I love JKR for writing this stuff that I can play with!
The week had gone by quickly. Transfiguration and Charms were the same as usual. Potions was increasingly difficult but Harry kept true to his promise. He turned in all his homework and he was pleased to see, though Snape was not, that he had received an A on the first piece handed back. Krum had been having a difficult time in Defense Against the Dark Arts. The Gryffindors and other members of the DA were excelling while many of the Slytherins were far behind.
Sitting atop his broom, Harry breathed in the autumn air and smiled.
"Okay," he said to Ron, Katie, and Alicia. "We're all that's left. Sloper and Kirk decided they no longer wish to be our Beaters," he heard an audible sigh of relief from one of the girls, "and Ginny is trying out for another position. We are looking for a Chaser and two Beaters. I think its safe to say that Ginny will be Chaser unless someone who is much better than her comes along. I believe in loyalty and if someone plays one year, I will almost definitely accept them the next." He looked at the three of them. "Any of you have a problem with that?"
"Nope. I like Ginny," Alicia said.
"Cool by me, she's good enough," added Katie.
They all looked over at Ron who grinned and said, "We gotta keep it in the family, don't we?"
"Brilliant," Harry said. "Let's get the tryouts started."
When everyone had assembled, Harry gave them brief instructions on how he wanted the try outs to go. Then, they rose up in the air and got started with the Beaters. Quickly he understood how frustrating it must have been for Angelina when she had to replace him and the twins last year. ost of the kids who tried out were simply terrible, it was almost painful to watch. He marked on a clipboard the select few that were even decent.
"Okay," he said when once more, everyone was on the ground. "That's it for the Beaters. You all flew well, we'll have results posted tomorrow. You can stick around to watch or clear out."
As the Chaser tryouts got underway, Harry was again disgruntled with the Gryffindors. He could see Katie and Alicia exchange looks of trepidition as the Quaffle was continually dropped and missed.
"Thank you," he said over and over. "Read the results tomorrow morning."
It was dark when Ginny finally flew. "Okay, Gin," he said. "Just do some Quaffle handling with Alicia and Katie and then we'll see how you do with scoring."
"Right," she said and they went at it. As she threw the Quaffle back and forth, Harry couldn't help but smile. Ginny's flying was aggressive and sure but she did it very gracefully. She seemed to sense when something was going to happen and she would throw the Quaffle to a place where Alicia or Katie would appear from nowhere.
"She's good," Harry whispered to Ron. "Real good."
"What did you expect?" Ron said. "She's a Weasley."
"It's not just that," Harry said. "It's more. She seems to have a sixth sense. She knows every move that someone out there is making before it even happens."
"Don't get too carried away, mate," Ron warned. "I know Ginny's the best person who tried out today and she's got the spot fairly, but people will say it's because she's your girlfriend that she's on the team and any favoring you do will be quickly noted and judged."
"You sound like Hermione," Harry laughed.
"Yeah? Well, maybe the good sense is starting to rub off," Ron joked as he flew to the goal posts.
Maybe, Harry thought. And maybe you're growing up too.
As Ginny threw the Quaffle to the goals, Harry watched her carefully. She would close her eyes, relax, and then throw the Quaffle before opening them back up. She scored every time.
Harry sat in the locker room with his team. "Well?" he said hanging up his gear. "What do you think?"
"Ginny definitely," Katie said. The other two nodded emphatically.
"That's a given," Harry said. "What about the Beaters?"
"That's hard to say," Ron replied. "I think Colin Creevey did surprisingly well."
Alicia agreed. "He can be a pain but he did pretty good."
"That's what I thought, too," Harry said, then looked down at his list. "Okay, we have Ginny, Colin and-"
"What about me?" a voice behind them said. They looked to see a girl with blonde hair in the doorway. In her hand was a Firebolt.
"What's your name?" Harry said, looking down at the list again.
"Kyla Thomas," she replied. "You won't find me there. I've only just moved here. I was a Beater at my school in America for three years."
"Let's see what you can do, then," Harry said. Walking out to the pitch, Kyla pulled her long hair back and mounted her broom.
"Just bat it about for a bit," Harry said, giving her the bat. "Holler when you are ready for the Bludger." Kyla flew off.
"Ready!" she called. Releasing the Bludger it shot into the sky and came back down. She hit it and it went off again. Coming from behind, she spun around and sent it into the stands. As it flew back towards her head, she turned and dove to the ground, the Bludger pursuing her. When it looked as if she was going to crash, she pulled up about a foot from the ground and the Bludger collided with the turf making a two foot deep holde. Harry summoned it to him and locked it back up. Kyla flew back over and hopped down.
"Well?" she said, smiling.
"That was bloody brilliant!" Ron said and Harry nudged him.
"Results will be posted tomorow morning in the common room," he said. "You flew well, thank you."
"You're welcome," she siad and headed off towards the castle.
"Well, Harry," Alicia said. "I guess we have a team."
"Yeah," he replied. "I guess we do."
Whew! That took awhile to get up. Okay, I introduced a brand new character in this. Kyla is named after one of my best friends. Her name is Kyla(bet that was a shocker!) She'll come in every so often, maybe say a line or two when she does. I haven't ultimately worked her into the grand scheme of things yet.
Also, I am working on a new story as we speak. It'll be short, only five chapters and I only have two left to write. I'll keep you updated on that so, that being said, here's your spoiler!
Harry nodded slowly. "And you want me to do this?"
He smiled. "You were the first choice."
I laugh with a great ha ha!