Chapter 5- The Flying Serpents

The tryouts for Quidditch had actually begun in the beginning of October, but there was to be one last session for Chasers. This was posted on the notice board of the Slytherin common room, and Dawn had eagerly read it over and over again.

'I can't help it!' she cried on the day of the tryouts to Atara, who had scolded her for doing so. 'I'm just so excited! Finally, we can play Quidditch again! I mean, I want to join not just to show off my Firebolt, you know, but because I'm really good at it!'

'I know you're good at it!' replied Atara with a sigh. 'We are all good at Quidditch. Maria made sure that Viktor would teach us, remember?'

'Oh yeah, I did,' said Maria absentmindedly. 'The advantages of having a famous Seeker for a cousin...'

'Well, come on then!' yelled Dawn, stomping her foot in impatience. 'We're gonna be late! It's supposed to start at five!'

'Dawn, it's only quarter to four,' groaned Atara, as Dawn grabbed her and Maria's arm, and tugged them towards the stone wall leading out of the common room.

Dawn pushed against the stone with a tiny grunt, and a concealed door slid open. She grinned and pulled Atara and Maria through.

'Ouch, Dawn!' wailed Maria, as her shoulder hit against the stone wall. Dawn ignored her, however, and continued dragging them all the way until they finally reached the Quidditch pitch.

'My, my. How early can you three worms get?' sneered Montague, the captain of the Slytherin team, as they walked up to him.

'We're snakes, Mr. Monty,' drawled Maria. 'Not worms. Worms are people like you. Too slimy to actually be considered as the serpent species.'

Montague's mouth formed a thin line as Maria smirked at him.

'What's up with you?' she asked innocently. 'Surprised that a girl insulted you? Montague, the captain of the team, high-and-mighty, slick-talking worm, is actually stumped for words?'

'Maria, stop it,' demanded Atara softly. 'I already feel dizzy with your talking and with the pain on my arm that Dawn caused from pulling me so hard.'

Dawn giggled. 'Oops!'

Montague puffed up his chest arrogantly. 'You three are lucky you're good-looking,' he spat. 'Else I wouldn't have bothered looking at you, least of all get you into the team.'

'Oh, you're so sweet,' said Atara sarcastically, rubbing her temple.

'Shut up already!' cried Dawn, pouting. 'I want to try out for the team! Oh wait, where's my broomstick?' She smiled apologetically at Atara and Maria, who glared at her.

As Montague sniggered, Dawn rose her wand and pointed at the castle, bellowing, 'Accio Firebolts!'

She hummed softly to herself as a swishing sound came echoing through the air. She, Maria and Atara all raised their hands. Montague raised his eyebrows in curiosity, then yelped when he saw three glittering objects zooming towards him. He threw himself onto the ground, looking up just in time to see the three girls catch their Firebolts. He stood up slowly, gazing stupidly at the broomsticks. The many people who were watching in the stands and on the pitch all gave a loud moan of awe.

All three of the Firebolts were a shiny, ebony black. Dawn and Maria's Firebolts had silver lines etched into them, and at their tips was the glistening word 'Firebolt', with the last letter 't' ending in a design of some beautifully decorated animal. Atara's Firebolt had not silver lines, however, but gold. The word 'Firebolt' ended in an obvious carving of a golden serpent.

Atara scanned the crowd suspiciously, as though she was afraid that someone would curse her and steal her Firebolt. But Maria and Dawn glanced around happily, holding up their broomsticks with evident pride.

'Alright then,' said Montague, when he had regained his state of mind, 'let the tryouts begin.'

'Woo!' squealed Dawn excitedly. 'What do we do? What do we do? Show you some moves with the Quaffle? No problem, wizard!'

She grabbed the Quaffle from the chest near Montague's feet and, before anyone could protest, she hopped onto her Firebolt and sped into the air. Maria followed her, yelling and swaying her head in delight. With a sigh, Atara slowly got onto her broom, then shot off towards them.

All those watching from below could only see three blurry shadows zooming around the air like bullets. They could just make out a red ball being thrown from one shadow to another.

'Here you go, Maria!' yelled Dawn, as she hurled the Quaffle to Maria speeding opposite her. Maria shot off towards the three hoops in front of her, grinning widely at the Keeper, who had just taken off into the air to guard them.

'You're riding a Nimbus Two Thousand and One? How depressing! HERE GOES TEN POINTS TO ME!' screamed Maria, as she did a sort of twirl with the broomstick, and she made a swift movement with the arm carrying the Quaffle. Take this, Viktor Krum! Let's see who's the better one!

A sharp bell rang, indicating the goal she had just scored. The Keeper stared around him dumbly, completely unaware that the Quaffle had gone through the hoop. In fact, no one except Atara, Dawn and Maria herself had even noticed anything.

'YES!' cried Maria, and pumped a fist into the air. I'm gonna make Viktor jealous... she thought smugly. Dawn gave a loud cheer, and went zooming towards the hoops.

'My turn!' she yelled, and she shot through the tallest hoop, as many impressed Slytherins below roared. I'm going to be the best... she sang in her mind as she grabbed the falling Quaffle before it reached the ground. She began rapidly circling the Quidditch pitch. Soon she became no more than a hazy gray line as she continued to circle around. Suddenly, she stopped and instantly dove down. Just as she was but a few feet away from crashing into the ground she pulled up the Firebolt. Many gave out a loud sigh of relief.

'Show-off!' yelled a girl of Hufflepuff from the stands. Dawn's face remained set, though she changed her course and headed for the girl instead.

'Dawn, no!' yelled Atara, her eyes wide. Dawn stopped in mid-air, turning to look at Atara. Without a word Dawn sped off towards the three hoops, and lazily threw the Quaffle.

The Keeper gave out an angry cry as the ball just passed his fingers and went through the hoop behind him. The bell clanged again, and Dawn grinned.

'It's not my fault I'm so good,' she said, winking at him and shrugging.

He stared at her, looking quite miffed, and went to retrieve the Quaffle. He flung it into the air with a loud grunt.

This time Atara caught it. She flew to a higher position then stopped.

'Better do something impressive, Tar,' yelled Maria. 'Your boyfriend's watching you!' She pointed down at Malfoy, far below and staring up at the three of them with an interested smile on his face.

Atara glared at Maria. Honestly, that girl... she wants impressive, does she?

'Please wait a moment,' she said, then she suddenly burst upwards, and she disappeared from sight.

At first there was silence among the stands, but then a murmur arose. Several people began turning their heads to see where she had gone off. Amidst their chatter came a loud clanging, which could only mean one thing: a goal had been scored.

Atara was nowhere to be seen, but there was the Quaffle, lying in the furious Keeper's hands. Everyone burst into wild applause and at the same time searched the air for Atara.

'Her famous disappearing act!' cried Dawn, breaking into a fit of giggles.

Draco Malfoy glanced at Montague, who gaped at him with evident shock.

'That girl's amazing!' he declared. Draco rolled his eyes. 'They're all amazing! With them on our team, it'll be a piece of cake to kick those Gryffindor asses! Those girls are absolutely amazing...'

'Shouldn't you have known by now?' Draco scoffed. That really was amazing. How could she have disappeared like that?

'So, did we pass?' asked someone behind him. Draco whirled around, and to his surprise found Lilith there, holding her Firebolt and gazing at him mildly.

'Where did you come from?' demanded Draco, staring into her sparkling blue eyes.

'Secret,' she said simply. 'So, are we in or not, Montague?'

Draco grinned, quite impressed. 'There's no question about it, right, Montague?' He leant closer to Lilith, who ignored this gesture. She kept her gaze firmly on Montague.

Montague stared at her, his mouth hanging wide open. He jumped violently when Adelheid and Tempestt appeared at his side, both still on their Firebolts.

'Why is your mouth hanging open like a goldfish? Are we in? Are we in?' asked Adelheid eagerly, bouncing slightly on her broom.

'Yes, Mr. Montague, did we make it on the team? Come now, tell us!' prodded Tempestt impatiently.

'We don't have all day,' added Lilith quietly.

'Tell them, Montague,' said Draco.

'Come on, tell us!'

'What is it?'

'Don't tell me what we did was in vain...'

'Yes, YES, you three made it as Chasers!' yelled Montague, stomping his foot in agitation.

Draco grinned broadly, watching Lilith's mouth form a small smile. Meanwhile, Tempestt and Adelheid were whooping triumphantly, giving each other high-fives in delight. Montague gave out a large sigh of relief. Then suddenly, angry footsteps approached quickly, and Pansy came into sight.

'Oh great...' Draco muttered. Here she is again. Won't she ever leave me alone?

'She's still in the school?' Draco heard Lilith mumble to herself. He sniggered quietly.

Pansy gave out an ear-piercing scream. 'YOU!' she yelled, pointing a finger at Montague, who raised his hands in mock surrender.

'How could you make these three Chasers, you bastard!' she bellowed, her face twisted in rage. Draco impulsively stepped back, seeing Lilith do the same. Adelheid and Tempestt backed away on their broomsticks.

'What do you mean, Parkinson?' asked Montague calmly.

'You know what I'm talking about!' screamed Pansy. 'Damn you, Montague, what the hell is up with you, did you choose them just for their looks or WHAT? They're the first ones to try out among many others, and you bastard already choose them as your Chasers?'

'Well, we are prettier than you are,' cut in Adelheid in a small voice. Pansy glared at her dangerously. 'And also, we saw you practicing for the tryouts, and you didn't look quite good.'

'Yeah,' agreed Temepstt, nodding her head. 'I mean, no offense or anything, but you look like some sort of mutilated pug on a hovering twig.'

Draco stared at the Tempestt in disbelief. No one had ever insulted Pansy this much and he knew her reaction to an insult. Greatly amused, he folded his arms and watched Pansy literally shake with anger.

'YOU BIT-' she began, but she was cut off as Lilith suddenly jumped into her way. 'What the hell do you want, Miss Perfect?'

'Please don't fight,' said Lilith, her soft voice rising slightly. 'It's bad enough that we're in public.'

Draco raised his eyebrows in surprise. So she's softhearted, is she? She finally reveals something of herself...

'Don't fight?' repeated Pansy, her eyes so wide that they seemed in danger of coming out of their sockets. 'You don't want to fight? We'll see, Atara Lilith. I still have a score to settle with you. I'll make sure you'll PAY for everything you've done and for everything you are!'

She screamed again, and turned on her heels, stomping off to the castle. The five of them remained silent for some time. In fact, Draco noticed, everyone watching from the stands was quiet. They had obviously heard everything that had been said.

'You know,' Draco finally said, 'we'd be better off if we had you three on the team. I've never seen such talent before.'

Lilith turned to face him. She examined him for a moment, and untied her ponytail. Draco couldn't help but admire the way her hair fell about her shoulders. What's happening to me? he wondered wildly.

'See you later,' she said quietly, and she began walking off. Adelheid flew to her side and followed her.

'Thanks for the fun, guys,' cried Tempestt, before she kicked off on her broom and headed towards the castle.

'What an amazing afternoon,' mumbled Montague.

'You said it,' replied Draco, watching Lilith walk away, her hair bouncing with the vermilion light of the setting sun.