Hey! Just a few announcements!!
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Ask and ye shall recieve: This chapter isn't of too much importance, but it's awesome, and, well, one reviewer asked for something, and I've put that something in the chapter! Moral of the story: REVIEW!
I'm sorry if the updates are less frequent; I'm trying to finish my book, and once that's done I'll be an editing fiend! So, apologies ahead of time!
Disclaimer: Voldie isn't mine. Or Harry. Or Zefron. Oh Snap! confusion... Never mind.
*****
Chapter 13:
I woke up the next morning when a pile of clothes collided with my head.
"Wha' happened?" I grumbled, sitting up immediately. The sun was low in the sky, barely rising over the horizon. As soon as I realized I didn't need to be awake yet, I laid back down, rolling over and pulling the quilt over my head.
"No no no, Kat, you need to wake up," Angelina called, dragging the quilt away from me. She was fully dressed in Quidditch robes.
"Why?" I whined.
"We're testing out your Quidditch skills today!" she said, a brilliant smile on her face.
"And I wish you all the best," I said, covering my face with a pillow.
"Up!" and the clothes began to hit my head and fall to the bed repeatedly.
"You are Satan," I mumbled, grabbing the clothes in resignation.
"Pardon?"
"Nothing."
It was barely light out by the time we met the trio, Ginny, and the twins in the common room (Harry had invited Ginny and Hermione insisted on watching), and we all headed down the Quidditch pitch.
I yawned, stretching as Harry and Ron started arguing about the Chudley Cannons, and Fred smirked.
"What's so funny?" I asked.
"You're not much of a morning person, are you?" he said.
"Don't let her fool you," Angelina said, scowling slightly. "She was the first awake yesterday."
I groaned. "Delirious excitement gave way to complete exhaustion this morning."
"Huh," Fred said. "Are you one of those Americans completely addicted to coffee?"
"And I'm completely transparent too, apparently."
As I gradually woke up, I started to appreciate the beautiful scenery laid out before me; unkempt grass shot out of the ground, still shining in the morning dew as the sun created a silhouette backdrop of the mountains and forests surrounding the school.
"Don't get too excited, Angelina," I said, stretching again. "I've never been that great at sports except for track. Running is all I'm good at. Throw a ball into the equation and it all falls apart."
"I have faith in you," she said, looking ahead determinedly.
"Meaning she's desperate for some good players this year," George clarified.
"So you're a fast runner?" Fred asked as Angelina punched George in the arm.
I shrugged. "I guess."
He grinned, raising his eyebrows. "Wanna race?"
"Now? I haven't stretched and—"
"First to the goalposts wins," he said, pointing. The field was far off, but I'd long since been able to see the outlines of the stands and goalposts. "Unless... you're afraid I'd beat you."
I broke out into a run then, darting past Harry and Ron as Ginny cheered me on. I could hear Fred not far behind me, and all too soon we were side by side.
"That was cheating you know," he said, glancing my way.
"You'll survive."
"Let me show you how we run here in Europe," he said, passing me up.
I rolled my eyes, smiling despite myself, and sped up. The familiarity of my own gait had finally set in, and it was easy to push myself harder, until I was flying. I passed Fred easily, reaching the goal posts a full two seconds before him.
For a moment we both stood panting, but as soon as I caught my breath I let out a peal of laughter.
"Not bad," he gasped, "for a girl."
"She kicked your arse, mate," Harry said, running up to us.
Ron followed quickly after, chuckling, as the girls caught up.
"Impressive," Angelina said, throwing me a broom as George handed Fred's to him. "Let's see how you fly up there."
They gave me the run down on the basics of riding a broom, most of which I'd already gathered. It seemed like common sense to me, but from the look on Hermione's face I guessed it must have been more than I thought.
"I'll be right next to you the whole time though, so if something happens, don't worry," Fred said, right as we prepared to take to the sky.
I smirked, patting him on the shoulder. "I think I'll be fine."
I planted my feet after mounting the broom, pressing hard on the ground as if I were jumping. I gasped and tightened my hold on the handle as the broom rose… and rose. Soon I was high up in the sky, Harry whirring around in the air next to me. I smiled, fear abating, and followed suit.
It was even better than I'd ever imagined, and I felt as though there was nothing more exhilarating than flying. I dove and turned and spun, blushing when Ginny whooped.
"That was bloody brilliant!" Ron said, right in front of the goalposts.
Angelina was beaming. "Nice work. You're almost as good as Potter."
"Almost?" Harry said, smiling as he stopped in front of us. "She could fly circles around me with a little practice."
I grinned. "I'm not sure about that."
"Let's see which position we can put you in," Angelina said, all business again.
"Wait. What? You made it sound like I'm already on the team," I said, my voice too high.
She cocked an eyebrow. "You are. Let's just see where on the team you belong." With that, she dove to the ground, where the chest George retrieved from the team locker room sat in the center of the field.
I turned to Fred for back up; I couldn't possibly already be on the team. But he was grinning too.
"This," Angelina said, holding the Quaffle, "is a—"
"She knows the protocol, Ang," George said.
"She read through Quidditch Through The Ages the other day during free period," Fred finished.
Ron's eyes lit up. "Now that's a book."
Almost disappointed that Hermione was sitting in the stands reading, I stifled a smirk.
"Good. Then you know what to do. We're going to work together to try to get this Quaffle past Ron. You're trying out for keeper this year, right?" she said, turning to him.
"Um, I—I guess I—"
"Yes," Harry said.
Angelina nodded. "Take your post then, Weasley."
Ron nodded, flying off to the right goals, and turned towards us, his face a beet red. Oh yeah, I remembered. This wouldn't be the best year for him…
"—and try to get the ball through any of the hoops," Angelina said.
I bit my lip, hoping I hadn't missed too much, and nodded. "Ball through the hoop. Right."
She frowned slightly, but started to approach the hoop, flying alongside me with the Quaffle. She flew away, and threw the ball towards me. I dove, catching the ball and dropping it, nearly falling from my broom in the process.
"That's ok," she said, her tone implying otherwise. "It's your first try. It'll get easier."
But after six more attempts, I'd missed the ball four times, and dropped it twice while flying.
Couldn't we have started out with catch or something? I thought desperately, embarrassment flooding through me.
"Here, Harry," Angelina said, breathing deeply as she avoided my gaze. "Why don't you practice with the snitch for a while?" She released it, and Harry threw one last pitying look my way before dashing off towards the invisible ball.
Then she turned to me. "Maybe you're a keeper."
I gulped a few minutes later, facing Ginny and Angelina as they whipped towards me, passing the Quaffle back and forth with speed and precision. Fred and George lingered next to Ron, watching with worried expressions.
Swallowing, I tried to keep my eyes on the ball, remembering only after they'd thrown it exactly how disastrous the soccer portion of gym had been for me. I dived for the Quaffle, my arm smashing against the metal post. Yelping in pain, I let go of the broom and lost balance, falling promptly off with a shriek.
I grasped at the air as my body fell rapidly towards the ground, but even as I closed my eyes to brace myself for the inevitable crash landing, a hand grabbed my own, slowing my fall until I plopped gently on the ground. I opened my eyes then, surprised to see Fred and not Harry sitting next to me.
"Are you ok?" he asked, concern in his eyes.
"My arm," I said lamely.
He took it immediately, rolling up my sleeve to see that it was fine, save for the beginnings of a nasty bruise.
He smirked then, and I scowled momentarily.
"Fred, I—"
"I know, I know," he said, mounting his broom. "You'll be fine."
Angelina talked me back into the air, but no one was getting me close to the goal posts again.
"We could see if she's any good as a seeker," Angelina suggested after fifteen minutes of nothing. Harry and Ginny were at the other end of the pitch, throwing the Quaffle at Ron as he tried to dodge them.
"We've already got the best seeker in half a century," Fred said, flying up to us with a mischievous smirk on his face.
He handed me a club then, and Angelina looked around sharply.
"You didn't release them!" she accused, just as a thud resounded behind me.
I whipped around to see George holding a matching club, and a large Bludger zooming right at my face. Without thinking, I waved the club, sending it the other way. George hit it away from us, grinning.
"What were you thinking!" I screamed, resisting the urge to hit Fred over the head with the club in my hand. Smirking, he took the club, probably reading the pissed expression on my face.
"Well, George and I thought,"
"That you would be,"
"Better at hitting things,"
"Than catching or throwing them."
Angelina was speechless, staring at the club in Fred's hand.
I took a breath, anger replaced with pride. At least I was good at something. "Is it because of all my pent up aggression?" I muttered finally.
"What do you mean, 'pent up'?" Fred said.
"We were just thinking 'aggression'," George finished.
I could only glare for a moment before laughing, and soon everyone was smiling.
Everyone, that is, except Angelina.
We stayed in the air for another half hour, Fred and George giving me tips on how to keep the Bludgers away from the right people as well as aiming them correctly. I'd improved greatly, and I'd had a ton of fun doing it. Ginny reminded us that Breakfast started soon, and we decided to pack up.
"This is bullocks," Angelina said as we landed on the ground.
Hermione closed the book she'd been reading and ran up to us.
"I don't get it," Harry said, jumping from the broom. "We found out that Kat is an amazing Beater. What's the problem?"
"The problem, Potter," Angelina started as we put the equipment back into the team locker room, "is that we already have two beaters. Twins. Unless they plan on allowing our team a third beater, and I very much doubt that, we just wasted an entire morning."
I backed away as George rolled his eyes. Hermione had already backed out, and Ginny stayed silent, but Fred raised his eyebrows, ready to say something.
"Just count your blessings, Angelina," Harry said, beating Fred to the punch.
She let out a noise that sounded suspiciously like a growl. "Exactly what would those be, Potter?"
"She could have been sorted into another house and played against us all year."
Angelina stalked off, muttering something about the team as her hair trailed along behind her, and George quickly followed, bowing in our direction with a grin firmly on his lips.
"That was bloody brilliant," Ron said, landing next to me. "What'd I miss?"
"Git," Ginny muttered, rolling her eyes and walking away. Harry ran to catch up with her, dragging Ron with him, and I let out a small chuckle.
"That was... interesting," I said, glancing at Fred.
He shook his head. "Don't worry. Angelina will get over it. She's just taking this captain thing a bit too seriously."
I leaned against a locker. "As long as she doesn't freak out because I'm shit at every other position on the team."
"Too late," he said, grinning cheerfully.
I realized then that we were the only two left in the locker room. "Listen, Fred, about earlier, I just wanted to thank you for…"
"Saving your life?" he offered.
I scrunched up my nose. "That sounds melodramatic."
He shrugged. "For good reason. The pitch has enchantments on it. You might have broken something, but you wouldn't have died."
I laughed. "Great. Thanks for saving me from a… broken bone then, I guess."
He took a step towards me. "Any time."
And then his lips met mine, soft and gentle. He backed away quickly, and I blushed, smiling.
"Wow," he said, a wry smile crossing his features.
"Not what you imagined?" I asked, sure that I'd messed up somehow.
He shook his head. "Far better than I'd imagined."
Then we kissed again, fiercer, and I wrapped my arms around his neck, reveling in the thrill of his lips on mine.
"Oy, Fred, I forgot I need— Whoa, sorry to interrupt," Ron said, eyes wide.
We backed away from each other, guilty looks on both our faces. Fred looked pissed at Ron. I stifled laughter.
"What do you want, Ron?" he said.
"Just, I, my," and he leaned over, taking his wand from the bench next to me, smiling awkwardly as his ears turned red. "Ok," he said, "bye."
As Ron ran off, Fred turned to me again, just in time for my stomach to grumble loudly.
"Breakfast?" he offered with a smile.
I nodded, too embarrassed to say anything. But as we made our way back to the castle, he held my hand, and I knew that waking up early had been worth it.
*****
What do you think? Too much fluff? I promise the next chapter will be full of plot and such, but people wanted more Fred! And I've been waiting a while to write this scene :D It turned out a bit longer then intended, but eh, can't complain :D
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Again, thanks so much for reading! Hope you enjoyed!