Rushed Ravenclaw Quidditch Tryouts

Columba Mars stepped into the rain, not entirely in the best of moods. There were several things that contributed to her foul disposition, one of them started with an "M" and ended with an "acDougal". How he infuriated her. Him and face and his stupid Shooting Star 3001. What a cliche.

It was meant to be a sure thing. Ravenclaw time and again beat Slytherin. It was general knowledge, a fact of life. That's what made her so confident. So sure, that she would win that stupid broom. But it seemed fate was not on their side.

The reasons to why Cole Mars was cranky were simple really. Number one, Gryffindor's Quidditch Captain gets injuried. This normally wouldn't have concerned her but Alex Nighthook should have been more careful! Somehow, Cole suspected a certain Slytherin involved in that particular incident. She didn't care if her claim did not have any physical evidence, she was sure a certain someone had done something to cause Nighthook's accident. She wouldn't put it behind him. With Nighthook unable to play, that meant that the schedule had to be reorganized.

Which leads to reason number two, reorganized matches. With Gryffindor unable to play, a twisted sense of fate bumped up the Ravenclaw/Slytherin match. Instead of the Ravenclaw/Slytherin match being in January - many months away, many months of practice, practice, practice away, the match is bumped up to November! They were the opening match! Months of practice become weeks. Weeks. That was not reasonable.

What was even more unreasonable than that was reason number 3 and that is the fact that Ravenclaw's team wasn't even formed yet. So far they had... a Captain. One player. Cole wanted to see what her House could provide, holding proper Tryouts and seeing what each and every person can do but with the rush, they had no choice but to use the old team. Not necessarily a bad thing. With the exclusion of Corner the Bubbling Beater, everyone was pretty fit. But they were missing two Chasers and a Keeper, positions who were once held by people who had already finished school. They couldn't possibly find and train the right people in time it was impossible!

Impossible was reason number 4, her losing a bet and having to go steady with... ugh, she didn't even want to think about it.

Reason number 5 was just that it was raining. Not drizzling, raining. Hard.

So yes, Cole stood in the middle of the Pitch, in the heavy rain, Co-Captain by default, not very happy by reason stated above, staring disdainly at the small group of people in front of her. As the Tryouts were so impromptu, not everyone could make it. Oh look, reason number 6.

Lainey stood next to Cole, looking stoney-faced at the small group of Ravenclaws who had braved the rain. Things could not have gone worse. Trying to scrape together a decent side from the brainy Ravenclaw house was hard enough without the rain and the short deadline to contend with as well. Luckily, they were matched against Slytherin, last year's dead-last place losers, but Cole's wager with Jericho did not have Lainey too pleased with that, either. She was sure he was behind the lineup change, though she couldn't prove it, and she knew he'd be playing dirty -- and on the Shooting Star 3001 prototype, too.

As she stood in the pouring rain, staring at the pathetic turnout for the try-out, it was difficult not to feel any resentment against Cole for how things were turning out. Her first place win was slipping away and so was any chance of her continuing her quidditch career at Hogwarts. Gulping at the thought, she shook her head in a feeble attempt to get rid of her unusually pessimistic attitude, and get the try-out started. Clearly, no one else was coming.

"Alright, everyone listen up! As you all know, we're looking for two chasers and a keeper. If I could just have the potential chasers lined up to my left, and keepers to my right, we can get started."

There was a rumble as the group divided themselves up into the two sections. When lightning struck several of the younger ones looked up in worry. A few mutters of "Are we actually going to fly in this weather?" soon followed.

Cole glared at them coldly and choose to ignore the question.

Cole knew Lainey was angry at her and felt guilty about it. Like Cole, Lainey took Quidditch very seriously, possibly even more so. Cole was stupid for making that stupid bet in the first place. It was actually all of her fault. Cole had fatally underestimated the Slytherin and she was paying for it. She had apologized but she knew it wasn't enough. They had to win, it was the only way Lainey would even start to forgive her.

Cole looked to her Captain for further instructions.

"I've flown in worse," Lainey replied flatly. "Now, we're going to try out the Keepers first, and then whoever gets that spot will help us try out the Chasers. So you lot can head up to the stands, and try to stay warm and dry," she said to the small group designated as Chasers. There were less people trying out for Keeper, so she hoped it'd go more quickly this way.

"Alright, I need names and years. You!"

"Yes sir! -- I mean, ma'am." Lainey rolled her eyes. "Fourth year, name's Jack Givens."

"Well get on up there then, Jack," Lainey replied, and the boy nervously mounted his broom. He was a decent flier given the conditions, but his small frame didn't give her much confidence.

"Cole, ya ready?" she asked, looking back to where she could barely make out her outline. The rain was only getting worse, and the sky was growing darker. They'd have to do this as quickly as possible.

"You let five goals in and you're out, Jack. Cole, grab a quaffle!"

Cole nodded grabbing the red ball from the box. She mounted her trusty old Golden Arrow and up she went headed for the hoops. Despite the conditions (the weather and other factors) it felt great to be flying in the sky.

She took a speedy lap around the field and without further ado, Cole hurled the Quaffle towards Givens.

Lainey didn't bother suppressing a groan at the way the quaffle flew through the hoops, Givens flapping uselessly towards it. It wasn't like he could hear her, anyway. Great start! It was her turn now, and she grabbed a quaffle and took off on her broom. Zooming down the pitch felt great, alleviating some of her stress...but the way she was able to score on Givens easily didn't do anything to help. She sincerely hoped they'd find someone good because the way things were looking did not seem promising.

With Givens having missed both shots, Cole knew he wasn't the Keeper they were looking for. She decided to end this quickly for the sake of the worsening weather, and her sanity. She summoned three Quaffles and made them hover in the air in front of her. Then she proceeded to hurl them into each of the three hoops simultaneously.

Lainey looked away, grimacing. She headed back down to where the other potential Keepers were standing, looking thoroughly terrified.

"Are you guys going to go that hard on all of us?" a boy piped up, looking bewildered.

"Yes," she answered curtly, her mouth set in a grim line. The boy walked away, backwards at first until he nearly tripped, and then he turned and ran full out back towards the castle. "Anyone else?" she asked, eyeing the three students left. They stood and stared at her rather blankly. "Good. Who's next?"

A brave-looking girl stepped forward -- someone who'd tried out before, Alexa somebody.

"Name and year?"

"Alexa Richards, 6th year." Alexa Richards, 6th year, did better than Jack Givens, but still wasn't quite what Lainey was hoping for. Still, blocking three out of the five wasn't bad.

"Wait for us to try the other two out, alright?" Lainey said as they returned to the pitch.

Who was left wasn't much. One was a boy, looked to be of oriental decent, very slight and the other was also boy who looked like he was about ten.

"Name and year?" Cole demanded.

"Andrew Chang, Third year."

Andrew was horrendous. He seemed to be playing dodge-the-quaffle, purposely going the other direction. Cole wasn't even giving him a hard time. She was practically tossing it.

It looked like they had no choice but Richards. Cole almost didn't want to give the little boy a go. He looked terrified. Yet still, he stood his ground.

"Well?"

"N-Naw," He coughed. "Noah Casillas, Second Year."

"Casillas?" Cole looked at his dark hair and blue eyes suspiciously. "You're not related to the Dawcor Dragon's Keeper are you?"

Noah blushed a slight pink. "He's my second cousin." He muttered.

"Well." Cole gave him a grim smile. "Let's see if Quidditch Skill runs in the family shall we?"

She could have sworn she heard Noah gulp when he mounted his Golden Arrow and kicked off the ground headed to the three goal post.

Maybe because he was so small that Cole felt a little bit sorry for him or maybe because Cole was just lacklustre and a little bit tired but felt like she threw the Quaffle a little bit half-heartedly. Noah caught it easily and tossed it back to her.

Cole looked at him slightly surprised. Alright then, she can make it harder. Cole summoned three Quaffles and made them hover. Then she threw them into the goals simultaneously. Cole stood by and watched the young boy deflect everyone of her advances. She was smiling now. They boy was a natural. When finally he recovered, Cole looked back at Lainey with a smile. Then the smile turned into a malevolent one. Silently asking permission to do a harder maneuver.

Lainey caught Cole's eye and smirked. Whoever this little Noah Casillas was, he was definitely a natural. It was Lainey's turn to score on him, and try as she might, she only managed to score once, and really it hadn't been a fair goal, as she'd shot from behind. Such a goal wouldn't count in game play, anyway.

"Cole? Got anything else you wanna try?"

 She hurled the next one with a lot more force. She sped towards the hoop at the far left, but at the last moment changed her course an aimed for the one at the far right.

Noah was watching Cole carefully. He was following her every move. But he fell for the ploy and guarded the left most hoop leaving the one at the right vacantly open. He realized his error and sped towards the right hoop extending his short little arms as far as possible. The Quaffle shot past them just by a mere inch.

Cole flew and stopped right next to the boy. Noah looked at Cole anguishly. "I... I tried."

Cole gave him a friendly pat on the back. "I wasn't expecting you to actually catch that. If you did, Ravenclaw would have to be looking for three Chasers instead of two."

She looked at Lainey. "Captain, we've got a Keeper."

"I certainly think so!" Lainey replied, turning apologetically to Richards.

"Sorry," she said simply, and the girl scowled slightly but nodded.

"Yeah, yeah," she muttered, heading back up to the stands where her friends were waiting their turn.

"Alright, now things are really turning around!" Lainey crowed, clapping Noah on the shoulder. "Welcome to the team, kiddo!"

Noah looked from Cole to Lainey as if Christmas came early. "You mean I actually made it to the team?"

Cole nodded smiling. He was adorable.

He smiled widely and looked a little bit gazed.

His friends from the stands cheered him on. He grinned at them sheepishly.

"Alright, alright, let's get the Chasers down here!" Lainey grabbed her wand out of her pocket and directed it at her throat, magically amplifying her voice.

"All Chaser candidates to the pitch, please!" Luckily the rain was dying down slightly, so despite the larger group, it would hopefully not take too much longer now.

As the would-be Chasers scrambled to the pitch, Cole flew by her Captain. "Lainey," she said in an undertone. "I really am sorry about the bet. I was arrogant and I wasn't thinking. Please understand." It wasn't the first or second time Cole was apologizing. But until Lainey forgave her she wasn't going to stop.

"Not now, Cole," Lainey said in a tone of exasperation, sizing up the new arrivals.

"Alright Noah, get on up there and block those posts! Let's see if you lot have better luck getting anything past him than we did! Who's up first?" A brawny guy Lainey knew to be in her grade stepped up first, with a swagger and a smirk.

"Please, you went easy on him! This'll be a piece of cake." Lainey smirked right back.

"We'll see how you do, Lucian. Get up there, then! Show us all how it's done," she said, rolling her eyes.

Cole was rather unseated at the way her friend was treating her. She deserved it, that was for sure but she wished Lainey would understand. She missed her, and she needed her friends now more than ever. She nodded and stood by.

Noah gulped as a seventh year stepped up. But he gripped his broom, ready to block his throw. Just because he made it into the team didn't mean they wouldn't kick him out.

Fortunately for the scared-looking second year, Lucian Vargas was all bark and no bite, as Lainey knew full well. Any seventh year worth his salt would have already been on the team, after all. She shook her head and called him down, rolling her eyes to herself.

"Nice try, anyway. Better luck next year, Lucian?" she couldn't resist, which earned her a rather rude hand gesture from her housemate, who promptly stormed off the field.

"Right then, who's next?"

"Jacen Alonso," A teen piped up. Almost at the exact same time, a female with similar features spoke up as well. "Jaina Alonso."

"Fourth year" They said in unison. They were obviously related. Twins if Cole wasn't mistaken. They gave each other a glare which proceeded a mini-stare down which the young witch won.

"Jaina Alonso." She repeated. Her brother returned to his spot on the line. He could wait his turn. They were looking for two Chasers.

She mounted her Comet Five-Ninty and managed to score a few goals, with young Casillas only managing to save one.

When her brother went, he managed to outwit the Keeper completely. Jacen smiled at his sister sweetly as they awaited the Captains' verdict.

"Okay, okay guys, geez! We're all supposed to be playing on the same team, you know!" Lainey remarked in response to the display the twins had just put on. There were still a few people left to try out, but they were all looking extremely intimidated after what they'd just witnessed.

"Can I be really honest here? Can any of you top that? It's raining, I don't want to waste anyone's time...there's always next year, you know." One boy she recognised as a fifth year looked up at the dark sky and then back at Lainey, shaking his head.

"C'mon, let's just go..." he murmured, hoisting his broom over his shoulder. After a moment's hesitation, the girl standing next to him followed suit, along with another boy, leaving just one.

"Alright, come on then!" Lainey urged, clapping her hands as the very last boy climbed unsteadily onto his broom. Predictably, the results weren't good for him, but at least Lainey was satisfied that their new Keeper hadn't peaked early.

"Yeah I know," he grumbled, taking off as soon as he touched down, leaving Cole and Lainey standing with Noah and the twins.

"Congratulations, you three! Let's head into the Great Hall for some dinner and a review of the training schedule, okay?"

The three new recruits looked pretty pleased with themselves. They nodded eagerly, happy to escape the raging rain. They followed their Captain's cue and headed towards the Castle.

"I'm Jaina Alonso, and this is my idiot brother, Jacen." Cole caught a glimpse of their conversation. Well at least they were being sociable. Cole never had siblings herself but she suspected the twins would be quite the handful. She had a feeling the little display was all but the tip of the iceberg. They seem to be really competitive with each other. They did have skill, she could admit that. However, the difference of being a great Chaser and a good one was knowing when to pass to your teammates. Well, there was enough time for that later.

"Lainey?" Cole wondered if it was so wise to attempt to talk to Lainey again. But it really was now or never. She seemed to have taken to avoiding Cole whenever she saw her in the Common Room or the Great Hall.

Lainey laughed at the twins' rather unusual way of introducing themselves, and then turned back towards Cole as she heard her name. Her expression went from laughter to wariness in a moment; she excused herself from the twins and hung back, sighing.

"Yeah, Cole?" she asked, pretty fairly guessing what was coming: more apologies and hand-wringing that ultimately wouldn't change anything. Since the match had already been rescheduled, it didn't really matter anymore if Cole called the bet off or not. Might as well go through with it now. Somewhere in the more vindictive side of Lainey's brain she almost wished Slytherin would win -- it'd teach Cole a much-needed lesson about making bets with people who couldn't be trusted.

"I'm sorry. I know your probably sick of me saying it. But I am sorry. I really am. I wasn't thinking." Cole was desperate for forgiveness. Her mind wouldn't let her be still if she knew someone she cared about was angry or hurt because of her. She was so guilty. It was all MacDougal's fault. No. To be perfectly honest, it was all her fault. If she was more mature in that situation, she wouldn't have been in the mess anyway. Cole was sorry. The rain seemed to add more to the drama. "If there was anything I could do to make it up to you, please tell me?"

Lainey sighed, stopping dead in her tracks and whirling around to face Cole.

"You're right -- I am tired of you saying it. It doesn't change anything, does it -- match was still rescheduled and even if you called it off, it would probably only make Jericho play even dirtier. So we've no choice but to go through with this. You want to make it up to me? Stop focusing on him and start training harder to beat him. After all, you've got more to lose than I have," she pointed out, starting to walk again, thoroughly annoyed with the subject. All she wanted to do was forget about it, and Cole constantly bringing it up only made things worse.

Lainey was right. There was nothing she could do about it. Nothing at all. She made her bed, and Merlin was she going to have to lay in it. Boy, did she hate herself right now.

Cole decided it was probably wise to stop pestering Lainey about the subject. Her friend had gone through enough because of her. She really wanted Lainey to forgive her. But maybe Lainey didn't want to forgive her. Cole should really stop thinking about herself.

Cole watched Lainey walk away. She determined to stay a little longer on the Pitch with the godawful weather as a punishment of the sorts. She wanted to train a little bit more. She needed to win. Not because of the broomstick anymore, but she suspected it was the only way Lainey would forgive her.

She summoned a Quaffle and mounted her broom.