Chapter Text
September 2010
Dahlia walks onto the pitch carrying Harry’s trusty old Firebolt. She looks out into the stands and sees the Snake & Badger Society waving down at her. Gaining confidence from her friends, she takes a deep breath and makes her way to the growing group of Slytherins standing around Professor Ross. She hears someone whisper, “Thank Salazar, Potter is here!” and apparently Harvey hears it too because he knocks his shoulder into hers jokingly.
Dahlia swings her broomstick at her friend and housemate. He takes a step back and holds up his hands in defense. She has to tilt her head back to look at him, since Harvey grew more than a few inches over the summer. She opens her mouth to say something but gets cut off by a shrill whistle.
“Welcome, everybody!” Professor Ross shouts says with a grin. “I’m going to turn it over to your team captain in a moment, but first I just want to thank all of you for showing up for try-outs. We’ve had a couple of rough years and I know we want to bring that Cup back to Slytherin house. Just remember, there’s no point in playing if you’re not having fun.” Grumbles of indignation can be heard throughout the students and Ross chuckles. “Alright, alright. I admit it’s more fun to win, but I have to say stuff like that; I’m a responsible adult.”
“Says who?” a cheeky fifth year shouts from the front of the group.
“Don’t make me take points away,” Ross threatens, though he has a smirk on his face and no one is convinced he’d actually do it. “I can see I’m not wanted, so I’m going to let Elijah take over now. Good luck!”
A slim seventh year with shaggy brown hair steps forward. He has his racing broom slung over one shoulder and a cocky grin etched onto his freckled face. “I’m Elijah Bole and I’m returning this year as captain. Ross may not care about winning but I do, and that means I’m going to make the best team possible. So I don’t care if you played with me last year or not; everyone has an equal chance of making- or being cut from- the team.”
He makes eye contact with each person individually, causing Dahlia to blush when his gaze lands on hers. Her eyes widen when Elijah winks at her before moving on.
“We’re going to start off with four laps around the pitch. I’ll give you one lap to shake the cobwebs off your brooms and get reacquainted with the wood between your legs, but then I want you to fly as fast as you can. Pass each other but don’t sabotage each other. After that I’ll call you up in groups by position: first Chasers, then Beaters, then Keepers, then Seekers. If I call your name, you’re out. You can take a seat in the stands or just go back to the dorm to sulk. Brooms up!”
And so with zero warning, Dahlia and Harvey scramble to mount their brooms and take to the sky. Dahlia kicks off the ground with both feet to get as much altitude as possible. Harvey uses his height to his advantage and easily pushes off. Once hovering above the stands Dahlia shouts to Harvey, “Ready for me to fly circles around you?”
Harvey lets out a big laugh. “Pretty confident there, Lia.”
She just gives a wicked grin and leans forward, taking off around the perimeter of the pitch. She revels in the way the wind whips across her face. She closes her eyes and can almost smell the wild grass that grows in the fields outside the Burrow. “Oi! Daydream on your own time, Potter! Your first lap is almost done!”
Dahlia jerks her head around to find Elijah directly to her left, matching her speed. She wants to be embarrassed but this is her chance to prove herself. With only a couple meters to go until she’s back around to the start, Dahlia gives a goofy salute and speeds away from him.
She quickly comes up behind a couple of third year boys and, instead of going around them, she dips below them before jolting forward again. She tosses a wave over her shoulder as she zips ahead. Seeing Teddy’s bright green hair standing out in the stands below, she decides to show off. She flips her broom upside down and flies low towards her friends. They cheer her on and that only encourages her boldness.
Dahlia then approaches three veteran players who are flying in a ‘V’ formation. Righting herself on her broom, she flies as close as possible to the lead player. The two on either side of her are startle by her sudden closeness and try to shake her off. Thankfully, Dahlia has played with the Weasleys and they often play rough. She dodges first the blonde girl and then the stocky boy, doing an unintentional barrel roll to keep herself heading in the correct direction. Then she notices the girl coming in from the left at an alarming speed. Dahlia pulls up on her broom just in time to avoid getting smashed. Instead, the blonde girl smashes into the boy and they two go tumbling down to the grass below. Dahlia pauses just long enough to see Ross slow their descent and then she takes off again.
She uses her last lap around the pitch to show off her speed. She leans forward so far she is practically flat on top of her broom. Not wanting to risk a collision at these speeds, Dahlia chooses to fly slightly higher than everyone else. Her only goal is to finish as fast as she possibly can.
She isn’t first, but she’s definitely at the front of the pack. She touches down on the grass a little less gracefully than she hoped she would and just tries to catch her breath. A few older students compliment her flying, clapping her on the shoulder. Harvey lands next to her with a breathless laugh. “Good thing I stayed out of your way. You would have taken me out!”
Dahlia just shrugs, but her flushed face gives away her guilt. “It’s not like I meant to knock them down. They should have listened to Elijah and just flown.”
Harvey batts his eyelashes mockingly and says in a high-pitched voice, “Oh, Eliiijaaah!” She punches him in the shoulder. Hard. “Watch it!” he yells in his normal voice. “I need that arm.”
As the last few flyers come around the finish, Elijah claps a few times to get everyone’s attention. “Davis, Adams…you’re out! I told you not to sabotage each other and you ignored me. That, and you let a second year get the best of you. For veteran players that was some really sloppy flying.”
They start to complain loudly but are quickly shut down. “If I say you’re out then you’re out! And Ross will back me up, so don’t even think about running to him.” The blonde girl throws her broom down and stomps back towards the castle. The boy at least has the decency to look apologetic as he picks up her broom and slowly goes in the direction of the locker rooms.
“You- fourth year?” Elijah gestures to a nervous-looking girl panting on the ground. “You just don’t have the speed, sorry. You’re out.” She doesn’t look too disappointed with herself. She just wishes her friends good luck before taking a seat in the stands.
Elijah eliminates two others based on their lack of broom-handling skills before addressing the entire group again. “Like I said, I’m going to take Chasers first. I’m only looking for two since I’m also a Chaser, but I’m going to have you work in rotating groups of three. Show me what you can do!”
Dahlia and Harvey move to the sidelines to watch. Someone drops the Quaffle and they can hear Elijah yell, “You’re out!” Someone else flies the wrong way and earns themselves a, “You’re out!” as well. One by one players are eliminated until only three hopefuls remain.
“Beaters!” Harvey looks in the direction of their captain. “Grab a bat and meet me up here. You’re going to play against these three as they run plays.”
Dahlia gives Harvey a quick one-armed hug and wishes him luck. He thanks her as he mounts his broom and joins the others in the air. Dahlia crosses her fingers as she watches him hit several Bludgers at the Chasers. At one point, Harvey has two Bludgers headed his way at the same time. She gasps but he manages to knock one into the other and send them both at other people. She is glad to see Elijah look impressed.
Next, the Keepers are called up. Elijah casts a quick duplication spell at the Quaffle so each person in the air has one. He has everyone line up and throw the Quaffles at the Keepers. After a few minutes he has the Beaters hit Bludgers at them, too. Dahlia is thankful that she’s not trying out for Keeper.
After each Keeper has had a chance in front of the rings, Elijah sends everyone down to the field to rest. “Seekers! Front and center!”
Only Dahlia and two fifth year boys mount their brooms and fly to where Elijah is waiting. “I hope that was as entertaining to you as it was to me,” he says to them with a laugh. “Now comes the hardest part. The rest of the game is just ogres throwing balls and bashing each other with sticks- and I can say that, I’m one of them. You guys are what makes Quidditch interesting. You’re going to play a little Seekers’ game. First one to catch the Snitch is our Seeker. Second person to catch it is our alternate. Any questions?”
One of the boys sneers at Dahlia. “You’re going to be fair, right? She doesn’t just get in because she’s a Potter?”
Elijah’s face turns stormy. “I said first person to catch the Snitch makes Seeker. If you don’t want her to be Seeker, then you better get your greasy hand around that Snitch before she does. And in case it slipped your tiny little mind, Potter coaches the Hufflepuff team!”
The boy continues to sneer at her, anger radiating from behind his eyes. The other boy, however, reaches a hand out to her. “Sorry ‘bout ‘im. ‘E’s a right foul git when ‘e wants to be.”
Dahlia shakes his hand but makes sure to keep an eye on the one still giving her an ugly look.
Elijah pulls a Snitch from his a pouch tied to his belt. Its golden wings unfurl and glitter in the afternoon sun. He releases it and they watch it flitter in front of them before it darts away. “On my mark; one, two, GO!”
The nasty boy takes off in the direction it first went, followed quickly by the other boy. Dahlia decides to take a different approach and moves higher. She scans the pitch and watches the other two flying around. She’s played this game with Harry, Draco, and Ginny enough times to know that good things come to those who wait.
Harry’s words echo in her head, “Patience, little flower. Don’t watch where the others are flying. Watch where they’re not flying.” Dahlia looks far to the other side and she catches a glint of something. It could just be the sun reflecting off of the goal rings but she trusts her instincts. Quickly, she flies in the opposite direction of the other two.
As she gets closer to where she thought she saw something, the Snitch flits right past her. Dahlia maneuvers a loop-de-loop to change course and is in quick pursuit of the golden ball. By now, the boys have caught on and are headed her way. She leans forward and pushes her broom faster. “Come on, Firebolt,” she says to it. “If you could get Harry through the Tri-Wizard Tournament then you can get me to that Snitch!”
She stretches her hand out and can almost touch it when it suddenly falls. She gives a loud grumble before aiming her broom towards the ground. The force of gravity pulls her faster and faster but Dahlia can’t be bothered to worry about that. Her only concern in the Snitch still out of reach. She can hear one of the boys gaining on her, can almost see him in her peripheral vision.
All of a sudden the Snitch pulls up. Dahlia flies past it a few meters before cursing and shooting back up to follow. She is now neck and neck with the boy who hates her. He tries to bump his broom into hers. “Not this again; back off!” she shouts before angling her broom towards the earth one more time. The Snitch levels off just above the ground, and Dahlia has to pick up her feet to avoid skimming them in the grass. Deciding to take a play from Harry’s own playbook, she stands up on her feet to get closer to the Snitch. She wobbles a bit but with one final stretch she has it!
Dahlia dives off her broom and with a roll comes to rest in the soft grass. She holds the Snitch aloft to the cheers of her friends in the stands. She is still panting when Harvey comes running up to her. He picks her off the ground and spins her around, making her laugh. Her head is spinning when he puts her down but she focuses on Elijah walking towards her, clapping slowly.
“Those were some nice moves, Potter. Congratulations.”
“Thanks,” Dahlia says, hoping everyone will think the flush on her face is just from exertion.
“THAT’S NOT FAIR!” the boy who tried to knock Dahlia off her broom yells.
“Get over it, mate. She caught th’ Snitch fair an’ square.” Dahlia is thankful that the other boy is willing to defend her.
Elijah steps in. “Rowe, I don’t need or want your attitude on my team. I was going to have you two play another round I don’t need you to anymore. You’re out. Chambers, congratulations on making the reserve team.”
When Rowe starts to curse and throw a complete temper tantrum, Elijah waves over Professor Ross and has him take the boy away. The other boy offers his hand to Dahlia once more. “I’m Eoin. Nice flyin’; I’m glad you kicked ‘is arse.”
“Thanks, Eoin. I’m Dahlia, and I was glad to do it.” She gives a mischievous smirk and they all start laughing.
Elijah gathers everyone around one last time. “I saw some truly great work out there today. This gives me hope that we’ll have a great season. I’m going to post the official list in the common room tomorrow morning, but it’s probably obvious who made the team and who didn’t. No one is allowed to knock on my door before then. It’s been jinxed so don’t even bother.” He gives one last clap to Dahlia’s shoulder and then saunters off the pitch.
Dahlia watches him leave until she hears an all too familiar throat being cleared. She turns to see Draco giving her a knowing look, though he decides to let that one go for now. Instead, he wraps his arms around her and holds on tightly. “You were amazing,” he says sincerely into her ear.
“Harry couldn’t make it?” she asks, biting her lip.
"You know he's coaching Hufflepuff, so he had to stay back. I filmed you on his cellular phone, however.” Draco holds up Harry’s flip phone awkwardly. “Someone had to show me how to hold it the correct direction. I’m afraid the first minute or so is just a close-up on my face.”
Dahlia laughs. “Don’t act like Papa wouldn’t love a minute long video of your face. But thank you for doing that.” She gives Rion a hug before realizing how sweaty she is. “I’m going to go shower, but I’ll stop by your quarters after dinner.” And with one last wave she’s gone.
The Snake & Badger Society are waiting for Harvey and Dahlia outside of the locker rooms. They all talk excitedly as they make their way to the Great Hall for dinner. Teddy and Connor ask the most questions, as their Quidditch try-outs are not until the following week.
Dahlia keeps her promise to visit her family that evening. Rion is telling his version of the Dahlia’s try-out, which makes it sound much more dangerous than it really was. Harry watches the film that Draco took (he also teases him about the first minute where he filmed his own face by mistake) and is incredibly proud of how well his daughter played. He says as much, giving Dahlia hugs of his own.
The next morning, Dahlia is torn between running downstairs to look at the team list and staying in bed forever. Elijah already told her she made the team but what if he changed his mind? What if he decided that having a second year Seeker wasn’t worth the risk?
“I can practically hear you thinking,” Alexa says from behind the curtains of her bed. “Just go check the list, Lia.”
“Go with me?” she asks timidly.
She can hear Alexa’s curtains slide back before her own are pushed out of the way. “Of course. Now, up!”
They don’t even bother changing into real clothes, opting instead to put on dressing gowns and slippers over their pajamas. They chase each other down the stairs and into the common room, giggling and yawning the whole way. There is already a small crowd gathered around the announcement board.
“There she is!” someone yells, and then suddenly everyone is clapping and cheering.
Dahlia gasps in shock which just makes Alexa laugh more. “I think it’s safe to say you made the team,” she says while shoving Dahlia closer to the board.
She walks forward slowly, older Slytherins patting her on the back and shaking her hand, until she can read the entire posting:
Chasers- Elijah Bole, Leila Malam, Mac Hornby
Keeper- Alessandra Strong
Beaters- Harvey Gibbs, Rhys Pole
Seeker- Dahlia Potter
Reserves- Eoin Chambers, Tiffany Ellsworth, Astrid Oswell
“Hornby?” Alexa asks from over her shoulder. “Wonder if that’s any relation to Miles? We’ll have to ask him later.”
An older girl with long, curly hair and even longer legs introduces herself as Alessandra. Dahlia remembers watching her at try-outs the day before. Eoin is there as well, and he introduces Dahlia to the other two reserve players. Dahlia is too stunned to do more than smile and nod.
“I’m going to go get Harvey,” Alexa tells her. “I don’t think he knows yet!”
The rest of the second years eventually join them in the common room, where official congratulations are given. Rita and Kevin go to the kitchens to get food. They enjoy a lazy morning together until Giovani reminds them that there is a Potions essay due the next day. Grumbling, they go in search of their Hufflepuffs.