"Do you want us to come with you? Cheer you on from the stands?" Millie asked.
Rachel took a slow breath and shook her head. "I think I'd prefer as few people watching as possible," she said.
"Okay, at least let us walk you up to the entrance hall. You can come find us in the study room when you're done, or at lunch if it goes that long," Theo said.
Rachel nodded. Quidditch tryouts were finally here and she was beyond nervous.
"You're going to do great," Millie said enthusiastically.
"And it's okay if you don't make the team, most second years don't," Theo added.
"Theo, be positive," Millie said, raising her eyebrows at him.
"It's okay. It's good to prepare for any possibility," Rachel said, standing up from one of the couches in the Slytherin common room and clutching her broom. She had tied her hair back in a plait so it wouldn't get in her face while she was flying and she was wearing jeans and her green jumper. She was about as ready as she was going to get.
"Come on, you don't want to be late," Theo said, getting to his feet.
"Let's go!" Millie said, smiling at Rachel.
Rachel gave a weak smile back and followed Theo out of the common room.
"Good luck," Theo said, nodding to her once they reached the entrance hall.
"You can do it!" Millie said.
"Thanks," Rachel said. She took another deep breath and left the castle. The walk to the Quidditch pitch seemed to take no time at all and she found the Slytherin Quidditch team already in the air and a handful of students waiting with brooms.
She recognized Avery Acker, a fourth year, and Sadie Baldock, a fifth year. The others she didn't know by name.
"Not very many people here," Draco said as he came to stand next to Rachel.
"I think we still have a few minutes," Rachel said quietly.
"But still, not much in the way of competition," Draco said as he assessed the other students. "I mean look, Acker has a Cleansweep Five."
Rachel clutched her broom protectively. She knew she had a good broom but she still didn't want Draco to say anything about it.
Two more people joined the waiting group, upper years from the look of them, and the Slytherin Quidditch team flew down and landed in front of everyone.
"Listen up, this is Quidditch. I don't have time for whining or petty bickering, so if you're going to be a crybaby, get out of here. The rest of you, get in the air and let's see what you can do. Don't just fly around the pitch, show off," Marcus Flint, the team captain said.
Rachel didn't have to be told twice. She mounted her broom and took off as quickly as she could. Once in the air she shot down to the goals and did the quick weaving through the goals maneuver she'd practiced over the summer. Then she took off for the other side of the pitch, darting between the other flyers.
She did a few dives and a spiral and was just running out of things to show off with when someone tossed her a Quaffle. She took off immediately toward the nearest goal.
"Snow, pass!" Draco called as he flew up to her left.
Rachel tossed him the Quaffle and veered out of the way of two flyers in Slytherin Quidditch uniforms that were coming at them. She came back around just as they were catching up to Draco. "Draco!" she called.
Draco glanced back and then threw the Quaffle at Rachel.
Rachel grabbed it, dove to get beneath the person who was hurtling straight at her, and threw the Quaffle through the unguarded goal.
A whistle blew and they all came to a stop. "Acker, Berrow, you're out. Everyone else, break into two teams. Bletchley and I will be Keepers. One Beater per team. If I blow the whistle and call your name, leave the pitch," Marcus called.
Rachel flew up next to Draco, wanting to be on his team since they'd practiced flying together before. Two more of the people who were trying out flew up to them, along with a boy in the team uniform with a Beater's bat.
"My advice to you is stay out of the way of the Bludgers. Don't think we'll go easy on you because it's tryouts," the Beater said.
Rachel nodded and clutched her broom tighter. She'd never flown with Bludgers on the pitch before.
Marcus blew his whistle and they were off. A girl on their team got the Quaffle first and Rachel flew on one side while Draco stayed on her other.
The other team came for them immediately and the girl passed to Rachel.
Rachel grabbed the Quaffle and dove down beneath the players and then came back up again. She had just enough time to swerve and pass the Quaffle to Draco.
Draco scored a goal and made a quick vertical loop.
The game continued as they made their way back and forth across the pitch, Marcus occasionally blowing his whistle and shouting a name. Rachel was soaked in sweat by the time Marcus blew his whistle and told all of them to land.
She was glad she'd spent so much time flying over the summer.
"Malfoy is our new Chaser, Snow is our new Seeker," Marcus said. "Practices are on Sunday at one to three, and Wednesdays at four thirty to six. Don't be late and don't screw up."
"Second years? You're going with second years?" one of the boys demanded.
"I said no crybabies on my pitch, Cowley. You missed the goal. Get out of here," Marcus said, shaking his head.
Cowley made a rude gesture and stomped away.
"Hey, I'm Imogen," one of the Beaters said as she came up to them. "Great flying. Too bad we can't have you both as Chasers, I could tell you've flown together before."
Draco smiled. "We have had some practice together."
"Don't worry too much about Marcus, he's all bark and no bite. But seriously, be on time for practices if you don't want to get him barking at you. Rachel, come with me after lunch tomorrow and I'll show you where the girls locker rooms are and we can get you sized for a uniform," Imogen said.
"Good flying, you two," one of the boys said as he approached. "That's Imogen and I'm Adrian."
"I know how to introduce myself," Imogen said.
"Whatever. Fly like that during a game and we'll be fine. Rachel, you can see out of those glasses right?" Adrian asked.
"Yes," Rachel said, though she was glad Professor Snape had gotten her new glasses last year.
"Good, wouldn't be any good to have a blind Seeker," Adrian said. "That over there is Miles, he's our Keeper. Lucian is our other Beater, and of course you know who Marcus is. See you tomorrow."
The rest of the team walked away without introducing themselves directly, leaving Draco and Rachel alone on the pitch.
"See, I told you we'd get spots on the Quidditch team. I've got to go write to my father," Draco said, grinning proudly.
Rachel couldn't help but smile back. She had made the Quidditch team, even though she was only a second year.
The next day after lunch Imogen waved Rachel down and they went back out toward the pitch.
"Slytherin girls locker rooms are over here, the boys locker rooms are that door right there. We discuss tactics and stuff on the pitch, so no need to worry about going in there. Besides, Marcus isn't one for complicated plays. We've got a couple core strategies and we do them well," Imogen explained as she led Rachel into the locker rooms.
"We've got a set of gear that will fit you, and I'm going to modify one of the uniforms to fit you, but you're going to need to order some gloves. Let me know if you don't have a catalogue from Quality Quidditch Supplies," Imogen continued. "This locker is mine, but you can have any of the other ones."
Rachel paused and then picked the locker across the aisle from Imogen. She looked back, hoping this was alright.
"That's fine. This is the smallest uniform we have. Try it on and I'll shrink it where it needs to be smaller," Imogen said, collecting a green and white outfit from a nearby shelf. She turned her back and began changing into her own uniform.
Rachel quickly got changed and found that she had to hold the pants up if she wanted them to stay on. The green robes dragged behind her on the floor.
"You are tiny, aren't you?" Imogen asked when she turned back around. "I bet there are first years who are bigger than you."
"Some of them, though I'm taller than I was last year," Rachel said.
"Yeah, I remember, you were a tiny shrimp," Imogen said with a smile as she pointed her wand at Rachel's pants.
A few quick spells later and Rachel's clothes now fit her.
"The Shrinking charm isn't as good as tailoring charms, so let me know if it wears off and I'll do it again," Imogen said. "Try on your gear, it's on that shelf. I bet we're going to have to shrink that a bit too."
Rachel watched as Imogen put on her knee pads and then the bracers that went on her forearms and then went to grab the gear. Sure enough, Imogen had to shrink that too in order for it to stay on.
"Alright, you look like a Seeker, let's see if you can catch the Snitch," Imogen said.
They both grabbed their brooms and went outside. The boys were just emerging from their locker room and they went together out onto the pitch and found someone waiting for them.
"Marcus, this is my father, Lucius Malfoy. Father, this is Marcus Flint, our team captain," Draco said.
"Draco tells me that you have a fine team that would benefit from some new broomsticks. The Malfoy estate is making the donation of seven Nimbus 2001s to the Slytherin team to ensure your continued success," Lucius Malfoy said, waving his wand to reveal seven broomsticks waiting for them.
"Sir, we thank you for your patronage. The Slytherin team is strong and I'm sure your son will add to our success," Marcus said, bowing his head.
"I expect that he will," Lucius said, glancing at Draco. "A simple reminder, these brooms belong to the Slytherin team and are to stay at Hogwarts."
"I understand, sir," Marcus said, bowing slightly again.
"Excellent. Now if you'll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to. Good day," Lucius said, giving them a slight nod.
Rachel met his eyes briefly and could tell that he was assessing her somehow. Maybe he was surprised that she was on the team?
Lucius Malfoy walked away, his hand tight on his cane.
"Everyone take a moment to go put your brooms in the locker room. We'll spend today getting used to flying on these and doing some maneuvers. Snow, you already have a Nimbus 2001?" Marcus asked.
"Yes," Rachel said.
"Thatcham can put the spare broom away. I'll release a practice Snitch. Go catch it. Show it to me when you've got it," Marcus said, getting a Snitch from the case of balls and releasing it before turning his back and walking away with the rest of the team.
Rachel took off and began searching the pitch and immediately came to the conclusion that it was much harder to find the Snitch on the pitch than it was in the yard at Professor Snape's. She was still searching when the rest of the team came back and joined her in the air.
It took her nearly an hour before she finally spotted and then caught the Snitch. She brought it over to Marcus, who nodded and took it from her. Then he released it again. "Go catch it again. That Snitch is your life when you're on the pitch," he said.
"Be nice to the new kids," Imogen called to Marcus as Rachel went racing after the Snitch again.
She was too far away to hear Marcus' response.
Rachel managed to catch the Snitch one more time before practice finished.
"How was practice?" Millie asked as soon as Rachel was through the door of the study room.
"Good, I caught the Snitch twice," Rachel said, sitting down at the table and pulling her books out of her bag. "Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father, was there."
"What was he doing at a Quidditch practice?" Theo asked. "He's a school governor, so he can be on school grounds, but it's weird for him to just show up."
"He bought the Slytherin team Nimbus 2001s," Rachel said.
"All of them?" Neville asked.
Rachel nodded.
"That's not fair," Hermione said, putting down her quill. "How are the other teams even supposed to compete with that?"
"Well, it's already not fair because student's whose families have more money already had better brooms," Theo said with a shrug.
"So it's okay to just make things even less fair?" Hermione asked. "And should a school governor even be allowed to favor a single House like that?"
"It's his money, I think he's allowed to do whatever he wants with it," Luna said. She had a streak of ink on her face from where she'd stuck her quill behind her ear.
"I didn't realize that you cared so much about Quidditch, Hermione," Theo said.
"I don't. I mean obviously I want our House to win, and I want Rachel to win when she's playing because we're friends. But it's more than that, competitions should be fair. And Quidditch points have an effect on the House Cup too," Hermione said.
"What if the other Houses got new brooms too?" Neville asked.
"How would they do that? Not everyone has a rich father," Millie said, shaking her head.
"What if they asked Quality Quidditch Supplies or one of the broom companies to give them brooms, and then they'd tell people where to get their brooms?" Neville suggested.
"Like advertising?" Rachel asked.
"Or like a sponsorship. Like how some football teams have logos of different companies on their uniforms," Hermione said, brightening up.
"You watch football?" Rachel asked, trying to imagine Hermione going to football games.
Hermione shook her head. "My parents do. I'm going to go see if I can find Professor McGonagall. Or Oliver Wood," she said as she got up.
"Right now?" Theo asked.
"Yes, the season starts in about a month and this sort of thing takes time. Neville, why don't you come with me since it was your idea?" Hermione said.
"If you're sure," Neville said as he got up, looking uncertain.
"I'm sure, you should take credit for it. Let's go. We'll be back in a little bit," Hermione said, leaving with Neville following her.
"I didn't mean to upset her," Rachel said after the door was closed.
"You didn't. And it's better that she found out about the brooms now and not at the first game," Millie said.
"Besides, Hermione likes to have a cause and a plan," Luna said, getting another streak of ink on her face as she took her quill back down.
Rachel thought that was probably true. She opened her Transfiguration book and began to make an outline for an essay on untransfiguration.
Severus sat down at the table just in time for their meals to appear. Roast chicken, jacket potatoes, and carrots, with a glass of pumpkin juice for Rachel and a glass of red wine for him.
"I made the Quidditch team," Rachel said as she picked up her silverware.
"I know. Congratulations," Severus said as he cut into his chicken. "How are practices going?"
"Good. I mostly practice catching the Snitch, but last time Marcus had the Beaters send the Bludgers at me and I practiced dodging them," Rachel said, looking excited.
Merlin save him from thrill seeking children. "I trust Mr. Flint is taking all reasonable precautions to ensure you don't get hurt," he said.
"I wear the protective gear," Rachel said, pausing to wipe at her nose. "Imogen had to shrink it down for me."
Severus sighed internally and decided that he would have a talk with Marcus Flint about using some protective charms if he was going to send Bludgers after Rachel. "Are practices interfering with your studying?"
Rachel shook her head and put down her glass of pumpkin juice. "I still have plenty of time to study. You don't have to worry about me falling behind in classes, I won't."
"Good. We'll revisit this conversation if you do fall behind in your studies," Severus said, trusting that would be the only comment he'd have to make on the subject. "How are your classes thus far?"
Rachel sneezed twice and used her napkin to wipe her face. "Okay. I don't like having History of Magic the morning after we have to stay up late for Astronomy. And Defense is kind of useless. Millie got the book the second years used last year out of the library and we're learning from that instead," she explained.
"Has Lockhart given you any more difficulties?" Severus asked.
"No, he hasn't even called on me in class," Rachel said. "All he does is read parts of his books out loud."
Severus nodded. That's what he'd heard from other students as well. "Miss Farley let me know of your suggestion for OWL and NEWT students to use preparatory guides. That was a good idea."
"Well, it was more Theo's idea, because he told Hermione that we could buy all the guides after we finished our fourth year exams. Hermione's already worried about OWLs," Rachel explained.
"It was still your idea to suggest it to Miss Farley. Are you worried about your OWLs?" he asked, noticing that Rachel was rubbing her hand against her ear.
"A little bit, but not like Hermione is. Theo said she couldn't bring up OWLs anymore though," Rachel said.
"Have you been tired lately, or felt unwell?" Severus asked. He had seen other students developing colds these past few days and had coordinated with his prefects to take any students showing symptoms to Poppy.
"A little tired, but I think that's just because of Quidditch practice," she said.
"I'm going to perform a diagnostic charm," Severus said, pulling out his wand and pointing it at Rachel. Sure enough, she had a slight fever. "It looks like you're coming down with a cold. I'll give you a dose of Pepperup Potion after dinner."
"I don't usually get sick," Rachel said, rubbing at her ear again.
"Witches and wizards are fairly hardy, but any large population confined to a single location is liable to spread illness quickly," Severus said. "Usually once a year as the weather gets cooler a cold or a flu runs through the school."
Rachel nodded. "Dudley used to get sick all the time, but I didn't really."
"Dudley?" Severus asked.
"My cousin," Rachel said, continuing to eat.
Severus blinked. He hadn't realized that Petunia had a child of her own. "Your relatives, did they treat your cousin the way they treated you?"
She shook her head. "No, they loved Dudley. They just didn't like me because, well, lots of reasons."
Severus relaxed a little, glad that he hadn't inadvertently left a child in an abusive situation. "That they did not like you is not a justification for hurting you. Wait here, I'll go get your potion," he said as he got up. He went into his private lab and found a vial of Pepperup in the stock that he'd brewed for the hospital wing.
"Did you want dessert?" he asked when he made it back to the table.
"No, I'm not very hungry," Rachel said.
"Probably an effect of being ill. Drink this," he said as he handed her the potion.
Rachel took the potion as instructed and steam began to pour out from her ears. She raised her hands to her ears and looked at Severus.
"The steam will last for an hour. You're welcome to stay here with me until the effects dissipate," Severus said.
"Can I look at your bookshelf?" Rachel asked.
"Certainly," Severus said.
Rachel immediately went over to the bookshelves that lined his walls and began to look at the titles.
At least she was studious, even if she was far too excited about dodging Bludgers for fun.
October progressed rapidly, the most visible indication of which was the pumpkins growing just outside of Hagrid's house. It wouldn't be long before they were big enough for Fang to sit in comfortably. Hermione had asked Hagrid if he used Engorgement charms on them and Hagrid had indignantly said that he didn't and that it was all the work of Professor Sprout's dragon dung fertilizer.
"I can't believe Halloween is only a week away," Hermione said as they settled into their study room on Friday afternoon.
"I can't believe Professor Binns assigned us three feet on the Medieval Assembly of European Wizards," Theo said as he dropped his bag onto the table with a loud thunk.
"It does seem excessive," Millie agreed.
"At least he gave us two weeks to do it," Hermione said. "If we devote our research time on weekends that should be plenty of time."
"If you say so," Neville said grimly. "At least we checked out the books we need before anyone else could get there."
"That's true," Theo said. "Let's break this up. If each of us takes a section and researches it, and we all share our research with the group, we should be able to write an essay in a reasonable amount of time. One of us should take the founding of the Assembly, someone should take initial legislation and reactions, someone should take growth during the 1400s and the consequences, someone should take wartime legislation during the 1500s, and someone should take integration with the International Confederation of Wizards and modern actions."
"Let's write that list in our two-way books and then write our names next to the section we're researching," Hermione said.
"I'll admit, I half expected you to object to all of us not doing all the research," Theo said.
"We're still doing the research. It's just like people writing books based on other sources. Not all books are written by a primary source - that would be impossible," Hermione said. "This way is just more efficient."
"And you're planning on reading all of the books anyway," Luna said, peering over at Hermione.
Hermione turned pink. "Well, yes."
Theo shrugged, looking up from where he was writing out the topics in his two-way book. "Do whatever makes you happy. No one is going to stop you from reading all the books. I don't think anyone could stop you."
Rachel signed up for the founding of the Assembly. "I don't think I'm going to the Halloween feast," she said after it had been silent for a moment.
"Why?" Millie asked. "I'm sure there won't be any trolls this year."
Rachel shook her head. "It's the day that my parents died, and I don't feel like I want to celebrate it."
"You seemed okay last year," Theo said. "What changed?"
"I didn't know last year. Professor Snape told me about when and how my parents died a little bit before Christmas," Rachel explained.
"Your relatives didn't tell you about how your parents died?" Hermione asked, her brow furrowed.
Rachel shook her head again. She didn't really want to talk about her relatives.
"We can stay with you, if you want some company," Neville offered.
"Yeah, we can come up here, and get some food from the kitchens. Just have a normal time with just our study group," Theo said.
"Thanks," Rachel said. "If you're sure. If you want to go to the feast you can though."
"I'd rather be with you," Millie said.
"Same here," Hermione said with a short nod.
"On the anniversary of my mother's death, I usually spend the time on my own, but I think I'd rather spend at least some of that time here," Luna said.
"When did your mother die?" Rachel asked.
"In January it will be two years," Luna said, twirling a strand of her hair. "I still miss her."
"Of course you do, that's not very long ago," Millie said, reaching out and putting her hand on Luna's arm.
"I think you always miss them, in a way, but it gets easier as the time passes. It hurts less to remember them and you're able to think about the good times without feeling sad," Theo said.
"I wish I'd known my mom," Neville said quietly.
"Me too," Rachel whispered.
"My Gran takes me to see them sometimes, but it's not really the same as knowing them," Neville continued.
Rachel thought that must be even harder than not having parents at all.
"Okay," Theo said. "We should refocus. Do we have any homework we should do today before we do research?"
"We have an essay on Abyssinian Shrivelfigs that we were going to do tomorrow, but otherwise we're caught up," Hermione said, flipping through her planner.
"Alright, research it is. Everyone grab a book," Theo directed.
Rachel quickly found the book they'd checked out on the early history of the Medieval Assembly of European Wizards and got out some parchment to take notes. Theo was right. It was better to be doing something than to sit around dwelling on people they could never know.
"Rachel?" Hermione asked.
Rachel looked up from where she was carefully slicing bursting mushrooms into paper thin slices, being extra careful not to squeeze the mushroom in case it burst. She'd already watched Goyle get mushroom goo all on his face and in his hair from doing just that. "What? Aren't they thin enough?" she asked.
Hermione leaned over, putting down her pestle where she was working on powdering the wartcaps. "No, they're fine. I just had something I wanted to ask you before I brought it up with the rest of the group."
"Okay," Rachel asked, feeling a little nervous. She glanced over at where Millie and Neville were sitting at a desk across the aisle, and Theo was sitting a little further away and was working with Blaise. Professor Snape was bent down over Crabbe and Ron's table, demonstrating how thin their slices of bursting mushroom should be.
"We already have one first year in our group, so I don't think we'd wind up spending more time revising first year material that we already do. And, it might be good for Luna to get to know another first year," Hermione said as she worked on powdering the wartcaps.
"Another first year? You're thinking of another person joining our study group?" Rachel asked. She wasn't sure how she felt about that. Six people was already quite a large group.
"Well, I thought I'd bring it up to the group, at least, but I wanted to know what you thought first. It's Ginny Weasley. I think she's been having a really hard time adjusting to Hogwarts. I haven't seen her make any friends in Gryffindor House and she's always on her own. I kind of hoped maybe we could be friends with her," Hermione said.
Rachel frowned. "Weasley? Like Ron Weasley, who was being mean to you last year?"
"She's his younger sister," Hermione explained. "And yes, Ron was a bit mean, though he's mostly left me alone since then.
Mostly? "Should we be worried that he'll be mean to her if she joins our group?" Rachel asked.
"If that is a problem, Neville and I will deal with Ron Weasley. And if we can't deal with it, we'll go to Professor McGonagall," Hermione said with a decisive nod.
Rachel nodded. That seemed reasonable. "I think you should bring it up with the rest of the group and if they agree, we can give it a try and see if she's a good fit."
"I agree. I'll bring it up this afternoon. Okay, I think it's time to weigh the slices of bursting mushrooms and add seventy grams," Hermione instructed.
Rachel used the weights to measure out exactly seventy grams of the thin slices. "Adding seventy grams of bursting mushrooms," she said, sprinkling the slices into the boiling cauldron and marking the step off on the instructions she'd written out.
"Stirring clockwise until it turns a deep blue," Hermione said, all of her focus now on the cauldron.
"Okay, now fifteen drops of salamander blood, and stirring counterclockwise until the potion is emerald green," Rachel said, checking the instructions and then using a dropper to collect the salamander blood. She counted the drops as she put them in and Hermione then started stirring counterclockwise.
"You should be almost wrapped up at this stage," Professor Snape called as he moved about the classroom.
Rachel peered in the cauldron and saw that their potion was rapidly turning green.
"And adding the twenty grams of powdered wartcap, and then you stir clockwise until the potion is ruby red," Hermione said.
Rachel took the stirring rod and began steadily stirring as soon as Hermione had finished adding the powdered wartcap. This time it took longer for the potion to change color, but it finally turned a shimmery red.
"I'll put together our vials," Hermione said as soon as Rachel stopped stirring.
Rachel didn't know why people struggled with Potions. It was almost their easiest class. All it took was following the directions exactly.