"I don' thin Morgan woulda signed off on Li bein' Cap'n. Knight was likely ta git us all killed, wit Li it'd be a sure thing." Xavier smirked in Erin's general direction despite the fact that he had been talking with Strellie. It was taking all of his willpower to ignore the fact that his (former?) best friend was only a few steps away and it didn't really help that his ex girlfriend was there as well. He was suddenly really wanting Huck there.

He looked down at the two firsties Erin dismissed. He gave them an equal expression. While he could have easily felt bad for how Erin had treated them, he honestly just didn't give a rats ass. He knew he wasn't the only one thinking that the kids shouldn't have even been encouraged to sign up. It had always been the rule that first years never made the team. They had been bent for Harry Potter but then he had been Merlin-loving Harry Potter, which these two were not.

Xavier decided to focus on the one of the few women he hadn't recently pissed off, "Goin fer Beater Slant? Ye bin workin on that arm then have ye?"

Demitria couldn't contain the smirk that tweaked the corner of her lips at Harper's words. The two first years looked quite put out by the harsh, yet completley honest appraisal. They didn't need a mascot, especially not a little first year. And truthfully, the thought of Erin's cat with ribbons tied on it was simply divine. Maybe one game she would actually follow through with that wonderful idea.

When his attention was once again on her, she smiled and said, "Well, you have seniority on Kitty and that makes up for her individual... ahh... finesse." With her expert eye, she could see the signs that Erin was happy to have her sign up for the team again. That was a good sign. Demitria was the quick and sharp leopard. Kitty was the power hungry lion. Together, they had made the field a veritable war zone. Surely, Harper wasn't willing to give that up.

Strellie's attention shifted straight to Xavier when he began to talk. Her lips pressed together, but other than that, her face remained totally neutral. He was ignoring her! He was still blatantly ignoring her. A sharp pang went through her chest. How could he still be doing this. It would have been bad enough if he had acted like nothing had happened between them when things so obviously had, but this was worse, far worse. He was acting as if their entire friendship hadn't existed. Huck had been almost killed by her father and he was acting perfectly normal.

"Gracie! It'll be lovely to have you on the team if we both make it!" Strellie trilled brightly as she sauntered over to where both Xavier and Gracie were. There was no way that she was going to treat Xavier the same way he was treating her. Bastard.   

Somewhere in the crowd of the Great Hall, Bellatrix spotted a friend of hers. She was eager to go and greet him, namely to get things started for her band. Strellie and Gracie had both signed their names to the roster. That was almost a sure sign that she would have a great deal of competition aiming for Chaser. Polite conversation was exchanged between everyone and she pointedly ignored the wary glances she was getting from her house-mates like Harper.

"Mmhmm," was all she said in response to the others before she stood on her tip-toes trying to find Mace.

Salem students probably weren't the sort that her house-mates would expect her to hang 'round with, but Bellatrix was far too interested in seeing him again to care. They had a mission and she wasn't about to waste time standing here in awkward silence waiting for someone to make a snide comment about her clothes. Honestly, didn't they have something else to pick on her about? Usually not.

"Lovely chatting with you lot, but I've got to run. Sorry! Loads of work to do. See you at try-outs."

And off swept the sixth year. The crowd was just as frustrating to get through as it had been before, but at least this time she wasn't stomping on the little folk with her heels. Never had Bellatrix been so anxious to get somewhere, to do something, to have a goal she needed to reach. It was quite fascinating. No wonder her sister was a Ravenclaw. Did Beatrix always feel this good when she was being a busy Lil Bee? Productivity was certainly something Bellatrix needed in her life at the moment. Whatever kept her mind off the bad was worth a shot. The kookie Dark twin hurried out of the Great Hall in hopes of finding her new friend Mace and prepare for the rest of her day.

As Erin dealt with the first years, Gracie looked on, vaguely amused. Their enthusiasm was almost cute, if entirely deluded.

Casey, on the other hand, did have a shot at tryouts, even if it still wasn’t much of one.

“Both, actually,” she turned to Xavier, patting one bicep as she smirked at him lazily. “There were more balls t’ Beat this summer than last,” and it showed. It wasn’t all that visible, yeah, but under her sleeve she could feel the sleek swell of muscle under her fingertips.

That last bit had been directed at Naomi with a sly glance; the taller younger girl knew what she was talking about. Hell, her brother—as well as the other kids that had joined in and the occasional bird that’d been unfortunate to get in her ‘n Ny’s way)—knew what she was talking about, and painfully so.

When Gracie faced Demitria, that smirk broadened into a smile. “Bloody great, you mean,” she grinned, just as pleased as Erin that the Russian doll hadn’t tired of the Quidditch team yet. Together with Li, and Harper, Tawse, Dark and Knight, they’d been Slytherin’s dream team and a virtual firing squad to the others. Every time they had flown into the field, they had turned it into a vipers’ nest. The girl honestly thought it was a shame the lineup would change this year; watching them in action had been a genuine pleasure.

Because it would change—not by much, it seemed like, with the this year’s turnout looking a lot like last year’s, but enough.

Once Erin said everyone would have a chance to earn spots, and rotations and what-not, Naomi wasn't so much concerned with being in game as she was with the fact he seemed okay with her comment. She smiled at Gracie, with a semi-sure arch of her dark eyrbrows, "Right so I t'ink 'dat was a 'yes'..." then her green gaze fell on the younger years, excited and trying to vie for a spot on the team.

The first years threw a great fit when Erin told them they could try out next year, and the first-year hotshot metamorph even made a show of changing the color of her hair over it. Naomi rolled her eyes, but only Gracie knew to what extent her facetious lilt meant,  "Oi, either she had a bitter bean or something twister her 'di wrong way," she said in another airy mumble.

Then Gracie went on to talk about beating balls, and the younger Slytherin looked at Gracie with a much more confident stare as she shrugged and answered, "'Dat's what happens when you aim fer 'di wrong kinda wood, Gracie." Not that Naomi wasn't innocent of said crime either, but it seemed more amusing to poke fun at the older girl, for now.

Both the first years went off in a snit - one of them making a comment about hurting his cat - which Erin magnanimously ignored. He leaned forward in the chair, both arms resting on the table, and at Xavier's comment gave a snort. He wasn't even sure why Landis had signed off on him. Merlin knew it wasn't out of a sense of brotherly affection. "We would've been all strapping blades to our brooms, for sure." His gaze transferred back to Strellie, who got a shrug and a nod before she homed her attention in on Xavier and Gracie. 'S true. Erin'd been on the team since his second year. 

The booth was gathering a crowd at this point of Slytherins just hanging around, mingling, bantering; Erin didn't mind. He didn't have much to say to the lot of them - banter wasn't his strong suit - but it kept things entertaining for him. Kept him from dwelling on his new Championship duties, too, terrifying and exhilarating all at once. At Naomi's comment he let out a snicker that he quickly turned into a cough, looking around, fiddling with the quill, and generally pretending he didn't have any type of idea what kinda balls Slant usually aimed for. He had a great face for looking innocent, big blue eyes and long blonde lashes, still boyish and smooth enough to mouth, "Who, me?" and get away with it. Now he was employing his acting skills to feign great interest in the list of names on his sheet.

Xavier couldn't help but chuckle when Gracie mentioned beating balls. He wasn't sure if he should have taken that statement so literally but couldn't help the amusing image it had created. Knowing Slant though his own thoughts likely weren't too far from the truth. It was definitely going to be a fun year if she was going to make the team. It would certainly ease the tension between himself and the two Slytherin Princesses that would likely have his head on a silver platter (and for once Kitty wasn't counted amoungst them)

He let himself look as Bellatrix walked away. A part of him still appreciated the view and wished he was able to tell her that the new smatter of colour suited her. He doubted she would listen to him, or anything he had to say so he kept his thoughts to himself. Suddenly he wished other things had kept to themselves - namely Demetria. Did she not know how torturous it was just to be near her? Knowing things would never be the same? How was he supposed to act as if everything was fine between them? How could he go make to being just her best friend when he had so obviously been so much more that night?

He kept himself stock still. Though his arm twitched as his hand was desperate to reach out and take her own. He was able to feel the heat of her own hand before he jerked it back, mentally cursing himself for getting so close. How could he just move on after what had happened? His own stupidity and pride had almost gotten her killed and if that hadn't been enough he had crossed that line, the one that best friends should never ever cross. The one that there was no coming back from, how could she not understand? How could she not see how broken his heart was?

"Right on Slant." He gave Gracie a cheeky grin between nodding to Erin, "Well mate I've gotta be goin' see ye on thee pitch." As he turned, his cool grey blue eyes met with Strellie's stormy ones ever so briefly before he jerked away terrified that she'd see all the pain and longing he knew was brewing within them. He weaved his way through the crowds heading back to the dungeons, afterall there was nothing else he wanted to sign up for.