This is it, Jimmy, Jimmy Peakes thought to himself that morning. Your Quidditch trial. Don’t mess it up.
Finally, he was on the field. Finally, he was going to get his chance. And he wasn’t just here because Harry Potter was the captain. Harry Potter was just a bonus. No, Jimmy truly loved Quidditch. He loved to fly, loved to watch the games. Jimmy had been flying since he was six years old and loved every second of it. He and his dad used to spend every weekend training, and now he was going to get his shot at playing.
Potter handed him a bat. “Okay, Peakes,” he said. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”
Potter blew his whistle and took off. Jimmy kicked off as well. This was the moment he’d been working toward all his life. Now, he was finally going to be able to show what he could do.
There was a Bludger. Potter had told them before the trial started not to worry about hurting anybody and so Jimmy didn’t. He took aim at the Bludger and hit it with all his might.
There was a loud crack as the Bludger connected with Potter’s head. Potter blew his whistle and they landed.
“Excellent,” Potter said with a nod. “Next!”
At the end, Jimmy was on the team.
*
“You’re unbeatable, Jimmy,” his father used to say to him. “You’re unbeatable and don’t you forget it. Someday, you’ll play on the great teams of Britain.”
Jimmy had always made himself believe that he was unbeatable. He used to fly every day he could and when he couldn’t fly, he would lift the heaviest objects he could find. He would practice swinging his arms in the motion needed to hit Bludgers, and when he was eight, his father bought him a bat to practice. They would go out, and his father would throw apples or balls for Jimmy to hit.
And now, it had paid off.
*
Jimmy soon learned that playing on the Gryffindor Quidditch team was different from playing in the backyard with his dad. Potter worked everyone very hard, and rarely let the team off practice. Jimmy was getting stronger, though, and much better at hitting Bludgers. The other boy, Ritchie Coote, was also good, and he and Jimmy were becoming quite good friends. Often times they would sit together in the common room discussing Quidditch. Ritchie was a year above Jimmy, but that didn’t seem to matter. Ritchie usually had a lot to say, and Jimmy didn’t mind listening to him.
The only other person on the field who Jimmy really noticed was one of the Chasers, Demelza Robbins. Demelza was in Jimmy’s year, but he had rarely noticed her before. She was fairly quiet, not shy, just not very outgoing. She was very pretty, with dark brown curls and a cute button nose. She was a good Chaser, too. Jimmy noticed it at every practice.
Even off the field, Jimmy was starting to try and talk to Demelza. He would smile at her in class, and whenever Flitwick assigned partners in Charms, he hoped to be paired with Demelza. Once, they were paired up for spell work. Jimmy tried very hard to impress her by doing his Engorgement Charm perfectly. Unfortunately, he was a little too enthusiastic and the apple he was working on exploded. Luckily, it didn’t hurt her, and she thought it was very funny. When Jimmy told Ritchie about it later, Ritchie had a very encouraging take on it.
“Girls love guys who can make them laugh,” he told Jimmy cheerfully. Ritchie was optimistic about most situations.
*
“Girls like Beaters,” Jimmy’s father told him. “Look at me. I was a Beater for the Gryffindor team in my day, and that’s how I won your mother. Big, strong guys get girls.”
Jimmy was ten, and still thought girls had cooties. “But, Dad, I don’t want girls,” he whined.
“You will,” his dad said with a chuckle. “And when you’re a Beater for Gryffindor, they’ll be lining up. You just wait. It’s wonderful.”
*
There were only a few weeks before the first game and Jimmy was starting to feel nervous. Katie Bell, one of the Chasers, had been cursed a week before, and although Jimmy didn’t know the details, it was clear that she wouldn’t be back for the game. Potter had replaced her privately, with one of the other people who had been at the trials. The replacement, Dean Thomas, was a good player. The problem was the Keeper.
Ron Weasley was Potter’s best friend and had done very well at the trials, but he got nervous easily. During that practice, he played so badly that he finally hit Demelza in the mouth. Luckily Potter knew what to do about it.
After practice, Ritchie gave Jimmy a bit of a nudge toward Demelza. “Go talk to her,” Ritchie muttered.
“What do I say?” Jimmy hissed back.
“Ask if she’s all right,” Ritchie suggested.
Jimmy took a deep breath and walked over. “Hey, Demelza?” he said.
She turned. “Oh… hi, Jimmy.”
“Er, are you okay?” Jimmy asked nervously. “I mean, Weasley didn’t hit you too hard, did he?”
“A little,” she admitted. “But I’m fine. Harry had me fixed up in an instant.”
“Right,” Jimmy said. “Just… just making sure.”
She smiled at him. “Thanks for asking,” she said, before turning and going up the stairs to the girls’ dormitories.
*
“In addition to being a Beater,” Jimmy’s father told him. “You need to show girls you like them and care about them. Find something to talk about. Don’t let them forget about you.”
“James,” Jimmy’s mother said. “Don’t overwhelm him. You know how shy he is.”
“I’m not shy!” Jimmy insisted, although it was true. He was rather nervous about talking to people.
“He’ll get over it,” his father said confidently. “When you’re on the team, Jimmy, you’ll never be shy again.”
*
The day before the game came, and Jimmy’s nerves reached a crisis. Weasley was in bad shape, shouting and swearing at everyone.
Jimmy could deal with that. He didn’t care if people criticized him. But then Demelza began to cry as Weasley shouted at her.
“You leave her alone!” Jimmy shouted. Jimmy didn’t care that Weasley was a lot bigger than he was. No one could talk to Demelza like that.
At that point, Potter ordered them to break it up, gave instructions, and sent the team back to the common room.
Jimmy caught up with Demelza. “You played really well,” he said. “I don’t care what Weasley says.”
“Thanks, Jimmy,” Demelza said. Her eyes were still red and her cheeks were still blotchy. “You play well too.”
“We’re going to cream Slytherin tomorrow,” Jimmy said with more confidence than he felt. “I know we will.”
“Yeah, right,” Demelza said. “The way Weasley was playing?”
“He’s not the only player,” Jimmy said.
“No,” Demelza agreed. “But why does he have to be so mean?”
Jimmy swallowed. He desperately wanted to put his arm around Demelza and hug her until she stopped crying.
At that moment, Ginny Weasley came over and hugged Demelza instead. “Come on,” she said. “Let’s go sit by the fire, Demelza. My brother’s a jerk, anyway. Are you coming, Peakes?”
“Yeah,” Jimmy said. “I’m coming.”
*
“Your first game will be hard,” his father said. “There’s no denying it. It’s nerve-wracking. But don’t panic. The only thing you have to do is hit the Bludgers. Don’t worry about the score. Just concentrate on the Bludgers.”
“Okay, Dad,” Jimmy said.
“And remember,” his dad said. “After you win, they’ll all love you. You and everyone else on the team. But mostly you.”
“How do you know I’ll win?” Jimmy asked.
“You’re unbeatable,” his dad answered.
*
The Common Room was full of energy that night. Weasley had somehow pulled off a stunning performance, Potter had caught the Snitch, and the Chasers had been in top form. That night, Jimmy sought out Demelza.
“You played excellently,” Jimmy said.
“Thanks,” she said with a smile. “You did too.”
She was sitting alone in a corner. Jimmy sat down next to her. “Why don’t you go over in the center with the others?” he asked her.
Demelza shrugged. “I don’t know,” she said. “I don’t often like hanging around other people.”
“Why not?” Jimmy asked. “They all love you. You’re a great Chaser.”
She smiled at him again. “Everyone has always told me so,” she admitted. “But until this year I never had the courage to try out. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to this year. I mean, the Gryffindor team has had great Chasers for years and I didn’t think I could play that well.”
Jimmy nodded. “I felt the same way,” he confessed. “I never thought I could make it. But I had to try out… for my dad.”
“Have you written him?” Demelza asked. “He’ll be really proud of you.”
Jimmy felt his eyes fill with tears. “He died last summer,” he said. He hadn’t told anyone about it. “You remember in the papers… giant in the west… my dad was one of the people who went to help with it…”
“I’m sorry,” Demelza said.
“It’s okay,” Jimmy told her. “I just have to keep winning for him.”
“You will,” she said. “You’re unbeatable.”
*
“Never give up,” his dad told him. “Never back down. Even if you don’t win every game, you can’t stop playing.”
“I won’t stop,” Jimmy promised. “You just wait. I’ll keep playing, and I will win.”
“That’s my boy,” his father said. “That’s my boy.”
*
“Would you like to meet me in Hogsmeade next trip?” Jimmy asked Demelza suddenly.
“Sure,” she said.
“Great,” Jimmy said, and he felt like he had won a thousand Quidditch games.
So his dad had been right. Beaters did get the girls.