A/N:Sorry this update is so late; I have a hard time writing anything to do with Quidditch. I love the last line of this chapter though. It made me giggle when I went through proofreading.

Chapter Six-Quidditch Tryouts

Rial woke early on Saturday. He couldn't help it, he was nervous about the tryouts. According to Draco he was a phenomenal Seeker, but all he'd had to compare himself was Zachary, who had clearly not inherited James' flying skills. Rial still vividly remembered the first time the Gryffindor had been put on a broom.

They had been a little over three years old. James, Lily and Zachary had gone out into the gardens behind the house, leaving him inside on his own. James had bought Zachary the newest kids' broom just the other day and wanted him to try it out. The thing had risen just over the height of the shrunken rose bushes, a little more than two feet. James had set Zachary on the broom and given him pointers on how to hold the handle.

Zachary had wobbled his way over Lily's favorite rosebush. Rial had instantly known what was going to happen and had been grateful for the glass door. Zachary slipped off the left side of the broom and fell right on top of the rosebush. He'd squashed the plant flat and gotten multiple long, sharp thorns embedded in his chubby legs and back. Rial had burst out laughing and James had instantly retrieved his bawling son.

Lily had been the anxious, concerned mother and had only lamented her rosebush later, after removing the thorns and placing Zachary in bed. The rosebush had been planted the month of July, just two weeks before Zachary had been born. She had neglected to say Zachary and Harry, but that was normal. He had long been ignored by his 'loving' family.

Rial stood and retrieved his clothing, stepping into the empty bathroom. One nice thing about rising early was that he didn't have to fight for rights to the shower. He had only been partially teasing Draco; the teen took an absurd amount of time to get ready in the morning. Walking back to his bed after a brisk shower and combing out his black hair he neatly made the bed. Just after tucking in the last corner Draco's sleepy voice inquired,

"Why don't you let the house elves do that?"

"I've always made my own bed, Draco. I made Zachary's as well; we weren't allowed dessert after dinner if our room wasn't neat enough for Lily. Zachary was never deprived of a treat, once he threw a large enough tantrum. So I was the only one ever subject to that rule. Just after Zachary had run out for the day, I'd make his bed. If I did it too early he'd come back in and tear it to pieces just because."

"Merlin I hate Zachary Potter."

"I think we've established that fact," Rial replied.

"How long have you been up," Draco yawned.

"Since 5:30. I couldn't sleep in, believe me I tried."

Draco lazily stood, gathering his clothes. Rial picked up his Arithmancy book and looked at the hourglass as the blonde disappeared into the bathroom. Exactly 45 minutes later his dorm-mate reappeared, his appearance flawless as always. Rial resisted a small laugh, he'd started timing Draco and it was usually 45 minutes on the mark before he'd reappear.

Shoving his books into his bag he swung it over his shoulder and walked out of their dorm, followed by Draco, who carried his in a small bag in his left hand. They met up with Pansy, Blaise, Torian and Theo before heading out to the Quidditch pitch. Since the morning was bright and sunny, without a slightest hint of a breeze, they figured they could study outside before tryouts.

There were a couple Ravenclaws who had a similar idea, so the Slytherins perched a few levels below them and pulled out their mutual Charms class homework. 16 inches on the uses of personality improvement charms like the Cheering Charm. Rial also pulled out the huge book on Charms that Remus had given him for his birthday and they began making notes on the personality charms.

"Oh!" A voice said suddenly. "You're working on Flitwick's homework, aren't you?"

Rial looked up at an unknown Ravenclaw male, who sat across from him directly next to Draco. The student was smiling at Draco as he spoke. Rial's green eyes narrowed to slits as Draco responded with a smooth, sultry smile, "Yes. Would you like to join us?"

Sourly Rial looked down at his parchment, not seeing the words written there. Look at that stupid Raven, he thought scornfully. Hanging on to Draco's every word. Hmph! As if Draco can't see right through his transparent attempt at flirting. He scratched out a line on his draft, regarding the document with annoyance. Not good enough, he snapped at himself. I'll have to do this later on my own, without any distractions.

Pulling the shrunken Firebolt out of his book bag he replaced his parchment and book and resized the broom.

"Whoa! That's a Firebolt!" the Ravenclaw said admiringly. "Zachary Potter's the only student who owns one of those, how did you get him to let you borrow it?"

Rial turned flash fire green eyes on the Ravenclaw and said icily, "My father Lord Sirius Black gave this to me for my 17th. The Potter family is not the only well-off family in the magical world."

With that he swung onto the broom and took off. How dare that stupid Ravenclaw imply he'd borrow anything of Zachary's? Stupid airhead's too taken with Draco's good looks to have any brains, he thought spitefully. Everybody in this school knows Zachary and I were in the Tournament last year and absolutely hate each other.

Whipping around the goalposts he aimed the handle toward the ground and dived, wind whistling in his ears. He pulled up just short of hitting the ground and banked shallowly through a steep curve, heading back up to his previous height. Weaving in and out of the towers he pushed the broom to full speed and laughed giddily at the feeling.

Vaguely aware of someone calling his name he slowed. Draco was poised on his Nimbus Two Thousand and One, waiting at the opposite end of the pitch. Reluctantly he flew in the blonde's direction. Draco spoke when he was in hearing range without having to shout. "The Ravenclaw's name is Terry Boot, he didn't recognize you. He asked me to say he didn't mean any offense."

Rial arched one eyebrow. He desperately wanted to sarcastically say, Really, I find that difficult to believe. Everyone in the magical world is becoming quite knowledgeable about my tattoo. Not wanting to strain his friendship with Draco he replied instead, "No harm done."

The blonde smiled at him and then his face appeared to settle into the Slytherin mask. The reason for this was Fawcett, the Slytherin Team Captain. He soared easily up to their level, a powerful figure with broad shoulders and a rather sharp, cruel face. Once the other potentials joined them he said coolly,

"To fly on the Slytherin team is a great honor. You must have not only the raw Talent, but the refined Skill and Ability to fly your position. The open positions at this tryout are Chaser, Beater and Seeker. The first tryout will be for the Beaters."

Draco and Rial both flew off to the side. The Beater candidates were all given a bat and the other team Beater released the Bludgers after taking out his own bat. What followed was a brutal magical version of dodge ball, with Bludgers in the place of the softer rubber balls. One potential was knocked out with a Bludger to the side of his head, another took a small blow with a bat to the face, breaking his nose.

The only remaining uninjured Slytherin was named the new Beater. Rial approved, the boy had been deft and quick about avoiding Bludgers and bats and had been the only one to almost hit the team Beater.

"Next will be Chasers," Fawcett called. Draco soared forward along with four others. Fawcett took up his post as Keeper; the reserve soared to the other end of the pitch. This was to be a tournament style match, three goals being the winning score. Millicent Bulstrode took out her first opponent easily, as did Draco. Eventually it came down to Millicent and Draco.

The newest team Beater threw the Quaffle up in the air between them, and Millicent gained the Quaffle first after forcing Draco to duck her oncoming rush. The blond recovered quickly, chasing after her with steel-eyed determination. She gained the first goal and then it was Draco's turn. Half-way across the pitch she tried to take the Quaffle from him but he kicked the front edge of her broom and sent her spinning out of control.

Feinting toward Fawcett's right Draco threw the ball hard toward the left-most post. It soared through without a doubt. Fawcett's face was hard to read but Rial thought he looked impressed. Millicent got another goal, as did Draco. Rial's fingers were white from clutching the handle of his Firebolt. If the pattern continued, the next goal and the position of Chaser would go to Millicent.

Draco had realized this as well. He flew a little above Millicent, waiting for Fawcett to throw the ball to her. When the red ball eventually soared in her direction he dove sharply downward, intercepting the ball half-way. Just barely changing his grip on the red ball he flung it toward the right goalpost. It went through just inches from Fawcett's fingertips.

Leaving the grounded players to recover the ball he turned with a small, feral grin. "Position of Chaser goes to Draco Malfoy. Nice move on that last, Malfoy. It's rare a Chaser catches me off-guard."

Grinning, Draco flashed a thumbs-up at Rial and went to join the other members of the Slytherin team, who promptly started congratulating him.

There were two other potential Seekers. Rial flew forward nervously, wondering what was going to be his test. Fawcett looked at them and said casually, "This is the easiest test. While the Chasers were having their tryout the Beaters released the Golden Snitch from one of the towers. Your goal is to catch the Golden Snitch. Whichever of you does this first will be our team Seeker. Closest after them will be Reserve."

Rial split away from the other two, heading up. He flew toward the middle of the pitch, eyes scanning his surroundings. He turned his head, noting the position of the sun. It was to his right, which meant the Snitch would glint in the sun if it was to his left. He scanned the whole pitch, paying attention to the left side. It was when his eyes were passing the Gryffindor section of red and gold that he saw it.

The Golden Snitch was hovering in place a few inches above the grass, against a gold square. Glancing over at the two other potentials who were scanning the air above them he put the Firebolt into a steep dive toward his target.

He could hear the air whistling as he flew in the direction of the golden ball as well as the shouts of the two other potentials. The Snitch chose that moment to take off, flying left still just above the grass. Rial banked sharply as he came to the wall, feet nearly brushing the wooden stands. The Snitch fluttered along madly in front of him, erratically weaving from left to right.

Suddenly it went straight up, vertical to the ground in a steep climb to gain altitude. Rial followed it, gritting his teeth through the sudden rush of blood from climbing straight up. It leveled off, racing in the direction of Fawcett and the goalposts. He followed it single-mindedly, ignoring the cries of the two other potentials as they tried to distract him.

His fingers clenched around the Golden Snitch at the same time as he slammed his feet on the brakes. He skidded to a halt less than a foot from Fawcett, the Golden Snitch struggling between his fingers about four inches from Fawcett's nose. The huge 7th year grinned, showing slightly yellowed teeth. "Team Seeker is Rial Black. Reserve is Richard Tokes."

YES! Rial shouted in his head, settling for a sharp nod. Draco settled next to him, grinning. The other team members came up as the two disappointed potentials and the rest of the students dispersed.

"Practices are every Thursday at 6 am sharp. Tardiness is not tolerated; neither are complaints or fighting amongst team members. Even if you're having a spat with your best friend who's on the team as well you fly together and act like a Slytherin on the field. Complaints will be brought to the attention of Professor Snape."

As they were getting ready to leave Draco exclaimed, "Excellent catch, Rial! I thought you were going to hit the stands for a moment."

"Thanks," Rial replied, grinning. "For a moment I thought I was going to run into Fawcett."

"Hey, do you want to meet later to finish our Charms essay? I'm meeting Terry in the Library; he needs some help on the Arithmancy homework. We're going on a walk around the Black Lake tomorrow afternoon."

The smile slid off Rial's face so quickly it might as well have been made of water. "Sure," he said, trying to keep his tone from being too frigid.

As Draco walked off he scolded himself, Draco's perfectly free to be around whomever he wishes. Scowling he grumbled, "So why does the fact they're hanging around together make me wish I'd never heard of Terry Boot?"

Irritated and not fully understanding why he gathered his stuff and disappeared back to the castle. He had homework to finish. Maybe I'll do that essay on my own and say that I forgot, he thought savagely.

Looking at the broom he grinned. "I'm Seeker for Slytherin," he whispered. Contrary to what someone might have said later, he was not skipping on his way back to the castle grounds. Slytherin's never do anything as childish as skipping.