stuff in, she pulled out what could only be another note.

"What's that," Kevin asked as Andrea unfolded the piece of parchment.

"I'm not sure."

The first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: Decide what you want.

"Interesting," Kevin said after reading it. "Did you write this," he asked as they left the library and headed to the common room.

"No. And it's not the first one either. Yesterday I found a note like this in my bag. I've got it here," Lia said, retrieving the note from a side pocket of her book bag.

Kevin read it over. "I don't recognize either of these."

I know the first one," Lia told him. "Its from a play by William Shakespeare. Twelfth Night. Same scene I had to act out in a summer workshop with a friend of mine."

"That sounds fun. I think the Muggle Studies class did a Shakespeare play a few years ago. And mum has a few around the house, but I don't recall ever reading one." Kevin's mother was muggleborn so it was understandable that there would be a few relics of that world in his life.

"Well seeing as how you practically grew up on a broomstick I don't see how you would have the time to 'lower' yourself to reading muggle literature," Lia teased as they reached the portrait guarding their common room. Kevin's father, Oliver Wood had married a Ravenclaw witch in his year, and with their combined love for Quidditch, Kevin learned how to ride a broomstick before he could hold a wand. It was common knowledge that Kevin, Ravenclaw keeper since his third year, inherited his Quidditch skills from his father, former keeper of the Ballycastle Bats.

As they reached the common room, Jackie was waiting for them. "I thought you two got lost. Hurry up so we can head to dinner. I know you two should be starving after all that showing off today."

"Yes Ma'am," Lia saluted, smiling. Kevin laughed and headed up the separate staircase to his dormitory. As soon as he and Lia dropped their stuff off the three friends headed to dinner in the Great Hall.

Ginny was posting the tryout schedule on the Gryffindor Notice Board at the end of the first week of school. They had openings for a keeper, a seeker, and a chaser. The latter was a position Ginny was surprised to have empty again. Demelza Robins caught Harry's eye two year ago with her Bludger-dodging skills, but her parents pulled her out of Hogwarts when they moved last year. She wasn't the first, or the last to leave.

Filling those spots would be a challenge, but so far, it seemed like there was enough interest to fill the empty spots on the team. Those wishing to try out had a week to get ready, the tryouts were being held the following Saturday.

"Oi Gin, ready for dinner," Chloe called, coming down the steps from their dorm.

"Lets go," she replied.

"Is that the tryout notice," Chloe asked as they left the common room.

"Yup, I talked to McGonagall and reserved the pitch next Saturday so we can hold the tryouts without the other houses flying around at the same time. You sure you don't want to try out? I've got a broom catalogue I picked up in Diagon Alley you could look through. And its not like you parents would ask what the money was for."

"Ginny, I'm no good on a broom, remember last year when we had that fun little scrimmage at the end of the year? I couldn't toss the Quaffle for anything."

"You could dive like no one's business after it though. Just promise me you'll think about it?"

"Fine fine. Hey Colin." Conversation stayed on the upcoming tryouts when they reached their house table. It looked like there would be quite a turnout next Saturday.

The week has flown by and before she knew it, Ginny was leaving the library late Friday night after a little last minute research for her Transfiguration essay. Tomorrow the Gryffindor Quidditch team was holding its tryouts so she needed some sleep.

Her route back to Gryffindor tower took her to the front of the castle, where a young blonde man was stumbling though the doors. He's pissed, Ginny realized as Malfoy walked towards the dungeons, having to go right past her. He's completely gone, she thought. Malfoy didn't even seem to see her until he was right next to her. He stopped, turned his head, and made eye contact with the redhead for a second before his eyes clouded over and he collapsed. She may not have had the reflexes to be a seeker, but she was by no means slow. She half-caught half-fell with him to the floor. The fall seemed to jolt what part of his brain was still functioning and he looked up at Ginny, completely relaxed.

His grey eyes were captivating. It took Ginny a few moments to collect her senses and stand up, letting a very drunk Draco Malfoy lean on her as they moved towards the dungeons.

"Where exactly are we going," Ginny asked. He may have been leaning on her, but he was the one directing their path.

The blonde beside her made no coherent answer. They finally reached a part of the dungeons Ginny had never seen and Draco stopped before a mediaeval painting with a somber crusader as the main figure. He jumped up from the chair he was sitting in when he saw the two coming toward his painting. Malfoy spoke for the first time that evening, mumbling something Ginny didn't catch, but the knight obviously did because the painting swung open revealing a dark room no bigger than Hermione's Head Girl rooms had been.

"You'd best help him inside," the knight said to Ginny. She had to agree. There was no way that the man beside her could reach anything without assistance.

Candles came to life as they entered the room. His rooms were decorated dark colors. The bed was a shining mahogany sleigh bed with translucent silver hangings and a simple dark green coverlet and a few pillows. A fire was cackling merrily in the grate, as if someone had been expecting them.

Ginny automatically headed toward the bed where he sat himself down on the edge. "Thank you" he croaked softly.

Ginny whispered a simple spell to loosen the bindings of his boots. As soon has his feet here freed, he lay down and closed his yes. She had turned and was on her way to the portrait hole when he said one more thing, "Please, don't tell."

He looked much younger than his years, curled up on the bed, his grey eyes watching Ginny. "I won't," she answered.

The knight spoke again as his portrait closed quietly behind the redhead. "Best head back to your common room. Lady. Even for a seventh year this is far past curfew." He was right of course. If a prefect or the Head girl or Boy, or God forbid, Filch caught her down in the dungeons at this hour they would have her hide, and McGonagall would go after whatever was left. Stealing through the shadows, the youngest Weasley made it back to Gryffindor tower undetected.

She lay in her bed a few minutes later, but before her mind could completely process what had happened, she was fast asleep.

That night Lia had a strange dream. She was on the far edge of a lake, on a small hill looking at the castle in the distance, but it wasn't Hogwarts. It was late spring or early summer judging by the temperature and blue sky. She was waiting for something. Or someone. She noted the skirt she was wearing and how it pooled around her when she sat on the grassy knoll. She was getting impatient. Something was going on that she was going to miss if what she was waiting for didn't arrive soon. But she still had no idea what exactly she was waiting for. Yet, that didn't bother her. After a few more minutes, she heard footsteps in the grass and a voice, "Sorry I'm late…"

"Lia! Wake up! You're going to be late!"

"Wait what," Lia said groggily, barely able to make out the figure of her friend at the foot of her bed.

"Tryouts? You promised Libby and Kevin that you would meet them at the pitch in five minutes. Kevin is downstairs waiting for you, Libby took you brooms down to the pitch this morning."

"What time is it," Lia asked, trying to block out the offending light with her arm.

"Its almost eleven sleepy head."

"Okay okay I'm getting up. Tell Kevin I'll be down in five minutes." It was the third Friday in September and with their first match in less than a month, the Ravenclaw Quidditch team was having tryouts to fill the positions of the two beaters and chaser that had graduated the previous year.

"Hullo sleeping beauty," Kevin said as she came down from her dorm. "I grabbed you a muffin this morning since you were up so late last night and we knew you'd never get up in time."

"Thanks," Lia smiled, unusually cheery for having just woken up. "Ready?"

"See you two at dinner," Jackie called as they left.

"So what time is it really," Lia asked as they reached the main entrance.

"We've got ten minutes to get to the pitch."

Lia laughed. "Sorry I slept late. That essay took forever."

"I always thought you and Jackie were nuts for taking Arithmancy," Kevin replied.

"Yeah well… Thanks for the muffin by the way."

"No problem."

Once out in the main courtyard, Lia ran into the last person she really wanted to deal with ten minutes after waking up on a sunny Saturday morning.

"Think you'll actually pull together a team this year Malfoy? Pity you poor little birdies have such sad talent in your House." Marsden was sitting on a bench in the sun, alone.

"What do we have here? The infamous Daren Alexander Marsden without his Slytherin cohorts," Lia snapped. Thinking better, she took a deep breath before continuing "Look. If you treasure your face the way it looks right now, please don't piss me off. I woke up less than ten minutes ago and I really don't want to have to deal with you right now."

"Gods Wood, forget to give her –" She had warned him, she really had. Instead of reaching for her wand, which would have been easy thing to do, Lia pulled back her fist and hit Marsden square in the jaw before walking off. Kevin, stunned, followed a moment later, barely able to control his laughter.

"You know, you're lucky the courtyard was empty back there," he scolded Andrea.

"I warned him. And you can't say he didn't deserve it," Lia argued.

"Hey hey, I'm not arguing with you, I'm just saying that we need you this year, I don't want Libby to have a heart attack trying to replace you for a game because you got in trouble."

"Yeah I know. But it would kinda be fun to watch you guys scramble," Lia joked, grinning as they reached the Quidditch pitch.

Libby Anderson, Ravenclaw's team captain and one of its chasers was waiting for them. "Uh oh, Kevin, I'm not sure I like the look on Lia's face. What did you two do?"

"I didn't do anything" Kevin defended himself. "But you might want to keep an eye out for a fill-in chaser this season," he grinned looking at Lia.

"Oh boy," Libby replied, laughing as they walked onto the grassy field where many of their housemates were waiting to begin.