Quidditch tryouts were far more intense than they had been in Harry's second year. Flint was not only still a member of the team, but he was still the team captain. Nevertheless, Flint was clearly embarrassed to be attending Hogwarts at eighteen. He took out his embarrassment on the new players trying out for quidditch.

When Harry and Draco tried out the previous year, simple flying drills eliminated the worst of the players in the first wave. This year, however, Flint immediately sent the tryouts up in the air for bludger drills against last year's beaters. Nearly a dozen second- and third-year tryouts were sent to the hospital wing in the first hour. When one of the beaters began to complain of fatigue, Flint himself took over the bat and began rocketing bludgers at potential players. Flint was clearly having aggression issues.

Harry was glad that, as a returning player, he was not required to participate in preliminary drills.

Flint called on last year's returning players for Keeper/Chaser tryouts. Last year, Flint had insisted that everybody on the team learn to shoot and pass the quaffle, even beaters and seekers. Harry's had improved quite a bit; both his passing and shooting were precise, but not strong or fast. It was obvious that Harry above average in both categories, but he didn't feel as if his performance was exceptional. Harry wasn't overly concerned—he was trying out for the seeker position, which was all about flying and reflexes.

Flint was dominant, as expected. Draco and Pucey were the best of the rest, but Warrington and Montague showed good use of their size. Depending on Flint's tactics in a given week, fielding larger chasers could intimidate an opposing team to the point of distraction.

Finally, seeker tryouts. When Flint called for potential seekers, Harry stepped forward along with several other hopeful players. Harry had seen most of them fly, so he wasn't worried—they wouldn't be any threat to him. Harry was surprised, however, to see Draco step forward as well.

Flint wrote down names on a piece of parchment, creating a quick bracket. "Each match is one-on-one, best of three snitches. You win, you advance. Lose, you're out. Whoever wins the tournament is on the team as seeker."

Harry flew in the first match against a fifth year who he only knew by his face. Harry advanced easily, catching both snitches in less than two minutes. The embarrassed fifth year slunk back to the stands, face red and head down.

Draco was in the next pairing. As Draco took to the air, Harry strolled up behind Flint and looked at the bracket. If he and Draco both won all their matches, they would meet in the finals.

Harry felt torn. Part of Harry wanted Draco to do well, but another (larger) part of Harry desperately wanted the seeker position for himself. And a small, nasty part of Harry wanted both—Harry and Draco would meet in the finals, and Harry would eliminate Draco himself. It would serve Draco right for the silent treatment he was still giving Harry after Care of Magical Creatures.

The nasty part of Harry got its wish. Draco's first match, which was against an older student named Urquhart, was almost as easy as Harry's. Neither Harry nor Draco was seriously challenged in the second round, either. (Pucey, who had tried out for seeker last year, had resigned himself to playing chaser, and hadn't even entered the bracket.)

"Malfoy, Potter, you're up," Flint called across the pitch.

As Harry rose into the air, he considered all the time that he and Draco had spent flying the last two summers. He knew that Draco was better at sharp turns and body positioning, but Harry was the faster flyer for both acceleration and top speed. The greatest difference was field sense—Harry seemed to have a sixth sense for finding and chasing a snitch, but Draco had an uncanny ability to get in the way of opposing seekers to disrupt a clean catch.

In the first match, Harry was the first to see the snitch, far across the pitch. Harry was off like a shot, and the closer he came to the snitch, the farther he was ahead of Draco. The snitch began to twist and turn as Harry approached. Harry stretched out with his right hand, and the snitch darted to the left. Harry's left hand darted out and plucked the snitch from the air.

The second round was more difficult. The snitch wound its way under the bleachers, weaving back and forth among the support pillars. Harry followed as best he could, but Draco's maneuverability left Harry at a large disadvantage. Harry kept as close as he could—one lucky turn, and the snitch could be zipping directly at him. Luck was not with Harry, however; the snitch instead turned directly toward Draco. Draco grabbed the golden ball and yelled in excitement.

In the final round, the snitch stayed out in the open. Draco marked Harry closely, hoping to prevent Harry from making a straight dash at the snitch. The two boys spotted the snitch at the same time, hovering by the nearest goal posts. Harry and Draco turned in unison, and the two raced directly toward the snitch, shoulder to shoulder.

Harry began to creep ahead of Draco. Draco, desperate to negate the speed advantage, jerked his broom to the side, bumping into Harry. Harry struggled to keep control of his broom, and the brief interruption allowed Draco to catch up. Once Harry had regained control, he again began to pull ahead, and again found himself being bumped by Draco. Every time Harry tried to disengage, Draco moved closer.

Harry had to respond to Draco's physical play, or he was going to lose the match. Instead of drifting away from Draco, Harry moved in closer, placing his shoulder against Draco's and firmly pushing against the blonde boy. Draco tried to push Harry away, but Harry pushed back just as hard. Harry was unable to speed away from Draco, but Draco was unable to disrupt Harry's flight with a jarring impact.

As Harry and Draco reached the goalposts, the snitch reacted to their presence. The golden ball dove sharply and began spiraling around a goalpost as if caught in a whirlpool. Draco immediately threw himself into a sharp turn and dive, away from Harry. When Draco suddenly disengaged, Harry found himself following Draco in the turn and dive, but moving at a higher speed. His speed would cause his broom to take a wider turn than Draco's, which meant that it would take longer for Harry to get the snitch. But Harry couldn't slow down to tighten his turn—he was already behind Draco, and slowing would make things even worse. The snitch was all but lost.

Harry refused to give up. He aborted his dive and instead flew laterally, directly toward the goalpost. Just as he was about to rocket past, Harry reached out with his left arm and grabbed the wooden pole. He felt white-hot pain in his shoulder and elbow as he was jerked to a sudden stop—he wouldn't be catching any snitches with that arm for a few days. Harry was able to yank his broom into a tight spin, leaving him directly above the snitch and far closer than Draco.

As Harry dove downward he glanced to the side and saw Draco completing his turn. As his friend began the final sprint toward the snitch, Harry saw that it would be very close. Harry's desperate maneuver had given him the advantage, however, and it was clear that Harry was going to arrive at the snitch before Draco, even though it would only be by a split second.

Harry rocketed downward. As he reached out with his uninjured hand, Harry saw a green blur out of the corner of his eye: Draco, who had neither slowed nor changed his course. Yes, Harry would get to the snitch first, but Draco was certain to collide with him. Desperate to avoid the crash, Harry ducked and rolled on his broom, making a desperate grab with his good hand. There was a strong breeze as Draco shot past, barely missing Harry.

Harry pulled up softly at the end of his dive, gently landing on the ground. Draco had slowed and was hovering directly above him.

Harry raised his hand, and there was a glint of gold in the sunlight. Harry had caught the snitch.

Draco landed and furiously snatched his broom out of the air. Without saying a word, Draco began walking away from Harry toward the sidelines where the rest of the team waited.

"Great match, Draco," Harry called. It was easy for Harry to be gracious as a winner. Perhaps all that was needed to re-start his friendship with Draco was for Harry to make the first move toward reconciliation.

"Yeah," Draco said, without turning around.

Then again, perhaps not.

Ultimately, the team was the same as the previous year: Derrik and Bole as beaters, Flint, Pucey and Draco as Chasers with Montague and Warrington as reserves, Bletchley as keeper and Harry as Seeker.

When the team returned to the common room, the door had barely opened before Pansy rocketed out and enveloped Harry in a hug, congratulating him on his success. Draco forced his way past and stormed back to Slytherin without a word.

When Harry and Pansy finally returned to the common room, Draco was sitting at the piano, playing quietly. Harry automatically started walking toward Draco, but forced himself to stop halfway across the room. If Draco didn't want to congratulate Harry for making seeker, that was fine, but Harry certainly wasn't going to go fishing for approval. Harry had plenty of better things to do.

As Harry walked back to his dormitory, the soft notes of the piano followed him down the hall. Only when the dormitory door was firmly closed was Harry able to shut Draco out.

A/N: Trouble in paradise! It's a good thing Harry is making new friends.