Name after name was called and Aquila ticked off each one she got correct, using a red marker to slash through the names she didn't. She glanced at Dudley to see that he was fairing pretty well, himself. It was Angelina who announced she looked like she was in the lead that worried Aquila. She couldn't lose to Angelina! She'd have blue hair dye for weeks in her hair or something equally as revolting.

She was a Ravenclaw, but she wasn't that dedicated to her house colors.

"How many do you have?" Aquila asked Dudley quietly, not wanting to be overheard.

"Twenty three right, so far."

Aquila bit her lip. "Twenty eight," she admitted. "Ang, how many?"

"Twenty six."

Aquila grinned and glanced at Dudley before glancing back at her parchment. "Shit," She muttered, suppressing a giggle. She was winning.

"Twelve, thanks for asking," George stated.

"Thirteen," Fred grinned. He frowned as they announced another name. "Right, make that twelve. I was so sure about that bloke."

She peaked at Dudley's parchment to see that he was doing pretty good. Maybe even better than he was saying. "So what happens tonight?"

"Tonight, we head to the other pitch, for the match tomorrow," Aquila told him. "We set up shop in a fancy building, so no more tent nonsense." Aquila glanced at him with a smirk. "Real meals by the boys parents and basic pampering compared to this. But, before we leave, we sort of celebrate whoever wins with a good old fashioned game."

"Game?"

"Exploding Snaps. I'll teach you, if you want," Aquila informed him.

"And I take it they explode."

"Does anything else in the Wizarding World not explode?" she questioned. "Of course." Her head rested on his own as more names were called off. Merlin, this was the most boring part off the trials. The waiting.

It was well past noon by the time all the people were announced. "And now we count, and count others," Aquia told Dudley as everyone started to pass their parchments around. She took his and handed hers to George as she began to count. Bloody hell... Eighty two? That was excellent!

"Eighty two," she announced to the group when they finished.

"Sixty seven."

"Thirty nine."

"Twelve."

"Ninety eight-" It was George that said it. Bloody hell, nobody could have gotten better that that, could they?

"Sixty nine."

"Fifty three."

"Ninety-" Aquila's heart stopped as she stared at Aidan. Please, please, no, "-three."

She exhaled in relief and listened to the rest of the numbers. Dudley was the last one to state the numbers - what Alicia had. "Ninety seven."

"Holy bloody fuck," Aquila breathed. "Yes!" she cried in victory. She shook Alicia's hand firmly. "We're always close, Spinnet. Always close. I fear next year you'll beat me."

"It's my single goal in life, Black," Alicia smirked.

"So, what's the price, then?" the twins demanded. They each wore evil grins on their faces that seemed to only shine when they had the prospect of a prank. Aquila rubbed her hands together and closed her eyes as she thought. "Normally I'd target the Slytherins, but with the changes recently, any attention off of me is probably best," Aquila said carefully. She had to think it out like a Ravenclaw, after all. "I would say Amos, but I really want to try out, so that's out. There's Dudley, but I'd rather not have to possibly scar him for life from magic. And then there's the twins, who of course, can't prank themselves. So I guess that leaves me with my mother."

"You were aiming for your mother the entire time."

"Obviously," Aquila grinned. She gave the twins her full attention. "So, this is what I'm thinking. We charm every mirror in the house to give whoever looks inside a distorted appearance. But it's so subtly she doesn't realize it. She just truly thinks she has an enlarged chin or something. Looks are everything to my mother. What better way to get revenge."

"We'd have to get into your house somehow, and get her away," the twins agreed. "Any ideas?"

"Tea with my mum," Dudley offered. "Mum would like it, and Aquila's mum knows my mum well enough-"

"Perfect," Aquila insisted to him, smiring. "So?"

"We can do it," the twins said firmly. "And sell look alikes in our shop."

"You gotta get the shop first."

"Already looking at places in Diagon Alley," George informed her. "We so far have three places we just need to put a deposit on."

"Yeah, and we already have half of the deposit just in last years puking pastells," Fred continued.

"How far away are you?" Aquila asked. "Maybe I'll make a quality investment for the return of a discount - under the counter, of course."

The twins waved it away, not going to take her offer. "Potter's already given us his money from the Triwizard Tournament. Once we figure out which place to take, we'll already be set. Though investments are welcome, we aren't looked to be invested upon anytime soon."

"And I'd like to maintain my innocence to my person," Fred smirked. "You're invited to opening, though."

"Send me a postcard," Aquila muttered absently, though she was interested. She looked at the twins intently. "How much time would you need?"

"An hour at most."

"I can get Mum to do that," Dudley told them. Aquila grinned at him. "Yeah, she's good at making diversions."

"Mate, you're officially one of us now," the twins said seriously. "That means you gotta do your part."

"My part?" Dudley asked.

"You can't piss me off, basically," Aquila smirked. "Because then I'll change my mind about the prank and the twins research too much for that to happen." She rolled up the parchment in her hands. "Oh, and you can't distract me, because I have to place silencing charms in the garden and cancel them at the exact same moment as the twins apparation."

"Distract you?" Dudley asked, confused.

Aquila winked. "That's not something you discuss in public."

"Unless it's us lot. She any good, mate?" Lynch asked.

"Yeah, you were practically eating each other's tongues out last night," Quigley piped up.

Aquila flushed, but it was Dudley that spoke. "We haven't like... we've snogged, yeah."

"Uh, how disappointing," Angelina sighed. "Oh, well, the night's still young."

Aquila didn't like the topic of her love life and instead spoke up. "How about what happens between us isn't tossed around for a friend of my mother's to possibly overhear, yes?"

"I thought your mother was on the side of the Order," Aidan said, confused.

"But she's still trying to put Aquila into a marriage contract, so she's trying to lay low," Dudley helpfully supplied.

Aquila shrugged sheepishly. "The latest bloke is Simon Otterburn," Aquila admitted. Lynch grimaced.

"That bloke is such a sleaze-ball!" Lynch protested.

"Preciesly what my brother told my mother. He also spoke horribly of every other bloke he knew of to throw my mother off. That only lasts until the next letter. Can you believe she wanted me to get married this Christmas?" Aquila gave a snort of disgust. "I told her that I needed to win the Quidditch cup at school first, and focus on school. I'm not too sure she bought it, but Otterburn is persistant. She got an owl from him right before we left to get here." Aquila rolled her eyes. "Anyway, no more about that. I've got a fall back if she tries anything, so what time is the portkey?"

"Eight sharp," Tara stated. "So meet at the tent at seven."

"Got it," Aquila grinned. She took Dudley's arm. "You wanna see something great?"

"I'm in."

"The fact that you didn't even ask what it was makes me amazingly ecstatic with you right now," Aquila informed him simply. The others laughed and she pulled Dudley away, her wand out in her other hand, before she rolled her eyes. "We're going to head to my school mate's tent."

"Oh?"

"You'll see," she grinned. "They're all a bunch of bookworms, so they don't really know how to party, but since you aren't fond of big loud parties, I figure it'll be more your gig."

"Well, you are fifth time champion, so what you say goes."

"And the fact that you remember that, makes me extremely ecstatic with you," Aquila said, amazed. She shook her head as she met his eyes. "It's like your memory is perfect."

"Er, well, not really," Dudley said, embarrassed. His cheeks twinged pink, but she shook her head again and clutched his arm tightly as she pulled him down the stairs. "So your school mates, they'll know I'm Muggle, yeah?"

"Shhh," she said sharply, glancing around them. No one seemed to have heard. "Dangerous business going around saying that in the open like that. Though I'm surprised it was kept a secret this long. But yeah, they'll know. Most of them are good people. Chang will probably be there, but..." Aquila shrugged. "I'll just ignore her. No wand fights. No arguments. Whatever she tries to rile me up with, I let it blow over. She just wants me to yell at her because she feels guilty. Well, two can play at that game."

"You want her to yell at you because you feel guilty?" Dudley asked, confused.

"No, I just know what she's trying to do, so I'm one step ahead. I am the eagle, Dudley. And she is my prey," Aquila said seriously, her eyes watching in front of her as she led them down the stairs, towards the party she knew would be dull but maybe he'd like the change of pace for a night. He looked a bit peaky when he woke up that morning.

"Er, right."

"Just don't get in any academic debates you know you'll lose," Aquila warned him. The tent they were approaching some ten minutes later was the same as all the others, except the flaps for the door were a dark blue with an eagle head embroidered along it. Aquila entered and heads popped up in surprise to seeing her. "So, who's popping out the chess board?"

"Aquila, mate, I thought you were leaving," Roger Davies, the Quidditch captain of Ravenclaw last year and all the years before, said as he rose from behind a chess board. How stereotypical. Aquila shook his hand, smirking.

"We were going to, but I decided to check in the nest, first. Ah, there she is!" She spotted the eccentric blonde - and could have spotted her anywhere - sitting on the floor, her eyes closed and very still. "Hey, Luna, what are you doing, mate?"

The blonde's eyes opened and she gave Luna a serious smile. "Searching for the plumpies, of course. They're frightened away by eyes being open, so I'm hoping to attract them to me."

Dudley looked confused and Aquila mimicked the smoking of a joint and he seemed to understand, acting as though what the girl said was a serious matter.

"Right, well, stand up, little chicklet." Aquila held out her hand and the girl stood. Luna Lovegood was wearing an outfit made of feathers that suspiciously looked like a Veela, but Aquila supposed it could have been an eagle as well. Luna lurched forward suddenly and seized Dudley's hand in her own.

"It's so nice to meet Aquila's friend. You're different, the plumpies are telling me."

"I'm, er, not like you, if that's what you mean."

There were some snickers from the rest of the tent and Aquila shot them a glare. Honestly, they were horrible to the girl. They shut up and Aquila turned to Luna. "Say, Luna, why don't we play a game of snaps?"

"You're just asking to be polite, and to avoid Cho Chang in the back corner," Luna said with a small smile. Aquila glanced in the corner and found the Asian glancing towards the new party, before Aquila glanced away quickly, a frown tainting her lips. "I was going to ask if you wanted to go to the Hufflepuff tent with me. They have the most delicious dragon balls."

Aquila nearly choked on her tongue as she held back a snort. "What?"

"The hor d'oeuvres," Luna said simply. "They have dragon balls. They really are delicious. I can't understand why people don't eat them more."

"Um, Luna, I don't know if Dudley will like dragon balls."

"Oh, he won't, but he's too polite to say so," Luna informed the pair of them.

"Yeah, before you go and do that, Black, can I talk to you?" Davies spoke up. Aquila felt her eyes sparkle as she nodded and flounced over to him. He took her arm and steered her away, towards the far side of the tent, that was empty.

"What's up?" Aquila asked, trying to keep the hopeful grin off her face.

"You win this year?"

"Of course. I can predict the team's choices better than the team can themselves," Aquila smirked. "All in the body language and that seasons competition. You win yours?"

"Luna did."

That was a surprise. "She's telling us we have to all go on a plumpy excursion with her when school starts, so I'm saved, thankfully," Davies laughed. He looked a lot like Neville Longbottom, but older and he had a more aristocratic air about him. He was hot, there was no denying it, with an amazing Quidditch career and body under his belt.

"Well, congrats on making Southport," Aquila told him. "You really were great out there. Never lost faith in you for a second."

"Thanks," he said, a small smile on his face. "Speaking of Quidditch..." Aquila raised an eyebrow, her mind doing nothing but repeating Ask me to be captain, ask me to be captain, ask me to be captain- "You do intend on playing Ravenclaw this year, right?"

"What else would I play? Hufflepuff?" she countered with a laugh. "Of course I'm playing. I'm not giving the game up for the world."

"Good," Davies said, clearing his throat as if it was uncomfortable. "I trust there won't be any issues between you and Chang?"

"There weren't any issues last year between us, there won't be any this year," Aquila promised. "We'll always be your team, and your team doesn't let personal issues get in the way of the game."

"You know, it was a close call between naming either you or Chang for captain this year." Fuck, this was the letting you down easy speech. "Chang's pretty convincing." Did that mean he slept with her, because Aquila wouldn't put it past her.

"She got it, didn't she?" Aquila said quietly, deflating. That meant she had to try out again, and Chang would eat her alive at the chance. "Of course she did, she's seeker." Merlin, and she wanted it so bad.

"Actually, I'm giving it to you," Davies admitted. "You're a killer on the field. And I've seen you play with a broken leg, refusing medical treatment because Chang was close to catching the snitch. That's dedication you don't find just anywhere." Davies sighed. "But when there are Seeker try-outs, you have to be fair to Chang."

"I only want the best team," Aquila promised. She squealed suddenly and tackled him in a hug. "Thank you so much! Oh, Merlin, you won't regret this, I promise! We're going to get the Quidditch Cup this year. Gryffindor and Slytherin are going down." She pulled away from him and couldn't help herself from bouncing on her toes. "Oh, Merlin, this is amazing!"

"I thought you'd think so. So, to make it official, Flitwick owled me this a few weeks ago." He dug around in his pocket and pulled out the shiny silver Quidditch Captain pin emblazed upon an eagle head. He took her hand before lowering himself to one knee. Aquila rolled her eyes and smacked his hand away.

"Honestly? This display isn't necessary."

"It's tradition," Davies informed her cheekily. "Will you, Aquila Carina Black, take this badge and become the best Quidditch Captain Ravenclaw's seen since my captaincy?"

She snatched the badge out of his hands, before she smacked his away as he tried to take both of her hands. "Yes, now get up off the floor. You look like an idiot."

"She said yes!" Davies cried, standing up suddenly and gripping her upper arms.

"Don't you dare," she hissed at him, angling her head away from him so he couldn't even think about planting a kiss on her.

"Tradition."

"Fuck tradition," Aquila insisted. She stepped out of his reach and stared at the badge in her hands. Her badge. Bloody hell. She had done it. "Holy shit, I'm afraid I'm going to lose it, now. What if I drop it in the mud or something?"

"Flitwick's got about eighty more to replace it. I lost about six of them," Davies smirked. No way, this was too precious to replace. This was... this was a moment! "But don't expect me to show up and start the whole thing all over again."

She rolled her eyes and grinned. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome. You just better win."

"We will win," Aquila said with conviction.

"Good, now go to that Hufflepuff party. I need to maintain some dignity."

She snorted and hugged him tightly before she squealed and suddenly had her arms around Dudley's neck. "Captain!" she whispered in disbelief. Her arms tightened around his neck before she pulled away, her feet falling to the floor. Oops, she hadn't meant to jump on him. "Merlin, okay, I need to calm down."

"Congrats," Dudley smirked. She almost let him kiss her, but the sound of buzzing pulled her away from him. Her eyes found Luna, buzzing as she flapped her arms.

"Right, that's cue to go," Aquila sighed. She took the strange girl's arm. "Come on, Luna. Why don't you tell me what you're wearing."

"Oh, it's a Hufflepuff, of course," Luna said simply. "This is what is said they look like in the wild."

"What's a Hufflepuff?" Dudley asked once they were outside the tent.

"Er, it's a house," Aquila told him. "It's a last name, too, but, well... no one really knows what a Hufflepuff is."

"They're a cross between a badger and a bird," Luna said wisely. "It lays eggs that hatch as live animals, a lot like a platypus."

Aquila glanced at Dudley. "There you go." She glanced at Luna. "So why are you wearing it, chicklet?"

"You're going to wear a hole through that if you keep running your fingers across it," Luna smiled brightly at Aquila. She glanced towards the Hufflepuff tent a few yards away. "A boy in the Hufflepuff tent said he was looking forward to seeing me there. He said to dress nice."

Aquila felt a pang in her heart for the girl. "Luna, I don't think he meant dress up as a Hufflepuff. I think he wanted you to dress like you're ... well, like you're going out."

"Yes, I thought so too," Luna told the Black. And she continued towards the tent.

"Is she always like this?" Dudley asked Aquila quietly so the blonde wouldn't overhear.

"Yes, her father is quite eccentric as well... A lot of the Ravenclaws pick on her, stealing her things at night and hiding them in the castle... I just can't be mean to her. She's really a great girl and awfully wise if you look past all the plumpies business. But her mother died when she was very young and she saw the whole thing. I think that's sort of... it's sort of addled her a bit. Potion gone wrong. She was eight. I try to be nice to her and help her out, but she's just uniquely... herself."

"Interesting."

"Quite," Aquila agreed. "She's really smart though. Two years younger than us. But she can't wear that to see this secret admirer of hers." So she jogged a few steps to catch up to Luna and took her arm. "What if we dressed in something else, Luna? You can wear the Hufflepuff later, when it's cooler. But it's going to start to get hot, don't you think?"

"Oh, you're right," Luna said, but the thought already seemed to occur to her. "Well, I guess I could take it off."

Aquila didn't expect her to take it off in the middle of the pathway. Dudley looked decidedly embarrassed and glanced away as Luna pulled the feathered thing over her head. "Luna!" Aquila gasped. "You can't just-" But before Luna could cast a cloaking charm, she dropped the feathery material and she was wearing a... Merlin, she didn't look half bad. "Oh, that's perfect, Luna. I really like that shirt. Where did you get it?" Indeed, she was wearing a decent outfit underneath. A dark purple shirt that emphasized her blonde hair and a pair of Muggle jeans.

"My father made it for me," Luna said brightly. "Let's go."

Aquila and Dudley exchanged a glance before following. It turned out that the boy Luna wanted to meet was Justin Finch-Fletchley. A pompous idiot that Aquila despised, but Luna seemed to like him well enough. When Neville Longbottom arrived though, she politely left and went to him, talking animatedly about some sort of plant. Merlin, she could see those two together. She taught Dudley how to play Exploding Snaps and they were pretty rough at playing, and got a few singe marks, but made out with a few decent sickles worth. She still lost a few galleons, but whatever.

It was nearing seven when they announced they had to go. Hannah Abbott particularly liked Dudley, so she was sad to see him go, but Aquila promised that they'd no doubt all meet again sometime soon. Though Aquila doubted when that would happen.

"Got your badge?"

Aquila smiled up at Dudley, rolling her eyes. "Of course I do. Come on, we got to get to the tent before they leave without us."

"So where is this place, exactly?"

"It's Lynch's house. His mum lives there during Quidditch season to take care of the place. She cooks for the team, and the other mums help out during the days of matches. Like tonight and tomorrow night." She laughed. "You've never had Irish food, not even Tara's compares, until you eat that. Lynch grub, I call it."

"You and Lynch are close."

"Quidditch, I guess. I don't know. I've known him since I was eleven."

"Oh, yeah," Dudley murmured. Aquila glanced at him, sensing the mood change.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "Lynch and I - there's nothing between us, you know. There never has been. He looks a lot like my brother, acts like him too. It'd be too weird."

"I know," Dudley insisted. "It's just... you have a lot of blokes in your life."

"Quidditch is mostly played by men," Aquila sighed. "What happened with Davies... I had no idea that was the tradition. It was embarrassing, honestly. Besides, I'm going to have a lot of guys in my life. It's just how the sport is... I still like you, Dudley. That doesn't change, you know. And I hope it won't be a problem... I'm not interested in them."

"Good."

She giggled, "Good." So he had a jealous side. A jealous side, a lazy side, an active side, and a caring side. And so many other facets. A human make-up. "Come on, we should hurry." So they walked as quickly as they could, without being qualified as jogging, and entered the Irish tent in a flourish.

"Right, pack up, quick, quick, we have to take down our tent, mates!" Mullet was calling to them.

Aquila smirked at Dudley and grabbed her trunk, throwing her things inside and taking Dudley's bag from him, before making sure her broom, stuffed inside, was alright. She didn't want to ruin it. She shrunk the trunk, much to Dudley's surprise, and handed it towards him. "Put that in your pocket. I would put them in mine, but yours are deeper." He nodded and she moved to the kitchen, helping Tara put any left over food into a sack and stuffing that in a crate that seemed to be made especially for that.

"We're going to apparate to Lynch's," Tara informed her. "Your boy know what to do?"

"Er, no," Aquila admitted.

"I'll take him, then. I'm a lot gentler than Quigley."

Aquila laughed, rolling her eyes. "Thanks. I appreciate it."

"Quigley will take you. And Fred's taking Alicia. I think that's everyone underage?" Aquila nodded and Tara wiped off her hands before directing everyone out of the tent. It took four full grown Quidditch players to wrestle a tent that was no larger than a bed on the outside to the ground. And then Quigley took her arm.

"Deep breath," she heard Tara instruct Dudley. "You may get a tad nauseas. Just don't vomit on me, lad." And then they were gone. Aquila nodded to Quigley, telling him she was ready, and they were gone as well.