Chapter 10
"Hi there Venus, don't you look pretty!" Flint gushed to Venus who stood stadium seats
"Oh get lost Flint!" Venus sneered as she settled down next to Nancy.
Flint narrowed his eyes and walked off
"Isn't she a little young for him?" asked Lily finding the best school broomstick she could.
"Nah, Flint just wants to make sure no one realises he is gay…and he knows that Venus is the best way to get to me. When I get a girlfriend, he'll try it out on her just to annoy me"
"Are you quite protective of Venus?"
"Yeah…if anything happened to Dad, I'd be the man of the house. I may be a few minutes younger than Venus…but it's my duty to look after her" he said haughtily. Lily laughed
"Not sure how Venus will take to that" Lily finished looking over at her friend who was gossiping to Nancy.
--
"Okay Lily, it's your turn" said one of the team members, a girl, with dirty-blonde hair and warm brown eyes. "What position do you want to try for?"
"Oh, uh any" said Lily
"Okay, well, we'll try you out as chaser first!"
Lily nodded and flew up to where some other chasers were
She looked down at Octavias who gave her the thumbs up.
"OKAY TEAM!" yelled Flint, as he flew up so he was in the air with the contestants "well sort of" he mumbled "WE'RE GOING TO THROW THE QUAFFLE INTO YOUR GROUP! I WANT YOU TO PASS THE QUAFFLE BETWEEN YOURSELVES AND TRY TO GET THE QUAFFLE THROUGH THE HOOPS AS MANY TIMES AS YOU CAN! HAVE YOU GOT THAT? GOOD! NOW PLAY"
Lily darted in and out of the other contestants. Some were better than her; others could barely fly at all, so she was pretty average. She could hear people cheering from the stadium seats but she didn't look down. She caught the quaffle and threw it into the hoop. She scored.
"Yes!" she punched the air and then continued to fly
--
"Lily's not bad Val" whispered Louise Featherstone "But she's not brilliant…there were some far better than her" Louise glanced over at Lily who was hugging her friends and smiling cheerfully.
"I don't care, how would it look if we didn't let Harry Potter's daughter on the team?" I mean my Dad hated him but he admitted that Potter had talent, and so did Ginny Weasley"
"Look, Val, do you want this team to win?" she argued
"Who is captain?" he ordered
"You are but-"
"If you contradict me again Louise, I'll throw you off this team…you got that?"
"Yes" she mumbled
"Now go over there and write down her name. She can be the new chaser"
Louise nodded sadly.
--
"Malfoy" said Louise "What position do you want to try for?"
"Seeker" he said brightly, "All Malfoys are seekers" he added to Lily
"Alright, well, Flint will be testing you"
"Flint is…WHAT? ARE YOU MAD WOMAN? HE HATES MY GUTS!" Octavias yelled. Louise looked slightly taken aback.
"Oh, well, I'm sure he doesn't…he does only want the best for his team…so do your best" she said unsurely
He looked up to where Flint was smirking at him from above and scowled.
"Good luck" Lily, Nancy and Venus said to him as he climbed onto his broomstick and kicked off the ground.
Lily could tell already that Octavias was a very skilled flier; he flew very gracefully, which was extremely difficult on a school broom.
Lily watched as Louise stood beneath the two boys and released the snitch. It flew around each boy for a few seconds and then disappeared off into the stadium's abyss.
So, Octavias had to chase after the snitch against Flint. Flint who was older, taller and probably a more experienced flier.
Louise blew her whistle.
The two boys shot off.
"GO OCTAVIAS!" yelled Lily
"WWOOOO!" cheered Nancy
"C'MON SQUID MOVE YOUR BLOOMING ARSE!" yelled Venus.
Octavias looped the loop on his broomstick, did a stunning wronski feint to throw Flint off. Octavias flew as well as her father, Harry Potter, did Lily thought, she supposed his small slight body was perfect for a seeker.
Suddenly Octavias made a loud whoop and held in his hand the tiny golden snitch.
--
"He's a fantastic flier Val…you have to let him in" Louise begged
"Let him in? he's a Malfoy! I hate the boy!"
"Val, you can't deny him this, he's a damn good player, and c'mon he's just sooo cute"
"Louise, remember what I told you!" Flint warned "I'm not letting that prat on the team"
"Valentino Flint is that language necessary?" came a soft American voice. Flint and Louise turned around to see the pretty blonde professor in blue grey robes standing behind them
"Oh, Professor Sorax"
"I know that the Quidditch tryouts are down for you to decide Valentino, but I couldn't help overhearing. As far as I saw Mr Malfoy played exceptionally well…far better than the others…no?"
"I guess, Professor" said Flint "But I'm not sure he will be a stable flier, you see I've known Octavias for a while…he doesn't always play like that" he smirked
"Well, he seems stable enough. My advice is to see how he plays in a real game, otherwise you can hold another trial" Sorax walked off smiling
Louise looked very pleased.
--
"Congratulations, you're on the team Lily Potter" said Flint smirking
"Well done" Louise smiled
Lily gasped and grinned widely
"Oh wow, thank you so much!" She couldn't believe she got in. Octavias grinned for her and then glanced expectantly at Louise and Flint. Flint walked right past Octavias as if he didn't exist. Louise stopped in front of Octavias
"Okay, Malfoy, you got in." The quartet cheered, Louise hushed them "But a warning, Val isn't happy about you being on the team, so you have to keep up with this standard or he will get rid of you"
"Thanks" Octavias nodded at her. Louise ran off after Flint.
--
"How come that Louise girl tagged around with Flint?" asked Nancy, "Even after the try outs she was tagging along next to him"
"Flint, can't get girls" said Venus "Louise Featherstone loves Quidditch and she's very good. But Flint said that she could only be on the team if she went out with him. He's horrid"
"Of course, having Louise to snog in corridors makes the rumours of him being gay go down" said Octavias
"Poor thing" said Nancy "She seems so nice as well"
--
"YOU DID IT!" Amelie cheered hugging Lily as soon as she got into the great hall "Mummy, Daddy and Jacques are soooo proud of you"
"Thanks Amy"
"Hey Lil'" Lily turned around to face a pretty girl with curly red hair
"Jess" Lily smiled "It's been ages" she laughed
Jessica gave a quick half smile. Amelie looked down at the two girls and walked off quietly
"You know my Dad was furious about the whole Slytherin thing" Jessica explained
"Really? Mine wasn't so worried. He was upset but he said that these things happened and that people weren't always in the houses you expect"
"Actually my Dad was more angry about you being friends with the Malfoys"
Lily's heart dropped
"Jess' you told my Uncle about Venus and Octavias? He'll tell my Mum and Dad!" Lily yelled
"Oh I thought you would have told them" Jess said cocking her head to one side and pouting
"Oh yeah Jess, what would I say 'Dear Mum and Dad, Today I got sorted into Slytherin and my new best friends are the children of Malfoy, hey, wasn't he your enemy in school, Lots of love Lily!' I mean honestly Jess, have you ever heard of tact?"
"Sorry, but-"
"I mean are you completely stupid Jess? You knew Dad would be angry about that"
"Don't call me stupid"
"Well stop acting stupid!" Lily snapped
"No wonder you're in Slytherin, that's what you are Lily Potter a spiteful, filthy, Slytherin"
"Who's a spiteful, filthy, Slytherin?" Octavias joined the group innocently, with a confused but happy smile
"OH PISS OFF MALFOY!" growled Jessica. Octavias looked at her and burst out laughing. She blushed red and stalked off.
"Oh my goodness" Lily said, her eyes glistened with tears
"What…Oh Merlin, you're not crying are you?" said Octavias
"N-no" Lily said as her cheeks became dampened with guilty tear drops
"What happened?"
"She told…she told her Dad that I was friends with you and Venus" Lily cried "And he'll tell my Dad"
Octavias put an arm around her shoulders
"What's the worst your Dad can do huh? Its not like he would drag you out of Hogwarts is it?"
"N-no, I guess not"
"So its fine, I won't tell my Dad so they won't have something else to rival about. It's not like my Father will actually even ask for your surname. He's way too busy with work. Hey, its not like we're getting married or anything. We're just friends"