hI ran down to the Quidditch field, excitement bubbling up. It was the Friday after Ari first caught the snitch, and I had extraordinary news to tell her.
As Ari came into my view, I couldn't help but notice how pretty she could be in plain clothes. She was only wearing a black wool sweater, boot cut old jeans and old black boots, but there was more to her. As I neared, I saw the wind playing with the ends of her hair, the natural beauty of her face, and her eyes brightening when she saw me. I had grown very fond of Ari, and I felt close to her.
"Hey Char-" smiled Ari, but I cut her off.
"What do you know about hitting?" I panted.
The smile was wiped off her face, and a 'what the heck is going on?!?' look replaced it. "Hitting?" she asked, her eyes narrow. "Why do you want to know how well I hit"?
I slapped my forehead and groaned. For some reason, people always misinterpreted my words. "Hit Bludgers, Ari. Bludgers."
A pink tinge rose in her cheeks. "Oh," she blushed. "I thought you meant...." She didn't have to finish - I realized that she misunderstood it. She thought I was referring to people or, more specifically, members of her opposite gender.
She shook her head. "Um...I don't know. Why do you want to know?" She looked at me, demanding an answer.
I grinned. "Beater tryouts!"
"Beater tryouts? But I thought you already had a Beater."
I winced. "Well, yeah...but he's not on the team anymore."
"He resigned?"
"Erm, I sorta kicked him off." Ari's eyes widened, and a look of disbelief shadowed her face. "Don't look at me like that!" I objected. "He wasn't contributing well to the team, he was a real whiner, he has a lot of studies to catch up on, and, well, I thought that he should go."
Ari nodded, seeing my point. "But how does this connect to how well I can hit?"
I rolled my eyes. Was she waiting for a written invitation? "Ari, I was wondering if you'd like to try out for the team."
"ME?!" shrieked Ari, clearly caught off guard. "But I can't! I've never tried...I don't know the first thing about Beating!"
"That's what I'm here for today!" I exclaimed happily. I shot her a look saying You're not getting out of this, so don't even try. I resumed my happy face, and pulled out a small bat from the trunk. "You might want to take this." I grabbed the other one for myself, just in case. I mounted my broom, and told Ari to release the Bludger on the count of three.
"One...two...three!"
The Bludger sailed around with frightening speed. As it came towards me, I mustered all of my strength and hit it. After flying around and hitting it a few times, I landed back on the ground, wrestled the Bludger into the chest of balls, and fastened the restraints. I flashed Ari a grin. "Your turn!"
I could tell that she was nervous, or at least going to be sick. She hesitantly mounted her broom, and I noticed that her hands were shaking. She flew up, and I released the Bludger.
I had seen Ari play Quidditch before. She wasn't the greatest at Seeking, her Keeping was a little patchy, her Chasing as alright, but I had never seen anyone Beat as well as she did.
She zoomed around the field at breakneck speed, and when she whacked the Bludger, it sailed farther than I had ever seen it go. After about five minutes, she landed on the ground, and I struggled against the Bludger to put it back in its chest. I eventually won, and I got up and faced a worn out Ari.
"How...how did I do?" she asked, trying to catch her breath.
"Brilliant."
She started at me for a few seconds, not comprehending the words. Finally, a slow smile spread across her lips. "Really?" she asked softly.
"Really." I smiled back at her, feeling the fondness for Ari growing stronger. I took the broomstick out of her hand. "If you're going to try out," I began, "you're going to need your own broomstick."
Ari nodded. "The school's broomsticks are slow, and I need my own anyway. Wait a minute...the Hogsmeade trip is tomorrow!"
I groaned. How could I forget?
Actually, it was pretty easy to forget this time. With Ari around, most of the girls didn't bother me anymore.
"Let's see how many people will be trying to bully me into a date." I replied sourly.
Ari's eyes twinkled. She held out a hand. "Would you, Charlie Weasley, give me the honor of taking you on a date in Hogsmeade to a broomstick shop?" She asked solemnly.
I burst out laughing. Every girl had asked me out...and now Ari!
I masked my humor by putting on a serious place. "It would be my pleasure to accompany you to Hogsmeade on a date." I shook her hand.
The corners of Ari's mouth twitched, and we both knelt over with laughter.
"One thing, Ari." I asked.
"Yeah?"
"This isn't a real date, right?"
She looked revolted. "Sorry, but there are no plans in the future to date my best friend."
I felt part relieved, and part saddened to hear that she'd never date me. I really did like Ari...I really did like her a lot.
I painted a smile on my face to mask my disappointment. "Sounds great."
We walked back to the castle, and we stopped by the Great Hall so Ari could at least eat a little before going to bed. "All that Beating gave me an appetite." she joked.
As she snacked on a drumstick, a girl sat down next to me. She was tall with blonde hair and jade eyes. She was wearing a tight pink sweater, a grey skirt that stopped before her knees, black, shiny boots that went up to below her knees, and (of course) black robes. Any guy in their right mind would take a second look, but in my mind, she paled in comparison next to Ari's beauty.
"I'm Zan," she began, resting her chin in her palm, "and there's no question to who you are...Charlie." She flashed a devilish smile, her jade eyes glittering. "I've seen you play Quidditch. How did you get so good?"
"Practice," I answered monotonously. Here we go again...
"It's my brother's birthday coming up, and I want to buy him some type of Quidditch supply. Since I know nothing about it, I was wondering if you'd want to come with me to Hogsmeade and help me out of my little mess."
I opened my mouth to decline, but Zan took it the wrong way. "Excellent. I'll meet you in the Great Hall tomorrow." She winked at me, and fluttered off to her preppy friends.
I shot a look of hopelessness to Ari, who was already rolling up her sleeves. "I'll handle this," she muttered.
Ari strode out of the Great Hall after Zan, and in a bolt of curiosity, I went to observe.
"Hey Zan!" greeted Ari, as if they were long-lost sisters. Zan's doe eyes found Ari.
"Hello, um...", she began, not sure of Ari's name.
"Don't worry about my name." Ari brushed the question off quickly. "I'm here to break the bad news to you."
Zan's eyes widened. "The Golden Quill is going bankrupt? Oh, no! Now where will I go shopping?" She wailed.
Ari had a hard time wiping the amused look off of her face. "Um, no. That's not it. Charlie can't meet you tomorrow."
Zan had a confused look on her face. "Really? Why not?"
Ari looked momentarily stumped. "Because...because...." Her eyes suddenly flashed with a great idea. "Because he has a hot date." Ari saw me hiding and flashed me a wicked grin.
I felt as if someone punched me in the gut. Here was Ari, telling an outright and embarrassing lie. Unless, of course, she was talking about herself...
"Oh," said a slightly hurt Zan. "Well, thanks."
"You're welcome." smiled Ari, and walked away. She waited until Zan disappeared with her girlfriends around the corner before talking. "See?" hissed Ari. "Was that so hard?"
I didn't answer. I was still reeling from how Ari handled the situation.