CHAPTER SIX

"…Three."

There was a pause as the three returning players scanned the crisp slip of parchment hanging on the wall.

"…Oh."

"You're kidding."

"Interesting…"

"Oh… I wouldn't've… Okay…"

"Is this a fucking joke? Does he think he's funny?"

Two heads swiveled to look down at Lily.

"What?" she barked out challengingly, eyes flashing. "Please don't tell me you agree with this."

"Well…" Matt started, hands slightly raising in front of him, "I mean, Teague must have his reasons…"

"There is no way," she refused adamantly.

Justin only smiled at her. "I don't think you're being fair," he said, gesturing to the list. "Teague knows what he's doing. Though I am surprised about Hayman…"

Lily merely grunted.

Her stomach felt like it was turning over. She had only been mildly interested as she had initially looked at the list. Sure enough, the names Lily Potter, Justin Lawley, and Matthew Dunstan had graced the top three spots on the list.

What she hadn't been expecting were the names following.

Daniel Hayman

Caleb Schellden

Shannon Avery

Lily was honest enough to admit that she hadn't been paying too much attention to the actual tryouts. And maybe Teague had seen potential in Hayman; after all, he was choosing his own partner on the field for the rest of the year.

But Caleb Schellden? Shannon Avery? This had to be some sort of sick joke.

"C'mon Potter. I saw how well you flew with Schellden during the scrimmage today," reasoned Justin, putting a hand on her shoulder. She glared up at him, but he did not remove his hand.

"Yeah, as much as it pains me to say this, he even caught on to your crazy plays without ever flying with you before. This will be my third year playing with you, so I would know that it isn't easy," Matt conceded, though he gave a small grimace as he said the words.

Justin nodded. "You guys have chemistry."

She narrowed her eyes and shrugged Justin's hand off her shoulder.

"NO, we don't," Lily protested loudly.

Justin just shrugged, hands half raised, as if he knew it was true but that she would never admit it. It only made Lily angrier.

"And Shannon Avery! You've got to be kidding! I don't even think she knows how to mount a broom!"

"Oh, she knows how to mount a broomstick, alright," I heard Matt mutter with a smirk, nudging an also smirking Justin with his elbow.

Lily gave an exasperated groan. "This is what I'm talking about! You have to be joking!"

"Aw, come on Lily! You know Teague wouldn't've picked her unless she was good enough!" exclaimed Matt.

Lily huffed in frustration. "If she was so good, then why has she never tried out before? And don't call me Lily!"

"Okay, okay, sorry, my bad…" Matt said incredulously, palms held out in front of him.

Lily just huffed, turning away from them and pacing an angry three steps towards the captain's office before turning back to face them. She needed to find Teague and question his sanity.

"And where is he? I need to make sure he isn't under a fucking Imperius curse or something!" she yelled, a hand on her hip as the other gestured wildly.

Matt and Justin just looked at each other and sighed.

"Look, Potter,—"

"Hey guys!" broke in the upbeat voice of Teague as he approached the group from behind Lily.

Lily balled her fists, taking a deep breath before slowly turning, mind already thinking of her possible courses of action.

Teague was still flashing his teeth while he walked nearer. His shoulders had lost the tenseness they'd held for the past couple days now that he had his team; his gait was even more relaxed and carefree.

Obviously, he hadn't thought to assess Lily's mood.

"So," he said with a smile, running a hand through his hair as he addressed Lily, "what do you think of—"

She was oblivious to Matt and Justin's attempts to warn Teague that she was on the warpath. As soon as he'd opened his mouth, they'd immediately started shaking their heads, wildly waving their hands in front of them—Matt sliced the air in front of his throat with his finger, but Teague, looking at Lily, was not paying attention.

"—the new team?"

Matt smacked his palm to his forehead while Justin muttered, "And here she goes…"

Lily put her hands on her hips.

"What I think of the new team?" she repeated placidly, changing his words into a question, a dangerously innocent smile on her face.

Teague arched an eyebrow, eyeing her skeptically.

"Yeah…" he said slowly, before his excitement again shown through as he continued energetically, "I think today went really well. I like my new picks, I think we have a chance to win another one this year. I think, with enough work, we could be better than last year—"

"Better than last year!" Lily yelled, any attempts at stringing Teague along before going in for the kill flying out of her mind. "Are you kidding me?"

In their anger, they didn't notice Matt and Justin quietly creep away, opting to escape to the castle before the argument escalated.

Teague's excited demeanor left his face as his lips formed a tight line, arms folding across his chest.

"I said," he emphasized, tone flat and not amused, "that we could be. Calm down, Potter."

Lily seethed. He was seriously going to try going all 'Captain' mode on her?

She inhaled, hands fisting as she took an angry step closer to Teague.

"Whatever! Are you even thinking straight? Are you high?" she wildly accused, hands gesturing emphatically.

It was Teague who then took the next heated stride closer, the space between them shrinking. He opened his mouth angrily, glaring at her, but Lily cut him off.

"Shannon Avery? Are you fucking kidding me? Don't you want to win! You can't honestly expect me to believe that she was the best there was—"

"This is not up for discussion!" he bellowed, glowering down at her as they stood only inches apart.

"Like hell it is!" she yelled back to his face. Teague's face flushed as he began to retort, but was stopped as a mocking voice called out to him.

"Well well, Canning, tryouts just ending and you can't even control your star Chaser?"

Inches away from her, Teague folded his arms across his chest, chin rising as he glared at the newcomer.

Face feeling oddly flushed, Lily turned on her heel, her own glare seeking out the face of the intruder.

Charles Garth was approaching them with an arrogant gait, his usual Slytherin wingmen—Alaistair Wright, Chaser, and Gordan Hewitt, Beater—flanking him.

Garth stopped with a condescending smirk, matching Teague's stare as he also folded his arms across his chest.

There was no semblance of love between the two opposing Quidditch captains.

Teague settled for a glare. Glares weren't enough for her, and though she'd been screaming at him mere seconds ago…. No one insulted her Quidditch team, captain, or players. Especially not Slytherins.

Though she wanted to charge Garth and punch him square in his arrogant face, she restrained herself, giving a small smirk before replying, "Well… Garth… See as much as I want to make a comeback about your team… well… I mean, what you have hardly counts," she said sweetly, gesturing at Wright and Hewitt, "so that seems unnecessary, yeah?" she shrugged, pursing her lips mockingly.

The three Slytherin seventh years bristled, comically in-sync.

Hewitt, large and burly, took a step forward, thick hands fisting, dark eyes glaring at her.

She'd always thought he was rather dumb, and she smirked, raising an eyebrow as Garth quickly laid his hand on his chest in restraint.

Growling, Hewitt stepped back.

Garth's neck was flushed pink, a great contrast to his pale skin.

She was surprised when his next comment was directed at Teague instead of her.

Regaining his (semblance) of control and arrogance, he sneered at her captain, "You even letting your little whore fight your battles now too, aside from running the team?"

Lily hissed in anger, picking her wand deftly from her pocket as she pointed it at Garth, who at least had the decency to look alarmed.

"You little piece of—"

A strong hand clamped down on her wrist, forcefully pointing it towards the ground.

Red sparks showered into the ground, leaving black burn marks as she glared up at Teague.

He wasn't looking at her. Instead his attention was at the opposing captain across from him.

"We both know that words don't mean anything once we get on the pitch," Teague said coolly, his calm, controlled voice somehow more threatening than his yell.

Garth inclined his head.

"I'm sure you're bitter about the fact that we beat you in the championship last year," he stated casually, head tilting mockingly. "I hope you didn't develop any false hope over holiday. We will crush you."

And with that, Teague gave Garth one last glare before sauntering past them, pulling Lily along by his strong hold on her wrist, a spluttering Garth left in their wake.

When they had gotten a good distance away from the three Slytherins, Teague's pace dramatically increased, until she was nearly running in order to keep up with his long stride.

As soon as they passed through the pitch's gates, he abruptly stopped, turning to face her as she nearly crashed into his chest.

His expression was livid. She balked at the unexpectedness of it.

"What the hell was that?" he seethed, blue eyes bearing down on her.

"What was what?" she replied testily.

"The part where you made yourself, your team, and your captain look like a goddamn idiot in front of Slytherin? Or did you somehow think that was ok?"

He was towering over her again, and Lily couldn't help but feel slightly intimidated.

Lily didn't like to be intimidated.

"Lily, I don't know where the fuck your head is today, but I need you to stop thinking about yourself. I'm the Captain of this team. I make the decisions. This worked out fine last year—"

"—last year we had Albus and Finnagan, not a ditzy blon—"

"—and I pick out the new team."

Lily opened her mouth to retort but he cut her off.

"Stop it, Lily," he demanded, running a hand through his curly hair exasperatedly. "I don't know where your trust in me went, but you better find it before practice tomorrow morning. Go up to the castle, clear your head and be ready for the workout Monday, Lily."

She could almost feel the anger trying to seep through his now calm tone.

That was fine. She was angry too.

"Don't tell me what to do," she hissed, ripping her wrist out of the grasp she hadn't realized Teague still had on her arm, and stalked past him to the castle.

She angrily strode the halls, the late-risers walking down to lunch [breakfast] wary as they made way for her to pass.

Face red, hair damp and clothes sticking to her from sweat, clenched fists, Lily kept thinking of Teague's audacity in order to fuel her anger.

Lily flung open the portrait, ignoring a shriek of indignation from the Fat Lady, only to bowl straight into Matt and Justin.

"Oooh did you guys fight again?" Matt said teasingly as Justin grinned next to him.

She gave them a withering glare.

"Piss off," she hissed, striding straight in between them, knocking a shoulder on the boys on either side of her.

"Hey, Potter, what happened?" came Justin's warm and concerned voice, his large hand on her shoulder, halting Lily slightly.

"Nothing. Whatever. Aren't I allowed to have my own damn opinion? And since when to standing up to fucking Slytherins such a big deal? He didn't seem like he was going to do anything about it!" she ranted, shooting the two one last look before breaking for the girl's dormitory.

However, as Lily stomped up the steps, she began to feel more and more foolish. What had gotten into her? Granted, she was still upset about Teague's picks, but then at the same time she hadn't seen anyone but Schellden play, so who was she to judge? And even she had to admit that Schellden actually could follow her. And it would be hard to play and win a cup if they didn't find a good enough Chaser to keep up with her and Matt.

But even though Schellden was good, he could only be horrible for team chemistry. Her anger began to feel more justified as she remembered the way she spoke about her brother, and his slights against Justin, who would now be his Keeper.

Lily opened the door to the 6th year dormitory roughly, and only as it was halfway ajar remembered to fervently hope that her lovely roommates were not inside.

As the door slammed against the wall to reveal an empty room, Lily's stomp had more of a relieved edge.

She ran to her bed, diving into it once she was a step away, bouncing up and down ever so slightly after she made impact belly-down on the bed.

Lily supposed if Teague thought that Daniel Hayman was strong enough to face someone like burly Gordan Hewitt, then that was up to him. Like she'd thought before, Teague was picking his own partner for his final year at Hogwarts, the partner that he thought would aid them in a three-peat. And Lily had liked Hayman, upon first impression. So maybe he wouldn't be that bad.

She gave a defeated sigh before her mind focused on the last name.

Shannon Avery.

That had to be some sort of joke. Shannon was one of those girls who all the boys thought was hot, and knew it, complete with the Queen Bitch attitude. Lily was pretty sure that she only came to Quidditch games to look at her nails.

Lily didn't like it. She didn't like it all.

What did she know about Quidditch?

Her (once again) mounting angered fizzled at an errant thought:

Don't be jealous.

Jealous?

Lily rolled over onto her back, staring blankly at the ceiling.

She'd been the only girl on the team since she joined her 2nd year. And that wasn't because the Gryffindor team was sexist or anything—boys just seemed to simply spend more time growing up playing pick-up games and practicing than girls did. Except for Lily, who happened to have genetics and an immediate and extended family full of former Quidditch players.

And she wouldn't be the only one now.

She's going to take your boys. Because she's prettier, more attractive, doesn't yell at them, doesn't have protective older brothers.

They might love her more.

Lily couldn't deny that she [secretly] liked being the only girl on the team, being friends with all the boys that all the girls wished they had the nerve or opportunity to talk to. She enjoyed the camaraderie, enjoyed the role she had on the team.

Things would be different now.

Change.

Lily sat up abruptly.

She was being ridiculous.

Teague was captain, and he'd been a damn good one last year. There was no reason for her to react so poorly when she knew that he wanted to win just as much as she did.

Lily's neck flushed as she remembered their exchange earlier.

She'd been out of line.

The conscious in her mind (sounding a lot like Aunt Hermione) told her to go find Teague and apologize…. But Lily wasn't good at apologizing. She was good at Quidditch.

Lily suddenly grew restless as she tried to ignore her better judgment. She didn't want to think about this—perhaps Teague would forget about the whole incident come practice Monday. Or if she saw him around the castle between now and then.

Standing, Lily opened the window parallel to her bed, hand automatically raised as she nonverbally commanded her broom to zoom to her hand from the floor.

Only it never came.

Eyebrows raised, she looked down, only to find the wooden floorboards staring dispassionately back at her.

Lily groaned.

She'd left it in the goddamn Quidditch locker rooms.

She could hear the distinct sounds of Quidditch as she neared the pitch: the sound of the Quaffle hitting against gloves, the smack of the bat against the Bludger, the shrill of the whistle, the whoosh of players darting through the air.

The pleasantry to the noise lessened when she remembered that the Slytherins were probably wrapping up their tryouts around now.

It's not that the Slytherins all were the grandsons and granddaughters of evil-doers and Death Eaters. Even in the past, not everyone in Slytherin was bad, just ambitious. And sneaky.

There were some nasty ones left, that clung to the old ways, but she'd like to think that they were fairly outnumbered by the ambitious-sneaky ones. Too bad that those ambitious-sneaky ones tended to be arses.

Plus, they were good at Quidditch, even if sometimes their tactics were less than fair.

Lily didn't like them.

They didn't like her either, and this was why she was hesitant to enter the pitch in order to reach the girl's locker room located, of course, on the opposite side of the field.

Shit.

Lily took another step so that she was resting against the stone arch that marked the entrance. She heard a whoop and her eyes quickly flitted to noise to see Alistair Wright pumping his fist in the air, obviously having just scored against the now dejected Keeper.

Her mouth tilted downward contemplatively. During matches and whenever she happened to see him outside of Quidditch, he always seemed so serious. And quiet.

It was odd to think that the bloodthirsty Slytherins could actually consider Quidditch as…. Fun. The way they played made it seem like war.

She smirked when she realized her hypocrisy. Gryffindor, well, Lily for sure, played Quidditch like it was war, like the match was life or death. She just happened to live for it. There was no thrill greater.

She couldn't even fathom if Quidditch was taken away from her. It would be like losing the best part of herself.

Lily continued to watch the tryout, trying to pick out her future competition amongst the new Slytherins trying out.

She was not surprised to see the lack of female-representation in the air, either. Although Lily wished she could claim that the Slytherin team was sexist, she knew that the rough, size over speed strategy that Garth liked to employ was not disposed towards girls.

Watching them fly, memories of last year's Quidditch Final surfaced in her mind. A smug smirk automatically tugged at her lips—it had been quite the match. They'd only won by a margin of forty—four goals. Unconsciously, her thoughts recalled the shots she'd missed, the mistakes she'd made, her mind automatically chiding herself and showing herself all the different things she could have done instead.

Lily chuckled lightly. She was nothing if not Quidditch obsessed. She could pour over a match in her mind for weeks. She wanted to be the best. She wanted to be so good that she could go to any professional team she chose. She wanted to play for England.

The loud smack of a bat hitting a Bludger shook her out of her reverie. For those things, she needed her broom.

Shaking her head and reminding herself that one, she could beat any of these boys in Quidditch, and two, that she had her wand and an infamous Bat-Bogey hex, she shifted her weight off the wall to take a step.

Lily jumped in surprise as a hand clamped down on her shoulder.

"Looking for something?" said a falsely-sweet sounding voice from behind her.

Lily whirled around, hitting the person's arm hard to release the grip from her shoulder.

Wand pulled, eyes wide, she stared into the smirking face of Alexandra Nott, who's wand was also aloft.

Who was currently in possession of a broom.

Oh hell no. That bitch better hope that wasn't her broom.

AN: um... so first off, I am so sorry for those that have been keeping up with this story. I'm sure those of you that have this story on alert probably experienced that awkward moment where you thought, 'wait... what story is this?'

I know it's been a ridiculously long time since I've updated. I know it's an excuse, but my English class this year really beat all the creativity out of me. Only now since it's ended have I really written much of anything.

I really hope that you continue to read and have faith in me. I really will try to update much MUCH sooner this time.

so, about the chapter.

Lily's got quite the irrational temper, eh? before you get annoyed with her, remember that all characters have their flaws. Even the POV character.

also: the three 7th year Slytherins? how's Teague going to handle their argument at practice Monday? ...how is the new team going to shape out, in your opinion (now that you know who's in)?

And more importantly, what's up with Alexandra Nott and why does she have Lily's broom?

any other comments?

review and tell me what you think!