There were yelps and exclamations of surprise all around that made Dominique wonder if any of these people had ever taken a Portkey before. She was mostly an expert these days, having traveled by one to visit her mother's family in France for as long as she could remember. She was well aware of what to expect—the sudden pull, the spinning, and the inevitable hard landing. After about ten seconds of travel time, the world quickly came back into focus as her feet slammed into the ground. She had braced herself and landed upright, though all around her everyone other than Zara, Erin, and Ansel tumbled awkwardly to the ground.

"Portkey, much?" Ansel said to Giggleswitch, reaching a hand out to help him up. "You're supposed to bend your knees on impact or else you get swept up."

"Not all of us have rich families who take them all over the bloody globe on holiday," Giggleswick mumbled, brushing himself off.

Dominique considered that as she reached a hand out to help Jack. She didn't think it was a wealth issue as much as it was a culture thing. It was known the Baileymoores were pure-blooded; the Zabinis as well. Erin's family wasn't as obvious, though being in Slytherin was generally a good indicator that your family lineage tended to be a more magical than not. Dominique came from a long line of pure-blooded wizards on her Weasley side. Her Delacour side was a bit more mixed, given that there was Veela in their bloodline, but Veelas were still magical beings. It depended on who you asked—and what sorts of prejudice opinions they held—to whether she was considered pure-blooded these days. She didn't care either way what people considered her, but her long wizarding heritage did reflect that she'd been brought up in a very particular way that newer magical families weren't accustomed to.

But it hadn't been about money. Sure, the Baileymoores had month—they were notoriously wealthy; full of Wizengamot members and influential people in high places at the Ministry. And Zara and Erin were also well off, though as with most kids from deep rooted Slytherin families, no one was really sure what most of their parents did. After the war, many of the Slytherins sort of disappeared in order to distance themselves from the Voldemort connection. Once they started resurfacing, there was a lot of mystery surrounding their lives.

However, Dominique's family wasn't wealthy. They weren't poor, but they weren't rolling in Galleons either. Her father had grown up poor—the oldest of seven—and his habits were reflective of that. He liked to save and didn't overspend—something he had always hammered home to she and her siblings. It was in direct conflict with her mother who had come from money. She worked hard and liked to indulge on occasion; she didn't like cheap because she felt you spent more replacing junk than simply investing in quality. Still, even with growing up relatively in the middle of rich and poor, she'd still taken loads of Portkeys in her life.

"I think I broke my bum," Michael groaned, rubbing his backside as he stood from the ground.

Ansel cleared his throat. "You're supposed to bend your knees—"

"Yeah, yeah, we heard you the first time," Michael muttered. "Next time maybe let us know before?"

"Where are we supposed to go?" asked Ellibit, glancing around at their surroundings. They were in a wide meadow surrounded by large hills, though they weren't alone. All around them, people arriving by Portkeys were landing in groups every few seconds. There had to have been at least a hundred other people at the moment clamouring to gather their brooms and bags—and more were arriving by the minute. They all seemed to have a better sense of what to do than any of the people Dominique had traveled with.

"People are walking that way," Jack said, pointing to a caravan of sorts that was headed over one of the hills. "And there are people over there looking official."

"Yeah, the red robes," Erin said, and Dominique noticed a group of men about twenty-five yards away in bright red robes with the letters IQA on the back. It was safe to say they probably had something to do with the International Quidditch Association.

"Might as well follow the crowd," Giggleswick said. "Someone can ask—"

"Hogwarts?" asked a voice, and when they turned, a smartly dressed young woman with tortoiseshell glasses stood tentatively examining them. She wasn't dressed as if she was from IQA; she actually looked as if she'd never played Quidditch a day in her life.

"That's us," said Zara stepping forward as their apparent self-appointed group leader. Dominique didn't suspect anyone would fight her for the role. It was very much in her personality to act as if she was in charge of some made up position.

"Perfect," said the woman, "Sorry, I'm a bit late. Madhouse around here this morning with everyone arriving. I'm Kimber McLaughlin. I work for the Ministry in the Department of Sport, not the IQA, but we work very closely together for this event."

The group hummed and made general noises of acknowledgement before Ellibit asked, "You were in Hufflepuff, weren't you? I recognize you."

"I was," Kimber said, her face lighting up. "Yes, I finished school two years ago."

Dominique's ears perked at that information. "You were in the same year as a friend of mine. He was a Hufflepuff. You know Ted Lupin?"

"I do!" she said. "Lovely guy. Dated a friend of mine back in school. They're not together anymore."

She smirked. "You don't say?"

Kimber had turned back to Ellibit. "Buy yes, I remember you as well. You were on the Quidditch team."

Jack leaned over to Dominique and quietly mumbled, "You think?" which made her grin. Erin had heard him as well, and while she didn't smile, her eyebrows rose in a quick manner as if to say she agreed that was a dumb comment.

"I have a question," Giggleswick asked, raising his hand as if they were in the middle of class. "Where are we?"

"Oh," Kimber laughed, despite nothing being funny. "Classified information. The IQA likes to keep their locations secret every year."

"Why?" Dominique asked. She genuinely could not understand why a bunch of people playing Quidditch had to be kept so hush-hush; particularly since you could pay to attend. It didn't seem particularly exclusive.

"I'm not quite sure," Kimber said, "again, I work for the Department of Sport, so we're not privy to all the decisions the IQA makes. Rumor has it we're around Germany, somewhere outside the mountains, but again, I don't know. Anyway, we're behind on time, so if you will follow me, we can get you all checked in."

The group gathered their things and followed Kimber in the same direction the rest of the crowd. She was a talker and seemed to feel the need to dictate every step with some sort of commentary—including telling everyone where rocks on the path were to avoid stepping on them. Dominique could only hope she wasn't saying anything too important, because as soon as they came to the top of the hill, she'd stopped listening entirely.

Before them, a huge compound had appeared. There were several buildings all grouped in one area—many small ones and about five taller ones—but what really stood out were the dozens and dozens of Quidditch pitches. Green grass as far as she could see. In the center, the largest of all—a proper arena set up with seating for spectators. It was magnificent.

Dominique wasn't the only one who'd been awed by the size of the compound before them. Everyone around her was staring wide-eyed at the display. Michael actually said the words, "Bloody hell, that's huge," and Ansel added, "It looks like I was always told."

"Yes, it is impressive," said Kimber, smiling as she let them take a moment to take in the sight. "Consider this your home for the next week. Do you see those taller buildings? Those are the living quarters. I can already tell you that you will be in the first dormitory, Dormitory A. That's where they board the student athletes. It's also where invitation athletes board. Dormitories B, C, and D are for returning athletes. E is for staff and trainers."

"We're in the boring one," Dominique heard Zara whisper to Erin. "Everyone's told me that anything fun happens in the other dorms."

Kimber had started walking, again resuming her endless commentary about everything and anything. "The best part about Dormitory A is that it's quiet and allows for you adequate resting time, as well as proper space to study."

"Study?" asked Michael. "What do we have to study?"

"That," Kimber said, smiling again, "will be addressed during your orientation later on this morning. I'm not trying to delve too much into the Quidditch details of the Trials. I'd like to focus more on housing and getting you settled."

"We have to study?" Jack asked Dominique, though she didn't seem entirely surprised. She seemed to remember someone—maybe Henry—mentioning something about a book that needed to be completed. He hadn't made a very big deal about it, so she assumed it wasn't that bad.

Kimber led them down the rest of the path, which had suddenly bottlenecked at the bottom with everyone attempting to enter the compound at once. Kimber apparently had some pull to bypass the queue, because after showing a badge to one of the many IQA wizards manning the entry point, she was waved through. She motioned for everyone to follow her.

Everything inside seemed so busy and crowded, with very little room to move around. Red robed wizards were shouting at everyone to keep moving left to pick up any and all housing needs; not to crowd the entryway; to please keep walking. Witches and wizards were loudly reuniting and hugging friends, and some were arguing with IQA employees over missing or incorrect information. Others were clearly already on holiday and didn't have a care in the world.

Kimber had pushed them all through the crowds and out into a courtyard of sorts beyond the entrance. Dominique noticed that they were standing in the center of a circle of buildings. The dorms on one side, smaller buildings on another, and a large and long building directly in front of her. The Quidditch pitches would be directly behind that long building if she remembered correctly.

"Right," Kimber said, laughing a little nervously. "Didn't lose any of you, did I? No? Good. Welcome to the Square." She gestured around. "This is where anything that doesn't directly take place on a broom is located. Over there," she point left, "dormitories." She then pointed next door, "That is the canteen, where all your meals will be provided. It is open all day and night."

"We can eat whenever we want?" Giggleswick asked. "Even two o'clock in the morning?"

Kimber nodded. "Lots of athletes have very strict schedules when it comes to eating and working out, so they're here to accommodate that."

"Wicked," Giggleswick said, grinning at Ansel who returned it with an identical smile. Dominique rolled her eyes. That would amuse them. Though, she had to admit, it was nice to know.

"Next to the canteen," Kimber continued, "we have the medical building. You would go there for any issues or injuries. Beside that, the larger buildings, those are the offices of the officials. Bottom floor is the auditorium where your orientations will be held, but otherwise you shouldn't need to visit there. Unless you've got a problem that cannot be solved by the various IQA employees who will always be around. It's also where you would go if you were to be dismissed from the Trials for behavior issues. It's where you'd find us—the Department of Sport—as well as representatives from all the other attending countries."

She'd paused. "Let me see, who else is in there...Oh! Right. If for some reason you chose to leave camp early, the Portkey officials are also located there. You would have to go and schedule one and it will take roughly twelve to twenty-four hours to acquire, but sometimes you can get lucky and hitch a ride on someone else's Portkey. Hopefully, it won't come to any of that.

"We've taken care of everything for you. Once I get you your orientation folders, you'll see everything from assignment times to dorm assignments are already pre-planned. The Department of Sport takes our student athletes and their safety and comfort very seriously. This can be a very overwhelming event for a first time visitor. Now, if you all will just wait here, I'm going to go and grab your folders. Lucky for you, you don't have to wait in those endless queues since," she laughed in a self important way, "I happen to know some people."

Dominique and Jack shared a look as Kimber turned and headed back into the massive crowd.

"I'm over this tour," said Erin. "I just want to put my stuff down, have a look around on my own, and get out on my broom."

"There's still orientation," Michael said, but he didn't sound excited about it. "Then, I heard we have seperate orientations for our positions after that. I'd be surprised if anyone even sees a pitch today."

Dominique groaned. For a Quidditch training camp, there was very little Quidditch so far. Today seemed like an endless day of paperwork and listening to people who felt more important than they were. She didn't sign up for this.

"All I know is that they've gone and stuck us in the boring dormitory," Zara said, using her broom as support pole.

"They're not going to stick a bunch of school kids in the party dorms," Ellibit said, her gaze—along with everyone else's—now staring at Dormitory A.

"You just have to go to the other dorms if you want to get fucked up," Giggleswick said with a shrug, as if he was some sort of expert. "Personally, I'd rather live in the quiet dorm and go out to the loud ones. Can you imagine if they put you in D?" He let out a low whistle.

"What happens in D?" asked Ellibit, though Dominique wasn't entirely sure of the answer to this question either. She knew the other dorms could get wild after hours, but was there one in particular that went harder?

Giggleswick laughed a little. "If you have to ask, you don't want to know."

Michael rolled his eyes. "Really with this cryptic shit?"

"Alright," said Kimber, having appeared rather suddenly with several folders in her arms. "Now, let's see." She awkwardly attempted to shift the folders around in order to read them, but was clearly struggling with the cumbersome load. "I've got a Zabini here. Zabini? Oh wait, how'd I get to Z first? This must backwards."

"That's me," said Zara, stepping forward while handing Erin her broom. "I'll take it. Would you…? Do you want me to do that for you?" She gestured to take the folders from her.

"Oh," said Kimber with a shrug. "Sure. I'm sure you know your friends far better than I do."

"Absolutely," said Zara with mock enthusiasm, taking the stack from her with a wide smile. Once she turned away to face the rest of them, she dropped the act immediately. She looked directly at Dominique. "Weasley."

She walked over to take her folder, absently listening as Zara called out "Tanner," while handing Erin hers and then "Ians" while handing Jack his. She immediately tore into it, examining her itinerary from top to bottom. General orientation started at eleven, then lunch, and from there, they were split into position orientations as Michael had said. The following day, everything started at eight in the morning with a pitch number already assigned. Everything from her breaks to her meal times to her evaluations were scheduled to the minute. Her week was completely packed with Quidditch. This was more like it. This was the most beautiful schedule she'd never seen.

"Thank Merlin for that," she heard Giggleswick say, which caused her to glance up. Had he noticed something about the Seeker's schedule she hadn't? She wasn't about to ask him, but she'd wondered if she'd missed something.

"Yeah," said Ansel. "Happy to not have to room with any of them."

Dominique looked back down at her folder and flipped through the pages past the itinerary. The last page was room assignments and information about her departure home in six days time. She was in Dormitory A and apparently in room 112, though with whom she had no idea.

"Who'd you get?" asked Jack, who had appeared at her side with his attention still on his folder. "To room with, I mean."

"Not sure," Dominique said. "Room 112? Who'd you get?"

"I'm in 114 with Mike," he said, a look of relief sweeping over him. "Thank god. I'd have bludgeoned myself with my own bat had I got Giggleswick."

From several feet away, Erin's hand suddenly shot straight up into the air. "Excuse me, Kimber, is it? I have a question. Can't we switch roommates? Or is this set in stone?"

"It is Kimber, yes," she said, her tone not as chipper. "And no one is checking on that. As long as everyone has a spot, then I don't see why not."

Without missing a beat, Erin immediately walked directly over to the space that fell in between Dominique and Ellibit. She looked from one to the other and then back again, sizing both of them up. "Who's in 112?"

Ellibit immediately looked at Dominique, who simply shut her folder and sighed. She shouldn't be surprised she would have gotten placed with Erin. Why would anything be easy? They didn't call this a trial for nothing.

"Of course you are." Erin said after Dominique didn't bother to answer. "Look, do us all a favor and switch with Zara." She paused for a long moment before adding a dry and unenthusiastic, "Please."

"Do us all a favor?" Dominique said. "Other than you two, how is that a favor to anyone?"

Erin stared at her. Dominique could sense a hundred different responses that she had ready to go, but she was now in a precarious position of having to play nice in order to get what she wanted. Silence really was her only option at this point. Everything else would come off as complete bollocks.

""Now," Kimber suddenly said, "If you follow me, I'll walk you over to the dormitory. You've got time before orientation starts, so you can settle and unpack." She immediately turned on the spot and lead the way to Dormitory A.

Erin was still staring at Dominique as the boys were now steps ahead and right on Kimber's heels. Only the girls lagged behind, all of them seemingly waiting for this to play out. Dominique knew she was damned if she did and damned if she didn't. Her options were either to be stuck with Erin, who would probably attempt to make her week as obnoxious and uncomfortable as possible if she didn't switch; or she was stuck with Ellibit, who was currently looking utterly annoyed at the idea that she would have to room with Dominique if she did switch. She was clearly still sore about their spat earlier in Hogsmeade, and she seemed like the type that would stew in that anger for the entire week instead of just letting it go. Also, Zara, unlike Erin, would probably make for a decent roommate, so Ellibit was losing out entirely.

Ultimately, Dominique knew Ellibit would end up being nothing more than cold and snippy if they had to share a space for a week. She may even simply not speak to her at all. Erin would make it her personal goal to make things hell for her. She'd probably enjoy it.

She sighed. "Fine. Whatever. I don't care."

Erin finally smiled, turning to Zara, who was also smiling. It was Zara who said, "Thank you!" Just as Erin added, "You're in 113 now. Thanks!"

"Fantastic," Dominique mumbled, glancing over at Ellibit. She had said nothing, but her expression wasn't happy. She begrudgingly grabbed her bag and quickened her pace to catch up with Michael.

Dominique hung back, already well over this morning. She could only hope that once she got away from these people she could go back to feeling excited to be here. Looking around, there were hundreds of other people here. She had to remind herself that while she was here with her classmates, she didn't have to deal with any of them—except for maybe Giggleswick—once they were split into their groups. There were plenty of other people here.

Up in front, Jack had stopped to wait for her. He threw her a small smile as she approached, but she couldn't muster the energy to return it. "I hate all of these people."

"I know," he said. "It's a lot to deal with all of them this early in the morning. Hell, I was ready to punch Giggleswick in the face for you back there. I just assumed you'd do it."

"I froze," she said, still not quite understanding what had come over her earlier and why Giggleswick's comment about Henry had caused such a reaction in her. She'd never felt anything like it, and she hoped to never feel anything like that again. She wished she hadn't seized up, because now Giggleswick knew it was a weak spot for her. She'd let him see that and now he would take full advantage. Worse yet, he'd probably tell Henry how just bringing him up had shaken her. Naturally he'd embellish the story, tell him how she broke down and hysterically cried; went absolutely mental. Terrific.

The group was led into the large building, which looked to be six of seven stories tall. They were immediately greeted by a large common area that kind of resembled the Gryffindor common room if it had been stripped of all color and life. Lots of brown sofas and neutral-colored comfy chairs. Scattered tables around the room and large rugs covering the hardwood floors. It was bland and boring, and given everything Dominique had heard about this dorm thus far, it seemed rather apropos. They clearly didn't want people spending too much time indoors.

"And this is where I'll say goodbye," said Kimber, adjusting her glasses on her nose. "Your rooms are down that corridor," she pointed to one of two corridors, "and everything you need is in that folder I gave you, or in the books you'll receive at your orientations. Anyone in an official red robe can answer your questions and there will always be someone here in the dorm if you need something. Otherwise, have an amazing time here. It really is an experience."

"Thank you for your trouble," said Zara, speaking for everyone once again. "You've been very helpful."

There was a small murmur of agreement, though the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs had already turned away toward the rooms. Dominique honestly would have done the same if Kimber hadn't been standing directly in front of her path to the corridor. She mumbled a quick thank you before side stepping her and following the rest of the group. Ansel and Giggleswick had already made their way halfway down and stopped outside a room that they were now attempting to open. Michael and Ellibit were loitering just beyond them, looking as if they were having a very pointed discussion. As she got closer, Ellibit practically pushed Michael into her.

"Hey," he said in an awkward tone, glancing at Dominique and then at something behind her. "So, I...we," he nodded to Ellibit, "we were thinking."

Jack appeared behind Dominique, just as the Slytherin girls brushed past the lot of them, giggling happily as if they were pleased to finally have escaped and be on their own.

"They said they didn't really care about who's in what room," Michael continued. "So, we were hoping that maybe we could work it out so me and Ellie could be together. I mean, it makes sense, you know?"

Ellibit, now standing behind him, had put on a very optimistic smile. Dominique genuinely didn't know if this was an actual attempt to shack up with her boyfriend for the week or a chance to be rid of her. Seemed like a win for her either way.

"It's nothing against you guys," Michael added. "I mean, this also keeps all the house teams together, which is…" He glanced at Ellibit, "good for team building."

Dominique laughed and made no point to hide it. What a load of bollocks. Was he listening to himself?

"If you want to be with your girl," Jack said, sounding tired, "just spit it out. We all know what you're playing at." He turned to Dominique. "I don't care if you don't. I want to put my stuff down."

She hesitated for a moment, thinking about the conversation she'd had with Sarah the night before. About that little, latent crush on Jack that always surfaced after she'd been drinking. Some really dumb choices could be made if certain pieces came together—and rooming together might make attempting the correct choice a little harder to make. Her mother's words of "make good choices" now seemed more pertinent that ever.

Shit.

"I'm tired of being passed around," she finally said, feeling as though there really wasn't a good way out of this. Her saying 'no' made no sense to anyone but herself. "Someone just needs to tell me what room I'm in."

Jack pointed across the hall. Without another word, she walked over and pushed open the door to the empty dormitory room. There were two beds and two small dressers, and that was it. That was all there was to greet them. It was startlingly bleak in there. A single window with the shade pulled all the way up let in what little light was creeping in from the non-existent, brick wall view.

"Well, this is nice," Jack joked, taking in the room in the room as she was. "Sort of has an asylum vibe going for it."

"Makes perfect sense since this place is driving me insane," she said, walking over to the bed on the right and throwing her stuff down on top of it. "Did you listen to his 'team building' bullshit?"

"Just say you want to shag your girlfriend," Jack muttered, tossing his bag onto the floor before collapsing face down onto his bed. He evidently said something else, but she couldn't make it out with his face down in the mattress.

"I think Ellibit didn't want to room with me," she said, taking a seat atop her bed and pulling her legs up to her chest.

Jack rolled onto his side. "I think she'd planned to switch with anyone she got. I'm telling you, that was their plan since it lets them shag whenever they want. Can't say I blame them."

Dominique inhaled slowly at that, already mentally committing to the promise she made to herself the day before. If she messed around with anyone, it had to be someone she would never see again. That had to be the rule. It had to be. Perhaps avoid alcohol the entire time she was here. Maybe just not look at Jack at all. She immediately turned her attention to the brick wall outside their window.

"Honestly, it's probably better this way, because I have a feeling they'd have gone locking me out of the room anyway. They're always together. I'd have come begging for you to take me in."

Dominique continued to watch the wall. No alcohol. Nope. None. It had to be this way.

"You're sure Davies isn't going to be here?"

She looked back at him as the image of Henry flashed across her mind. Unless something had changed, he hadn't planned on coming last she'd heard. It was common for people who had just finished school to not attend; either because they weren't good enough to get an invitation back and were bitter or because they were all set to start their new lives and careers and couldn't afford the time off to come. Sure, some still would, but the numbers were always the smallest in the post-school year. Henry fit right into both of those molds. He had been bitter he didn't get invited back and he'd just started working at the Ministry.

"No," she said affirmatively. "He knows he's a shitty Chaser—"

"Rubbish," Jack agreed, "I always thought so."

"Sure, you did," Dominique said, rolling her eyes but appreciating his comment nonetheless. "And for the record, I never claimed he was good. He was just an average."

Jack hummed in a doubtful sounding way. "Would we even say average?"

She laughed despite herself. "Anyway, he didn't get an invitation back because obviously no team wants him. So no one would be more shocked to see him here than me. But I'm sure Giggles next door could give you more info, if you really care."

"I don't care at all," he said. "And if that's the case, then I don't have to set any rules. Because banning him from this room would have been the only one I had."

"You were going to ban him?"

"Absolutely. If you wanted to dive back into that, you can go find somewhere that isn't where I plan on sleeping."

"It wouldn't have happened."

"It wouldn't have happened here."

"No, it wouldn't have happened, at all. I want nothing to do with him."

"Whatever you say," Jack mumbled, right as someone knocked on the door. They both looked at it, though it was him who called out, "It's open."

It was Michael who popped the door open, poking his head inside. "Hey. You two didn't happen to hear that Ministry woman mention where the toilets were, did you?"