The next morning, Harry and Ron told me about Harry and Hagrid's trip to Gringott's and the small package they took from the exact vault that was robbed. "That's why Hagrid rushed us out when you mentioned it!" I exclaimed. "I wonder what they're hiding under the trapdoor..." I whispered to the boys.

"It's either really valuable or really dangerous," Ron said. "Or both," I added. Neither Neville nor Hermione showed any interest in the object at all, Neville only showed interest in never having to see the dog ever again in his life, and to Ron's delight, Hermione was now refusing to speak to the boys and only spoke to me when we were alone. All the boys and I have been thinking about were ways to get back to Malfoy, who seemed quite shocked when he saw us walking in the Great Hall wearing matching smirks. I even threw him a wink for an added bonus. What we didn't realize is that we wouldn't need to do anything because a way to get back at him ended up arriving in the mail a few days later.

I was talking to the twins one day, while Ron and Harry were jotting pranks down for Malfoy when everyone's attention was brought by two long parcels being flown in by multiple owls each. What was even more shocking, was when the owls dropped one package in front of Harry and the other in front of me. I gave him a confused glance before reading the letter while also smacking Georges's hand away from trying to rip open the wrapping. Luckily so, because the letter read,

"DO NOT OPEN THE PARCEL AT THE TABLE. It contains your new Nimbus 2000, but I don't want everyone knowing you've gotten a broomstick or they'll all want one. Oliver Wood will meet you and Harry tonight on the Quidditch field at seven o'clock for your first training session.

Professor M. McGonagall"

The twins gasped as they read my note and I saw Harry hand his to Ron to read. "A Nimbus 2000? I've never even touched one." He mumbled, but the three of us got up and hurried out of the hall and tried to head to the stairs when we were stopped by Draco and his goons. He stole the package from Harry and started to feel around it.

"That's a broomstick!" He shouted, throwing it back at Harry with a sneer on his face. "You'll be in for it this time, Potter, first years aren't allowed them." But before Harry could say anything, Ron saw this as the perfect opportunity in getting back at him. "They aren't just any old broomstick, they're both Nimbus 2000s. What did you say you had at home, Malfoy, a Comet 260?" He grinned at us, "Comets look flashy, but they're not in the same league as the Nimbus."

"What would you know about it, Weasley, you couldn't afford half the handle." He snapped back, "I supposed you and your family have to save up twig by twig." He then turned to me about to say something as I stepped up closer to him but Professor Flitwick suddenly appeared by Draco, who gave us an evil grin, causing me to roll my eyes at his behavior. "Not arguing, I hope, boys and miss." He squeaked.

"Potter and Sam've been sent broomsticks, Professor." Draco responded quickly, sending me a look, as if to say "sorry", but did it so fast I almost felt like I was seeing things.

"Yes, yes, that's right!" The professor beamed at us, "Professor McGonagall told me all about the special circumstances, you two. What model is it?" I smiled at the man, which only grew larger when I noticed Draco getting even angrier. "A Nimbus 2000, sir," Harry informed him, and I nodded when Flitwick looked at me and asked if mine was the same. "And it's really thanks to Malfoy here that we've got them," He added. I had to cough into my hand to keep me from giggling, but once we were up the stairs and away from the professor, we all burst out laughing.

"Well, it's true!" He defended as I gave him a high-five. "If he hadn't stolen Neville's rememball we wouldn't be on the team..." His voice faded out.

"So I suppose you think that's a reward for breaking the rules?" Hermione's angry high-pitched voice called out behind us. Ron groaned beside me and I gave him a look, telling him to behave.

"I thought you weren't speaking to us?" Harry asked. "Yeah don't stop now!" Ron spoke up and I rolled my eyes again. Boys... Hermione didn't respond and only marched away with her nose in the air. Okay... Maybe not just boys. I added to my thought, rolling my eyes yet again.

That night, we went through dinner as fast as we could so we could hurry up to the Boys' dorm and unwrap our brooms. I walked into the room slowly, taking it all in. You could easily tell whose corner belonged to who. Ron's was an absolute mess, Neville had photos of his family and his rememball on his nightstand, Dean and Seamus had posters of the sports they were into, and Harry's area was quite bland. I was surprised there were five beds in the room instead of four like ours, but it was probably due to how few female first-years there seemed to be in Gryffindor.

"Wow," Ron and I sighed dreamily at the broomsticks, while Harry was in silent awe. The handles were sleek and shiny mahogany, the tails were long and the twigs were straight, and at the end in gold, was written "Nimbus Two Thousand". I don't think I've ever owned something that looked so nice. Ron turned to me and pleased, "You have got to let me ride that sometime!" I just nodded before grabbing the broom and telling the boys I'd meet them in the common room after I changed out of my uniform. I grabbed a pair of black leggings, a baggy Puddlemore United shirt I had stolen from one of the boys, a pair of sneakers, and left, telling Hermione where I was going so she wouldn't be too worried. That was the thing about Hermione. She may be pissed at me and didn't even seem to like Ron much, but she still cared, even if she wasn't great at expressing it.

Harry and I arrived at the Quidditch field five minutes before 7. We decided we were too impatient to begin flying and jumped on our respective brooms. Harry was looking at the stadium, amazed at how high the seats were raised, which reminded me that Harry has never even seen a Quidditch map. Shit. He probably didn't even know a thing about it besides that we rode on brooms. "Hey Harry, how much-" But I was cut off by Wood yelling up at us in his Scottish accent. "Hey, guys! Come down!" We listened and flew down, noticing Oliver had arrived and brought along a large and worn wooden box.

"Very nice, I see what McGonagall meant... you two really are naturals. I'm just going to teach you the rules this evening, then you'll be joining the team during practices three times a week." He told us, I was a little disappointed we weren't going to be flying and by the looks of it, so was Harry. Oliver opened the box and inside were four different-sized balls."Right," He started, "Now Quidditch is easy enough to understand, even if it's not easy to play. There are seven players on each side. Three of them are called Chasers- Sam, that's you." I nodded once he pointed at me.

"Three Chasers," Harry repeated as Oliver took out a bright red ball, about the size of an American soccer ball. "This ball is the Quaffle. The Chasers throw the Quaffle to each other and try and get it through one of the hoops to score a goal. Ten points every time the Quaffle goes through one of the hoops. Follow me?" Harry nodded and repeated what he was told again. It was then that I noticed something interesting about Oliver Wood. The fast-paced and excited way he spoke about Quidditch is the same way Hermione speaks about books and lessons.

"Sam?" I shook out of my thinking and looked at Oliver, who was grinning at me. "Yeah?" I answered, unsurely. He just let out a chuckle. "Are you following along as well?" I blushed a little at being caught not fully listening. "Ohh! Yeah, of course." He shook his head and looked back at Harry. I let out a sigh of relief, noting that I should start paying better attention, considering all the horror stories the twins have told me about the Quidditch captain.

"Now, there's another player on each side what's called a Keeper- I'm Keeper for Gryffindor. I have to fly around our hoops and keep the other team from scoring." I grinned when Harry, once again, repeated the information Oliver was telling him with a determined look on his face. "Okay, I got it, but what are they for?" He asked, pointing at the three balls left in the box. "I'll show you. Take this." He handed the both of us a small club, which Harry reluctantly took, giving me a confused look. "I'm going to show you what the Bludgers do." I had to hold in my groan, I hated these things. "These two are the Bludgers," Oliver said as he pointed at two identical jet-black balls that were slightly smaller than the Quaffles, which were moving and struggling to get free. I got into a hitting position, prepared for the chance they flew at me. "Stand back," He warned, leaning down and unstrapping one of the Bludgers.

The Bludger flew up and straight toward Harry's face but he managed to hit it away from him and off toward one of the goalposts, but it changed course and flew at me. Once it was within reach, I hit it back toward Oliver, who jumped on it. "See?" He panted, struggling to get the Bludger back into the crate. Noticing his struggle, I went over and strapped it down for him and he nodded thanks, still panting and out of breath. "The Bludgers fly around, trying to knock players off of their brooms. That's why you have two Beaters on each team, the Weasley twins are ours, it's their job to protect their side from the Bludgers and hit them into players of the other team. So... Think you've got all that?" Harry was able to recite everything back to him despite looking kind of overwhelmed. "Very good." Oliver praised.

"Er- have the Bludgers ever killed anyone?" Harry hesitantly asked. "Not at Hogwarts. We've had a couple of broken jaws but nothing worse than that." I rolled my eyes at the fact Oliver seemed oblivious that he had accidentally caused Harry's fear of the game to up. "Now, the last member of the team is the Seeker. That's you. And you don't have to worry about the Quaffle or the Bludgers-" He had tried to explain. "Unless they crack my head open," Harry told me, causing me to giggle.

"Don't worry, the Weasleys are more than a match for the Bludgers. I mean they're like a pair of Bludgers themselves." I snorted at the oddly accurate connection. Oliver then dug into the box and took out the last, and smallest, ball. It was bright gold and had silver wings that were fluttering and shining off the moonlight. "I like this ball!" Harry exclaimed. "Ah, you like it now," Oliver told him, handing him the Snitch.

"This is the Golden Snitch, and it's the most important ball of the lot. It's very hard to catch because it's so fast and damn near impossible to see. It's the Seeker's job to, well, seek and catch it. You've got to weave in and out of the Chasers, Beaters, Bludgers, and Quaffle to get it before the other team's Seeker, because whichever Seeker catches the Snitch wins his team an extra 150 points, so they nearly always win. That's why Seekers get fouled so much. A game of Quidditch only ends when the Snitch is caught, so it can go on for ages- I think the record is three months. They had to keep bringing on substitutes so the players could get some sleep." Oliver paused, "Well, that's it. Any questions?" Harry shook his head no. "We won't practice with the Snitch yet. It's too dark." He told us, putting the Snitch away and taking out ordinary golfballs. "We might lose it. Let's try you out with a few of these."

And with that, we were flying. Oliver and I were throwing the golf balls as hard as we could in every direction, making sure we didn't give any hints about which direction it was until we threw them. Harry didn't miss a single one and both Oliver and I were extremely impressed. Every once in a while he would make a really close catch or a good save and we'd cheer for him. After half an hour, it had gotten so dark we couldn't carry on.

"The Quidditch cup will have our name on it this year," Oliver told us dreamily as Harry helped him carry the box back to the shed it belonged. "I wouldn't be surprised if you turned out to be better than Charlie Weasley, no offense Sam, and he could have played for England if he hadn't gone off chasing dragons." He finished, rolling his eyes.

I hope you guys enjoyed this quick chapter! Please like, comment, or even share! It really would mean a lot to me! I hope you guys are having a great day/night wherever you are!

xx